Dôsôkai review (lots of screenshots)

[riccichan]

Originally, I wanted to write a short summary. But... it's more a re-narration than a summary and has gotten quite long. Still, I feel that it's alright, because the dorama is not slow paced, and I want to do the topic justice. Needless to say, the text contains massive spoilers, so if you still want to watch this dorama (there are no subtitles

Comments

[ginzarhapsody]

gosh, you have me absolutely fascinated! i want to watch it if only to understand what the hell was johnny thinking when he let three of his boys do this drama in the early 1990s. i'll have to put it on my list for when i'm done with the semester.

[riccichan]

Looking forward to your opinion then! :D

The reaction "WTF was Johnny thinking!?" was also the main tenor of the Japanese reviews I read. Some speculated he did this for his own pleasure... *laughs*

While watching, I often tried to picture Pi or Kame in a role like this - it's just not possible. Though of course there's the 2001 dorama Neverland, which has Kôki as homosexual who is raped by an older boy who bullies him. But it's definitely no comparison to this dorama.

[meloenchen]

I've waited for this. *g*
Even though I watched this dorama with you, I loved reading your article.
I wonder what the color blue meant. If I remember correctly, nearly every (visible or implied) sex scene between men respectively masturbation scene was in blue. Of course it could be linked to the water symbol. But the sex scenes between Fûma and Atari weren’t blue but rather red.

[riccichan]

That's definitely something one could analyze further. Also, the light and dark contrasts are used a lot, I'm sure there's more meaning to that as well.

I've searched the net for this already a couple of times, but couldn't find anything: what would be really useful is a dictionary of symbolism where you could look up, for example, what etymology / mythology / meaning a concept (like the color blue) has. I'm sure something like that exists already, but I haven't found it yet. :)

[acchikocchi]

Not knowing anything about this series other than that Yamaguchi, Kokubun, and Sakamoto were in it, as I read the summary I think my jaw dropped so far it practically fell off my face. O_O Not only the subject matter but the relatively frank treatment of it, when compared to, say, Last Friends, was shocking enough (I'm trying to think of a comparable series in the last few years and coming up blank), but on top of that to have three Johnny's involved? And not as, you know, the straight best friends but as an underage bisexual hooker eventually part of a menage a trois, an outright gay man who marries another man, and a gay rapist? Uh. I had no idea Johnny's were allowed to take those sorts of roles -- I thought Ningen Shikkaku was kind of pushing it for them. XD Of course this was before the Shuukan Bunshun series and subsequent lawsuits, which would have add an entirely different tenor to such roles, I imagine. (Though not, I see, before Kita Koji's book. Hmmm

[riccichan]

Yes, Melli and I reacted the same way! I did know a bit about the dorama (that was the reason why I searched for it for so long), but I didn't expect quite so much nudity and controversial topics

[frenchthyme]

Shows my age but

[frenchthyme]

Hypothetically, for a remake, I think any of these guys can pull it off..

In the Kokubun role: Tego, Yassu, Aiba, Massu

Sakamoto role: Jin, Ryo

Yamaguchi role: Kame, Koki, Matsujun

[riccichan]

I agree, from my watching dorama from the 90s (and 80s, too) I also got the impression that sexuality and things concerning the body in general were handled more openly, or rather, more naturally. This reminds me of a scene in one of the Kinpachi seasons (I forget which one), where Kinpachi attributes the prudish behaviour of teens and young adults nowadays to the decline of the public bathing culture in Japan. As an example he tells about his own experience, saying that he learned about male and female anatomy in the baths, and that sexual attraction was a topic talked and laughed about. Now that most houses have their own bathrooms, children don't come to learn about sexuality naturally anymore, is his opinion

[frenchthyme]

More than Mary, I think more of Julie 'coz Mary must be as old as Johnny while Mary was part of Kimpachi's 1st batch of students

[frenchthyme]

I meant, "Julie" was Kimpachi's ex-student not Mary...

random, what happened to Natsuki's pubic lice? So like since there was a lot of partner switching, everyone had pubic lice????

Or was just that a way of depicting Natsuki's character as "earthy sexual"????

[riccichan]

She follows her co-workers advice and sees a doctor who prescribes a salve. Melli and I understood it to mean that Natsuki had had changing sexual partners. But in hindsight, it could also have been meant to set the mood, so to speak. ^_^;;;