Title: Aishiteru ~ Kaiyou ~Produced by: NTV
O.A. Start Date: 15 April 09
O.A. End Date: 17 June 09
Original manga by: Ito Minoru
Theme song: Aishiteru by Monkey Majik
Insert song: Utsushie by Aragaki Yui
Average rating: 14.82%
Cast: Inamori Izumi, Itaya Yuka, Yamamoto Tarou, Kawashima Umika, Kakazu Issei, Satou Shion, Tabata Tomoko, Sano Shiro and Tanaka Misako
Review:
Be warned, this is an emotionally heavy drama. As the theme deals with a seemingly unthinkable case of a kid murdering another kid, the atmosphere throughout the whole drama deviates towards the sadness spectre most of the time. It is only until the very end where you see glimmers of hope here and there. Otherwise, be prepared to feel sad and sympathetic towards the characters who have to go through such a gruelling experience. As usual, beware of spoilers from this point onwards.
In summary, we have two ordinary families who can be said to be mirror images of each other. On one end, we have the Noguchi family where the father Kazuhiko is a workaholic and passes on his parenting duties of his only son, Tomoya to his homemaker wife, Satsuki. On the other end, we have the Ozawa family where the father Hideaki and mother Seiko dote on their youngest and only son, Kiyotaka thus leading their eldest daughter Mihoko to feel neglected. However, their lives are overturned when Tomoya is arrested for the murder of Kiyotaka. The case becomes the talk of town as it is revealed that Tomoya is only 10 while Kiyotaka is only 7. As both families try to grapple with the reality of this sudden incident, they have to contend with feelings of guilt, anger, sadness and regret. The central theme is forgiving out of love but you will see different degrees of how this is being adapted.
Satsuki seeks Tomoya's forgiveness for not extending a helping hand when he needed it most. Conversely, Tomoya seeks Satsuki's forgiveness for breaking her heart and going back on his promise. Kazuhiko also feels sorry for putting Tomoya second to his work. Hideaki and Seiko are apologetic towards hurting Mihoko's feelings unwittingly while the latter is sorry towards her brother as she wished that he should disappear from the family so that her life can improve. Seiko wishes that she had been home earlier or else Kiyotaka would not have met Tomoya. Of course, the Noguchi family seeks the Ozawas' forgiveness but this is not something which will come readily. As you can see, everyone in the cast has to forgive and be forgiven in one way or another. This makes everyone equal in the sense that nobody is without fault.
The story's pace is rather slow so as to allow the development of emotions for the characters. A murder case does not end when the investigation or trial is concluded. This drama shows what happens after that. The murderer's family has to live with the stigma of the crime for a very long time and be pricked by their consciences. The victim's family has to cope with the loss of a loved one and come to terms with reality. As such, this is a long process which could take ages. As such, whether this drama is your cup of tea depends very much on your ability to stomach the "slowness". I watched this drama at one go (well, over 3 days as a matter of fact) but if I had to watch this on a weekly basis, I may not stand the slow developments. Even so, there were times where I had the urge to fast-forward the drama. Pacing is a subjective area in this sense.
With regards to the acting, this is one of the few dramas where the lead is outshone by the supporting cast. I'm not saying Inamori Izumi did not do well. She surprised me in the sense that as a single woman, she did show the motherly feelings of Satsuki pretty well. However, there were times when I felt that she went a bit over the edge. All that crying and that haggard face were too much at times. True, I understand that Satsuki is supposed to be very upset and remorseful about what has happened. However, it doesn't always have to be an outpour of emotions. If you look at Itaya Yuka's potrayal of Seiko, I think she managed to balance the emotions of a mother whose son was murdered. At the beginning, Seiko was hysterical because she blamed herself for going out to lunch and not being home for Kiyotaka. However, as emotions gradually simmered down, she didn't cry in an exaggerated manner. Tears rolling down her cheeks without any sound made is even more powerful than sobbing loudly. Seiko is sad but she tries to keep it lowkey so as to be strong for her husband and daughter. That strength exhibited in Itaya's acting impressed me very much. Maybe it has to do with her being a mother in real life. That is probably why she finds it easier to imagine the feelings of Seiko and potray how someone in her shoes is likely to behave. Although Itaya had relatively lesser airtime as compared to Inamori, the former left a much stronger impression on me.
The child actors are also worth mentioning. Kakazu Issei who plays Tomoya is quite good at displaying the conflict of emotions with this character. Shaking when he's terrified, releasing his anger by throwing tantrums as well as feeling sorry for what he has done to his parents and Kiyotaka. He's only 10 and should have a long way to go if he gets more beefy roles in future. Somehow, he reminds me a lot of Kamiki Ryuunosuke when he was a child.
There's also Kawashima Umika who plays Mihoko. She did pretty well in this drama and I think she has a slight edge over competitors in the same age group. Although she can look tough on the surface, she is able to show the insecurity and softer side in her role. I have this feeling that Kawashima is quite similar to Narumi Riko in the past but the latter appears too strong and mature at times. As such, Kawashima feels like a softer version of Narumi, at least for the time being. However, I do not wish to see Kawashima become a shadow of Narumi. She should try to carve a niche for herself if she wants to go further in showbiz.
The theme song by Monkey Majik fitted the theme of the drama very closely so I'm guessing that they tailormade it for this drama. On the other hand, Aragaki Yui's song always comes in at a weird point in the drama and it is barely audible because of the lack of richness and depth in her voice. The sound director must have thought that we all have great hearing to pick out what she's singing but they should have made an effort to turn up the volume. As such, I'm not very impressed with the use of this song in the drama.
And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 7 out of 10 (Description of the emotions and story development was good but the pacing is a problem area which could kill interest)
Acting: 8.5 out of 10 (Especially for Itaya Yuka and Inamori Izumi's efforts. Kudos to the young actors too.)
Theme song: 7 out of 10 (For the sake of Monkey Majik's song. If the insert song had been handled in a better way, the score would have gone higher.)
Visual effects / Scenery: 5 out of 10 (Nothing particularly impressive or worth picking on)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 5.5 out of 10 (The funny thing is that Seiko and Satsuki met only once throughout the whole drama so there isn't chemistry to speak of. However, that scene was very intense. As for teamwork, it's largely isolated within each family. On the whole, I think the Ozawa family showed a more close-knitted bond among themselves.)
Total: 33 out of 50
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