This SP is part of the Nada Sousou series and based on the period before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I won't go into things like how they chose to handle such an sensitive issue i.e. the viewpoint they adopt towards the bombing since this is not an history discussion session. The story is on the Yajima family who were affected by the war in various ways but they were helpless to do anything to change the situation at times.
The eldest daughter Shinobu manages the family hotel and makes decisions with the interests of her younger siblings in mind despite them not agreeing with her at all times. Unknown to them, she had actually rejected the proposal of her boyfriend, Shigematsu who was sent to the frontline just because she wanted to live up to her father's expectations that she will take care of the family while he went to war. As such, she's prepared to sacrifice her own happiness and risk being misunderstood by others in the process.
The second daughter Nobuko is a primary school teacher but during wartime, no lessons are conducted and she has to lead her students to do things at the orders of the army e.g. tearing down houses and doing menial work. She questions the need for the war and brings the kids out to play instead of doing work which leads to her being suspended from work. She also has a boyfriend Oohara whom she's seeing secretly but she keeps putting off marriage as she doesn't want to be the only one in her family who's happy.
The youngest daughter Maki is a senior high student but in those days, these female students have to sew clothes in a factory for the army. As such, she has no choice but to give up her dream of being a ballerina. However, when she meets a North Korean student, Mika who is constantly bullied because of her race, their friendship rekindles the hope she has for the future instead of forcing herself to be content with the present.
The only son in the family, Toshiaki is a junior high student who loves plants and animals. As he's meek in nature, he cannot meet up to the expectations of the army officers in school and is forced to "volunteer" to join the junior air forces. However, this also proves to the reason why he lives to tell the tale of his sisters since he was away when Hiroshima was bombed.
The majority of the SP was talking about the circumstances of the Yajima family members so it was only till the end when I felt that the momentum of the story got going. Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly for everyone i.e. Shigematsu was coming home to meet Shinobu, Nobuko had got married and was expecting, Maki was preparing to practice ballet again, the bomb came and everything vanished into thin air. This section was quite sad so I guess that's why the SP fitted into the Nada Sousou SP since it's supposed to make you cry. However, I thought the build-up was too slow so I didn't feel that affected to shed tears.
No doubt the story might be too lengthy in the introduction of everyone's backgrounds, I thought this was quite nice to watch especially since the sisters are played by actresses whom I do like. Acting-wise, I thought everyone did OK but if the story had been fine-tuned to reduce the weightage on the recollections, I think this would have been better. As such, I give this 6.5 out of 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment