From today onwards, I will be posting the reviews I wrote for Yasashii Jikan back in 2005. It's one of my favourite dramas so I hope you'll enjoy reading my thoughts about it and watch this if you have the opportunity.
Cast:
Wakui Yukichi (Terao Akira)
Wakui Takuro (Ninomiya Kazunari)
Minagawa Azusa (Nagasawa Masami)
Kujo Tomoko (Yo Kimiko)
Wakui Megumi (Ootake Shinobu)
Just watched one episode of this drama showing this season and it's better than I expected. First thing which attracted me was the beauty of the setting in Furano, a town in Hokkaido. The lead character, Wakui Yukichi also known as Master has set up a coffee house named Mori no Tokei (the clock of the forest) after his wife died of an accident caused by his son, Takuro's reckless driving. Furano was his wife's hometown so with the set-up of Mori no Tokei, it seems as if Master wants to be close to his wife who is no longer around.
The decor of the coffee house feels very homely and since it's surrounded by trees, the unique colours of the season (they started filming in Oct according to the official website) complements the feel of the drama which is relaxed and as the title suggest, "gentle". It should be a very enjoyable experience to have coffee in such a beautiful place. And the other special thing about Mori no Tokei is that the customers can grind their own coffee beans in a special device before Master brews it for them. It must be fun to do that since the customers seem to enjoy doing that while chatting with Master at the counter.
Besides, the atmosphere and nice scenery to look at, the story can be considered bland and slow if you are not the type to appreciate subtle themes in a drama. I must admit that I do not have a lot of patience and it puts me off if I find that the story is going nowhere especially in the first episode. No doubt, this drama seems to start out very slowly but at least I can identify a few aspects which should sustain my interest throughout the season.
-The relationship between Master and Takuro
Master was a elite businessman working in New York but he quit three years ago after his wife, Megumi died in the accident caused by Takuro when he was at the wheel. Since then, he sold his house in Tokyo and moved to Megumi's hometown in Furano to open Mori no Tokei. On the other hand, his son Takuro is still very much guilt-stricken over the whole matter and constantly gets nightmares where he is accused of being the culprit who caused his mother to die.
As a result of Megumi's death, the relationship between father and son is caught in a very awkward stage. Master feels that since Takuro knows where he is and if Takuro wants to see him, he should be the one who should come to Mori no Tokei instead of Master looking for him. On the other hand, Takuro fears that his dad is still blaming him for his mum's death. Although he wants to meet him, he is scared of the consequences and chooses to be near Master instead without his knowledge. Takuro used to be a gangster before his mum died so he has changed for the better since then. It's quite sad to see that because both of them refuses to speak up and take the initiative. A man's pride? Although they both care for each other (apparently), they find it hard to bridge their differences or even sit down to have a good chat because they have yet to overcome the stigma of Megumi's death. It remains to be seen how they would be able to improve their relationship and be on speaking terms again.
- The relationship between Takuro and Azusa
They met at the local shopping mall when Takuro helped Azusa carry some of the things she had bought. Azusa, for one reason or another, keeps breaking plates at Mori no Tokei. There must be something wrong with her which is causing this to happen repeatedly. Somehow, she confides in Takuro the first time they met that she has to buy plates every now and then to compensate Master so he actually tells her to come looking for him when she needs plates. Takuro is working in a town named Bie as a pottery apprentice after his mother's friend, Tomoko introduced him to the owner. At this stage, Azusa knows nothing about Takuro's past while he does not know that she works at Mori no Tokei. As such, I can forsee that Takuro's relationship with Azusa may help him to break out from his guilt-stricken nightmares and get Azusa resolving what is bothering her and causing all the breaking of the plates. Besides, Azusa is the link to Mori no Tokei for Takuro so when he finds out that she's working for his father, it should help to get things going to introduce developments in the father-and-son relationship.
As for the cast, I have never seen Terao Akira's acting before but he looks like a charming man who fits the image of Master i.e. calm, not one to show his emotions and yet very comfortable to be with. Actually, among Arashi members, I think that Nino is the best in acting skills and he's quite good as Takuro when he shows the dilemma of wanting to reach out to his dad but is pulled back by his guilt. I'm not saying that the rest of the members are no good but I'm just saying this based on comparisons only. As for Nagasawa Masami, she was quite impressive in the Sekaichuu movie but then, she gets on my nerves in this drama with her very insecure character. Hopefully, when the drama progresses, there should be a logical reason as to why she is behaving like that.
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