REVIEW FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES
Among the 4 dramas which I watched this season, Yasashii Jikan is my No.1 choice. Given that I gave up Fukigen na Gene at Ep 6, was quite disappointed with the sloppy ending of M no Higeki and cringed at the cliched conclusion of Kyumei Byoto 24 Ji, I don't have any complaints about Yasashii Jikan. As I expected, the pace of the story is slow but somehow, I didn't tear my hair out or fall asleep. Instead, what kept me watching was the beautiful scenery, the engaging story about a father-and-son's kizuna and the soothing music.
Being set in beautiful Furano located in Hokkaido, the drama shows scenes from autumn and winter which speaks volumes about the beauty of nature. Ever since I watched Hoshi no Kinka many years ago, I have this soft spot for Hokkaido and hope to pay a visit there one day. Now there's one more place to visit besides Otaru, Hakodate and Sapporo! Anyway, because of the beautiful scenery, it gives the story a serene effect but may also give the impression that the story is really slow.
I can't stand SLOW dramas which drag on and on without any purpose. The first example which comes to my mind at the moment would be Motokare where it's extremely obvious that Domoto Tsuyoshi's character loves Hirosue Ryoko's character more than Uchiyama Rina's and yet they have to go around in circles. It does take a bit of patience to get used to Yasashii Jikan's pace but somehow, I managed to live with that. Usually, it takes a lot for me to tolerate slow dramas. Yasashii Jikan doesn't even have my fav actors in the cast so I'm unable to explain why I like this drama so much.
Maybe the biggest pull factor would be the father-and-son relationship between Master and Takuro. Both of them obviously care for each other but they are clumsy in terms of their interaction with each other. What they do and say may not be what they feel or think most of the time. Thus, the misunderstandings kept building up and no one seems to take the first move to break the ice. Obviously, Megumi is the bridge between the two of them but when she passed away, it breaks the status quo in Master and Takuro's relationship. I was very touched when I saw Master and Takuro finally meeting in the final episode that I cried. Well, I'm not an emotional person and it's very rare that I cry but this drama did it for me. And I have to stress that it's because I'm touched by their reunion rather than feeling sad. They finally meet after such a long time and just by looking at each other's expressions, words don't seem to be that important anymore.
To suit the mood of the series, most of the BGM used are very soothing and slow. Besides, the theme song, Ashita by Hirahara Ayaka is in line with the theme of the series. Most of the time, I have to take my hat off to the staff who are doing BGM for dramas because they do a good job. Unlike local series which tend to use a lot of existing commercial music instead of creating original pieces , the sincerity put in when making a series is much evident in Japanese dramas.
On the whole, I would give this series 8 out of 10. I had hoped to see more of Takuro and Master after that reunion and how they are getting along but to no avail so that's where the deduction of marks comes in. I guess the producers wanted to leave more room for imagination...
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