Ep 2 O.A. 23 Apr 2005
Ratings: 11.8%
No doubt, a big drop in ratings from the debut episode which is unexpected (at least to me) but I feel that this drama has a potential to get better as it progresses.
Things will definitely be smooth-sailing for Ruri and the people around her. It's not a simple case of a child comes to the island to live and all the problems facing the island would go away. First of all, Ruri had earned a bad reputation for herself when she went wild during her welcome party and crashed the boat into the clif. Thus, her teacher's attitude towards her is rather hostile while the village chief thinks little of her and keeps bugging Yuzo to send Ruri back to Tokyo and get another child from Okinawa main island instead.
Actually, due to the fact that Ruri has never been loved as a child, she is rather pessimistic about relationships and keeps everyone at bay without opening her heart to them. No doubt she believes that Yuzo and his wife, Megumi treat her well and care for her, she cannot express herself well enough. Coupled with the fact that she's still in the transition period of trying to adjust to life on the island which has a serious lack of facilities available in urban Tokyo, her frustration coupled with the distrust for the people around her makes Ruri try to be difficult. By creating trouble for the islanders, she hopes that Yuzo will send her back to Tokyo. I don't think she wants to go back anyway since her mother didn't care to come to the school term beginning ceremony but she is having doubts whether she can fit the role of helping the island with her presence and probably thinks that it would be best for Yuzo to get someone more obedient and lovable than her.
However, when Ruri realizes that Yuzo is trying very hard to convince the other islanders about letting her stay and he had to work to pay off the repair bill for the boat Ruri smashed, I guess this finally lets her know that she is being loved by someone and this would no doubt boost her self-worth. Just at this time, her mother comes to the island and it's going to create more confusion and tension within Ruri on how to accept her mother's presence.
On the other hand, Kawashima's real name should be Takahara and he's a hairstylist according to the video we saw in this episode. He is definitely acquainted with the deceased Kawashima Tatsuya but it's still not clear why he attempted suicide in Ep 1 and took on the name Kawashima as well as staying on the island and not going back to Tokyo. Takenouchi's character is full of question marks and he speaks very little in this drama. I think more information about him would be out as the drama progresses but I really hope to see more of him.
This drama, Anego and Koi ni Ochitara are my definite titles on the to-watch list. NTV's two offerings this season has got my total attention while for last season, I struck off Gokusen 2 and 87% from my list right from the beginning. Although NTV dramas do not usually get very high ratings, (Gokusen was one of the exceptions) they do have a number of good dramas from past seasons and it seems like they do very well in adapted stories. Both Ruri no Shima and Anego are adapted from best-selling novels. Note the similarity? Last year's hit, Hikari to tomo ni was adapted from a manga of the same title along with other past manga-to-drama titles like Kindaichi, Ginro, Psychometrer Eiji. They have a knack for creating magic from adapted stories, I guess.
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