Review of Mitsu no Aji Ep 2 to Ep 11 (final)

Exasperation pretty much sums up my feeling after finishing this drama. I have to admit that my initial impression of this was quite OK despite some glaring flaws but as I watched more episodes, I finally realised that this drama was going to be one which I couldn't bring myself to like. In fact, I detested most of the characters and could have given up on watching the rest of it. So why did I continue? For the conclusion, I suppose. I just wanted to see the end of such a mess after a meandering plot for 11 episodes.

Again, another spoiler warning. If you don't want to know the developments or the ending, please skip this review.

I didn't care less whether Naoko was going to be with Masato in the end. I simply didn't because I hated both characters. They could jolly well go to the end of the world and have a so-called happy ending which I guessed would happen by the end of the drama. In fact, I just think these two women were simply silly to fight over a wimp like Masato.

When I finished Ep 1, I had hoped that by the time the story progressed to 2011 with Naoko supposedly being more mature than she was in 2003, there would be a battle for Masato between her and Aya which would be worth watching. Not the end of playing dirty tricks but rather, mental games to work the situation to their favour. Considering that Naoko was fresh out of high school and was barely containing her affection towards Masato, it was no wonder that Aya had the upper hand initially with her antagonistic ways. True, she did play dirty tricks but she had a legitimate agenda to do that because she didn't want her boyfriend-later-husband to be snatched away. That's a natural instinct people would have to prevent people from stealing the people or things that mean a lot. However, I think Aya became complacent after she got married. She thought that by having this legal relationship, it would stop Masato and Naoko from loving each other. She didn't put in effort to maintain the marriage and ended up being pushing Masato to Naoko unwittingly.

Fast forward to 2011, Naoko had changed in appearance but I think she didn't mature mentally. Yeah, she can argue that her feelings for Masato were so intense that she only kept them locked away while he was in Pittsburgh but they never died so she has a legitimate reason for dumping her boyfriend Norisugi once Masato came back. The thing is, I knew it was coming. Norisugi was doomed for heartache right from the start because Naoko didn't love him at all. What I didn't like was how Naoko treated him. Even if you did not love him, she could have been a little more appreciative of how much he cared for her. What's with that attitude of facing him with your back and talking in that manner when she questioned him for using her ID and password? Even if he was a friend and ex-lover, couldn't she have the decency to treat the situation in a more delicate manner? True, Norisugi did bad things to hurt Naoko and Masato later but think of it this way. If Naoko had been frank about her feelings when confronted by Norisugi and apologised for leading him on, he would have been angry at them for a while but he wouldn't stoop to such malicious acts. It was precisely that Naoko didn't even bother to make an effort to pacify her spurned lover that it only added fuel to the raging flames of betrayal.

The Naoko vs. Aya battle in 2011 was nothing short of a fizzle because Naoko was simply no match for Aya. Or rather, Eikura Nana still needs to work harder to reach the league of actresses like Kanno Miho. She reminded me too much of her role in "Nakanai to Kimeta Hi" and I really thought her potrayal of Naoko was quite ordinary.

Manipulative as Aya would seem during most of the drama, Kanno Miho managed to show the weaker side of Aya so well that I couldn't help but emphathise with her. Aya really did nothing wrong in the beginning. She was already close to getting married with Masato and their relationship seemed really healthy at that point in time. However, with Naoko's intrusion, it made Aya become so defensive that Masato started to view Aya as a scheming devil and Naoko as some angelic soul who was helpless just because she loved him. That scene where Aya confided in Norisugi about how they were equally defenceless to do anything against that strong love between Masato and Naoko was a breakdown of her strong pretence so far. It was really heartbreaking to see her like that and I have to say, I was on Aya's side by the end of the drama, thanks to Kanno's engaging performance.

I don't know why but I just disliked Masato right from the start. It's not the fault of Arata though because I think he did OK for his role. Simply put, Masato feels like a wimp to me. He was going with the flow when he wanted to get married but Aya felt like it was too early. When Aya gave the "go" sign for marriage, he hopped on readily. When he knew about Naoko's feelings, he should have done something to stay clear of such a compromising situation but he did the opposite by standing up for Naoko too readily (in turn making Aya more aggressive towards Naoko). When he knew that Aya wasn't going to let Naoko off, he chose to leave for Pittsburgh (I am of the opinion that he just wanted to get out of the trouble rather than the "noble" reason of protecting Naoko) because he couldn't control his feelings anymore. Yup, he may have been a bit more assertive after he returned in 2011 but still, I don't think of Masato as a guy who's really worth all that trouble fighting over. In fact, I like how the ending fate of Masato and Naoko was shown i.e. sleeping in a dark place with minimal light as if to show that their love will be constantly in the shadow than in the light as they hoped for. Forgive my harsh words but I think that's what they deserve after dragging everyone through the mud with them. Most of the time, I'm rather supportive of couples in the forbidden love genre but I have to say that this time, I can't do the same.

Another actor who impressed me this time was Mizobata Junpei. The roles I've seen him in so far are the usual chirpy and a bit silly young chap ones so it was getting a bit boring after some time. However, the later part of his performance as Norisugi who was consumed by flames of jealousy and fury was really good. He looked like he was out of his mind which is such a deviation from the kind and goody-two-shoes image of Norisugi right from the start. I hope that he can continue to challenge such roles with the same level of depth shown in this drama.

One of the grouses I have with this drama would be the sudden cutting of scenes. It does give the viewer more room for imagination e.g. what happened to Norisugi and Aya but it can be really irritating to have the action being cut off without warning just when things are getting heated up.

To be frank, I'm quite disappointed with how this drama has turned out. Initially, the setting of the drama seems to suggest something really scandalous but Naoko and Masato are not related by blood after all. It's only their pre-existing relationship which is proving to be the biggest psychological barrier for them. Taking out the likelihood of incest, the scandalous factor of this relationship has been watered down quite a bit. If it had been that they are related by blood and the situation looked more desperate than what was depicted in the drama, it would have been an even more heart-wrenching drama.

In conclusion, I would say that this drama would suit those who like:

1) A love story with lots of complications and heartache (if you emphathise with Naoko's situation)
2) A love story where you have one person being very aggressive in driving out the third party in the relationship (provided you can tolerate some of the dirty tricks) and the other person being bullied helplessly

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 3 out of 10 (Too long-winded at times, sticky yet tempting like honey - true to its title)
Acting: 7 out of 10 (Kanno Miho and Mizobata Junpei deserve a much higher score but on the whole, I would say that the acting is just average)
Theme song: 6 out of 10 (aiko's theme song is not bad especially the lyrics but the melody was not as memorable for me)
Visual effects / Scenery: 3 out of 10 (Nothing that memorable that comes to mind)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 6 out of 10 (The standoff scenes between Naoko and Aya just fizzled out without a bang but Masato and Naoko's burning passion made an impression)

Total: 25 out of 50