Review of "Ashita wo akiramenai...Gareki no naka no shinbunsha"

Watching this drama SP was somewhat unplanned. Although I heard about this last year, I couldn't get my hands on this or find it online then. It was only until a year later and coincidentally, on the 2nd anniversary of the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami crisis that I happened to watch this on the new Japanese channel "Hello! Japan". And boy, this was a really good drama SP and it's been ages since I saw something which was so gripping. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I had been watching a lot and reading a lot about the anniversary events that day but this drama SP really showed what a life-changing event a natural disaster can be and how people continue to strive on despite the hardship.

The focus of this story is on Kahoku Shinbunsha which publishes The Kahoku Shimpou for the Tohoku Region. Its headquarters are located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, and the company is also involved in the sporting, cultural and publishing businesses. Kahoku Shimpou was established in 1897 and has offices in the prefectures within the Tohoku region with 555 employees as of December 2012. 11 March 2011 was probably going to be any other day for the people working in Kahoku Shimpou but little did they know that the biggest earthquake and tsunami would hit their area so badly. Faced with loss of power (unable to print their newspapers and had to depend on another newspaper's printing facilities), lack of information (no access to Internet and phone lines were down) and some of their distribution centres and personnel working in the coastal areas swept away by the tsunami, everyone in Kahoku Shimpou had to try their best in overcoming the challenges and continue to publish their newspaper so that people in Tohoku could know what was happening. Subsequently, they released a non-fiction book depicting what happened and that formed the basis of this documentary-style drama SP.

Given that this drama SP is based on a true event, there are scenes of the tsunami in the form of videos and photos taken by TV stations, the rescue teams and the local citizens instead of the usual re-enactment method used in dramas and movies when depicting such disaster scenes. It was really painful to see the extent of the damage and how terrifying it must have been to witness this first-hand. All of a sudden, it felt like the whole disaster was being replayed in front of you and it was difficult to look at some of the scenes because they made me feel so sad. I think it was great that this drama SP chose not to over-dramatise the efforts of those in Kahoku Shimpou and made them seem like heroes which is probably not what the original book aimed to project. Rather, it came across as these were ordinary people who continued to put out the newspaper despite the crisis and they wanted to do it not only because they were duty-bound to do so as part of their jobs but also they saw the need to disseminate information to people who were helpless because they didn't know what was happening and how bad the situation was. They certainly didn't think they would get praised for that and it was great to see that the drama SP mentioned a reader's letter complimenting them for what they did because it helped to maintain something "normal" in her life despite the "abnormal" circumstances.

There are many actors in this SP but they aren't the usual leading-man and leading-lady type except for probably Watabe Atsuro who played the chief editor of Kahoku Shimpou. However, this didn't mean that the acting was lacking in any way because there are so many strong supporting actors and actresses who really pulled their weight to make their characters come to life no matter whether they had little or a lot of airtime. To be frank, a lot of dramas these days choose to focus on the cast's ability to draw in ratings rather than their acting skills or suitability for the roles or the most crucial thing i.e. story so it was a refreshing change to see how this SP was "going against the trend" by getting people who seemed to lack that "glittering star factor" but they are all capable actors who could fit into their roles seamlessly.

Last but not least, the fact that this SP did not drag on and on was a life-saver. I've become really impatient at dramas which extend the story unnecessarily for some unknown reason but this SP moved on quickly and steadily without the need to focus on wringing tears out of the viewer by extending the post-disaster scenes for no reason. I really like the succinct handling of the material which was well-managed and gave equal weightage to all aspects of the disaster. No wonder the drama SP won multiple awards which I say should be reflective of its quality. Do catch it if you can!

It's been ages since I gave such a favourable rating to any drama or movie so don't be surprised to see the high score here:

And my ratings for this drama SP...

Story: 10 out of 10 (Since this is a documentary-style story, it benefits from the minimal dramatic effects and comes across as a strong description of human faith and courage against the trying circumstances.)

Acting: 10 out of 10 (There are so many actors involved in this SP but they all pulled their weight and played their characters so well that nobody really outshined or became outshined by others.)

Theme song: 7 out of 10 (There wasn't a theme song but the BGM did quite well in conveying the seriousness of the material)

Visual effects / Scenery: 10 out of 10 (Coupled with videos and photos taken by Kahoku Shimpou and those who suffered from the crisis, it made the whole story come to live. Sadly, because the disaster zones are still very much in the state as they were when the crisis took place - recovery and restoration efforts are slow, this means that the drama could be shot on location)

Teamwork / Chemistry: 10 out of 10 (Despite the many characters featured in the story, they all had a chance to shine and made their characters link to one another in a seamless manner which is quite unusual to see in most dramas these days where the limelight would be solely on the leads.)