Today, let's meet the top 5 finalists in the Best Supporting Actress category and find out their rankings!
In this year's ranking, it felt like the top 2 were playing musical chairs because they were taking turns to hog the No.1 spot. However, the eventual No.1 won thanks to a last-minute surge of votes while the No.2's votes were concentrated in the earlier part of the voting period. Compared to last year's results where the top 5's scores were not too far from one another, the top 2 this year were way ahead of the competition so the remaining slots were left for contention by other nominees.
No.5 Toda Erika - Reverse (25 points)
Honestly speaking, even though I enjoyed Reverse a lot, Toda's character didn't really stand out in the first half of the drama other than being the lead character's (Fujiwara Tatsuya) love interest. It was only when more revelations came out towards the end that the significance of her role was more evident. This was inevitable because Reverse is one of the few Minato Kanae stories focusing on male characters so it's no wonder that the ladies were somewhat neglected in this drama. Personally, I felt that Toda's performance was a lot more subdued than what I had seen from her to date. To make a seemingly bland and unimportant character stand out requires more than screen presence so I think her acting skills did see a great improvement from before. In case you are wondering, I voted for Toda as well.
No.4 Yoshioka Riho - Quartet (28 points)
2017 was unmistakably Yoshioka Riho's year starting with Quartet which thrust her into the spotlight and got her a leading role in "Gomen, Aishiteru". Until this drama, I had never heard of Yoshioka. To be frank, although I thought that Yoshioka's portrayal of Arisu was interesting and eye-catching, I kept wondering why the media became so obsessed with her and was heaping so much praise on her. This somehow made me think if I had missed something along the way or whether my view of her was so vastly different from the "norm". Nonetheless, despite the limitations, she managed to leave a deep and favourable impression on those who voted for her thus narrowly edging out Toda to get the No.4 spot. As to whether she can continue her winning streak, that will depend on the types of roles she takes on from now on and how she performs.
No.3 Aragaki Yui - Code Blue Season 3 (47 points)
Aragaki grabbed the No.3 spot with a comfortable margin of close to 20 points over No.4's Yoshioka. From the voting pattern, it appears as that the long-running series has garnered a number of loyal fans who were supporting this drama and its cast members during the voting exercise, albeit the number of voters was not as overwhelming as that for Doctor X 5. I can't really comment on Aragaki's performance in this drama since I've not watched any of the dramas in this series. Despite the bad press about the less-than-ideal storyline, Aragaki's performance probably was good enough to make people want to vote for her.
No.2 Uchida Yuki - Doctor X 5 (140 points)
Looking at the point difference between Uchida and Aragaki, it's obvious that Uchida enjoyed a significantly higher level of support thanks to the Doctor X fans. Coincidentally, many of the top 5 finalists in the individual acting categories happen to be those who had played doctors or medical personnel. Could it be that medical dramas are favourites among the readers here?
Similarly, my exposure to Doctor X has been rather limited as I've watched random episodes from the 5 seasons to date but never had the desire to watch the entire drama. Perhaps it is the fatigue of seeing "genius doctors" everywhere that is deterring me from doing so. From my limited experience with this drama, what caught my eye about Uchida's performance was the chemistry she had with Yonekura Ryoko which I guess could have been a contributing factor to making her stand out among the competition.
And here is the No.1 for 2017!
No.1 Mitsushima Hikari - Quartet (160 points)
I have to admit, I was secretly rooting for Mitsushima to win this category because I really liked her performance in Quartet. I was quite worried when I saw her lagging behind for a while and it was such a relief when the last few voters turned the tables in her favour.
If you had watched Mitsushima's dramas to date, you might have had the same impression as I did i.e. she's really good at playing tragic heroine roles. As such, Suzume was a very refreshing change for Mitsushima because the character was bubbly, cute and very expressive. Despite her small frame, she was playing the largest instrument in the quartet which made her stand out in her own way. Even when she was showing the sad background story of Suzume, it was well-managed and not overly tear-jerking. I have to say, this was my No.1 favourite supporting actress role in 2017.
Other than Mitsushima and Toda who I voted for, there was one other actress I picked i.e. Saito Yuki from Okaasan, Musume wo yamete ii desuka? Saito's portrayal of that overly obsessive and possessive mother was so eye-catching and memorable that she literally overwhelmed Haru who was the lead in the drama. Unfortunately, her career was slightly derailed for a while due to her affair scandal so it might take her a bit of time to regain her momentum.
In this year's ranking, it felt like the top 2 were playing musical chairs because they were taking turns to hog the No.1 spot. However, the eventual No.1 won thanks to a last-minute surge of votes while the No.2's votes were concentrated in the earlier part of the voting period. Compared to last year's results where the top 5's scores were not too far from one another, the top 2 this year were way ahead of the competition so the remaining slots were left for contention by other nominees.
Honestly speaking, even though I enjoyed Reverse a lot, Toda's character didn't really stand out in the first half of the drama other than being the lead character's (Fujiwara Tatsuya) love interest. It was only when more revelations came out towards the end that the significance of her role was more evident. This was inevitable because Reverse is one of the few Minato Kanae stories focusing on male characters so it's no wonder that the ladies were somewhat neglected in this drama. Personally, I felt that Toda's performance was a lot more subdued than what I had seen from her to date. To make a seemingly bland and unimportant character stand out requires more than screen presence so I think her acting skills did see a great improvement from before. In case you are wondering, I voted for Toda as well.
2017 was unmistakably Yoshioka Riho's year starting with Quartet which thrust her into the spotlight and got her a leading role in "Gomen, Aishiteru". Until this drama, I had never heard of Yoshioka. To be frank, although I thought that Yoshioka's portrayal of Arisu was interesting and eye-catching, I kept wondering why the media became so obsessed with her and was heaping so much praise on her. This somehow made me think if I had missed something along the way or whether my view of her was so vastly different from the "norm". Nonetheless, despite the limitations, she managed to leave a deep and favourable impression on those who voted for her thus narrowly edging out Toda to get the No.4 spot. As to whether she can continue her winning streak, that will depend on the types of roles she takes on from now on and how she performs.
Aragaki grabbed the No.3 spot with a comfortable margin of close to 20 points over No.4's Yoshioka. From the voting pattern, it appears as that the long-running series has garnered a number of loyal fans who were supporting this drama and its cast members during the voting exercise, albeit the number of voters was not as overwhelming as that for Doctor X 5. I can't really comment on Aragaki's performance in this drama since I've not watched any of the dramas in this series. Despite the bad press about the less-than-ideal storyline, Aragaki's performance probably was good enough to make people want to vote for her.
Looking at the point difference between Uchida and Aragaki, it's obvious that Uchida enjoyed a significantly higher level of support thanks to the Doctor X fans. Coincidentally, many of the top 5 finalists in the individual acting categories happen to be those who had played doctors or medical personnel. Could it be that medical dramas are favourites among the readers here?
Similarly, my exposure to Doctor X has been rather limited as I've watched random episodes from the 5 seasons to date but never had the desire to watch the entire drama. Perhaps it is the fatigue of seeing "genius doctors" everywhere that is deterring me from doing so. From my limited experience with this drama, what caught my eye about Uchida's performance was the chemistry she had with Yonekura Ryoko which I guess could have been a contributing factor to making her stand out among the competition.
No.1 Mitsushima Hikari - Quartet (160 points)
I have to admit, I was secretly rooting for Mitsushima to win this category because I really liked her performance in Quartet. I was quite worried when I saw her lagging behind for a while and it was such a relief when the last few voters turned the tables in her favour.
If you had watched Mitsushima's dramas to date, you might have had the same impression as I did i.e. she's really good at playing tragic heroine roles. As such, Suzume was a very refreshing change for Mitsushima because the character was bubbly, cute and very expressive. Despite her small frame, she was playing the largest instrument in the quartet which made her stand out in her own way. Even when she was showing the sad background story of Suzume, it was well-managed and not overly tear-jerking. I have to say, this was my No.1 favourite supporting actress role in 2017.
Other than Mitsushima and Toda who I voted for, there was one other actress I picked i.e. Saito Yuki from Okaasan, Musume wo yamete ii desuka? Saito's portrayal of that overly obsessive and possessive mother was so eye-catching and memorable that she literally overwhelmed Haru who was the lead in the drama. Unfortunately, her career was slightly derailed for a while due to her affair scandal so it might take her a bit of time to regain her momentum.
i'm quite shocked to find out none of the actresses i voted for made it in the top 5. Koike Eiko in Haha ni Naru was very good and Kaho in Kangoku no Ohimesama was very touching and great too. hmm...
ReplyDeleteUchida yuki had very few scenes and lines to say in doctor x series... She has the same repetative dialogues to say during the operations.. A single dimensional character with no depth and variation. I am shocked with her votes..
ReplyDeleteKoike Eiko and Kaho did get votes but they were too little to fight against the rest.
ReplyDeleteAs for Uchida Yuki, I didn't think she made much of an impact in the story. Like I said, the fans who loved Doctor X sort of went all out to support literally everyone from that drama. I'm not saying that Uchida is lousy but she can definitely do much better than this small role in Doctor X.