Title: Haretara iine / 晴れたらいいね
Rating: 6 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who like time travel stories or themes such as counting our blessings in peaceful times vs. those during war times and/or are fans of Nagano Mei
* Disclaimer: I have not read the original novel.
* Potential spoilers ahead, proceed with caution!
Liked:
- If you are a fan of Nagano Mei, you should be very satisfied with this SP because you get to see different sides of her character at one seating - cute, bubbly, determined, serious and jaded. While I wouldn't say that this was one of her best performances to date, her acting here was at least on par with her usual standard. Don't miss the part where she explained the concept of time travel in her own words because that was so hilarious. Her interactions with Yoshine Kyoko as buddies was also nice to watch.
- This was one of the few dramas/movies which I felt was wrapped up nicely to project the message of positivity for the future and ended on a feel-good fuzzy vibe.
Disliked:
- Stories about people who lived through WWII or those of people who live in the present time-traveling to the past or vice versa are aplenty so the hurdle to distinguish this from what had been made so far was already high. While it would be difficult to deviate much from the standard flow of developments in such stories (someone travels in time -> causes some changes or takes part in some events in the new era-> the time traveler either returns to the original time or stays in the other era), I found the lack of a clear central theme a bigger issue even after watching two-thirds of the SP. The messages of counting your blessings, make the best out of your circumstances and not giving up hope on the future became more apparent only when the nurse maids went through their arduous journey to return to Japan. While the good thing was that the delivery method of these messages was kind of implied rather than directly shoved into your faces, the subtleness might be lost on some viewers.
- The change of the current timeline from 2015 (in the novel) to almost a decade later (in the SP) was baffling. Given the increased gap between both timelines, this would have made it almost impossible for the nurses' to survive until they could meet Saho in the 6th year of the Reiwa era. Not sure though if this was a deliberate move to make Sae and Mitsu the only ones who could reunite with Saho. Considering that the two of them were already in their 20s during the time they were in the Philippines, that would mean that they would be more than 100 years old by the time they met Saho again. Likely to happen or simply too far-fetched?
- There was something about the time-travel logic which I failed to comprehend - how could Sae have known about Saho's presence and actions in the past if there was a "switch" between the two of them? From the story, it appeared that everyone saw Saho as Sae and the two of them didn't exist together in the same timeline. It bothered me quite a bit when the ending suggested that Sae was aware of Saho's time travel experience which shouldn't have happened though. If anyone understands why this was so, it would be great if you can enlighten me.
- While the supporting cast had quite a number of good actors, the story just didn't offer them enough time and space to do their magic so it was a pity.
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