meganbmoore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meganbmoore) wrote2007-11-03 01:49 am
meganbmoore) wrote2007-11-03 01:49 am
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jdrama: Taiyou no Kisetsu
Through extreme willpower and liberal use of the FF button, I have finished this. I must wonder: was this series an exercise in seeing how many annoying and unlikable people you could put in a show?
Characters:
The good: Eiko and Kouhei. Two amazingly sweet, endearing, likable people who for some reason were utterly devoted to a creep who didn't deserve(or really do much to earn) more than a second thought from them.
The ok: Orihana and Tatsuya's mother. Orihana, well, he was just interesting, and I appreciated that they didn't try to make him sympathetic or play him as anything but what the was. Tatsuya's mother...well, really, she'd be in the first category, but she managed to raise Tatsuya. How such a nice woman could raise such a jerk...
Also, Naoto. I should hate him(esp for the 2 times he assaulted Eiko) but I don't. Probably because he never bought into Tatsuya's bull for a minute, and he was largely trying to protect his friend(though in a very, very Wrong Way)
The "I should hate you, but mostly I think I just pity you": Shinji, Yuki, Eiko's mom. Shinji was...well...honestly, the only thing he did that made me mad was getting Tatsuya's mom fired. That's how much I disliked Tatsuya by the second half. Mostly he was just a spoiled rich kid who reacted badly for some guy trying to destroy his life. Yuki was rather pathetic, and obviously, she wasn't IN love with Shinji if she cheated on him with the first good looking guy to tempt her away, and she wasn't exactly a nice person(esp. to Eiko, and I do rather find being mean to Eiko to be unforgivable.) She was used and then was used again, even though the second time was her fault. Someone, sahe was too pathetic for me to even hate her for the end. Eiko's mother I started out disliking, but really, she was just pitiful. A control freak clinging to a past that was leaving her, but consistently just more and more pathetic. That said, and completely unrelated, but I think the actress who played her is one of Japan's best looking dorama actresses, she was apsolutely stunning through most of this(and in Yoshitsune.) Though I think a lot of it is maturity(I doubt she was as pretty when 20.)
The "WTF is wrong with you?": Crazy Housekeeper Lady. This woman was just insane. But not in the fun way. And concerningly in love with Eiko's mother. Not in the "oh I'm so devoted and in awe of you" way, but in the "I am psychotically obsesed with you and despise anyone else who goes near you" way. Seriously, what was WRONG with that woman?
The most hatred, though: Tatsuya. Seriously, why this jerk was allowed to live is beyond me. I mean, his issues weren't wven called for. For that level of behavior, I require a LOT more angst and damage and ill treatment. I mean, his mother was apparently able to provide for him and doesn't seem to have had it amazingly bad, and frankly, the only person to blame for his father's death is his father. No one forced him to give up, or to decide to kill himself. The only one involved in that was himself. Even beyond that though, if Shinji's father WAS truly to blame for Papa Tsugawa's death, the target of Tatsuya's revenge would still have been an innocent, and carrying out the revenge meant involving another innocent, and deliverately destroying both their lives. I've never believed in punishing children/loved ones/friends/relatives for the actions of another, even though I know it's a common theme, and normal for some cultures.
Seriously, if this were my first Takizawa Hideaki drama, I'd probably never watch another one again. Such a good thing I've seen Satomi Hakkenden and Yoshitsune(esp. Satomi Hakkenden...he did his best in Yoshitsune, but he was outclassed by almost the entire cast...in SH, though, he was more a nice guy who rose to the occasion, which worked well for him...much better than a great and legendary warrior and an angstridden jerk.)
I did really like the otp, though...when he wasn't abandoning her to go have sex with a woman he didn't like, or deliverately being cruel to her to further his revenge. Still, there's a sweetness and likability to Takki himself that makes me feel a little bit bad for hating Tatsuya so much...when he grins, he's like a puppy.
This is a drama that's interested me for a long time(before I had a clue who Takki was, really) and I knew I'd have problems with it, I just expected characters to get more likable or have some redeeming qualities throughout, not to just get worse and worse(with a few previously stated exceptions.)
But I don't regret watching it. Make of that what you will.
The good: Eiko and Kouhei. Two amazingly sweet, endearing, likable people who for some reason were utterly devoted to a creep who didn't deserve(or really do much to earn) more than a second thought from them.
The ok: Orihana and Tatsuya's mother. Orihana, well, he was just interesting, and I appreciated that they didn't try to make him sympathetic or play him as anything but what the was. Tatsuya's mother...well, really, she'd be in the first category, but she managed to raise Tatsuya. How such a nice woman could raise such a jerk...
Also, Naoto. I should hate him(esp for the 2 times he assaulted Eiko) but I don't. Probably because he never bought into Tatsuya's bull for a minute, and he was largely trying to protect his friend(though in a very, very Wrong Way)
The "I should hate you, but mostly I think I just pity you": Shinji, Yuki, Eiko's mom. Shinji was...well...honestly, the only thing he did that made me mad was getting Tatsuya's mom fired. That's how much I disliked Tatsuya by the second half. Mostly he was just a spoiled rich kid who reacted badly for some guy trying to destroy his life. Yuki was rather pathetic, and obviously, she wasn't IN love with Shinji if she cheated on him with the first good looking guy to tempt her away, and she wasn't exactly a nice person(esp. to Eiko, and I do rather find being mean to Eiko to be unforgivable.) She was used and then was used again, even though the second time was her fault. Someone, sahe was too pathetic for me to even hate her for the end. Eiko's mother I started out disliking, but really, she was just pitiful. A control freak clinging to a past that was leaving her, but consistently just more and more pathetic. That said, and completely unrelated, but I think the actress who played her is one of Japan's best looking dorama actresses, she was apsolutely stunning through most of this(and in Yoshitsune.) Though I think a lot of it is maturity(I doubt she was as pretty when 20.)
The "WTF is wrong with you?": Crazy Housekeeper Lady. This woman was just insane. But not in the fun way. And concerningly in love with Eiko's mother. Not in the "oh I'm so devoted and in awe of you" way, but in the "I am psychotically obsesed with you and despise anyone else who goes near you" way. Seriously, what was WRONG with that woman?
The most hatred, though: Tatsuya. Seriously, why this jerk was allowed to live is beyond me. I mean, his issues weren't wven called for. For that level of behavior, I require a LOT more angst and damage and ill treatment. I mean, his mother was apparently able to provide for him and doesn't seem to have had it amazingly bad, and frankly, the only person to blame for his father's death is his father. No one forced him to give up, or to decide to kill himself. The only one involved in that was himself. Even beyond that though, if Shinji's father WAS truly to blame for Papa Tsugawa's death, the target of Tatsuya's revenge would still have been an innocent, and carrying out the revenge meant involving another innocent, and deliverately destroying both their lives. I've never believed in punishing children/loved ones/friends/relatives for the actions of another, even though I know it's a common theme, and normal for some cultures.
Seriously, if this were my first Takizawa Hideaki drama, I'd probably never watch another one again. Such a good thing I've seen Satomi Hakkenden and Yoshitsune(esp. Satomi Hakkenden...he did his best in Yoshitsune, but he was outclassed by almost the entire cast...in SH, though, he was more a nice guy who rose to the occasion, which worked well for him...much better than a great and legendary warrior and an angstridden jerk.)
I did really like the otp, though...when he wasn't abandoning her to go have sex with a woman he didn't like, or deliverately being cruel to her to further his revenge. Still, there's a sweetness and likability to Takki himself that makes me feel a little bit bad for hating Tatsuya so much...when he grins, he's like a puppy.
This is a drama that's interested me for a long time(before I had a clue who Takki was, really) and I knew I'd have problems with it, I just expected characters to get more likable or have some redeeming qualities throughout, not to just get worse and worse(with a few previously stated exceptions.)
But I don't regret watching it. Make of that what you will.