jdrama: Good Luck! eps 1-5

[meganbmoore]

Though he's expected to take over his father's fishing business Shinkai chooses instead to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.  When he finally becomes a co-pilot, he finds himself clashing with one of his superiors, Koda, a pilot with very strict rules, and an adherence to regulations, as well as falling for Ogawa, a very frank mechanic who's afraid of flying.  Meanwhile, there's also Fukaura, a brash stewardess with an utterly shameless crush on Shinkai, Jane, a (male) pilot who's a complete playboy(yes, Jane, not Jean, and it's his personal name, not his family name), and Togashi, the head stewardess who has A Past with Koda, not to mention Shinkai's neighbor, who thinks his name is "Shou-chan," and that he's her boyfriend.

I have to say, this is my fourth Kimura Takuya drama, and I can't help but feel like I'm just seeing the character in a new profession everytime.  He always seems to play the cool but nice guy who has problems with authority and clashes with the way things are traditionally done.  In Hero and Love Revolution, it was the standards and typical expectations of that work place, and in Pride and Good Luck!, it's specifically with a superior who has different ideas from him.  I'm not really complaining, as it's a character type that he plays well, but I'd like a little more variety.

So far, I quite like it.  Neither romance( the fairly normal Shinkai/Ogawa and the more subtle Koda/Togashi) overpowers the main plot, but both are well done.  I admit that, while I do like the main pairing, I find myself more interested in Koda and Togashi's more troubled relationship.  There's also Shinkai's troubled relationship with his father, as well as the fact that Koda seems to be related(responsible for?) Ogawa's having lost her parents in a plane crash 12 years before.

Also, I rather like Fukaura.  She's utterly blatant and shameless in her crush on Shinkai, and anytime the other stewardesses think she's about to make a fool of herself, they literally grab her up by the arms and haul her off.  She also declared her intentions for Shinkai(MARRIAGE!) not to him, but to Ogawa, who hadn't actually started being interested in him yet, but still thought she was getting ahead of herself.  Except they had this conversation in front of Shinkai, who was standing there going "wha-wha-wha?"  Actually, Shinkai not knowing what to do with girls confessing they like him seems to be a running theme, as Togashi jokingly told him she might like him at one point, which turned him into a statue.  Fukaura also clashes a lot with Koda.  He thinks she's flighty and irresponsible, she thinks he's a cold jerk.  They're both right.  I think the current plan is that she'll kill him with kindness and he'll kill her with politeness.  When they declared war, they looked at Shinkai, who shrunk against the wall, made a handwave-y gesture, and said "faight-oh?"(actually, I don't know how to spell that...)

I also like Jane, who uses a new language every time he comes up to someone.  Actually, I either like or am at least amused by every character of not in the series so far.

Comments

[cassiopeajelly.livejournal.com]

I really like this drama alot. Although I like Shinkai and his plot line quite a bit, I found the plotline about Koda to be more interesting (and in some ways, more central to the drama by the end).

Also, I really like the adult relationship between Shinkai and Ogawa. I always feel that they are on equal footing with each other and have a nice give and take between them. They never fall into the heavy drama cliches because they always talk to each other and are honest with each other. A nice change (at least as far as I am concerned).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Koda's plotline is the more interesting of the two. I like that about Shinkai and Ogawa, too. They're very upfront about things and and don't let things fester. It's Koda and the head stewardess I want to lock in a bedroom for a week, so they'll get it together.

[winterspel.livejournal.com]

One of absolute favorite dramas! I love it to pieces, and it hasn't faded for me one bit. :) Incidentally I'm currently writing fic for it. :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I suspected you liked this one. So far it's pretty good, though I wish KimuTaku didn't smoke in so many of his dramas.

I love his reaction anytime a woman mentions liking him, whether joking or serious. I think he's scared.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

This was a very cute drama. I enjoyed it a lot but especially got a kick out of the stirring music, dramatically moving, border-line propaganda of deep purpose they tried to end most episodes with.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I LOVE how overwhelmingly dramatic they always make things.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

I'm not really complaining, as it's a character type that he plays well, but I'd like a little more variety.
Try Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi (One Million Stars Falling from the Sky). Kimura plays a dark character *points to icon* "Ogawa" is also in this drama too.

I liked Jane as well. I can't take him seriously, but he's so funny :D

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

One Million Stars is actually one of the few dramas I will simply never touch, unfortunately.

Jane is just very fun.