JUST wrapped up "Oi, Handsome!!" tonight and oh my GOSH, was it a WONDERFUL little drama! This show really took everyone by surprise, I think. I only grabbed the drama initially out of mild curiosity, little did I know it would become my FAVORITE drama of the winter season lineup!
Though its synopsis was described as "Strict Father has to deal with all three of his daughters moving back home", it's plot actually belied any conventional description. Oi Handsome was one of those shows that was more about all these little moments that make up a life than one big story, small passages that when added up become one of the most CHARMING and WHOLESOME dramas out there!
Though there were man, many MANY reasons to love this show, here are just a few of the wonderful moments and things that made Oi Handsome such a GREAT show!
Papa's Kettle
One of the first scenes that made me realize this show was going to have a lot of heart and not just silly shenanigans.
Mika has just moved into her new apartment when her dad shows up with a housewarming gift- a brand new kettle. This bums out Mika because she wanted to buy all-matching housewares and the kettle sticks out like sore thumb.
Staring at the kettle after her father has left, she says, "Oh well, I can just get rid of it later and buy a kettle that I really want."
The next morning a still-half asleep Mika sets the kettle to boil for her tea and its whistle helps wake her up and get ready for the day. Once dressed and ready to go, she sits down to enjoy her cup of tea before work.
Looking over at the sink, Mika muses, "That's the tea kettle Papa gave me."
Then with a smile, "Papa's tea kettle."
It's almost like the kettle represents her dad watching over her.
I thought this was so sweet and touching!
The Running Gag about Yuji’s Crappy Manga
Mika's lowly boyfriend Yuji has "staked his life" on his manga, but upon reading it, it's so awful that Mika realizes she's with a loser and immediately begs to break up with him, AHAHAHA!
She accidentally brings the bad manga home with her and Gentaro finds it and reads it. Later that evening, Mika has to listen to him complain about how dumb and inconsistent the comic is.
And if that weren't enough, a few days later, older sis Rika happens to read the manga too, and also confronts her with all the contradictory things in the badly written manga, LOL.
Poor Mika says, "Why are you all telling ME about this!" AHAHAHA
Yuka's Wonderful Comic Timing
An understated gag in this drama is Yuka's ability to react hilariously to conversation-
When she talks to her blowhard supervisor at work, she makes this saccharine girly voice and when talking to Dad makes an obedient little kid voice.
I love this passage where Yuka is complaining about her life to her ex Omori at a restaurant, and is incensed when he walks out on her. When she says “How dare you leave when I’m telling you my problems!” he takes his umbrella and brandishes it like a sword at her.
Yelling,“You’re the one who dumped ME!”, he makes a slashing motion with it at her, and without missing a beat, Yuka goes, “ARGHHHHH!” in reaction to it, AHAHAHA, PERFECT timing!!!
Papa's Stomach Band
This is a great scene because not only is it funny as hell but once again shows the kindness and heart the show has.
When Gentaro catches Mika wearing a skimpy (to him) dress, he shucks his clothes and pulls up his stomach band, saying "THIS is what you look like walking down the street!" HAHAHA
Mika counters Papa by saying, "What about YOU? Why are you still wearing that dirty old stomach band? Now THAT'S embarrassing!"
Gentaro looks wounded by Mika's words and Mama has to pull Mika aside and remind her that Mika herself had bought it for him on a school trip as a child and he's always cherished it. Mika then feels bad and sheepishly peeks back at Papa. HAHAHA
LOLOL
Yuka’s Meltdown at her Lover’s House.
Yuka's love life seems to be cursed with getting picked up by guys who are already married. She knows she's at fault for not breaking it off as soon as she found out but is too weak to act. That is, until she sees her partner...with ANOTHER girl! She confronts him at his house later with his wife and when he gets belligerent with her, demanding "What the hell are you doing here?" she snaps, and in a hilarious fit of spazzery, begins trashing the house, swinging a potted palm round like a baton and brandishing a TV remote controller like a knife, HAHAHAHA
I love that Yuka manages to get out her aggression to this jerk boyfriend of hers.
Rika’s Adventure with the Out-of-Print Book
Due to one of her drunken blackouts, Rika ends up in a stranger’s house the next morning. Embarrassed, she grabs her things and flees, unwittingly taking a book that was on the table with her things.At first only flipping through it, she soon becomes engrossed in it.
Unfortunately when she gets to the end, she finds out it's part one of a series and DESPERATELY needs to find out what happens next, going to bookstores and trying to get herself a copy.
Why does this make me so happy watching this play out I have no idea.
BTW, this role of Rika has got to be one of Yui Sakuma’s best roles yet- lots of unspoken scenes with just her reacting to things and even her inner monologues are a treat. Out of all the daughters, she's the one I feel had the best arc and growth throughout the show- really a great character.
Mika’s Double
After finding herself who she thinks is a good man, Mika changes her entire outlook to appear composed and demure for his strict sensibilities.
When two of her friends see her on the bus, they laugh, “Hey look, that lady looks a little bit like Mika!” They crack up looking at this professional woman who looks like their friend, pointing out that the real Mika is always a tacky mess.
"Hahaha, we have to tell Mika we saw her double on the bus!” they laugh.
Of course, later when they meet up with Mika for drinks, the two girls are STUNNED when the same lady on the bus shows up! It’s Mika after ALL!!!
"Pass"
When the family sits down to play cards, Gentaro will try for a better hand by saying "pass", but then every other person will ALSO say "pass", reverting the turn back to him! He tries to pass again, but the more he says it, the more they all start reciting 'pass, pass, passsss" til he concedes and loses, LOL
Maho Nonami as Mika’s Busty Sempai Shiina.
I don’t know when Maho crossed over into Cougar territory, but she is simply wonderful (and sexy as hell!) as Mika’s kind and caring coworker who is always there to help her with the slings and arrows of romance!
A VERY sassy role for Maho, if this was the first thing I saw from her, I would be convinced she was the maneater older lady type she's playing! But she really loves Mika and always watches out for her.
And of course many jokes are made around Shiina's bountiful bosom!
Rina Ohta as Watanabe
I’m beginning to think Rina's one of the COOLEST actresses out now, at least if her choice of roles is any indication. I always love her and she's great as the quiet but very perceptive Watanabe, a co-worker of Omori who both assist gentaro with hsi deals. She makes the keenest observations and her succinct summations of their clients even garners the respect of Gentaro!
With Ohta as the steely Watanabe and Kenta Hamano as the uptight Omori, their scenes are always fun and peppy! I could watch a whole series of just the two of them swinging deals!
Actually, all of Gentaro's subordinates are pretty good and get a fair amount of screen time talking about Gentaro and the business.
The Stunned Reactions to Surprised Confrontations!
At least once an episode some character is caught by surprise by someone and reacts in hilariously over-the-top fashion, and I ALWAYS have to rewind it and watch it several times, too funny!!
Eating!
As some of you may know, I love screencaps of cute gals eating and even had a seperate blog dedicated to it back in the day. WELL, I would have LOVED this drama, because SO many of the show's scenes had eating or snacking as a backdrop, and we got treated to someone nibbling on something in almost every set-up!
It’s That Apartment Again!
Thanks to a noisy neighbor outside when Rika is visiting Yuka, the girls venture outside and I found out that Yuka is living in the
same apartment that Asami Mizukawa lived in in Love Distance and Fuka Koshiba visited in Youkai Share House, among others!
Rika’s Double
Rika gets a call from a school friend she had not heard from in years. Seems someone with the same name Rika Ito was lost in a blizzard and has only just been found. Her friend was calling to make sure it wasn’t her, and to apologize for not keeping in touch.
Meanwhile downstairs, Mom and Pop have just heard the news about the girl lost in a blizzard. when he hears the girl’s name is Rika Ito, Papa immediately worries about his daughter, though they had JUST seen her go upstairs not five minutes ago!
Desperate to make sure his daughter is OK, Papa rushes upstairs to Rika’s room, he has to see her with is own eyes!
? ? ?
“She’s here…she’s OKAY!” Papa yells in relief.
When Rika sees how worried her dad was, she sees his love for her through it and with a smile, assures him:
“Both the Rika Ito over there and the Rika Ito over here…we’ll both be fine.”
Why did this scene just KILL me…it was so silly and yet so, so, endearing. Got me all misty eyed!!
Gentaro’s Heartfelt Speeches which Anchor Each Episode.
I thought his long winded lectures were supposed to be comedy relief at first but soon found he always got to the heart of things
In case you haven't guessed, Oi Handsome gets a BIG 10/10 from me!!!
It's for ALL of these little things that I fell in love with Oi handsome, but there's one more BIG reason that I fell in love with the show, and you all probably already KNOW what (or, more precisely, WHO) it is! But for THAT one, It gets its' OWN entry in the post that follows....
