I consider most Japanese dramas to fit into one of two very generalized categories which I’ve dubbed Episodic and Linear. Episodic dramas are the ones like Shomuni, Kinpachi Sensei and all the detective dramas like Galileo and Investigator Mariko, where they feature a set cast and have them solve a different problem/case each week.
Linear storylines are the ones that are a single story told in 11 (or so) chapters, dramas like Aishiteiru To Ittekure, Ryusei No Kizuna, Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake and Sora Kara Furu Ichioku no Hoshi, all spent the entire drama telling one tale.
Now, even linear dramas tend to be episodic in nature, since a lot of time is spent on other storylines rather than the actual plot, but every once in a while, you’ll come across a drama that is so tight that it actually feels like a movie that has been divided up into 11 parts, and I’ve just finished watching a great one with the drama Ashita No Kita Yoshio!
Ashita No Kita Yoshio is an intriguing, emotional and heartwarming drama about an unlucky man who’s decided to kill himself after 11 days, and the roller-coaster ride life decides to take him on once he makes this choice! Starring Kohinata Fumiyo as title character Kita Yoshio, this was a drama just filled with great actors and great scenes!
Ashita was first suggested to me by Sadacori, because of our mutual admiration of Kohinata, but when I clicked on the Dramawiki site and saw the banner for it, my first thought was, “Huh! It looks like a detective show trying to copy BOSS”! But I couldn't have been more off, and once I read the synopsis that accompanied the banner, I was intrigued!
Kita-san has come up with a “bucket List” of sorts, that is, things he wants to do before He dies, and one involves coming to town to have some curry, (his very favorite dish!) but gets involved with a mob-like huckster named Heita, (played by Ryuhei Matsuda, a totally cool character) who, although first irritated with Yoshio, upon hearing his suicide proclamation, decides to take him under his wing and help him fulfill his last wishes.
Part of the reason Heita’s being nice to Kita-san is because his girlfriend Rika has incurred a huge debt, and they hope to take an insurance claim out on the soon-to-be-deceased Yoshio, but his goodness slowly but surely starts working on Heita, til he sees him as a true friend.
One of the things on Kita-san’s list is to meet up with his ex-wife Mizuho who left him 11 years ago under unusual circumstances, and when we meet up with her, she already is involved in another sinister situation, as her second husband has just been killed and they have yet to determine if his death was an accident or murder! The character of Washizu Mizuho was played by actress Konishi Manami, and I’ll speak more on her later.
Another wish on his list is to meet up with Yoimachi Shinobu, a pretty idol girl he’d briefly met once years ago, her friendly demeanor she showed him at that time has stuck with him, and through Heita’s underground connections, is able to make plans to have dinner with her...But Kita-san is is for a shock as the sweet young idol he adored so many years ago is far from the pure idol he remembered! But once again, Yoshio’s sincerity comes through, and Shinobu realizes she can be herself around him. Shinobu was played by actrerss Yuriko Yoshitaka, and I’ll speak more on HER later, too!
Yep, the show’s filled with interesting and compelling characters, and a kick ass stable of actors to portray them! Even the second tier characters are solid- Chiaki Kuriyama as Heita’s girlfriend Rika, Jun Kaname as Mizuho’s able assisitant, I even got to see an appearance of Muroi Shigeru, an actress I hadn’t seen since her awesome perf on Africa No Yoru!
And as far as kakkoi characters in this drama, (Ryuhei Matsuda notwithstanding) the one character that surprised me most was Katsuhisa Namase! As the clear-headed straight arrow Insurance Investigator Sugimoto, he played the one level headed person in the entire drama, using his moxie and intellect to wade through all the lies and deceptions to get to the true story! Absolutely the coolest character ever played by the guy me and Car dubbed “The Japanese Jeff Goldblum”! AHAHAHAHA!
