Up to Week Six of Gegege No Nyobo, and already my heart is wrenching knowing that this is the last of the episodes that have been translated so far. The drama is so, so, good and it’s even more frustrating that it's coming to a halt because the storyline has just been getting better and BETTER with every episode!
Nao Matsushita is such a dream, she breaks my heart in each and every scene she’s in, from her puzzled expressions, open- mouthed surprise or her warm and radiant happy smile, I find myself falling more and more in love with her! I find that even in a scene where she’s simply sweeping the porch, I can rewind and watch over and over, so, so cute.
I get such a warm feeling watching this show, and I realized it’s been giving me the same happy and overwhelming feeling I got when I was watching AGRI (the 56th NHK Morning Drama starring Misato Tanaka as the titular heroine), and this is no small statement in that AGRI is my hands-down favorite, most beloved Japanese Drama OF ALL TIME, bar NONE! The fact that Gegege No Nyobo manages to capture that same magic for me is truly amazing and wonderful!
There are, of course, many obvious reasons why the show reminds me so much of Agri, not least of which is that it’s a period piece based on a real-life person, but what really seems similar to me is the HEART of the show, especially regarding the overwhelming sweetness of the heroine. In that good-natured “No matter how hard things get I will keep a positive outlook and treat everyone kindly” way, in fact, Nao Matsushita ‘s Iida Fumie is very much like Misato Tanaka’s Agri Mochizuki.
Another thing I find similar is the themes they follow: Agri was a young girl who moved to Tokyo to marry eccentric writer Mochizuki Eisuke who seemed to neglect her as a wife, similarly, Fumie and Shigeru‘s relationship mirrors this, with Fumie moving to Tokyo to support Murai’s manga work and finding herself feeling left out.
And just as a lonely Agri found friends and support within the town’s local tavern and Setsuko, the woman who ran the bar, so does Fumie find solace in the town’s rental Manga Store with the shop’s owner Tanaka Michiko. And I was thrilled to see that part of Tanaka played by Matsuzaka Keiko, whom I’ve LOVED ever since she played the part of the equally motherly friend to Aoi Miyazaki as Ikushima in ATSUHIME!
Ahh-hh, All I can do is hope that the powers that be will continue to translate and sub this wonderful show. With only those first 6 weeks translated and 20 more weeks of episodes on my hardrive just WAITING for some good ol’ subtitles to adorn them, I’ll be taking a lesson in patience (and crossing fingers!!!)