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| Nanako Matsushima as the titular Housekeeper Mita |
When I first read the synopsis of the new drama Kaseifu No Mita, it was a story I thought I’d heard and seen many, many times before watching j-dramas over the years: Able Housekeeper gets hired by an unruly household of troublesome children but over time, wins them over and teaches them to love one another and be good people. MAN! How wrong could I be? Though the basic structure of this show might be somewhat like what I expected, after just a half hour, it veered off into unknown territory and became one of the most unusual dramas ever!
Like most people, the thing that interested me about the show was primarily pretty actress Nanako Matsushima’s long awaited return to Japanese dramas- it had been such a looooooong time since I’d seen her in anything (gads, the last thing I saw her in was her bit part in Hana Yori Dango in 2007!), but when I read the synopsis for Kaseifu and saw it was about a family, I shied away from it, because family means little kids, and as a rule, I try to stay away from dramas with those precocious gremlins!
As the episodes progressed, however, my friend Car mentioned to me about this Nanako Matsushima drama that’s been getting all of these great ratings, and I said that while I’d seen the show up on the drama download sites, I had avoided it because of my aforementioned allergy to little children in Japanese shows, but then when DOCOMO came out with the poll of viewers’ most beloved dramas and Kaseifu no Mita was Number ONE, I thought to myself, my GOSH, am I doing myself a DISSERVICE by not checking this one out? A re-evaluation was in order!
I hurried back to that drama site and downloaded the first few episodes to “dip my toes in the water” as it were, but as I’ve already mentioned before, all it took was that first episode, and I immediately went back, downloaded the rest of them, and went right back into watching the show!
Such a dark, moody and troubling show, this drama was equal parts UTSUKUSHII RINJIN, BYAKOUYAKO and SHINZANMONO, except without the humor! The show benefits from an excellent cast, with Hasegawa Hiroki playing a suitably spineless and wishy washy father, Aibu Saki playing the loveable doofus Aunt Urara, and even Maho Nonami playing a sexy young thang Hiroki’s having an affair with…
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| Saki Aibu as Urara |
And then of course, there’s Nanako Matsushima. As the chillingly cold housekeeper Mita who claims has “No Heart”, she is the driving force of this drama, and the curiousity of just WHAT her secret back-story could be had ME tuning in episode after episode!
Back in the day Matsushima was just about my favorite actress and here she proves to me once and for all that she’s the real thing- what a wildly intense, piercingly cold femme fatale she is here!
Funny, out of all the new shows that have come out this past season I’ve downloaded and watched at least ONE episode of just about every new show, Nankyoku Tairiku, Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu, Nazotoki wa Dinner No Ato De, Boku Michi 99, Himitsu Chouhouin Erika, Sengyou Shufu Tantei Watashi wa Shadow, etc, but Kaseifu No Mita was the ONE drama I kept passing up! Thank God there’s still that thing called “Buzz”!
Oh, and I should add one more thing: Though this show is positively rife with little kids, the nature of the show kept them from getting too pouty and sassy and I found I was able to enjoy the show just fine! And special mention must be made of how good young actress Kutsuna Shiori was...
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| Kutsuna Shiori as Yui |
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| as Amo Rin in Mei-chan No Shitsuji, 2009 |
As oldest sibling Yui in the Asuda family, it was up to her to keep the family together when it seemd like it was tearing apart from all sides, and I think think she was quite captivating in every scene she was in! I’d first seen Kutsuna as psychic karma girl Amo Rin in Mei-Chan o Shitsuji, and it was thrilling to see what a pretty young lady she’s grown up into! I’m sure we’ll be seeing a LOT more of this girl in the future!
