Tropes and Cliches Abound in “Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru”

From the get go I knew the new drama  “Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru” wasm’t going to fit in my wheelhouse and that it was aimed at viewers WAY younger than my demographic, but with Anne Nakamura in it as the female lead, I at LEAST had to check it out!

“Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru”  featuring the overused-to-death trope of the “Two People Who Hate Each Other But Pretend to be a Couple Then Actually Fall In Love” scenario, when able office supervisor Yukino Katsuragi (Nakamura) needs someone to stand in for a boyfriend for a wedding, and office heartthrob Mizuki Aoshima (Shota Watanabe) needs a fake girlfriend to get all the girls asking him for dates off his back (aw, poor guy)...

Though They each dislike each other, they come to terms  to solve each other’s problems, and after seeing the good sides of the other, sure enough they become attracted to each other. Yep, it’s the same old story and told in a fairly basic an unimaginative set-up, one which I confess I found aggravating to sit through as they did cliche after cliche….

AS I mentioned, I only really checked this out for Anne Nakamura, and My GOSH is she pretty in this one! I’ve been in love with her ever since her small but stunning role in the 2015 Satomi Ishihara drama “From 5 to 9”, and though she’s since appeared in many dramas, very rarely is she the female lead, so this was a nice turn!

Also nice to see Ryoko Kobayashi here as Yukino’s friend Takako Suzuki, 

 as well as appearances for actress Akiko Yada as the drama’s Bar Mama,

and Tae Kimura as Kumi Sakamoto, a Celebrity Guru!

With dramas like “Coffee and Vanilla”, “Usokon”, “Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi”, heck, even Anne Nakamura’s own “Love Rerun”  from a few years back, this trope of the tsundere lead actor being an asolute jerk to the lead actress and then her falling madly in love with him) is an EXTREMELY POPULAR genre right now among the younger viewers… Guess I’m officially in the “Old Codger” boat, ‘cause most of the characters and conflicts are just aggravating for me to sit through! 

Take the scene where they first introduce Aoshimi. Yukino is standing in the hallway reading an event poster, when Aoshima steps up and tells her to move.  Yukino apologizes and moves to the side- but at the same time, AOSHIMA moves to the side so she’s still in his way. She apologizes again and moves back- to which he ALSO moves back and snarkily says “Are You KIDDING ME?” before brushing past her.

"Can you please move aside?"

"??? Ohhh...sorry!"

She moves aside...and Aoshima moves aside, too!

"Are you KIDDING ME?"

It’s supposed to show the viewer, ‘Oh, they got off on the wrong foot, that’s why they don’t like each other”, but all I could think was, “Hey JERK If you tell someone to MOVE, then why the HELL are YOU moving too? If you ask someone to MOVE, then WAIT so she can move and THEN walk by!

His attitude about the whole thing is bad enough, but in an earlier shot, you can see that the corridor is ABSOLUTELY wide enough that he could have squeezed by ANYWAY!  Surely the stuff he was carrying wasn't THAT cumbersome!

In fact, in one scene, Yukino is in the hall talking with Takako, and two employees easily walk right by them, showing that there's PLENTY of space if you aren't a rude cad! D’OH.

MAN, no WONDER the drama is called “Aoshima-kun is Mean”, LOL!

BY THE WAY, You know ONE THING this drama has made me realize?  My New Most LOATHED cliche is now the “Spoiled Airhead Employee who Slacks Off” Character. MAN, am I beginning to DETEST having to sit through this cliche in every damn Office Drama!
Below: Lazy Employee Rika (Manatsu Akimoto) whines about having to do her work while co-worker Shinji (Junki Tozuka) looks on."Yukino is too Bossy!" she pouts.

Yukino has to tread carefully here since another trope is her getting written up for power harassment, but firmly tells her she must do her job properly....

Later Rika is scolded for screwing up her assignment, no surprise since she doesn't pay attention to her job or even care about doing it right. Who could have seen it coming!

But as these cliches go, she has an easy out: Blaming YUKINO for not properly supervising her and checking her work! 

BOTH of them have to work late to fix the problem. And then for the final part of this overused trope, Rika declares that she has to leave work on time as she has a date, handing over ALL the work for Yukino to finish up!

Don't worry Yukino, this is all just part of the usual Office Related Drama Cliches!

GADS, I just HATE having to sit through this in EVERY Office Drama!

Alice Hirose in "Kanzen Muzai~Completely Innocent"

As you all know, I am a huge fan of actress Alice Hirose and try to see everything she stars in, and at episode 3 of her latest crime mystery drama “Kanzen Muzai”, think this might be some of her finest acting yet!
Lawyer Chisa Matsuoka (Hirose) is a Criminal Defense attorney who holds the unenviable job of defending purported criminals in court, a job not looked fondly upon the public when she successfully frees suspected murderers in court, but this is her job, and she does it as best she can.

Matsuoka is assigned to a case in her old hometown where a convict who has been imprisoned for years declares he is innocent and wants a retrial.  The convict Satoshi Hirayama (Yukiya Kitamura) is in jail for the kidnapping of three young girls and murdering one of them 21 years ago. At the time, Hirayama confessed to the crimes, but now says he was coerced by the police into it, and that he is innocent.

We can see from her reaction when told about the case that there is something about it that haunts her, and we will learn she has greater personal ties to the case than one would guess…

She arrives at her hometown where she is met with her colleague Hiroki Kuma (Shunsuke Kazama) who knows her well and is on hand top help and assist in the case. In her first interview with the convicted felon Satoshi Hirayama (Yukiya Kitamura) , he seems stand-offish and aloof and she wonders if he even truly wants the case to be re-examined.

 But as someone dedicated to her job, Chisa goes through the initial investigating anyway, going back over the old case files, interviewing past witnesses, and revisiting the location of the murder.

 Word soon gets back to a Victims Counselor named Yoshio Arimori (Eiji Okuda) and a woman named Toshie Ikemura (Naomi Zaizen) that the convict Hirayama is trying to appeal his sentence and get out, news that greatly disturbs both of them.

21 years ago, Arimori was the lead detective on the abduction case and the one, along with fellow detetive Imai (Takumi Ooto) who eventually nabbed and got the confession out of Hirayama that sent him to prison, but now their methods of getting it will be under scrutiny.

The woman Ikemura is the mother of the 8 year old girl Akiho who was kidnapped and murdered, and is still grieving for her loss after all these years. The idea of the murderer trying to get free is outrageous to her, firmly believing in his guilt and saying he should show repentance instead of trying to get out of jail.

Back with Matsuoka, she is finding that there is little evidence to suggest a retrial and once more goes to interview Hirayama for more information. But she is once again rebuffed by the man who presumes she’s just some hotshot city woman who doesn’t really care about his case or what happens to him.

 

Matsuoka finally has had enough of his aloof attitude and, confronting him at last, reveals her connection to the case: Chisa was one of the three girls that got abducted all those years ago! 

Thankfully, she was one who managed to escape at the last minute from the abductor, however she still bears the scars of the traumatic event, fighting nightmares of the past, anxiety, and a flinching phobia of being approached to this day.

She levels with him by telling him that if he IS the murderer, then she gives no DAMN if he is to be executed, and good riddance. HOWEVER, if he truly is innocent, she cannot ABIDE the VERY IDEA of the actual guilty person still walking around FREE. “So let me ask you again for the last time, Hirayama-san," she firmly asks at last.”Are you innocent?” 

And finally, seeing her resolve, Hirayama breaks down. After years of everyone , his lawyers and friends, all telling him they believed him even as they secretly suspected him, here is a woman whom he knows will TRULY get the the bottom of things. He pleads his innocence to her, and puts his fate into her hands…

Chisa Matsuoka will fight with her life to defend Hirayama and bring the ACTUAL perpetrator of the crimes to justice, but she’ll have her work cut out for her…not only is she seen as freeing a guilty man by all involved, but there are people working in the shadows to make sure that what is buried never come to light!

HOLY TOLEDO, what a GUT-WRENCHING first few episodes! And while I’m (as always) apprehensive about the show’s story resorting to the usual cliche twists and bored tropes with corrupt higher ups, etc, I’m hoping that the drama’s lean 5 episode structure  leads to a more straight-forward murder mystery caper….

It's been SO GOOD so far, crossing fingers that they don't blow it!!!

PS: I've said it before but MAN these WOWOW dramas are always shot with these sickeningly greenish blue filters making everything look so drab and cold! Always feel like I need to watch something bright afterwards!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com