Almael

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Poopy impression

Type: Family Drama

Genre: family drama, comedy

Year: 1993

Intro:

This is one of the most popular classic series in Japan and abroad. Two shows (seasons) were made with an average rating above 34%. Very few shows have a better rating. Only the summer Olympics have a significant higher rating (40-47%). The series supposedly had 12 complete reruns. The data is probably outdated.

It reminds of “Full house” but that’s where the similarity ends.

Synopsis:

The Kashiwagi parents passed away in a car accident leaving their children behind. 18 year old Kashiwagi Tatsuya, the eldest son, unable to take care of his siblings decides to have their relatives & adopters take care of his siblings. He goes in pursuit of his marathon career.

Seven years later…

Tatsuya/An-chan, 26, is going to marry his fiancee, Chizuru, and decides to have a family meeting. He also plans to open a cleaning shop.

Masaya/Chi-niichan, 25, has been adopted and is going to inherit a hospital from an uncle (mother’s ex-fiancee). He has become elitist and snobbish. He offers Tatsuya money to stay away. Masaya hates Tatsuya’s hypocritical behavior…

Koyuki, 22, the eldest sister, has become an office lady who was angry at Tatsuya for renting pron has now an illicit relationship with her boss (ex-college sempai). She has been living by herself nearly all this time…

These three are supposed to be leading but things turn to the worse (acceptable for japanese TV at the time; more in 2nd season).

Kazuya is hanging out with bad company. He’s an ex-convict and because of that he has trouble with the police and work, regardless whether the accusations are true or no. He pulls a knife on Tatsuya the first time they meet…

Koume, 17, the youngest sister, the top #2 high school freshman, is having a hard time living with her cousin. She tries to hide her miserable situation from her siblings especially since what happened to Fumiya. Koume works secretly as hostess to gain independence…

Fumiya, the youngest brother, now 15, was involved in a motorcycle mishap two years ago and had been bound to the chair. His relatives had sent him away because they got their own son by then. He has cut himself off from the others and retreated into his shell…

Tormented by guilt Tatsuya decides to take care of Fumiya without talking to Chizuru first. He usually decides on things without talking to anyone first. Naturally, at this late point it’s all a disaster.

Masaya, meanwhile, is torn between loyalty to his blood related family and his foster family. His only confidant is a patient who could die any moment from heart failure when exerting herself. However, she’s been kept in the dark by everyone…

Koyuki gives up everything to attend to her newfound family or so it seems. Everyone’s just unreliable and she has to try to “fix” things her way.

They end up partying more often than their pockets would allow. Tatsuya, being simple minded and assumptuous, easily blows things out of proportion. He often preaches but the man has a price. Pudding and cakes are a means for bribery, which actually, doesn’t work. Yet he throws a tantrum over them.

In this season, except for Masaya, the brothers easily fall prey to women from which new troubles arise. Koume, having a father complex, intends to live with uncle Hirose Yukio instead of her mother. Yukio was once a love rival in the love quadrouple. However, she is attacked and raped on her way home.

As the situation unfolds and they overcome more or less the troubles and trials the bonds between the siblings improved (or not).

Masaya never saw Koyuki as a sister and as circumstances develop it becomes a troublesome love triangle between the siblings. Koyuki was actually adopted and is unrelated by blood.

Critique:

This show is the reverse of the later “Hotman” show/manga, the starting situation that is. Both are great in their own respect.

Eguchi Yosuke as Tatsuya/An-chan, is great in performing the all happy outgoing brother who’s oblivious to his siblings’ lives. Imagine the Japanese version of Jim Carrey. Naturally, the siblings are resentful of his carefree life while they had hardships. His performances as the later tormented and or the bakaro brother are very natural, funny, embarrassing, sad, etc. And in line with the other actors it makes the family drama scenes great. There’s lots of [strike]domestic violence[/strike] “sibling love” in those scenes yet it’s well controlled within bounds. I wonder if there were accidents shooting these scenes.

Later on, Tatsuya being always presumptuous gets himself head over heels involved with a hostess. Although, this is certainly a possibility it resolved way too easy. The main reason being the compactness of the many stories within this short show. Then again I guess japanese TV wasn’t ready yet at the time for more serious stuff, too.

Sakai Noriko as Koyuki doesn’t seem much in comparison (for a reason) but she undoubtedly has an important role; playing the weakest and naive big sister/stand-in mother. It doesn’t appear noticeable but she’s the one holding everything together. Without her support the family falls apart. She represents the perfect japanese woman except she doesn’t do flower arrangement and or wear kimonos.

The majority of the cast isn’t so outstanding but they all are very natural and convincing in their roles. It’s difficult to say if there’s chemistry since there’s constant sibling “fights”. Overall I can’t think of anything major to complain.

Not much has been said about Kazuya’s 7 years. Maybe I missed it… I don’t remember whether he lived alone, with relatives or in an orphanage. All that’s said was that he was in a detention center. Everyone else has a more detailed reasonable history.

How, such a family could realistically makes things meet ends in Japan, I can’t say. Japan has a high Gini index (54,7) as well as being one of the most costly regarding living expenses. Note the house is 2 story high and has about 17.3 tatamis in 4 rooms for the whole family…

Verdict: 9

Cast: 8

Cast performance: 9

Script/Directing: 10