(Usually I always include at least the poster of the drama, but blogger is being crazy and it is not letting me post any pictures these few days. Not that it makes any difference for this post 'cos the poster is as uninteresting as the main topic of the drama.)
Politics. Even the mere mention of the word makes me sleepy, y'know. Honestly I put off watching the drama for a long time, just because of that. However, the drama actually exceeded my expectations. It's not as boring as I expected, and I actually enjoyed watching it. Hiroshi Abe's character and some other supporting actors provided the necessary comic relief for the otherwise relatively dry drama. I think the biggest plus about this drama is definitely its actors, whether it's the main actors or the supporting cast -- everyone acted their part really well. Eri Fukatsu had that tough professional image of a steely woman down pat. I really like how the drama ended too.
Takuya Kimura was really good with his role. I've probably said this in every damn post that is tagged "Takuya Kimura" in this blog, but I can't help but say this again -- I really like his eyes. He can say a whole page long of dialogue with them. And like I said before, they hold a lot of conviction, which happens to work very well for this role. That aside, his little actions, like some hand gestures and even the quiver of his mouth, speak volumes about his emotions. The rather extraordinarily long pauses he has between certain phrases, accompanied by a frown and a calm yet confident tone, makes one feel that he's not just reciting lines, but saying what he truly believes in. I can go on, but I'll just be boring you. In short, Kimura is a really good actor.
I like Keita Asakura, Kimura's character. I think if he really exists in real life, I'd have voted for him in elections. He's an amateur when it comes to politics, but he's just a very honest, down-to-earth, hardworking person. Maybe that's why his words could reach out to average citizens.
That being said, of course, the drama is not without flaws. It lacks realism, for one. It's strange that a grade-school teacher can turn into a Prime Minister within a month and is suddenly able to do his job well, right? I also have this nagging feeling that the politics world represented in the story is oversimplified, like everything seemed too easy to be real. Watching the drama definitely reminded me why I dislike politics, though -- the greed and the struggle for power, the fake and the politically correct.
I enjoyed watching the drama :). It won a Best Drama award and Kimura won two Best Actor awards for it, which are well deserved, I feel.
Kimura's '09 drama is Mr Brain, which is currently airing. He's acting as a
