Jdorama Review: Golden Bowl

Currently waiting on the subs for the last ep of the shows that I'm watching so I'll wait until the end before commenting on them. After all, its the ending that makes or breaks a show. I've been copying my old show and I just can't help rewatching the golden oldies. Yes, this was from a time before d-addicts. When Jem was probably the biggest jdorama tracker. It was the time when most shows were either from Hawaii or Singapore tv and posted on newsgroups. The good old days when bt was at its infancy and irc was still the best place to get stuff.

Can't believe Kuroki Hitomi was 42 when she did this show.

Golden Bowl is two stories in one. Its a sports drama and show about a married woman-younger man.What makes this show so good is two things: chemistry and script. Its damn fun watching Akutagawa (Kaneshiro Takeshi) and Hitomi (Kuroki Hitomi) bicker througout the whole show. The younger man genre only works when their chemistry so that the audience can accept the age difference and the guy doesn't look like he just reached puberty. (See Suppli, Majou no Jouken etc)

Cat fight!

The script is amazing. You know who every episode is going to turn out. It always ends in a bowling match with Akutagawa having to do a spare. What is great is that the formation of remaining pins is always connected to the episodes story. This dorama truly shows that its not the ending but how the get to the ending that counts.

Love all those slow mo/sychronise bowling poses.

Plus, there's plenty of side stories to ensure that the pacing is fast. There's Hitomi's marital problems, Akutagawa's history, the bartender and prostitue single mom (Enomoto Kanako) and Matsumoto Rio's infatuation with Akutagawa. However, the people I have passed this show on to have not been so crazy about it but its definitely in my top 10 best jdoramas ever. Its the type of show we hardly ever see anymore, good acting, good script, good supporting cast, and although everyone knows how the last episode is going to end, its still very gripping because the characters are well fleshed out.


Only minor complaint is that the 'old' Hitomi is nowhere as hot as Kuroki Hitomi. And I remember all the hair pulling when the last episode ran long and Jem did not have enough HD to copy the show and was missing the last 10 minutes. Luckily someone taped the show and managed to send it to him . You'll notice that the quality of the last 10 minutes of the last ep is not as good but for a moment there, we were in danger of not being able to see the end.

Umemiya Masako in one of the most memorable scenes of the show. :)

On a final note, back up your jdoramas every 4-5 years and make at least 2 copies of your favourites. I can't fucking believe I've lost Beauty or Beast. Should have made an extra copy. :(