Bara no nai hanaya eps 1-6

Its interesting how while I'm busy playing Ryuga Gotoku Kenzan, two actors who appear in the game are also in this show, especially Matsuda Shota who plays the antagonist, Sasaki Kojiro in the game. When I see him with Terajima Susume on screen together in Barai no nai Hanaya, I half expect them to draw swords instead of providing comic relief. Not to mention that Shaku Yumiko and Terajima Susume were in Himitsu no Hanazono only last year.

Straight to the point!

Bara no nai Hanaya has an interesting premise. Katagori Shingo plays Eiji, a single father with a dark past and Takeuchi Yuko pretends to be a blind girl in order to get close to him and cause him grief. Sounds kinda cheesy? Yes, it is. The good thing is the writer does not try to lean solely on the main plot to make the show interesting. The first episode is a good example. Its more about how Eiji's daughter, Shizuku always has this yellow paper bag over her head.

Kids today, so money minded....

Its so freaking weird how no one is really freaking out by the yellow bag. At the same time, it grabs the audience's attention because we want to see Shizuku's face and know the reason behind her strange behaviour. The writer masterfully uses the paper bag/mask to introduce us to the characters and a bit of their history while keeping the audience interested.

.... and violent. I wouldn't want to mess with Sasaki Kojiro though.

The rest of the episodes are decent with ep 5 being the stand out episode so far. Anytime a writer can write sentai poses into a serious scene and make it moving, its worth watching. If there is one weakness to this show, its the revenge motive. Its lame and oh so soap opera-ish. Anzai is so much like those soap villains. However, I'm willing accept that sometimes people enjoy making weird and overly elaborate plans for revenge as it is necessary to tell the story.

So, who's a better, me or KimuTaku?

Acting wise, Takeuchi Yuko is doing an excellent job. All the various emotions that Mio goes through are so evident in her face. When she goes through despair and joy. The conflict between her mission and her feelings. Seriously, I can only think of probably 3 other actresses who could pull this role off. She certainly proves that she belongs at the top. Now if only Hirosue Ryoko can get attached to a decent jdorama...

OMG! The martians from Space Channel 5! Up, down, left, left chu, chu, chu!

I love the status of the Eiji/Mio relationship after ep 6. Eiji knows the truth about Mio but can't confront Mio with it for fear of driving her away. Mio has to continue living her lie in order to stay with Eiji and can never tell him the truth. I just love the awkwardness of it, the tension. The fact that both of them have actually been caught in this idiotic plot of revenge and become unwitting pawns.

I wish Shaku Yumiko was talking about mine...

I only hope that when the grandfather comes to his senses, they make it short and to the point. There's no way to explain his hatred of Eiji to justify his elaborate revenge, or is there?