Giragira eps 1-4

Kohei, the former no.1 host who must now work his way from the bottom again..

Before watching Giragira, I'd recommend this documentary called 'The Great Happiness Space'. Its a documentary about the world that male hosts live in and the girls that patronise them. It will blow away all your preconceived notions of what the industry is about. Giragira being a jdorama is pretty much a sanitise look at hosts. Even the main character is super idealistic. Normally, it would be a huge sticking point for me but instead of the usual idealistic rookie, we have a 30 year old unemployed salaryman who used to be a no.1 host!

.. while at the same time keeping his family happy...
I think stories about former legends/no.1s trying to reclaim their past glory is better from a storyline perspective. Firstly, you don't have to experience the growing pains of the rookies. From them making mistakes that makes the audience cringe to making sweeping idealistic statements without having paid their dues. An idealist who has been through fire and brimestone is taken much more seriously than a greenhorn. Everyone starts with ideals but find that the profession changes them so anyone who can hold on to their beliefs/changes the profession instead has the audience's support.
If you see an actress which nice boobs, you know she's a gravure idol...



Kohei obviously can't help staring at Hara Mikie..

Second story use of having veteran as the main character is that you have the whole backstory to mine. With a noob, the only backstory you can do is childhood (that's why there's always an osanjimi) or parentage. Giragira does this with lots of hints about Kohei's past whenever onlookers have to give comments on the action.

something I'll never see when I wake up...

Its good to finally see Sasaki Kuranosuke play a main character. He's always the supporting dude in so many shows. He is usually the nice guy but never memorable. This role fits him to a T. He is the former no.1 trying to win with the odds so stacked against him that the audience can forgive him for his outrageous/fake take on hosting. Its not everyday that you can cheer on a jdorama character who is happily married and spends his nights entertaining beautiful women like Hara Mikie and Mitsuya Yoko.
Mitsuya Yoko always got my attention since KDO. When's she gonna get her jdorama push instead of doing guest appearances all the time?

There are parts which are very lame like Kohei talking about how good the other hosts who were fired were with the floor manager but on the whole, these are small flaws that do not detract of the show. I have to accept that this is not the nitty gritty, realistic version of the world of male hosts. The important thing is that there is always an interesting challenge for Kohei to face and all the audience wants is to see him win and to see what happens when his wife finds out about his job. :)
Hey, aren't you fighting terrorists in Bloody Monday?

I was fearing that the show would have plenty of Johnnys who can't act but so far the male cast has been decent. Maybe I'm just blinded by all the chicks in the show. I'd recommend this flawed but very enjoyable show. If my screencaps don't convince you, nothing will.