Titles:
Japanese: Mother (Like Woman and anone, that's the way it's shown in the title credits.)
English: Mother
Broadcast Year: 2010
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
A teacher of a second grade class discovers that one of her students, Rena, is being abused, and when it seems like there is little chance for the Japanese equivalent of Child Protective Services to intervene quickly enough, she tries to fake Rena's death, kidnap the girl and attempt to start a new life with her as her mother. In the process, she finds she needs to turn for help to her own mother and discovers secrets in their past that complicate and explain her impulse to help Rena.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Blackmail, Attempting to Purchase a Family Register
Awards: Best Drama, Best Newcomer, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screen Play
Cast:
Okay.
When I reached the end of episode 11 my overwhelming thought was "Who the hell was that actress?" and "They should give her all the awards." Her name is Ashida Mana, and they gave her all the awards. You know how for most child roles the actor cast is chosen to be older than the part they play for a variety of perfectly normal and understandable reasons? The character Michiki Rena is eight years old. Ashida Mana played that role when she was SIX, and her performance in this series will break your heart (fuck: I'm even tearing up as I write this). It's not (as you might expect) the physical abuse or the maybe implied sexual abuse, it's how the series ends. For the Goddess' sake, just fucking go watch it. (ETA: If you've seen Pacific Rim, then you've already seen her - she played the young version of Mako.)
The protagonist, Nao, is played by Matsuyuki Yasuko, who has not appeared in any other of Sakamoto's series, but won the Best Actress award for this performance.
Tanaka Yuko plays Nao's biological mother. She also plays mothers in Woman and anone, but won the Best Supporting Actress award for this performance.
Ono Machiko plays Rena's abusive mother, Kaho, and also plays the protagonist's wife in The Best Divorce.
Ayano Go plays plays the abusive boyfriend of Rena's mother, and also plays the philandering husband Ryo in The Best Divorce.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
I'm pretty certain that Mother would be most people's pick for Sakamoto's best series. It's been remade in both Korea and Turkey, and the Turkish version was a huge hit there as well. While the performances are undeniably great, it is really Sakamoto's writing which allowed everyone to shine. He writes Rena/Tsugumi as sunny and, most important, smart. She does not know her multiplication tables yet, but she will find a way. Nao is icy, but intelligent as well. Motherhood was never something Nao aspired to, but she finds that she could not be less than the best mother she can be when confronted with Tsugumi's need. (Again, fuck: how many tissues will I need to write about this show?)
It's a series called Mother that features at least five mothers. I'm not sure Sakamoto could or should have given us a deeper look at Rena's biological mother: she does at least a couple of horrible things on screen, but I think we can understand her if not sympathize with her. And so she's pretty much no more than a villain. Contrasting her are the four mothers of Nao's family: Nao's adoptive mother, her biological mother, her pregnant sister and Nao herself. The core of this series is the sacrifices and commitments these women are willing to make for their children. As usual in Sakamoto's oeuvre, there are surprises and touching moments,and in this case they reveal what Sakamoto thinks is the essence of motherhood and that is a willingness to do anything for the sake of their children. I think most people would agree that that is an ideal to aspire towards, and that theme is thoroughly explored in this series.
We root for Nao and the renamed Tsugumi even though we know what Nao is doing is the wrong thing to handle Tsugumi's situation. The devastating part of this series is that we are shown that Nao would be great mother for Tsugumi, but, of course, Nao's actions are wrong, and so it cannot be. The one light in the darkness; however, is that the story does not have to end there, and when Tsugumi is old enough they might be able to reconnect.
The series is an exemplar of feminist writing as well. It is entirely about women's agency to the point that the show immediately passes the Bechdel test and would fail to pass many opposite versions of that test. For instance, there are at least two named male characters, but if I recall correctly none of them ever talk to each other let alone talk about anything other than Rena or Nao. Contrariwise, there may have been a discussion or two about Nao's sister's fiancee, but that's about it for any discussion between women about a man.
Mother is an amazing achievement. While the story is firmly planted in the tropes of melodrama - we have the usual array of dying characters and hospital scenes, abuse, misadventures, and crushing disappointments - the series is grounded in both a realistic portrayal of these people's lives and a thorough thematic exploration of what motherhood means to these women. It is about the bonds that form and just how resilient those bonds can be. But it's also about the joy that those bonds provide as well. Watch this series if only for the joy of Ashida Mana's performance.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Sunday, June 17, 2018
The TV Dramas of Sakamoto Yuji Part 7 - The Best Divorce
Titles:
Japanese: 最高の離婚 or Saikou no Rikon
English: The Best Divorce
Broadcast Year: 2013 plus a two-hour follow-up special in 2014
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice and the special is at gooddrama
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
Two thirty-something married couples are having marriage problems. Mitsuo and Yuka have been married for a couple of years but are the classic odd couple: Mitsuo is fastidious and neat, and Yuka leaves the towels on the counter when she's done with them. Mitsuo is already reaching the end of his patience when he runs into his ex, Akira, who is now married to Ryo who is openly and obliviously unfaithful. The two couples try to resolve their differences, but divorce seems inevitable for both of them.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Marital Infidelity, Failure to Submit Documents to the Registrar
Awards: Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screen Play, Best Song
Cast:
The protagonist, Mitsuo, is played by Eita who was also in Soredomo, Ikite Yuku and anone, and won the Best Actor award for this performance.
Ono Machiko plays Mitsuo's wife, Yuka, and also plays the abusive mother in Mother. In the Best Divorce she very much steals the show from the rest of these superb actors, and won the Best Supporting Actress award for doing so.
Maki Yoko plays Akira who is Mitsuo's ex and the wife of Ryo. She is also the lead in Sakamoto's Mondai no Aru Restaurant.
Ayano Go plays plays the philandering Ryo, and also plays the abusive boyfriend of Ono Machiko's character in Mother.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
It's a light, romantic comedy about divorce in which (spoiler) no one gets divorced - well, at least, not until the special. The special seems to be less well received than the original series, but I'd still recommend it for the performances, again, particularly that of Ono as Yuka. Her final statement of what she wants, and what love means is beautiful, and you'll want to shake Mitsuo for not being able to respond to it. The special does not give those two characters a happy ending, but it is true to the fact that these two mismatched humans almost certainly should have never gotten married in the first place.
The Best Divorce is a tricky series from an actor's perspective because none of the four principal characters are particularly likeable.
Eita as Mitsuo has to walk a pretty fine line between his compulsion for neatness and order, and still show some affection towards Yuka who never gives neatness and order a second thought. It would be easy to hate Mitsuo's desire to control Yuka, and Eita plays the comedic beats with a delicate touch that humanizes the character, and let's us know that he's not entirely unaware of his own foibles.
Ayano as Ryo also has a difficult role since Ryo's routine philandering is obviously hurting all the women he sleeps with including his wife Akira, and, yet, he remains seemingly utterly oblivious to that fact. He's supposed to be a TA at a college, and so he should be fairly intelligent; nonetheless, Ayano presents the character as operating in a kind of haze, only living in the moment, and moving from bed to bed as the opportunities present themselves. Ayano somehow convinces us that Ryo is possible, and that somehow the women in his life would still respond to his attentions even when it's patently clear that he will continue to drift.
Maki's Akira is a much quieter role than the other three. If you've seen Maki Yoko in other roles, you know that she can turn on her movie-star charisma and win you over at will. Here we only see that charm in flashes. Akira is calm and deliberate. She does not like Ryo's roving ways, but neither does she see herself as a victim nor Ryo as a villain. She also knows that he is still a better match for her than her ex, Mitsuo.
And then we come to Ono's Yuka. I would argue that Yuka is no more likeable than the other three. She's slovenly. She's enthusiastic, but scattered. She's not reliable in any sense. And, yet, Ono's performance is the real reason to watch this series. It's harder to see why Yuka could have fallen for Mitsuo, but it's very easy to see why Mitsuo would have fallen for Yuka. Thanks to both Ono and Eita's performances we can see that Yuka has something that Mitsuo needs, and that she could break him open and help him be a happier, healthier human being.
The Best Divorce is the stagiest of the Sakamoto dramas that I am reviewing in this series. The heights of this show occur when two to four of the characters are seated and talking to each other. Sakamoto gives us all the possible pairwise interactions, and we see the four grow closer together as they try to resolve the conflicts in the marriages. While the show does go to various locations, the best parts of this show would work as well as a play.
One of the themes of this series is that divorce is not only about the couple. Yuka has a wonderful relationship to Mitsuo's grandmother, and, though he dreads visiting them, Mitsuo is genuinely loved by Yuka's huge extended family. In fact, one of the sharpest moments of the series is when we realize that Yuka and Mitsuo relationship and problems are not all that different from those of their respective families. Leaving behind this marriage would also effect their families, and they genuinely like each other's families.
If this were Sakamoto's best series, it would be enough for an outstanding career. It is light, comedic and wise. The performances are superb, and direction lively and compassionate. While Sakamoto seems often to conflate drama with depth, when he ventures into comedy he often gets into subtler and more complex truths than his more melodramatic works. The Best Divorce might be his best exploration of what love means though the next series I shall look at, Mother, has a strong claim on that achievement as well.
Japanese: 最高の離婚 or Saikou no Rikon
English: The Best Divorce
Broadcast Year: 2013 plus a two-hour follow-up special in 2014
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice and the special is at gooddrama
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
Two thirty-something married couples are having marriage problems. Mitsuo and Yuka have been married for a couple of years but are the classic odd couple: Mitsuo is fastidious and neat, and Yuka leaves the towels on the counter when she's done with them. Mitsuo is already reaching the end of his patience when he runs into his ex, Akira, who is now married to Ryo who is openly and obliviously unfaithful. The two couples try to resolve their differences, but divorce seems inevitable for both of them.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Marital Infidelity, Failure to Submit Documents to the Registrar
Awards: Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screen Play, Best Song
Cast:
The protagonist, Mitsuo, is played by Eita who was also in Soredomo, Ikite Yuku and anone, and won the Best Actor award for this performance.
Ono Machiko plays Mitsuo's wife, Yuka, and also plays the abusive mother in Mother. In the Best Divorce she very much steals the show from the rest of these superb actors, and won the Best Supporting Actress award for doing so.
Maki Yoko plays Akira who is Mitsuo's ex and the wife of Ryo. She is also the lead in Sakamoto's Mondai no Aru Restaurant.
Ayano Go plays plays the philandering Ryo, and also plays the abusive boyfriend of Ono Machiko's character in Mother.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
It's a light, romantic comedy about divorce in which (spoiler) no one gets divorced - well, at least, not until the special. The special seems to be less well received than the original series, but I'd still recommend it for the performances, again, particularly that of Ono as Yuka. Her final statement of what she wants, and what love means is beautiful, and you'll want to shake Mitsuo for not being able to respond to it. The special does not give those two characters a happy ending, but it is true to the fact that these two mismatched humans almost certainly should have never gotten married in the first place.
The Best Divorce is a tricky series from an actor's perspective because none of the four principal characters are particularly likeable.
Eita as Mitsuo has to walk a pretty fine line between his compulsion for neatness and order, and still show some affection towards Yuka who never gives neatness and order a second thought. It would be easy to hate Mitsuo's desire to control Yuka, and Eita plays the comedic beats with a delicate touch that humanizes the character, and let's us know that he's not entirely unaware of his own foibles.
Ayano as Ryo also has a difficult role since Ryo's routine philandering is obviously hurting all the women he sleeps with including his wife Akira, and, yet, he remains seemingly utterly oblivious to that fact. He's supposed to be a TA at a college, and so he should be fairly intelligent; nonetheless, Ayano presents the character as operating in a kind of haze, only living in the moment, and moving from bed to bed as the opportunities present themselves. Ayano somehow convinces us that Ryo is possible, and that somehow the women in his life would still respond to his attentions even when it's patently clear that he will continue to drift.
Maki's Akira is a much quieter role than the other three. If you've seen Maki Yoko in other roles, you know that she can turn on her movie-star charisma and win you over at will. Here we only see that charm in flashes. Akira is calm and deliberate. She does not like Ryo's roving ways, but neither does she see herself as a victim nor Ryo as a villain. She also knows that he is still a better match for her than her ex, Mitsuo.
And then we come to Ono's Yuka. I would argue that Yuka is no more likeable than the other three. She's slovenly. She's enthusiastic, but scattered. She's not reliable in any sense. And, yet, Ono's performance is the real reason to watch this series. It's harder to see why Yuka could have fallen for Mitsuo, but it's very easy to see why Mitsuo would have fallen for Yuka. Thanks to both Ono and Eita's performances we can see that Yuka has something that Mitsuo needs, and that she could break him open and help him be a happier, healthier human being.
The Best Divorce is the stagiest of the Sakamoto dramas that I am reviewing in this series. The heights of this show occur when two to four of the characters are seated and talking to each other. Sakamoto gives us all the possible pairwise interactions, and we see the four grow closer together as they try to resolve the conflicts in the marriages. While the show does go to various locations, the best parts of this show would work as well as a play.
One of the themes of this series is that divorce is not only about the couple. Yuka has a wonderful relationship to Mitsuo's grandmother, and, though he dreads visiting them, Mitsuo is genuinely loved by Yuka's huge extended family. In fact, one of the sharpest moments of the series is when we realize that Yuka and Mitsuo relationship and problems are not all that different from those of their respective families. Leaving behind this marriage would also effect their families, and they genuinely like each other's families.
If this were Sakamoto's best series, it would be enough for an outstanding career. It is light, comedic and wise. The performances are superb, and direction lively and compassionate. While Sakamoto seems often to conflate drama with depth, when he ventures into comedy he often gets into subtler and more complex truths than his more melodramatic works. The Best Divorce might be his best exploration of what love means though the next series I shall look at, Mother, has a strong claim on that achievement as well.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
The TV Dramas of Sakamoto Yuji Part 6 - Quartet
Titles:
Japanese: カルテット (pronounced "Karutetto" which is as Japanese can get to "Quartet")
English: Quartet
Broadcast Year: 2017
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
Four string musicians meet in Tokyo and decide to form a string quartet. The second violin, Beppu Tsukasa, offers to house the group in his family's vacation home in Karuizawa for the winter. The lead violin, Maki Maki,has no idea what has happened to her husband who left their Tokyo apartment and disappeared in the previous year. The four name their quartet "Donuts Hole" and land a steady gig at a restaurant in Karuizawa. The four grow closer and strive to become a concert act.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Spousal Abandonment, Robbery, Purchasing a Family Registry
Awards: Best Drama, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screen Play, Best Song
Cast:
The protagonist, Maki, is played by Matsu Takako who has not appeared in any of Sakamoto's other series, but won the Best Actress award for this performance.
Mitsushima Hikari plays the cellist, Sebuki Sezume, which is a much lighter role than her previous performances in "Woman", "Someday, When I Recall This Love, I Will Surely Cry" and "Soredemo, Ikite Yuku". She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this performance.
Takahashi Issei plays the violist, Iemori Yutaka, and was also in Woman. He was nominated for Best Actor for this performance.
Matsuda Ryuhei plays the second violinist, Tsukasa, and he has not appeared in any other of Sakamoto's series, but did play the impossibly dedicated talent scout in the asadora Amachan.
Yoshioka Riho plays a waitress, Kisugi Arisu, at the restaurant where the Donuts Hole perform. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for this performance, but has not appeared in any other of Sakamoto's series.
Tatsuya Uchihara (Uchi from Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City) has a cameo in Episode 1 He plays a hair stylist and says the word "Shampoo" at about the 16:00 mark.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
Quartet is about what it means to follow one's passion and make art. The four central characters are drawn together by their shared passion for making music despite their culture saying both they cannot and they should not be doing so. Through the series we learn that they were not brought to together by chance and that at least three of them have things in their past which should prevent them from making it as entertainers in Japanese culture. Nevertheless, they discover to their surprise that they like each other and want to perform together pretty much no matter what happens.
My personal preference is for Sakamoto's more comedic writing, and Quartet is one of his less melodramatic works. No one has a terminal illness, and we do not step into a hospital even once. Instead, the dramatic conflict comes from the character's pasts, and the mystery of Maki's husband's disappearance which is the inciting incident for the narrative. The characters are a bit quirky, but certainly less so than that of Mondai No Aru Restaurant; however, while Sakamoto does have a fondness for writing characters with easily understood tics, they are never cartoons, and he portrays and respects them fully as human beings,
Like another Japanese series, Nodame Cantable (manga, anime and live action drama), Quartet features a lot of music in the Western Classical tradition. I enjoy the Classical repertoire, but I generally find the appreciation for string quartet music to be overblown. Add to that the Japanese aesthetic that proposes that there are strictly proper ways to appreciate and master art forms and there becomes a danger that this music can be fetishized and lifeless. Sakamoto addresses this issue fairly directly in the series, and he sides with the idea that a more playful approach can be vital and fulfilling for both the audience and performers. Thus, the Donuts Hole perform familiar hits from the great musicians of Western classical music but also pieces from well known video games. One of the themes of Sakamoto's works is widening the idea of what is acceptable and breaking open the bounds of propriety which can be imposed by Japanese society.
The setting of Karuizawa is nearly a fifth principal character in Quartet. I watched this series before Terrace House Opening New Doors started, and so I have been comparatively disappointed by how Karuizawa has been shown on Terrace House whose cinematography is usually excellent. In Quartet, Karuizawa is an amazing winter fairyland of vistas and, clearly, an aspirational playground for the wealthy, and so we can understand how the Donuts Hole might be able establish themselves there.
All in all, Quartet is probably Sakamoto's most balanced confection. It does not strive for melodrama, but, nevertheless, has fulfilling moments of drama thoroughly grounded in the nature of the characters and their history. It has moments of comedy, but they are incidental, and he never puts the characters into situations simply for the sake of a laugh. Instead, we get lots of good music as we explore the lives of these artists, and their commitment to their art form and each other. It is a series that encourages people to live for their passion and the art no matter what impediments society places in their way.
Japanese: カルテット (pronounced "Karutetto" which is as Japanese can get to "Quartet")
English: Quartet
Broadcast Year: 2017
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
Four string musicians meet in Tokyo and decide to form a string quartet. The second violin, Beppu Tsukasa, offers to house the group in his family's vacation home in Karuizawa for the winter. The lead violin, Maki Maki,has no idea what has happened to her husband who left their Tokyo apartment and disappeared in the previous year. The four name their quartet "Donuts Hole" and land a steady gig at a restaurant in Karuizawa. The four grow closer and strive to become a concert act.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Spousal Abandonment, Robbery, Purchasing a Family Registry
Awards: Best Drama, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screen Play, Best Song
Cast:
The protagonist, Maki, is played by Matsu Takako who has not appeared in any of Sakamoto's other series, but won the Best Actress award for this performance.
Mitsushima Hikari plays the cellist, Sebuki Sezume, which is a much lighter role than her previous performances in "Woman", "Someday, When I Recall This Love, I Will Surely Cry" and "Soredemo, Ikite Yuku". She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this performance.
Takahashi Issei plays the violist, Iemori Yutaka, and was also in Woman. He was nominated for Best Actor for this performance.
Matsuda Ryuhei plays the second violinist, Tsukasa, and he has not appeared in any other of Sakamoto's series, but did play the impossibly dedicated talent scout in the asadora Amachan.
Yoshioka Riho plays a waitress, Kisugi Arisu, at the restaurant where the Donuts Hole perform. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for this performance, but has not appeared in any other of Sakamoto's series.
Tatsuya Uchihara (Uchi from Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City) has a cameo in Episode 1 He plays a hair stylist and says the word "Shampoo" at about the 16:00 mark.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
Quartet is about what it means to follow one's passion and make art. The four central characters are drawn together by their shared passion for making music despite their culture saying both they cannot and they should not be doing so. Through the series we learn that they were not brought to together by chance and that at least three of them have things in their past which should prevent them from making it as entertainers in Japanese culture. Nevertheless, they discover to their surprise that they like each other and want to perform together pretty much no matter what happens.
My personal preference is for Sakamoto's more comedic writing, and Quartet is one of his less melodramatic works. No one has a terminal illness, and we do not step into a hospital even once. Instead, the dramatic conflict comes from the character's pasts, and the mystery of Maki's husband's disappearance which is the inciting incident for the narrative. The characters are a bit quirky, but certainly less so than that of Mondai No Aru Restaurant; however, while Sakamoto does have a fondness for writing characters with easily understood tics, they are never cartoons, and he portrays and respects them fully as human beings,
Like another Japanese series, Nodame Cantable (manga, anime and live action drama), Quartet features a lot of music in the Western Classical tradition. I enjoy the Classical repertoire, but I generally find the appreciation for string quartet music to be overblown. Add to that the Japanese aesthetic that proposes that there are strictly proper ways to appreciate and master art forms and there becomes a danger that this music can be fetishized and lifeless. Sakamoto addresses this issue fairly directly in the series, and he sides with the idea that a more playful approach can be vital and fulfilling for both the audience and performers. Thus, the Donuts Hole perform familiar hits from the great musicians of Western classical music but also pieces from well known video games. One of the themes of Sakamoto's works is widening the idea of what is acceptable and breaking open the bounds of propriety which can be imposed by Japanese society.
The setting of Karuizawa is nearly a fifth principal character in Quartet. I watched this series before Terrace House Opening New Doors started, and so I have been comparatively disappointed by how Karuizawa has been shown on Terrace House whose cinematography is usually excellent. In Quartet, Karuizawa is an amazing winter fairyland of vistas and, clearly, an aspirational playground for the wealthy, and so we can understand how the Donuts Hole might be able establish themselves there.
All in all, Quartet is probably Sakamoto's most balanced confection. It does not strive for melodrama, but, nevertheless, has fulfilling moments of drama thoroughly grounded in the nature of the characters and their history. It has moments of comedy, but they are incidental, and he never puts the characters into situations simply for the sake of a laugh. Instead, we get lots of good music as we explore the lives of these artists, and their commitment to their art form and each other. It is a series that encourages people to live for their passion and the art no matter what impediments society places in their way.
Tuesday, June 05, 2018
The TV Dramas of Sakamoto Yuji Part 5 - anone
Titles:
Japanese: あのね or anone - the title card in the episodes is written in romanji
English: anone (which can be translated as "you know what", but is also the personal name of the central character)
Broadcast Year: 2018
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
A young woman, Tsujisawa Harika, was abandoned by her family as a young girl is making her way in the world and living in an internet cafe. She and a couple friends hear of an abandoned bag full of cash at the beach and go and attempt to find and retrieve it. She and several other misfits are then brought together into the life of the wife, Hayashida Anone, of a printer who died a year or so earlier.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Counterfeiting, Child Abandonment, Theft, Betrayal, Marital Infidelity, False Confession
Awards: None yet - it ended two months ago at time of writing
Cast:
The protagonist, Harika, is played by Hirose Suzu who has not appeared in any of Sakamoto's other series, but she's already slated to lead one of next year's asadoras, Natsuzora (2019).
Tanaka Yuuko plays the titular Anone as well as mothers in Mother and Woman.
Eita plays the main antagonist, Nakaseko Riichi, who coerces the group of misfits into this criminal adventure. He also plays the brother seeking vengeance in Soredemo, Ikite Yuku, and the uptight lead in The Great Divorce. He has far and away the widest range of roles in Sakamoto's dramas.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
anone has a somewhat more sophisticated plot than most of Sakamoto's work. It is a tale of a bunch of misfits from disparate parts of society forming a tiny family of crime. It explores the backstory of three of the five main characters to some depth. We learn where Harika came from though neither she nor we ever really learn why she was abandoned. We learn why Riichi is obsessed with perfecting the counterfeiting operation he started with Anone's husband. We learn why Anone welcomes Harika into her life and becomes her surrogate mother. The terminally ill diner operator, Kaji, and the somewhat mysterious and strange Aoba are less developed, but their motivations are, nevertheless, well delineated.
anone is also a bit different than the other series by Sakamoto-sensei in that he dips his toe a bit into magical realism. Harika's initial memories of the institution her mother placed her are clearly a fantasy, and Aoba's ability to see spirits are outside the usual bounds of Sakamoto's narratives. In no sense does this series venture into science fiction or fantasy, but, clearly, one of the major themes of anone is deception and that includes self-deception and how a group accommodate the deceptions of its members. And so, while it's not a fantasy we do, for instance, in the end get several scenes of Kaji as something like a ghost.
Sakamoto's characters in the other series we are discussing do occasionally tell lies to protect others - in fact, each of the three mothers played by Tanaka Yuuko does so. In anone, the three principal characters all do so, and the show is largely about exploring why they do so. Sakamoto does not tend to focus his series on setting up and resolving mysteries, but it is a part of his narrative palate. In anone, however, the various mysteries in the backgrounds of the principals are the prime drivers of this interwoven plot because the key questions considered here are epistemological: how do we know in terms of human relationships what is real and how do we confirm the reality of those relationships?
All of the members in this self-formed family of five ultimately confirm the reality of their relationships by acts of self-sacrifice. Harika's entire motivation is seeking money to help Hikoboshi get the medical treatment he needs, and when the way to get that money means denying that she loves him, she does so knowing he can never see him thereafter. Riichi sacrifices the personal freedom that counterfeiting would provide him for the sake of his extended family. Anone perjures herself in custody for the sake of the rest of the group. Aoba sacrifices her independence and the independence of running off with the money to tend to Kaji as he ends his days. Kaji sacrifices the last months of his life for the sake of this group of strangers.
anone is, ultimately, a tale of misadventures and deceptions, but through those misadventures the characters are left with each other as a new and resilient family. The other side of deception is trust, and in the end all of the characters trust each other and the familial relationship that they have formed. Ultimately, it's not about the family they were born with but the family they make through acts of mutual reliance and trust.
Japanese: あのね or anone - the title card in the episodes is written in romanji
English: anone (which can be translated as "you know what", but is also the personal name of the central character)
Broadcast Year: 2018
Subtitled Episodes Available at: Ondramanice
Spoiler-free Synopsis:
A young woman, Tsujisawa Harika, was abandoned by her family as a young girl is making her way in the world and living in an internet cafe. She and a couple friends hear of an abandoned bag full of cash at the beach and go and attempt to find and retrieve it. She and several other misfits are then brought together into the life of the wife, Hayashida Anone, of a printer who died a year or so earlier.
Crimes and Misdemeanors:
Counterfeiting, Child Abandonment, Theft, Betrayal, Marital Infidelity, False Confession
Awards: None yet - it ended two months ago at time of writing
Cast:
The protagonist, Harika, is played by Hirose Suzu who has not appeared in any of Sakamoto's other series, but she's already slated to lead one of next year's asadoras, Natsuzora (2019).
Tanaka Yuuko plays the titular Anone as well as mothers in Mother and Woman.
Eita plays the main antagonist, Nakaseko Riichi, who coerces the group of misfits into this criminal adventure. He also plays the brother seeking vengeance in Soredemo, Ikite Yuku, and the uptight lead in The Great Divorce. He has far and away the widest range of roles in Sakamoto's dramas.
Beyond Here There Be Spoilers:
anone has a somewhat more sophisticated plot than most of Sakamoto's work. It is a tale of a bunch of misfits from disparate parts of society forming a tiny family of crime. It explores the backstory of three of the five main characters to some depth. We learn where Harika came from though neither she nor we ever really learn why she was abandoned. We learn why Riichi is obsessed with perfecting the counterfeiting operation he started with Anone's husband. We learn why Anone welcomes Harika into her life and becomes her surrogate mother. The terminally ill diner operator, Kaji, and the somewhat mysterious and strange Aoba are less developed, but their motivations are, nevertheless, well delineated.
anone is also a bit different than the other series by Sakamoto-sensei in that he dips his toe a bit into magical realism. Harika's initial memories of the institution her mother placed her are clearly a fantasy, and Aoba's ability to see spirits are outside the usual bounds of Sakamoto's narratives. In no sense does this series venture into science fiction or fantasy, but, clearly, one of the major themes of anone is deception and that includes self-deception and how a group accommodate the deceptions of its members. And so, while it's not a fantasy we do, for instance, in the end get several scenes of Kaji as something like a ghost.
Sakamoto's characters in the other series we are discussing do occasionally tell lies to protect others - in fact, each of the three mothers played by Tanaka Yuuko does so. In anone, the three principal characters all do so, and the show is largely about exploring why they do so. Sakamoto does not tend to focus his series on setting up and resolving mysteries, but it is a part of his narrative palate. In anone, however, the various mysteries in the backgrounds of the principals are the prime drivers of this interwoven plot because the key questions considered here are epistemological: how do we know in terms of human relationships what is real and how do we confirm the reality of those relationships?
All of the members in this self-formed family of five ultimately confirm the reality of their relationships by acts of self-sacrifice. Harika's entire motivation is seeking money to help Hikoboshi get the medical treatment he needs, and when the way to get that money means denying that she loves him, she does so knowing he can never see him thereafter. Riichi sacrifices the personal freedom that counterfeiting would provide him for the sake of his extended family. Anone perjures herself in custody for the sake of the rest of the group. Aoba sacrifices her independence and the independence of running off with the money to tend to Kaji as he ends his days. Kaji sacrifices the last months of his life for the sake of this group of strangers.
anone is, ultimately, a tale of misadventures and deceptions, but through those misadventures the characters are left with each other as a new and resilient family. The other side of deception is trust, and in the end all of the characters trust each other and the familial relationship that they have formed. Ultimately, it's not about the family they were born with but the family they make through acts of mutual reliance and trust.
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