I found a Japanese drama I love: Brand
Jul. 26th, 2007 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieMmmmm. Because I don’t have enough unfinished dramas already, I just started a new one: Brand. It’s a jdrama, as I’ve been craving a jdrama for a while (if I spend too much time without watching a tw/k/jdrama but watching the other ones, I end up developing a craving). It’s an older drama (2000) and I don’t think anyone on my flist has seen it, except for the awesome ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tatterpunk who recommended it (I owe you).
It’s also something that is rarer than a fat JE boy: an office drama with a younger man/older woman that I love..
The story revolves around Midori (Imai Miki) and Koichiro (Ichikawa Somegoro, the attractive womanizer from Pride).
Midori is a very successful 35 year old manager at an expensive fashion line. She is a workaholic, happy with her work, well-balanced (none of that annoying ‘having to fight uphill battle for your career, look at discrimination blah blah’ stuff), who lives with her elderly father. However, something is missing in her life and she is wondering if it isn’t husband and kids. After all, she is a bit lonely being single.
And then one day, her paths cross with Koichiro, the 25 year old, rebellious heir to a prominent tea family. Koichiro is sarcastic, eccentric, and he throws Midori off-kilter in her ordered life. He has also just decided to apply (and has been hired) as an assistant in the department Midori manages.
If Midori, who is successful and well-adjusted (not one of those tedious ‘I am a repressed wreck’ OL characters) is a major reason for why I love this, Koichiro is the other. His character actually (tatterpunk was right) fixes a lot of the problems I have with OL romances. For one thing, he is actually taller than Midori! (:P). Koichiro is not an aimless weakling who either (a)needs to grow up or (b)is inferior to the girl and will just be rolling over for her. If I love my heroines alpha, I want my heroes to be alpha too. He is not flustered or dominated by Midori in the slightest, though he is certainly interested by her. Their interaction is total give-and-take. Plus, I find his background/story also very interesting: he is the heir to a traditional tea family, but it’s clear he feels he’s been forced into a straightjacket. The fact that his path (from his job, to his arranged fiancée) is predetermined for him drives him up the wall. He has made an agreement with his distant, unemotional father that will allow him to have freedom until a certain time, and only a year is left. I love the scene when he walks into the traditional ceremony wearing jeans and a jacket. He is home for his Mother’s annual death day rites, only to find out they happened last week because his father had something else scheduled on the day they were supposed to happen. The relationship between him and his father couldn’t be more different from the friendly, almost sibling-like relationship Midori has with her awesome Dad.
We’ll see how it goes, but first ep was awesome.
tatterpunk who recommended it (I owe you). It’s also something that is rarer than a fat JE boy: an office drama with a younger man/older woman that I love..
The story revolves around Midori (Imai Miki) and Koichiro (Ichikawa Somegoro, the attractive womanizer from Pride).
Midori is a very successful 35 year old manager at an expensive fashion line. She is a workaholic, happy with her work, well-balanced (none of that annoying ‘having to fight uphill battle for your career, look at discrimination blah blah’ stuff), who lives with her elderly father. However, something is missing in her life and she is wondering if it isn’t husband and kids. After all, she is a bit lonely being single.
And then one day, her paths cross with Koichiro, the 25 year old, rebellious heir to a prominent tea family. Koichiro is sarcastic, eccentric, and he throws Midori off-kilter in her ordered life. He has also just decided to apply (and has been hired) as an assistant in the department Midori manages.
If Midori, who is successful and well-adjusted (not one of those tedious ‘I am a repressed wreck’ OL characters) is a major reason for why I love this, Koichiro is the other. His character actually (tatterpunk was right) fixes a lot of the problems I have with OL romances. For one thing, he is actually taller than Midori! (:P). Koichiro is not an aimless weakling who either (a)needs to grow up or (b)is inferior to the girl and will just be rolling over for her. If I love my heroines alpha, I want my heroes to be alpha too. He is not flustered or dominated by Midori in the slightest, though he is certainly interested by her. Their interaction is total give-and-take. Plus, I find his background/story also very interesting: he is the heir to a traditional tea family, but it’s clear he feels he’s been forced into a straightjacket. The fact that his path (from his job, to his arranged fiancée) is predetermined for him drives him up the wall. He has made an agreement with his distant, unemotional father that will allow him to have freedom until a certain time, and only a year is left. I love the scene when he walks into the traditional ceremony wearing jeans and a jacket. He is home for his Mother’s annual death day rites, only to find out they happened last week because his father had something else scheduled on the day they were supposed to happen. The relationship between him and his father couldn’t be more different from the friendly, almost sibling-like relationship Midori has with her awesome Dad.
We’ll see how it goes, but first ep was awesome.
