Yuganda Hamon (2019)

Powerfully thought-provoking and topical, but...

This was a very interesting Drama. The main message, about the distortion and manipulation of information was very important and relevant. The acting was stellar- ESPECIALLY Koshiba Fuka. Bizarrely, MDL lists hers as a 'support role' when her character was central and pivotal. And her acting was stunning. My wife was not watching this one but after she watched a few minutes of one episode, she commented on Ms Koshiba's performance. Very much looking forward to checking out more of her work.

The Drama did have some annoying flaws though, and the biggest was again related to the character Koshiba Fuka played. The villain of the Drama not only never once showed any shred of remorse or regret for what they did to her, but they also never even explained "why her". The related flaw is that the way that the Drama kept trying to push the idea that there as some sort of moral ambiguity about the villain's actions, as if they were potentially understandable and defensible. This continued right into the start of the final episode and BUGGED THE HELL out of me.. The villain really was just that, a bad person, selfish, angry, deceitful and uncaring. There was no justification or excuse for their actions, and the extreme lengths the Drama went to trying to suggest otherwise nearly made me score this as low as a 6 or 7. Only the resolution of the 'trigger' storyline between Koshiba Fuka's character and that played by Matsuda Ryuhei saved it, earning a 7.75 on my personal database.

I actually started this Drama for Matsuda Ryuhei, having been impressed by his performance in Quartet, and he did not disappoint. His character was nuanced and interesting and his delivery note perfect. The character of the other 'lead' played by Matsuyama Kienichi otoh was another irritant. Not simply because he was an unlikeable egotistical prat, but because he was really stupid while thinking himself clever. I count this as a flaw in the writing because the Drama's central arc only lasted as long as it did due to that character's boneheaded unwillingness to do all the things he believed himself to be good at. It was a strain on credibility that he could have accomplished what he had in the back story if he was as stubbornly stupid as he was in the story.

So overall, 7.75/10 for me was just right - recognising and rewarding a powerful and timely message delivered by several great performances, but with flaws that meant I did not enjoy the experience enough to give it 8 or more.

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