Hello. This is a Korean in America.
Recently, I’ve been going back to my J-drama backlog. While scrolling along the
list, I saw Yonekura Ryoko’s name and decided to look at her body of work. Nasake
no Onna was the one I chose to view after seeing Doctor X. Since chronologically,
Nasake no Onna is earlier and both are
basically in the same genre, I decided to talk about Nasake no Onna first.
Introduction
It is a
common story in which an outsider comes into a new town or school and end up
changing the existing situation. If you think about it, the whole Western genre
was built on top of the common story line. In J-drama, this story line has
become a genre on its own which acts to criticize current Japanese society
which has become stagnated. The new entity comes in and shows people that
things could change which thus leads to changes in the host environment. Let’s
call it the “Extended Transfer student” genre although that terms in no somewhat
outdated. Recently, the J---drama “Danda
Rin ~ The Labour Standards Inspector” falls into this genre.
The “Extended Transfer student” genre
As a
K-drama watcher, it is an interesting fact that this genre has not caught on in
K-dramas. Compared to either the family dramas, revenge fantasies, and even
generic romances, the number of K-dramas that fall into the genre of “Danda Rin”
or “Doctor X” is small. Even the ones that fall into this genre are mostly K-drama
remakes of J-dramas that reduce the social commentary and add more melodrama
elements such as “The Suspicious Housekeeper” or “The Queen’s classroom”. Both
fall into this genre.
While there
is a wide variance of J-dramas that fall within this genre, it is common to
have the new person being inserted into this host environment be odd enough to
shock the host population and create a sense of separation from the new person
and the some special ability to facilitate the change in the host population.
Both are required for a good J-drama in this genre. The problem with “Danda
Rin ~ The Labour Standards Inspector” is with the latter.
Yonekura Ryoko making a career in the “Extended Transfer student” genre
If you have seen her resume, Yonekura Ryoko has made a career working in this genre. Before the Koshonin, she had mostly done roles in straight dramas or comedies. While Koshonin is more close to a cop drama than “Extended Transfer student” genre, there are some elements in her character than coincides with the protagonists in the “Transfer student” genre.
If you have seen her resume, Yonekura Ryoko has made a career working in this genre. Before the Koshonin, she had mostly done roles in straight dramas or comedies. While Koshonin is more close to a cop drama than “Extended Transfer student” genre, there are some elements in her character than coincides with the protagonists in the “Transfer student” genre.
With Monster Parent, Yonekura Ryoko entered the genre at one extreme of the spectrum. In
Monster Parent, she was still more of
the straight person to stagnated host environment. At the end, not only did the
host population change, but she did also. This plot structure is at one extreme
of the genre.
The other extreme
is Doctor-X in which Yonekura Ryoko plays the super doctor in
the vein of the Manga “Doctor K”. It is the host population who change while
the protagonist remains the same. Thus, you
can see Yonekura Ryoko career as moving from along the genre’s spectrum from
one extreme to the other extreme.
The plot
The J-drama
“Nasake no Onna” falls in between those
two extremes both spectrum wise and chronically. The plot follows the
protagonist, Matsuko Matsudaira, a national tax investigator as she is transferred
from the regional office to the Tokyo office. Matsuko Matsudaira is played by Yonekura Ryoko delivering a good
performance. Yonekura Ryoko is the one
the actors who can both do cosmopolitan female and a roguish tomboy at the same
time with an underling layer of kindness. In Monster
Parent, she did more cosmopolitan female. In “Nasake no Onna” she does both without losing the glamour and charm.
As a
J-drama in the “Transfer student” genre, “Nasake
no Onna” is decent but not great.
The Cons
There are several serious problems. First, the underling philosophical theme is too shallow for the circumstance. “Nasake no Onna” is a procedural in which does around trying to capture tax evader. The series basically says that rich people should be punished because they obviously do not pay all of their taxes. However, tax is not a simple subject matter and tax evasion is not only a upper class problem. As a result of an overly simplified take on the subject matter, the episodes get repetitive after 4 episodes and this J-drama is only 8 episodes total. You have a rich person getting on the nerves of Yonekura Ryoko’ character and, then, the investigation begins all of time.
The Cons
There are several serious problems. First, the underling philosophical theme is too shallow for the circumstance. “Nasake no Onna” is a procedural in which does around trying to capture tax evader. The series basically says that rich people should be punished because they obviously do not pay all of their taxes. However, tax is not a simple subject matter and tax evasion is not only a upper class problem. As a result of an overly simplified take on the subject matter, the episodes get repetitive after 4 episodes and this J-drama is only 8 episodes total. You have a rich person getting on the nerves of Yonekura Ryoko’ character and, then, the investigation begins all of time.
Second, the
host environment is not obviously stagnant or corrupt. While Yonekura Ryoko’ character is more out of
the box, the people in the host environment are competent at their jobs. Since Yonekura Ryoko’ character does not have
super power level capabilities in this J-drama, the contrast is not strong
enough to create a sense of catharsis that this genre is famous for. Yonekura Ryoko’ character not end up
changing host environment that much. While the coworkers maybe slightly more flexible,
they are basically the same people they were before.
In
addition, as a result, the people in the host environment are not well
differentiated or defined. There is no other breakout character other than our
main protagonist. Yonekura Ryoko’s character
is the only memorable character in the cast. This leads to the next problem.
Third, Yonekura Ryoko’ character is simply not
well developed. Through the series, you do get some back story about her
character, but never to the degree that she moves beyond this mysterious
entity. As a result, Yonekura Ryoko is
not given enough character work to do even though she is in like 80% of the scenes.
Whiles some
actors are charismatic enough that even them reading a phone book is riveting. Yonekura
Ryoko is not one of those actors. You have to give her material to work
with to build and maintain the intensity that makes her shine on screen. As a
result, she sometimes just blends into the many other characters in the Tokyo
office and disappears.
Finally,
there is no real overlying payoff. There is a series wide plot that flows
through the episodes regarding corruption. But it just loses steam and it the least
memorable aspect of the series. Thus, the series does not deliver the final
climax to audience.
At the end
Overall, Nasake
no Onna is not the strongest J-drama in the “Transfer student” genre. It does
not seem sure what it is. There is still a strong cop drama aspect to the
series which really muddles the “Transfer student” genre aspects. It’s more
NPYD Blue than Law& Order: Criminal intent or even Law& Order: SVU. It
lacks the punch and snazziness to deliver the cathartic release the great
series in this genre delivers.
However, it
is still a decent J-drama with Yonekura
Ryoko finding her footing in this genre and doing not so bad. It is that
she is not all there yet!
Score: B-
Streaming Link:
Good drama net.
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