I first found out about this drama about a year ago. Unfortunately, it was very difficult for me to find torrents for the raw files since this drama is about four years old. I ended up streaming this drama off mysoju.com
Since I streamed this drama, I am unable to provide clips from the drama
Also, this is my first review or a single drama! Unlike my previous "Top 5" series, I'll try to go into more detail with the plot and my own views of the story. I don't think it'll go well, but I'll try my best to do, hopefully, a convincing job of a single drama review.
The premise of this drama was very interesting: a mentally disabled couple was expecting a baby, but tragedy struck and killed the father. With only the mother left, her family was worried she wouldn't be able to raise a child by herself (of course, there was that anxiety even with the father alive). However, the mother insists on giving birth and raising the child, so her family supports her as she goes through the hardships of motherhood.
Brief Summary (**Spoiler Alert**)
The main character, Yuzu, has the mental capacities of an eight year old. Knowing this, I wondered how a child could raise another child. As we soon see, she does so, admirably, with the help of her loved ones. This includes her mother, brother, sister-in-law-ish and facility caregiver.
The entire drama consisted mainly of how Yuzu approaches motherhood, including how to change the diapers of her daughter, Himawari. What seemed to be a straightforward task to us is a challenge for Yuzu. With much effort though, she managed to learn how to change her daughter's diapers.
As Himawari grew up, the tasks became harder and harder, such as teaching her manners and toilet training. At this point of the drama, her family decided to put Himawari in a preschool so she can learn with other children. It took a while to find a preschool that would accept Himawari due to Yuzu's condition (and her reluctance to place Himawari in a preschool because she doesn't want to be separated from her daughter), but they eventually find a place.
At first, the other mothers who took their children to Himawari's preschool were quite livid when they found out that Yuzu was mentally disabled and that she didn't have a job. (The preschool was really for mothers who had jobs, thus they needed a place to watch their children while they worked). They didn't believe she belong there simply due to her disability. However in due time, Yuzu's happy, innocent nature won a couple of their hearts.
Near the end of the drama, Yuzu's mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer, which put Yuzu in a deep funk, for she was afraid to lose another parent to cancer (her father died to some kind of cancer when she was very young). Due to her depression, she literally stopped functioning. She took time off from work at the bakery and started to neglect taking care of her daughter to the point that social services was called in after a neighbour/Himawari's classmate mother found out that Yuzu's house was a mess (nobody to wash the dishes) and Himawari wearing dirty clothes.
In the end though, Yuzu managed to overcome, perhaps her biggest obstacle in this drama, and return back to normal and more. She learnt to do more tasks, that her mother would have done if she wasn't in the hospital.
Fortunately for Yuzu, everything turned out for the best. Her mother recovered and returned home.
My take on the drama
I read somewhere that this drama was a very low-budget drama. When I hear low-budget, I usually assume that this means simple plot, simple settings, simple everything. It turned out that, yes this story was quite simple. The plot was simple and pretty much predictable. I pretty much knew how the story will turn out. However, simplicity doesn't mean that the drama will turn out to be garbage. I thought that the script was actual quite well made.
The main theme was the discrimination that disabled people go through AND how their family is affected by the discrimination. For example, Yuzu's brother Ren met resistance when he was trying to get the blessings from his girlfriend's father. He knows that Ren helps raise Himawari and look after Yuzu when the mother is unable to. The father didn't want his daughter to go through a life where she would have to take care of Yuzu and her daughter. The inclusion of how Yuzu's family gave the drama a deeper feel in that it not only focused solely on the person with the disability, but on people closest to that person.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable watch. Yuzu's innocent happiness taught me that sometimes it's not all about the result, but rather the process of getting to the result. One scene that spoke about this was when she was toilet training Himawari. Himawari had difficulties expressing to others that she needed to go to the toilet to pee, so she would just pee where she was standing. She was also one of the last children to be potty trained. However, she got to a point where she could tell Yuzu that she needed to go to the toilet (but unable to reach it in time). Instead of scolding her child for not being able to go to the toilet, Yuzu was ecstatic and complemented her endlessly.
One downside about this drama was the predictability, though I guess its expected from dramas like these. =P Also, I didn't get the point of Yuzu's sister in law, Kotone, leaving the Fukuhara household at times when she has been accepted as a member of their family.
Characters/Actors
I'll just be focusing on the main characters that impacted Yuzu's life.
Fukuhara Yuzu played by Karina
Image taken from: http-//mapenzi01.cowblog.fr/images/daisuki01
I was convinced by Karina's performance as Yuzu. (Quite a versatile actress that can play a variety of different roles as you'll soon find out after I write my next review!) Karina managed to bring out the innocent nature of Yuzu.
Yuzu never gave up despite knowing that she was different than other people. She always tried her best at the
Fukuhara Himawari (Age 5) played by Sasaki Mao [There were other actresses that played the different ages of Himawari, but they were not as large of a factor as Age 5 Himawari]
Image taken from: http-//video.phpmyanmar.com/getdrama/media1/0408242be5dc78e3122ef50cb3c9bba6
Sasaki Mao played her part well as the daughter of Yuzu, acting like any child at the age of 5 would act (I guess she was around the age of 5 as well when she played the part of Himawari...)
Fukuhara Miyoko played by Kishimoto Kayoko
Image taken from (and all other images from here on): www.japan--world.net
The very supportive mother of Yuzu played by Kishimoto Kayoko. This is the first time I seen Kishimoto so I cannot really judge on her acting skills (nor do I really have the right to I guess...), however I have to say that she did a splendid job at her role as the backbone of the Fukuhara household.
Fukuhara Ren played by Hiraoka Yuta
Yuzu's younger brother who happened to be gifted at the piano. Hiraoka Yuta did a good job at playing the younger brother who had to look after his older sister (when its normally the other way around). Due to an event that involved his sister, he was unable to become a professional pianist since he couldn't play properly for his audition. Near the end of the series, he admits that he feels at times that his sister was a burden to his life, but he didn't really mind (if i remembered correctly...).
Sawada Kotone played by Fukada Saki
Like Karina, Fukada is a versatile actress that can play different types of roles.
Kotone was Yuzu's sister-in-law-ish (for Kotone's brother and Yuzu never officially married). Kotone was brought up in a orphanage and played the foil for Yuzu's character. Initially, she didn't understand why the Fukuharas would treat Yuzu in an almost "Super-gentle" way when she thought that Yuzu was capable of handling things in a more "realistic" approach (hard to explain... =( )Throughout time though, her character soften up and she eventually supports Yuzu full-heartedly.
Anzai Maki played by Konno Mahiru
Not the most pleasing picture of Konno Mahiru, but I guess this will have to do!
Anzai Maki was one of Yuzu's caretakers at the disability center that Yuzu would go to on a daily basis. Anzai's main role was to support Yuzu, whether it was to listen to Yuzu's problems to helping Yuzu find a job.
Fujikawa Natsume played by Usada Asami
Ren's girlfriend in the drama who was an accomplished violinist. Initially, Natsume thought that Yuzu was Ren's 2nd girlfriend when she saw the two of them together at Ren's audition. After breaking up with him, she went to go study music abroad in Germany. When she returned to Japan, Natsumi found Yuzu working at a bakery and confronted her about her relationship with Ren, which she found out that she was wrong.
When finding out about Yuzu's condition, she wanted to learn more about people with mental disabilities. To do that, she volunteered at the care center where Yuzu attended daily.
Final Words
If you're looking for a light-hearted inspiration drama, then this drama is for you! I learnt much about the human spirit as Yuzu overcomes tasks that we "normal" people deem as mindlessly simple. The story line was simple and predictable but the strong core cast of characters helped keep this drama strong and helped keep Yuzu going whenever she needed their help.
Score: 8.5/10
*Note: 8.5/10 is a very high score in my books. The highest I ever rated a drama (which includes series like JIN and Mother) is a 9. I'm reserving a 10/10 drama that really blows me away. =P
