Day 16 - Last Day of Winter Break

Today marks the last day of Winter Break 2017/2018. A pleasant, relaxing break, though also somewhat productive as well. I managed to finish most of the notes for the chemistry unit for my grade 9s (just two more topics to go). My only regret was not being able to wake up earlier to get more out of the day, and making it more difficult to get back to the swing of things. I've been having trouble falling asleep at my regular bedtime as well since I've been waking up late.

Karate restarted today. After karate, it was off to my weekly car wash before coming home and getting another set of notes completed. Besides that, I managed to get in some SC2 and finished off A LIFE. Not a bad watch, though I cannot say it's one of my favorites. I have to say though, the main supporting actor (Igawa-sensei) and supporting actress (Shibata-san the nurse) were the highlights of the show.

Anyways, off to relax for the rest of the night before work starts again!

Day 12 - Chromecast + Medical Romance

I was preoccuiped with a new drama series last night (more on it soon), that I didn't feel like blogging Day 11.

As for today, it was just an ordinary day: woke up and ate a leisure breakfast. Yesterday, I went and got a Google Chromecast for my mother, so that she can utilize movies on Netflix and clips on YouTube from her iPad. For $35, compared to $200 for Apple TV, I thought you couldn't go wrong with the Chromecast. Luckily for me, it turned out to be far easier to use than I thought it would be.

Because of that, I went back and got a Chromecast for my dad to use. Fortunately I went early enough, for there were only two left at the BestBuy closest to my place (compared to like 9 yesterday).

After lunch, it was off to the gym for back day. Doing a bit of back on Friday and Saturday has made it more difficult for me to do pull ups, but it's just something I'll have to get used to. After my workout, it was back home to grind out some notes. Two topics down, two more to go! Well... a bit more than two, since I haven't prepped the handouts or answer keys yet for the last section, but that shouldn't take too long compared to constructing notes from scratch.

And finally onto the drama series I'm currently watching: A LIFE. It's another jdorama, and what initially caught my attention were the two leads: Kimura Takuya (Last, First) and Takeuchi Yuko. They last starred together in 2004 in a Romance/Sport drama called Pride (about Hockey). I thought they had great chemistry onscreen throughout the entire drama. Seeing that A LIFE is a medical drama with romance, I eagerly decided to give it a try.

So far, it's not bad. Kimura plays his typical role: a man not bounded by societal norms and does things the way he believes should be done (ex: Change, Hero, Pride, MR.BRAIN, etc). Takeuchi plays a somewhat weak heroine in that I feel she's undecided with choices (ie: her father's surgery in the first episode)... but I guess I'm only two episodes in.

Four more days of break to go! I believe I mentioned it in an earlier post, but it oddly feels long and short at the same time...

Day 10 - New Year's Day & The End of Reverse

The start of 2018 was a relaxing one, in that it was the first day of break where I didn't need to leave my house at all! I haven't had one in a while, since I believe my last one was in August.

I somewhat was able to keep my New Year's Resolution by waking up at 9:30 AM, though I stayed in bed until 11ish. Despite getting up late, I felt like I accomplished a fair bit today: notes for an extensive chapter for my grade 9s and the final two episodes of reverse.

I couldn't help myself due to the cliffhanger ending in the 9th episode. From this point onward, there will be some spoilers. However, I'm not going to do a plot summary like how I used to do my drama reviews. Instead, I'm just going to talk about my thoughts.

***

Like I stated in a previous post, I see how reverse was given an award for being the best drama for that season (Spring 2017). I believe that the screenwriters did a wonderful job in portraying the mystery behind the death of our main character's friend. To me, it portrayed how people don't truly feel responsibility for their actions unless it's explicitly stated that they have caused harm. For example, the main character, Fukase Kazuhisa (Last name, First name) stated early on that he feels it's excessive for being labelled a murderer despite him feeling responsible for the death of his friend, Hirosawa Yoshiki.

Now to make some sense of the situation, four individuals, including Fukase, were related to the death of Hirosawa ten years ago. Early on, it's clearly stated that the three individuals, besides Fukase, were explicitly involved in the death of Hirosawa:

Tanihara Yasuo, a businessman, peer-pressuring Hirosawa to drink alcohol.

Murai Takaaki, a politician's son and thus, secretary, asking one of the four to drive him to the place where everyone was going to stay for vacation.

And finally, Asami Kosuke, a teacher, for asking Hirosawa to drive, since no one else besides himself could drive and that he didn't want to risk his career for drinking and driving.

In the past, all of them were in their final year of university with jobs lined up, besides Hirosawa. 

Anyways, it's clearly stated, I think, in where blame is going to in terms of Hirosawa's death. Fukase seemed to be the most innocent throughout the whole ordeal since he didn't play an explicit part that led to Hirosawa's death. 

In the beginning, Fukase blamed it for not being able to stop him, however it felt half-hearted with his guilt... till episode 9 came into play. We find out that Hirosawa has an serious allergy to soba noodles (which I'm assuming is allergic to buckwheat). 

Fukase, gave a thermos filled with coffee... sweeten with soba-flavored honey. Now Hirosawa never told anyone about his allergy, which makes this an unfortunate accident, but it devastated Fukase.

And that, I thought was what made this drama unique and special. By scripting the plot for a realistically ordinary main character, it makes it more relatable to me as the audience. Fukase, despite his meek character, struggled earnestly to figure out the mystery behind the death of Hirosawa, not knowing that perhaps his actions, though unintentional, would be perhaps the most damaging of them all. 

I'm not suggesting, nor do I believe that not feeling responsible for something that you don't feel like you did harm is a horrible and despicable thing. In fact, I think it's just part of human nature; no one wants to shoulder blame. The lead up to the scene, therefore, was crafted masterfully. 

And what sealed the deal for me was the final reveal to Hirosawa's parents. All four of the characters confessed to the parents fully, since they were initially hiding the fact that Hirosawa was drinking and driving. The lines from the mother was once again very realistic; she could not forgive the boys despite knowing that there's nothing to bring back her son. Like how Hirosawa's father said, being the calm one of the two parents, he knows that the four characters were not seeking forgiveness, and that confessing now won't truly lift them from their guilt. Sometimes, no matter if people forgive you or not, I don't think that the guilt will ever go away.

However, what's important is knowing how to move on: in which it was shown for the last 10 minutes or so of the final episode. It's like everyone has made some peace with what has happened. 

***

Overall, a terrific drama, even though some things were not really clear to me. It's a good suspense drama, and I would recommend it to people who are interested in suspense or Japanese dramas in general.