Ohitorisama
Posted on January 28th, 2010
Ohitorisama
[Rating: 7.5/10]
Genre: Josei, Romantic Comedy
A 33 year old highschool teacher who has prided herself for leading a successfully independent and not depending on a man finds herself in an unexpected spot when she offers her home to a new substitute teacher at school until he finds one of his own- previously he had been doing random jobs and living in manga cafes. They have to keep it a secret as though they aren’t romantically involved will be improper if anyone finds out, especially considering that he is ten years younger than her.
I’ve never really been fond of olderwoman/youngerman stories, for example Kimi wa Petto, which didn’t really appeal to me, but this one had an adorable pulling card by the name of Koike Teppei. I tend to like older Japanese actors but he is one of the exceptions, though he’s really not that young either. And Maya Miki was in the show as well, but other than that I wasn’t familiar with most of the cast. The show turned out to be a pleasant surprise and actually one of my favourites for this seasons of strong contenders. I’m glad I decided to give Ohitorisama a shot because I ended up liking the two lead actress Mizuki Alisa and Matsushita Nao. I actually felt sympathetic for Matsushita’s character because though she says she was acting for selfish purposes, she was actually pretty helpful. And I’d like to say that she’s really pretty. I haven’t found a Japanese actress particularly attractive since Kuroki Meisa in 1 Pound no Fukuin (how gorgeous was she in the final ep~). I think the romance was pretty realistic in this one as there was no love at first sight thing, just a simple mentor-mentee relationship and they were really compatible. I’m also glad that the main couple did not get married in the last ep because while I like them, it’d just have reinforced that you need to be married to be happy. I’d actually be interested to see an SP of some sort of what happened after Shinichi returned from his new placement. And Sawai’s developing relationship with the other guy. It’d ba funny if Sawai became the next ‘Ohitorisama’ though I doubt it. I think what made this show likeable is that it was in a romantic comedy style compared to angst which is prevalent in older/younger pairings (whichever gender combination, Kimi wa Petto was one of them, and there’s series like Majo no Jouken, Kou Kou Kyoshi and Kamisama, Mou Sukoshi dake. Also it did not have a dragged out story which was an issue with me in the others. KKM and KMSD were good, but they were also among the first few dramas I watched, so I have no idea if my thoughts would change if I rewatched them.
That said, I do recommend Ohitorisama, I think Akiyama-sensei makes a great role model for young women in terms of her outlook on life~ loved the narration bits as well~ come to think of it she reminds me of my mom in some ways.
Filed under: josei, romantic comedy