[Discussion] Ashita no Kita Yoshio

auroragb · Post by **auroragb** » Mar 21st, '08, 15:35

I think that this just has all the makings of cult classic. Very few people saw it. but pretty much everyone who did loved it. I hope to watch the final ep tonight...

chokubi · Post by **chokubi** » Mar 24th, '08, 09:04

Just finished watching the last episode (11), and I have to say what a truly beautiful story this one has been.
The anti-suicidal message adds a nice moral touch to it too.
And as for the low ratings, well, I guess the Japanese audience don't know what they're missing...

TabooxNightmare · Post by **TabooxNightmare** » Mar 25th, '08, 19:33

I was somehow disappointed Kita-san and Shinobu-chan didn't meet again at the end. Hmmm...

knuts · Post by **knuts** » Apr 8th, '08, 14:21

Sounds like I should give this drama a try.

Daish · Post by **Daish** » Apr 9th, '08, 00:00

Recently finished this in 2 sittings (boy i have to stop doing that). Definitly a good drama, overall face paced, hint of subtle comedy here and there (ex pinky), and a few (expected) "lessons", the plot development was somewhat surprising even though we (I) knew the ending from the beginning. Not sure if that is considered a spoiler.

joykimlee · Post by **joykimlee** » Apr 20th, '08, 19:18

With all ur rave reviews i gota pick tis dorama again. Couldn't get past ep 2 when i tried watching it earlier. Wish Ryuhei gets more airtime as the story develops.

donna8157 · Post by **donna8157** » Aug 10th, '08, 05:12

I just finished watching episode 1 and it's definitely very intriguing. The whole feel of the series is unlike most Jdoramas I've seen (especially those of late which seem to only be high school/college romance scenarios). Anyway, I'm compelled to see the rest.

Mito Koumon · Post by **Mito Koumon** » Aug 18th, '08, 23:01

chokubi wrote:Just finished watching the last episode (11), and I have to say what a truly beautiful story this one has been.
The anti-suicidal message adds a nice moral touch to it too.
And as for the low ratings, well, I guess the Japanese audience don't know what they're missing...

Well... if you have a look at the list of the favourite dramas on D-Addicts
http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_42923_0.htm
it sure isn't getting lots of success there either...

I put it in 2nd place on my list. And proudly so

chokubi · Post by **chokubi** » Aug 21st, '08, 03:53

Because of how the survey works, it really isn't accurate in portraying a drama's quality nor popularity.

And for what's worth, there's a good number of people here who're concerned with the ratings in Japan... and somehow affecting their own interest in the drama.

ILoveKoyuki · Post by **ILoveKoyuki** » Oct 2nd, '08, 22:45

can sumone seed all the higher quality episodes please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ZoddGuts · Post by **ZoddGuts** » Oct 4th, '08, 11:42

I liked this series, it was good not great but good.

Rikayla · Post by **Rikayla** » Oct 11th, '08, 05:08

This one is my absolute top favourite when it comes to J-dramas.
Utterly amazing in every single episode... Except for maybe the ending. D:

ryoko11 · Post by **ryoko11** » Oct 18th, '08, 21:01

I've been wanting to comment about the ending of this drama for months, but I never seem to be able to adequately capture my feelings about it in words. Even having done a review of the series on my LJ, I just don't feel that I've been able to express how I feel about the series.

I really loved the ending. I truly did, and for me this was one instance where the remaining loose ends didn't bother me. (Not that I wouldn't cheer over a shot of Yoshio and Shinobu riding off into the sunset together.) But honestly, I feel this was a great ending for the story. That feeling has just grown stronger over time.

I appreciated the fact that after all the suspicions of plots and manipulations... it was in fact Yoshio who had held the key to his own problems all along. It was ironic and realistic and made sense in the way this story had been told all along. Yoshio's stubbornness and selfishness were a big part of his problems throughout the entire drama.

The fact that he had to finally face all the things that he hated about himself, the things that he refused to admit about the world, and how he'd let people use him ultimately made for a more satisfying moment for me than if this had all been in the hands of Minami and could be taken away by one simple suggestion. Negative Yoshio wasn't the cause of all Yoshio's problems either, as he was nothing more than part of Yoshio as a whole. After facing Negative, the underlying causes were what really had to be addressed. I think that having dealt with it any other way would have been oversimplified, formulaic, and far less meaningful for such a substantial character.

I adored the fact it was that pure love from Heita and their almost "father and son" bond that Yoshio reached for in the end rather than using a romantic love as most dramas seem to. (I honestly feel that Shinobu's love for Yoshio was just as pure, but Yoshio wasn't ready to reach out for her kind of love.) And the CG version of Christina's World that Yoshio inhabited is a visual that still lingers in my memory after so many months.

It was really a finale where everyone confronted themselves and struggled with the issues of love and forgiveness. Shinobu's soliloquy embodied the events of this finale perfectly and could be applied to all the characters, while their struggles and outcomes all managed to be unique from one another. It went far beyond Yoshio choosing forgiveness and love over death.

Heita was able to forgive his father and finally express honest friendship and love for Yoshio.

Rika was able to forgive herself and realize how she and Heita had been enabling eachother to do bad things. I was really glad that they addressed that issue, because I kept thinking about that during previous episodes when it was happening.

Mizuho forgave herself for what she had tried to do to Yoshio and for having never loved him.

Shinobu went from being a completely selfish person to someone who loved Yoshio purely and unselfishly, regardless of whether or not he could reciprocate those feelings.

Even Sugimoto who had the most tangible rather than emotional payoff was able to express a forgiveness in his gift of the 200 million to Mizuho so she could rebuild the company.

Yoshio and Mizuho were able to face each other and put the other in the past. Mizuho no longer had to torment herself with guilt over Yoshio, and for the first time there's hope that Yoshio can finally find happiness with a woman who loves him. (No matter how much Shinobu loves Yoshio, nothing could be between them with him still hung up on Mizuho. And nothing could ever be between him and any other woman either as long as he was pushing them away for his idealized Mizuho.) That was another of my favorite scenes in this episode.

The endings for the characters all seemed to flow as natural results of what had happened. While things weren't all sewn up for the viewers, the characters were all able to attain happiness in ways that were completely closed off from them when the story began.

Even the mystery had a solid payoff with Daisuke being revealed as the real murderer of Mizuho's husband and the origin of one final intricate plot. The twisted attraction between them at the end was both lots of fun to watch and wonderfully appropriate for their characters.

While maybe the perfect ending for the series might have had Shinobu and Yoshio reunited... I think maybe Yoshio is not ready for her yet. And that's okay... he has countless tomorrows left now, afterall.

This series earned a spot on my all time favorite dramas too, Rikayla. And to answer your earlier question about the bikini clad show girls... I thought it was adorable everytime they fawned over Yoshio. I really liked them.

kuma601 · Post by **kuma601** » Nov 23rd, '08, 07:11

Seems we get so backed up with shows...we just finished this also. I enjoyed it and each of the characters contributed to to a balanced series. Some loose ends like I expect but to wrap it up the series, the ending was satisfying. I'd almost like to see them do an SP where Kita Yoshio is 1 year later. The curry scenes amused me for some reason.

celticmoon · Post by **celticmoon** » Jan 10th, '09, 09:30

This was one of the dramas that I wanted to check out during the Jan-March 08 season, but never got around to it, since I didn't watch any dramas in real time that season (though I caught Shikaotoko Awoniyoshi and Bara no Nai Hanaya a little later on).

I just watched the first episode, and thought it was really great! The story seems like it will be quite intriguing, and something about it just really pulls me in. 2008 was a really lackluster year for dramas (though there were a couple, literally a couple, of good ones)--I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my favorite 2008 drama, though it's still too early to tell after just one episode.

charia-chan · Post by **charia-chan** » Jan 10th, '09, 10:01

I liked it. So refreshing between all the ordinary stories...

I just missed Shinobu in the end... would have liked to see what is happening to her.

auroragb · Post by **auroragb** » Jan 18th, '09, 02:13

Agreed, she was one of the most interesting characters!

hey9 · Post by **hey9** » Jan 18th, '09, 04:03

The weird thing is, I think the girl playing Shinobu is an awful actress, but I liked her character as well, which just goes to show what good writing can do lol.

sumire_chan · Post by **sumire_chan** » Jan 18th, '09, 04:55

I loved this drama, thought the ending felt a bit anti-climactic but maybe that's fitting. It was so good throughout, fun to watch and had me wildly speculating the whole time, I was bound to be unhappy about it ending.

A small thing but I was also a bit disappointed that one of my dream combinations of favorite actors, Matsuda Ryuhei and Kuriyama Chiaki, turned out to have no chemistry together at all! They made for a very boring and wooden combination, although Ryuhei was very good as Heita in other parts, and gorgeous as always of course : D

And I agree, Shinobu was a really great character--she's actually one of my favorite characters out of all the dramas I've seen. I haven't seen Yoshitaka Yuriko in very many other things, so maybe it was just the writing, but I thought she was very good in this! She stole every scene she was in.

Rikayla · Post by **Rikayla** » Jan 30th, '09, 22:38

celticmoon wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my favorite 2008 drama, though it's still too early to tell after just one episode.

It will be your favourite 2008 drama. I have full confidence in it. :D

kuma601 wrote:The curry scenes amused me for some reason. :P

Oh! I forgot about the curry scenes! XDD; They were so cute. Kohinata Fumiyo is so adorable sometimes, lmao.

ryoko11 · Post by **ryoko11** » Feb 17th, '09, 20:47

Rikayla wrote:
celticmoon wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my favorite 2008 drama, though it's still too early to tell after just one episode.
It will be your favourite 2008 drama. I have full confidence in it.

Agreed! Most dramas from 2008, I've already forgotten despite enjoying a number of them. This is one of like 3 that really were good enough to have made the list of what I'd call a classic. It's a standout, imo.

Rikayla · Post by **Rikayla** » Apr 25th, '09, 03:41

Dang, I need to find where I put this series again. I don't remember if I burnt it on a DVD or what because I suddenly feel compelled to rewatch this drama again. D: Kohinata Fumiyo's acting was so superb in this drama, his acting in Triangle made me feel a little disappointed, lol.

P.S. It's the drama of the week, please go download it while you still can! :D
http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_73118.htm

MitsukaiKuroi · Post by **MitsukaiKuroi** » May 14th, '09, 01:52

I liked this drama a lot and I liked the message behind it but for some reason I expected something different for the ending. It was a bad ending but I was looking for something more "WOW!" after such a great drama.

hey9 · Post by **hey9** » May 26th, '09, 04:47

chiaki kuriyama and ryuhei matsuda are starring in a new movie together, hagetaka. looks interesting
.

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[Discussion] Ashita no Kita Yoshio

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