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Kounodori japanese drama review
Completed
Kounodori
3 people found this review helpful
by The Butterfly
Jan 5, 2024
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 6.5

Dr Storks protect and assist the miracles

Dr Storks followed the trials, joys, and frustrations of the medical personnel in the labor and delivery portion of a hospital as well as those in the NICU. Dr. Konotori worked to help mothers share the gift of life during the miracle of birth. Pregnancy is not an illness but as the drama showed, it is not without risks. The doctors and midwives fought alongside the parents and newborn infants as they dug deep to find their courage to succeed and survive.

The main OB/Gyns were Drs. Konotori and Shinomiya, both devoted to their patients but as different as night and day. Friendly and talkative Konotori was willing to risk a mother’s life to save her uterus while harsh speaking and quiet Dr. Shinomiya was ready to perform a hysterectomy at the drop of a hat. Made for an interesting balance. For anyone wanting to watch the drama for Hoshino Gen, he was only in each episode for a few minutes. This was Ayano Go’s starring role and he made the most of it. I thoroughly enjoyed his piano performances in disguise as the pianist "Baby". Some doctors had character growth and others broke down. In my country the majority of OB/Gyns are women so it was odd seeing the majority of doctors as male. The female doctors weren’t very well represented. One female doctor was easily excitable and distracted while the other was a walking burnout. Both came across as fragile. The doctor I would want in my corner was the older NICU doc. He saw the big picture and was steady emotionally.

Each episode had different medical crises and subjects---teen pregnancy, adoption, abortion, Rubella, birth defects, maternal and infant deaths, IVF, smoking, preservation of the uterus, midwives, pregnancy and sexual discrimination, as well as discrimination against single parents and working women with children, postpartum depression, and more—whew! A few of the topics came across as strange to me. Adoption seemed to be a new concept and there were misconceptions about the availability of pregnancy care in Hawaii. Members of the staff also had very callous attitudes toward certain patients which seemed the opposite of how they should have approached patient care. The gut-wrenching stories involved parents and spouses faced with traumatic decisions that no one would ever want to make. Some parents handled bad news better than others. As in real life, there were parents who would do whatever was needed for their baby and others who wouldn’t visit a child fighting for its life. A few of the topics were handled with the subtlety of an afternoon school special while others were quite well done. I hate to admit that I became teary during two or three of the stories. It wasn't all tears, there were lovely heartwarming stories as well.

The cinematography and lighting were rudimentary and could be distracting. At times the music blared over the dialogue which was also distracting. What Dr. Storks had going for it were the compelling stories of life, death, and the medical personnel who fought for happy healthy outcomes for everyone even when it wasn’t possible. The doctors realized they were often powerless and that “things don’t always go as planned,” but that didn’t stop them from giving their all to the women and tiny lives entrusted to them.

4 Jan 2024

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