Story
So, in contrary to the common belief that this drama glorifies adultery and adulterous couples, it rather incriminates infidelity simply by expressing a very well-round idea of what it exactly is. We get to see how it starts (as innocent as everything else, or maybe not so much), why it can start (it won't happen unless there's a reason(s) that has been ignored for a long time), how it intensifies, the guilt, the excuses, the fears, the acceptance, the happiness, the sadness, everything, and in the very end the consequenses, that hit hard, and hit everyone and everything around the adulterers. There is no happy end simply because in a sea of hurt feelings nobody can be truly happy ever again.
There is nothing cute about what happens, the story is rather difficult to watch at times, you can't root for anyone, you can't excuse but you can understand and the whole drama just made me question several times what i would have done had i been in such situations.
The drama, in its core, isn't even about adultery, it's about life choices. It exploits all the wrong reasons we decide to settle down in a marriage. Because we're afraid to be alone, because we want an easy life financially, because we just want to see a face when we come from work every day and have a clean house, because we are arrogant and we think we can buy everything with money, even people... and so, so on. People marry because they're afraid to try hard and be happy, they're afraid to search for that one person, so they settle. Being happy is scary, and it means being with that one person that completes you, the love that consumes you; but what happens if that person appears in front of you after you've settled down?
The drama offers the answers. Either suck it up and live a miserable life, or face the facts, break up/divorce and continue, finding yourself. But still, people are scared, being happy is scary, so they get greedy. Who will leave their perfect safe life to live a dream? Noone, so they'll cheat, because they want the best of both worlds. The drama shows you exactly this journey or bad choices, of selfish acts and the result which is cheating and destroying everything because of greed!
I appreciated how fast paced and to the point the whole drama was. First 5 episodes illustrate the beginnings and reasons of adultery and after episode 6 how everything crumbles down and the repercussions of it. The music wasn't original but it brought so much to the drama, it set the atmosphere in the best, most dramatic way possible. Another thing i appreciated was the slow but steady build up which did make the first episodes feel bland maybe, but it was carefully planned for the intense explosion of the later episodes. Best thing about it were the 3D characters, they felt like real flawed, greedy, selfish people, that you can't help but judge and hate, but in midst of their spiraling they made more sense than i could ever imagine!
If i had one problem to point out, it would be the... mildness of some scenes. While the acting was always tip-top the quarrels and fights felt rather calm, i missed the intensity in the conversations. The drama definitely needed some more... tension in certain scenes.
Acting
The acting was overall spectacular.
Ueto Aya was luscious, conveying her charactrer's feelings constantly, she made total sense and expressed perfectly her thoughts and acts. Couldn't help but feel sorry for her while wanting to slap her for not being rational.
Kichise Michiko was equally breathtaking, portraying a character who saw infidelity as something trivial, who had never fell in love, but when she did she fell hard and completely with her whole essense! Breathtaking performance indeed.
Saito Takumi was cute and sensitive, a close-to-perfect performance as a kind man who is unhappy but isn't even aware because his life is seemingly perfect; and not to forget Kitamura Kazuki for his charming portrayal of a rough but emotional artist.
The casting was really special, the actors really suited and looked amazing next to each other, i don't know if they took the time to find them or if they just worked out this perfectly, but it was indeed magical.
Recommend/Rewatch
This should not be watched by a huge amount of viewers. It's a melodrama but not even your average melo. It talks straight about cheating, there is no side story, no comedy at all, nothing unreal, nothing pretty about any of it. It demands a certain mature viewer who can understand the meaning without judging too hard and is willing to see some disturbing stuff. If you are ready to go out of your comfort zone, watch something serious and difficult then do give this a chance, otherwise it's just not everyone's cup of tea. I can see myself rewatching it in a few years but i'm a fan of such dramas.
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The acting is exceptional and the plots twists will keep you on edge. I was quite shocked at how severe Japanese culture is towards divorce. This story would not play out the same way in the US.
In the end, truthfulness is the only way to conduct one's life. And if a woman chooses to have children, her only choice should be a life of sacrifice for her children. In conclusion, this drama is worthy of watching if you are in a relationship or are contemplating marriage. It will make you give pause to showing more appreciation to loved ones. I
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The story starts out slow and I was kind of bored during the first half of the drama and that is why I didn't give this drama a perfect 10 even though, trust me, after the second half you won't even remember the one time you yawned at the start. While I didn't like that sometimes the writer was about to cross the line with melodramic tendencies but this is by no means a melodrama. It presents itself for the most part with a really realistic fashion. The writer is just telling a story, she's not justifying or judging anyone, just showing us the lifes of these people as they are. By presenting a story about affairs the drama inevitably touched upon so many subjects - the purity and cruelty of human selfishness, the judgemental society we live in, people's lack of empathy, the subjectivity of evil (which I have been thinking about a lot recently) even the meaning of life and so much more. Looking back on it, I can definitely see that they created some subplots and didn't really bother to progress and polish them, but honestly I am just nitpicking.
The characters were all so realistically flawed and I loved it so much. None of them are crazy, memorable, a few housewifes, a teacher, an artist - simple humans just like us yet they show so many colors. Love and lust, purity and selfishness and other contradicting emotions go hand in hand. The writers did an amazing job at portraying the animalistic nature of humans - egoism, lust, fury- while still not forgetting the emotions that make us different from animals - love, willfulness, compassion...There are no crazy events, that could only happen on the screen. Sure there were quiet a few "crazy" scenes but they are not really crazy in the actions but more in just pure emotions, more in the way the writers weren't afraid to show that "yes, humans are like that." In some RARE cases I thought that the events and the character's decisions had an unnatural flow but it just didn't bother me that much (and trust me, everything bothers me!)
The music is amazing. The tracks perfectly fit the mood of the show. The simple, non electronic songs have this old faschioned wibe that captures the longlasting and never changing human emotions really well. The song 'Never Again' and the way it was used just confirmed my thoughts that feelings can be just as thrilling as action sequences.
The drama leaves you wondering how it is going to end till the last episode, because the characters were built so realistically it felt like you were experiencing things just as they were and since they don't know where this sin will lead them neither do you. It is not like a rom-com where even though you don't really know how it is going to end you are still 100% sure that the girl will end up with the guy and everyone will live happily ever after. This drama doesn't present itself as just casual leisure time, this is a drama that will leave you with a heavy heart and you can feel it from the first minute. The story here doesn't really have an ending but the last minute left me with a smile on my face saying "yes, this is perfect".
You need to be empathetic and open minded to watch and fully understand Hirugao. If you thought this drama was immoral I am so sorry for you but if you're a person like me who likes to think about various topics then this is the drama for you.
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The matter was not simply about an instance of cheating. It was the result of a crumbling marriage, hurt, lack of communication and emotional distress that can set someone off the edge. Doesn't every person in a loving relationship deserve to have their partner actively affirm their love for them? This drama tells both the stories of Sawa and Rikako (mainly Sawa) in a way that makes you see infidelity from a different light. I do not deny the fact that adultery is a breach of morality, however we are all humans who can act on impulse. I implore people to give this drama a chance and take in the wonderful acting of not only Aya Ueto, but her co-star Takumi Saito.
The cinematography matches the title well and you always have a feeling of laying around at 3 P.M. while watching this. The soundtrack is deep, touching, and really sets the mood especially for critical scenes between the secret lovers.
I always find myself rewatching certain scenes, and I am extremely excited for the movie coming out in 2017 that will be a continuation of the story 3 years later!
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Sexless Tea Party
You'd think there was room for this deep dive into human desires and the messiness of relationships, but the drama just stumbled into this predictable mess of melodrama and characters you could barely see through. The characters were supposedly torn apart by the whole moral dilemma of their sneaky affairs but they did the bare minimum in that regard. Even the romantic tension felt too forced, superficial and lacking. The drama would've benefited from focusing on the main infidelity only. In comparison, all the previous points also applies to the KR version except that they were less drastic and detached than this one.Was this review helpful to you?
Story:
The pacing is amazing. May be slow for some people but I am a sucker for slow , developing kind of dramas. So it is a total winner for me. The main leads fall in love and in forbidden relationships and lose everything in the process. The story doesn't try to cover or glorify any aspect of infidelity. The depiction is just so real and the emotions so raw that you just get caught in the story right from the first episode till the end.
Characters:
The characters were just a gem. All are 3D characters and hence so real that you live the story along with them. I was so mesmerized by Kitano sensei's character that I totally fell in love with him just as Sawa--san falls in love with him. The greatness of the characters is that you don't come to hate any character even though all of them are in wrong. I was drawn in the love between Sawa and Kitano. You come to realize that they just met each other a bit too late in life and they were always meant to fall in love. You are hopelessly wishing for them to be together all throughout. The beauty in the characterization here is that all of them are different in nature and disposition and that is depicted by their behavior or how they perceive things in life, not in a way that they is a live commentary that they are like this and that and you fail to see how they are actually through the story-line which is the case of most other dramas. The only people you start hating as characters are each of the main-characters married partners. It was excruciating to see how controlling they were and hence you understand how did it lead to infidelity.
Acting:
Superlative in every aspect and by everyone. I am in love with Saito Takumi's calm voice. Kichese Michiko was outstanding in the depiction and playing such a risque character. (No wonder she was chosen for Signal drama to depict the pivotal character of the Japanese remake). There is nothing more that can be said. They all were just outstanding hence, very difficult to pick. I only had complains about the voice of Sawa's mother in law. She has an extremely annoying tone and voice.
Music:
Haunting and so timely that you constantly feel the pressure in your head. It just makes the scenes so much more dramatic that you are unable to forget scenes.
Rewatch Value:
I only see myself watching the scenes between Sawa-san and Kitano-san when they fall in love. For one , it just too realistic hence you are not bound to forget anything easily, instead you will drown more into the misery that the characters go through.
Overall:
After watching this drama , I would personally find it too scary to even develop a harmless crush on someone once you are married. You never know how quickly things turn harmful. When something has that kind of effect on you, it's a winner through and through.
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A realistic portrayl of how destructive adultery is with amazing performances
Hirugao is one of those dramas that makes you feel bleak and empty after you watch it. Everything about this drama is bleak and depressing, but I found the way it was presented absolutely beautiful and the performances elevate it significantly.It definitely does not romanticize adultery in anyway shape or form. I find it shows how innocently it starts off and how many people never expect it to hurt the people they love, but in the end destroys everything and everyone around them. You see how the characters feel insignificant and how that leads to the adultery but also how their marriage partners feel. You don't feel like our cheating protagonists are on a pedestal; I found myself chiding the characters for their selfishness even if their partners weren't the best to them. One of the best aspects was how the children were affected. I think children are always the biggest losers in a divorce. I found it very interesting that every character (including minor characters) were affected by infidelity one way or another and how it affected them.
Although the story was definitely slow, I weirdly didn't want to drop this drama. Someone in the drama said that the 2nd half of this drama ramps up, and I guess I read into it too much but it's more of a slow escalation. I wouldn't expect any craziness but it escalates for sure.
The acting in this drama in this drama is phenomenal. Like absolutely brings the script to another level. The characters feel like human beings, morally grey and layered. Even the people we're not supposed to root for have their moments throughout the drama. I cannot emphasize how good the acting is.
Rikako is my favorite character by far. I think it was because she was so nonchalant about her cheating and when you see how it compares to her love for her children and her family. She and her partner in the show had this amazing chemistry and there's this one scene that broke me and drove me to tears. Her acting props are incredible.
Sawa was a character I pitied and found myself feeling sorry for. By no means am I saying she was a victim, but I think seeing her grow feelings for the ML and how in despair she was trapped in the marriage, I could see how she acted the way she did.
To be honest, watching this drama really made me think if marriage is ever really worth it. It definitely puts a damper on the idea. I don't think I would ever rewatch this again.
My score is lower than I would want to give it simply because it was slow.
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This review may contain spoilers
So i found this drama by following the actress from Nagareboshi Ueto Aya and when i saw the critics and the case i thought i should take a look. The story of this drama was not anything special but i think they made it pretty interesting as it went on and i would have rated it with at least 7.5 overall but....The drama comes to a point where the 2 of them(affair couple) are ready to cast everything aside and be together. Kitano sensei goes to Sawa's house to apologize for what happened and says that he wants to be with Sawa so he asks for her husband to let her go. After that he goes to his wife apologizes and says that he loves Sawa because he makes him feel like he could do anything and so on.. And the last episode begins. Both wife of Kitano sensei and Sawa's husband with their families (like wtf?) come to the house in the forest to separate them. I mean like why? You see that both are not happy with their current life and dont want to be with you why force yourself on them after getting hurt by them? This doesnt make sense .I guess they didnt want to end it with these 2 being together but what the affair couple say and what they do actually differ. They both decide to get a divorce and be together and 5 minutes later when it comes to do it they avoid it and sign some papers that forbid them to see each other.. Dont make them reunite again if this is to be the result.. Kitano sensei was ready to go to court when Sawa's mother in law threatened him. I mean both of them were married but with no children.. The only one who "had" to return to her husband even though he was a scum was Rikako for the sake of her children. Nevertheless its worth watching . Was this review helpful to you?
