Lily_B

I agree that it was good that Rikako stayed with her daughters because one cliché that I am very tired of seeing is where a character is deeply traumatized because his parents abandoned him when he was little. There were obvious reasons why she did that. BUT I still find if very sad that the society she lives in leaves no other choice for women than to either stay in a loveless marriage where the husband keeps her as a doll (the way he sees it, he has bought her) or to abandon her children and live a hard life and be despised by society. The girls were just children, of course one must feel bad for them. Mana, though, was old enough to at least partly grasp the truth - before Rikako's affair was revealed, Mana even took her side against the father - which I (being an optimist) want to think of as hopeful for the future... A happy ending for Rikako would probably have been unrealistic (when have we ever seen a drama husband such as hers say "okay, let's get a divorce, and you can have the children!") but I must confess that I wanted that...

When it comes to Sawa, though, I can't see how it was selfish of her to want to be happy. She wanted to be loved as a woman; Shunsuke wanted a housekeeper and a playmate. So yes, she made him unhappy, but he made her unhappy first, and why is it that his happiness is more important than hers? In the end he agreed to divorce her, but even then he said that he couldn't understand her...

I would watch Joker Game, possibly Clover. Omoi no koshi sounds like fun, too. I'm usually up for teacher/student stories, but Yamapi... doesn't interest me too much. Anyway, thanks for writing, it always make me happy to see Japan news/articles on here. :) I'd love a part 2.

Hm, I don't know these actors, but judging from the pictures alone, I agree with you. But of course, I guess a remake isn't supposed to be identical to the original anyway. If so, what would be the point of making one? They probably want to leave their own unique mark on the story. (Well, my personal opinion is that remakes make little to no sense most of the time - if the original was so good that you want more of the same thing, why don't just rewatch. Anyway, I agree with you completely that Matsuda Shota was flawless as Akiyama. Not possible to supass!)

Koukou Kyoushi 2003 is one of my favourite dramas ever and I always want to recommend it to anybody!! Words cannot express my love for this drama.

As for Garasu no Ie and Second Virgin, I actually dropped them... but, maybe I was too quick to judge them. I think that with Second Virgin, I was mostly just looking for a different kind of story at the moment, so I found it "boring". When it comes to Garasu no Ie, I actually found the husband extremely creepy and unpleasant... I think I watched two episodes or maybe just one and a half before I got a bad feeling...

What you say about Dousousei is disappointing, but not surprising, given the first two episodes that I watched. That's too bad. :( Well then, let's just be happy Hirugao is such a good one!

I'm asking myself: Isn't this one of the stupidest love triangles ever?! Other than that, this drama has its good points, but after the first few episodes, it bored me more than I had expected! :(

There's about time I pick up another k-drama and I'm trying to decide which one. This one is definitely not going to be it. But, 50 episodes of what is described above must be heaven for those who like "many betrayals, fights and tears" in their dramas. :)

I feel like I haven't watched enough mystery dramas! (Only Biblia and Bloody Monday from this list.) But some of these are on my ptw-list already.

Hmm... I thought it was good, for what it's worth! I thouroughly enjoyed seeing Iura Arata as a sexy and determined but sensitive and gentle scholar and seducer, so that was a winning point for me. Also, age gap romance isn't wrong in my eyes! And the hints of mutual attraction between the girl and the wife was also something that I liked! (As for the actual secret of the... well, the "thing" that was at the core of the tragedy, I didn't care for it too much.) I'd say that the "menage à trois" thing (at least when it comes to explicitness and on-screen action) refers mostly to the emotional involvement; there are no actual threesomes or anything. About the ending, well, it is as happy as an "unhappy" ending can get, I'd say.

Oh, you like Iura Arata, too! :) As a fangirl. I'm happy to hear it. ;) Well, by now I've watched 2 episodes of Dousousei and from my point of view, it's a good j-drama but not too similar to Hirugao, and there's nothing really WOW about it. To be honest, I'm mostly watching it for Arata... who was indeed great in Mitsu no aji! Ah, now that we're on the topic of Iura Arata and forbidden romance, have you watched Koi?

No, not really. There are dramas that made me feel "omg I love j-dramas so much!!" but not with a similar plot. There are dramas where husbands and wives don't have happy marriages, but I haven't watched anything like this one. The closest match that I know of is maybe Secret Love Affair, but the pacing and atmosphere is different. And, judging from the first episode, Dousousei has a similar angsty theme of "oh no the one I like is married already, this is so wrong my heart and soul is breaking" (the man is somewhat similar to Sawa, I think... and the woman isn't happy in her marriage, something like Rikako... and the other couple seem to get into a love/hate relationship...) but I have only seen one episode so far (three subbed) so I'm not sure. I have a feeling that one is less intense.

Ah, I see. :( I'm not surprised, I just live on hope, haha. I haven't watched ep 7 yet. But good to know a sweet scene is coming! ("Sweet" is not the first word that comes to mind when you first get to know this character; that should make it all the more powerful, I think! I'm starting to *really* like him.)

True; they shouldn't. I guess I feel that it's much more striking in Sawa's case, because Rikako and her husband are the kind of couple I've seen many times in J-dramas - rich man who thinks of his trophy wife as a possession, no love and affection - and it's very obvious that their relationship isn't happy. Sawa and Shun live as friends (I kind of get the impression of two kids playing house...) and have a platonic relationship. It's another mix of friendship/unhappiness. Sawa's sadness and frustration at the beginning of the series is definitely understandable.

I think the reason Sawa doesn't want a divorce is simply because she cares so much about what's "right" and "wrong" in the eyes of society; once a couple gets married, it's for life - and her husband isn't exactly "mean" or violent or anything. So, she just doesn't think that she has the right to complain or the right to be loved as a woman. Rikako on the other hand feels that she has the right to do anything as long as she doesn't get caught and/or harm her children. Her reasons, the way I see it, are 1) she would lose custody of her kids (most likely; very Anna Karenina, but that's what I expect from a j-drama), and 2) her lifestyle is comfortable and she's a "professional" cheater so she has always felt that she can have "everything"; her life is as good as it can get. BUT she has fallen in love for real for the first time, and her husband found out about her cheating, so it's not that easy for her anymore...

Ooop, long rant.... ;)

This is so good! It's intense. Rikako's husband isn't exactly Prince Charming *shudders* but so far I don't see him as a "omg gotta hate the bad guy" kind of character. I just hope he doesn't turn out to be like the husband in Shitsuren Chocolatier. And her hot artist is obviously falling in love with her! As for Sawa, I understand that she feels bad for Noriko, but when it comes to her husband... meh. They really shouldn't be together!

I loved the first two episodes, and I liked the rest of them, too. So, I don't know, maybe it's just a matter of taste? But superpasta is right that it gets more dramatic later on.

Has anybody watched this?? Is it subbed?

This sounds like a good one! :)

I have only seen Amachan, Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi, and Doctor X2. I want to watch a few of the others, too... while waiting for subs, like you said! :)

Thank you so much for the link!

First episode available on drama.net now!

I agree! I first saw her in Amachan, and I really liked her in Saigo kara nibanme no koi. I plan to watch her in many more roles. :)

Me too!! :D I hope somebody will sub this...