The golden age of jdramas.
Oh, how I miss thee.
I was supposed to go back to office today, but work got cancelled (YAY!) so i stayed in and decided to watch one of the dramas that had been sitting on my desktop for ages.
Overtime ~ オーバー・タイム
I downloaded it after rewatching one of my fav jdramas, Long Vacation. Afterall, it was from the same golden age, written by the some scriptwriter, and had a very charming, charismatic and good actor helming the drama. Talking about charismatic, I think many would kill me for saying this: There aren't many charismatic actors out there in the current generation of leads. Charming, cute, suave, good acting yes. Charismatic...not many. Just saying.
Actually, I have the OST. Strange eh. I've never watched this drama, but I have the OST. As far as I can remember, I heard the theme song playing in the cd shop, and decided to buy it. I must have really liked the song, because I was still a kid back then and was never much into music. So, to buy a cd was a big thing back then. And, finally, years after buying the cd, I downloaded the drama itself....but left it there for months. =(
Today, I finally watched it.
And was touched by the whole show.
It had a mellow feel, and had the...simple, slice-of-life vibe that I think characterised that period in jdrama history. It was relatable and didn't feel too far-fetch.
You know, jdramas nowadays are quite 'strict' in their categorisation. If the drama is not a romance story, the whole thing will only tease us viewers with hints of budding romance that never gets anywhere. But if the drama is a romance drama, it usually goes full-blown and explores little of other themes. But Overtime is different. It's a curious mix of many, such as romance, friendship, making changes...
The ending.
Oh, it's been ages since I felt so moved by an ending, and that the ending isn't trying to just tie things up and make viewers happy. It's such a complex feeling at the end. In no way was it a happy ending going by romantic standards. I felt heartache as I watched them hug and say their goodbyes. Yet, it was a happy ending as friends who are so connected with each other, they feel happy when the other is happy, even if it meant taking away their personal happiness. Oh, am I even making sense?
I previously read comments about Overtime being a semi-carbon of Long Vacation. As I watched the first half, I felt so too. The same living together set-up. The plot with the two leads having relationships elsewhere but then developing feelings for each other as time passed. The female lead, Natuski (acted by Esumi Makiko), being vivacous and lively and almost bordering boyish. The male lead, Soichiro (acted by Sorimachi Takashi), being the younger one who is kind of 'herbivorours', and suffering from setbacks from their passion.
Yet at the end, the drama had established such strong characters that I grew to love them so much. So good was the plot development that before the very last minute, I wasn't sure who Natsuki will choose. Because she really loves both, and yet we can't hate her for that. Because she and Soichiro share such a special relationship that goes beyond just romantic love and wanting to be together. Because throughout the drama, there's a sense of realism infused into it, such that the typical 'happily-ever-after', just follow your heart and not your brains, seemed quite out of place.
In kdramas, there's a term called 'noble idiots' used to refer to drama characters who put themselves into pain thinking that what they're doing is the best for the other party. Overtime nearly suffered from it. There was a part, in the final ep where Soichiro lied to Natsuki that he slept with her out of sympathy. That was a rather typical act in dramas, to lie that you have no feelings for the other party just so s/he can move on to what you deem is better prospects. However, Soichiro's act was supported by three things:
- The fact that he's a very yasashii person, always putting others before self, as established throughout the drama.
- The fact that he said right at the start of the drama that if his love puts the other party at pain, he'll rather give up the love or bury it deep inside him. And it's not all talk no action. We see that side of him at play when he broke up with his girlfriend, who seemed pained having to date someone who was nice to everyone else.
- The fact that he made the decision to lie after hearing from Natsuki's friend that she loved both but prefered spending her life with Kuga-san. And he was the one who sought out the friend to find that out.
What these point out is that if Natsuki had named him instead, he would have acted on his feelings and try to keep her by his side. But since she sees Kuga-san as her partner for life, he decided to spare her the pain of having to either stick with him so as not to hurt him or choose Kuga-san but live with the guilt of rejecting him. So, in a way, his act isn;t all 'noble idiot'. Further, since Natsuki knew all along that Soichiro was such a yasashii person, it wasn't difficult for her to believe that he had slept with her out of sympathy. Especially in light of her lack of confidence as revealed when she broke up with Kuga-san.
See how good the plot development is? It's so tight that actions are character driven, and not done for the sake of plot development or creating conflicts.
Oh, and another reason why I love the drama and its characters is because the characters are all so honest about their feelings. of course, they don't go blabbering about their inner thoughts. However, we find that as they interact and grow closer, they open up more and more to particular persons. Not just the leads, but the supporting leads too. We catch a glimpse of their true feelings a bit here and there through their actions and conversations, but towards the end, we're given full scenes of them speaking their thoughts to each other, especially for the two leads. They are so very honest about their feelings, or their confusions about their feelings. They don't beat around the bush and create misunderstandings for each other.
And I love that. I missed that. I love how the plot is driven by character interactions and decisions instead of misunderstandings and hesitation. The latter seems to be the trend in dramas nowadays.
Usually I'll be very disappointed when the main leads fail to end up together, especially when they like each other and so much of my time and emotions have been invested in them, like in this case. However, I'm not exactly bitter about this ending.
Because their love is an assuring one, like the Tokyo Tower - it lights up at sunset, shuts off at midnight only to light up again the next sunset.
(Sorry about the low resolution, but I just love the symbolism in this scene. Oh....the good old days....)
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