Ohitorisama

Ohitorisama (おひとりさま) is a 2009 Japanese romantic comedy drama between a man and a woman that have a ten-year difference in age. It stars Mizuki Alisa, Koike Teppei, Matsushita Nao, Tachibana Keita, and Maya Miki. The summary is as follows:

33-year-old Akiyama Satomi is a history teacher at the prestigious all-girls high school she once attended. She has earned the nickname "ohitorisama" (meaning "one person") for her perfectionism and capability to handle any work by herself. At the same time, the name also refers to her lack of romance. One day, a young man named Shinichi arrives at the school as a temporary instructor. He's ten years younger than Satomi, has only worked part-time jobs, and has neither money nor status. Although the other female teachers and students find him cute, he is completely not Satomi's type... or is he? Will love blossom between this unlikely pair?

I was actually supposed to finish this drama two weeks ago, but the last episode wasn't really subbed until today. And even then, only 80% of it was subbed. It was enough, though annoying. :) Well, as for the reasons for my decision to watch this: it was short (10 episodes long), it seemed cute, the plot was somewhat refreshing with the traditional roles reversed, and Koike Teppei was in it (he's just adorable). When I finally watched it, it didn't lose me, though Teppei's character did annoy me half the time, but made me want to pinch his cheeks the other half. The romance is gradual and when it finally gets there, it sort of plateaus off but it isn't really elaborated until the last 15 minutes of the last episode. I'm somewhat disappointed about that but really, what was I expecting with only ten episodes? For that, I'm quite content that nothing was rushed and you sort of get an epilogue type thing. An epilogue of about 2 seconds long, that is, which really isn't an epilogue at all.

The only thing was that it was obvious the woman was older and at some points, the relationship seemed to even border on being categorized as "wrong" - not that I have anything against age or anything. Just with Koike's boyish looks and innocent charm, lets just say the director and whoever casted him for the role did really well. I did like the conflicts the two had as well as how they differed due to age and maturity (as well as personality) but in the end, everything worked out. My reaction to this? It was cute, entertaining, and their chemistry was somewhat there (I suppose), but I'd say it isn't the best, nor is it something to completely ignore - especially if you've got some time on your hands. After all, it's not like there are too many dramas that center on a 33-year old woman and a 23-year old man.

As of now, all of the episodes are up on MySoju (though the last one needs to get better subs) and only 9 are up on DramaCrazy. Oh wait - DramaCrazy has all of them, but the last one is done by the same subbing group as MySoju.