Hanbun, Aoi (2018)

This review is going to be more negative than I expect most viewer's would, and so I do recommend reading the comment thread for this show as well for contrasting opinions. I do not, by any means, think this series is particularly bad, but I do believe that is not nearly as good as the half-a-dozen other asadoras I have seen.

Hanbun, Aoi was the summer asadora in 2018, and tells the story of Suzume from birth through the age of 40. As a typical NHK asadora the production, cast and direction are all of the usual high quality. However, the show is an exemplar of bad top-down writing in which certain check-points have to be hit for the protagonist in the desired narrative, and as a result there are some unbelievably stupid plot points along the way. I think the series is meant to be a fabulous tale of a young woman overcoming some personal adversities to find the love and happiness that she was fated to find. The title "Half Blue" is meant to be interpreted as a "the glass is half-full" kind of optimism in the face of challenges, but, ultimately, the story pretty much continuously beats down the protagonist, ignores any of her achievements and acquisition of skills along the way, and reaches a markedly tepid finale (The marginally interesting thing they were working on goes into production and the preordained OTP finally hug. Yay?)

The first third of the story is reasonably interesting. Suzume loses the hearing in her left ear at 8 from an otherwise asymptomatic cases of the mumps. She is supported by her family and friends and adapts to her disability. Suzume is not particularly bright, but does have some talent at drawing and illustration and so she decides to pursue a dream of becoming a mangaka. She becomes one of three proteges of a very successful mangaka, and the characters throughout this section and the challenges they face as artists are all pretty interesting and fun.

The brief middle section middle section which is meant to transition the character from a working mangaka to a single mom is pretty much utter tripe. Events which normally would be signs of success are interpreted as disasters. Plot threads about finances are brought up and then blatantly ignored over a couple of large time jumps, and the marriage ends pretty much as it began: because the writer says so, Nothing in this section makes much sense.

The last half of the series is focused on Suzume becoming a maker where you might expect the skills she developed as a mangaka to come in handy and help her thrive. But, no. The story pretty much continues to beat her down, and we are left with a very mild will-they/won't-they plot that lurches over an arbitrary finish line slightly beyond the Tohoku earthquake.

The cast is good, however, and Nagano Mei capably carries the show, such as it is. The character cries fairly frequently and the actress seems to get there effortlessly. Suzume is a little blunt and a little oblivious, and Nagano's charm makes the character quite likable. Like most asadora there is a large ensemble cast surrounding her with an interesting range of characters with their own dreams and aspirations.

Top down writing is not necessarily bad. Sakamoto Yuji's 2016 Love That Makes You Cry (https://mydramalist.com/16024-love-that-makes-you-cry) covers much the same territory, planting the Tohoku quake in the exact middle of the series and ending on the OTP's first kiss. But even then, it's not his best work, and comes off as more of a writer's exercise than one of his more organic tales. In contrast, the blatant structuring of the story makes Hanbun, Aoi even less interesting because the predictable ending is predictable and the machinations to get the characters where the outline put them frequently seem arbitrary and contrived.

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I don't normally watch long series like this whether from Japan or Korea. Somehow I came across with a video and as always I watched the trailer and I got myself hooked. One thing I have to say is this drama is very different any other drama I have watched. I'm not quite a fan of melodrama or something super dramatic. Hanbun, Aoi particularly not too dramatic and not too melodrama. It is just nice. Plus, it's 156 episodes and 15 minutes drama. I don't mind the duration of the drama but I do mind the length of it. LOL. Anyway, I challenged myself and I've completed. At least my quarantine days wasn't that boring after all.

Yes, I've patiently completed the drama and did slightly skipped a couple of scenes. Hehehe... Anyway, the drama tells a story of young girl named Suzume Nireno. She's a girl with big dreams and always chase for that dream despite of what others say. Despite not being to able to listen on one side of her ear, it didn't stopped her pursuing her dreams. This drama has such a sweet, funny and yet quite sad story to it. I would recommend it of course. It's really fast and you won't realize how fast you will be able to finish because it's only 15 minutes. I'm gonna have a bit of hard time to get over this drama and move to a new one but all ends well and that's all matter. Enjoy!

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