This is my first review. I hadn't planned on writing one, but I couldn't help it, as I realized - somehow astonishingly - no one had done it to this day.
I'm not too partial to Asadoras - Ama-chan is the only other one I've seen yet - as I usually think that the dilution of drama and narrative tension over a great number of episodes does a disservice to the overall quality of the work. Yet, amazingly, Toto nee-chan manages to deliver under every aspect.
The story stays compelling from beginning to end, spanning 50 + years of Japan history, as the main characters find and solve new challenges in their daily life, weaving for themselves a path that never feels forced or out of tune. Indeed every choice, every decision, every plot twist (the lone exception in my view being the one in ep. 135) flows naturally from the disposition and nature of Tsuneko and the others , and their responses to the challenges that society and environment pose them.
Heavy subjects like war and its effects on common people, or the condition of working women in contemporary Japan are tackled brilliantly in simple yet not simplistic or moralistic ways.
Amid all this, there's Love and Friendship and Respect and Dignity and Pride; there's also Loss and Pain, but they never come out of nowhere, there's always a meaning and sadness comes through as part of something greater and beautiful.
Japanese artwork in its finer moments has a way of telling you a lot without saying a lot. They understand the spaces between people and the spaces between words, and it never fails to amaze me.
The cast is great. All members of the Kohashi family shine a little bit differently, each part contributing to the whole picture, and the chemistry between Hanayama-san and Tsuneko is the motor of the drama: the two push and complement each other perfectly, resulting in countless exhilarating and moving scenes as they embark in their business journey.
I came upon this drama because of Takahata Mitsuki, that I regard as one of the most promising young actresses in Japan, and I was not disappointed: her impersonation of Tsuneko will be unforgettable - Takahata here has a way of keeping the viewer always on the verge of a deep emotion, without necessarily recurring to tears or exaggerated mimics to do so. The always caring, prideful, brimming with passion Takahata/Toto nee, sometimes reminded me of the acting magic that Mitsushima Hikari so often rewards the viewer with.
Long story short: every drama that leaves you a train wreck of emotions and feelings begging to find their way out, is a drama worth watching. And this is one of those.