I kept delaying this one for over a year but deep inside I felt I'll end up watching it anyway. All of my bad predictions came true and more added. It gave me a ton of complicated feelings and then some more.
To put it shortly: it's a bad drama. The plot and the characters drive me crazy. For one, I don't think I've even seen a drama where I would want to shake every single major character hard screaming "GET YOUR FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER!" The Super-woman Takemi was pretty damn annoying and this whole "we're too pretty for people to take us seriously" drama was complete bullshit. I guess I did sympathize with Sakurako as someone living in her older sister's shade. If I hated her I probably wouldn't even be able to watch this in the first place.
I actually really dislike the whole genre of pseudo-comedy. The description says "comedy" but I don't think there was anything remotely funny in it. Manga-style ridiculous and exaggerated, yes, and not in a good way. Every time I think I might enjoy that kind of drama I fail. After the first few lighthearted playful episodes came a tragedy and then it got from bad to worse.
And then of course the worst part of it all: Shige playing an immature cheating asshole. You really want to like him because he looks like Shige but he's also a total douche so it turns into a perpetual internal struggle. I prepared myself for this or more like I tried but in reality it turned out a lot harder. Some episodes really fucked me up. I have to say Shige handled this role very well, a lot better than I expected. I think he was convincing and really good with expressing all of the emotions. And this is why it was even harder for me to watch him be an immature asshole. A hot immature asshole who is half-naked in every other episode.
243 fucking screens.MORE
Character Introduction:
Papa - a pathetic cowardly two-timer who is so desperate to keep his family together he threatens his daughter's cheating boyfriend with bodily harm to keep deceiving her.
Mama - a mama. That is her personality. Possibly the only sane person in the family but she dies early on.
Hanawa Fujiko - a refined business woman who keeps getting torn between work and family and can't decide if she wants to get married and if yes to whom.
Hanawa Takemi - a woman of demonic charm, adored by men and hated by her sisters. She is supposed to be this character who is hated by many but is actually very gentle and caring on the inside. However, in the end she does some really stupid shit.
Hanawa Sakurako - The middle sister with very feminine looks and a catastrophic absence of any sort of self-respect. She keeps doting on her asshole of a boyfriend who treats her like shit and then emotionally manipulates him with threats of suicide.
Hanawa Ume - a shy art student who has the classic "I wish senpai would notice me" scenario and acts like she's 12.
Mashiko Shozaburo (what a fucking stupid name) - an arrogant womanizer who is actually just a hurt little boy whose mummy didn't love him so he uses women like underwear. Until he meets Takemi, that is. Then he uses everyone but her.
Yamane Katsuhiko - demoness' former husband who starts as a pathetic weakling (who never would have become a president of a major company), suddenly turns into a vengeful asshole, then gets back to being a pathetic weakling.
Story development
The first few episodes were mildly entertaining and I was kind looking forward to more. Then more came and from ep 3 to 9 it was all just various stages of disbelief. Then, ep 10 made so much sense it was almost alarming. It's like all of a sudden everyone began to act like sane and even sensible people. And then ep 11... At that point I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, it was much better than I would have expected. Basically, I thought the ending was really stupid and yet it left me with an oddly satisfied feeling. I mean, at least Shou ended up with Sakurako, I would probably lose it if it was Takemi. I didn't believe it but I was still glad.
Of course, speaking sensibly, their relationship was pretty messed up from day 1 and I don't believe people can change the way they did so fast. Shou-whatever basically embodies a dumb female fantasy of an attractive arrogant man who won't take 'no' for an answer. Also, the way I see it the morale of the story is that, basically, if you surround as asshole who treats you like shit with love and care eventually it will work out. But that's speaking sensibly, the little girl in me was stupidly happy that they got together in the end.
Rating: 4 (just for the sake of Shige)