Fan reviews: Batsu Kare

MonsterZero65 · 16 Aug 2010

This drama is worth watching but not very exciting. I think it could have been so much better working with the great cast they had. The story was okay it just did not delve into characters enough.

MonsterZero-65 · 9 Jun 2008

Batsu means no way in Japan. A Divorced man and a single women past her late 20's are considered almost hopeless by many. The story moved along kind of slowly and was not super romantic in my opinion. I think it is a stronger story of friendship than it is of romance. Pretty enjoyable though.

noodlefreak · 18 Mar 2006

never really got into it. The story seemed interesting, but for some reason I didn't really grow to like the characters I guess. I give it an 8 because there were some funny moments that really made me laugh. Bunch of goofy friends in this drama. Goofy friends and awkward moments between couples and ex-es. Haha amusing.

Old-Ant · 24 Jun 2005

TBS's synopsis is terrible, so here's something a little more accurate:

Kyousuke (Takahashi) has always had women coming on to him, unfortunately that's coupled with his inability to turn them down. But his easy-going, flirtatious style keeps them coming to him like moths to flame. His boyhood friend, the widower Youhei (Takashima), is Kyousuke's conscience and delivers long-winded lectures (with standard Takashima intensity) to him about his loose-moraled lifestyle. As the story begins, Kyousuke's wife has just divorced him for cheating, and he is forcefully separated from his cute-as-a-button kindergarten-aged daughter. He goes to live in a businessman's hotel, but spends all of his time at Youhei's apartment hanging out and cooking for Youhei's perfect 8-year old (or so) son.

At the same time, single-and-loving-it Natsuki (Maya) and her best friend, the soon-to-be-divorced Shouko (Inamori) are setting up a stationary and sundries shop in Youhei's neighborhood, and Natsuki moves into the apartment right across from Youhei. Their various 30-something personalities ignite sparks of anger, romance, and a combination thereof.

If you've seen many Japanese romantic comedies, you'll see how the story ends for certain characters from the first episode. (You might even be able to guess from the cast list.) The nice part is you can also see that most of the characters have a lot of growing up to do before episode 12 so the ride is good even if there isn't a lot of suspense over the ending regarding certain characters. There are a few twists I wasn't expecting, and some good chuckle humor...but thinking back on it, there isn't much I can really pick out about it that would make me recommend it except for one thing: I had to see the next episode. Good pacing, maybe? Clever cliff hangers? I don't know, I was simply hooked.

Takahashi and Maya play their parts with fluid ease. Inamori is a little more rigid, but turns in a reasonable performance. Takashima's performance was over-the-top, and it didn't quite mesh with Takahashi's comfortable-in-his-own-skin delivery, but after a few minutes you get used to it. Takashima's performance is only somewhat cringeworthy around Inamori, and that's because of the script.

The more minor characters don't add much to the mix. Masahiro (Amano Hiroyuki) tries to eat up the scenery with comic overacting in his part as the unattractive, overweight comic relief, but he doesn't really seem suited to the mood of the rest of the cast. There are no surprises with Kitagawa and Takisawa Saori as the scheming office rivals for Kyousuke's affections.

All though it is mainly by-the-numbers romance, there are enough surprises in the story to warrant a favorable review. The writer, Komatsu Eriko, seems infatuated with Kyousuke's character, and I have no doubt most of the audience will be as well. It's too bad that Maya's and Inamori's characters aren't as well developed as the two main male characters, but this is a buddy story as much as it is romance.

I give it a "Pretty Good."