Moto Kare

The concept is iffy at best - the stories of a group of 20-something employees at a department store's food court. Dohmoto Tsuyoshi is perhaps fatally understated in his role a new employee learning the ropes; Rina Uchiyama is an elevator girl who likes her relationship with Tsuyoshi, but is concerned about an energetic new manager in the food section (Ryoko Hirusue) - who may not quite be over her boyfriend quite yet.

Interest varies according to situation. Scenes at home are uniformly dull, and the same criticism can be made of scenes at a ballroom dance studio. Tsuyoshi has all the charisma of a clod of earth, though Uchiyama shows more depth than some of her other roles to show herself as a vulnerable woman uncertain of her personal and professional role. Predictably, the drama's highlights come from uber-talented Ryoko Hirosue; she's masterful with drama and light-comedy, expressing all sorts of emotion without saying a word.

On the other hand, Tsuyoshi is better suited for comedic roles, and minor ones at that; he's certainly not a leading man. Uchiyama has always had to fight being seen as just another pretty face in middling dramas, but Moto Kare suggests that, in better roles, she has real talent; Hirosue is commanding in every scene. On the other hand, the budding romance between a 30ish dumpling maker and a 20-something school teacher (Amano Hiroyuki, Yoshie Ichige) was awkward and riddled with chiches.

I found myself fast-forwarding over the less interesting sections, paying closer attention to the portions with Hirosue. Finally, I realized that the entire drama was unsurprising, and written with the kind of predictability that hurts its earnest ambition to be "mature". For a more "adult" drama, the action is surprisingly limp and unoriginal. I suppose it comes down to chemistry; Moto Kare comes closer to a slower-paced character study than it should, and the chemistry between the characters is lost in the process.

I'm kinda mixed about Moto Kare. There are just so many good things and bad things about this drama.

To start off, I don't think the ending was as bad as some people said. Some of the remarks about the ending seem to be more out of jealousy and immaturity. However, I do think the end result of the love triangle was a little rushed and slapped together.

How the characters were written just didn't sit too well with me. Particularly Hirosue Ryoko's character, Manoko. With her smart mouth and the way she tries to force her way through between Toji and Nao I didn't really care for her. I can sympathize for her emotions because of how she was treated at work and Ryoko's good acting, but the character herself I didn't really care much about. I felt this was Dohmoto Tsuyoshi's worst performance. The role with such a flaky character didn't really suit him at all and at times he seemed bored with his role. His character I thought was alright, but his flaky character isn't as well done Takki's character on SOS or Yamapi's on Buzzer Beat. Uchiyama Rina was wonderful in this drama. Superb acting, and she played one of the more likable characters in this drama.

I liked some of the side characters. I liked Sonim's character. The subplot involving her was alright. It wasn't that great but it kept me going.

The real saving grace for me along with Uchiyama Rina was the soundtrack. Hakky Candy I feel is the Kinki Kids' best song, and I also liked a couple of the other songs in this series such as "Tekko's theme." Overall, I think this drama is just ok. Not my favorite and I probably wouldn't care much for watching it again, but not the worst.

This show reflects those frickle-minded and undecisive people. Be more truthful whom you love. Besides the great plot, you will definitely enjoy the theme song too.