11 Aug 2006, 01:15 · edited
#15
Okay, sorry for bringing such an old topic up but I didn't want to make a new topic when one already started, even though this thread isn't exactly what I want to talk about. I also would like to warn anybody reading this that I'm extraordinarily frustrated with the show and right now I'm venting and/or seeking an understanding of why I'm so frustrated, so if this seems hateful or flaming in any way to the show or to other people who like the show, I apologize in advance.
Also I'd like to warn that this post contains spoilers for Heaven's Coins 1 and up to episode 4 for Heaven's Coins 2 (which is where I'm at). Now that all that's out of the way...
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Okay, I'm frustrated. I watched the first season of Heaven's Coins and was very frustrated at a ton of things in the show. I cannot for the life of me understand how this show is so freakin' popular with people when it was so horribly written. I watched the show giving it the benefit of the doubt: I know that I don't understand Japanese culture completely and many of the situations that are presented I've never been in the characters shoes. For now I will talk about the first season of Heaven's Coins.
The beginning wonderful. A charming story about a girl who gives everything she has and asks nothing in return, and as a result is rewarded. Aya and Shuichi have feelings for each other that have developed for a while and right when Shuichi makes the decision to act on those feelings, he loses his memory. Beautiful premise. I love the idea.
Unfortunately that was the high point. The first episode. Before I start ripping on the show, I'll point out what I liked about it. Aya's character was charming and did not change for the entire season. She was true to her feelings with Shuichi and because of that I felt her character was strong. I actually cried at certain parts when Aya did selfless things. One the other hand, Takumi's character was weak-willed, but I thought his character developed well throughout the series. Whether it's a weak or strong character I don't care, as long as they don't change without reason.
Now here's the biggest trouble I've had with the series: reason. I was given a reason why Shuichi and Aya cared for each other. I was given a reason why Takumi acts childish. But Shoko... her character was so freakin' flawed that it caused a chain reaction throughout the entire series because the basis for future events were dependent on her flawed character.
Spoiler — click to reveal
I could not understand for the life of me why Shoko loved Shuichi. At all. It made absolutely no sense to me. She pushed him down the stairs. She injured him greatly, and I can understand why she felt obligated to take care of him. But during that time when she took care of him, he gave her no reason whatsoever to fall in love with him. He may have acted nice to her and relied on her for healing, but love doesn't come from sheer pity (to their credit, they mention this in season 2).
Anyway, her character grew more and more in love with him. He did nothing but slowly recall unconsciously his love for Aya. He did nothing for Shoko. The way she behaved became unbelievable. She started basing all her decisions she made, began doing bad things to other people, and grew a massive hatred towards Aya based on this love which to me seemed entirely one-sided and came out of nowhere. To me, she was freakin' nuts... but they made no indication of that in the show. I can understand jealousy if it had a reasonable basis. If you truly cared for somebody and somebody took that person away from you, I'd be pissed, too. That's why I understand Takumi's character -- he was pissed and acted crazy, but it made complete sense!
In any case, I quickly became uninterested in Shoko. I didn't care if her character died or whatever -- I just wanted her out of the show. But they kept her in... as one of the biggest plot points. Now in the middle of the drama Shuichi comes to depend on Shoko to the point where he's confused. I can dig that. Shoko's messed up character manipulates him so he can fall in love with her. Now here's where Shuichi's character gets messed up because of another flawed character. Shuichi doesn't love her and still thinks about another woman, but sleeps with Shoko anyway.
What the hell? I mean, I could see that happening with someone else, but the way they've been developing Shuichi's character gave me no indication that he was that type of person. I would let this go if it wasn't for Shoko being in the series. So at the end of the season, he has to make a difficult decision between Aya and being a father. This makes sense and in most cases would make for a great plot point. I'm lucky I finished the season.
Now I'm on season 2. Heaven's Coins 2 has the unfortunate burden of relying on the first season which I thought was incredibly flawed. But my stupid ass can't stand not completing something that I started (Japan seems to be good at making people like that), so I have this need to finish the series. It's not because I want to see what happens, mind you. And here's why.
Aya, the character I thought was well-written, becomes awkward. Suddenly she's wishy-washy and can't make a decision, whereas before she was strong in her belief in Shuichi. Now, I can somewhat understand this as she's been away for a year with Takumi after leaving Shuichi with his decision of fathering his child (which Aya seemed to make for him).
Shoko passes (thank the Lord) while still having the same baseless feelings towards Aya and Shuichi. Her mother takes the baby from Shuichi and takes care of it herself. What the hell!? Are you serious? And he lets her. Out of guilt!? Guilty of what? Loving somebody he's loved since the beginning and being true to his feelings? Shoko knew he still loved her! That doesn't make him any less of a father! How is this even legal!? I mean, even if her company is funding his, since when does Shuichi's character even think it's a choice? Who the hell pauses between a choice between their newborn son and work? Maybe in some other drama where the character is like that, but Shuichi?
Also, on episode 4 (which I just finished), Takumi in one scene is all emotional and asks Aya for the 20th time to stay with her instead of going to Hokkaido with Shuichi. She accepts. Fine. Two or three scenes later, he's all "Go to Hokkaido, I'm cool now." Wait, wth? Still, he cries after, so that kinda gives him his credibility back.
Basically, this makes me feel like I can't relate at all to the characters in the show. I've lost any understanding and connection I've had with any of them. I have no interest in watching the rest because it's so rediculous to me. But damnit I need to finish it because I feel I can't write a fair review if I don't watch the entire thing.
I will give credit to the series for making me write this. I mean, not every series makes me want to write about it. But this is entirely negative. It's not about the storyline or the characters. It's about how the show is written and how the characters are written. For example, if I hate that X person is sleeping with Y person behind Z person's back, that's fine. I love that. Make me pissed off. But if X person doesn't make sense and Y person is affected and ultimately makes Z person act completely out of character, then I have trouble with it. In other words, sure I'm writing an assload about this drama, but it's negative in the sense that I think it's horribly made.
If you actually read all of this, color me amazed. Nobody needs to respond, and I doubt you will -- I was just venting. It was more for me than anything. Maybe I'm hoping it's something I don't understand culturally about Japan, but to me the series is just completely flawed. I can't understand why this got so many 10s on jdorama.com and had such a high viewership rating.
