Kangoku no Ohimesama greatest weakness is that it spends most of its time in unnecessary flashbacks that detail every single thing about their characters' past. However, this is Kudo Kankuro writing here so every trip to the past in funny and touching.
Still, when a show uses the flashback technique, its keep the audience guessing how the characters got from point A to point B, which is the beginning of the show and every nugget of revelation keeps the audience guessing. In Kangoku no Ohimesama, we the audience can pretty much fill in the blanks and while there are some potential twists, they never happen and in the end it ends up being a straight forward journey.
I've always said not to judge a jdorama but what I think it should be but what its trying to be. Kudo Kankuro wants Kangoko no Ohimesama to be a comedy about friendship and about how a bunch of criminals can band together and risk their futures for the himesama. In that sense he has succeeded. Kudo Kankuro has created a memorable cast of characters especially Baba Kayo. There are so many funny and interesting details in the dialogue.
At the same time, I just hate the pacing and the narrative flow. If only it were 6 episodes, the pacing would be perfect or if Kudo Kankuro did it as a straightforward show instead of a flashback story. Watchable but infuriatingly flawed.
1 comment:
I really don't mind the flash-back focus on the story-telling. Actually I am currently rewatching it after several years from the first time and even though I know the whole story behind it, or maybe just because of it, the first episodes are simply hilarious. verything is not about the crime itself, but about the the women and their circumstances, especially in a male-dominated society like Japan. May it be the inmates or the prison guard. And it features the most amazing (female) cast ever: Miho Kanno. Hikari Mitsushima. Koyoko Koizumi. Among all the others.
OK, nothing can top Manhattan Love Store, but this one comes quite close. Even Shinobu is there... Maybe on par with Amachan. It might not be a must watch. But you must be bloody stupid not to watch it.
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