Majo no jouken

Brief summary of Majo no Jouken: A 26-year-old teacher and her 17-year-old homeroom student form a bond as both can relate to the pressures that family and society puts on them. This close bond quickly turns into a love that is forbidden to the law of society.

Having been introduced to JDrama's (Japanese Drama's) a few years ago, this was a pleasant surprise for me and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. The story was beautiful and emotional and you just couldn't help but hope that the heroes get their happy ending through the trials set on them individually and as a couple. There are just so many people that can relate not just to the protagonists, but to the support characters also (myself being one of them)! I will warn you though to get out the tissues, even if you are a guy!

Matsushima Nanako (GTO, Yamato Nadeshiko, Hyaku-nen no monogatari) and teen heartthrob Takizawa Hideaki (Strawberry on the Shortcake, Antique) bring to life a love story between a high school teacher and one of her students.

Hirose Michi (Matsushima) is the daughter of an influential educator, and uses that influence to attain the position of a high school teacher despite her age and inexperience. Kurosawa Hikaru (Takizawa) is the son of Kyoko (played by Kuroki Hitomi), a very wealthy hospital director. Hikaru finds his life is already planned out by his controlling mother, who has placed the burden of running the hospital squarely upon his shoulders. Rather than accepting that burden, Hikaru rebels in his own way, causing trouble from high school to high school, until he ends up transferring into Hirose-sensei's class. His past and demeanor cause Hirose to become interested in him, until that interest turns from professional to personal.

While Matsushima seems to find herself in either teaching or flight attendant roles, this particular role is an amazing departure from the role of Fuyutsuki-sensei in Great Teacher Onizuka. Her range as an accomplished actor is established with Majo no Joken, and is carried on later in Yamato Nadeshiko. Fans of drama series will find her to be atop their list of actors to watch out for, along with Tokiwa Takako and Matsu Tatako. This series hits the basic concepts of Japanese society and the strict upbringing within it to light, while also showing the nature and consequences of non-conformity in that society. Majo no Joken was the number two drama in its season, and rightly so.

A teacher-student love affair an adventurous theme for a Japanese drama, but in my opinion it's not done very well. First of all, Matsushima Nanako and Takizawa Hideaki are really mismatched. I suppose their physical differences could have highlighted visually how unlikely such a relationship was, but the drama was not executed well enough to carry that off. It just seemed like lousy casting to me, period.

Matsushima plays a teacher who feels trapped in life - by her domineering father, a fiance she does not love and students who do not respect her. She falls for Takizawa because they share something in common, dissatisfaction with life; and they bring comfort to each other. But, the actors don't bring enough depth into their characters for these reasons to hold. Takizawa seems like any other angst-filled youth in a world filled with angst-filled youths. He's somewhat of a rebel, but there isn't anything particularly charismatic or captivating about him either. I suppose Matsushima was going for understated acting, but she just didn't bring enough palpable strength and conviction into her role as someone who defies conventions. I'm not even convinced in the first place when she falls for him!

It seemed like the actors were merely going through the motions for the sake of creating a controversial drama. So although the message is that true love transcends boundaries, it was lost on me as I was going "How likely is that? And that, and that ..." throughout the series.

Adding to what the previous review says.. Japanese dramas (or soap operas, to Americans), aren't acted out very well. Most characters do seem mismatched and plots are thrown together. I'm beginning to think that this method is used on purpose. Tetsuya Bessho, who plays Michi's angry fiancee, is a wonderful actor as I have seen him in Parasite Eve. However, he is very flat and wanes through the show much like the woman who plays his fiancee. Not a big fan of dramas, I sat through all 13 episodes and even cried at the end. It's not a great, ground-breaking series.. but it's something to do on a Saturday night, when the LA station airs the English subtitled version. For jpop fans, Utada Hikaru sings the theme song, "First Love."

In my opinion, though there were some scenes that were kinda exaggerated in the show, it was credible enough to leave a sweet warm fuzzy feeling in me after watching it. True, I agree that perhaps there was nothing 'substantial' or 'special' in Hikaru to allow Michi a 'reason' to fall in love with him, but how many times in life do we really fall in love with someone for a reason? The only 'wrong' here is perhaps that he is 17 and not 27. The way they fell in love could have not been demonstrated fully enough for viewers to comprehend the emotions behind it all. Nevertheless I liked the show and would go back to re-watch it again. Maybe it takes a more emotional, imaginative and feeling person to like it. The relationship's so controversial that not many around me who have watched it can accept it. Kudos to all who liked it!