Bara no Nai Hanaya

[Excerpt from Daily Yomiuri, January 25, Wm. Penn, Televiews]: Little else in the first week of the new season could pass even the one-week test. The biggest disappointment was Bara no Nai Hanaya. With a Shinji Nojima script, a star-studded cast and Fuji's coveted Monday, 9 p.m. slot, it should have gotten off to at least a two-star start.

But by the end of Episode 1, it was hard to contemplate returning to the drab world of Eiji (Shingo Katori), a widower and owner of a shabby flower shop who loves to help others despite struggling to raise an 8-year-old daughter on his own. One day the blind Mio (Yuko Takeuchi) wanders into the shop and they become friends. However, she seems to be leading a double life and faking the blindness.

And why has the mysterious Dr. Anzai (Tomokazu Miura) ordered her to ruin Eiji's life? The dialogue and storyline were so unengaging that I am not tempted to return and find out.

STARRING: Takeuchi Yuko, Katori Shingo, Miura Tomokazu
NETWORK: Fuji TV
Theme Song:  
DURATION: January through March 2008