Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo no Ikiru Michi

[excerpt from Daily Yomiuri, February 20, Wm. Penn]: Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo no Ikiru Michi starring Koyuki and Tsuyoshi Kusanagi airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on the Fuji network. Six weeks into the winter quarter, it is the only new series I am still watching faithfully. And I am not alone. Rated at 20.5 percent according to Video Research Co., it has broken through that important 20 percent barrier and is now No. 3, right after two other Fuji offerings Shiroi Kyoto (Thursdays at 10 p.m.) and Takuya Kimura's Pride (Mondays at 9 p.m.), which is earning only 23.6 percent. That is a disappointing figure for Kimura but the dialogue and storylines in the last few episodes have been floundering.

What has caught my attention in fellow SMAPster Kusanagi's drama about a divorced dad is the way the script has gone beyond the typical Kramer vs Kramer scenario to actually examine the isolated lives of many Japanese men. Besides the strengthening father-daughter relationship, the story explores the relationship between Tetsuro (Kusanagi) and his own father, a man who totally defined himself by his company title. Now a widower in retirement, he is friendless and very much alone. Even Tetsuro's attempts to establish communication are rebuffed by his father's need to see life in terms of social position and business rank.

Tetsuro's boss at the bank is also lonely and depressed and took a dive out the window in episode six. Through his own struggles, Tetsuro has realized real happiness comes from family and he has decided to create a life that includes his child. He resigns his elite job at Midori Bank for a post that offers half the salary and none of the status but provides working hours that will allow him to be at home with his daughter.

This is definitely a good turn of events, because before he had his moment of enlightenment his daughter was left alone in their high-rise condo so many times Tetsuro is lucky he wasn't arrested for child neglect. The tutor (Koyuki) and grandmother (Aiko Nagayama) are brought into the story now and then. Still, it is truly disturbing how many times the series has left the first grader home alone late at night or walking alone by herself, with no thought at all given to the idea of hiring a housekeeper.

[Excerpt from Japan Times, February 8, 2004, Philip Brasor]: Many people consider Kusanagi SMAP's best actor, but it's only because he is treated as one, meaning he adapts himself to a role rather than the other way around. In "Boku to Kanojo . . ." he plays a workaholic father just getting to know his young daughter after his wife leaves him. Though he's 30, he doesn't look or act old enough to make the character credible.

STARRING: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Koyuki, Nagayama Aiko and more.
THEME SONG:
NETWORK: FUJI TV
DURATION: January through February 2004
REVIEWS:

Reviews needed