JAPANESE DRAMA DATABASE: 87 percent: Watashi no Go-nen Seizonritsu

87 percent: Watashi no Go-nen Seizonritsu (My Chances of Surviving for 5 Years are 87 percent)

[Source: Daily Yomiuri, January 20, 2005, Wm. Penn, Televiews]: And it would be hard to get more real than Episode 1 of 87 percent: Watashi no Go-nen Seizonritsu (My Chances of Surviving for 5 Years are 87 percent) (Wednesdays, 10 p.m., NTV network). In this, Akiko (Yui Natsukawa) undergoes all the major tests for breast cancer--procedures shown in great detail--and waits apprehensively for Dr. Yohei Kuroki (Masahiro Motoki) to report his findings.

Despite the depressing subject matter, these two competent actors have managed to make the drama watchable. Kaoru Sugita is excellent as Akiko's best friend, Yumiko--it's good to see her back in a drama series, and maybe now she can wean herself off those horrid variety shows she has been appearing on recently. (The big wide show news this past week was 40-year-old Kaoru's Cinderella tale. On Jan. 11, she announced she had wed a rich businessman from an influential family.)

In 87 percent, Akiko and Yumiko are hapless insurance salesladies. Akiko, the single mother of a 9-year-old, also seems to have neglected to take out a cancer insurance policy. Her own parents died of cancer, and she was raised by relatives who did not really want her. That her son may face the same fate adds to her worries.
Dr. Kuroki, who does not underestimate the dangers of her condition, has some problems too. He is still traumatized by his own wife's death from breast cancer and his failure to diagnose her illness in time. Akiko is smart enough to go for second and third opinions. Those doctors all agree it is stage 1 cancer, their cheery optimism and matter-of-fact bedside manner doing little to help her.

As Episode 1 ends, she is headed back to Dr. Kuroki. It looks like doctor and patient will face their struggles together, and the best medicine just might be love. Some good acting here should keep viewers tuned in to what may be the only real romance out there this quarter. At least three stars.

STARRING: Natsukawa Yui, Motoki Masahiro
NETWORK: NTV
DURATION: January through March 2005
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