JAPANESE DRAMA DATABASE: Oni no Sumika

Oni no Sumika (House of Devil)

From Wm. Penn [Daily Yomiuri 1/14/99]: Fuji's best chance for top rating honors this quarter appears to be "Oni no Sumika". Talented newcomer Kyoko Fukada stars in this classic Cinderella tale of an orphan sent to live with scheming, bullying relatives, who run a hot spring inn where they force her to work as a maid. This one seems to go beyond even the usual excessive levels of "gaman and ganbaru" (endurance and determination). The TV magazines provide color-coded line diagrams for all the new series to help viewers figure out the relationships between the characters--relatives, rivals, romantic interests, employers. Poor Kyoko is the target of "ijime" (bullying) from seven different directions. The most significant aspect of this series may be that it is the first continuing series I've come across to feature an illegal foreign worker as a regular in the cast--a Chinese woman who works as a maid and is bullied by the management also. HK star Kelly Chen makes her Japaense drama debut.

STARRING: Fukada Kyoko, Kelly Chen, Okae Kumiko, Namase Katsuhisa, Nakamura Aimi, Enami Kyoko, Kohashi Kenji, Fujiki Naohito, Nishikino Akira, Hoshino Mari, Mitsuhashi Yosuke and more.
THEME SONG: "Kumori nochi hare" by SIAM SHADE
NETWORK: FUJI TV
DURATION: Started on January 12, 1999 through March 1999.
REVIEWS:

This drama is totally different from "Kamisama" but the only resemblance is the fact that Fukada Kyoko is the target of "ijime". But in both cases, she fights back. It's just a story not too many people can relate to. Kind of disappointing for a Fukada Kyoko drama. Don't expect too much.