Child abuse is arguably one of the cruelest of crimes. But just as despicable, if not worse, is the all-too common tendency of society to turn a blind eye to evidence of such exploitation.
“Mother” is the story of a woman who responds to an abused girl’s silent cries of help. Nao (Yasuko Matsuyuki), an aloof 30-something woman who works reluctantly as an elementary school teacher, notices the unmistakable bruises on her first grade pupil Rena (Mana Ashida). Initially, like everyone else, Nao looks the other way.
But Rena’s wretched desperation soon awakens a passion and determination in Nao. Together they skip town and embark on a risky journey pretending to be mother and child. “Mother” is the story of the transformation of a once-disenchanted woman who suddenly takes on the role of a parent to a child who is starved for maternal love. The drama probes into the meaning of motherhood in modern society.
[source: www.ntv.co.jp/english/drama/mother.html]
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this SPRING season, i should give a big trophy to MOTHER.
[1] i love matsuyuki yasuko so much. if only tsutsumi shinichi appeared here as a special guest...
[2] i really really love ashida mana [the daughter of matsu takako in CONFESSION movie].. this is her lead debut in drama after debut in Confession movie. this kid is amazing talented. carrying such a heavy character with different colors and moods. she's a brilliant ... spontaneous and never limits herself with the script. i could see some lines and expression which i believe her improvised. sasuga matsu's daughter!
the challenging part ... when she brought scenes of being abused, before and after.. and the consequence behavior. her colorful behavior and thinking described enough of her character. you can't guess what she'll say or do... and that's the interesting way to learn more and more and more about her.
[3] the return of my favorite tanaka yuko! who will forget this OSHIN. she never fails here. and never bored me. she's exactly resembles my beloved late grand-auntie. certainly me and mom used to cry everytime we watched tanaka yuko.
[4] the scriptwriter sakamoto yuji .. beautiful words. until now, i can't expect the next lines .. and couldn't really guess what will happen next. it's relaxing. you'll find several surprises. with a nice momentum and the flow - not so fast, not too slow. at certain moments, i didn't expect that i would be flooded with tears. it's ok not to cry .. but if somebody watching this without feeling or thinking anything, i'm sure that person considered heartless.
very well-developed plot .. this main story slowly moving into several sub-plots which covered many issues that related to motherhood topic. i just watched Ep 4, and i'm looking forward for more. oh, what a great opening in Ep 1... that's what made me kept on watching the two whole episodes non-stop in a row at cyber cafe :P
i've known sakamoto yuji for comedy and humor works [Saiyuuki, RyokitekiNa, TopCaster, TokyoLoveStory etc]. sakamoto yuji awarded for the best writer of kanno miho's OUR TEXTBOOK drama. emm, but my personal view, MOTHER is his best work at this moment. oh wait, i haven't watch Anata no Tonari ni Dareka Iru drama [B'z did all the theme songs for this drama!].
the soft voice of yasuko and the cheerful voice of little mana is such contradiction but melodious to my ear. time to time, i could feel their growing relationship and even their tiny miny detailed expressions would touched and carried me away. ashida mana's memorable cute laugh already became her trademark now ~ ah, i can't sleep. this make me wanna watch NHK The 8th Day Chicada drama [if i could find it with sub].. but i've got a feeling that the plot of MOTHER is more appealling than CHICADA. maybe.
[5] yamamoto koji as the reporter who investigate the case and kept on following the runaway mother-daughter. for earlier episodes, i saw koji as the usual koji we used to know. the handsome and flirtatious face. i wanna see his other side.
at last, at the end of Ep 4 - with his gentle expression, unexpected line came out from him. yosh, i can't wait for upcoming episodes! i hope sakamoto yuji would succeed to develop yamamoto koji's character.
[6] the director is mizuta nobuo.. when i watch the opening of ep 1.. i kept asking who direct this drama... yappari, no wonder MOTHER is soooo movie-mode! ^^
the director is a film director. this is his debut in directing drama. .... oh, wait .. his debut was in yutaka takenouchi's Psycho Doctor drama. hehe, he's a director of Maiko Haan!! and No More Cry!!! movies.
another director is naganuma makoto - i'm not familiar with his works. oh wait, he's one of directors of miyazawa rie's Ichiban Taitsetsu drama and nakama yukie's Kao drama.
[7] music ... i can't let off the theme song. Nakigao Smile by Hinaco [rythm zone]. i just love it so much. beautiful sad + happy + mixed feeling melody. really wanna know the meaning of the song. you could easily find fanvideos of this drama online :)
i'm waiting the english sub for for Ep 5 and 6 now ... seems suddenly rating for Ep 6 increased from 11.9 to 13.9%. this is NTV's production. i don't think it will get a high rating, beating other glossy doramas. but overall ratings still good, so far.
i wish ashida mana will act with matsu again. as her daughter ... together with kimura. it'll be a miracle if suddenly LOVEGENE sequel come up. oh, btw.. from now on... i will refer ashida mana as matsu's daughter. i'll pray that she'll be a great actress in future .. like his 'first mother' matsu takako. although i love her 'second mother' matsuyuki yasuko too.
she's so small and cute... with such heavy and challenged roleplay on her own.. i've to say, she's on top of the list now .. high above from the other child actors/actresses. this small young kid is really something, ya'know!
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i just finish Ep5 and 6 without sub. ~ dramatic scenes.
uwaa, stress ~ i want more...and more...and more!!!
END of EP5: actually from episode trailer, i already knew the real mother will found the girl. But.. as i said before, over and over... ashida mana's acting is powerful amazing! exactly when she voiced out, "Mama" ... i was shivering. her one word gave me such goosebumps. oh my ~ i was weak, half-fainted. just in a blink of an eye, her face turned into horrible traumatic expression. i could feel hers. she was deeply frightening. iyadaa~ doushiyou?!! if only i could hide her under my bed. poor child.
EP6: dramatic episode. i can see that the character of yasuko's younger sister started developing here.
alright, to cool down of myself... let's hear Kokoro by Oda Kazumasa. {do you know matsu takako was contributing her sweet voice at the back ^__^}
| First Kiss-Kokoro-... |
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