Fukuyadou Honpo

So, I went from giving up on the Happy Marriage show on Prime to Fukuyadou Honpo: Kyoto Love Story instead. It's the story of three sisters (but mainly focused on the middle sister, shown in the middle of the picture). Their family owns a 450 year old Japanese sweets shop and the eldest sister was supposed to be the 18th generation to take it over, but instead she is getting married to an outsider that she barely knows and has never dated (but it's the first decision she's ever made on her own). So, the middle sister, who is actually the one who loved the shop but had been literally kicked out of the kitchen by their domineering mother, is told to marry Ken (the dude in blue) and take over now. The shy younger sister is experiencing the pangs of new love.

About to start episode 6 now (they're short; just 30 minutes each and it's a rainy Sunday and the dudes are gaming together, the smell of veggie soup simmering away in the kitchen).

Complicating the story is that Arare (the middle sis) has actually always liked Ken, but stifled that when she learned he was supposed to marry her older sister. It seems he likes her too and never wanted to marry her sister, but they are both stubborn. I get the feeling it's going to take them forever to actually confess to each other.

And, for the older sister, her first crush never thought he had a chance with her (because of the store), but now that he's learned she is marrying out of it, he asks her to marry him instead. She seems to be passing on that, as she felt she made up her mind, but now some geisha girl turns up that seems to have a thing for her husband-to-be. Obviously that doesn't work out, though, as the picture above doesn't picture first love dude at all. So you know he's got no chance. For me, I don't really understand either of them. It's not an arranged marriage or anything, so why did he ask her and why did she say yes? They barely know each other.

Things I don't like: the mother. That's the big thing. She really doesn't make much sense. I get her sense of duty and loyalty, but from the flashbacks you can see that middle daughter was the only one who ever had an interest in the shop. So why was she such a bitch from the get go? And when middle daughter does come to tell her that, hey, yeah, I'll take over the shop even though I ran away (sort of) when you first demanded it, then the mother is like, uh, no, I'll close it before I let you take it over. WTF? But then, says, okay, you can do it, when middle daughter grovels a bit. I get where they are going with it, tradition, sacrifice, loyalty, yada yada but mostly she just feels like a bitchy bitch to me who has always put the shop ahead of her actual family.

It's...okay. I thought Kdramas were a bit bad for holding still shots for slightly too long but I was wrong. Nothing compared to this. Everything is very slow. And that's not necessarily a bad thing but it's, well, it's a thing. It's slow. Everything about it is slow. The acting is okay, but nothing amazing. A weird thing that is bothering me is the main girl's giant sticky-out ears. I feel mean saying that. I do. But, seriously, every time her hair is up they are so out there that it becomes the elephant in the room. It's fine with her hair down and she's pretty and everything but...yeah, I'm mean. It's my blog and I don't even let search engines index it and pretty much no one reads this but me, so there. Ears. I'm telling you, ears. I can't un-see them.

Ears.

Anyway, I think I will finish this one but I don't think I'll love it. Will edit at the end for a wrap up. One thing I am liking, however, is the actual sweets and the making of them and the tea ceremony and stuff like that. I always find that interesting. That and the Kyoto scenery. There's a manga that this is based on as well, but I haven't read it. If there were lots in the manga about the sweets side of things, maybe I'll read it. I dunno. Maybe the pace wouldn't feel as slow in the manga. Anywho, in general I'd have to say the recent Kdramas I have watched are kicking the Jdrama's butts. No wonder they call it the Korean Wave.

Edit: about to start episode 8. I'm not understanding these characters. At all.

Arare finally confesses to Ken that she's always loved him. His response is, oh that was just a slip of the tongue and he leaves. WTF?

Hina (oldest sister) finally confronts Hinoyama (sort of) about the other girl. He says basically nothing. She leaves. Goes home and tells her sister that she's still going to marry him. WTF?

I'm supposed to root for these couples? Why? I don't know what's up with Ken but that's pretty cold, man. As for the older sister, this is a dude that you barely know + there's obviously something going on with another woman and he won't tell you anything and you're still going to marry him? Why? I see no reason. It doesn't seem like she particularly loves him. They barely seem comfortable in the scenes they have together. The mother had even said she'd be happier if the daughter married the first love guy. I can't see any reason at all for her to marry him. But obviously that's one of the end results  of the show. I can't see any reason whatsoever to root for that outcome.

The little sister and her dude are, honestly, the only "couple" that make much sense and that poor boy has just had to move to another city across the country because his parents got a divorce.

WTF am I watching this? I know, I know, the whole thing with these romantic dramas is to introduce problems. That's the second part of the three act process (first part: intro-ing the characters and their possible problems, second: throwing roadblocks, third: resolving the issues/happily ever after). But it also has to make sense for the characters. I think they can probably resolve middle sister's dilemma with Ken in a reasonable way, though it's kinda hard to buy it so far. But the oldest sister? Not getting it at all. Literally no one is telling her she should marry him.

I'm finding this one more annoying than not and I'm not sure the payoff is going to be worth it.

Edit again: ok...like, literally a few seconds into the 8th episode and Hina goes through with the ceremony with Hinoyama. They are now alone in their house. He goes to kiss her. She tells him not to touch her. And that she isn't going to register the marriage.

Seriously WTF is going on? How does this make any sense at all? At this point, I think I'm watching it to see if the writer can come up with a plausible reason for her actions.

Edit: Finished the 8th episode and this show is really pissing me off. The things most of these people do don't make any sense at all. At least Arare is up front about her feelings and confesses again, though Ken has now completely rejected her (though, based on the Amazon summaries, they are a couple by episode 10, so dunno HTF that works or why). Hinoyama obviously harbours a flame for the geisha girl. Even though it seems they will somehow wind up together, I see absolutely no reason to root for that. He shouldn't have married Hina. Hina shouldn't have married him. They are both stupid and I want to smack them. At least she has asked him about the other girl, but he won't answer at all.

There are four more episodes. Do I subject myself to it? I actually went searching for a recap site but no one has done a recap of the episodes. GRRRR. I do not like these people.

Edit, 9th episode: I fast forwarded through some bits because this effing show is slow. They even MOVE in slow motion. It's like acting through water. Ken confronts Hinoyma and says what everything should be thinking:

Other blah blah stuff happens. People cry. Finally at the end, he tells Arare he has always loved her. His reason for rejecting her up until now was, quite frankly, idiotic and made no sense. Something about how he wasn't sure he had the right to love her when the mom has already said you're to marry her, she's said she loves you, and everyone thinks the store would shut down without you. So GTFO Ken, you idiot.

Last Edit. Finished it but only by use of judicious fast forwarding. There was the separation. The angst. The I'll give you up because I think that's what you want but I won't let you say anything first because that would make things resolve more quickly and happily and we want to draw this out until the bitter end. The reconciliation. All in slow motion. Am I glad I watched this one? No, not really. I was more annoyed than entertained. I did enjoy all the bits about wagashi and tea ceremony stuff and ikebana, but it could have used more of that. The Ken actor guy had a good smile. The Arare girl's ears still bug me. The mother redeemed herself at the end. The only character I could say that I liked from start to finish was the token old sage dude.

Seriously. I'd have rather watched an entire show worth of Sei imparting wisdom and smiling knowingly at all the youthful hijinks.

I think I'm back to Kdramas after this. I imagine that being on a Jdrama set is something like this:

Scene: male lead faces female lead, approximately 10 feet apart aka a million miles away.

Female: (says something imploringly, single tear dripping down her face. camera one tracks it.)

Director: Okay, yes, now hold that, yes, just like that. Now stare soulfully at each other, hold it, hold it...keep holding it...camera 2, pan slowly to the left...

Male: (shifts slightly, continues staring into eyes)

Female: (blinks slowly)

Director: keep holding, don't breathe, don't breathe, okay, now breathe but SLOWLY now shift imperceptibly towards each other, okay, perfect, perfect, camera one, close up please...

...10 minutes later...And cut! That's a wrap!

Both actors collapse onto the ground because their muscles have frozen up.