ザラ Notes: 高台家の人々 Kōdai-ke no Hitobito

16 June 2016

高台家の人々 Kōdai-ke no Hitobito

Title: 高台家の人々 Kōdai-ke no Hitobito
English Title:

The Kōdai Family
The People of the Kōdai Family

Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2016
Cast:

綾瀬はるか Ayase Haruka
斎藤工 Saito Takumi
水原希子 Mizuhara Kiko
間宮祥太朗 Mamiya Shotaro
大地真央 Daichi Mao
市村正親 Ichimura Masachika
坂口健太郎 Sakaguchi Kentaro
夏帆 Kaho
塚地武雅 Tsukaji Muga
堀内敬子 Horiuchi Keiko
シャーロットケイトフォックス Charlotte Kate Fox
大野拓朗 Ohno Takuro

SYNOPSIS
Hirano Kei is an ordinary office worker who loves to daydream. She has an overactive imagination, and she always spaces out because she's playing out fantasy stories in her mind.

Kōdai Mitsumasa is an elite salaryman who just transferred to Tokyo from New York. Mitsumasa is also the eldest son of the illustrious Kōdai family. Mitsumasa, together with his siblings, inherited their British grandmother's blue eyes and telepathic ability.

Mitsumasa finds Kei's fantasies interesting, and they began dating.

REVIEW
Kōdai-ke no Hitobito is about true love; it's about finding the one person you're meant to be with for the rest of your life. It's a miracle to have someone who knows the real you, and who accepts everything about you.

The children of the Kōdai family have inherited their British grandmother's blue eyes and telepathic ability. Kōdai Mitsumasa, Kōdai Shigeko, and Kōdai Kazumasa can see people's real thoughts and inner feelings, which makes it difficult for them to have relationships with other people.

Hirano Kei: Kōdai Mitsumasa, can you read people's minds?
Kōdai Mitsumasa: What is that? You mean, I'm a telepath?
Hirano Kei: It's impossible, huh? I'm sorry.
Kōdai Mitsumasa: But if I were really capable of that, it will be troublesome.
Hirano Kei: Why? I think it will be useful.
Kōdai Mitsumasa: It will be better if we don't know other people's true feelings. It will make you afraid to get involved with them. Probably.
Hirano Kei: I wonder about that.
Kōdai Mitsumasa: Then, if there's a telepath around you, would you want to get close to them?

Hirano Kei: Show you what's in my mind? You mean, everything? Do you even consider how the one who is being read might feel?

Kōdai Shigemasa: I asked this question so many times, "Why did a person as beautiful as you fall in love with someone like me?" But I've to realize that it had to be me. I'm the one you chose.
Kōdai Shigemasa: You had been carefully looking for a person who's fine with having his mind read. So I decided. I'm fine with it.

I think telepathy is a great ability to have, but that's probably because I'm thinking I can tune out other people if I want to. I wonder if I will still want to have telepathy if that's not possible? I probably wouldn't.

It's true that if there's someone who can read minds around me, then I probably wouldn't want to be close to that person. It's not as if I have a lot of things to hide really. It's more like I think there are things that should be kept private.

Making efforts is always necessary in life, even in maintaining relationships. We always have to make compromises when it comes to other people, especially since I don't think there are two people in this world that are so compatible that they don't have to make even minor adjustments.

Hirano Kei: Making efforts is necessary, right?

Kōdai-ke no Hitobito had a comedic first half that was such a delight to watch, so it was slightly disconcerting that the second half became such a melodrama. It was like watching two different films.

The pacing also leaves much to be desired. Although it was fun to see Kei's fantasies in full color, I think these creative scenes were shown at the expense of plot development. Since there aren't enough time left, the main plot and even the side stories were resolved in a haphazard way.