Title: 山田太郎ものがたり Yamada Tarō Monogatari
English Title: The Story of Tarō Yamada
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2007
Episode: 10
Cast:
- 二宮和也 Ninomiya Kazunari
- 櫻井翔 Sakurai Shō
- 多部未華子 Tabe Mikako
- 大塚ちひろ Otsuka Chihiro
- 忍成修吾 Oshinari Shugo
- 吹石一恵 Fukīshi Kazue
- 吉沢悠 Yoshizawa Hisashi
- 鎗田晟裕 Yarita Akihiro
- 清水尚弥 Shimizu Naoya
- 村中暖奈 Muranaka Haruna
- 吉田里琴 Yoshida Riko
- 澁谷武尊 Shibuya Takeru
- 柴田理恵 Shibata Rie
- 菊池桃子 Kikuchi Momoko
- 松岡充 Matsuoka Mitsuru
SYNOPSIS
嵐 Arashi - HappinessAn ideal guy is good-looking, smart, athletic, rich, and an all-around good person. Which is why Yamada Tarō, since he satisfies all other criterias, is assumed to be rich by default. A perfectly logical assumption since Tarō is studying in Ichinomiya High School, an elite private school in Japan.
Tarō and Mimura Takuya are both seemingly perfect guys and are celebrities in their own right. They are the top two students in their school and are in the special honors class. They always do well in everything, from playing musical instruments to making artistic flower arrangements.
Almost every girl dreams of becoming their girlfriends and wives. Ikegami Takako, an ordinary girl from a middle-class family, dreams of marrying a rich person and she sets her sights on Tarō.
But Tarō is actually very poor and he is studying in Ichinomiya on a scholarship. He never meant to actually mislead people into thinking otherwise but only the school principal and his close friend Takuya know about his actual financial situation and family circumstance.
Tarō lives in a dilapidated shack with his mother and six younger siblings. His parents are quite irresponsible so he ends up doing odd jobs whenever he can to support the entire family.
REVIEW
Yamada Tarō Monogatari is a great family drama. Although the storyline is quite simple, I think the execution was excellent. It relays life's important lessons in funny ways such as things aren't always what they seem (Yamada Tarō is actually poor although he appears to be quite rich), you don't always get what you want (Ikegami Takako wants to marry a rich guy but ends up falling in love with a poor guy instead), and there's nothing greater than the love of a family -- whether it's the family you were born into or a family you created with people important to you.
Tarō is an amazing person. He doesn't feel resentful although his parents are quite irresponsible and he's left to do what they should be doing: working to earn money, doing the household chores, and taking care of his siblings' well-being.
Tarō's younger brothers and sisters are also amazing. They are quite young but they are conscious about the hardships their older brother is going through in order to provide for them so they try to help him any way they can: they don't ask for things they don't need, they help with the household chores, and the older siblings look after the younger ones.
I like Mimura Takuya's character. He is naughty but he means well. It's actually nice to see someone who has everything but is still nice and gracious. He seems too perfect though, but I am not complaining.
I'm quite disappointed with Takako, especially since she's supposed to be intelligent. She has to be smart considering that she's in the same honors class as Tarō and Takuya. I can't believe her only dream in life is to marry a rich person who could provide her with a better life. I would have been able to respect her and relate to her if her goal is she wants to provide a better life for herself instead.
In a way, I like how the drama teaches you to 'be yourself'. The things that Takako doesn't like about herself -- being middle class, having a mother who taught her how to spend wisely, knowing how spend wisely -- are things that actually made Tarō notice her. When she showed him this part of herself, he was quite impressed.
Although I don't really like sequels because they usually tend to be nothing but big disappointments, I want this drama to have a sequel entitled Mimura Takuya Monogatari. It would be all about Takuya and his family, and perhaps about how he meets the love of his life. That would be quite interesting.
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山田太郎ものがたり Yamada Tarō Monogatari
