Title: エラいところに嫁いでしまった! Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta!
English Title:
- I've Been Married to Hell!
- Oh! My Mother in Law!
Language: Japanese
Year: 2007
Episode: 09
Cast:
- 仲間由紀恵 Nakama Yukie
- 谷原章介 Tanihara Shosuke
- 松坂慶子 Matsuzaka Keiko
- 本田博太郎 Honda Hirotaro
- 濱田マリ Hamada Mari
- 温水洋一 Nukumizu Yuichi
- 橋本さとし Hashimoto Satoshi
- 眞野裕子 Mano Yuko
- 渡辺夏菜 Watanabe Natsuna
SYNOPSIS
Makimura Kimiko is a freelance journalist who is sloppy and a bad cook. She hates customs and would rather not learn of such customs if she had a choice. When Kimiko marries Yamamoto Isojiro, she becomes Yamamoto Kimiko, the daughter-in-law of a very traditional Japanese household.
Isojiro is the third child of Yamamoto Namio and Yamamoto Shimako. He has an older sister Moriyama Yumi who is married to Moriyama Tamotsu and has two daughters, Moriyama Natsuho and Moriyama Haruna. He also has an older brother Yamamoto Eitaro who is a doctor and married to Yamamoto Rie. The youngest child of the family is Yamamoto Nao who is a medical student.
Kimiko's mother-in-law is under the wrong impression that Kimiko is the ideal woman and that Kimiko is eager to learn the Yamamoto family's customs and traditions. Although Kimiko does not want to go to her husband's parents' house, she finds herself going there over and over again because Isojiro just can't say no to his mother.
REVIEW
It was nice to see Makimura Kimiko initially indifferent with her husband's family but warm up to them as they spend time together. When Kimiko was angry with her husband's family for pressuring her to have children when she's not ready just because the Yamamoto family needs an heir, she said that although she married Yamamoto Isojiro, she did not marry Isojiro's family and she won't be pressured to do things she's not ready for.
I see where she's coming from when she said just because she married Isojiro, it doesn't mean she married the Yamamoto family as well, but I think she was wrong in that aspect. When she married Isojiro, she married into the Yamamoto family and became one of them. It was not her explicit choice but when she got married to Isojiro, she accepted him and his family and his past.
I would just like to say that I can't believe Kimiko actually married Isojiro. He has some redeeming qualities but as a whole, he's not someone a person in her right mind would fall in love with and marry. Not only is he too wimpy to stand up for himself and his wife, he is also always getting himself and his wife in trouble.
For instance, when Isojiro and Kimiko went to his parents' house after they got married, he did not tell her to dress up or be more presentable. Granted, Kimiko should have known to do so but perhaps she wanted to match Isojiro who is dressed casually so she's not out of place. Anyway, after getting off the train, Isojiro dressed up which means Kimiko is dressed differently and not properly for the occasion. There were several other instances wherein Kimiko was unprepared or ignorant because Isojiro failed to inform her. I suppose perhaps Isojiro was like that because his family's customs and traditions are normal for him that he failed to realize that Kimiko may need instructions or additional information.
Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta! presents the customs and traditions of a traditional Japanese family who lives in small traditional communities. It not only talks about the customs and traditions but the reasoning behind as well.
More than that, the drama talked about getting to know one's in-laws and trying to have a good relationship with them. It takes a lot of effort and patience to associate with one's in-laws, especially if they have entirely different values and practices from one's own.
The part that had the most impact on me was when Kimiko's mother-in-law Yamamoto Shimako talked about the importance of working hard. "We shouldn't be lax with our work just because there are no visible rewards."
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エラいところに嫁いでしまった! Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta!
