Title: 優しい時間 Yasashī Jikan
English Title: Affectionate Time
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2005
Episode 11
Cast:
- 二宮和也 Ninomiya Kazunari
- 寺尾聰 Terao Akira
- 長澤まさみ Nagasawa Masami
- 余貴美子 Yo Kimiko
- 大竹しのぶ Otake Shinobu
- 麿赤兒 Maro Akaji
- 朝加真由美 Asaka Mayumi
- 山谷初男 Yamaya Hatsuo
- 梨本謙次郎 Nashimoto Kenjiro
- 正名僕蔵 Masana Bokuzo
- 田中圭 Tanaka Kei
SYNOPSIS
Yuichi Takuro used to be in a motorcycle gang and caused trouble for his parents. Estranged from his father, he now works as an apprentice potter in the town of Biei, around 50 kilometers from Furrano, his mother's hometown and where is father is currently staying.
Takuro's father Yuichi Wakui used to work for a trading firm and he was frequently sent abroad. When Wakui's wife Yuichi Megumi died in a car accident, Wakui retired from the company and moved to her hometown Furrano in Hokkaido. He is currently managing The Forest Clock, a coffee shop.
Minagawa Azusa works as a waitress in The Forest Clock. Extremely clumsy, she breaks plates and mugs all the time.
Azusa meets Takeru at a supermarket, who offers to give her plates and mugs for free. Takeru has a lot of plates and mugs that did not meet his teacher's strict standards.
REVIEW
Yasashī Jikan is about a family who has to work on their relationship after a family member has died. When wife and mother Yuichi Megumi died in a car accident, she left a husband and a son who couldn't communicate and relate well with each other.
It's heartwrenching that Yuichi Takeru's relationship with his father Yuichi Wakui broke down at a time when they both especially needed to be with loved ones to cope with their loss. It is sad that Takeru refrained from contacting his father afterwards because he thinks that his father hates him when in fact, his father is just waiting for Takeru to come to him.
At situations like this one, I am reminded that sometimes we make assumptions about other people based on their actions but our assumptions may be far off the mark. We can't always know what other people are thinking and feeling, the same way that they can't always know what we are thinking and feeling, so it is very important to communicate properly with other people sometimes.
Anyway, Yasashī Jikan is a weird drama though, because Wakui sometimes talks to his wife as if she is still alive. It's not as if he's hallucinating or imagining things though. The scenes are filmed in such a way that the wife is actually present and doing ordinary things a living person would do such as making conversations, drinking coffee, etc.
I personally think it's a weird plot device because well, I cannot help but think that Wakui is losing his mind. I mean, it's strange that he knows his wife has died, but he sometimes acts as if she's still alive.
###
優しい時間 Yasashī Jikan
