Title: オー！マイ・ガール！！Ō！mai・gāru！！ (Oh! My Girl!!)
English Title: Oh! My Girl!!
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2008
Episode: 9
Cast:
- 速水もこみち Hayami Mokomichi
- 加藤ローサ Kato Rosa
- 吉田里琴 Yoshida Riko
- 岡田義徳 Okada Yoshinori
- ともさかりえ Tomosaka Rie
- 篠原真衣 Shinohara Mai
- 古田新太 Furuta Arata
- 鹿賀丈史 Kaga Takeshi
- YOU
SYNOPSIS
Yamashita Kotaro works in a publishing company and he aspires to become a novelist. He is estranged from his older sister and her family.
Sakurai Anne is Kotaro's niece and a child actress. When Anne's mother leaves Japan, Kotaro becomes her legal guardian so she moves into his house. Anne's sudden appearance disrupts Kotaro's peaceful life and normal routine.
Kotaro is not familiar with handling children, which always gets him into trouble with Fuji Mineko, Anne's manager.
REVIEW
There are a lot of weird happenings in Oh! My Girl!! Although these moments were necessary for the plot development, these moments are actually unrealistic and doesn't really make sense in the greater scheme of things.
No matter how estranged people are with their parents and siblings, I think there's always that desire to know at least the most general facts about them (whether they are married or not, whether they have children or not, if they doing well or not, etc.).But Yamashita Kotaro didn't seem to know about her sister's daughter, which is strange by itself already. It is made even more unbelievable by the fact that his sister and his niece are actually famous actresses.
Mothers don't really leave their children for long periods of time (actually even for short periods of time!) without making sure that their children are in safe hands. It seemed strange that Sakurai Anne's mother just left her without informing her and without making sure she has a responsible guardian to look after her.
Although there are a lot of areas wherein viewers need to suspend their beliefs and reasoning; once these concepts are made acceptable in the drama's context, it is much easier to enjoy the drama. There are a lot of funny moments, mostly brought about by the awkward relationships between the lead characters.
The drama is essentially about parenting; how to become a good parent when you are not ready to be one and how to raise good children. There are some moral lessons that may seem controversial but I think it is also good that the drama raises discussions on these issues, which may lead to parents and would-be parents to determine where they stand in these issues. One of the most pressing issues raised in the drama is whether it is okay or not for parents to hit their children as punishment for doing something wrong.
I'm quite impressed with Yoshida Riko's acting abilities at such a young age. I'm amazed at how she can switch emotions in split seconds. There were some scenes where she had to act emotionally and she cries her heart out but then she puts a neutral face as soon as the director yells "Cut!". There were also some scenes where she's being the ultimate spoiled brat in the planet and then she quickly becomes angelic when she notices that she's not alone with her uncle and they have an audience.
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オー！マイ・ガール！！ Oh! My Girl!!
