Title: オトメン Otomen
English Title: Otomen
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2009
Episode: 12
Cast:
- 岡田将生 Okada Masaki
- 夏帆 Kaho
- 木村了 Kimura Ryō
- 瀬戸康史 Seto Koji
- 佐野和真 Sano Kazuma
- 桐谷美玲 Kiritani Mirei
- 武井咲 Takei Emi
SYNOPSIS
Masamune Asuka is a popular high school student who is also the top kendo fighter in the nation. Although seemingly masculine on the outside, Asuka is actually interested and skilled in feminine activities like cooking, sewing, sweets, and comic books.
He falls in love with Miyakozuka Ryo, a transfer student who is quite tomboyish. She's good in fighting but is quite hopeless in cooking and sewing.
REVIEW
Otomen discusses socially acceptable activities and hobbies for males and females. In a way, it helps people think consciously about what they deem are acceptable and right, and compare these with what the society dictates as acceptable and right.
It's sad that guys who are interested in girlish activities and have feminine traits, as well as girls interested in manly activities and have masculine personalities, are automatically thought of as gay. It's like, someone is deemed gay unless proven otherwise just because of so-and-so interests.
But then again, I understand why most people tend to make these assumptions and snap judgments all the time. It is people's (more specifically, their brains') way of making sense of things in the world because as much as we would like to thoroughly get to know people first before making judgments, we simply don't have the time and resources to do so for each and every person that we meet. Hence, the categorical assumptions and snap judgments.
It seems that Masamune Asuka has to hide his girlish interests and feminine traits from his mother because his father, who has similar girlish interests and feminine traits, turned out to be gay and ended up leaving his family to live as a woman. It's kind of mind-boggling how the young son has to go the extra lengths to hide his true self so as not to disappoint his mother.
Also, Miyakozuka Ryo should have a masculine personality but the only thing that defines her as such is how good she is with fighting and judo. I wonder why she isn't portrayed as having any other skill or activity that is defined as masculine such as computer programming, engineering, etc. Although she is someone who is supposed to not know any feminine skills, her lack of knowledge is too much to rationalize.
I don't usually like the villains in dramas but I liked Oharida Miyabi. She's too self-involved that she thinks other people's world revolve around her as well but she was surprisingly more funny to watch and not very irritating.
A schoolmate Tachibana Juta writes a successful manga about Asuka and Ryo but it's sad that he had to pretend to be a woman when he had to make public appearances. Is it not acceptable for normal guys to write comic novels with teenage girls as the target audience? This is not the first production I encountered where guy shōjo manga writers had to hide their identity in order to be acceptable or to appease the public.
It's amazing that both Asuka and Ryo are big fans and avid readers of the manga that talks about them and they don't make the connection, especially since the main characters have their names and personalities. It also talks about their daily lives, such as their struggles and their budding romance. I suppose Ryo cannot make the connection because she's an airhead but Asuka is supposed to be smart yet he didn't notice. Weird.
I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy this drama but it's probably because I don't really get the premise of the story and I couldn't relate with any of the characters. It was quite fun to watch but it did not speak to me or touch me the way other productions did and this is one drama wherein I would pass the opportunity to watch it again, if ever I have the time to do so.
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オトメン Otomen
