Title: 怪物くん Kaibutsu-kun
English Title: Monster
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2010
Episode: 9
Cast:
- 大野智 Ohno Satoshi
- 鹿賀丈史 Kaga Takeshi
- 八嶋智人 Yashima Norito
- 上島竜兵 Ueshima Ryuhei
- チェ・ホンマン Choi Hong Man
- 松岡昌宏 Matsuoka Masahiro
- 稲森いずみ Inamori Izumi
- 川島海荷 Kwashima Umika
- 濱田龍臣 Hamada Tatsuomi
SYNOPSIS
嵐 Arashi - MonsterKaibutsu Taro, the prince of the Monster Realm, is mean and selfish. He was looking forward to his coronation and to succeed his father as the ruler of the Monster Realm, but his father had other plans. The reigning king sent the prince, together with his three attendants, to the human world for training.
REVIEW
怪物くん Kaibutsu-kun - ユカイツーカイ Yukai TsūkaiKaibutsu-kun is a drama adaptation of a very popular anime targeted at kids. Considering the target market of the drama, it makes sense to assume that the drama has the typical framework of other adaptations specifically targeted for children: simple story line, creative characterization with monsters and heroes, and the moral lessons, of course.
Although the plot development is fairly straightforward given that it is imperative that the target audience can easily understand the story, the drama was made interesting even for adults watching the drama due to the energetic performance of the key characters.
Ohno Satoshi's portrayal of his character Kaibutsu Taro or Kaibutsu-kun was very impressive. I like that he was able to make a flawed and irritating character lovable and endearing. I was further impressed when he had to portray two different characters at one point in the drama; a demon impersonated Kaibutsu-kun so at some point there were two Kaibutsu-kun in the drama. It was amazing to find out that there are minor differences between the two Kaibutsu-kun; in the way they stand, how they speak, and their reactions.
Most of the actors in the drama performed well so it was a big disappointment to have one of the major characters to be less than amazing. Hamada Tatsuomi is lacking innate acting abilities and I can't help but think that he was cast because he was cute and not because of any acting talent. This is his first drama so perhaps I should cut him some slack but I think the character Ichikawa Hiroshi would be more properly portrayed in the hands of a better child actor.
I like how the moral lessons in the drama are complicated. Some of the interesting lessons are: money is important because people work hard to earn money in order to live and eat; lies are bad but there are times that people have to lie in order to protect other people; and friends are the people who know one's faults but these people still love and accept that person as he is, faults and all. I'm not sure if children can actually fully grasp the moral lessons but I really hope they could do so.
怪物くん Kaibutsu-kun (2011)
怪物くん Kaibutsu-kun (2011)
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怪物くん Kaibutsu-kun
