Beach Boys

I'd love to be Makoto watching two got guys acting silly at the beach. I'll come clean, Kaito and Hiromi are the reason to watch this drama. I never would have stumbled upon it had it not popped up on my Netflix as a new addition. I am not a fan of J-dramas, they're my least favourite out of all Asian dramas, but this is probably the best out of the few Japanese ones that I have seen. It's an easy watch, it's breezy fun, slice of life with some serious moments here and there. It does raise some universal questions - life goals, life passions, career trouble, relationship trouble, work-life balance, parents and children.

That being said, there were some things that bothered me about it. I hated Michie-san and her internalized misogyny, I don't care about her past trauma, that is no reason to act like that and be forgiven just because you have been through tragedy. And Haruko's ex is a monster no matter how you spin it and I don't get why they couldn't have come to some sort of understanding, but the Japanese do not do co-parenting, not even today, so there's that. In fact this whole thing between parents and children, I don't understand why Keiko couldn't see Makoto once in a while and maintain a steady relationship, it's just weird. And there's also the pretty blatant sexism that the males display without any remorse and you realize it's just ingrained and culturally acceptable. Apart from the pretty tasteless jokes about a 17 year-old's underdeveloped breasts, there's the don't listen to a woman and don't make decisions based on a woman talk that just grated on me. Phrased differently it's a pretty acceptable stance but when you say it like that... But apart from these scenes I liked the fact that the characters interact and behave very naturally, which is almost an exception in Japanese dramas, with most of them adapted from mangas. These people here feel real. And I was also hit by the nineties nostalgia with the haircuts and the clothes.

I hesitate to call this a drama because it is different and better. I'm the first to admit I stumbled upon this drama because it was on Netflix.

I love each beautiful and comedic episode along with the "eye-candy" of the two male leads. Nice to see the individual layers that are peeled away from each character as they reveal their deeper selves.

The casting is perfect with as the emotion of each actor blends perfectly together to make you feel at home and a part of each relatable episode.

This series is a timeless and winning classic! Please share with your entire family! Void of debased story-lines, profanity, and explicit sex scenes that you find in a lot of TV today, It's nice to see shows that were written without appeasing to all of the immorality and confused sexuality of the world.

Writer Yoshikazu Okada's best work to date, he weaves a skillful mix of drama and humour around the homey but real characters who gather in a small beachside B&B. In the opening scenes, director Rieko Ishizaka reveals her artistic pretensions through her use of an unsteady handycam and weird saturated colours to set off the flashbacks of our two young heroes, Hiromi Sakurai (Takashi Sorimachi) and Kaito Suzuki (Yutaka Takenouchi). The freeloading Hiromi has been kicked out by his girlfriend Fujiko (Kaori Tsuji), and ends up in a police parking garage after sleeping in his illegally parked tiny white 1985 Renault. Meanwhile, the rich and successful Kaito stands on his rooftop patio, stinging from his loss of a major client for the huge multinational trading company where he works. The two head for the sea, and meet for the first time when Kaito spots Hiromi pushing the same Renault in search of a gas station. They end up crashing onto the beach next to the Diamondhead B&B run by aging ex-surfer Masaru Izumi (guitarist Mike Maki) and his granddaughter the cute but boyish Makoto (Ryoko Hirosue). Hiromi is hired as help, but Kaito having lost his wallet in the crash, is forced to share the servants' room. The straight-laced Kaito, having lived his whole life by the rules, is at first annoyed by the nonstop chatter of happy-go-lucky Hiromi, but their constant bickering slowly grows into an increasingly strong but unacknowledged friendship, that eventually pulls Kaito out of his work-centred life, and away from his almost too perfect co-worker/girlfriend, Sakura (Yuuki Akimoto).

Okada's expert pen captures well the excitement and hardships of travelling in the summer as a youth. B&B owner Masaru, his long gray hair in a ponytail, strums the hauntingly beautiful instrumental "Suiheisen (Surface of the water)" on his guitar while his guests and friends sit around an open fire barbecuing meat on the beach. Neighbour Haruko (Izumi Inamori) runs a beachside bar which is mostly empty. The pleasing echo of chimes, the crashing of the waves, and the near deafening chirp of Japan's everpresent cicadas mark the time and place as unmistakably summer on a country beach.

Each episode also touches on deeper themes. One of the main ones is the conflict between ambition, material success and the attractions of the city versus the slower pace of life but close-knit and comfortable community found in the country. People from the city make occasional forays to try to bring Kaito back to reality, but they often find themselves swayed by the same warm and gentle charm they find. Like Kaito, many of the other characters are searching for where they are meant to be as they are pushed and pulled by the ties of family, their own desires and the forces of circumstance.

With very strong performances from all the principals, tight writing, excellent direction, and the wonderfully varied soundtrack of Satoshi Takebe, it is hard to recommend this drama enough.