Recommended J-Drama: At Home Dad

I'd like to take a quick break from all of the Hello! Project blog posts and talk about another aspect of Japanese culture that I love - dramas. Every once in a while I'll talk about some really great Japanese dramas that I have watched over the years. I'll start out with one that I am currently finishing up called At Home Dad (アットホーム・ダッド).

(There are minor spoilers in this review, but everything I mention you'll find out in the first twenty minutes or so of watching.)

Let me start by talking about what At Home Dad is not. This isn't a drama with fight scenes, villains trying to take over the world, or even epic plot twists. If you're looking for some upbeat action flick, this isn't for you. For me, the lack of those qualities is what drew me to At Home Dad. This drama sticks with one thing, everyday Japanese life, and does that one thing really well. It's nice to take a break from all of the in your face mainstream media and take a step back with a calm drama like this.

At Home Dad describes the life of a talented commercial director,Yamamura Kazuyuki, and his family. All things considered, the Yamamuras are a pretty normal Japanese family. Kazuyaki has a typical 9 to 5 job with the occasional opportunity for overtime and his wife Miki stays at home to tend to the house and take care of their young daughter Rie.

However, everything the Yamamuras know is turned upside down one day, when Kazuyaki loses his job and has difficulties quickly finding another.

To support the family, it is decided that Miki will start working again while Kazuyaki tries his hand at being a stay at home dad. Unfortunately for him, Kazuyaki quickly realizes that Miki's job as a housewife wasn't quite as easy as he thought.

The twelve 45 minute episodes revolves around the Yamamuras simply living life and getting through any obstacles that appear.

It's a simple plot but I couldn't help but fall in love with At Home Dad. One of the major things it has going for it is a strong cast. Yamamura Kazuyaki is played by my favorite Japanese male actor, Hiroshi Abe. It is because of his believable acting that I enjoyed this drama as much as I did. He and Shinohara Ryoko (who plays Yamamura Miki) have been in over a hundred of dramas and movies between the two of them and it's easy to see why.

I also cannot forget about the little girl that plays their daughter, Ando Sakura. If there ever was a living definition of cute, it's Ando-chan. Her, along with Hiroshi Abe and Shinohara Ryoko truly make up the perfect family. Even the mundane of scenes are made interesting because of the interactions between the three of them.

I still have one more episode of At Home Dad to watch, but it has already become one of my favorite dramas. It doesn't try to do anything fancy. It just portrays Japanese life in the best way it can. For someone like me that is infinitely interested in just about every aspect of Japanese life, no matter how "normal", this was the perfect drama. I definitely recommend At Home Dad to anyone who just wants a nice, down to earth drama to relax to.

You can watch At Home Dad streaming at Dramacrazy.net or you can download them directly via megaupload using the links on this blog.