Yasuko to Kenji mid-season impressions

I figured I should make another post about the Yasuko to Kenji drama as I've finished watching the first six episodes, which puts me about the halfway mark for most dramas. For my initial impressions from watching the first episode check out this entry. And all screen caps for this entry are from episode six as I need to save space on my computer and I didn't have the earlier episodes anymore.


After watching the first three episodes I was beginning to worry about this series suffering from the Gokusen formula, where the kids get in trouble and need the mentor or for this series big brother to come save them every episode. Thankfully the fourth episode breaks the formula and it's one of my favorite episodes as it has pretty solid storytelling and character development all the way through. Even though episodes five and six go back to having a fight scene in random abandoned building formula it changes things up a bit with who does the fighting at least and is actually lending itself to the overall plot of the series. Though I hope there's going to be a couple more episodes that don't have fight scenes in them.


I really think Matsuoka and Hirosue really steal the show in the scenes they are in. They just have this quality about them that really makes you want to watch them. Though sometimes I find it hard to forget the other role I've seen Hirosue in, the female lead in Summer Snow which also starred Domoto Tsuyoshi, which was one of the first J-dramas I ever watched. I honestly love her in both roles even though they're so very different.

The other actors aren't as stand out to me but are still enjoyable to watch. It's nice to see Ohkura's character actually be given some character other than 'perfect boy that Yasuko fawns over.' And Tabe Mikako, Yasuko, has a nice homely charm to her. Her character isn't too much to talk about, other than she's adorable as a little girl, as there doesn't seem to be much more to her than her crush on Jun and a cheerleader for Erika's attempts to confess her feelings to Kenji so far. But somehow Tabe is able to make a character like Yasuko watchable for me, as I usually end up disliking such characters quickly but I honestly don't mind Yasuko.


Overall I'm still very much enjoying the series and will be sad when it ends. Though after it does end Scrap Teacher will take over its time slot so I guess at least I'll have a replacement drama to watch. I only hope it will be as enjoyable to watch as Yasuko to Kenji has been so far.