Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Review of Yasashii Jikan 優しい時間 Episode 2

Ep 2 Review - Takuro

As usual, a very good episode from this drama and I am sure that I would stick to this for the rest of the season. Frankly speaking, I'm very impressed with the quality of this drama where the setting, story, cast, music are up to my expectations. It's been a while since I felt so strongly for a drama.

The title of this episode is Takuro which refers to Nino's role. We see a bit more on how Master and Takuro's relationship is and the reason for the stagnant state of affairs.

The episode begins with Master fishing with one of his regular customers, Anzai, the coffee beans supplier who dyes his hair. Somehow, Master is quite interested to know how Anzai's parents reacted to his tinted hair and this reminds him of how Takuro looked like when he rushed home for Megumi's funeral. At that time, Takuro was still with the gangster group (bousouzoku) so he had his hair tinted and combed in an attention-grabbing manner. Of course, now that he has left the gang and become a pottery apprentice, his hair has been dyed black.

Azusa brings the plates she got from Takuro to Mori no Tokei but the staff there and Master refuse to use them because of the colour and design. Azusa gets very worked up and smashes all the plates and drives off in her car.

At the same time, there is a weird couple who appear at Mori no Tokei. Kawanishi Hideko (Tabata Tomoko) and her husband, Ken are on their honeymoon but they are clearly having a tiff and Ken leaves the shop angrily. Tomoko, who had come to look for Master, finds out from Hideko on her first night with her husband, was very unhappy about the fact that Ken "forced" himself on her and licked her toes. Apparently, she had no previous sexual experience before and regarded this act as rape which Ken is unable to accept since they are already married. Tomoko brings Hideko back to her shop, Kita Tokei to counsel her on this matter.

Azusa buys a nail brush and visits Takuro at his workplace to thank him for the plates. Takuro's teacher, Rokusuke sees Azusa and gets quite worked up, misunderstanding that Azusa is Takuro's girlfriend. After Azusa leaves, Takuro is told to get the plates he made (those which he gave to Azusa) and he calls her to bring back those plates. However, Azusa had already smashed all the plates. Rokusuke says that it's OK to have the pieces so Azusa rushes back to Mori no Tokei to get the broken pieces.

On her way to Takuro's workplace, Azusa is caught in the storm and her car stuck due to the flash floods. Takuro gets worried when he cannot get Azusa on the phone and that she is taking far too long to reach Bie (the town where Takuro is in). He drives to find her and gets the broken plates before rushing home.

Takuro brings Azusa back to his place to change out of her wet clothes and is shocked to know that she works in Mori no Tokei. At the same time, Ken reappears at Mori no Tokei to meet Hideko who is still at Kita Tokei. Master talks to Ken about treating his wife with respect (after going around in big circles) and the couple reconciles when Hideko comes back.

When Master is alone in the shop after closing time, Megumi is sitting again at the counter and listens to Master talk about the day's happenings. Master regrets that he has never sat down properly to talk to Takuro all this time and he has not taught him anything. Megumi consoles him by saying that she made up for this on Master's behalf.

Although the title is "Takuro" for this episode, it's not a direct focus on Takuro but rather the reference to him is indirectly linked to other seemingly unrelated matters. For example, the couple in this episode may not seem related to Takuro but from their case, Master realizes that he has not been spending enough time with Takuro in the past and deeply regrets it.

Seems like things are going to get more complicated now that Takuro knows that Azusa is working in Mori no Tokei. When are father and son going to meet??

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