Atashinchi no Danshi, or My Boys, is just evidence of why Japanese drama makes a nice alternative from Korean drama. When you don't want to make a commitment to watching something long, or you just want something a little ridiculous, Atashinchi no Danshi is perfect and sells a bizarre premise in a Hana Kimi esque fashion. It's very easy to believe that the same team behind Hana Kimi created this.
Atashinchi no Danshi stars Maki Horikita as Mineta Chisato. She's stuck paying off the debts of her worthless Father, and is homeless because of it. At least she can take showers at her friend's workplace. One day, running from debt collectors, she meets Okura Shinzo. He's the president of a huge toy company and offers to pay off his debts for her under the condition that she marries him. It'll only be for a month, since he's terminally ill and just wants company until he dies. She agrees, but one month later she discovers there were more conditions to the contact she signed. Her debt will only be payed if she moves into Trick Heart Castle and acts as a Mother to Okura Shinzo's six adopted sons, four of which are older than her. If this wasn't already a problem, all six of them despise eachother deeply and refuse to accept Chisato.
I've previously mentioned this on my Hana Kimi post, but Maki Horikita definitely suits comedy drama best. She has a habit of either choosing shows like this, or playing the blandest of characters, Whilst I liked Higanbana and Innocent Love, she just doesn't shine in those kinds of shows like she does here. Although she was the straightman of the series in comparison to all the other more eccentric characters, her presence here still lit up the show.
I had so much fun deciding which pictures should go with this post. The six brothers and Chisato all had so much chemistry together. Even though they played wildly different people, they all seemed natural with eachother. The similarities to Hana Kimi are obvious here - capable actors were chosen to play incredibly unique characters. I guess when everyone is insane, it becomes the new normal. Here, the writer got to play around in a different way with the antics and story lines due to the absence of the school environment. All the actors are different ages, which provides more to experiment with. We need more drama like this - funny but heartfelt, crazy but grounded - otherwise, what will I do when I don't feel brave enough for a thriller or epic fantasy or tragedy?
I wasn't hugely interested in the romance subplot - the journey the characters were taking to become a weird little family was more compelling. But I did like the kind of conflict it brought to the table, There was no dramatic heart-break, which was nice. Everything was fairly chilled in comparison to Hana Kimi, where they took my heart and stood on it. I'm still crying over Nakatsu. Anyhow, I like how they left it in a place where we can assume the couple will be together, and the other brothers who fell for her will be okay.
Until the end, they drove home that Atashinchi no Danshi was ultimately about family. The kind of family you'd be lucky to find, no matter how disfunctional it may look. Family you can depend on to turn you into your best kind of self. From beginning to end, I can't say I was ever dissapointed with this show.
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