Osen Finale & First Love

I finally finished Osen and though I really loved the series for the most part, the last two episodes were kind of disappointing to me. Episode 09 was still alright as we learned about a dried fish maker & merchant who was heavily immersed in debt so he considered selling his business to a wealthy businessman. However, because Osen managed to dissuade the idea and successfully got the son of the merchant's late best friend to agree, she plunged into the financial peril with her own establishment in episode 10 as the defeated businessman kind of in a passive-aggressive way sought revenge ... at least in my opinion that was what it looked like. Overall, I think the series ended on a weak note and I'm still kind of disappointed over it 'cause I think it could have done better.

Also, I tried out this new -- well, to me it's new -- drama with Fukada Kyoko and Watabe Atsuro in it called "First Love." It just doesn't fail to disappoint =_= The story is a typical, shoujo-like romance about forbidden love between a teacher and a student. The girl, Kasumi, falls in love with her teacher, Nao, who also reciprocates her feelings. Unfortunately, a falsified scandal erupts and Nao resigns from the senior high where he taught in order to take responsibility for a crime he did not commit. Kasumi did not know of the details for the incident and was confused by his sudden departure and abrupt end to their relationship. Years later, Kasumi begins work for a wedding planning company and is trying to move on, but still loves Nao. Meanwhile, Kasumi's older sister, Tomoko, is receiving counseling from a handsome psych who is none other than Nao. The two become engaged and one day Kasumi learns that her sister's fiance is Nao.

The story seems so cliche and just plain boring. The only interesting point in the story is Tomoko and how destructive she appears to be. On the outside, she appears to be a loving and caring older sister; however, on the inside she appears to be broken, possibly violent, scheming, and just plain scary. She kind of reminds me of a sociopath, except not really. So, I would say if anyone is going to stick to this drama, it's 'cause they want to know more about Tomoko who seems pretty creepy at the moment.

I don't know, but... Japanese romance dramas really bug me sometimes. They lack originality a lot of times =_=; All the forbidden love in school ones are just so and painfully boring. The responsible teacher is always trying to forget about the student, while the student just chases and chases and chases the teacher. I think it would just be really interesting to see it the other way around if it were the student transferring away and then the teacher chases and chases and chases. Of course then the romance might become a thriller since the teacher is probably a stalker under those conditions lol. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out whether I want to continue watching First Love or not 'cause I'm really just skipping through it. Maybe I should just download the last episode and work my way backwards.