Drama: If Talking Paid (English title) / My Story is Long (literal title)
Romaji: Ore no Hanashi wa Nagai
Japanese: 俺の話は長い
Director: Satoru Nakajima
Writer: Shigeki Kaneko
Network: NTV
Actors: Toma Ikuta, Ken Yasuda, Eiko Koike, Kaya Kiyohara, Yosuke Sugino, Mieko Harada
Things to expect in this drama:
Ridiculous banters
Awesome characters
Slice of life
Food
Now for the review:
It reminds me a lot of a classic Japanese family drama Wakamono Tachi. Although not as melodrama but similar in a way that they are both dialogue-heavy. Both shows have long talks to resolve their misunderstandings like looooog talk. In the case of Ore no Hanashi wa Nagai, I think seventy-five percent of the episode was just dedicated for the long ridiculous banter. It's entertaining, especially if you are into dialogue-driven dramas with subtle humour.
Comedy slice of life/human drama is the best way to explain it. The comedy comes from the fact that this 31-year-old NEET acting like everybody owes him something. His personality is a total contrast to what you think a NEET would behave. I've seen eccentric NEET characters portrayed in Japanese dramas before just like the educated idler, Takumi in Date, but that character was still showing signs of awkwardness where Mitsuru is just full of himself.
The banter with her sister is the highlight of this drama for me. While they are arguing you already know, he will drop the "why you don't have a job" line, and Mitsuri will change the topic right away. I think that line is the running joke here which give it a friendly comedy sitcom vibe. It's effortless to watch.
Every dialogue-driven story needs well-written lines and good actors to deliver those lines and good thing this drama has both. These cleverly written lines consist of their conversion about the simplest mundane topics like someone's hatred towards Sukiyaki and how it connects to profound aspects of life.
I love the choice of actors. These are not just well known, but all of them got the acting chops even Kaya Kiyohara, the youngest one, is considered as one of the best young actresses in Japan. I love watching them as they banter about the silliest simple things. They already got that chemistry, and you could tell the writers will give these characters their moments to shine.
Episode one did a great job setting up the relationship between family members and especially their conflicts. I think I already know where this is going so I'm excited to watch the next. This one is good so far.
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