A Life (2017)

If you're here for the romance, well you might be a little disappointed because you won't get much of that.
But if you're watching this for the story, the development of the characters, and for the medical story itself, you would be fine watching this.
Some may find this drama boring, maybe I am just used to watching Japanese drama that I am certainly not really expecting too many romantic moments, plus this is a supposedly slice-of-life / medical drama, so I can say I enjoy it as much...
I like Kimura's character here as Dr. Okita. He went from an ordinary doctor of Danjo Hospital, and went abroad to further his skills and went back for a mission to operate the director of Danjo. I like how he always look so relax for a doctor.
One of my favorites characters is Dr. Igawa, he is so bubbly and adorable. The way sometimes he deals with situations like he is totally clueless or can't read the atmosphere, but when a situation needs to be more serious or requires a sensitive moment especially when calling out for Okita's behavior, he gives him a scolding.
I used to work in a hospital, but not on the Medical Department, but somehow watching this drama makes me want to be one. I can't guarantee accuracy of the terms and medical procedures here, but it feels great and amazes me watching it.
Also I love how the friendship of Okita & Masao showed in the end. They may have some rivalry in the romance side, but their friendship and the way they cared for Mifuyu prevailed in the end.
The only thing I wished for this drama is that I hope there more episodes, or at least a side-story for the other characters.
For rewatch value, I might pick it up again sometime.

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Man, Kimura Takuya still has it.

This was one of the dramas of 2017 I wanted to see the most and it didn't disappoint. It isn't perfect, but it's very enjoyable and it has some great actors who I love seeing in general, even more if they're together.

Right from the get-go, if you're watching this to see Kimura Takuya and Takeuchi Yuko together...it's really not the focus of it. They have an interesting sort of relationship (that could have been developed better, to be honest) and they still have that chemistry on screen, but this drama is less focused on the romance and more on the individual emotions of the characters through different situations.

The plot moves like all those job-focused dramas that have a specific job in the center and where each individual case serves for a character to develop, and most times Kimutaku's character is involved in that development, because he plays pretty much one of the seemingly few honest doctors left in this hospital. So there's nothing new there. The thing is that, differently from other job-focused dramas, this one has an underlying situation that is running through the course of the series, which makes things personal for the characters, making most cases a lot more emotional than the mere "today we learned not to be terrible to patients" at the end of each episode. The strong emotional plot underneath carries it more smoothly than other dramas of the genre, making it more engaging to me.

One of the best performances to me was Kimura Fumino, which honestly, 2017 was pretty much her year. And then there was Matsuyama Kenichi, who I didn't expect to like as much in this, but he was really good.

My biggest issue is that this drama is victim of a recurring writing issue I'm seeing in jdramas as of late, which is confusing redemption and pity. I really dislike when instead of making a character go through a redemption arc with personal growth and development, it just throws karma at it so we all go "oh, poor thing, they deserve to be forgiven" and they have to do nothing to earn said forgiveness. This drama has that with a character, which made the last few episodes a bit difficult for me to enjoy, and which is why I can't go higher with the score. I know some people will probably be disappointed by the ending, maybe they make another season, it'd be a good way to fix it.

All in all, this is a good medical drama with a great cast, it has issues and it isn't perfect but I liked watching it and, honestly, Kimura Takuya still has that aura of lead that we all recognize, which I had been missing to see.

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