Macy
~meteor dreamland~
This review may contain spoilers
"Thank you for the meal."
"Gochisosan" is amazingly the 16th asadora that I've watched. (Honestly, I'm just so grateful that so many of dramas are subbed :)) I'd describe this asadora as very solid, referring to the writing and acting. It's also a foodie's dream with all of the different types of food. For someone like me, I kind of think of eating as a chore lol but this asadora gave a newfound appreciation for the sustenance and joy food can bring. I now want to try cooking more.
Watanabe Anne (playing Meiko) and Higashide Masahiro (playing Yutaro) serve as the co-leads. I've seen two of what I call "couple asadoras" (meaning the couple is the focus instead of just the female lead). The mistake with couple asadoras is that sometimes the wife turns into a "yes dear" type and the husband just does whatever he pleases. This was especially apparent in "Manpuku", but not as bad in "Dondo Hare." "Gochisosan", unlike both of those asadoras, was able to strike a perfect balance. Meiko is supportive of Yutaro's dream but doesn't live to help him. We also get to Yutaro on his own pretty often so his whole character isn't defined by his wife either. I do think the story suffers a bit in the last few weeks due to Yutaro's absence. Watanabe and Higashide have great chemistry, which explains why they married in real life. (Though he did turn out to be a cheating bastard and they divorced *shrugs*)
More on Meiko. She's an interesting asadora heroine since she doesn't necessarily have an ambition. What she lives for is eating/cooking and her family. I think it's important to show that housewives can live just as fulfilling lives as career women. However, I won't lie... I feel like this also makes her somewhat boring at times lol. Thankfully, these times are few and far between. As a character, I really like her honest and giving nature though she's willing to fight when it comes to it. And I do really feel that she has solid character development, which is apparent when you get to the final week of episodes.
Like all asadoras, "Gochisosan" has a wonderful cast of side characters. I particularly liked Takahata Mitsuki as Yutaro's younger sister. She has some of the best character development of the cast. Suda Masaki and Nishihata Daigo as Meiko's and Yutaro's sons were also some of favorites along with Kondo Masaomi and Miyazaki Yoshiko as Yutaro's father and stepmother. The latter two in particular had some outright hilarious moments. Matsuura Miyabi as Meiko's and Yutaro's daughter wasn't my favorite but I appreciate the level of care put into writing someone "different." I'm guessing she's supposed to be autism spectrum disorder-coded. Lastly, I wish they had showed more of Meiko's family and friends in Tokyo after she left for Osaka. At some point, it was like they just didn't exist anymore lol.
Now for what I didn't like. 1) Kimura Midoriko gave a surprisingly good performance as Yutaro's overbearing elder sister Kazue. However, despite the nuance given to the character, I could never quite forgive her for bullying Meiko in the first place. Her final appearance, being as spiteful as ever, was actually hilarious. 2) There's one storyline with Yutaro and his childhood friend Akiko (Kato Ai) that's just not satisfactorily concluded. It seems like Yutaro's going to cheat, but Akiko decides against it?? And Meiko isn't given the space to feel how she feels by either of these two people. Like Akiko, I don't care how hard your life is, why are you spending so much "alone time" with my husband?? Storyline could've been realistic, but was just written badly. 3) The ending felt kind of underwhelming for me. I knew Yutaro was going to come back because if he had died they would've given at least a week's worth of episodes to process that. And for them to throw Gen-chan's almost love confession in there at the end. Ugh for that one.
Anyway, three things that I didn't like isn't really that bad. For the most part, I was quite happy while watching this show. I only found the weeks where Kazue was bullying Meiko unbearable. The lead couple, the side characters, writing, acting, and the food were all solid aspects of this asadora. "Gochisosan" did not become my favorite asadora, but most certainly entered my top ten (as of August 2024) and will be one I recommend to others.
Watanabe Anne (playing Meiko) and Higashide Masahiro (playing Yutaro) serve as the co-leads. I've seen two of what I call "couple asadoras" (meaning the couple is the focus instead of just the female lead). The mistake with couple asadoras is that sometimes the wife turns into a "yes dear" type and the husband just does whatever he pleases. This was especially apparent in "Manpuku", but not as bad in "Dondo Hare." "Gochisosan", unlike both of those asadoras, was able to strike a perfect balance. Meiko is supportive of Yutaro's dream but doesn't live to help him. We also get to Yutaro on his own pretty often so his whole character isn't defined by his wife either. I do think the story suffers a bit in the last few weeks due to Yutaro's absence. Watanabe and Higashide have great chemistry, which explains why they married in real life. (Though he did turn out to be a cheating bastard and they divorced *shrugs*)
More on Meiko. She's an interesting asadora heroine since she doesn't necessarily have an ambition. What she lives for is eating/cooking and her family. I think it's important to show that housewives can live just as fulfilling lives as career women. However, I won't lie... I feel like this also makes her somewhat boring at times lol. Thankfully, these times are few and far between. As a character, I really like her honest and giving nature though she's willing to fight when it comes to it. And I do really feel that she has solid character development, which is apparent when you get to the final week of episodes.
Like all asadoras, "Gochisosan" has a wonderful cast of side characters. I particularly liked Takahata Mitsuki as Yutaro's younger sister. She has some of the best character development of the cast. Suda Masaki and Nishihata Daigo as Meiko's and Yutaro's sons were also some of favorites along with Kondo Masaomi and Miyazaki Yoshiko as Yutaro's father and stepmother. The latter two in particular had some outright hilarious moments. Matsuura Miyabi as Meiko's and Yutaro's daughter wasn't my favorite but I appreciate the level of care put into writing someone "different." I'm guessing she's supposed to be autism spectrum disorder-coded. Lastly, I wish they had showed more of Meiko's family and friends in Tokyo after she left for Osaka. At some point, it was like they just didn't exist anymore lol.
Now for what I didn't like. 1) Kimura Midoriko gave a surprisingly good performance as Yutaro's overbearing elder sister Kazue. However, despite the nuance given to the character, I could never quite forgive her for bullying Meiko in the first place. Her final appearance, being as spiteful as ever, was actually hilarious. 2) There's one storyline with Yutaro and his childhood friend Akiko (Kato Ai) that's just not satisfactorily concluded. It seems like Yutaro's going to cheat, but Akiko decides against it?? And Meiko isn't given the space to feel how she feels by either of these two people. Like Akiko, I don't care how hard your life is, why are you spending so much "alone time" with my husband?? Storyline could've been realistic, but was just written badly. 3) The ending felt kind of underwhelming for me. I knew Yutaro was going to come back because if he had died they would've given at least a week's worth of episodes to process that. And for them to throw Gen-chan's almost love confession in there at the end. Ugh for that one.
Anyway, three things that I didn't like isn't really that bad. For the most part, I was quite happy while watching this show. I only found the weeks where Kazue was bullying Meiko unbearable. The lead couple, the side characters, writing, acting, and the food were all solid aspects of this asadora. "Gochisosan" did not become my favorite asadora, but most certainly entered my top ten (as of August 2024) and will be one I recommend to others.
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