Churasan 2 (2003)

There's an old italian saying (based on a real historical anecdote) which goes like this: "Paganini non ripete" (Paganini - a very famous violinist - doesn't repeat, doesn't play an "encore"), and one of the meanings of that saying is that perfection, once attained, cannot be repeated nor copied. Perfection may happen, but you can't expect perfection to repeat itself over and over again. That's why, while thinking about how to comment on "Churasan 2", that old italian saying came to my mind: "Paganini non ripete"! The original "asadora" was pretty much perfect; there shouldn't have been any "encore". This sequel sports the same writer (although this script is surprisingly bad!) and the same cast, but the magic isn't repeated, and it ends up being nothing but a faint copy...:/

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"Being alive is so much fun."

"Churasan 2" is the sequel to the 2001 asadora "Churasan." It's rare for an asadora to receive a sequel, especially a multi-episode sequel and it's even rarer for the sequel to be subbed by fansubbers. This sequel and the fact that there are two other installments attest to "Churasan"'s popularity at the time. Unfortunately, in my experience, asadora sequels/specials are either not good or just disappointing. "Churasan 2" did not prove me wrong.

The sequel is set a year after the original "Churasan" ended. Eri (played by Kuninaka Ryoko) and Fumiya (Kohashi Kenji) have been living in Kohama for a year with their son while running a clinic. The couple decide to move back to Tokyo in order to study medicine more to continue helping the island residents in the future. Eri becomes a travelling nurse under her former colleague Nanako (Sato Aiko), whom married her brother Keisho (Gori) though they live separately most of the time.

"Churasan 2" has many of the same problems I complained about in my review for the first "Churasan." First, Eri leaves Okinawa just to go back to that boardinghouse again!! I get it. They wanted a centralized location for a bunch of the characters to gather, but more and more people come to live there like it's prime real estate. It's just unrealistic that that many people would want to live there without any problems. And, from a story perspective, it shows that these people have not grown. I really just wanted to see more of Okinawa!

Second, the humor and gags were in overdrive. Obviously, a lot of the gags really worked with the original audience because they overused the same jokes several times. Of course, I'm not Japanese and it's not 2003 anymore so the jokes only made me laugh half of the time. The rest of my time I was rolling my eyes because I've heard that joke fifty times already! For me, this really took me out of the story but it's not the worst element of "Churasan 2."

Third, random storylines and character changes/regression. Despite being a six episode miniseries, the writer's still structured it like a fifteen minute per episode asadora. There were just random storylines that come out of nowhere in the middle of an episode like revealing Keisho's birth father. Why? I don't care about either of these men, especially since Keisho repeats the same mistake he made at the beginning of the original "Churasan." I really don't understand what was going on with Keisho and his "wife" Nanako, though I guess it was kinda cute? Then there's the character assassination of Haruka (Konishi Manami). She's originally a very cool character that can come off as somewhat cold, but in "Churasan 2" they make her some lovesick, manic girl who forcibly comes to live at the boardinghouse. And they try to pair her with Tencho (Fujiki Hayato) for a second and if they had happened I would've rioted. My last character complaint is that Yoko (Yo Kimiko) and Shibata (Murata Takehiro) find out that they're having a baby at the end. I wish this would've happened between the series' actually. I hated how the boardinghouse residents just didn't change at all before "Churasan 2."

Now for some actual bright spots in the drama. Eri is still an airhead, but it's toned down some. Thankfully, she grows as character through her interactions with a patient, which is something I wish they had done more of in the original "Churasan" (not just that one time). Keitatsu's (Yamada Takayuki) struggle to enter the music industry wasn't perfect, but it was something interesting to do with his character. Mariya (Kanno Miho) is once again the stand-out character. Her monologue about her previous love story was very moving, though I wish they had done something further with it.

In conclusion, "Churasan 2" is kind of boring and kind of frustrating. It has some good parts that I enjoyed, but if you're not absolutely in love with "Churasan 1" I cannot recommend it The characters are mostly stagnant because there's nothing really more to tell about them. Unless you just want to see their bright happy faces again, just leave it with the original series.

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