Botan to Bara (2004)

Deliciously hammy, hard to put down but ultimately a little bit trashy dorodoro dark soap opera.

A 60 episode iconic epic saga that spans several decades. The main premise of the show is about two sisters separated at birth who are later reunited and have a love/hate toxic relationship but are inevitably bound by the strong bond as sisters. All this is woven around the motif of the two flowers and their nicknames, Botan (Peony) and Bara (Rose) and a painting and song depicting the two flowers together.

The show is divided into 4 parts. The first shows the circumstances separating them and focuses on the parents. This was probably the most enjoyable for me. Kawakami Maiko is fanastic as the jilted ex in the first arc and an iconic moment involving a diamond pin you will never forget. Overall, the characters were alot more believable and I had alot of sympathy for some of the situations that happen.

The 2nd arc shows the sisters teenage years, and again is largely focused on the parents and adults and was very enjoyable. The 3rd shifts to the girls now grown up in their 20s and this is where the show really takes a turn into much more darker murky territory. It's also where the show escalates alot and I felt slowly started to lose a grip on reality but was still highly enjoyable if not just for fascination to where it was going to go next.

The 4th arc has the sisters roughly around their 30s and I found this part was where the show started to run out of fuel. The repetitive throes of the story became a little tiring and it could have been cut short about 8 episodes. The characters become practically caricatures of themselves and after all the outrageous things that have happened by the end, I found it difficult to accept these were even real people anymore. They make amends too quickly and forgive some really heinous things. You really just have to accept this and go with it to enjoy the show and just enjoy the twists and turns. If you can do this then it's one hell of a ride.

That said, it was really quite enjoyable to see the characters all age as you get familiar with everyone and each arc has a fairly distinct gripping plot that keeps you going. All performances are over the top . Ozawa Maju plays the younger sister, Kayo and is utterly mesmerizing. She's a fantastic villain type character with outrageous acting that at first will repulses you as it comes off as rather bad, but in time I actually started to think there's a talent to being this hammy and delivering such an outrageous script and embodying a character with such sincerity. She is fully convincing as this surreal (and in a real world lens, likely mentally damaged) woman. Corny lines a plenty here but the cast really commit to even the most cheesiest lines.

Okochi Nanako plays the pure and kind, Botan and is the polar opposite of her sister. Naive and seemingly endless amounts of forgiveness. She does this convincingly and delivers constant emotional performances. Shindo Emi shone as the grandmother in the story who throughout the years seems to be pretty much the only sane person. I found my self warming to her more and more as the show went on. She is also captivating on screen in ways I can't explain. Nishimura Kazuhiko is the main love interest for the story and he plays this clean jawed sensitive man perfectly. I even found myself swooning at times he is that charming and mushy at times.

The story can be a bit hard to swallow at times especially in the 2nd half as it is also full of very questionable situations and feels like it was written with the morals and cultural standards of the 1950s with subordinate women, adulatory a plenty and forced relationships. It felt more plausible in the first half as that was set during the 70s and 80s, but by the 2000s it's just starting to feel a bit much.

I also had issues with the the ending and found plot holes a bit bit hard to accept and without saying too much I couldn't understand the motivations of some characters and U-turns people took. You will probably find yourself not really liking any of the cast by the end of it all. But I guess that is ok and is part of the fun. Still, it was an ending that felt somewhat fitting of a very crazy journey through 60 episodes of melodrama.

The 9/10 is in a vacuum of this genre, this is by no means highbrow drama but it is probably one of the more polished and famous of the genre. If you like dorodoro soap opera then this is probably about as dirty and dorodoro as it gets. Full of outrageous and iconic scenes that you won't forget. A worthwhile watch for anyone interested in a famous piece of pop culture from the 2000s. I'd even recommend it for intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese, as for the most part the dialogue is very everyday and easy going (albeit dramatic and corny). Anything remotely complicated is rarely relevant to the main story and just a backdrop to a characters profession or financial situation and the 20 minute format makes it easy to digest in short bursts.

Lire davantage