A rare gem from NTV
Nippon TV, home to not just Detective Conan but also originated Dragons Den/Shark Tank, has scripted drama as its weakest link. A lot of them are unserious about script quality. NTV often sees actors succeed elsewhere and "headhunts" them immediately only to give them a subpar project - as they did with Gakki after Nigehaji, with the whole Weakest Beasts debacle. She's really cut back on TV work since, eh. And worst of all, NTV was disrespectful enough to cause the serious situation with Sexy Ms Tanaka's author, and then issued a whole investigation report that conveniently shames she who can no longer defend herself.But about once every 10-12 years, there'd be a really good NTV drama in the most heartwarming way, where all their usual shortfalls go away. The last time this happened for me was 2015's Angel Heart, where NTV as home to the City Hunter franchise had enough respect to do an excellent series focused on Shinjuku as the fringe of normie society, that show has excellent unforced story arcs and is written about all the things that matter in life...
Both of those praises also apply to A Moonlight Nights Passing. You can see why Haru chose this over season 3 of The Unresolved Women. This is the meatiest role she's gotten in a VERY long time, probably the first since the psychopath she played in ON. She's otherwise almost always typecast in roles that don't serve her. She's excellent here, playing someone who's very world-weary, has preparations for any scenario and holds the cards close to her chest, for a reason you will see in episode 1. In a freak coincidence, even her character's name coincides with a US current event.
Aso Kumiko is one of my favorite actresses, she's probably too pretty and too glowing for her character, but that glow in and of itself helps hold our attention. The first half of the show's centered on her, the second half is on Haru's character, because the source material are 2 novels. NTV dramas often have a way of absolutely abandoning structure by episode 8 or 9, and like I said before, fortunately that didn't happen, the pacing and strength of narrative is unusually good for that network.
This show is a hybrid of multiple genres and that's the result of hewing to what the audience wants to watch. The modern audience, regardless of age, usually could use a mystery to carry their attention, even when the main event is romance or slice of life or whatever, and so we get that in most episodes. It's very Detective Conan in exposition, depth and speed - you can see Haru as Conan and maybe a police detective asking her all the right questions to explain her case. Also, like the 2006 NTV manga-based drama, Kuitan, Haru often solves the mystery by eating.
You can still tell it's NTV - they could've shot the key art using the awesome car in the show, but typical to NTV, they just couldn't hit that level of consistency. But a good NTV drama is rare. It's like witnessing Halley's comet. I'm counting down the 12 years to the next one.
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L'important ce n'est pas la destination, mais le voyage
Un bon tantei drama n’est pas si facile à produire. Les centaines de clones de Miss Marple, surtout au Japon, se ressemblent tellement qu’il devient difficile, au milieu de tous ces suspects, de trouver le coupable idéal. Haru relève donc le défi de renouveler le genre : " je suis passionné de mystères et j'aide des enquêteurs incompétents dans leur tâche." Mais sommes-nous prêts à la suivre pendant un voyage de 10 épisodes ?Elle embarque, simple serveuse qu’elle est, Aso Kumiko, mère au foyer dévouée à sa famille, en plein questionnement sur sa vie après la découverte de la tromperie de son mari. Haru la pousse alors à recontacter son premier amour en l’emmenant en road trip à Osaka.
Le spectateur devient donc le partenaire d’Haru, endossant malgré lui le rôle d’un docteur Watson inutile à travers les yeux de cette femme trahie.
Si retrouver l’hatsukoi d’Aso Kumiko constitue le fil conducteur du drama, chaque épisode reste d’un classicisme profondément ennuyeux pour un mystery drama. Même si l’Histoire d’Osaka, passion d’Haru dans la série, peut séduire, le tout est combiné à une visite de la ville très bien filmée, avec des faits historiques présentés sous forme animée ou reconstituée numériquement, embellis par des costumes et maquillages d’époque. On obtient alors une carte postale parfaite qui donne envie de visiter la ville et de ce plonger dans la littérature d'époque.
Pour le reste, on est dans le classicisme absolu. Haru est une Miss Marple imprégnée de Keigo. Aso Kumiko joue aussi bien la mère au foyer japonaise que Haru la Mary Poppins (encore) transgenre. Il y a bien une complicité entre les deux femmes, qui apporte un certain intérêt à la série, mais cela paraît assez suranné. D’autant que le manque de réalisme dans les crimes et les enquêtes, renforcé, comme toujours, par des policiers incompétents, n’aide pas à entrer dans cette histoire d’amitié entre femmes.
Dommage. Trop grand public, la série manque d’âme, même si la romance naissante entre les deux protagoniste peut avoir un certain intérêt. Mais elle reste parfaite pour découvrir l’histoire, les légendes et l’architecture liés à Osaka. Moi, j’ai déjà pris mon billet, en tout cas.
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