What’s worse than the sound of a dentist drilling a hole in your cavity? It’s the sound of Jin-sensei’s hammer, pounding a hole in Koide Keisuke’s skull. JIN is the japanese drama you want to pick up this fall. It’s a little bit on the slow side during the first 15 minutes, but wait until formalin-kun shows up and from that point onwards, it’s gonna be a breathtaking, gritty ride.
JIN is the story of Minakata Jin, a doctor from the twentieth century, who gets thrown into the Edo period (1603-1868). What sets this drama apart from all medical dramas is not just the time travel part. What I like about it is that they focused more on the development of medicine. Of course, like almost every medical drama, JIN tries to work up the audience with its bloody spattering reenactments of brain surgeries. JIN takes up the tension a notch by performing it in the 1800s and doing it a dozen times over in an episode with a hammer and a chisel. I’m exaggerating, maybe a couple? But by the second episode, it swerves away from these overkilled surgeries and switched to less-examined themes such as cholera, syphilis and the discovery of penicillin.
However, for the historical portion of the drama, it may take some effort for us, non-Japanese, to catch on with the plot. But thank goodness for Wikipedia, we will know what the deal is with Sakamoto Ryoma. As for the sci-fi element, I have my theories but I have since stopped entertaining their development. Why? Because, with these dramas, they always end up getting predictable. So now, I say…”go ahead JIN, surprise me. I’ll help you by shutting down my thoughts.”
Now for the actors:
This is the first time I have seen Osawa Takao on screen. Nothing special at first sight but as you see more of him, you’ll realize his acting capabilities. He turned Minakata Jin’s character into someone believable and authentic. Fortunately, Ayase Haruka was casted for the part of Saki. I would have cried if it’s someone like Ueto Aya or Ishihara Satomi. Ayase is more dependable, You can throw different roles at her, and you can almost always expect, she’ll make something memorable out of it. Her Saki is no different. Nakatani Miki is a splitting image of Shibasaki Kou, but other than that, I am not really interested in her character.
I am more fond of Uchino Masaaki’s Sakamoto Ryoma. Too comic, I don’t mean comical but rather animated. He literally breathed life into a manga/anime character.
Love this kid
I highly recommend this drama. This might be the one to beat IRYU as my favorite medical drama.
ughhh medical drama….
well its not a medical drama where you see idols so I guess it would really rock! hehehe… (the heli one was laughable)
In seeing some dramas of this genre, I wish I could unlearn japanese and just see the subs… Sometimes the vocab gets too hard and as I watch my brain tries to reconcile the subs with the actual dialogue and it somehow saps the fun out of everything. hehehe.
I will first finish You’re beautiful… and then this one..
Oh btw… ABS fangirls are saying that ABS already got the rights. As if it were true. I am really doubtful of ABS gossip about these things. 2 times had it been that ABS own website has been hacked to reflect the fantasies of some rabid fangirl group. If this is true, there is a silver lining to it. ABS has been since My girl has been able to fly one korean star here to the Phil for a visit. That is just what some of my friends are hoping for. That ABS be able to snag this so they can get one of the 4 to fly here.
Wahahah XD… I would like the guy playing Shin Woo to come here. He knows english, he also knows Japanese so if I get the chance to interview (as if I would be able to) I’ll ask him in Japanese. XD