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Yasuko to Kenji (Yasuko and Kenji) is a zany family relational comedy based on a manga with the same title. Starring Hirosue Ryoko as a love-smitten former bike gangbanger, she plays her role with total abandon, a startling contrast from her usual vulnerable roles (“Wasabi,” “Motokare,” “Summer Snow”). Matsuoka Masahiro plays her love object: another former bike gangbanger, he has reformed to take care of his little sister (Tabe Mikako). The TV series starts with the little sister (Tabe), falling for Okura Tadayoshi, her new classmate who has just transferred into her high school. When Okura introduces her to his older sister (Hirosue), Tabe is surprised by the two siblings’ friendly and loving relationship: A stark difference from Tabe and Matsuoka’s antagonistic one. Later in the episode, the little sister is shocked to find out the gentle loving older sister was the leader of an all-girl bike gang. Even worse, not only is the big sister totally in love with Matsuoka, Tabe’s big brother, Hirosue has nursed her unrequited love for Matsuoka for 10 years!
There is a BIG problem with this series. The episodes are formulaic: A little story development, a little comedy, and then, the little sister is kidnapped and dragged into a dark warehouse. Just as the bad guys are about to do terrible things to her, big brother (Matsuoka) and her boy friend’s big sister (Hirosue) come roaring in on their motorcycles in full bike gang colors to beat up the kidnappers. This formula has been done to death in each episode of all FOUR seasons of Gokusen, and several episodes of GTO. Frankly, there were enough interesting plot elements without the tiresome fight scenes thrown in. Neverthess, “Yasuko to Kenji” was zany entertainment and fun. It was obvious Hirosue Ryoko was having a great time mugging it up for the camera, and maybe worth watching just for her performance alone.
The English captioning was a real problem: Occasionally, it was close, but MOST of the time, the translations were wrong. Completely wrong. Not even close. Even worse, it was often so unrelated to the spoken dialogue that it was a real distraction.
Rating:  [3 of 5 Stars!] |
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