Ii Hito (1997)

"Forrest Gump" meets "Shomuni", with lousy results

I must confess not being a big fan of those - tremendously popular - oversimplifications of movies or dramas that could be formulized as "A = B + C" (I've recently noticed one of those, for example, in relation to the fabulous C-drama "Reset", labeled by some as "Speed meets Groundhog Day"), but this time I myself can't resist the temptaion of summing up this "Ii Hito" as "Forrest Gump meets Shomuni"! ^_^;
The problem is that whereas the latter was often hilarious, this one was mostly just ridiculous; and as for the former, they shared indeed a "definition" of "good person" that I happen to just totally disagree with. In fact, if you'll pardon my "hegelian dialectic", I really don't think that a good person is someone so naive and immature that doesn't even know what evil is ("Thesis"), but rather, someone who knows very well ("Antithesis") and decides to renounce evil and be good instead ("Synthesis"). Adults with the minds of a 5 years old kid aren't "good people", but the very definition of "simpletons" if you wanna be polite (or "retards" if you don't - and as annoying as I've found this ML who could only repeat, like a parrot, the same trite sentences throughout the whole drama, and the rest of the time just ran and shouted, rinse and repeat - well, I'm not so sure I wanna be polite in his case! =__=)
So, as you by now I'm sure have already guessed from my loooong introduction, I've found this drama's script to be reeeally bad. The "good guys" were annoying, the villains ridiculous (compared to the sneezing manager and his minion with the horrible haircut, even Dick Dastardly from "Wacky Races" was a credible, realistic and sober villain!), the plot almost non.existent, the dialogues and the message both trite and silly.
The cast's performance was also mostly abysmal (no surprise, given the material they had to work with) and only a coupla managed to do somehow well regardless (namely, Ito Shiro and Kanno Miho).
The production value was also nothing special, and the directing, instead, specially annoying - what with the constant zooming-in-and-out and the characters taking turns to stand in front of the camera and recite their lines (seriously, it felt like something a lousy high school club might do - and it'd still be annoying, but at least they'd have the excuse of being young and inexperienced; what was this director's excuse? .\___/.)
The only thing I was completely satisfied with was the OST, which was really marvelous (and the only reason why this doesn't get an even lower rating from me!!!)
So, 10/10 to the music, and extremely low ratings for the other categories.
My suggestion is: steer clear of the dorama and simply buy the OST! ^___-

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maybe the true cinderella shoes are the friends we made along the way

[spoilers don't appear until the end of the review]

a fundamental misunderstanding about 'ii hito' is that it's not about a 'good person' but a 'nice guy'. kitano yuuji is a stalwart caricature of the nice guy stereotype. his motto is that 'the happiness of those around me is my happiness', and he does go out of his way to make that come true - even when the recipient doesn't deserve it. other characters tell him multiple times that he can't possibly make everybody happy, and his response is that he's going to try anyway. this attitude may frustrate the viewer sometimes, but the show relies on it. yuuji straight up says in the first episode that he will never change, and he doesn't. as a result, there are as many deus ex machina kind of plot developments as there are developments that are brought about as a direct result of his actions or personality. if you cannot accept that kind of show, then ii hito isn't for you.

but if you aren't warded off by that, i encourage you to give this show a try anyway.

i really loved ii hito. i thought it was hilarious and feel good and adorable. it is upfront with you about what kind of show it's going to be, and it doesn't try to subvert or deepen that perception any further. if you're reading too deeply into the message of the show or the actions of the characters - especially yuuji's! - then you're going to be disappointed when you come up empty. actually, as far as manga adaptations go, ii hito was a really great one. kusanagi tsuyoshi completely embodied the unflappably positive yuuji, and the over-the-top directing choices (like delivering lines directly to the camera) are a fun ode to the show's manga roots instead of something to deride.

my favourite characters were yuuji, his girlfriend taeko, and the marathon runner-cum-salaryman kitamura. he's not the most prominent secondary character, but in my opinion he's the one who changes the most and for the better after meeting yuuji (and taeko. they're kind of a package deal even though they're not always in the same package for most of the show. you'll see what i mean when you watch.) i would not have minded an entire episode just of the three of them interacting. the vibes are so good.

there is no romantic drama between yuuji and taeko, either, which i appreciate because the show would have been different if that were a component. instead, their relationship is just very pure and arguably equal. (she's still a college student in their small hometown whereas he's a recent grad off in the big city trying to do a good job at his first job, so there's a significant amount of waiting around for him on her part; but the show makes efforts to demonstrate that this is a temporary, circumstantial thing and not the default of their relationship.)

the other great thing about the show is that it's a primarily female cast despite the main character being a man. most office dramas feature an all male cast with a token female character, but ii hito's most active secondary characters are all women, both at home and at work. it has a lovely effect on the show's interpersonal dynamics and is also plot relevant! we love pre-millenium media that passes the bechdel test~

the ost is pretty great. i will probably be singing 'mmm ganbatte miru yo yareru dake~' in my grave. it's a smap cover of a song called 'celery' by yamazaki masayoshi, which details a relationship between two very different people and how the narrator will work to make those differences mean less so that the two of them can enjoy spending time together. it's sooo cute; listen to both versions!

ii hito isn't perfect, though, and admittedly my gripes with it happen in the final episode, which does a lot to impact someone's perception of a show.
- plot overview: yuuji ends up in the product planning division's section 8, which is on the verge of being dissolved, and they try to save their jobs by developing a product called cinderella shoes: made of post-consumer recycled materials and designed to suit your individual feet size instead of expecting all people to have matching-sized feet. higher ups in the company do not want this product to succeed so that they can justify dissolving section 8. the hijinks in ii hito are related to yuuji's ill-informed but well-meaning attempts to bring this product to launch despite the corporate machinations.
[spoilers ahead]
- plot issue: when the cinderella shoes are debuted, THEY BREAK. it's this amazing design that's supposed to save section 8 and revolutionise the shoe industry, and it breaks?? i can't believe the writers left that in omg it spits on everyone's hard work and efforts. the other bad part is that despite breaking, they are still sold out as a product. what kind of consumer would see a shoe practically explode on tv and want to buy it? i wish the show show let the product succeed in every imaginable way. it's what section 8 deserves. it's what /i/ deserve!
- characterisation issue: there is one villain who is in fact ridiculous and not to be taken seriously, but he is not the show's antagonist. the real antagonist, inaba, is engaged to the new leader of section 8, so he's invested in section 8's downfall because she won't marry him until there's nothing she can do for section 8 anymore. after she breaks off their engagement, he wants to dissolve section 8 as a revenge thing. i actually love the direction of his character EXCEPT AND UNTIL the end. he steals the cinderella shoe idea and experiences 0 repercussions for doing so. in fact, he is /rewarded/ for doing so. that's so raw omg. if i wrote the show, he would have been SOL until the point yuuji can save him with his unerring kindness, and that's how he learns he was in the wrong this whole time.

yes yes i know i kind of read too much into ii hito even though i just said the show is not meant to be read into. it's just because i think it's so good and could have been perfect if not for these two glaring issues in the final episode. all the reasons i love ii hito still stand, though!! i think people should watch it for ~11 hours of light-hearted fun! plus if you're a smap fan, the smap cameos tickle your brain just right lol.

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