Omnibus dramas are always very hit and miss! It breaks my heart to say that watching “Oyaji no Senaka” has not been the most enticing of experiences so far. The second episode, whose screenwriter (Sakamoto Yuji) has written not one, not two, but three of my favorite dramas ever couldn’t even do it for me. Heartwarming? Hardly. Just slightly frustrating and mostly confusing. Oftentimes I’m left wondering what the emotional hook is supposed to be, and a little distracted by the concept — fathers and their children (daughters so far) are the only ones who seem to exist in the universe of this show. The first two episodes used time skips that I’ve found to be very lazy devices for character/plot development, and it’s just been a lot of telling and not showing. The running time can’t even be used as an excuse, since there are other omnibus dramas (see: “Loss Time Life”) who have been able to use the ~45 minutes to tell a singular story efficiently. It might sound like I dislike this drama quite a bit, but I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt because 1) I’ve only watched two and a half episodes, 2) I feel like it has a lot to offer, what with future performances by Oizumi Yo, Ono Machiko, Endo Kenichi, and Watanabe Ken.
(More) Reasons to Watch: I definitely think this has potential, and I remain optimistic. It could be worse! It could be “Higashino Keigo Mysteries“…
Honorable Mention: “My Secret Hotel” (tvN / 2014), “Aoi Honoo” (TV Tokyo / 2014). Can these even be considered honorable mentions? I’m still watching them!