Mirai Koshi Meguru - Episode 01

Well, I watched the first episode of MIRAI KOSHI MEGURU. Let me remind you I'm watching this because of Takeda Shinji...so far I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed. It's always a little boring when I start to watch these because I don't know the characters. It helps when I recognize actors that I've seen before in other dramas so, by the end of the episode, I have already decided I like the show. I didn't get that feeling from watching this one yesterday...

The basic story here is about this girl, Yoshida Meguru, who is a teacher at a "cram school". Cram school is like prep classes...each cram school specializes in one subject...you'd attend after school and some cram schools are for extra help with entrance exams...BTW, Takeda Shinji is the principal at that school...

Yoshida has a grandfather who can see 20 years into the future. One day, when they are eating, she sees her grandfather eat only a little and she asks him how come and his reply is that he always eats until he's 80% full...which at the time, means nothing but it's handy knowledge for later.

Yoshida goes out to eat with her boyfriend, Yuki. They eat and I forget why she leaves the table...but when she comes back, there is his chubby guy sitting at the table and Yuki is gone. The guy gets up and tells Yoshida he's going to to pay the bill and will meet her outside..when she goes out, she sees Yuki and tells him they have to leave because there was this weird guy at their table when she got back...and they go away.

She goes into work and they have pastries there...she scarfs down one and goes to her classroom where there is a roomful of adults sitting there. She walks out thinking she's in the wrong room and sees it's the right one. When she re-enters, the kids are sitting there...she realizes that she too can see who the children will be in 20 years because she stuffed herself. She runs to tell her grandfather who tells her that is why he only eats until he's 80% full!

One of Yoshida's students is a boy who is the son of a doctor and pharmacist and his older brother is a med student...it's expected the boy will also become a doctor. The problem is, he wants to quit cram school and become a singer. Yoshida sees the boy will end up being a painter in 20 years and she tries to encourage the boy to stay in cram school so he can master English. The boy decides he will stay until he wins a singing competition that could start his career. Eventually, the boy's parents find out he is quitting cram school and they go to speak to Yoshida. The boy is there during the meeting and he decides to go to the bathroom where he meets up with an American rapper who tells him his English is pretty good for an Asian kid. The boy is so impressed he tells his parents he will stay at cram school to master English after all so he will do better as a singer.

Forgot to mention, Takeda Shinji, as principal, Monden Masaru, spends most of his time trying to figure out a new name for the school...even though he recently changed the name, he wants to change it again.

At some point, Yoshida goes to Yuki's job to see him and on this particular trip, she is full and she sees the chubby guy from the restaurant that was at her table...she soon realizes...that's Yuki in 20 years!

Ok, telling the story makes me realize it's not that bad a drama. It's different...I understand that there is a "comedic boom" now in Japan as they are just starting to discover they can be funny. Used to be American comedies didn't go over so well in Japan but now...there are a few that are pretty popular.

Anyway, I'm going to watch episode 2 this week; not sure when though. I am going to watch the last episode of Bara no nai Hanaya tonight. I'll have to write about the first episode of this one later tonight before I watch the final. I really like this drama...but that's for me to tell on another post.