RetroHelix wrote:

I think this is just not the right drama for you.

You could be right. Maybe I just don't "get it". Somebody told me about a book once that they thought was really great. I read it and thought it was awful.

In fact, that last scene of episode 8 between Miyazaki and Nishida was very good and I was thinking, "Damn, why can't it be more like this?!!?"

Finished this one. The last episode (actually the last two) were very good. Still, I can't say I'd recommend this drama.

It reminds a lot of Koreeda's movie "Still Walking" which I really liked. But in a drama format, just didn't work for me.

Now I recall that YOU and Abe played siblings in "Still Walking" just like they did here. You'd think I would have made the connection sooner, looks like senility is starting to set in.

Going My Home gets lukewarm reception

It is not often that a filmmaker of Koreeda Hirokazu�fs fame writes and directs a drama series. Or a list of high profile actors and actresses like Abe Hiroshi, Miyazaki Aoi, Nishida Toshiyuki, YOU, Arai Hirofumi and Natsuyagi Isao that one would normally find in movies be put together for the cast. (Perhaps it was the very fact that Koreeda�fs name was attached to the drama that these artistes signed on to act.) Add the return of one-time �gratings queen�h Yamaguchi Tomoko to acting after a 16-year hiatus and it would be easy to understand why Going My Home started out the fall 2012 season as the most anticipated TV drama.

Going My Home premiered to a respectable viewership rating of 13.0%. But dipped into single digit territory in episode 2 and fell lower each subsequent week until it reached a low of 4.5% by the time episode 9 was aired.

The Japanese media were quick to pounce on its apparent unpopularity and assign blame to Yamaguchi with reasons (bordering on ridiculous and missing the whole point) like �gThe audience couldn�ft accept Yamaguchi Tomoko.�h �gThe image of trendy drama actress Yamaguchi Tomoko is out of place in a home drama.�h �gThere isn�ft the Kaseifu no Mita element of surprise where Matsushima Nanako made her comeback. Young females who are the regular drama audience belong to the generation that doesn�ft know the golden age of Yamaguchi Tomoko.�h �gYamaguchi�fs �gcommonness�h is suited for trendy dramas but doesn�ft seem to quite fit this drama.�h

It was rumoured that the real leading role in Going My Home was Yamaguchi�fs. After Yamaguchi saw the great success of Kaseifu no Mita which Matsushima starred in, she had proposed to NTV that she be the next one to appear. However, an old producer acquaintance from her trendy drama days become Fuji TV�fs executive director following a big personnel reshuffle because of the poor summer drama ratings. Hoping to turn things around, he decided to take a gamble on Yamaguchi and contacted her while she approached NTV.

Noting that there has not been a drama in recent times that polarised opinions like Going My Home had, Japanese web magazine Cyzo offered explanations from a TV network staff who presumably had inside knowledge of the production. �gIn fact, the possibility (of unexpected ratings) was pointed out before it aired. Koreeda Hirokazu-san has exceptional recognition and credentials in the film industry but this is his first drama series. When Koreeda was appointed, the network�fs top management left everything to him, telling him to do whatever he wants. In other words, they couldn�ft do anything like call high profile guests and fix the script because the ratings are bad. Because it was filmed in the way a movie is shot, the audience probably felt uncomfortable when watching it.�h

�gBecause Fuji TV itself didn�ft think the ratings would fall this much, it could only grind its teeth. With the appointment of the big name producer, the network�fs leadership couldn�ft pull out cards to shore (the drama) up or terminate it. They could only look on as the ratings went down and do nothing. Both the network and the production had faith in the quality of the drama but because of that they ended stuck,�h said a TV magazine reporter.

The drama which delves into Koreeda�fs favourite themes of family, death and memory, is beautifully filmed, subtle in its humour and in the performances delivered by the cast unlike the dramatic, exaggerated style characteristic of TV dramas. Viewers slowly discover the characters as they go through and repeat their daily routines and interactions. Koreeda intersperses this with references to environmentalism, depopulation and big-money projects in rural areas.

At turns charming, enchanting, heartwarming, placid and dispassionate, I find Going My Home much like comfort food. The slow pace does require some adjustment to for Koreeda has a penchant for digressions, many of them food related, that sometimes make it seem like nothing is quite happening although these entertaining forays help to establish relationship dynamics and family rituals. It is also hard to banish that niggling feeling that had Koreeda shown some restraint and not yielded to self-indulgence, the drama might have been more satisfying.

Even though the viewership ratings were dismal, viewers who continued watching Going My Home found that it was not a bad drama. And regardless of what the local audience thought of Going My Home, the drama will have the rare privilege of being screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam later this month.

http://jdramas.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/going-my-home-gets-lukewarm-reception/#more-23425

^ They've got some valid points, but I think blaming any of the actors is wrong. They all gave good performances. Maybe part of it was the hype from Yamaguchi's return. I just hope this doesn't send her back into retirement.

But good ratings does not necessarily mean good quality. If I had to pick which drama to watch again, "Going My Home" or this years ratings champ "Doctor X", It's a no-brainer, I'd watch "Going My Home".

anstpace wrote:

Quote:

Uhm... Am I really the only one that liked Going my home?

Reading the comments by the people that watched it, it looks like a lot of them did like it. I wasn't one of them. I guess with that cast, Nishida, Yamaguchi, Abe, Miyazaki, I expected more.

The funny thing is, the writer/director, Koreeda Hirokazu made a movie in 2008 called "Still Walking" with a lot of the same cast. Yuki Natsukawa as the female lead was about the only difference. It was similar in pace and I liked it a lot. It just didn't work for me on the drama level.

Going My Home is a special drama and worth the time to watch it! Throughly enjoyed it!