Ama-chan NHK Morning Drama Review

March 08, 2014

I am someone who wakes up very early no matter what time I sleep, even when I collapsed because of a bottle of alcohol at dawn, I would still wake up when the sun rise lol
Though, thanks to my unstable lifestyle right now [thesis duh], I can kinda sleep and wake up late, but problem is I still wake up very early


So what I usually do is wake up, catch some breakfast [when I am not on diet], and maybe read mangas or watch some J-Dramas until I fall asleep again. Nap it is ?



One of the dramas that I am watching right now is Ama-chan. I wanna talk a little about this drama, and seriously guys, read my post ok!
It's been a while since I reviewed dramas / movies but once in a while should be good? ^_^ 


Ama-chan is a Morning Drama from NHK which runs from April to September 2013 and featured Rena Nounen as the Leading Actress. It won The Grand Prix for a Drama Series at the Tokyo Drama Awards 2013 and won 7 awards in total. Some of them are Best Actress Awards for Rena Nounen, Best Supporting Actress for Kyoko Koizumi and Kankuro Kudo for Best Screenplay Award

I began to take a notice of this drama when 2ch [big forum in Japan] users were talking about it repeatedly. It has average rating 23.5% in Kanto Region and the highest rating episode is on September 16th, with 27%. The highest for morning drama in the past 10 years!


And do you guys know NHK Kouhaku? It is music channel for New Year Countdown that features music live shows from many artists. And for the first time in history, Ama-chan got 30 minutes special from their 4 hours and half show!! 
Amazing or not! Usually each artist only get like 4-5 minutes




Ama-chan also creates the boom of "Jeh Jeh Jeh" / ”じぇじぇじぇ” which some might put the emoticon as
(‘ jjj ’)
It becomes the word of the year too hahaha!

So, Jeh Jeh Jeh is an expression used by Tohoku People to show how surprised they are. We will get back to it on the review ok! 


I began to see them when I was watching NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen and was curious about them. The first intention to watch the music channel was because of arashi but Ama-chan captivated me

So yes, I have finished the whole series, but wait a minute. This drama is too good to be missed and I am re-watching it on WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV of course haha
Each episode is only 15 minutes, and it is aired during my breakfast, so no reason to not watch!

Ok so let me begin my rave!



Plot : 
"Amano Aki (Nounen Rena) is a high school student who came back to her mother's hometown at Iwate, Tohoku. Along with her mother, Amano Haruko (Koizumi Kyoko) who ran away from this small town 20 years ago, they decide to live with Aki's Grandma who is an Ama-san, or female diver. Aki was a gloomy kid in Tokyo but she began to change herself as she aspired to be an Ama-san. But the path to become an Ama is not easy, she has to start by becoming apprentice first and fight against her mom's objection when she's trying to pursue her dream" - Summary by Stella 



And that's the basic plot that I can give
It seems so simple in the beginning but it's really interested as we can learn the path of becoming an Ama, the history and beauty of Iwate & Tohoku, as well as see UNI / Sea urchin and become hungry as I sip my instant noodle


It has long story for 156 episodes and it follows Aki Journey to become an Ama-san, trying to promote Iwate, love story with her senpai, friendship with her best friend who aspires to become Idol, and so on!
I wont give you too many spoilers but yes this drama is so interesting to follow!



If you want full summary, you can read it on WIKI or the best thing is of course, watch it directly from WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV lol

It has many good things and morals to be learned, and that's why I LOVE J-dramas! 
I learn about life and so on from it :D


Also they have cute Rena Nounen as the lead actress and also my cute Koike Teppei !! 
Moreover the story is very compact and doesn't go out of storyline [which happens a lot on other country dramas], as expected of J-Dramas. They really think about the storyline carefully and not a single second is wasted

And no need to explain but I will share in case you dont know. In 2011 March, there was a big earthquake and Tohoku area received big impact because of the tsunami. It was a big accident and a lot of fund raised for them by all over the world

Ama-chan doesn't only think about providing good dramas but also to help their own people so the tourists will come to Tohoku and help the economy. Hence explains why the setting is at Tohoku and will also talk about the earthquake as well. It stirs social phenomenon and helps Tohoku by bringing ¥32.8 billion yen in economic benefits to the stricken Tohoku region




Since I hate spoiler, I will only tease you with some good points of this drama about WHY you should watch this drama : 

  • It features the beauty of Tohoku, a remote area of Japan that not so many people know
  • It has uni, uni, and uni! I freakin wanna have uni now! LOL 
  • It shows the pride of japanese people in the job they love, in this case, focusing on being an ama
  • It has many topics in one drama so everyone can enjoy! It tells about love story, dreams, friendship, family, idols, food, and entertainment business. It's all made into one whole package that is synchronised between each other
  • Good songs! I cannot stop singing Shiosai no Memories!
  • Good twist about drama and reality. It implicitly talks about the real stuffs in Japan. We have something like GMT47 instead of AKB48 hahaha! Also about body decoy in entertainment industry hmmm
  • Each character has their own personality. Not to mention the good side and the bad side of every human and that's what makes each character seems to be alive and relatable to everyone
  • It will show you idol's life too.. uhmm... no spoiler. Just, watch! ;D
  • Showing how Tohoku people tries to move on after the earthquake. Learn about life better, and show grateful of your own life. And no spoiler as well, you just have to watch haha 
  • It is social phenomenon. Don't say that you're a japanese lover if you don't know what is HOT in japan right now!
  • It talks about every day life that every one can have. It features our real life problem and also about good messages about how to handle about it and such. So to say, the story is very relatable to the audience. Although the setting might be different, but you can grasp the message behind it! 



 I think I can list more and more but it will be spoiler so T___T . . . 



Though I have finished watching it online but I recommend you guys to watch it on WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV! Why? 

  1. It has indonesian subtitle! Understand more about what they're saying, as indonesia is our main language! So you can enjoy it without using your brain too much lol Sometimes I get sick with english haha
  2. No buffering needed! We know how slow indonesia internet is and by having the show on our own TV, it's much better than waiting the buffer on our pc
  3. Better quality of picture and sound! Wakuwaku Japan offers high quality pictures and sound from their shows because well, on internet it is compressed. So I do really believe that for those of you who want to enjoy Ama-chan to the fullest is better to watch it on your own TV

As for me, I enjoy watching on my TV more now!
I almost forgot how exciting it is to watch TV because now TV mostly air stupid sinetron or reality show like YKS duh LOL

We need good shows on our TV!!! Agree? :D



Crap, whenever I talk about something that I like, I end up writing too much
In fact I have deleted many things on this post so you guys wont be sick with it lol but hey! I like it so I want YOU to like it too, ego much? XD


Ama-chan airs every Monday to Saturday from 07.00 - 07.15

and

From Monday to Saturday at 09.00 - 09.15

and

From Monday to Sunday on 15.00-15.15


So there's no reason to NOT watch it because it is aired 3 times a day! ^.^ You can adjust your schedule to fit which time suits you best!
For me it's usually at 7 because I woke up early hahaha!




Do let me know when you're watching it too!




See you guys on my next post!  photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png photo 21_zpsd46e6a3a.png

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 * Post ini berpartisipasi dalam WAKUWAKU JAPAN *

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10 comments

  1. Aww... Need to watch this, Thank you for posting ^_^

    http://yulistariandkustari.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like an awesome drama, thanks so much! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. That seems like an interesting show. I'll have to look into it. ^^

    http://nagareboshi9.blogspot.ch/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wanted to watch this but I was too lazy. Maybe I should just download and watch it online. Haha..

    http://tenshichn.blogspot.com

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  5. i knew it!! amachan so popular it japan i knew it!! xD hahaha im getting my friends to watch too!! im so captivated by it ughhhh why not many people know :( they missed a great thing xD

    ReplyDelete