Ep. 06 Hey, Handsome!
Written by Cordelia Shan, edited by Grace
In this episode, we are going to talk about a family-comedy dorama from Winter 2022, おいハンサム!! Hey, Handsome!!
Hey, Handsome!! Aired on 東海TV from 2022 January 8th to February 26th, on Saturday night at 11:40 pm.
Listen to full episode :
I suppose this show can be considered a family drama, since the stories happen all around a five-person family: a mother, a father, and three daughters. The father, Gentaro, lives in a house in Tokyo with his wife, Chizuru. They have three daughters.
Their three daughters were supposed to have left their parents’ home and live their own respectable lives, but they are coming and going all the time.
The eldest daughter, Yuka, has a good job and is extremely good at what she does at work, and extremely popular in the dating market; however, she is dating a married man.
Rika, the second daughter, is married to a well-educated man through work and lives in Osaka. But she is on the verge of divorce after finding out about her husband’s affair outside the marriage.
The youngest daughter isMika, and as soon as she starts living alone, she finds herself semi-living with a manga artist who is unlikely to sell well.
At their house, the daughters come and go; They always receieve some advice on how to deal with life from their parents, whether it’s through conversations or childhood memories. Whenever the father talks about a difficult issue that might be worth discussing between the family, his family looks at his serious face and listens to his firm tone, and his daughters often say, “Dad, why are you trying to be handsome again?” and then they laugh and appreciate the suggestion their father sharedThis is where the title of the work comes from.
Handsome or ハンサム in Japanese, does not only means someone who is good-looking, but also means someone who has elegant behaviour and speaks soundly.
So in the drama Hey, handsome, the handsome one is not thedaughter’s boyfriends or husbands, but it is their dad, Gentaro.
Surprisingly, almost every issue that Gentaro’s three daughters go through is so relatable — such as the feeling of being left behind, the feeling of oddness about someone they are dating that cannot be expressed in words, the feeling of joy when it comes to parenthood, the feeling of worries that parents carry every day for their children...
Many topics are also covered, such as the food they had for family dinner, the topic of love, the topic of work, the topic of getting to know someone, and the topic of losing oneself in a relationship. But, they are all told in a very funny and interesting way.
All the troubles that Yuka, Rika, and Mika are facing are about men and women, work and life, and the choices they make.
Just like how the three daughters come and go in their house, the parents are always there for them, and they listen to their troubles, and even find the best timing to help them with thesetroubles. The parents always give some advice that is not typical of normal parents, for example, they may say, don't be afraid of trouble; or keep worrying; or imperfection is life; or an imperfect lie is a wonderful one. Or something like, if you want to know a person, go to BBQ with them, watch the the way hold their umbrella.
One of my favourite funny moments of this dorama happens in the last episode.There may be some spoilers in this next part.
What happens is that, the second daughter, Rika, who is finally divorced and has returned to her previous job as an editor at a publishing company, hastold her boss that she did not feel “right” since the beginning of the new year. While she and her boss are at a Izakaya, Rika shared why she was upset — the new techo (annual planner) she got for the new year started on Sunday rather than Monday… and she was also very annoyed that the weekends were on separate pages as wello. She even stood up in the izakaya and was frustrated as she said,, “if I don’t use the techo that starts the week with Monday, everything feels WRONG! Do you hear me? I feel WRONG! But I am also too annoyed and mad to buy a new one!”
This is one of those few moments where Rika actually expresses what she is annoyed about.
Wanting to help her out, and not wanting to hurt her pride, her boss stopped her and went to the washroom. On the way there, her boss dropped 1,000 yen on the ground and whispered to her, “Stopcomplaining, and pretend this 1,000 yen came from nowhere. Pick it up and use it to buy a new planner that you want to have! PLEASE! Just go buy a new one!”
Details are god, and this small scene in the last episode totally got me. It seems small but it is heartwarming to learn that someone can also get frustrated as I can with the same thing, and be so brave to talk about and share it with others.
Ending
While I was rewatching this dorama and writing the script for this episode, I called my mom and asked for some suggestions from her about how to deal with troubles I am having at work.
I did not really tell my mom a lot about my life until recently. Once, a friend of mine texted me a long message, and kindly suggested that I avoid sharing my troubles with my mom, because it is not a good thing, and it is wrong to make parents worry.
Thinking back on this, I shared my friend’s suggestion to my mom. Then I asked my mom if I made her worry, and whether I should stop talking about my troubles with her.y mom was surprised by my question.
“I indeed worry,” my mom said on the other side of the phone, “I worry because I am your mom and I love you. You should not be ashamed for sharing your burdens with your parents. In fact, being worried about their kids is a parents’ job. It is my duty to love you, care for you, be happy for you, and worry for you. Maybe other families are different from us. But, please, feel free to let me know about your life, and tell me all your troubles.e are here to help and also send our best wishes to you.”
This dorama speaks to me a lot. I felt like I was gaining emotional support after watching each episode. Almost everything about life is relatable to an audience like me, who lives and works far away from my parents, and navigates life on my own through troubles and laughter.
Reference
TV Show: おいハンサム!! Hey, Handsome!!
Original work: manga, おいピータン!! by Risa Ito (伊藤理佐)
Script Writer: Masatoshi Yamaguchi (山口雅俊)
Director: Masatoshi Yamaguchi (山口雅俊)
Castings: Kotaro Yoshida (吉田鋼太郎), Haruka Kinami(木南晴夏), Yui Sakuma(佐久間由衣), Rena Takeda(武田玲奈), MEGUMI
Reference Links: Official Website in Japanese: https://www.oihandsome.com/ Watch on Amazon Prime in Japanese: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/video/detail/B09PKSHM34/ref=atv_3p_nih_c_VI8Gqj_brws_3_1
