Drama: IS~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~ ep02-10 Final

Official Site: TV Tokyo - IS~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~

Let's make this a short summary!

Story:
Haru is becoming more and more feminine as days go by, even though he knows he's a boy, he's physically becoming more like a girl (getting his period) and also emotionally (falling in love with Ibuki).  His feelings for Ibuki start to get stronger because of their time together.  Ibuki doesn't know that Haru is IS and associates himself as a guy.  It wasn't until Haru announces over the PA system that he is IS to the whole school, exposing his secret.  This prompts the student body to distance themselves from him as well as getting bullied by other students, especially the boys.  While Haru is on the verge of being expelled from the school by breaking the promise to keep his secret, the school board decides to let Haru stay, and better yet, enter the next school year as a male.

On the other side, Miwa is trying to break free from her mother's crazy antics about wanting her to become a female entirely.  It is revealed that Miwa is also IS, but does not fully harbor female characteristics physically.  Her mother wants her to get surgery to become more female, but Miwa doesn't want it as she wants to be who she is.  She's inspired by Haru to stay true to herself, which is the reason why she entered that school in the first place, to meet Haru who is also IS.  While Miwa is going through a hard time, Reon comforts her, chasing after and always wants to be with her.  She tells him she's an IS which shocks him at first, but it doesn't matter to him.

Ibuki, while falling hard for Haru, is trying to deal with his own family issues.  He hadn't seen his mother for years, nor his sister.  Ibuki as a child was embarrassed to have a disabled sister and let go of her wheelchair while they were stopped upon a hill.  The wheel chair kept going was almost hit by a truck before it was stopped by their mother.  The mother gets angry at Ibuki, but the father stuck up for him and the family split apart which still haunts him to this day.  After learning Haru's secret, stunned, he didn't know what to do.  He secretly left him messages in his question box, but in the end, Haru knew it was him encouraging him to stay strong.

Comments:
I wasn't really happy with the way the drama ended.  The series started off well, but then as it got towards the end it started to lose its magic.  The story just wasn't believable anymore which was really disappointing.  I liked the concept, but the story progressed poorly.

I didn't like Ibuki's secret, I thought it was pretty lame.  If they wanted the more dramatic effect, the best way would have been to have his sister getting hit by the car.  That would have sparked the storyline a bit.  But him just letting go on purpose, having his dad stand up for him, leaving his mom and not seeing his mom and sister again was not enough for his storyline to be interesting.

The ending was too cheesy with everyone at the Hoshino household helping Haru make a cake.  They didn't even bother inviting Ibuki over... Haru even talked to him on the phone too.  How did everything go from a trainwreck, to happy-go-lucky, especially with Miwa's family.

Another thing I didn't like was that they allowed Haru to stay AND enter the school as a male so easily.  It seemed like there was only 2 school meetings about this issue and just immediately let him stay all because ONE teacher backed him up.  I don't know how it is in Japan, but how likely would they come to the conclusion that they shouldn't expel him, even after joining the school with that promise of not telling, then agreeing to let him stay there as a male?  It's unrealistic.

I also need to mention how painstakingly annoying Haru's cooking class friends are.  I liked Usami's character, I had no problems with her, but the other 3, especially the one with the glasses. HELLA ANNOYING.  It was so hard to keep my attention to those scenes because that girl would act cute or was a cry baby. 

I have to give this drama a 5/10.  I liked the idea, and I thought it would go somewhere more, realistic.  I'm not even sure if I'm willing to rewatch it, but it is a keeper :)

Drama: IS~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~ ep01

I'm glad I got a chance re-look over the drama list for the summer and added this to my own list.  I really like this drama and I see myself not wanting to wait for the next episode.  I'm not much for serious dramas, but the storyline really caught my attention.

Plot:
“IS” stands for “intersexual,” a term referring to people who cannot clearly be classified as male or female, and who may biologically possess characteristics of both sexes. Rokuhana’s manga primarily deals with the troubles faced by the young Hoshino Haru (played by Fukuda), an intersexual who was registered as a girl at birth but has been raised as a boy.
Goriki plays Aihara Miwako, a mysterious classmate who tries to get close to Haru. Inoue Masahiro has been cast as Ibuki Kenji, a member of the soccer club whom Haru begins having feelings for. Nishida Naomi and Minami Kaho play Miwako’s and Haru’s mothers, respectively.

Credit: DramaWiki

Cast: Fukuda Saki, Gouriki Ayame, Inoue Masahiro, Irie Jingi

Official Site: TV Tokyo - IS~Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei~

Comments:

The first episode is basically the background story of Hoshino Haru (Fukuda Saki) and educating viewers on what IS (I-S, Ai-Esu, Intersexual) is and the complications it brings to these families.  In this case, I will be referring to Haru as a boy because he identifies himself as a boy, even though he's going to school as a girl.  I'm probably going to go in and out of pronouns only because I'm finding myself in habit of doing so.  It's not on purpose, so I apologize in advanced.

The story starts with Haru getting ready for school.  With his uniform on (female), his family takes a good look at him and is a bit stunned.  He even put on the skirt the wrong way.  When trying to fix it, he revealed boxer shorts underneath.  As Haru heads towards school, he goes into the story of his birth.

 His parents were working at their bakery when Haru's mom went into labor.  They rushed to the hospital, which was a pretty comedic, but sweet scene.  They wouldnt let them see their child at first, but the doctor had called them in for a special one-on-one.  He revealed to them that their child is IS, not a boy, but not a girl meaning this child has the features of male and female reproductive organs.  Unable to cope with the news, Haru's mom thought it'd be easier for the child to die than to live through a life of hiding this from people.  She headed to the top of the staircase, the roof of the hospital, and almost attempted to drop the child when Haru's father got there in time to stop her.  With some revelation, they decide to live life normally.  They named the child Haru as it is not a boy's name or a girl's name, but were also inspired by the beautiful spring season outside the hospital room.

 The Hoshino family must decide whether or not the child should be registered as a boy or a girl soon.  They wanted to wait until the child was old enough to be able to choose their own destiny, but because of medical complications, they had to decide fast so they can do reproductive surgery. They decided to register Haru as a girl because physically seemed more female.  Growing up though, Haru was more like a boy.  Through early childhood, Haru lived life as a boy.  He even told his best friend Reon (Reon = Leon) about himself (this was in kindergarten) and Reon accepted it and promised to keep it a secret.

When it was time to pick a high school, Haru decided to go the culinary route because his dream is to open up a pastry shop again with his dad.  In order to get into the culinary program in the high school, Haru must enter the school as a girl.  Haru accepts this challenge and decides to go to school, posing as a girl because it's only for 3 years.

 Haru gets to school early and catches eye of another student who came early as well.  She immediately grabs Haru and takes her to a field with beautiful cherry blossoms surrounding the area.  They introduce each other  with Haru almost accidentally revealing "herself" to Miwako (Gouriki Ayame) as a boy because of the way "she" talks.  The episode ends when Haru is in the bathroom, only to find out he got his period for the first time.
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This drama isn't bringing in a lot of ratings even though it airs Monday's at 10pm.  But looking at the list of other dramas, all the best ones are shown closer to the end of the week.  Even so, I also believe it's because TV Tokyo isn't really one of the more popular stations to watch dramas, nor do they make a lot of dramas per season (they only have 2 this summer).  I also have to mention that the way I wrote this isn't in sequence with the actual episode.  It went in and out of present day and past so I just wrote it with the backstory first then what happened that day.

I like this drama because it actually depicts something that happens in reality and so far they're handling the subject really well.  Yes the first episode is starting the season off slow, but it's better to educated those first before you get into the dramatics of the series.

I think they made a good choice in picking Fukuda Saki as the lead.  I haven't seen her in too many dramas.  I think LIFE was the only one I've finished with her in it.  I've seen the first few episodes of Ghost Friends and Maid Deka, also skimmed through Yatterman.  She doesn't come off entirely girly in any of those except for LIFE (which was one reason why I ALMOST didnt like her..), so my image of her is really sweet, innocent and the girl-next-door.  She does a great job playing a boy, and her mannerisms come off quite well too, so it's really believable.  Besides the hair and clothes, she does exude feminine features.. theres no mistaking her as a boy.

As for Gouriki Ayame.  I hated her in Asuko March, her character was such a beezy (hence why I didn't like Fukuda Saki in LIFE too haha), so I was a bit reluctant to watch this only because of her, but with her short appearance in the first episode, she's doing alright so far.  The only problem I have is that long ass wig she's wearing.  Like really... there's no doubt it's a wig.  I mean, she had really short hair in Asuko March and to go from that to some rupunzel hair (yes I'm exaggerating) yeah there's really no question.

Anyways, can't wait to review episode 2 when the drama starts.