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Hanzawa Naoki - my review
Feb. 16th, 2016 02:10 pmNaoki Hanzawa (Masato Sakai) works as a loan manager at the Osaka Nishi branch of Tokyo Central Bank. One day, Naoki makes a loan contract for 500 million yen with Nishi Osaka Steel Company. Naoki didn't want to approve the loan, but he had to due to the branch manager's order. Nishi Osaka Steel Company seems financially stable, but the company actually hides massive amounts of debt through fraudulent accounts. The company is caught. Three months later, Nishi Osaka Steel Company goes bankrupt.
The bank's branch manager is Asano. He is an ambitious man and tries to shift the blame to Naoki. Naoki then attends an inquiry about the loan failure at the bank's headquarters in Tokyo. Naoki denies fault and promises to retrieve the 500 million yen loan. He did this because it's the only way for Naoki to survive as a banker.
The dorama has two different plots, 5 episodes each. I liked both cases, but I may have liked the second one a little bit more because of the "villain". He was really good, has the face of an evil guy and acts very good!
So I may not have understood the whole thing. I suck at economy and accounting and stuff. I was not sure why in the first arc the Taxation Bureau was against Hanzawa. Weren't they looking for the same thing, to catch the bad guy and take back the money? And although at first I was a bit against this Kurosaki, he grew on me with his feminine mannerism.
I liked that Hanzawa was never alone in his battle. In the first arc, he has his dear friend Tomari and his teamwork behind his back. One of them is Nakajima Yuto, from HSJ. He was good, thank God. No overreacting. To think that he almost share screen with his former dad on "NwP"! In the 2nd arc, he has his two best friends with him. Tomari was so kind, I love the friendship between these 3 guys. The actors were really good. The one who played Kondo was so pathetic, to the point where you can't feel anything but pity for this guy. His eyes are huge and they give him such a pitiful image. I love how they all supported each other, and how much Hanzawa loved them. I almost cried at the end when he says those kind words to Kondo. It was very poignant, and since Sakai Masato has such kind eyes it suit the moment perfectly.
Thank Heavens his wife is not useful. I thought Ueto Aya was there only for the "kawaii" factor. And in part, she was. She was just too nice, and always playful. It may have been overreacting, but there were times where it was OK. Specially since Hanzawa had so much going on his life and since he did not talk about it at home, it was nice to see him smile when he was with his wife.
In spite of being a drama about banking, I liked that I was able to learn more about the "salary-men" in Japan. Poor guys, they spend almost all their time at work. From morning to night. Very stressful, with the bosses putting pressure on them, plus the surprise visit of other important entities without a previous warning (such as from the Taxation Bureau) and always taking the blame without putting on a fight. Except, of course, for Hanzawa Naoki and his famous motto: "If you screw me, I'll screw you. Double the payback!". True, the payback wasn't double (unfortunately), but the process was exciting. And well, I almost felt bad for the bad guys. For Asano (arc #1) and Osawa (arc #2) at least.
So almost all the episodes are men only working for the bank, and Hanzawa trying to clear his name. Only two ladies have a certain important role: Ueto Aya and the gravure model Mitsu Dan (she was kinda stiff, but for the looks, she achieved her part). The final episode has lots of men shouting (typical in J-doramas, but like I was thinking while watching it, "it may not have kisses but it sure has shouts"), and ok, the last minute -the last 15 seconds- left me, "huhhhh??? this is how it ends???". I was kind of ready because I've read some reviews, but come on! And to think Sakai will not come back for this rol :( although I do love Abe Hiroshi will all my heart...
**My rating: 8/10**
The bank's branch manager is Asano. He is an ambitious man and tries to shift the blame to Naoki. Naoki then attends an inquiry about the loan failure at the bank's headquarters in Tokyo. Naoki denies fault and promises to retrieve the 500 million yen loan. He did this because it's the only way for Naoki to survive as a banker.
The dorama has two different plots, 5 episodes each. I liked both cases, but I may have liked the second one a little bit more because of the "villain". He was really good, has the face of an evil guy and acts very good!
So I may not have understood the whole thing. I suck at economy and accounting and stuff. I was not sure why in the first arc the Taxation Bureau was against Hanzawa. Weren't they looking for the same thing, to catch the bad guy and take back the money? And although at first I was a bit against this Kurosaki, he grew on me with his feminine mannerism.
I liked that Hanzawa was never alone in his battle. In the first arc, he has his dear friend Tomari and his teamwork behind his back. One of them is Nakajima Yuto, from HSJ. He was good, thank God. No overreacting. To think that he almost share screen with his former dad on "NwP"! In the 2nd arc, he has his two best friends with him. Tomari was so kind, I love the friendship between these 3 guys. The actors were really good. The one who played Kondo was so pathetic, to the point where you can't feel anything but pity for this guy. His eyes are huge and they give him such a pitiful image. I love how they all supported each other, and how much Hanzawa loved them. I almost cried at the end when he says those kind words to Kondo. It was very poignant, and since Sakai Masato has such kind eyes it suit the moment perfectly.
Thank Heavens his wife is not useful. I thought Ueto Aya was there only for the "kawaii" factor. And in part, she was. She was just too nice, and always playful. It may have been overreacting, but there were times where it was OK. Specially since Hanzawa had so much going on his life and since he did not talk about it at home, it was nice to see him smile when he was with his wife.
In spite of being a drama about banking, I liked that I was able to learn more about the "salary-men" in Japan. Poor guys, they spend almost all their time at work. From morning to night. Very stressful, with the bosses putting pressure on them, plus the surprise visit of other important entities without a previous warning (such as from the Taxation Bureau) and always taking the blame without putting on a fight. Except, of course, for Hanzawa Naoki and his famous motto: "If you screw me, I'll screw you. Double the payback!". True, the payback wasn't double (unfortunately), but the process was exciting. And well, I almost felt bad for the bad guys. For Asano (arc #1) and Osawa (arc #2) at least.
So almost all the episodes are men only working for the bank, and Hanzawa trying to clear his name. Only two ladies have a certain important role: Ueto Aya and the gravure model Mitsu Dan (she was kinda stiff, but for the looks, she achieved her part). The final episode has lots of men shouting (typical in J-doramas, but like I was thinking while watching it, "it may not have kisses but it sure has shouts"), and ok, the last minute -the last 15 seconds- left me, "huhhhh??? this is how it ends???". I was kind of ready because I've read some reviews, but come on! And to think Sakai will not come back for this rol :( although I do love Abe Hiroshi will all my heart...
**My rating: 8/10**
