Jdrama Review: Pride (2004)



Pride

プライド
7/10 ♥
 

Yay for Pride!  It’s a first-rate steamy romance; no wait, it’s a first-rate inspirational sports drama. No wait, it’s a bit of both and somewhere in the combination is a half-hearted attempt to tell a new and unique story… no wait, there’s nothing new or unique.  But if you A) Like a decently spun romance, or B) like Japanese hockey, then this is the drama for you. 

Pride sets off with some pretty decent story-telling, and a couple of nicely charismatic actors.  Initially I was watching this thing for Kimura Takuya, who plays hockey-player extraordinaire Satonaka Halu.  He’s your standard rom-com lead, romantic yet insecure, and to cover up his insecurities, he hides behind the ‘Pride of the Iceman.’ I think that has something to do with being awesome on skates, padded up like an Eskimo, and generally being able (and allowed) to bowl over any man who gets in your way. 

Equally impressive as an acting force, however, is Takeuchi Yuko playing Murase Aki as the girl left behind… by another guy/jerk introduced halfway through drama.  Here’s the rub:  Halu was warned never to sincerely love a woman, lest it interfere with his career; Aki is technically still waiting for her boyfriend to return (after a two year hiatus – and these people obviously don’t believe in phones).  So in the meantime, to stave off loneliness and generally have fun, they’ve agreed to date until Aki’s boyfriend returns, and then they’ll part amicably as friends.  Maybe…

As a sports drama it’s honestly not too bad.  Keep in mind, I’m not a huge sports junkie and I’m not generally fond of the genre, but I’m also not completely averse to seeing hot guys working out.  Did I have any genuine anxiety that maybe the team wouldn’t play well in the finals, or that every player would become injured and remain crippled? Not really. Were the slow-motion sequences of pucks magically sliding towards the goal net cheesy? Yes, sort of.  Did I really care one way or the other? Nope.

 

As a romance story, it’s above average with a touch of good chemistry, some fairly hot kiss scenes, and then some…  And really up through the halfway mark, I had nothing too bad to say about the development of the couple.  Unfortunately then we’re hit with your typical dose of angst, stupidity, and a serious lack of communication.  There were also some people I wanted to throttle through my computer screen… Oh well.  It prolonged the drama another 4 episodes, by which point I’d already clocked out.



Pride on, “Pride” 

Now this is where I am curious.  Is this just a culture thing that Japanese people (or their drama writers) can pride themselves on having… pride?  Now when I was growing up, we had this lovely little novel called Pride and Prejudice, and I hope I don’t spoil the ending for anyone, but the two main love interests eventually figure out  that having too much pride may not be such a good thing.  Sure, it’s good to have confidence in yourself, as a hockey player (Halu), and as a human being (Aki).  Having something to be proud of, either about yourself or how you live can also go a long way towards your peace of mind and overall quality of life. 

I don’t know if you can tell, but this drama is kind of about the characters having “pride.” 

What’s strange is in how their professed sense of pride actually works.  Halu’s is understandable for an athlete.  He has to exude confidence about himself for the sake of his team and his sport.  Not allowing any girl to get near him to possibly break his heart is a sad yet reasonable fear.  For Aki, her pride is actually in how long she’s waited for a guy to return from another country! Pardon me while I take a moment to choke that down… Okay, I’ve recovered.  Yes, that’s great. She waited.  Not that her pride in such matters kept her from falling in love with the adorably puppy-ish Kimura Takuya. 

SPOILERS ALERT!

What bothers me most is how that pride later on keeps her in a relationship that is obviously detrimental to her physical well-being, and is outright sick! Now we can say many thing about the way the world works, and the number of women who stay in arguably abusive and unequal relationships, and but I would say that these women have less a sense of pride about it, and are rather more ashamed and embarrassed to admit their problems to the outside world. 

Call this the height of noble idiocy maybe, but I for one cannot stand how Aki trades her life away in order that Halu’s career not be ruined.  It’s not that I don’t like semi-melodramatic plotlines about the sacrifices of love, and I’m not even that put off by every act of noble idiocy I’ve seen in the Dramaworld.  But when a relationship is centered on a man’s obvious disgust with his long-waiting girlfriend’s infidelity, and acts superior because he can forgive her, while not being one bit sorry about his own actions, then I get mad. 

<<Begin Rant>>  I was also a bit dissatisfied that had said-selfish-bastard not broken up with Aki before their wedding (because after all this time being jealous of her, he already had a girlfriend?!? Wtf?!), Aki would have gone un-merrily along ruining her chance of happiness.  The fact that she made not ONE gesture to free herself screams of a lack of pride, in my opinion.  Was her life really not all that worthwhile?  Is her pride really in her ability to swallow whatever crappy lies that jerk decided to give her next?  Thank you, selfish-jerk for leaving her first, but I’d much rather have seen Aki take charge of her own life.  <<End Rant>>

I’ll let it pass for now.  I watched this anyways for the romance and for Kimura and I was not terribly disappointed in either, except for said ending episodes’ ridiculousness.  I’d also like to see more of this guy in the future, so I think Pride was far from being a waste of time.

Okay.. I'll be right over...