涙をふいて ▫️2000 ▫️Episodes

With a show called “Wipe your tears” I assumed that both Nino and I would be crying. A lot. Nino definitely wins this round (he’s the best crier anyway), but I found myself wiping my tears a few times as well.

We start off with the death of a parent while another one falls into a coma and as a result, 4 orphaned kids. Ok, I’m already crying. I liked the circumstance of a bumbling, ignorant single guy taking on the responsibility of raising his friend’s kids–how can that not be heartwarming? There are of course many challenges in his way–a moody Nino and his moody siblings, an awkward love story, a family business, a mother in a coma……..What’s a single bro to do?

I appreciate that they showed the lead adult’s faults, but overall he succeeded because he really invested his whole heart into things even when he made mistakes. And the younger kids also learn about themselves reflected back into his faults. This is the perfect role for Nino, who is also growing into an adult right at this time. Everyone is making mistakes, supporting each other and growing as a result. Even when the lead, Katsuo, looks down on the kids because he thinks he knows everything as the adult figure, he realizes he can learn things from anyone no matter their age. And of course, the stubborn children learn to trust him as a role model so they can grow as well.

The characters and setting were charming, even if there were a few cheesy moments. For a family drama I thought it had a nice pacing and enough variety in the episodes. Japanese dramas, especially from this period, tend to have the same format every episode–a character confronts a problem, the other characters help them resolve the problem. Rinse and repeat. But I was pretty invested in making sure all the kids were able to solve their problems under the guidance of this little community. “There’s no one that’s useless.” from Episode 8 is a line that really left an impression on me.

We have the older sister from Akimahende back by Nino’s side (Yuki Uchida)-she is just superb and so pretty. And the charming and silly Tortoise Matsumoto from Ulfuls was probably my second favorite after Nino. The rest of the cast did a great job too. They definitely made me want to crawl up next to them at the dinner table and feel the love and joy. Nino’s hair is beautiful and so are the tears on his face. A really nice show especially if you like heartwarming family stories. Absolutely love the theme from Yuzu as well!