トキオ~ 父への伝言 ▫️2004 ▫️Episodes

I have to admit I went into this drama with the bias that I wasn’t going to like it very much. This show started off a bit rough and I definitely had a negative attitude toward the lead, Taichi Kokubun, considering the rumors about his behavior in real life. The more I watched it, though, the more the story and even the acting grew on me. It became a fairly enjoyable and comfortable atmosphere!

To start: the scenario is great! Time traveling is always fun, but instead of it being for adventure it is for compassion and love. Sho, who is in a coma, sends himself back in time to help his father heal emotionally and become a better person. The beginning of the show already had tears forming in my eyes—it’s not hard to get me when there is illness or a painful family dynamic involved. On top of this, I have to say none of the story felt cliche and many of the dramatic moments left me with a more genuine feeling than I expected. The other aspect of time travel I enjoyed was the seeing 70s/80s Japan as it’s always fun to see the outfits, culture etc of another era.

This is the umpteenth time that Arashi has featured a story about an orphan and I am so here for it. It’s like they know I’m adopted and crave these tender expressions of the pain and confusion that can come with that experience. There is definitely not enough representation of nuanced orphan stories in popular media—used often as a horror theme or exaggerated tragic tale. In the case of this show, they focus on the anger and resentment that Sho’s father had when his family seemingly abandoned him. Sho, who treasures his father dearly, goes back to teach him how valuable connecting to and forgiving your family can be—not just for the family but for yourself. Especially because Sho is leaving his dad’s life in the future due to his illness, I felt this journey was valuable for the father’s character.

I liked the format of multiple 15 minute episodes per week. If you imagine you’re watching in real time, that’s a little bit of the story a few days in a row each week. This definitely helped my attention span and I think it also affected how I experienced the flow of the story—it’s very different to edit scenes into shorter sections as compared to the typical 60min episodes.

Sho’s character was so great, his warmth and smile were made for this role. I think he is someone that is always approaching people with tenderness but also pushing them be their best self. He doesn’t give a critical or judging vibe just “Hey I believe in you and you can do better” kind of energy. The close ups of him watching his dad were really moving and the build up toward the end point—his death—was powerful.

This show doesn’t have fancy or exciting scenes, although there is some action with the mob fights. Most of the momentum is through emotional growth and the father character slowly understanding himself and his son better. I feel they did a lot with a simple concept and each episode I came away reflecting on something in my own life. It’s easy to hate the father, but through Sho’s hopeful perspective, you end up rooting for him even at his worst.

Like I said, I went into this drama with low expectations thinking “I’ll watch it because it has Sho” and even though it’s not especially fantastic, the story and emotion portrayed are worthy of people’s time. And of course, you can enjoy Sho too while you’re at it. In addition, the soundtrack was nice and gentle. I totally love the end theme by Otsuka Ai (even if it’s not Arashi).