After a very enjoyable ten weeks, Naku na, Hara-chan, finally came to close. This drama was the first one in quite a while were I caught it from the beginning and anticipated every episode; now that it’s over, I feel kind of sad. I truly enjoyed this drama; it’s characters, the story, the setting, music… Everything. It wasn’t so heavy where I was left frustrated every week nor was it so silly that I was left wondering if there was a plot or not. Hara-chan held itself together from beginning to end, not once ever loosing it’s footing along the way.
Naku na, Hara-chan had presented the audience with a interesting conflict, the unavoidable reality of fictional characters and human beings co-existing. Now that these characters have came into our world, how are they able to exist and function ‘normally’ like their creators? Each episode allowed these manga characters to taste what this world had to offer, from it’s wonderful qualities to it’s most ugly. When we are children, we steadily grow and learn about how this world works, then we are forced to make decisions that shape our own lives. Much like us, they now had to decide for themselves. Which life do they want to live? The life of a human or the life of a manga character?
In a seemingly solemn climax, our characters make the decision to return to their world all having their own personal reasons as to why they wanted to go back. Except for Hara-chan, who is still conflicted with his ‘mutual feelings’ for Echizen and his dislike for the ugly truth that exists in such a ‘wonderful world’. He wordlessly returns, leaving an unresolved situation between himself and Echizen, who has now helplessly fallen in love with the mystical man.
Everyone moves on, willing to accept their decision, but Echizen refuses to let go. So, in a desperate effort, she draws herself into her manga and transports herself into their world with all intentions of leaving her world behind. It is then we reach the final message, or lesson, for the cast of characters in this show. Throughout this drama, Hara-chan and his friends spent weeks trying to learn all they could about our world and how life works — from animals to death — and now it was up to these innocent and naive characters to teach us humans, their creators, how to live. The circle had now completed itself.
In a bittersweet ending, Hara-chan teaches Echizen how to live and indirectly everyone else around him also learn how to appreciate life. Weeks go by after the final goodbyes are said and we see how everyone has changed since meeting the innocent and pure manga character. Kiyomi doesn’t shy away from letting people know how she feels, Yuriko has stopped running from her passion of art, Tanaka is no longer afraid of Kiyomi, and Echizen has learned to appreciate herself and the world that she lives in.
Moments after the episode finished airing, I was left with this emptiness. Something wasn’t right. I felt as if Echizen didn’t really ‘grow’. Everyone else had moved on, yet she didn’t necessarily move on from Hara-chan. Or, so I thought. I started thinking about Yuriko asked Hara-chan,
‘ What would you do if she fell in love with another person? ‘
… It was then that instance that I realized Hara-chan was letting her go without Echizen directly realizing it. Hara-chan had realized, and accepted, that this love could not exist because they were of two different worlds. They had ‘mutual feelings’ but it wasn’t necessarily love in the romantic sense… Their ‘love’ was that of friendship. A deep friendship. He would continue to make her happy by helping her find happiness without him being that source. It took longer for Echizen to realize it but… in the show’s own subtle way… conveyed to the audience that she did.
I really connected to this drama. I guess because I saw myself in Echizen. I like to avoid conflict, I hate fighting…. and so I understood her character. It’s not easy to just express yourself when you are afraid of negativity. Watching her character grow from a timid person who rather just do things herself to avoid conflict to someone willing to now speak out kind of gave me some self reflection. Sometimes we need to look at ourselves and find our own happiness.
Hara-chan was less of a romance and more of a human drama. It dealt with human issues without being so dramatic about it. You laughed and you cried. It was light and simple with beautiful scenery of a sleepy fishing town and to the backdrop of a wonderful music score. I really enjoyed Naku na, Hara-chan. The ending was also really good after realizing the meaning behind it. The show need not be so obvious in order to send off that final message. I liked that, a lot.
The acting in this drama was also great. The human characters really did not need to put much in to sell their characters but rather the show depended on Nagase’s over the top acting to carry the cast and sell the show. His Hara-chan was so endearing and I really couldn’t imagine anyone else in that role. Nagase is a strong actor who can carry a cast to the finish line. He definitely has that leadership quality, especially when you can see he loves the character and role (but when he doesn’t, the whole drama falls apart).
It was a fun ten weeks and I’m really sad to see this show end. 🙁 I’ve watched this drama so many times over, it’s definitely a must watch for me. Though, for others, it could depend on your tolerance for seeing a grown man act like a 10 year old on a self discovery.