J-Drama Review: 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで)

And so I guess it is J-Drama week / month in December 2016 for me indeed. I was recently introduced to a entertaining J-Drama that was aired towards the end of 2015. 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで) is a Fuji TV Television Drama starring Satomi Ishihara and Tomohisa Yamashita as the leading OTP.

5時から9時まで  is based on the manga series by Miki Aihara. It has a total of only 10 episodes, making it short enough for me that lasted me through a week. 

5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで) is about an English language school teacher, Sakuraba Junko (starring Satomi Ishihara) whom dreams of working in New York city. One day, during a funeral prayers in the temple, she causes an embarrassing incident when she accidentally flip the bowl and the ashes fell on top of the handsome monk, Hoshikawa Takane (starring Tomohisa Yamashita).

Much to her embarrassment, she later was trick by her ever entertaining family to attend a matchmaking session. And guess who is the other party…… Hoshikawa Takane.

I had truly enjoyed 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで) as this J-Drama had kept me entertained in each episode starting from the first episode.

Hoshikawa Takane, at the matchmaking meeting, with a solemn face actually congratulate Sakuraba Junko for being able to marry him and become his wife. Much to Junko’s shocked, she tried to escape and excuse herself from the dinner. To her surprised, they served her favorite…. crab! So, she change her mind for the sake of the crab dinner and sat down.

Falling madly in love with Junko-san, Takane -san, whom was a sensible monk started ‘chasing’ her. Annoyed by Takane’s stalking attitude, Junko finally agreed to go through a hellish week in the temple trying to get Takane off her back and stop stalking her. While she thought that it would be a great opportunity for Junko to show Takane that she is not suitable to be the daughter-in-law of the temple, Takane uses the opportunity to support and be her pillar of strength while trying hard to win her heart.

This definitely does not go easy as Junko had some other admirer at her English Language School at the same time. One of the best moment was when she was kissed by her fella colleague, student and classmate from school days, Mishima Satoshi (starring Furukawa Yuki). The jealous look while remaining calm on Takane was indeed classic! And the ‘face off’ that both had when they were attending the English Business Class where Junko were teaching.

I must add that most of them in 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで) speaks very good English. Making those moments in class where they were speaking in English very entertaining.

Junko slowly started appreciating what Takane is doing for her. And to some extend when he was not by her side one day, she started to miss him.

Through Takane’s perseverance, this calm and cool soon to be chief priest, finally won Junko’s heart. And they started dating finally! (that happen about 6 episodes later) much to the joy of Takane!

 

A short lifted joy indeed for the OTP….. Trouble started with Hoshikawa Amane (starring Shison Jun) the younger brother of Takane. What I could not wrap my head around even towards the end of the drama was did Amane really wanted to take away all that Takane had only because he hates him or it was all an act.

Episode 9 and the start of Episode 10 was indeed very sad. Junko was shocked and heartbroken when Takane decided to break it off with her. It is only purely because Takane realized how much hardship Junko went through at the temple and he did not want her to let her dreams go.

It brought tears to my eyes when Junko through the encouragement, support and help from everyone around her tried to win back Takane’s heart. The scene in the museum were so heart-breaking where Takane kept a cold and stern expression on his face when deep down in his heart, he is so heart broken. And the tears shed by Junko.

A very touching ending where everyone around this lovely couple gathered and tried to bring the couple back together. Surprisingly, even the stern grandmother of Takane who did not agree to have Junko as the daughter-in-law of the temple but in the end accepted Junko as the wife of Takane.

A lovely ending with Takane dressed up in a modern suit and decorating the temple grounds with Christmas lights and tree before proposing to Junko. And they finally kissed! Under the falling snow… how romantic!

On the other note, I love the other cute couple, Yamabuchi Momoe (starring Takanashi Rin) and Kimura Arthur (starring Hayami Mokomichi). Momoe with her fetish on BL and Arthur whom is a very popular and handsome sensei (teacher) whom tried his best to win Momoe’s heart.

And I had loved how the General Manager of the English School, Kiyomiya Makoto (starring Tanaka Kei) loved Junko but decided to stay at her side supporting her as a colleague and friend. He did indeed tried to bring her back to New York with him, unfortunately, he had missed his chance as by the time he was willing to open his heart, she had already fallen in love with someone else. Those sweet moments between them were indeed very sweet.

And the final part where he told her that he love her and he wants her to be happy with her love one. So encouraged her to go to Takane.

A truly entertaining drama,  5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで)  had been a great companion helping me to un-wind after a stressful day at work. Guess 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made ( 5時から9時まで) would be one of those Japanese drama that I would be placing on repeat watch whenever I needed a good laugh.

Now, next thing is to wait for the completion of the translation to the manga before I start reading the manga.

English Recap of this drama is available here

And surprising, I found the recap in Bahasa Indonesia here