Tokyo Tower

This series had its initial airing of the final episode at the end of March. I have to admit it was a real tear-jerker. I watched the series with great interest from beginning to end. I’m a fan of Japanese TV dramas (J-Dramas) and have watched several entire series before, but this one has to be my all-time favorite. It was just so down-to-earth and full of real human drama that it took me in right away and I was compelled to watch it every week. Indeed, I always looked forward to Monday nights at 9:00 during the entire run of the series.

The story is based on the autobiography of Japanese author Lily Franky and follows the life of a young man called Ma-kun (by his mother) from his high school days until his mid-twenties or so. Ma-kun is very close to mother, but decides to leave her behind in Kyushu so that he can study art in Tokyo. While he struggles with his studies, and making a living in general, his mother works diligently to save money and send it to him every month. After graduating, Ma-kun begins to forge a career as an artist and eventually finds a bit of success. His mother sees his works in popular magazines and becomes his biggest fan, always bursting with pride.

Ma-kun  eventually moves into decent-sized Tokyo apartment and really begins to appreciate his own success. At about this time, his mother starts having cancer-related health problems. Ma-kun invites her to live with him in Tokyo and she accepts. Despite some initial difficulties, they become as close as they were when he was a child and we as viewers, become close to them as well. Inevitably, Ma-kun’s mother (referred to by Ma-kun as Okan, which is short for Okaasan, the Japanese word for mother) faces the problem of failing health, due largely to the fact that she ignored her doctor’s recommendation for agressive treatment when she was first diagnosed with cancer-related problems. She undergoes surgery and things are alright for awhile, but eventually she finds she can’t escape the inevitable.

The final episodes where Ma-kun struggles to come to grips with his mother’s impending death are some of the most gut-wrenching hours of television I have ever watched. The final narrative, given by Ma-kun is all at once utterly depressing, but inspiring. It’s really hard to describe. The honesty in his words shows a display of humanity that I’ve never seen in a TV drama character before. The fact that this character is based on a real-life person makes his final narrative even more powerful.

For me, Tokyo Tower is, and probably always will be, one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. The movie based on the same story is due out in theaters on March 14th, and I’m looking forward to seeing it. But, it’s hard for me to believe that it will be better than the TV series.

For those of you that don’t understand Japanese, Tokyo Tower may be available on DVD with English subtitles. It’s definitely worth looking into.