Kimi wa Petto

I can has rain boots! YAY.

So, I promised cadragongirl that I'd do a drama post some time, because I've been watching them like a crazy drama-watching thing these past couple of months. I'll do another, less detailed one at some point, because I have a lot to say about a lot of different dramas. But I just got back comments on my pseudoincest paper, and I'm in analytical-mode, so I felt the need to write an essay on Kimi wa Petto.

I tore through this show in record time. I'd just finished the epic kdrama Legend, and I guess I was overwhelmed by all the pretty, flowing, silky Korean hair. So I was needing a bad hair fix, as one does. And of course for a badperm fix one always goes to... MatsuJun.

Kimi wa Petto (2003) is similar to sarahtales's Drop Dead Gorgeous in that it takes a completely cracked out premise and uses it to explore Serious Issues. (DDG totally had serious issues. IT DID, OKAY? Interspecies love, and racism, and homosexual nonpanic, and things. SRS!) Serious social issues intertwined with deeply personal psychological ones.

The Setup: Iwaya Sumire is having a really bad few days. She’s been dumped by her cheating boyfriend; transferred to a Less Serious department (she’s a journalist) as punishment for standing up against workplace sexual harassment; and the office psychiatrist won’t stop petting his creepy little chihuahua while staring at her. Arriving home in a downpour, she finds one (1) large cardboard box containing one (1) bloody and unconscious Matsumoto Jun. Like any sensible woman, instead of calling an ambulance she drags him into her apartment.

Long story short, Sumire agrees to let him stay at her place-- as her pet. That’s right. Pet. She names him Momo, after her beloved long-dead golden retriever. And the show feels the need to do this at the beginning of every episode:

MATSUJUN: So, my name’s Momo now, and I’m living with this woman as her pet.
IMPLIED AUDIENCE: Oooh, kinky.
MATSUJUN: Not so much. Unfortunately. No, literally, PET.
IMPLIED AUDIENCE: *disappointed sigh*
MATSUJUN: Tell me ‘bout it.

( Psychology, Power, and Cultural Climates in Kimi wa Petto )

Kimi wa Petto

I can has rain boots! YAY.

So, I promised cadragongirl that I'd do a drama post some time, because I've been watching them like a crazy drama-watching thing these past couple of months. I'll do another, less detailed one at some point, because I have a lot to say about a lot of different dramas. But I just got back comments on my pseudoincest paper, and I'm in analytical-mode, so I felt the need to write an essay on Kimi wa Petto.

I tore through this show in record time. I'd just finished the epic kdrama Legend, and I guess I was overwhelmed by all the pretty, flowing, silky Korean hair. So I was needing a bad hair fix, as one does. And of course for a badperm fix one always goes to... MatsuJun.

Kimi wa Petto (2003) is similar to sarahtales's Drop Dead Gorgeous in that it takes a completely cracked out premise and uses it to explore Serious Issues. (DDG totally had serious issues. IT DID, OKAY? Interspecies love, and racism, and homosexual nonpanic, and things. SRS!) Serious social issues intertwined with deeply personal psychological ones.

The Setup: Iwaya Sumire is having a really bad few days. She’s been dumped by her cheating boyfriend; transferred to a Less Serious department (she’s a journalist) as punishment for standing up against workplace sexual harassment; and the office psychiatrist won’t stop petting his creepy little chihuahua while staring at her. Arriving home in a downpour, she finds one (1) large cardboard box containing one (1) bloody and unconscious Matsumoto Jun. Like any sensible woman, instead of calling an ambulance she drags him into her apartment.

Long story short, Sumire agrees to let him stay at her place-- as her pet. That’s right. Pet. She names him Momo, after her beloved long-dead golden retriever. And the show feels the need to do this at the beginning of every episode:

MATSUJUN: So, my name’s Momo now, and I’m living with this woman as her pet.
IMPLIED AUDIENCE: Oooh, kinky.
MATSUJUN: Not so much. Unfortunately. No, literally, PET.
IMPLIED AUDIENCE: *disappointed sigh*
MATSUJUN: Tell me ‘bout it.

( Psychology, Power, and Cultural Climates in Kimi wa Petto )