[Discussion] Ashita no Kita Yoshio

insists on giving Japanese names to English movies. And his rejoinders when Yoda tosses him some titles.

I'm wondering whether Yoshio really has a split personality or whether that alternate Yoshio is just an imaginary person he has conjured up. When Yoimachi Shinobu appeared in his room I was half expecting him to morph into the alternate Yoshio and pounce on her ... maybe that would have explained Mizuho's rather extreme reaction towards him.

In any case, did anyone notice that Mizuho's behaviour and speech changes whenever she's at her counselling session?

I really felt bad for his mother in episode 2, and I found it interesting how much Yoshio just doesn't get about her. At the same time, it's interesting to see the change in him after that first day. And not just him--Heita, Mizuho, Sugimoto... there's lots of character evolution and revelation going on.

I'm really wondering about Mizuho, so I'm excited about him meeting her next week. She seems like such a strange character. She changes so completely from when she's working to when she's around her therapist. Her version of the relationship is completely different from Yoshio's. She's being investigated for the "suspicious" death of hubby two, from whom she's set to inherit big bucks. Yet the investigator could be setting her up for blackmail even if she's not guilty. It's all very mysterious when added together. So hopefully episode 3 will shed a little light on the enigma.

I don't believe what Mizuho says, I believe her reaction towards him comes from something more than "you're a nice guy and I hate nice guys". That wouldn't explain her irrational hatred or why she's still having dreams about him eleven years later.

I really think the root of her problems is GUILT. She doesn't loathe him, she loathes herself because of what she did to him. This is why she's so desperate to forget, why she begs him to go find another woman, why she's unable to accept that Kita hasn't moved on with his life.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's another revelation in store for us about their marriage, perhaps involving an extra-marital affair (with the dead president maybe) that left her so overcome with remorse that she needed to get away from him, not because she blames him but because she betrayed his good nature.

Yeah there are still so many unsolved mysteries revolving around Mizuho. The hint ep3 gives us is surely guilt, as what she was saying to her staff before fainting on seeing Kita Yoshio: It is at this crucial moment that all of us must conduct ourselves with fortitude. We must not waver no matter what happens. I ask you to firmly pledge that here. We have nothing to be guilty about. Absolutely nothing. Absolutely... (...Watashi-tachi ni wa, nanimo ushirometai koto wa arimasen. Issai arimasen. Issai...)

"Back when she was young and naive she married Kita Yoshio, but left him soon after because she felt herself undeserving and, frankly, she was too ambitious to be able to spend the rest of her life with a loserish guy like him. Even as she manipulated her way into this nice marriage, she had nothing to do with her husband's death, and now she's just trying to hold the company together. Yet the stress is overwhelming and that's why she breaks down when in therapy."

That's the simplest interpretation of what's been happening so far, right? But as to why she really married Kita Yoshio then left him, and what happened to her in the subsequent 11 years - as she says, 11 years is a long time... Hmm. It also leaves no room for my theory that Kita Yoshio has split personality disorder and "negative Yoshio" was the one who drove her away and is now driving Yoshio to suicide.

Oh well, I'm just trying to let the story unfold itself slowly, while enjoying the acting from Kohinata and Konishi. And the jazzy BGM.

By the way, what the heck is that Waycys slogan, non vêtements non ma vie? "Not clothing, not my life"??