Drama Review: Yorozu Uranaidokoro Onmyouya e Youkoso

It's my first time watching Nishikido Ryo act. Knowing that he is one of the members of Kanjani 8, I didn't expect the drama to be something complicated. This drama with an extremely long subtitle accompanied with its long name will be called Onmyouya in this review for the sake of convenience. Abe no Chomei opens a fortune telling store on Oji Street and neighbors in this neighborhood are against having a former host "taint" their territory. They are also convinced that he is charlatan. However Chomei uses his talents of listening to his clients in order to solve their problems behind the pretense of the supernatural.

This is a super light drama and comedy intended for all ages. Sometimes the dialogue is redundant and the material is dumbed down. In the end, each episode aims to bring a positive message to its audience usually about bringing harmony in relationships. I followed the Canto-dub that was broadcasted and looked forward to it each week. I feel that towards the end, the drama's storyline grew weaker and weaker instead of more climactic. The reason being that it was predictable what the ending was going to be. While everyone thought Chomei was going to betray all of Oji Street by revealing Shunta's true identity as a youko, it was obvious that given Chomei's nature he would devise a plan to protect rather than hurt. The drama has an interesting cast for the neighbors of Oji Street resembling neighborhood communities that treat each other like family and does have one over arching mystery. It kind of hints the beginnings of a somewhat romantic interest between Chomei and Michiko though I think it's more like a stable friendship.

Onmyouya does have it enjoyable moments however. It uses a very simple story to give a basic moral of the day without it being too mundane or too exaggerated. Chomei always comes up with interesting acts to convince people that it's the work of the supernatural when he actually has very good sleuthing and deductive reasoning. I suspect that he can be a good psychologist if he wanted to. The final episode when he confronts his ill grandfather and gives his speech to the camera is a message to all of us. Using your own talents to help others than for the sake of money and power is for the best of society. If Onmyouya was written as a complicated meta-drama, Chomei's withdrawal from his lineage was his seeking for enlightenment. His return to succeed the family was the result achieved from enlightenment, to bring peace and harmony through one's teachings rather than rely on the spirits and the gods. Being that he is an onmyouji with no magical talent, Chomei is an example of how someone who studies hard everyday can achieve the same results as someone born with magical ability.

I preferred the Canto-dub to Onmyouya than the original Japanese dub. The pros of the story being that it is simple and easy to digest. The cons being that it can be redundant and characters can be superficial resulting in a fairly predictable pattern.