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A bunch of strangers who eventually called themselves as a family while searching for the meaning of life and overcome their own loneliness.
After several consideration, I think Anone deserves to be put on the highlight among all the dramas being aired this season. Some might see it doesn't received much attention if you judge a drama by its rating at the first place. Anone definitely offers its audience much more than a rating number. Another work by Yuji Sakamoto after his well received Quartet in 2017, he once again able to impress me with his latest work Anone. It easily gain my interest when it first announced considering I've been following Yuji Sakamoto previous works and labelled him as one of my respected scriptwriter. His story reached me like a healing. Although there are some that I am not really fond of but it will slowly grew in me.
Anone gives me a similar vibe while I'm watching his previous works. The plot is vague, even if you read the synopsis on online website, it's still hard to completely predict how the story goes. It begins with a girl (Suzu Hirose) who were left behind by her parents and currently living at an internet cafe room. One day, she met an old woman (Yuko Tanaka) and both of their life had been changing since then. They met yet another unknown people in a very complicated meeting that I can't really explain the whole event for you. It will be more fun when you discover it by yourself later. I've tweeted about this before so let me quote myself:
"Anone is about some strangers getting together to make counterfeit money and while watching this, it feels so weird".
Well, I mean that in a very interesting way. Not a merely weird story most people tend to avoid. Also, the story truly wants you to grasp the meaning behind all the counterfeit-money- making situation. I think it will be a waste if you only saw them as humans who only have greed for money. Yuji often touched this kind of subject to be honest, even in Woman where he made 'money' as the source of happiness for Koharu. Other elements being included in Anone will be family, loneliness, self-love, strangers and life itself.
The story took a very unclear pace in the earlier episodes. It took me about four episodes to feel keen enough toward them. I love how they balanced out the characters in term of their ages and personalities. They blend an 18 year old girl with other adults role like Anone Hayashida (Yuko Tanaka), Ruiko Aoba (Satomi Kobayashi), Kaji Mochimoto (Abe Sadao), Riichi Nakaseko (Eita) and also a child character Haruto. The focus is not always on Harika (Hirose Suzu), if you realized while watching it, it actually covered all characters pretty well. However, I do admit there are some hole in few scenes where you may need more background explanation. The ending is sweet and heartwarming depends on how you wanna view it. They close the window quite neat, I can say they did rush some things up but not to the extent that it ruined the entire plot.
Moving on to the acting, this might be another step for Hirose Suzu to prove that she can take a pessimistic role with bits of her own touch. She handled the character attractively, you can't help but to root for her or even want to embrace her. Looking over Yuji Sakamoto previous female leads, it may sounds weak but Harika is made for Suzu! It will be unfair for me to judge her with other characters who hold a different story, situation, motives and surrounding. Yuko Tanaka undoubtedly carry her role effortlessly. She can turn into both serious and a playful person. The characters gradually become a supporter of one another. A reason for each of them to live another day. These apply to other supporting roles too. Solid performances from Satomic Kobayashi, Eita and Abe Sadao.
The dialogue is one of the highlights of the drama. Lines of conversations that stay in your mind. I adore their small talks during meal time, also when they about to wrap themselves up in futon and times where there are only two person talking with each other on the screen. You find yourself smiling and in tears with them. Most of you must already knew this, but I've always appreciate story that consists a lot of poetic elements in its script. Some of the lines that I able to catch up are:
Being called strange, that's a compliment
People, they aren't about what they got, they're about being able to get what they didn't
Precious memories, I think they become your support, they become your charms, they become a place for you to go
Meanwhile for the cinematography aspects, it is well presented for me. It may not have a super high quality, but it still captured the messages. A close shot of the cats is always a bonus for me. The settings are nice, just an everyday route for a person. A hospital, roads, office environment but most of the time, a home where all of them gathered together. I believe the setting is quite helpful in making the story more relatable for its viewers. With characters searching for a place they can proudly say as their 'home'.
It surely becomes one of those dramas that will last in my mind timelessly. I am very fond of the characters, their humor and story. I did hope for a longer story of Harika and Hikoboshi, Anone and her daughter also about Nakaseko's little brother. The "What if" element is still there, translated as a dream or imagination in Harika's world. Personally, it may not be the best from Yuji Sakamoto, there are some that makes you remember his past works so you can't help but to compare them. The plot may seem outstretched but turn to be a charm because it's not something you can predict, it gives you an ominous feeling. It looks like a simple journey but with lots of twisting while walking through the road. Isn't that how life treats you?
Overall: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Acting: 4.5/5
Directing: 4/5
Re-watch value: 3.5/5
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