Kind of sad its finished. Only one episode left? I'm going to rewatch Soredemo Ikite Yuku for my Sakamoto Yuji fix. The end of episode 10 teased that Koharu was going to die. Usually when doramas tease someone dying, it never happens. The overly happy dancing in the rain scene had me thinking Koharu was definitely going to die.
Then we had the sister talk where Shiori said if her bone marrow matched for Koharu think of her as her sister. I was convinced Koharu was a goner. What better scene than Koharu calling Shiori sister as she lies dying and what better punishment for Shiori than to raise the kids she deprived of a father?
I like the tension as they were waiting for the phone call. As Sakamoto said in the interview, no need to over explain. You could feel the palpable tension in the room while the kids are just being kids. When the phone feel, I was thinking Koharu was a goner. Took me a second before I remembered Shiori's injured hand.
This is Sakamoto trying to fuck with the audience. When they showed Shiori's weird not smiling expression I thought is this the reason Sakamoto wrote her like this stoned character? So she would no sell the good news. Even with the nod from Koharu's mom, I wasn't entirely sure it was good news until we had that lovely slow-mo of the doctor falling from his chair. What an awesome sequence that was. I don't agree with Sakamoto's story choices but he knows how to put my heart in my mouth.
The welfare husband and doctor wife ending was meh and pointless to me. Oguri Shun showed up again to give Koharu an answer about forgiving her sister. Since Sakamoto said in the interview that he doesn't write nor plan doramas out beforehand, was Oguri Shun simply waiting at home for the phone call to come to set? I would have thought since he's used so sparingly (but still too much IMHO) that it would have been more efficient to shoot his stuff in one go.
The whole thing about not wanting Koharu's kids to resent Shiori is acecptable but her character exploration and what she did wasn't done well enough for me to buy. We get a nice scene with Koharu and her mom and our happy ending.
Overall, Woman is still a must watch, just not perfect or close to it like Soredemo Ikite Yuku or Mother. Sakamoto wanted to go for a happier dorama than I was hoping for in terms of storyline choices and Shiori I feel is still a weak point despite me getting the epiphany that we were suppose to hate her throughout the series. Not to mention too much Oguri Shun. Good dorama with really good execution I'm looking forward to Sakamoto's next one.