Kangoku no Ohimesama greatest weakness is that it spends most of its time in unnecessary flashbacks that detail every single thing about their characters' past. However, this is Kudo Kankuro writing here so every trip to the past in funny and touching.
Still, when a show uses the flashback technique, its keep the audience guessing how the characters got from point A to point B, which is the beginning of the show and every nugget of revelation keeps the audience guessing. In Kangoku no Ohimesama, we the audience can pretty much fill in the blanks and while there are some potential twists, they never happen and in the end it ends up being a straight forward journey.
I've always said not to judge a jdorama but what I think it should be but what its trying to be. Kudo Kankuro wants Kangoko no Ohimesama to be a comedy about friendship and about how a bunch of criminals can band together and risk their futures for the himesama. In that sense he has succeeded. Kudo Kankuro has created a memorable cast of characters especially Baba Kayo. There are so many funny and interesting details in the dialogue.
At the same time, I just hate the pacing and the narrative flow. If only it were 6 episodes, the pacing would be perfect or if Kudo Kankuro did it as a straightforward show instead of a flashback story. Watchable but infuriatingly flawed.
