THIS DESERVED A LONG POST
I think my drama binge ended on a very good note. It was a KimiTaku parade for awhile, starting with Engine. Engine was pretty good, had a lot of actors that I really liked. A nice tale about the importance of family and dreams, whether the family was nuclear or otherwise. Then, I watched Good Luck. Although I didn't like it as much, mostly due to the main girl lead, it was still entertaining. I liked the mini theme of the feeling amist the sky.
I ended the parade with Pride, and I have to say, hockey has never been cooler. All the girls were really cute, all of them, which is pretty rare I would have to say. More than that, Pride became one of my favorites since it was sort of a "man's" romance. The three main guy leads had relationships that mirrored their sensibilities. I could only identify with one, Yamada, since he was the lamest one and was slow to approach the girl. KT's character Halu was a straight up pimp though, and he is the reason why I call it a man's romance. The thing that is lacking in most Kdramas (at least from those I've seen) is romance that falls outside of the normal triangle relationships. Most Kdramas focus intensely on relationships, whether it be between lovers or rivals. It is not for the sake of any sort of "ideal." In small doses, this is fine. What makes Pride this "man's" romance is that not only are the relationships realistic enough to identify with, there is a sense of romance attached to Halu's intense obssession with hockey. When he reminices about his departed coach, he talks about how they would train until the sweat would crystallize on their skin. Or when his current coach talks to him about the "ice goddess" beneath the rink. As I am now, I believe that most men are not comfortable with themselves when they are one-dimensional. We all need love, but we also need to have a sense of completeness. In other words, girls like guys with great skills. And as lame as the referrence is, I totally agree. A man who can only live for a woman... at one time or another I thought this was the ideal. This is not the case. A man who works hard to live up to his aspirations and dreams, while being true in his relationships, is a complete man. That is a man's romance, and thats what Pride delivered. For this, it became one of my favorite dramas.
If I made a list though, the next drama I saw would rank even higher, maybe even give SekaiChu a run for its money. Definitely my favorite drama of the season. As with many dramas of the present, it is an adaptation of a manga; Iryu:Team Medical Dragon. Yes, the title does sound cheesy, but cheese is what it lacks. Medical drama is one of those genres that are extra gripping. Despite the exaggerated depictions, it is because of these medical dramas that my repect for the field is so high. The ability to concentrate with a person's life in your very hands, the ability to be objective and calmly adapt, is truly subject to adoration. It is one thing to kill a man who was an "enemy", but to be able to save that "enemy," is a hero that no one else can top.
Iryu:TMD is the closest thing u can get to a sports anime spirit within a medical drama. The whole premise of the drama was to form this specialized cardio surgery team, starting with the godlike head surgeon Asada. Through his superior skill and undying will, more talented people are attracted. An operating nurse (OPN) who can keep up w/ Asada's speed. An intern whose latent abilities have been stifled by bureaucracy and tradition. An ace surgeon who has aspirations of landing a professorship. An anesthegiologist who can determine weight of the patient within 5kg upon mere observation and adjust levels of drugs on the fly. And to top it off, an internalist who is skilled at maintaining the psychological as well as post-op wellbeing of the patient. That comprises the godlike team, forged through emergency operations and personal strife.
The emergency techniques that Asada performs, which stem from his experince in MSAP (a Doctors Without Borders-like organization) is the true appeal of the show. I cannot vouch for the medical accuracy of the operatory setup or the techniques he uses. But I am sure that most of them are sound enough. His speed and accuracy in technique, especially when he is matched w/ TMD, is much like the skills of an athlete in a sports anime. God-given talent paired with years of painstaking effort and repetition, an unbeatable combination. At the very, very least, it is gripping drama to watch.
(Spoilers ahead)
After the last episode, I really doubted the validity of the whole premise of the drama. The drama revolves around the Batista thesis, named after the surgeon who pioneered the technique. It was devised to treat DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy), or an enlargement of the heart, usually in the left ventricle. An enlarged heart will be not be able to pump as effectively, and over time regions of the heart will become weakened and diseased. Internal treatments are usually given, and the Batista technique was only used in situations where cardiac arrest was likely. First used as an alternative to transplant, the technique involves locating the diseased region of the heart and excising them, much like a piece of pie, stitching the incisions in order to reduce the size of the heart. As I found out, the Batista technique was too risky and had many post-op side-effects, so it was phased out. Which is usually the case for most techniques in sports anime (Demspey Roll, Twist Shot, etc).
However, what Asada did brought the drama to a whole new level. He revealed a trump card of sorts, making an incision in the muscle of the left ventricle, w/o locating any diseased regions. What seemed to be a misguided and dangerous stab in the dark turned out to be the new addenum to the thesis. While he did not treat the diseased region itself, what he did was
overlap the muscles and suture the region
, effectively reducing the size of the heart. I later discovered that this indeed was the alternate method to the Batista: the Dor procedure named for the Monaco surgeon that pioneered it. Although Asada himself did not invent the technique (he is fictional, after all), nonetheless the technique is sound.
TMD has shot up in my rankings. One of the best dramas I've seen, and no triangles or anything. That is certainly an accomplishment.
Edit: I have to tack on an addenum to my take on Pride. A man cannot be one dimentional, but I still prize being a one woman man. Think the ideal of this is the Condor Heroes trilogy, especially w/ the Return of CH. The love between Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu is really unmatched in any literature ive ever read. That includes romeo and juliet. It is a very classic love.
More to come later.
