Hotman (2003)

A family drama about understanding between siblings.

This drama contains several lovable casts and acting from Yada Akiko, Konishi Manami(from Accuracy of Death), the charismatic twin brothers Keita and Shota Saito, and Ichikawa Yui. Story is about the 5 children of the same mother, yet different fathers. Takashi Sorimachi plays the eldest son, Enzo, who commits himself to take care of his other 4 siblings,who come to live with him in the house of their shared mother, who passed away.

However, Enzo's daughter, Nanami is who he cares for the most, born with a skin disease that causes extreme itching of the skin. Nanami's disease evokes Enzo's guilt of his wild and ignorant past he spent fooling around with girls. The day that caused his change was when Nanami was placed at his doorstep by her unidentified mother.

Since then, he devotes himself as a father to Nanami to amend for his past. Nanami's role is acted really well by young actress Yamauchi Nana. Her face, voice and expressions are simply kawaii! Seeing her playful innocence is very heart lifting.

Dramas like Hotman, as like many J dramas often emphasize on the values of promise, morals and human bonds with very light hearted and innocent interaction that is very sincere and truthful. Siblings relations, love, friends and child caring, this drama has it all, carrying across to us subtle lessons to be learnt in bettering the bonds with our close ones.

I guess this is the unique magic of J dramas, in that it always inspires and encourages in very simple and honest ways.

For this reason, I can easily differentiate a J drama from other regions of dramas. I am sure this is also the case for most J drama fans out there. As other drama tells stories through cool appearances, a J drama tells stories with genuine burning passion that emits through the screen naturally.

*Episodes are available for viewing at Veoh.

Below info taken from DramaWiki

Episodes: 11, + 1 Special + (Continued on Hotman 2...)

Genre: Family Drama

Viewership ratings: 14.26

Broadcast period: 2003-Apr-03 to 2003-Jun-19

Air time: Thursday 21:00

Songs:

• 'Together' by EXILE (Opening Theme)
  

• 'Utakata' by YeLLOW Generation (Insert song)
  

Cast

• Sorimachi Takashi as Furiya Enzo
• Yada Akiko as Kaneko Misuzu
• Konishi Manami as Furiya Shima
• Ichikawa Yui as Furiya Hinata
• Saito Shota as Furiya Haiji
• Saito Keita as Furiya Ryunosuke
• Yamauchi Nana as Furiya Nanami
• Fukami Motoki as Okuma Toki
• Kuga Yoko as Fujita Sonoko
• Kurotani Tomoka as Sakamoto Yukimi
• Sawajiri Erika as Akikawa Satsuki
• Hiranuma Norihisa as Fujita Masato
• Yamamoto Yuko as Tatsuko Mama
• Ryu Raita as Enzo's Father
• Nakamaru Shinsho as The twins' father
• Waki Tomohiro
• Natsukawa Jun
• Kamiji Yusuke
• Kurita Riko
• Matsuda Shoichi

General Synopsis

Sorimachi Takashi plays school art teacher Enzo Furiya, who takes care of his 5-year-old daughter, Nanami, of which he has no idea who her mother is. He also lives with his four siblings, whose fathers are all different. Nanami suffers from severe atopic dermatitis, so Enzo throws himself into managing her diet to alleviate her condition. He is so determined to raise Nanami well, he doesn’t appear to have any spare time for a girlfriend. And yet, Enzo finds himself drawn to Misuzu Kaneko, a health teacher at his school. Enzo pursues life passionately for his little girl and his family. (TBS)