With unemployment steadily growing in popularity, more and more people are succumbing to the sordid pleasures of daytime television. For many, it's like a Class A drug - you know it's going to screw you up, but you just can't stop turning to it when you're feeling down.

With this being Japan an' all, there are, not surprisingly, a lot of Japanese actors on TV shows here.

It's pretty rare to see a Western face. Even rarer to hear him speaking English. Even rarer to have him speaking English without subtitles. Even rarer to have him play an American with a British accent. Even rarer to have him playing the father of a woman who is, in real life, older than he is. All in all, the whole thing was like a steak on a plate oozing with oodles of the red stuff. No not bloody. Just very very rare.

The key scene in a recent edition of one particular show had a father meeting his daughter for the first time in many years.


The father enters the restaurant. The daughter waits patiently while looking at a photo of herself as a young child.


The father spots her and politely introduces himself....


Despite speaking, the actress refuses to acknowledge the actor, suggesting perhaps some kind of recent altercation during rehearsals.


The daughter eventually stands and greets her father. Even though it's not in the script, the actor decides to move in. This screenshot was taken precisely five seconds before their awkward embrace.


The actor prepares his hands for a bit of a feel.


Judging by her reaction (see video at the end of this post), he certainly held onto something very tightly.


A gripping moment during the tense scene.


The actor stops speaking and holds the embrace. There's a long silence. No one moves for quite a while.




Three minutes later and they're still entwined. The father must have really missed her.


The actress has a flashback to rehearsals.


After being prized apart by a concerned waiter, the daughter shows her father the photograph.


The daughter is the little one on the bottom right hand corner and the father is the guy in the hat.


His reaction to the photo displays a subtle tenderness mixed with a fair amount of psychotic laughter....


The father reacts ominously to the photo taken the previous day 30 years before.


Seeing an opportunity, the actor takes his chance and moves in for another hug....


This, the second hug in a series of seven, is by far the most assertive.


Not surprisingly, it all ends in tears. Take a look at this short clip to witness some choice acting....



Running time: Two minutes

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 12:42 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.