Mama wa Idol (1987)

When Japan had money

A reason why I mostly watch Japanese media (anime and J-Drama) from the 80s is thanks to their obscene amount of money at the time meaning they could literally make the most random of projects financially feasible instead of now where they gotta stick to the main pool of genres because those are what makes money (yes I know this is a phenomenon all over the world but idc), semi 4th wall breaking shows that serve no purpose but pure entertainment (with of course some story) like this can be made, what a simple time… But I’m digressing so I’ll shut up haha.

Anyways Mama wa Idol was a good, light hearted show with an obviously unique spin on things; it didn’t have any overarching message it was trying to push besides I guess the difficulty to having kids accept remarriage (though that was practically demoted to a character trait of one character after ~4 episodes) no it was just Nakayama Miho (google her, literally plays herself) becoming a housewife in secret and the comedy that ensued. Some minor development was present but never really directly mentioned like Miho’s cooking becoming better (and other housewife tasks) and Kenichirou getting more used to his new mum (which happened in the background, realistic for a 20 year old). Over the 10 episodes the only 2 reoccurring things I found annoying was that crazy nosy neighbour and Shuichi’s (dad) vein popping annoying inability to firmly turn down women (plus his occasional thoughts on how to parent but I’m 20 with no kids, so I see things like the naïve Miho does meaning I cannot comment) but both of these are easily overlooked and are funny in their own right (at times). Ending was very wholesome too, love that they directly called out the stigmas in the idol industry plus the real live performance Miho gave.

From a technical aspect everything was done at or above J-Drama standards: typically great 80s music, unique acting, etc. no complaints there. Overall a fun and relaxing show highly recommend this to other old J-Drama fanatics, I will be buying this on DVD for sure.

Also I should point out: yes Miho at the time was 17 (I think she was implied to be 19 in the show) but not only was it poked fun at in the show at times (Kenichirou is older than her in the show and real life) no lines were also crossed, it was kept at a convincing distance for any scenes that could have hinted at intimacy. Also Miho and Kunihiko literally play the lead roles in another drama the very next year so they’re obviously comfortable with each other lol.

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Nakayama Miho

Update: I watched and wrote my comment a few days before the news broke out. I'm in utter disbelief upon hearing the news of Nakayama Miho passing away at the young age of 54. During the past couple of weeks I went into a binge-watch of all her projects from the 80s and 90s, she was a truly striking, talented and fun actress that gave a unique signature to all the projects she's been in. It's unfortunate what has happened and she will be missed dearly. Rest in peace, mama idol!

The drama mirrored the reality of its time with idols culture, ironically, nothing changed since the 80s. Given the setup, the formula was pretty clear with how things were going to be laid out. Each episode gave a focus to one of the characters while cycling through some jokes. Most of these episodes were alright in general but some of the running jokes lasted a bit too long. Take for example the constant interruption of the married leads' 'first night alone' which lasted for several episodes. In fact, they never showed that the leads were actually just sleeping together even after marriage, aside from being together in a bedroom. The female lead's age probably had something to do with that. Instead of wasting time on that and other similar things, they could've gave a reasonable showcase to how they met, fell in love and decided to marry. Anyway, the drama had good dynamics between the characters, nostalgia inducing OST and 80s vibes so it was decent enough.

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