I just finished watching the 11 episode Japanese drama series H2: Kimi to Ita Hibi and found it to be reasonably enjoyable. H2 is a high school baseball drama, focusing primarily on two "H"s : Hiro and Hideo. They are best friends from childhood and are now at different high schools. While Hiro is the understated, upcoming phenom pitcher who shuns the limelight, Hideo is the star hitter, fast-tracked to the Pros and who gives newspaper interviews daily.
Then there are the OTHER H2 : Haruko and Hikari. As with nearly all Asian dramas, there must be two female leads to counter the two male leads (primarily so that the romantic focus can have suitably many directions in which to go). Hikari is the strong-willed, focused girlfriend of Hideo, but she is the longtime bestfriend of Hiro, so much so that her mother looks upon Hiro as a son. Haruko is the baseball loving, clumsy, awkward, loving love interest of Hiro. Their relationship is mostly one-sided as Hiro is struggling with his feelings towards Hikari.
Rounding out the cast are Hiro's bizarre parents and Hikari's more stable parents, Hiro's best friend and catcher, the brash centerfielder, the two oafs, the son of the Principal, and the Coach who made the College team but who never got into a game.
Covering 3 seasons, the show has an interesting flow to it, allowing for successes and defeats, with an ending that's expected and suitable. The actors are good, the girls are pretty, the melodrama is ... melodramatic, but best about the series is that there is a substantial focus on baseball. While the humna interaction and drama is the emotional core, the baseball and the love of baseball plays an equal (if not bigger) role. Practice, preparation, and game comprise the spine of the plot. The baseball scenes are done well if somewhat cliche-ish. Pitchers are great b/c they throw hard; hitters are great b/c they hit home runs. Though there are some moments indicating the subtleties of the game (eg. hitting to the right side to advance the runner, hustling from 1st to 3rd on a sac-bunt, ... ) almost too much is made of Hiro just striking everyone out. Still, games have an intrinsic charm to them and are very watchable.
Not a great series. The melodrama is piled a bit heavy, even by JDrama metrics, and the dialogue feels awkward at times. The primary characters are built very flat and are given little room to breathe. THe secondary characters while having interesting features are short-shrifted. Still, owing greatly to some very engaging actors, some solid direction and a general feeling of fun that inhabits the baseball scenes, the series is elevated to watchable and generally enjoyable.
It won't make you cry; it won't make you stand up and cheer; it might make you smile, though. And I ended up watching all 11 45min episodes over a span of 3 days so that's a testament to the watchability.
Here's an H2 fan page at J-Fan [link]
