|
| Get plugged in to the latest Japanese TV dramas. |
| Monday, February 8, 2010 | HOME | NEWS | ANIME | JPOP | MANGA | VIDEO GAMES | CINEMA | FORUMS | CHAT | FRIENDS | MAIL |
Top | Previous Seasons | Retailers | Contact | Links | Drama Forum
 Fujiki Naohito <<Kitajima Shinnosuke |
 Satou Ryuuta <<Ichinose Makoto |
 Furuta Arata <<Geronimo sansei |
 Suzuki Emi <<Remi |
 Toda Erika <<Saki |
 Aragaki Yui <<Nagisa |
 Yaguchi Mari <<Yurika |
 Satsukawa Aimi <<Shizuka |
 Namase Katsuhisa <<Yanagishita Tetsuo |
 Nukumizu Youichi <<Aikawa Yuusaku |
 Takada Junji <<Tsuchiya Mamoru |
 Yamauchi Nana <<Momo |
 |
How can I begin to describe this weird, WEIRD drama? Well, "GALCIR" is short for "GAL CIRCLE" ("gal" being Japanese "kogals" defined as young women characterized by conspicuously displaying their disposable income through unique tastes in fashion, music, and social activity; and "circle" being a Japanese name for a club or organization). I originally wanted to use the katakana romanization "GYARUSAA" because I thought "GALCIR" looked weird... but I got used to "GALCIR" and decided to go with that. (Other sites will probably refer to this drama as "Gyarusa".)
The drama centers around a group of "gals" in Shibuya who are in a "para para" dancing "circle" called "Angel Heart". They go about their daily lives practicing their dancing, and mostly getting into petty fights with each other. Then one day a man dressed as a cowboy parachutes down into Shibuya.
 |
He appears to be a Japanese man, but he prefers to speak in simple English words rather than his slow and choppy Japanese. "What?!" he exclaims whenever he doesn't understand. All that the bewildered masses who look on can gather is that he is looking for a girl with the unlikely name of "Imoko".
He is "Shinnosuke" (Fujiki Naohito), a man who left Japan when he was young to live with "Indians" in Arizona. He is good with a lasso and respects the earth. He doesn't know anything about Japan, or modern living for that matter. (In the first episode, he apparently doesn't even know what money is - though he has a feeling he may have heard of it once.) He does a good job of disrupting everything within his vicinity in Shibuya. He sets up a teepee in the middle of the park, builds a bonfire, and makes traps in order to catch animals.
 |
A police officer played by Satou Ryuuta catches Shinnosuke in the park. He doesn't do a very good job of exercising his authority (as you would expect from a Satou Ryuuta character), and he finds it impossible to stop Shinnosuke from building his traps and living in the park. Somehow, this police officer ends up taking Shinnosuke into his small apartment to stay with him for the rest of the series. Here, Shinnosuke sets up a computer with a webcam so that he can communicate with the Indian man (Furuta Arata) who raised him and his daughter (Yamauchi Nana, from HOT MAN). Shortly after, the daughter comes to stay with Shinnosuke in Shibuya.
So, back to the gals. The headquarters of the Angel Heart "circle" is some dirty old basement in Shibuya. There, they practice for upcoming para para competitions. There are a number of major characters in the group, including most notably "Saki" (Toda Erika, who played little miss perfect in NOBUTA. o PRODUCE - very different role for her here). One of them is also played by former Morning Musume member Yaguchi Mari. I won't list all four of the main gals here since you can read the cast list above for yourself. The gals tend to get into squabbles with each other over petty things, or sometimes everyone in the circle singles out a member and picks on her for one reason or another.
 |
Shinnosuke gets involved with the Angel Heart girls originally because he thinks the girl he's looking for, "Imoko" might be among them. Every week, he ends up becoming involved in their problems somehow. The gals' petty problems seem illogical to Shinnosuke's simple mind. Shinnosuke has a simple sort of wisdom about him, untainted by the desires of modern times. Using his own extreme methods, he teaches the girls what really matters. Usually, he has to put the girls through a near-death experience or something extreme like that in order to teach them. He does things that would normally land someone in prison, but never gets in trouble for some reason.
The last group of characters in the drama is a bunch of middle-aged guys who own stores in Shibuya led by the owner of an old-fashioned coffee shop (Namase Katsuhisa). They remember a Shibuya before it was overrun with gals and punks. They want to find a way to get rid of the gals and take Shibuya back. They are also bothered by Shinnosuke and wish he would go away.
 |
Shinnosuke will continue to live in Shibuya until he can find Imoko, and the gals will continue having their problems which Shinnosuke will have to fix for them until the drama ends.
Each episode appropriately ends with a credit sequence featuring Fujiki para para dancing to his song "HEY! FRIENDS" along with the Angel Heart gals behind him. In between this are shots of all the other characters - police, Indians, store owners and all doing the dance as well. This sequence shows the light-hearted, happy, comedic nature of the drama well. It's a crazy, wacky drama not to be taken seriously at all.
 |
That being said, when watching this drama I still can't help feeling that I should be a little bit offended. The drama is very insensitive to real Native American people... and perhaps also a little to cowboys and gals. The "Indians" in this drama are ridiculous. They live in a single teepee somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Arizona, and for some reason they get Internet access on their computer - the single piece of modernity they possess. And the name of the Indian man who raised Shinnosuke is "Geronimo" for God's sake. That's just plain ridiculous. Geronimo knows an unusual lot about Japan for someone who lives in the middle of nowhere in Arizona - more than Shinnosuke even. I don't know why Geronimo never bothered to teach Shinnosuke what money is. Money must have been involved when those computers were purchased. Also, it is unexplained why Shinnosuke, who was raised by Indians, decided to become a cowboy rather than an Indian.
 |
The "Indians" in GALCIR are not an actual group of people who exist in the real world. They are nothing but a parody of characters from old wild west movies taken to an extreme level. In other words, this drama had might as well feature pirates fighting with ninjas, because it treats both cowboys and Indians as nothing more than fictional or extinct occupations like "fighter" or "wizard" in an RPG. Rather than respecting culture, this drama spits in the face of the idea of culture (which is not such a bad thing since personally I feel that the idea of culture could perhaps use a few blows once in a while).
The problem is that Native Americans are an actual ethnic group that exists in the real world. To a Japanese person, Indians may seem little different from mutant bullfrogs or space ninjas, and the idea of being politically correct toward them may not occur to someone in Japan; and - yes - there will probably be very few Native Americans who ever see this drama. Yet, I still would have appreciated if a little bit more respect and political correctness had been exercised when dealing with the Indians in GALCIR.
 |
Most viewers would probably say that I'm being a stick in the mud, and should just shut up and enjoy this drama. You might argue that it's just a wacky drama which has no intention of harming anyone. I'm a little bothered, but it is still a fun drama on many levels and I wouldn't advise against watching it.
Sample Clip
Real Media - 43 seconds
 |
Top | Previous Seasons | Retailers | Contact | Links | Drama Forum
Copyright © 2010 J-Fan