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 Itou Misaki <<Minagawa Hiroko |
 Moriyama Mirai <<Minagawa Yuutarou |
 Takashima Masanobu <<Takeda Ikuo |
 Shaku Yumiko <<Kitamura Saori |
 Eikura Nana <<Tamura Ai |
 Kodama Kiyoshi <<Tamura Shinichi |
 Hiraoka Yuuta <<Nakamura Takumi |
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Hiroko (Itou) is the daughter a shochu-brewing family in the country. She is very pretty and wins the local beauty contest. Unfortunately, she and everyone around her believes that she doesn't have any redeeming qualities other than her looks since she doesn't seem particularly bright, can't cook, etc. The family's pride (other than the alcohol they brew) is the son of the family, Yuutarou (Moriyama). He has the brains in the family, and he just got through medical school and is about to begin an internship at a hospital in Tokyo.
The father's brew wins a competition, and a large company decides to sponsor it and sell it for him. He builds a big, new, modern factory in order to meet the new demand. But apparently he signed a bad contract because the company that sponsored him decides to jump ship mid-deal. He now has some loan sharks after him who want to collect money which he now can't return. Somewhat conveniently, he soon has a heart attack and dies.
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Because Yuutarou has an important test he needs to study for, they decide not to tell him about any of these events, even when the father passes away. At the funeral, Hiroko gets a call from her fiance to cancel their engagement. She is now alone at the sake brewery in the country (apparently there was no mother in the first place). Worst of all, the loan sharks still want their money and are now after Hiroko. Having nowhere else to go, she makes her way to Tokyo to stay with her brother.
There, Yuutarou learns for the first time about the death of his father and everything that has happened. He doesn't seem especially surprised or grieved by any of this since he has lived away from the family for six years and now considers himself to have a distant life of his own in Tokyo. Hiroko doesn't tell him about the loan sharks since she doesn't want to disturb his important medical career. Yuutarou is bitterly opposed, but Hiroko decides that she will be staying with him at his apartment.
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Yuutarou hates having Hiroko there and wants her to get out immediately. She makes sudden unexpected visits to his hospital and becomes friends with the rest of the staff, much to Yuutarou's dismay. Dr. Takeda (Takashima), Yuutarou's supervisor falls in love with her at first sight. He is always trying to get a chance to see Hiroko and asking Yuutarou questions about her.
Hiroko gets two jobs: one as a construction worker during the day, and one as a bar hostess at night. The loan sharks soon find her and want their money. They want to bother Yuutarou for their money too, but Hiroko won't allow it. She does everything in her power to prevent Yuutarou from finding out about the loan because her brother's career is the most important thing to her and she doesn't want to disturb his work. Still, Hiroko does plenty to bother her brother when she frequently brings her construction worker friends to Yuutarou's place to party.
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If there is a main protagonist in this drama, it is Hiroko and her attempts to pay back the loan without letting her brother know. But Yuutarou, while always trying to get rid of his sister through most of each episode, learns some sort of lesson from her by the end. There is a sort of peace and wisdom in Hiroko's carefree attitude, and though it seems Yuutarou has the brains in the family, he has a lot to learn from Hiroko. We learn that Yuutarou really does love his sister - though only for a brief time at the end of each episode.
The basic conflict and humor of this drama stems from the old gimmick of pairing a serious character with a bubbly and carefree character. They're just another odd couple. Moriyama Mirai works pretty well as the serious guy, and I've gotta say I like Itou Misaki as the free-spirited sister as well.
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This is, without a doubt, the biggest and strongest role Itou Misaki has ever had the chance to play. She was one of the main characters in densha otoko, but she played such a dry and sterile - almost robotic - character in that drama. It feels as if this is the first drama where we actually get to know Itou Misaki as an actress.
So, for that reason, I would definitely recommend this drama to Itou Misaki fans. Moriyama Mirai fans should also check it out since he plays a pretty big role too. Otherwise, "kiken na ANEKI" is a decent comedy drama about a brother and sister who are very different from each other. There's nothing new here at all, and I wouldn't quite call it fantastic, but it is a decent offering nonetheless.
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