Hey guys, I recently finished another Japanese drama which I really enjoyed and would like to share a review on!
9 Border tells the story about three sisters who are at the border age of 19 years old, 29 years old and 39 years old, and how they navigate through their border age. Nana Oba (portrayed by Haruna Kawaguchi) is 29 years old and she is the middle child among the three sisters, and is known as the most reliable sibling in the family. She is single and very good at her job. However, although she is promoted to become the youngest assistant manager at her company, she feels pressured by her younger peers and colleagues who are getting married and having children. One day, she meets a man, Kotaro (portrayed by Kôhei Matsushita) who lost his memories due to an accident. As they spent time together, Nana falls in love with Kotaro who is always cheerful and kind-hearted although he does not remember who he is. The oldest sister, Mutsuki Narusawa (portrayed by Haruka Kinami) is 39 years old, a certified accountant and owns her own accounting firm. She lives separately from her husband due to his infidelity and her husband is seeking a divorce from her so that he can live with his mistress. One day, she hires a new employee, Saku Matsushima (portrayed by Kai Inowaki) into her accounting firm who develops feelings for her. The youngest sister in the family is 19 years old Hatsumi Oba (portrayed by Mei Hata). Hatsumi feels unease with people her age who have their own life goals and are pursuing their goals. One day, she meets a man from a dating app who suddenly proposed to her, asking her to follow him for his work to Singapore. However, she is actually secretly in love with her older sister's middle school friend, Yoochan (portrayed by Kido Taisei), who has feelings for her older sister, Nana. One day, the three sisters meet at their father's bathhouse - the "Oba Bathhouse", when he suddenly disappeared and their journey of navigating through their respective border age unfolds!
**Spoilers alert**
Thoughts on the drama...
I just finished watching this drama and I have to say I really enjoyed watching it! I like how the story portrays how each sister goes through their border age of 19, 29 and 39 years old. Starting with 29 years old Nana, her struggles of being at the border age of 29 were pretty relatable, like how she often compares herself to her younger colleagues who emphasizes work-life balance but still recognised at work as well as her older colleagues who are married and have to take care of their children. Stuck in between the two, she often has to train her younger colleagues at her company and cover for her married colleagues. After meeting Kotaro, Nana finds herself falling for this mysterious man who always appeared cheerful and optimistic although he cannot remember his past and who he is. Although the love story between Nana and Kotaro seemed a bit rushed in the beginning, I liked how they both got to understand each other and supported one another. It was sad to see how Kotaro felt responsible towards his own family and fiancé when he went back to live with his real family and when he made the difficult decision to leave Nana. It was heartbreaking to watch the scene where he told Nana that he decided to continue living as his past self. But, it was really nice to see how he decided to follow his heart in the end. Although I did feel bad for his fiancé, he was no longer the same person she knew and perhaps they were not meant to be as he still did not regain back his memory of her and she was probably better off getting married to someone who actually loves her.
As for 39 years old Mutsuki, although she was initially reluctant to agree to divorce her husband, despite his repeated requests and even his mistress coming to visit her to get her to divorce her husband, I was glad that she finally decided to leave him. Like how another door opens when one closes, her life turned out for the better and she finally found someone else who actually understood her and liked her for who she was. Finally, for 19 years old Hatsumi, it was really nice to see how she grew from someone who didn't know what she wanted to do, to someone who was courageous enough to confess to Yoochan, and for finding her passion in cooking. The plot twist of their father returning with their actual biological younger brother was pretty unexpected but I'm glad that it turned out well and how the sisters got another member to their family.
The acting and chemistry between the main leads and their respective partners in the drama was superb! It was especially heartwarming to watch the three sisters and how they fought and got along with each other like how siblings do! I also really liked a scene in the final episode where Nana told her older sister Mutsuki how everything isn't always black and white, just like how there is no one size fits all in how you choose to do things when you are faced with challenges and hurdles. Mutsuki then went on to comtemplate on what it meant to be happy and they all came out with if you think "I'm fine the way I am", that itself is happiness already. In today's world where everybody likes to conform to the social norms of achieveing certain things in life by a certain age, it can be challenging where you might find yourself comparing yourself with your peers. However, you should be happy with yourself first and as adults, we should always have the freedom to choose how we want to live our life without being influenced by other people's views and opinions. Another point that I really liked is how the writer also touched upon other issues such as the younger generations returning back to their hometwon to revamp and take over their family's business like Nana and Yoochan, which is pretty common in Japan, as well as other issues such as arranged marriage between families like Kotaro and his fiancé. It was pretty nice and refreshing to get a better understanding of Japanese culture through this drama. I would definitely highly highly recommend watching this drama if you're looking for something that is light, heartwarming and meaningful!
Fun Facts!
1. I was really excited when I found out that Kido Taisei who plays Yoochan was in this drama as I really enjoyed watching him as the young Namiki in the Japanese drama "First Love: Hatsukoi"!
2. I found out that Kôhei Matsushita is also a singer songwriter in real life, and I have been enjoying his latest single - "Can I Tell You That I Love You?"
xoxo
Kdramayeowang
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