Kahogo no Kahoko (TV Mini Series 2017) Poster

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8/10
Japanese "Dramedy"
gee-1530 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Japanese filmmakers seem to have a unique way of blending comedy and drama. "Overprotected Kahoko" is a prime example. Kahoko is a young woman (around 21) who has been sheltered by her well-intentioned parents her entire life. Her understanding of the world is exceedingly superficial and primarily informed by what she reads on the Internet. A chance meeting with a handsome (but grumpy) young artist starts her on the road to true adulthood (and it's a VERY bumpy one).

The series is imperfect in many ways. The situations that develop with Kahoko's extended family stretch belief (every SINGLE family member has some major issue) and the threads of those problems are wrapped up just a bit too neatly by the last episode. While Kahoko's father is quite funny (wimpiness has never been more humorous), Kahoko's mother is a harder sell. She is domineering, bossy and passive-aggressive. While we do get some understanding of her behavior (and she does redeem herself by series' end), she remains generally unsympathetic which pulls the series down a bit (there are several scenes where you will just want to slap her).

What makes the series work is Kahoko. Her character is cute, odd, foolish, naive, brave and ultimately so endearing that you can understand the parents' wish to wrap her up in metaphorical cellophane so she can be untouched by the world. You hold your breath as she careens from one situation to another experiencing some successes and some spectacular (and cringe-worthy) failures. But the character is a wonderful model of perseverance in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds and we can believe it when the tall, gawky Himaje (the grumpy artist) finally falls into her arms to say that his world is better with her in it. Because we've known it all along.
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7/10
Good Enough
PennyReviews16 November 2018
A story about a girl who loves her family, her controling mother and a guy who has a different bilief on the matter. I did like the series, mainly because of the leading lady, who was adorable, innocent and had a major character development. I also liked that the drama focused on the family dynamics, although that ment that the romance was weak, even though the couple had chemistry. Great performances, good settings and a touching story completed the puzzle of a good drama.
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9/10
Sweet and funny
tenshi_ippikiookami11 October 2017
"Kahogo no Kahoko" is one of those series that could easily fall into the cheesy, but instead delivers a very funny, touching and sweet look on humanity and family.

Kahoko is finishing her degree at university, but even though she is trying her best to find a job in a company, her job hunting has, so far, been a failure. In part, this is because she has always been overprotected (the 'kahogo' of the title), especially by her mother, who still treats her as if she was a little baby. The chance meeting with a male student who is trying to become a painter will change her life.

From the moment when Kahoko meets Hajime we will become spectators to her best efforts to grow up, become independent and learn to do things by herself. Of course, this will run awry with her mother's views. And around that, Kahoko's family (her parents and the more extended one), who till then had been all happiness and flowers and butterflies, will start to have its own problems.

This could easily have been a very annoying TV series. We get an overprotected character, Kahoko. An overprotecting mother, Izumi. A father who thinks he is the lion of the family, Masataka. A young man who cannot shut up and believes he is always right, Hajime. And all of family members with their own problems. But instead we get a very funny and touching series. The plot delivers, and it always has very funny situations and great moments (even if the 'problems' Kahoko and their family face are a little bit overstretch, some situations taking way too long to be resolved). The characters get their own particular arc and we get to know why everyone is how they are and we see change in their lives (even though, the mother, Izumi, has not so much as the others). And the actors are game, delivering the lines with so much glee (Mitsuki Takahata overacting but in a good way) that it is always fun to be with them.

Apart from an overstretching of the themes and some of the plot lines, the only minor quibble is that Kahoko has to meet a man to start her change and her desire to free herself from her mother. It would have been better if the change had been born within her. Also that we know how this will end from second one. But with so many laughs and moments that will mist your eyes, you won't care.
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10/10
Its so underrated
saurabhcrai11020 October 2021
An awesome series that shows the love, care in once family and more. The Character building is superb. Every episode is full of warmth and love and emotion, and brings tears to eyes, literally each episode.
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