Japanese Drama: Hotman 2

I know this might be a little late but a good show is worthed watching over and over again no matter when it is being released. Don't you agree? Today's Japanese drama review covers Hotman 2 featuring Takashi Sorimachi as Enzo the big brother of the Furiya family. This is a 2004 TBS production and the sequel of Hotman which was first shown in 2003.

Here is a brief story of the first series of Hotman for the benefit of those who have yet to watch it:
Takashi Sorimachi plays a school art teacher Enzo Furiya (降矢円造) who takes care of his 5-year-old daughter Nanami Furiya of whom he has no idea who her mother is. He also lives with his four siblings whose fathers are all different. Enzo’s daughter suffers from severe atopic dermatitis, so he throws himself into managing her diet to alleviate her condition. He is so determined to raise the little daughter well, he doesn’t appear to have any spare time for a girlfriend. And yet Enzo finds himself drawn to Misuzu Kaneko (played by Akiko Yada), a health teacher at his school. Enzo pursues life passionately for his little girl and his family. This is a story about how desperately Enzo tries to hold his family together in spite of all the hardships.

The second series (i.e. Hotman 2) starts with all the family members segregated and then they meet again and begin to make a family. Enzo Furuya returns to help his family once again. Enzo transfers to a primary school in a small seaside town in hopes to improve Nanami's allergies. The eldest sister Shima opened a natural foods store, Hinata took a job as a nurse while Haiji and Ryunosuke set out on their own.
One day, Shima visits Enzo but seems a bit perturbed. Enzo goes back to Tokyo to find out what's wrong only to discover that the house is up for sale and that Shima's food store failed. Enzo decides to help Shima by finding a way for the family to live together again.

Actually to be frank, I still prefer the prequel as maybe back then Nanami (Enzo's 5-year-old daughter) is cuter when she was younger. Nevertheless the acting by all the casts in the show is decent. 3.5 stars out of 5 to this show.