Name: Tiger & Dragon
Genre: Comedy
Year: 2005
Rating: Recommended
Before Nagase Tomoya stared in the hilariously funny yakuza role in My Boss My Hero he took the role of a similar character in Tiger and Dragon. Though you will see similar characteristics between the two characters appearing in the different serials you will soon find that the two live-action shows are quite different. Rakugo is a traditional form of Japanese comedy with a long history. This type of traditional “stand-up” comedy generally involves the telling of stories with a punch line at the end. Unlike many modern comedy sketches, Rakugo is based upon telling the same story but with a personal touch. In other words the overall moral of the story may be the same but the setting and events may be completly different. Nagase plays the Yakuza Toraji who is collecting debt from a Rakugo performer. Ryuji, played by Okada Junichi (Also featured in Kisarazu Cat’s Eye) is the son of this particular Rakugo performer in debt, although talented he has decided to pursue a career in fashion. Though the two characters come from completely different worlds they are both trying to escape the world they were raised in.
Tiger and Dragon is quite unique in the way it reveals its plot. The story follows the journey of Toraji and his rise in the Rakugo world. As mentioned before Rakugo is a traditional form of comedy and therefore it takes allot of prerequisite knowledge to fully understand the humor and meaning behind each story. However this is not the case for this series. In this series the traditional story is told with the characters being thrown into the traditional roles. You will see the characters act out the story in a historical setting. However whats great about this story is that after the traditional Rakugo story is shown to the viewer a modern version is then told. With the modern version the story is applied to the unfolding events in the current lives of the characters. Therefore it not only makes the Rakugo story more interesting but through modernization the humor is much easier to grasp. However I do have to say that this series isn’t for everyone. I at first was confused and didn’t really understand what was going on during the first episode however as you watch more I found that you get used to the format of the series and it becomes a very interesting live-action.
