House of the Owl

It's a political, drama so if you don't like politics, mature, or realistic stories that depict life and mundane adult relationships, I recommend you watch something else.

House of the Owl is a Japanese drama about a fixer, also known as "kuromaku."

A fixer is a person who makes arrangements behind the scenes, often times cleaning up the messes of politicians, rich families, celebrities, whoever they choose to help etc, manipulating public media so scandals get easily forgotten or kept hidden from the public. So ever wonder why after a huge scandal, something else takes up it's attention? Highly likely it's the work of a fixer.

Ryutaro Ogami is a highly esteemed fixer in Japan, known as "The Owl." The show follows his life as a fixer and the growth/decline of his family. Ogami has Two sons, two daughters. ALL. Every single one falls short in some way due to their Father's occupation and business.

Sons

The eldest Ichiro is a snob. He is an unfaithful husband and failing restaurant owner. The woman he is interested in works for a man spying on Ogami's eldest son and daughter, a mysterious man who becomes more dangerous and active with his manipulation as we progress towards the end of the season.

The younger son Ryu, is a highly intelligent and astute but naive. He returned from the US to work at an NPO just in time to hear about the death of one of his childhood friends. He starts dating a foreign reporter who approaches him for mysterious reasons, they look into the work of his Father together for a case she's working on only for him to come to understand his Father a bit better. Ryu is the only child who seems to be the most aware of what his Father does for a living and is disgusted by him, as well as Japan's corrupt government. Towards the end of the season he comes to understand his Father. It's quite possible that he may end up succeeding his Father in the future, but who knows? Maybe he'll have help?

Daughters

The youngest, Risako, an aspiring singer, tries to navigate the shady entertainment industry to become a star. As she earns the attention of a scandolous celebrity, she faces issues with her boyfriends who worries fame and others might change her.

Yumiko, the second eldest and most mature of the three, manages her family well. At first glance her marriage and family seems to be perfect until she finds out that her husband has been lying to her for months about working, he was actually fired for misconduct after gambling with stocks. She was previously a competent employee and struggles with the concept of having to go back to work and also be a mom.

I heard that others claim the show is "boring" but I think it's because it follows the mundane lives of The Owl's children, and people aren't used to serious slice-of-life dramas. Throughout the series we get to witness the growth of each Owl child as well as unravel the mystery behind the incident of the first episode; Where a politician's son (and Ryu's childhood friend) gets brutally murdered.

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot twists and getting to see the psychology of the Ogami's children as well as the shadow their Father left in each of their lives- everyone is affected by him whether he's aware of it or not. The consequences of both his business, and busy-ness all molded his children into what they are today.

1. Eldest Son is a hypocrite wants to be great like his Father but fails to be in every way possible. His Father is faithful- eldest is not, Father is competent at his job, eldest is not. Father is gentlemanly and would never hit a woman, son-

2. Eldest Daughter is always trying to handle things on her own instead of seeking her Father's help, not because she hates him but because he is often busy and tends to give most of the boys his attention, leaving the Mom to handle the girls. Also the boys are typically the troublemakers if I'm recalling correctly, so I think there's also some pride she has there, in that she is a good daughter who never gives her Father a reason to worry and can solve her own issues, but this independence is also an issue, because when she has big issues she refuses to confide in him about it may also feel like a lack of trust in him. And it turns out in the end that she should have told him since her family was being targeted.

3. Younger son doesn't want to be anything like his Father, but learns that even if he dislikes and distrusts his Father, he is a wise man who offers reasonable advice, and who also cares for him.

4. Youngest daughter is a newly signed singer. She has grown up without interacting with her Father much at all, allowing her to do things without facing any repercussions, even having a boyfriend who hasn't met him yet. She has no negativity within her towards her father, if anything we see her readily accepting his gift, and is happy to be given any attention or advice from him at all. The downside of this lack of attention however means she is a bit lost and impressionable. Making the music industry a dangerous place for a girl like her if she is not careful. I hope she can spend more time with Ogami as I think her issues and weaknesses stem from not getting attention and marinating in that stable masculine presence, I think her boyfriend is also similar to him in a way in that he is skeptical and cautious. Her hit song. "I want to get a rise" was supposed to be about riling up her boyfriend but I think it also stems from her Father's disinterest (again he thought his wife could handle the girls, and failed to realize that his girls might actually want to spend time with him - he only realizes it when his wife points it out. He's old and a very old fashioned man- so there's a huge age gap between him and his daughter as well, he thought she is too young to probably understand or be interested in him). Due to the lack of attention from both her Father and lukewarmness of boyfriend she has developed a personality or desire to do something- even if it's riling the other person up to get his attention, and affirmation that he cares or that the passion is still there.

Owl Children aside, we also get to learn more about Japanese culture here and there so if you're curious about Japanese society, you should give it a watch.

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If you're looking for other dramas about fixers, I suggest you watch the Korean Drama "Queen Maker." The story follows the life of an ex-fixer of a rich family. She turns against her previous employers after becoming dis-illusioned with her job after discovering a dark truth too hard to ignore. Our protagonist is a very tough woman but she dresses like a very sophisticated lady. I love seeing that balance. If you love underdog stories and dramas with strong female characters. Give it a watch!

Let me know your thoughts on both shows below! I'm always looking for spaces to discuss my favorite Asian dramas.