Don Quixote

Shirota, a terribly wishy-washy fellow, works at a Child Care Consultation Centre. Apparently, he’s doing it of a calling, although his results do not show. One day, he happens to be in the same block of flats as a bunch of Sabashima group yakuza led by boss Sabashima himself and thanks to some evil (or good?) forces of nature (under a form of dark fog) the minds of these two are exchanged.

Now Shirota and Sabashima have to come to terms with what happened to them. They decide to work together until the riddle behind this mysterious body swap is solved. It’s enormously fun to watch how once timid Shirota (Matsuda Shota) becomes less-inteligent macho and the former yakuza boss (Takahashi Katsumi) now acts all ninny nanny in tight fashionable suit and needs to handle not only his own underlings but also enemies in the gangster world. Shirota, on the other hand, seems as if he couldn’t care less about the children he needs to take care of, while in fact he’s unconventional attitude is a blessing for the kids and a fresh breath of air to his office. Eventually they become something like best friends, supporting each other and changing their lives for better.

The Don Quixote series is full of funny gags with occasional tearful moments (if you’re into stories about family issues). Two leads did an amazing job pulling out the double roles (especially Matsuda!) and there is a bunchful of supporting actors that are like a cherry on the top: including Kobayashi Sachiko as Shirota’s boss, Matsushige Yutaka as Sabashima’s firstman and Miyake Hiroki as Child Care older colleague, Nishi-yan. However, in terms of storyline, not all episodes are equally good and I found some of them draggy, a common threat of a TV series. If squeezed the essence could be a perfect comedy.

The connection to Cervantes' "Don Quixote" is, to be honest, a little vague to me (yes, they actually did a theatre in the center, and all... And yes, Shirota and Sabashima are like a knight and his faithful sidekick), but the Spanish opening is great and sticks to your brain for long.

My point for this drama 

I you find body swap theme interesting, and I bet you do, try some other shows that turn around it. In Tenkousei - Sayonara Anata, a 2007 remake of an older movie,  two high-schoolers have their bodies replaced. One of them will even have to fight with the illness of the other. Similar theme was introduced also in a 1992 drama Houkago. In Papa to Musume no Nanokakan, it’s a father and a daughter who have to be one another for seven days. A soon to be released movie Himitsu no Akko-chan (based on a popular classic shoujo anime) tells the story of a 11-year-old who can transform into an adult. In also a drama turned movie Himitsu it’s the soul of the mother that enters her daughter’s body after a serious accident. And I bet the list can be much longer. The number of remakes is the best proof how prolific the motif can actually be.