Karei-naru Ichizoku
Encyclopedia
Karei-naru Ichizoku is a Japanese drama
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...

 aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 (TBS) for its 55th anniversary. It is a remake of a 1970s novel of the same name by Toyoko Yamasaki
Toyoko Yamasaki
is a Japanese novelist.A native of Osaka, Yamasaki worked as a journalist for the Mainichi Shimbun from 1945 to 1959 after graduating from Kyoto Women's University in Japanese literature. She wrote her first story Noren in 1957. The following year, she won the Naoki Prize for her second novel Hana...

. Takuya Kimura
Takuya Kimura
, nicknamed , is a Japanese singer and actor. He is also a member of the Japanese idol group SMAP. Most of the TV dramas he starred in produced high ratings in Japan...

 received widespread acclaim for his work in the series.

Plot

Set in the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 climate of the 60s in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, the show explores the struggle for power within the powerful Manpyo family. The cornerstone of their empire is , controlled by the father of the clan, . Eldest son is the managing director of . The ambitious Teppei seeks to expand operations of his company, and goes to his father to see if he can secure a loan. But the Minister of Finance seeks the merger of smaller Japanese banks to fend off foreign competition. Daisuke must decide whether to protect his son's interest in manufacturing or to ensure the survival of the bank that he controls.

The series mostly revolves on the hidden secrets within the Manpyo family. A running theme throughout the show is Teppei's constant hunger for his father's approval. However, instead of being seen as a son, he is often seen as a threat by his own father. Throughout most of the series, they are competing as Daisuke refuses to help in Teppei's struggles.

At the end, we are shown why the characters act as they did. Teppei's mother was supposedly raped by his grandfather, therefore, making Daisuke unsure if Teppei was actually his, or Keisuke's (his father). Teppei's uncanny resemblance to Keisuke, and his blood type proves to Daisuke that he was, indeed, his half-brother. This causes the heartache that surrounds the Manpyo family.

Teppei's company is not saved. As he finds out that he wasn't actually who he thought he was, he goes to the mountains where his family hunts. He makes a final call to his wife. The next morning, Teppei leaves a suicide note and shoots himself.

When the Manpyo family learns about Teppei's death, his mother is distraught. His father however, seems placid and cold. A man then comes in and asks the parents to sign Teppei's death certificate. Daisuke notices that they had made a mistake in the certificate, he states that they had Teppei's blood type wrong. The man informs them that the blood test
Blood test
A blood test is a laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a needle, or via fingerprick....

 was wrong. This revelation drives Teppei's mother into a fit. Daisuke is weakened. The man he thought to be a product of his father's horrible actions, was in fact, his own son. He is even more remorseful when he reads Teppei's suicide letter. Finally, Teppei is given the acceptance that he so long craved for.

Ratings

The series attracted good ratings. Over the course of its run, the series averaged 23.9% in the Kanto region (TBS) and 30.4% in the Kansai region (MBS).

Hawaii broadcast

Karei-naru Ichizoku aired on KIKU-TV in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

on September 23, 2007 to November 25, 2007 under the name The Grand Family. The broadcast included complete English subtitles.
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