草彅剛さん主演「先生知らないの？」の感想②：共演者の魅力 My impressions of a drama called ‘Sensei Shiranaino? (Don’t You Know, Teacher? )’ ②: The Attractiveness of co-stars - Turkeyriceの勝手に英訳ブログ　Turkeyrice's Blog Written in both Japanese and English

　古いドラマで、俳優の方々の当時の姿を観るのはとても興味深いものです。25年前のこの作品ですが、今でも活躍されている方が多数出演されています。主な共演者は、石田ゆり子さん、生瀬勝久さん、篠原ともえさん、ふかわりょうさん、小野武彦さん、そして菅原文太さんです。

When it comes to watching old dramas, it is so interesting to know what the actors were like at the time. This drama was aired 25 years ago, but some of the actor who appeared on it are still active even now. The co-stars are Yuriko Ishida, Katsuhisa Namase, Tomoe Shinohara, Ryou Fukawa, Takehiko Ono, and Bunta Sugawara.

　石田ゆり子さん演じる中村春菜は、草彅剛さん演じる主人公、木下勇作の同僚です。勇作の熱血教師ぶりとは対照的に、淡々と事務的に仕事をこなす春菜は、教師の仕事は結婚までの腰掛けと割りきっています。勇作に対し、はじめは批判的で冷たい態度の春菜ですが、子どもに対して真正面から向き合う勇作の姿に、自身の教師としての姿勢を見つめ直すようになるのでした。

　A character called Haruna Nakamura, played by Yuriko Ishida, is a colleague of Yusaku Kinoshita, the main character played by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi. In contrast to the enthusiasm of Yusaku as a teacher, Haruna does her job in a businesslike manner, and working as a teacher is just a makeshift job before marriage. Haruna is judgmental to Yusaku showing the cold shoulder to him at first, but she begins to think over her own attitude as a teacher while watching how sincerely Yusaku takes care of his students.

　当時の石田ゆり子さんも魅力的ですが、むしろ今の方が美しいと思うのは自分だけでしょうか。しかも、「逃げ恥」をはじめとして、大人の魅力というより、可愛いと思える役どころが最近では多いように思います。彼女がまださほど有名でない頃、長崎の地銀、十八銀行のイメージキャラクターだったことが懐かしく思い出されます。

　Maybe it’s just me but I have a feeling that Yuriko Ishida is now more beautiful than before, she surely was enough at the time though. On top of that, she plays rather cute characters than mature and sexy ones lately like the one in a drama called ‘Nigehaji’. In Nagasaki, people remember that she used to appear on a TV commercial for Eighteen Bank, a local bank in Nagasaki, before she became famous as an actor.

　生瀬勝久さんは、いつもアロハの一風変わった理科の教師役でした。エキセントリックな言動に可笑しみがあふれます。目の大きさだけで笑えます。

　Katsuhisa Namase played an eccentric science teacher who always wore an aloha shirt. His eccentric behavior was really funny. His bulged eyes were really hilarious.

　小野武彦さんは、事無かれ主義の、親父ギャグばかり飛ばしている教頭です。軽率で無責任だけど、意外に思いやりが深いという役どころは小野さんの真骨頂でしょう。「王様のレストラン」での給仕長役がたまらなく好きでした。

　Takehiko Ono played a vice principal who assumes a don’t-rock-the-boat attitude, and says dad jokes all the time. He is really good at playing a character who is always careless and irresponsible, but sometimes unexpectedly considerate. I remember he played a head waiter in a drama called ‘King’s Restaurant’ and the character was so lovable.

　菅原文太さん演じる校長先生は、まさに理想の上司です。余計なことは言わずに子どもたちを見守り、よく理解し、部下を信頼していざとなったら責任をとろうとする。そんな役どころが、表情と佇まいだけで伝わってくるのに、菅原文太という俳優の凄みを思い知らされました。

　Bunta Sugawara’s roll in this drama was a principal, and the character was an exactly ideal boss. The principal is taciturn and always watch over the growth of children trying to understand them, and he trusts his teachers taking all the responsibilities for them. I could tell only from his expressions and behaviors what the character is like, and I was impressed by his great skills as an actor.

　こうしてキャラクターを並べてみると、このドラマが本当にベタな教師ドラマであることがわかります。その手のドラマとして、特に小学校を舞台にしたものとしては、最後のものといっていいのかもしれません。なんだか、水谷豊さんの「熱中時代」を猛烈に観たくなっています。

　Now that I went through the characters in this drama, I realize this drama is a good old, typical teacher drama. This might be the last one among that kind of dramas, particularly the ones set in elementary school. Somehow I feel like watching another drama called ‘Nettyu Jidai’ starring Yutaka Mizutani pretty badly.

　ちなみにこのドラマのオープニングは、なぜかSMAP ではなく山下達郎さんです。

　By the way, the opening theme song is by Tatsuro Yamashita, not by SMAP for some reason.