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| Image courtesy of http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/katyu09_3302/15716020.html |
One of my all-time favorite dramas of the 80s was the Daiei and TBS TV's inspiring, sentimental and extremely melodramatic drama series 『スチュワーデス物語』/"Stewardess Monogatari" (1983) which starred J-Pop idol and Daiei regular 堀ちえみ/Hori Chiemi. Chiemi who portrayed Matsumoto Chiaki, a petite, clumsy and somewhat naive girl from an abusive home, who had dreams of becoming a JAL (Japan Airlines) Stewardess. Following her ambitions, she bravely enters the elite JAL Training Academy where she endures all sorts of hardships, trials and tribulations during her training program. While she suffers through various humiliations and setbacks, she achieves her goal and becomes a JAL stewardess thanks in part to her spunky determination. She even finds time to fall in love with her handsome and dashing training instructor Murasawa Hiroshi (風間杜夫/Kazama Morio), a former JAL Purser with an equally tragic and troubled past. While sometimes over-the-top, sappy and a bit contrived, it was a superb teen soap-opera style drama with heart.
There have been other subsequent other airport-themed dramas and films since then including Fuji TV's 2006 comedy 『アテンションプリーズ』/"Attention Please" (a remake of a 1970's TV drama) with 上戸彩/Ueto Aya; Fuji TV's 2012 drama/thriller『TOKYOエアポート』/"Tokyo Airport" with 深田恭子/Fukuda Kyoko and the hilarious 2008 film 『ハッピーフライト』/"Happy Flight" with 綾瀬 はるか/Ayase Haruka, yet none have really come close to matching the spirit and feel-good nature of "Stewardess Monogatari", that is until this 2013 Fuji TV drama series came along. While maintaining "Stewardess Monogatari's", "cinderella" like feel,『ミス・パイロット』/"Miss Pilot" successfully updates the story for today's generation and also redefines the role of female airline employees in Japan, while giving audiences a detailed look into how a major modern airline conducts it's daily operations and explores the rigorous training that is involved by airline pilots.
