cream of the crop

if i remember correctly... i watched mei's butler before i created this blog, meaning i haven't written a blog post for it yet!!!

well, why not write it now~? (lots of spoilers ahead!!! and this post is very long!!! i really love this show.)

mei's butler was originally a shoujo manga series that started in 2006. i'm mainly referring to the drama that aired in 2009, starring mizushima hiro, eikura nana, and satoh takeru~ (one of my fave actors, eep! he's so cute). 

it follows the story of shinonome mei (played by eikura) who finds out she's the heir to an extremely wealthy company following the untimely death of her parents. in an agreement with her estranged grandfather, she goes to a super-fancy school for heirs and aims to become the lucia so she can bury her parents properly (which is a real trash move from the grandfather. what the actual heck). and, as the title would suggest, she has a butler to help protect and guide her along the way to becoming the lucia (the best student, in a way).

at first, things go BAD. she gets put into the lowest rungs of the dorms, separated from literally everyone else. everyone denigrates her because of her financial status, and she intends to give up. but then, her best friend kento shows up.

as it turns out, kento is the younger brother of her butler, rihito. he decided to become a butler so he could stay by mei's side. so she decides to stay at the school longer, and find her footing.

throughout the series, she faces challenges from and with her classmates. whether wanting to kick her out, take rihito for themselves (the best butler in the whole world, apparently, but still um???), or facing stresses of their own that others can't understand, mei solves them all head-on. despite being treated poorly in the beginning, she still aims to share her advice and help when she can. 

and because of that, through the series, all of her classmates become better people and befriend her. towards the end of the series, when she wants to leave, they all try to get her to cheer up and stay. they give her gifts, check in on her back at home. those were my favorite parts of the series, watching everyone evolve and improve.

the reason why she wanted to leave at the end, though? she really was doing well... but as it turns out, the lucia of the school is an adopted heir of the same company mei might inherit if she became the lucia. she wants to hold onto her potential inheritance, and she wants rihito to be her butler. i don't quite remember the reasons why, though. if i remember correctly, her health was poor and she wasn't sure what she would do if she lost the inheritance. and she was in love with rihito, as he was her butler previously. admittedly i don't remember much about this arc despite it being so important; i sped through the second half of the series because i enjoyed it so much, but ended up not remembering too much about it except for the broad overviews.

these wants of the lucia sort of come to a head when mei and rihito are almost gravely hurt in an attempt on their lives. another classmate of mei's acts as her... underling? in a way? and sets fire to an abandoned storehouse mei was called to for a "meeting." (but of course, the meeting was a lie.) and mei, feeling guilty for causing so much pain, decides to return to her hometown so rihito can be safe, and the lucia can be happy. (as mentioned above, everyone tries to get her to stay, but she refuses.)

kento goes with her, too, and tries to comfort her. but she isn't the same anymore, not after growing so much as a person at the academy.

kento and rihito fight, as kento finds that rihito is the source of all her pain. mei tries to stop them, but everyone stops her from breaking them up, because it was a show of their love??????? and whoever won had stronger love?????? idk, i'd start calling for guards. y'all do not have to do this x(

kento ends up losing <//////3 and then mei ends up staying at the school? i don't remember what exactly transpired to make her stay, but she did. and kento stays too, anyway. 

the lucia is upset that rihito is no longer hers, so she challenges mei to a duel. 

a duel is a bit different, here. it's a duel between their butlers. it happened earlier in the series between mei and one of her classmates, and it's over something one of the parties wants. in both cases, it was rihito. foreshadowing?

rihito wins the duel, meaning the lucia is defeated. i think word of her actions (with rihito and mei almost losing their lives, yk) got out to the grandfather somehow, and she ended up being taken out of the school. so then mei became the lucia, and she got to bury her parents properly, and the story ends.

overall, i really enjoyed this show. i think about rewatching it all the time, but it was scrubbed from the internet, and i can't find dvd copies... even the youtube channel of the streaming service that uploaded clips for it had it all taken down!!! what the squid!!!

as mentioned before, the character development and plot were my favorite things. and the set was so beautiful!!! the slow songs for ost were really lovely as well. it was also rather funny along the way. light-hearted, sweet, and yet showed so much depth in the compassion mei shared with everyone and how they all became better people who fought for each other.

but honestly? i wasn't into the romance. there's a love triangle, and-- as you might have guessed from my reactions-- the second lead syndrome is STRONG. like??? you're gonna make me choose between the butler who didn't know how he felt for me until the very last second (and i've only known for a number of months), and my best childhood friend who followed me to the school and back to make sure i would be okay? you have to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

like, i get that rihito is the main one supporting her through it because kento has his own butler things to attend to, but that's just... i don't know. like, you barely know anything about this guy aside from how much he likes being your butler!!!!! how old is he??????? i don't. ugh.

i remember seeing a livejournal post somewhere, dreaming about akanishi as rihito and kamenashi as kento, and i was immediately like YES????? i don't think it would necessarily suit them, but i would SO want to see that. well, i wish i could see them in another drama together, period... yabuki n odagiri... blorbos..........

though, part of me also thinks jaejoong would work really well as rihito too, eep! (esp from the bolero mv... i swear that song would fit so well in the show itself, too (it was the inspo behind my butler jaejoong layout EEP).) but who would be kento... junsu? i think he'd be adorbs in that role. or perhaps someone from another group. OMG WAIT MAYBE CHOI MINHOOOOOO-- i know he usually has a mature and dependable character in his dramas, but i think a rowdy and awkward character could suit his appearance back then.

this is random, but would you guys ever consider having matching layouts? like a little group of matching layouts. maybe color-coded or pattern-coded. i dunno. our layout styles are super different, so i dunno how people would really be able to catch onto that.

sotd: stella in tears from mei's butler drama ost