This review may contain spoilers
This is a very light drama, not the dramatic one I had expected. It was very easy to watch, and thankfully, many problems were fixed almost in the same episode, so there was no dragging.
**Possible spoilers**
There may be a bit of bullying from the posh mothers' side, but it wasn't too much, just childish stuff like notes telling Kiko to go away. Nothing over-dramatic, and nothing that Kiko couldn't handle. In spite of being a single mother, she had at least her grandpa, plus her coworker. And later on, her ex. So this if far from similar to "Woman".
I liked Kimura Fumino as Kiko, she was strong and didn't overact. Never seemed pitiful, but resourceful. I think I liked Dan Rei as much (or much more) as Kimura Fumino. This actress was very lady-like, very soft-spoken. It is not hard to imagine her and her real-life husband together, they are very similar in that aspect.
The children were super cute, specially Haruto and Rika, but I can't say they were good. They overacted some times, specially Rika's crying. But I got to admit that I was tearful when Haruto made his speech of not being pitiful, with a huge smile. It was very tender.
I can't say that Kiko was perfect since her biggest flaw was her reluctance to let Haruto be with his father. But nevertheless, she was portrayed as The Heroine to the maximum, changing the life of these 4 women, who looked like they were going to Mean Mothers but turned out every one of them had a problem at home (hikkimori son, cheater husband, penniless, dictator mother-in-law). I dislike when in dramas the MC is preachy, always giving a 10-minute speech and everybody listening to her/him. This happens a lot in Mother Game. Yeah, ok Kiko-san, we get. You are perfect **eye-rolling**
Taking aside all the preach, it was engaging and somewhat relaxing. The male characters were either jerks or useless. The female were strong and never behave in a childish way (ok, except for the bullying). I mean, there were times where it would seem like the character would yell in despair, like when Satoko-san confronted her mother-in-law, but it was all very civilized.
Some of the conclusion of the stories were "and then?". So the evil mother-in-law only needed to be confronted ONCE to behave? Hmph (her son was so useless, what an a**-hole husband). And what about the Odadera's fate? The sensei (Seto Koji) was so MEH. Was he really in love with Kiko-san? What a way to show it, by being so reluctant to have working mothers in that school! I am glad of her answer.
A few complains maybe, but overall, it was easy and enjoyable to binge-watch it.
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