Itazura na Kiss (1996)

1-The reason i watched this : i watched it because it's the adaptation of one of my favorite stories "Itazura na kiss", i'm a huge fan and i watched this drama right after finishing the anime, it was the first drama adaptation that i've watched before "Playfull kiss" and "It started with a kiss".

2-Storyline/plot : They even changed the original manga story and didn't follow it plus it was short that i couldn't get the time to fully focus on it.

3-Acting/Cast : the female lead was totally an unforgivable choice, she ruined Kotoko's image in my mind for a while, she's so annoying that i end up not feeling sorry for her when Naoki treats her bad. The rest of the cast wasn't bad and i believe that the lead male was good.

4-Music : Fair enough

5-Rewatch value : people who liked it will rewatch others won't: it's as simple as that.

6-The ending : It was kind of rushed; it happened so quickly but it's not a bad ending.

7-Overall: I was kind of disappointed in this drama adaptation, it doesn't suit the huge size of Itazura na kiss. I believe that out of the 3 other dramas adaptations the japanese version was the worst yet seing Itazura na kiss's story all over again totally worth watching so no regrets.

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I love this adaption so much! I've watched it twice and I've never watched a drama twice before. Albeit, it's a shorter one so it doesn't take much time to re-watch.

Most of the complaints it gets is about Sato's Kotoko being too loud, over the top, and "annoying", but that's what Kotoko is all about. Whether it be this adaption or another, you're probably not gonna like this story if you don't like the Kotoko character because Kotoko's the complete point of Itazura Na Kiss! She's famous for being a unique protagonist and no way would this manga/drama be so well known and beloved if she was as terrible as people like to believe. I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't love her.

Since this drama was filmed in the mid-90s, it's very charming and kinda simple, straight to the point. It's not ridiculously flashy and drawn out, with a big budget, which makes it one of my favorite comfort dramas. Compared to the other adaptions, the family/business issues are extremely cut down which I like because I always find family drama plots tiresome.

Kassy's Naoki is sooo subtle, you have to watch his facial expressions closely or you'll miss some of the best parts of the drama and the moments where he's obviously falling for Kotoko.

I really love the soundtrack. The romantic instrumentals in 90s fashion, contrast perfectly with the amazingly upbeat "Steady" by SPEED.

Overall, the humor LARGELY depends on exaggerating characters and circumstances. If you're looking for something realistic, simply don't watch it! If you can't handle shouting, quick scene cuts, camera zooms, or basic classic comedy, don't watch it. It's not suppose to be taken too seriously.

The only downside is it never got a season 2. The character development was so great, but we don't get to see that development pursued because of the quick ending.

Regardless if people like this version or not, it will always be special for being the first live adaption of Itazura Na Kiss and the only live adaption that INK's creator Kaoru Tada got to see before she died. I don't know if she advised during the production, but I'm sure if she hadn't liked how Kotoko was portrayed, she would've said something.

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