3B no Koibito (2021)

Sad reactions only - Gather around guys another honest review is here!

When I heard the news that Dori would be the main lead in a drama I was excited! I was waiting for 3B no Koibito to come out. However, now that I am in the 7th episode I am a little disappointed. Go grab your popcorn, and bring a napkin cause I will spill the tea!!!

Quick summary: One romantic cliché happening after the other.

CHARACTERS

The only female lead is Kobayashi Haru (played by Baba Fumika), who is a heartbroken person as her ex-boyfriend did not tell her that he was married. She found out about his marriage when she was getting ready to marry him. After that incident she decided to stay away from men and have some "me" time. But karma is a bitch and she gets to stay at the same house with 3 handsome men, the so called 3B. Poor her!

The first B is Shintaro (Nakahara Hiroshi), a beautician with a colourful personality and a social butterfly who is not afraid to show physical intimacy with the people around him. His personality usually creates misunderstandings among him, multiple female customers, and Haru. The second B is Yuu (Kamiya Kenta), a band vocalist who is the badass and the cool of this gang. He is mysterious and always speaks his mind when he has something to say. The third B is Yoshi (Sakurada Dori), a bartender with a mature and sexy aura around him. By his looks and his personality everyone believes that he is a cold-hearted womanizer.

PLOT

As I said at the quick summary, this drama is just one romantic cliché after the other. It is a typical early-adults romantic story. I have to admit that from the plot and the dialogue I got the feeling that I was watching a drama from the late '00s. I assume that the main point of this drama was to rout for one of the boys with Haru and be jealous of her as he has three handsome men around her. Every episode is a new story that we get to see the boys going after Haru and it ends with all of them growing a little. That's it. That's the plot. We are trying to understand who is going to win Haru's heart and if she would be able again to trust a man and be in a relationship.

ACTING

Well I don't know how to say this and not sound like a huge asshole...

*coughs*

The acting is not good! There I said it!

Well to be honest, my biggest problem is with Baba. I find her acting pretty monotonous and expressionless. I feel that her character is pretty shallow and has no true value to the whole story. I might be harsh with what I just said, but I find her acting forced. Honestly, I haven't watched any of her other drama, so I can't say that I don't like her as an actress; I just don't like her here.

As for Hiroshi, Dori, and Kenta I think that they are in a better situation than Baba; but again, I feel that something is lacking at their acting in this drama. The positive thing about them is that they get a chance to express their feelings and show us multiple sides of themselves.


MY OPINION

I know that nobody cares about my opinion, but whatever! To be honest, the description was pretty descriptive so I do not know why I am so disappointed with what I am watching. I think that the writer could approach the same plot from different perspectives and write a dynamic female lead. But we don't have that here. Even though at first I really thought that she would stay true to herself and have some time to overcome her previous relationship, she immediately gets fascinated by the 3 men when she meets them.

I don't understand why there is not one powerful and dynamic female character in the romantic dramas. Is it that difficult? Am I asking too much? Maybe! But I would love to see a woman who loves herself more and can be without a boyfriend for some time. Moreover, I felt that the romance between Haru and the men is forced and I can't sympathise with any pair. I get it that Haru is beautiful but we aren't given any chance to understand why the men start to like her. We just see them flirting with her.

Even though I have so many issues with this drama and I don't really like it, I am still gonna finish it. Why you ask? I cannot drop any series that I start. My OCD sucks (insert Rhett's and Link's song)!

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The Actual 3Bs; Bland, Boring And Bothering ...

Based upon the eponymous manga, 3B No Koibito is a fairly typical romance drama about our “ mistreated” female lead Haruka Kobayashi ( Fumika Baba) and her encounters with the “ 3Bs” ( “ The Three Boys You Should Avoid”): bandman Amemiya Yuu ( Kamiya Kenta), beautician Shintaro ( Nakahara Hiroshi) and bartender Yoshi ( Sakurada Dori) when they begin to reside under one roof.

It is fair to say that 3B No Koibito had “ cliche” setup from the start-up with its “ reverse harem-setup”, the questionable and unfunny gag in the pet salon, and the natural progression of repetitive storyline as well, helped to lead to worsening characterisation, plot development and something even intrinsically “ likeable” about the male leads for a major proportion of the series, often resulting in their interactions with Haruka , feelings incredibly obligated for plot rather than a naturalistic development.

Upon this topic, it is probably important to address the portrayal of our female lead Haruka Kobayashi.Initially, Haruka’s most prominent feature as a female lead was speaking out against the egotistical behaviour at times of her male tenants as well as learning something new about them and herself in the process. Yet rather than allowing us to see Haruka’s further development by healthily overcoming her traumatic experiences, the show becomes too obligated upon Haruka making rash and impractical decisions in order to “ heighten the potential romance” between the trio of love interests. A lot of these decisions resulted in Haruka’s strong personality being degraded to often emotionless and staid rather than well-written, especially within evidently leading on the other male leads without any previous judgement or bond shown to indicate her actual feelings. Consequently, although Fumika Baba isn’t a bad actress, a mixture of lacklustre line deliverances and questionable stoicism at times often made her performance seems as appealing as watching paint dry.

Moving on to our “ 3B”s, one of the most prominent issues which was never tackled can be seen through never highlighting the prejudice and stereotypes held against men in “ less academic” spheres in Japan, as well as the problems of relationships in modern Japanese society. Although this was certainly not a driving factor for the storyline, it seemed odd to not subvert these cliches in order to “ personalise” our characters, rather than draw onto them as plot devices throughout the actual show .

The most prominent “ flaw” rising between all three of the male leads led Haruka to realising early on that they were “ debauchees” with new “ muses” or “ girlfriends” nearly every week. Although this undeniably offered a less “ sugarcoated” reality towards the “celibate and pure “ male lead often written into dramas to romanticise relationships , it nevertheless posed a greater problem within the characters’ double-standards when Haruka decides to start dating someone who ‘’ is not them’’. Of course this did feed into the drama’s storyline, however, it felt brushed over that whilst Haruka would criticise their actions but not dominate their relationships, the 3Bs would begin trying to control and manipulate her own love life because of their own ‘ incoherent feelings towards her for the sake of plot’.

As one of the 3Bs that first presents the problem of characterisation, cosmetologist Shintaro can often be seen to exemplify this problem. He initially appears as a ‘ kind-hearted’ male character who Haruka learns often leads on girls as his new ‘ model’, before either dumping them or allowing them to unhealthily fantasise over being with him. The series attempts to offer some explanation to Shintaro’s actions by viewers learning more about his past, but rather than this acting as a stepping stone to learning from his mistakes, Shintaro seems only to become worse by suddenly deciding he has ‘’ romantic feelings’’ for Haruka. Although Shintaro was less forceful upon Haruka than the other two male leads, it was still a little eye raising when his previous antics caused harm to Haruka as well as not contemplating or reflecting upon his actions, questioning exactly what he even liked about Haruka in the first place due to very similarities or differences between them made prominent for them to bond in the series( apart from only several episodes ).

Moving on to our second notable ‘ 3B’, Amemiya Yuu, there was the evident similar problem of Yuu having a ‘’ new girlfriend’’ at every gig, until a ‘’ tearjerker backstory’’ attempted to explain things in seconds flat, whilst his character initially returned to being often rude and egotistical for a major proportion of the series. Yuu’s behaviour to Haruka after developing a ‘’ crush’’ did seem a little more formulated than Shintaro’s due to actually pointing out some notable interactions between the characters, it nevertheless felt poorly-tackled that the show did not think to draw out actual reasons for Yuu’s feelings suddenly ‘’ occurring’’ rather than actual development.

Finally, our final ‘’ 3B’’ is bartender Yoshi. Seemingly suave, charismatic and reserved, Yoshi is quite manipulative within playing around with women and tries to come on several times uncomfortably on to Haruka to test her reactions. Although Yoshi is not an intrinsically ‘’ horrible’’ person through his later advice for Haruka, his actions towards expecting Haruka to showing up to suddenly try his new drinks , as well as taking heed in her love life, made him one of the hardest characters to romantically pair with Haruka.

The pacing of the show often felt incoherent with a fairly interesting start, which only seemed to worsen as storyline crashed into cliches and attempted romantic pairings with lacklustre effects for viewers’ actual attention. Consequently, the ending was a matter of opinion more than anything else, but certainly expected within the generic setup of the series.

Overall, 3B No Koibito is the epitome of the the type of show that you should watch if you’re looking to binge watch something without a second thought. However, poor characterisation, lacking interest for viewers within a coherent plot, dire pacing and a mediocre finale, will result in the show being a waste of time for those looking for something more refined and well-written.

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