First Love: Hatsukoi (2022)

full of cliches (in a good way)

" Every moment is a unique piece of the jigsaw puzzle of our lives, but what if we end up losing an important piece of it "

I started this out of 'blue' during my holidays just for the pretty cinematography but god, I'm so thankful I did. The drama follows the lives of adult Yae Noguchi and Harumichi Namiki, the main subjects of the first love story, in parallel with their younger selves, and depicts how certain circumstances in their lives lead them to who they are now. Along with their heart-wrenching love story, other elements (for the lack of better words) such as family warmth, friendship and nostalgia are crafted beautifully in this series.

Inspired by Hikaru Utada's First Love, the use of music has a great impact on the overall storytelling. It makes the series more special than what it could have been without it. Editing overall is well done, the switch from older to current times is done naturally and each moment of it doesn't feel draggy or rushed at all. As for the acting, I really enjoyed Hikari's portrayal of Yae, you definitely see a glimpse of her younger self even when she was *SPOILER* ( please watch the show to figure it out). Satoh Takeru's also pretty charismatic and was able to deliver his role smoothly. The younger ones, Rikako and Taisei definitely deserve a praise! They truly capture the innocence of first love with their amazing chemistry. The supporting actors also did a pretty great job.

Last but not least, I saw some comments online that they're turned off by cliches (well everyone is free to have their opinions), but i disagree. They are implemented so well compared to other romance dramas actually. They somehow still manage *shake* your heart, even when you kind of already guess what is likely gonna happen, for me that's a good use of cliche. And come on! what are romance dramas if without cliches here and there!

Overall, a good show for those who want to dive start trying j-dramas, or those who just want to watch romance dramas just to feel something.

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a beautiful story grounded in beautiful music

When I heard that this show was based on my two favourite songs by Hikaru Utada I was worried. I thought it would be an extended music video with no substance of its own (as I had seen done previously). However, once I started I couldn't stop. My favourite part was the end, I was moved by the innocence and beauty of both sides of the story. This story is not perfect by any means but honestly, its flaws round off a beautiful love story that crosses generations. Overall, I may have been a little biased against it but I should have trusted that a story based on music so beautiful would be able to stand on its own. I loved it and definitely will rewatch!

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A tender, moving series, full of sensitivity

That's really a tender, moving series, full of sensitivity,... as Japanese filmmakers know how to do.

Plot: reunion 18-20 years later, of 2 high school lovers, aviation fans, separated by the FL's amnesia, following a car accident. She is now divorced, taxi driver, with a music-loving teenage child. He is works in the security team of a building and is in a relationship with his ex-therapist.

ACTING just phenomenal! Mitsushima Hikari and Satoh Takeru get in live their characters, with accuracy, subtlety, intelligence. It's all in their eyes...
The other actors are also excellent, but the OTPs are so intense that everything else only serves to explain their story.

TECHNICAL Perfect.
The images are beautiful, the plans well studied. The pace is sustained. The story is well written even if the many flashbacks sometimes make the storyline a little confusing.
The music is awesome.

Conclusion: a little gem that I will definitely watch again (and not just for Satoh Takeru :)
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Une série tendre, émouvante, pleine de sensibilité,... comme les cinéastes japonais savent le faire.

Plot : retrouvailles 18-20 ans plus tard, les 2 amoureux de lycée, fans d'aviation, séparés par l'amnésie de la FL suite à un accident. Elle est maintenant divorcée, taxi, avec un enfant ado fan de musique. Il fait partie de l'équipe de sécurité d'un building et en couple avec son ex-psy.

ACTING juste phénoménal ! Mitsushima Hikari et Satoh Takeru incarnent / vivent leurs personnages, avec justesse, subtilité, intelligence. Tout passe dans leurs regards...
Les autres acteurs sont aussi excellents, mais les OTP sont si intenses que tout le reste ne sert qu'à expliquer leur histoire.

TECHNIQUE Parfait.
Les images sont belles, les plans bien étudiés. Le rythme est soutenu. L'histoire est bien écrite même si les nombreux flashbacks rendent parfois la storyline un peu confuse.
La musique est géniale.

Conclusion : un petit bijou que je regarderai certainement à nouveau (et pas seulement pour Satoh Takeru :)

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Second chance first love

There have been so many second chance first love stories and this is no different. To be honest, I was drawn in by the Utada Hikaru song First Love which I listened to extensively in the 90s and it has a special place in my heart.

This drama definitely looks like it was stuck in the 90s - young girl and young boy meet, fall in love. Tragic circumstances cause them to be apart. They meet up again 20 years later. Typical plot from 1990s Korean drama.

The only part that this show does well yet also poorly is giving equal screen time to the 90s set of actors and story, and the-now set of actors and plot. It starts off a bit jarring where they can suddenly move from the 90s to now and back again without any transition. It helps a totally different set of actors are used rather than attempting to age or de-age actors or using different colors or dressing/makeup as as some other dramas have done. Once you get used to the lack of transitions and know which era's story is unfolding, it makes for interesting and light viewing. Things develop at a good pace because you're essentially watching two different stories unfold.

I like the drama because it's easy to watch and moves fast - thank goodness for only 9 episodes! I also like the themes - lost youth and unfulfilled dreams but now they have the chance to right the past but will they? The theme is also relived through their next generation (secondary leads) who are at important junctures in their lives - will they take the same missteps?

Watch out for the mid credit and end credit scenes in the last episode! Don't miss them!

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If its fated, then they will be back in each other's arms again.

"That day, you gave me a reason to live, and taught me the path I need to follow. My dream is to make you happy" - Harumichi to Yae (March 11, 2001)


What a poignant, full of reminiscing, full of firsts, pure, bittersweet and sweet first love. The song "First Love" by Utada Hikaru has been a part of my younger days, even now I age, it still gives me that haunting, sweet and will make me cry for a moment feel.

The casts gave a stellar performance, with Takeru Satoh as a given fact and as a huge fan, I enjoyed watching him wearing uniforms. It really suits him. Anyway, back to the casts, they were wonderful, especially the younger version of Harumichi and Yae. They showed how it is to be young and to be in love, how to tackle issues in life and how to deal with it.

Story may sound cliché, as well there's a lot of holes in it, but still, it was done properly. Cinematography is great, the OST is super nice: with Utada Hikaru's and the songs that Tsuzuru wrote were also great.

I also love, how they come in pairs, I mean whenever a couple or Yae and Tsuzuru appears on screen, they wore clothes/dress of the same color, especially the color blue, which is nice to look at.

I felt a lot of emotions while watching the entire 9 episodes, but it was totally worth it. I hope Takeru Satoh and Hikari Mitsushima work again.

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Fateful love is the best love

a very beautiful story brought to life by amazing actors.

I rarely watch japanese dramas but watched this within 2 days.
The story felt so real and I was on the edge of my seat so many times.

Their story was very convincing eventho it was melodramatic. Some people’s lives are like that. So painful yet they get to experience true love.

There were 3 things why I didn’t rate it a 10/10 but other than that it was very beautiful, emotional and I‘d say a sad romance with a redeeming ending. But you can’t make up for lost time and that made me cry.

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A vivid portrayal of the flow and interwovenness of Time and the interdependence of fate and effort

The story was amazing, plot lines connected so well, very nice pacing, really sweet/wholesome scenes sprinkled in, and some pleasant comedic relief to top it off. And I liked every character in the story, as throughout the story you begin to slowly understand how we got to this place and what their motivations/backgrounds are.

I will 100% NEED to rewatch this sometime later. This is my 3rd J-Drama and my favorite one so far. I had tears fill my eyes during two or three scenes and that usually doesn't happen. The OST was also really good and fit the scenes well, adding to the emotional impact of them. I'm seriously blown away by how good this was. It pulled at the heartstrings so much (in a good way). This was also a drama very grounded in reality: the retrograde amnesia symptoms were accurately portrayed and there were accurate, down-to-Earth portrayals of real-life events (i.e. the pandemic, etc.), so it was something I could kind of relate to as well and/or look up the events to learn what they are.

Overall, if you enjoy stories that have beautiful use of literary/directorial elements (such as foreshadowing, imagery, cinematography), have a realistic setting, and a really sweet romance story with great acting and chemistry, then I highly recommend this drama.

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BEST Japanese romance drama

There were few hiccups so it isn’t 5 stars but this drama is the BEST Japanese romance I’ve watched. You need box of tissues, so be prepared!

*mature love story
*well written screenplay, but time to time some hiccups but easy to understand
*focused on one main CP story so easy to follow their emotions and feelings
*OST are wonderful
*entire actings were well done
*sceneries are beautiful
*length is perfect, 9 episodes

After I’ve been watching too many twisted dramas with betrayal, lies, bullies and sadness, this drama was refreshing to watch.

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Young love captured beautifully. Would have benefitted from more editing to the script.

The part of the drama that really stole my heart was the past storyline. The young ML and FL acted so naturally, and it never felt cheesy. ML actor captured the essence of his deeply kind, free-spirited, loyal character so perfectly. I cannot overemphasize how wonderful his acting was. Usually, I hate it whenever a character’s main trait is their love, but in this case, it makes sense to me. ML is such a loving character it made sense to me his life’s purpose would just to live happily with his family and the love of his life. Likewise, the FL complemented him so well. She’s a more traditional student, over prepared but has a silly streak that makes their relationship make so much sense. My heart was racing during all their scenes, and I keep on rewatching them.

The adult actors did a splendid job, but unfortunately, their storyline I felt was a little messy. I felt every scene and plot point from their youth had a purpose. However, as adults, I felt the plot points dragged on, and I didn’t feel that all of the conflicts were necessary. This stole time that I think could have gone towards their time together, or spending some more time developing the romance from their youth, which I felt we did not get to see the full depth of. I liked that through their life choices, I could feel how their was a missing part of their lives without each other. It emphasized how complete they were together during their youth, even though they were still growing. They are both romantic about life and dreamers at their core so their relationship really brought out the best in the both of them. However, I'm not a huge fan of how everything bad under the sun happened to the female lead until she met our male lead again.

In summary, the actors and the story of their youth really captured my heart. Such a sweet, heart-fluttering watch.

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Fate might be exist, after all

Why I like the drama?

- The cinematography, music, and acting are amazing!! It really drove me to feel the moods, especially Utada's voice! She never fails to deliver emotions. I cried a lot on the last two episodes.
- It's really realistic, especially with historical events that they put into the story. It creates a connection between the drama and its audience. Another thing about this aspect is that we can actually meet a lot of Harumichis in our daily life-- a man who couldn't move on from his past. I've seen people who got hurt because this kind of man and the story somehow made me able to emphasize with him (I still don't like him though, but let me explain in the dislike part).
- The young actors' chemistries are insane! I fell in love with their parts over and over again.
- The dialogues are pretty like poetry and uplifting. I get lot of moral lessons from this :)
When you're young, you imagine your future will be beautiful, that you'll make a difference. But, as time goes on, you realize your life is shitty. In fact, to be able to pay rents is a pretty amazing achievement. But, no worries, dear friends. Time will tell as long as you never give up on your dreams.

Why I dislike the drama?

- Yae's mother. How dare she hide the truth from her daughter? Because of her bad judgement, Yae and Harumichi's lives turned upside down. She said she didn't want Yae's life to be like her, but she actually threw her daughter under the bus. AND I hate her so much when Yae told her she's gonna get divorced, she didn't ever the whole story, but immediately said: "Can you just go apologize?" What the hell, Ma'am?
- Cliché trope: amnesia.
I have no idea that they would do this trope, I wanted to punch a wall because of this.
- Cheating!!! NEVER GO INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH A MAN WITH UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Harumichi... I know you're happy to be able to meet Yae, but please, don't cheat on your girlfriend. You made her wait long enough, and when she pushed to the next stage, you told her she's not the one for you. Goddamnit. You just wasted her precious times X__X

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