A reflective, authentic watch. *No Spoilers*
This drama deserves a much higher rating in my opinion.What I found most enjoyable about this whole show is how mature, high quality the characters are. Even the supporting cast is excellent in a natural way. All the characters handle conflict in a natural, mostly mature way, true to real life instead of the clichéd sort of characters who are naive, childish, unruly, whiny, manipulative in an over-exaggerated manner and ultimately boring to watch. Instead this cast of characters are brilliant thinkers and dreamers with some flaws. This isn’t a boring watch where everything is perfect and nothing happens in the plot, rather, the characters authentically handle conflict, true to their character, which makes the conflict more interesting.
How well written the characters are really left an impression on me. Props to the writer.
The actors embody their characters precisely. Although in real life, the male love interests greatly differ in age compared to the female lead, that is not the focus of this drama. Rather the tone of this show is to get back on your feet after shortcomings. This drama focuses on how we influence those around us and how we are inspired by them as well, when working towards a common goal.
The directing, camera angles and pacing of the show help the viewer to truly experience the development of the characters and their lives, resulting in some beautiful shots that evoke emotions—not overdone but not insignificant.
This drama has raised my expectations of what makes a quality Japanese drama and it is hard to top.
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The most Korean-like JDrama that I have ever watched
To be honest, after reading the description of this drama, I was not that interested, but I decided to watch it for two reasons. Firstly, because I really like Nakamura Tomoya, and secondly, because I have a lot of free time (I need to get a life!). In the end, I was happy that I watched it. Now, let me explain what I mean.
PLOT
The first thing, that I found fascinating, was the plot. I felt that this series did not follow the standard Japanese-plot norm. That is why I thought that they were mainly influenced by kdramas. Honestly, this is the only Asian drama in which I liked all of the characters. I found both the lead and the secondary roles to be interested and I wanted to know more about them.
To be more specific, we have a handsome and rich person (Asaba Takumi), who does not enjoy eating sweets, that gets to meet under a weird coincidence a loud and pretty female (Inoue Kiki), who loves to eat sweet things. Asaba is the CEO of the company that Inoue works in one of the company's convenience stores, and they meet by accident before knowing who the other person is. Due to some strange set of circumstances, Inoue leaves the convenience store and is being placed at the Production department of the company, in order to create new sweet recipes. We experience their everyday lives and the difficulties of creating low-cost and tasteful convenience store sweets.
CHARACTERS
Asaba is a cold-hearted person (at first glance), that seems indifferent of what other people think about him and is goal-oriented. However, in reality he is a sensitive person that always takes into account how the people around him feel, and he is a warm person with strong ethical personality. He works hard and faces every obstacle that comes in his way. On the other hand, Kiki is a young female that had experienced failure in her life before. She is afraid when other people have high expectations of her, as she believes that she will fail once again. Asaba was the first person that not only believed in Kiki but he also needed her honesty and creativity. As she was feeling needed and appreciated, feelings started to develop towards Asaba.
Two key supporting characters are Makoto and Riho. Makoto is a childhood friend of Asaba, and works as a vendor at the company. His personality is bright and joyful. He seems a bit childish, but the truth is that he is a mature person with kind feelings. While, Riho, a kind-hearted woman, is working at the Production department of the company, and is the ex-girlfriend of Asaba. In the series there are 3 more characters that is mainly used for comic relief, but I loved them. I personally call them “The Three Stooges”, as I found them funny and I liked it when they had screen time. The Three Stooges, are consisted of the Manager, a Chinese girl, and an early adult man. What I really liked about them was the chemistry that they had.
ACTING
Let me start with the main leads. As I have said before, Nakamura was the reason why I decided to watch this series. I am a fan of his acting and the roles that he usually portraits. I enjoy it when he gets to play a tsundere role, and that is why, I loved his acting in this drama. He was able to execute the role of the capable and innovative CEO, greatly. Moreover, he was able to present the mixed emotions he was feeling, and the consequences of his action, in an amazing way. What I am going to say next, has nothing to do with his acting, but when he wore glasses and the turtleneck, I found him really sexy. Also, I love it when he is laughing and smiling.
As for Mori Nana, it was the first that I watched with her as the main lead, and I was surprised by her acting. Taking into account her young age, I believe that in a few years she would be the talk of the town. She has a bright future! She was able to make me feel her sadness and sorrow when she was feeling down; but I was also feeling excited and motivated when she was excited and motivated. This might be just my personal opinion, but she reminded me of Inoue Mao, the female actor who had the main lead in Hana Yori Dango. If she invests more on her acting, she would become one of the best Japanese actors.
In addition to the strong main leads, the two supporting actors had nothing to be jealous of! Nakano Taiga, was able to execute the role of the person who is in love with someone that does not like them. Moreover, every time that he showed his caring side to his friends and the person that he loved, I wanted to meet him in person and be friends with him. I get the feeling that he is who would take care of the people close to him and would never betray them. As for Ishibashi Shizuka, I thought of her as an amazing actress. At first, thanks to my previous drama experiences, I thought that her character would be a pain in the ass and she would create problems; however, she was actually a strong-willed individual who knew how to behave when she won or lost. Ishibashi, was able to perform her role in an elegant way.
WHAT BOTHERED ME
I will rephrase something that CINEMASINS say: “no drama is without a sin”. There is no perfect drama for me. I would always find something that bothers me. For instance, in kdramas what usually bothers me is the difference in the social classes that the main couple have. One has to be poor while the other is rich.
In jdramas, what usually bothers me is the fact that the main couple does not have much familiarity with each other. They do not help me, sympathise with the couple and understand their feelings for each other. That is what happened in this drama. Even though, I enjoyed their acting, I have to admit that I did not think of Kiki and Asaba as two people in love. I thought of them more like friends and colleagues, rather than people who have feelings for each other.
The next thing that bothered me was the unexplained use of time skips. I do realise that I am watching a series and that I don’t have to think a lot about this; but please do make it believable. For example, processes that would usually take many days or even weeks to be approved, were implemented the following hours. THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS. As an individual who has studied management, I could tell you that the steps from forming an idea and actually implementing that idea, is a long path! But, in the series they made it seem like they could do whatever they wanted, when they wanted.
Another thing that bothered me (THIS IS A HUGE SPOILER), was how Asaba made a move on Kiki, while she was in a relationship with his best friend! OHANA MEANS FAMILY! You can’t do that to your best friend, to someone who was always there for you, someone who has your back all the time, someone who is ready to fight for you. That’s just wrong! I do not care how much you love the other person; friends are irreplaceable!
The last thing that bothered me was the elevator. There were a few scenes, that I assume where shot, in an outside glass lift. I was rather bothered, and a little worried, with how fast that elevator was. I do not know if this is a standard speed for the lift in Japan, but I was sincerely worried about the people in them.
P.S. I want a series that focuses on “The Three Stooges”. I BEG YOU!
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Favorite Drama of 2020: heroine gets scouted by CEO, falls in love
If you are into romance (with AMAZING CHEMISTRY), good-looking female and male lead, comedy, dessert-tasting, and also heartache ?, then I suggest you stop reading soon and WATCH THIS DRAMA.However if YOU ARE NOT into the older man/younger woman trope, then keep reading this, and make up your mind at the end..
Summary: The drama is about a 21 year old girl, named Kiki Inoue, who failed debuting as an idol with her group, and was sort of pushed out by a forced graduation.
❤️ Kiki is played by 19 year old Nana Mori (2001), she is an up-and-coming actress we must all watch carefully. ❤️
"You couldn't have asked for a better actress to play the role of Kiki" - Nakamura-san (male lead) commented in an interview.
After failing in achieving her dream to become an idol, she falls into a slump. She gets hired to work at a convenience store (also better known as konbini) where she spends the rest of her days working half-heartedly and eating the desserts the store has out for sale. During this time she earns a name for herself as convenience-store-dessert-tasting-critic. Each time she eats a dessert, she is able to accurately review each one and make a Instagram LIVE about it.
Although she doesn't have so many fans as a critic, her reviews catch the eye of the CEO of the same convenience store chain she is a part of. ➡Here comes the male lead, President Takumi Asaba, she calls him "shacho" (boss/president).
❤️ Takumi Asaba is played by Tomoya Nakamura (1986), an actor who has been around for VERY long time, but only until recently has he gotten popular through his last few dramas. ❤️
From what I gathered, the Asaba-shacho was hired to work at a company to help get the chain out of the danger zone, he is sort of a like a restructuring acting CEO. His job is to make sure the company brings in a profit while avoiding to get rid of specific things and departments.
Shacho realizes that the Sweet Department as his company is barely keeping up with most convenience chains when it comes to their Sweets section at their stores, so he decides to reform the Sweets Department at his company, and finds Kiki's reviews on instagram by accident.
The story is done at a great pace and never lags, not once.
Each episode will leave you with a cliffhanger, aching to watch more.
The acting in this drama is superb. Great character development for both the main leads and the second leads.
The soundtrack is very uplifting; the main theme song, "Silent" by Sekai no Owari has a nostalgic Christmas feeling to it.
⚠️⚠️SPOILER STARTS ABOUT HERE⚠️⚠️
He ends up hiring Kiki at the company's headquarters to help move the Sweets Department in the right direction, because her energy alone helps move people and bring them together.
While he hires her at his company, she begins to see a different side to him, different from the one when she first met him.
‼️Here's another thing, Kiki is 21 years old, and the President is in his early 30s‼️ So their age gap of at least 11 years makes him oblivious to her seeing him in any possible romantic way. To him, she's this little girl who he brought into the company. Now in real life, the female lead is 19, and the male lead is 34. Compared to their characters there isn't much of a difference in age, but their age gap comes out to 15 years. (So if you're not into Older Men/Younger Woman trope then, this might not be for you). But honestly their chemistry is beyond electrifying. I've seen many dramas with this trope, and this one is probably the first that hits it straight home.
Anyways, Kiki falls for him. Like really falls for him. ? Here comes the heartache, his ex-girlfriend works at this company, in the sweets department. Now she's really nice, but like Asaba-Shacho, she doesn't think of Kiki as a women, rather a little girl who he brought in because she's got good taste buds and loves eating sweets. The ex and him try to restart their relationship, which inexplicably hurts Kiki emotionally, because she knows no matter what he will never look at her the same way that he views a women near his age, who has style, intellect, and manners. So Kiki tries to avoid thinking of him all the time. As for her ignoring her feelings, well I think I can speak for most of when I say, you can't just throw away your feelings. All you can do is wait for them to die down until you stop seeing that person in a different way.
So Kiki ends up working full-time at headquarters helping Asaba-shacho's childhood friend, Mako-chan, design new sweets. There's a lot of baking involved in this show, and massive amounts of sweets being eaten. Mako-chan is the second male lead btw. (Second Lead Syndrome for me was real for about four episodes, until Mako-chan knowing very well about Kiki's feelings starts saying and hinting some things.
Like its bad enough that Kiki is in love with Asaba, but she also screenshots a photo of the two of them standing next to each other from a press conference, and keeps looking at it whenever she's happy or sad. And Mako-chan still says such things when he knows she's also in pain just watching Asaba and his once-again-girlfriend exchange glances with each other. That's what I can't forgive, you know. LIKE I SAID, there's a lot of heartache during the middle.
⚠️⚠️As the story progresses, we learn the Asaba-shacho gets removed from his position as CEO⚠️⚠️ because he's been talking to a person who buys company for cheap and sells them in parts. I guess the company was so in over its head that Asaba-shacho, as restructuring CEO, knows that if sales don't improve, then selling the company to a buyer is the only other damage control he can do.
As he leaves the company he's now been fired from, Kiki runs to his side and begs him to stay or at least explain. Asaba wishes her well and practically leaves her hanging, then she confesses she's in love with him rather earlier on in the drama. (This took me way off guard, because Japanese dramas don't really do this in the middle of the season.)
Anyways the rest is for you to watch.
One of the reasons I got into this drama was mostly because I liked the male lead, Nakamura-san, but once I saw the first two eps, I found myself cheering the female lead on. Watching how earnestly our main heroine tried her best to create a dessert only to find out her dessert didn't win the competition made me really feel for her. Her dream as an idol didn't work out, and then she lost the baking competition, but for those two weeks, inventing and baking this cream puff Shacho asked from her helped get Kiki out of her slump. So I can relate to her in a way. She really wanted to create something that would win, and she ended up investing a large amount of time in this competition, so seeing how it turned out really hit home. Not to mention, the actress, Nana-chan is a natural at crying, she doesn't over do it, and still gets the tears out. BTW the male lead doesn't act like a TSUNDERE the entire time, he softens up a bit after he gets fired. Kiki helps get him out of his slump.
P.S. note:
This year has been so awful that this drama which began airing around October helped me look forward to each Tuesday when it premiered. I started watching this drama when episode 2 (English subbed) has been released, but after watching the first ep, I found myself really falling for it. I don't say this very often, mind you. Also I understand a very good amount of Japanese, and I can read and write. So I started watching the weekly episodes every Tuesday before they were subbed in English.
To be honest I don't really write reviews for every drama I watch, but when I get an itching to write one, you just know this drama is worth me writing the review. As you can see, I gave each rating 10/10, and I did so for a reason. Everything about it hits the mark.
Also, the female lead has introduced this story as a "A Cinderella Story" with lots of delicious looking sweets, I would do that too, but the only difference is that the Prince Charming doesn't know how Cinderella looks like for most of the movie, which isn't true about this drama.
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Completed - 6/24/2022 - 7.75 ratingThis drama, also known as "Do You Want to Warm Up This Love?" is a simple, uncomplicated and quite predictable romantic comedy. It's an original work that is not an adaptation of a webtoon or manga. That might explain why there isn't any over-exaggerated acting.
Let's talk about what I like in rapid fashion:
1. Simple drama for those who don't like angst or misunderstanding
2. No really annoying characters.
3. A few decent kisses towards the end - not passionate but better than others.
4. No evil ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, no evil parents, no evil characters
5. Interesting scenes of convenient store dessert making and shots - though can't be compared to the exquisite desserts in "Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru".
6. Good chemistry between the leads; I enjoy their bickering and opposite-attract romance; also like the smirks and side-glances ML has towards FL.
7. I enjoy the mobile convenient store stories the most.
What I don't like:
1. My biggest complaint is the hiring of Kiki (FL) in creating new desserts. She was introduced as an Instagram food blogger and I can believe that she has excellent taste buds and her reviews are spot on. However, there has been no indication that she actually knows how to cook and make desserts. If she's hired as a consultant to provide feedback or be a taste tester, I can buy that. But actually being a dessert chef in developing recipes and making them? That's a hard sell. But since that's the main plot, it's something that I just have to ignore and go along with it.
2. I can understand Kiki wanting to move on from Takumi (ML) and start a relationship with Makoto (2ML). However, it's taking way too long for her to decide whether Makoto is the one or not. Her indecisiveness is disrespectful when Makoto has been so kind and sweet to her. I might not have second-lead syndrome, but I don't think Kiki deserves Makoto anyway.
3. On the other hand, I don't blame Takumi for not realizing his feelings for Kiki and continuing to be in a relationship with Riho (2FL). But once they broke up, it's so wrong to immediately ask Kiki out behind Makoto's back and ignore his best friend's feelings. That's not how you treat your buddy who has been you BFF all your life. Yes, Kiki has the right to choose, but at least be honest with you friend first and declare equal opportunity courtship.
4. Not a whole lot of excitement with the business plots. They are just OK.
All these listed might not affect your viewing pleasure, but they bug me. I guess none of these are huge flaws, and this could be a decent and easy watch if you are in the mood for it.
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Total opposites attract each other, Drama style :)
This drama is one of the types you can just sit, have your coffee and enjoy a few minutes of your time.The story starts off pretty well. The bland FL is employed in a big company and shows her wonderfully warm personality to all the competitive cold employees, to the point that they all start liking her. In the process, she falls in love with the president, who happens to be cold and has a traumatic past.
We get to see many side characters who are funny and bring light to this drama. There is a minor love triangle, there are minimum adversaries, and the story runs mostly smoothly.
There is a villain involved, but it shows that with persistence you can be a hero and will the heart of the one you love.
The romance is a slow burn and an unrequited love at first, but as the story progresses, the leads start a relationship and help each other, however, it takes a while for them to be a couple :)
Overall, a very pleasant and warm Jdrama. Romance lovers won't be disappointed as well.
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Plot holes downplay the seriousness of human emotions
The only reason I rated this drama as high as I did is because I think actors did an amazing job considering the script they've been given and their acting lifts the quality by a lot.However, the most unappealing thing about this drama is the fact that they made FL into such a weak person.
I understand losing your purpose in life can lead you astray and into a pit of despair, especially at such a young age. However... She landed her dream job. Not just any other random job, literally her dream job in a stable company with nice income, surrounded by people who share her passion. And then when ML doesn't look her way - she's ready to throw it all away?
In, for example, Hana Yori Dango (I'm sorry but Mori Nana and Inoue Mao look so alike!) Tsukushi was devastated by what was happening to her relationship and around her, but she still channeled her energy into studying in order to achieve her dream. Is it realistic to portray a talented young woman as entirely dependent on verbal praise by a single man? It would've been far more believable if she had then focused on work even more than before rather than start a course of self loathing because a guy she never even touched, let alone kissed, didn't think she was the love of his life. I mean...what?
Also, the love triangle. Geez. They've been friends since childhood, the difference between them financially is huge, he knows how his friend feels but simply doesn't care. If they'd been strangers, I'd be fine with it but is it even a little bit realistic to think they could ever remain friends after what he's done to him? They really downplayed the destruction of friendship there by trying to make it into "nothing can destroy our friendship" except they failed to portray them as such good friends in the first place. All it does in the end is makes me feel horrible for Shintani.
Overall, it's an okay watch but definitely has plot holes that downplay the seriousness of human emotions.
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It is not always about the OTP
This show is a rewarding watch with a nice positive message and a fluffy, easy going style.Ok, now that the review is over, let’s talk about something else.
There is a well-thumbed rom-com playbook that is passed between writers with reverence. On page 2 of the sacred text is this rule. “A second male or female lead must be unlikeable and possibly despicable. He or she shall do all within their power to break up the OTP.” I don’t know how many shows have followed this golden rule to the letter, but I have ran out of fingers and toes a long time ago. Once in a long while, a show will break this rule.
The characters in this show feels real. They are far from perfect, and they will act selfishly when the need arises. They are just normal people who are reacting to circumstances. Both the second leads are in love with the respective leads so they gave it a red-hot go in their pursuit of happiness. However, once they knew the race is lost, they bow out gracefully. It is sad and the scene where the SFL proclaimed that she just threw away her own happiness is gut retching. However, you have to give them their dues and respect their honesty and dignity. It might sound trite but that is a lot closer to reality than the same-y win-at-all-cost type being dished up nowadays. I won’t go as far as saying that I have 2nd lead syndrome, but they are worthy contenders. Speaking of which, a good example of second lead syndrome can be found in She Was Pretty. Salute!
BTW, the side characters in this show are all nice, decent people. Solid friends and co-workers whom you would be proud to associate with. Even in that sense, the show is refreshingly different.
I can’t give this a perfect score because it is just an unpretentious, fluffy little rom-com but it has a special place in my rewatch list. This show will recharge your emotional battery and make you swoon. Peace out.
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I really like how they did not too much focused on love story but the drama still give us a sweet scene between asaba and miki. Even they had a huge a age gap in real life, but they still look good together. This drama made me crave on sweet things more and like how the both main character decide to said about what their true feeling without hurting anybody.
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Sugar, Sweet, Love...
I am just going to say that I loved it, the characters, the friendships I even enjoyed watching the misunderstandings and the whole process of figuring out ones passion, love and waht not... In this lovely opposites attract and bring. out the best of each other friendship and romance.The found family in this drama is one of those that will make you want to start working part time at a convenience store if it means you will make friends as good as these.
Though there are times I found myself slightly frustrated with the pacing, this drama does do a pretty decent job showing complex emotions and how hard it can be to break habits as well as move on from a crush, a relationship, a set back at work. This drama also offers some pretty good dialog and analogies here and there.
So what can I say this was just my type of drama with all the right tropes an easy binge and a female lead that I truly fell in love with.
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My Favourite Drama of 2020
I seldom watched J - dorama, as found their acting sometimes a bit awkward. But not with this one. This is totally a gem hidden. Why I said it is hidden? Check out the poster, it looked so bland. I kept telling friends to start watching this, as they're not so informed about this drama.So when I tried the ep 1, I thought the President a bit overbearing at first. But he's a classic tsundere male lead. By end of ep 1, I already fell for him. As he send her home in rainy days with small umbrella and his shoulder was wet too as result of covering her.
As the story progress they also introduced more side characters , which all quite likeable. Some colleague might be questionable with their intention. But its kept the drama interesting.
There is character progress for all of them. The male lead perhaps will be criticized for the moral value or lean towards infidelity, as he's so oblivious to his feelings which cause people around him to suffer. But as this is also romcom, actually some portion become quite funny.
The chemistry of the lead is TOP NOTCH. The way they looked to each other and just smile to each other, enough to give me a lot of butterflies. This is my first drama of Tomoya Nakamura-san, and I straight away become his fans. While Nana Mori is a new actress whose very promising.
The ending is very diabetic induced. But it's in a good way. It gave a perfect closure for the drama.
So, for this Christmas, try it!!! It's the best thing I found in this gloomy 2020, aside than Hospital Playlist & Chocolate. (YES, I'm a bit in drama slump)
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Sweet and great characters
Really happy I only discovered this after it is finished airing. This is the type of drama you binge-watch in one go. I didn't expect to love this as much as I do. The story was rich and entertaining and the overall vibe is perfect for Christmas/Winter time. The characters and the actors are all great in their roles too. I would argue some were a bit too good to be true towards the end. Though it's nice to see them all being kind, I don't think their actions and decisions were realistic.Setting the huge age gap aside and the fact that the fl is really young, the main leads were perfect together. I absolutely loved the whole of the first 7 episodes (I watched those all in one go) and had to watch the rest the next day so I guess that broke the momentum for me. What I loved most was the mini heart to heart sessions the leads get when they are together on screen and that despite how different they are, they do match each other well when it comes to the most fundamental part - they get each other.
So the part where they keep saying to each other they don't match each other well, although true in most parts, is not entirely correct. I would have loved if we saw more of Asaba realising he loves Kiki without someone else (his ex-girlfriend) having to tell him.
It was such a slow-burn romance but I loveeeeeeeedd it. The actors are one of the massive reasons why - they all just were perfect for their roles. Although I wished Makoto didn't fall in love with Kiki because they matched better as friends and not only that, Kiki never saw him as more than friends despite her efforts to.
I really liked how they all had respective relationship and Asaba was direct with Kiki in telling her he's not able to respond to Kiki's feelings. Even their dates with the other leads were a nice addition to the depth of the story although I would have appreciated if there were less of them especially towards the end.
As much as I didn't mind them not spending so much time with each other (Asaba and Kiki), I wanted to see them more together towards the end. The distance between them on the first episodes were fine as they did interact when it mattered the most and also the drama had other full stories to offer.
However, the ending although happy, wasn't as satisfying for me. I kept feeling I wanted to see more of the leads together and I really wish they showed Kitagawa meeting someone else, she deserves it especially as she longs to be a bride and a mother. There was a part of me that thought what the point of all this was if there were no good ending for the other leads as they were actually kind. Again, by the end it felt like they prevented Kiki and Asaba from having more screen time together because they were trying to prolong the conclusion of their romance as much as possible.
Plus, there was no need for Kiki to be quite whiny towards the end, I felt like despite her young age, she is actually understanding of Asaba and what he is working towards so that bit at the convenience store was, I guess, for the sake of the scene and kiss lol.
The other characters and side couple were great to watch too.
And the OST!
So yes, overall, I am so glad I happened to stumble upon this. I feel like J-dramas have been on a roll recently. Its been years since Ive seen one and to have been watching one after another is surprising. I want to see more stories like this but with more screen time of the main leads together and if the other leads could please fall in love with other characters, for their own sake. We don't need to see them so heartbroken.
I have more to say but this drama was just really good although a tad bit stingy with showing us more of the main leads together. I wanted it to be longer! I personally really enjoyed this story so much.
P.S: Put a high-rewatch value because I feel like this is just perfect for the holidays. And probably because I'm still hung up on the story lol.
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This review may contain spoilers
Cute watch, but...
I loved the actors in this. Mori Nana as KiKi was just precious. Though often immature, which was slightly problematic for me if I was supposed to believe her with Asaba, she changed those around her. I liked her energy and how she wasn't the typical J-drama female that kept her head down and apologized for absolutely everything she did. Nakamura Tomoya as Asaba - he needs more romantic ML roles! He's very charismatic, and there were a couple of times where he would suck on his bottom lip slightly...my! Nakano Taiga was just lovely. It helped that, for the most part, I liked his character, but he did serious very well, and he's got good comedic timing. He portrayed Makoto's sweetness, but also his caring that he had for KiKi. I enjoyed watching him.Which brings me to the problem that I had - the romance part of the story. My biggest complaint - if I'm supposed to believe a romance, part of that is convincing me that you are in love. If you are in love, you don't want to be with anyone else. 1) Asaba's relationship with his past girlfriend bothered me, not only because I didn't buy them as a couple, but they were basically living together. Call me old-fashioned, but one of the things I like about romance (though I know I'm living in a dream world, which is why I like watching these things!) is when the couple hasn't been with others. This one left an especially bad taste in my mouth, because the girlfriend had LITERALLY just broken up with him, and she had to tell him that he liked KiKi. - Get a clue, dude! 2) KiKi - she's pining after Asaba, but then suddenly decides to date Makoto. That, to me, was wishy washy, and unfair to Makoto. She's even ready to pick Makoto before Asaba shows up. 3) Which brings me to Asaba confessing to KiKi when he knows she's in a relationship with Makoto. Asaba and Makoto have been friends for years - not cool! You had your chance and you blew it. 4) Extremely short time for Asaba and KiKi being together - not only once they were actually together, but the lead up. There really wasn't anything to show us them beginning to like one another, not much of a build up. I felt like they ended up together because they were the leads and it was SUPPOSED to happen. I even cheated and watched part of the last episode when I was only halfway through the show, because I had no idea who I was supposed to be rooting for! The scene where Asaba and KiKi are running to one another and he is telling her that they have nothing in common and have no chemistry, was sadly true up to that point.
A couple of other minor points. The "villain" (corporate guy) did everything he did just because he didn't like Asaba - that's not a good businessman and you going back to doing things the way they used to be done (but weren't working) out of spite? Nope! Finally, in Japanese dramas, why is there always at least one person that is completely overacting? The older convenience store worker was too over the top.
So, my bottom line, it's a short, cute watch at 10 episodes, so you don't have to make too much of a time investment. It's enjoyable if you don't want to be too invested in the outcome.
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