Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo, (2021)

A Decadent Rom-Com…

Reminiscent of the bygone era of early 2000s Shoujo ( aimed traditionally at young girls) and Josei ( typically targeted at an audience demographic of older teens and young women) manga setups as well as being based upon the eponymous manga , ‘Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ ( alternatively known as ‘ つまり好きって言いたいんだけど’, or ‘ I Mean, I Want To Say I Like It’ ) tells the seemingly “ unusual” love story between Saejima Chitose ( Ohara Sakurako) and Fujishiro Sena ( Sakurai Kaito). A former teacher-turned manager at a small entertainment company, Chitose’s new position turns into a hellish experience when she’s assigned to be manager to Fujishiro Sena; a haughty playboy actor who also happens to be her childhood bully.

However with a streak of reimbursed and outdated cliches and tropes being inserted into a seemingly decent love story, this does leave Japanese-drama enthusiasts with one burning question ; “ Is ‘Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ ‘s drama-adaptation poorly executed for a modern audience or is it actually worth watching?”

Perhaps one of the greatest things to clear up about ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ is that it isn’t an inherently over-stimulating drama for your brain . Of course this isn’t to drag down the series entirely based upon this setup alone. “ Fluff” dramas can act as an ideal form of escapism for viewers always from the bogged-down details of reality and fill viewers’ with an uplifting aftertaste. However it should be noted that whilst ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ often crossed over into more melodramatic plot moments, the drama often reached a cataclysmic standstill upon actually trying to execute these storyline scenes onscreen- generic cliches and setups propping up plot where character-driven moments should’ve been became more prominent even after the first episode , and characters who were initially introduced with strong plot motivation and drive soon felt shoehorned into scenarios which made little coherent sense in regards to their character archetypes overall.

The epitome of this poorly-executed screenwriting was particularly present within main female lead Saejima Chitose. By default Chitose had arguably all the potentially good traits of a well-written character; headstrong with her values (due to the incident in her past with the main lead ), possessing a heart of gold and presenting idiosyncratic mannerisms and qualities which immediately attract people towards her. Yet rather than seeing opportunities for Chitose to become a definitive presence in the series and power through her own personal struggles , the female lead’s greatest downfall was that she rarely had definitive character drive.( Not least of all her initial causes for her jobs, her experiences in relationships- romantic and platonic- in later life and whether her experiences from her early childhood had a traumatic or knock-on effect with these relationships were never explored.) ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ often seemed to portray Chitose somewhere between the scapegoat for getting into misunderstandings upon “ her behalf” as well as a carte blanche female lead; happily “ forgiving ” her childhood tormentor Fujishiro Sena ( without a coherent reason aside from enforcing their questionable romantic relationship ). However in between staidly keeping her mouth shut or blowing up in order to keep the plot “ tense”, Chitose’s experiences were often downgraded towards merely being a “ Mc Guffin”; a wasted opportunity to explore her ambivalent feelings and sentience in-depth as her character’s persona was reduced to the equivalent of a doormat for other characters to walk upon and maltreat.

Many overt golden opportunities for character growth and relationships were often tossed aside in ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ and none so was this more for the onscreen role and presence of main male lead Fujishiro Sena.

As the childhood “tormentor” of Chitose and now an aspiring actor with an aloof and haughty attitude, Sena was evidently never supposed to be viewed by audiences initially as a “ likeable” main lead. Yet where dramatic irony became prominent was that when it attempted to “ redeem” its “ unlikeable” characters for viewers, ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ generated more indecisive feelings amongst its audience demographic. Fujishiro Sena was always supposed to play the role of Chitose’s foil throughout the series; whilst Chitose is sweet and slightly naive , Fujishiro is slightly jaded and arrogant. Yet when the open opportunity arose to present Fujishiro in more “ heroic” light the series attempted to go down the route of Fujishiro Sena seemingly been “ pitied” and “misunderstood” by others. ( Without truly delving into any true raison d’êtres for Fujishiro wanting to become an actor or hints into how others perceived him through his past relationships - aside from some of his lovers.) Naturally whilst this did present some differing ideologies between our main characters ( which were never explored also), the drama seemed unaware of its initial presentation of Fujishiro Sena often as a manipulative and downgrading bully even in Chitose’s adult-life - instead attempting to write off these moments as merely “ comical” rather than allowing these to remain an open topic of discussion and truly allow Fujishiro Sena to redeem himself not through the lens of ineffective “ pity”, but maturity and reconciliation .

Consequently the onscreen “ romantic” relationship between Chitose and Fujishiro Sena remained openly crushed under the weight of shoehorning both main leads into an enforced setup where neither lead could truly free themselves from the heavy burden of their shared past, as well as maturely and openly talk about their problems. ( Aside from then permitting an ensue of “ romantic cliches”, misunderstandings and “ plot tension” through heated arguments- leading to an leading to an awkwardly uncomfortable romantic onscreen relationship which presented neither comfort and joy for viewers, or well-written chemistry between our leads.
)Additionally there’s also the side characters of the series; generically fading into the background after their initial introduction in most episodes, and only truly remaining present during a moment of “ tension” or “ plot drive” in order to attempt to keep the plot engaging with audiences.

Another issue which had admittedly divided audiences surrounds the chosen-cast; some may love main leads
Sakurako and Sakurai Koto‘s nearly-farcical onscreen roles and perceive this as irony , whilst some may be turned-off by poor dialogue exchanges and over-the-top acting leading to some choppy scenes for viewers to attempt to get through. Then there’s the cinematography and chosen OST of the series . Rather than using interwoven mise en-scènes in order to explore the emotions and world-building of ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’, the drama was staidly placed on a pedal stool of insipid and forgettable songs alongside long-shot and singular camera shots which did little to truly promote viewers’ intrigue.

So what’s left to say about ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ and is it actually worth watching ? ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ was undeniably lighthearted. Whilst it attempted to offer an ultimatum of “ fluff” and melodrama throughout the story, it often found itself struggle to to subvert itself from unoriginal writing tropes and pitfalls and consequently characters often felt misplaced against scenarios and scenes . The ending was enough to bring events to a close but lacking in surprise by the delivered result.Overall ‘ Tsumari Suki tte iitai n Dakedo’ was not an inherently terrible with a sweet premise and concept which is easy enough to binge-watch . However the drama rarely facilitated golden opportunities to escaping its initial status quo reputation by lacklustre writing decisions and directing techniques leaving the drama with forgettable moments and many loose ends.

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Cute romcom!

Generally, I love J dramas mostly for their Detective dramas as I find their romance dramas (except few exceptions) not very strong, especially I mostly find the FLs acting in most J romcoms very cringey and seldom cute like most others seem to find... But this show seems to a pleasant exception as the FL doesn't do the usual J drama childish acts and acts quite mature but in a cute naïve way.

The Ml and Fl got decent chemistry. The cast is good overall nothing exceptional but decent enough acting by everyone involved, including all the supporting cast. Title and ending music is catchy.

Story is ok, not very great but a nice tropey finding your childhood sweetheart again kinda romcom. He is an upcoming drama/movie star and she is a elementary school teacher who accidentally becomes his celebrity manager. There is a small love triangle just for namesake but you know it wont matter much in the end. Romance is sweet and at the same time angsty just the way I like it! Comedy was hardly there, so nothing to mention about it. Overall a decent time pass drama.

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