An adorable narcissist? HOW?!
I actually started this drama on a whim, after watching an FMV of the couple. I loved how the ML looked at the FL. That's all there was to it to make me hit the play button. And I guess it's a good thing that I went in without looking any further. Because in episode 1 I was greeted with a narcissistic male lead and time travel. Two things that normally make me run for the hills.What made me stay? The male lead is definitely narcissistic, but never crosses the line. In fact, the writers somehow managed to balance his narcissism with his genuine care for others. Simultaneously. I don't know if i've ever seen anything quite like it before. I kinda wanna go through the narcissism tag to see if I can find another... He also goes through tremendous character growth, that felt natural and unrushed - despite the shortness of the series. And, fortunately for me, the time travel comes into play with a support character, not the leads. So it actually didn't have too much focus, and contributed to the message of the story in very interesting ways.
It's told with the classic manga-esque dramatics that really only Japan can pull of. It really pulls the punches on commenting on Pretty Privilege/Kawaii Factor and biases, in a humorous way that sent me laughing. I thoroughly enjoyed all the support characters. Not a single one had me annoyed or sent me ranting, especially by the end. And I adored watching the romance (even if I would have liked more affection from the female lead).
It's kinda poetic actually, that a story that wound up being about biases, made me question some of my own drama-watching biases. I am still wondering how this writer managed to make a narcissist so adorable and root for-able.
*Disclaimer: I am referring to his possession of narcissistic/self-centered traits which are commonly found in everyone on a scale of intensity, not as someone who appears to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
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Very Wholesome
StoryThe story is wholesome and very light, Its has a good balance of comedy and seriousness. No unnecessary drama was need like third-parties. It also has the right amount of cliches but its not cringe its rather cute
Acting/Cast
They definitely nailed it! I maybe biased since I love Yamada so much but he definitely nailed his role. Sanada's actress also did a good job at portraying a robotic/emotionless character. Ohashi's character kind of annoyed me but aside from that everything is good.h
Song
I absolutely love the song! The lyrics goes well with the story and its stuck to my head.
Rewatch?
I dont usually rewatch drama's but I can see my self rewatching this. It's light and entertaining I definitely recommend you guys to watch it if you like soft hearted and pure dramas.
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This review may contain spoilers
CUTEEE
Ore no Kawaii wa Mousugu Shohikigen!? is a light dorama that focuses on the budding romance between coworkers Maruya Kosuke and Sanada Izumi.Maruya is portrayed as a character who believes that his cute appearance is his only strength .One day his future self time travels and warns him that his cuteness is about to expire.Maruya believes that everything will go downhill if his cuteness comes to an end.
Sanada is a girl who finds it difficult to socialize.She is quite robotic yet adorable.
They gradually fall in love. They are so cute.You will be in awe everytime you see Maruya blush.
WHAT I LOVED-
FLUFFINESS
Side characters- There aren't any evil scheming characters.All side characters are so comical.
ML's progress-The Male Lead contemplates and settles the turmoil of emotions that he's been going through.I wish they showed scenes where he actually started to stop undervaluing his abilities(apart from cuteness)
ML's efforts- I must say the Maruya cherished Sanada a lot.Sanada loved him too but she easily gave up in the end.
WHAT I DISLIKED
the ending- The ending felt rushed.I truly appreciate how Sanada wanted to work on her passion and decided to create a new place for her own but she simply left the person who loved her.
The ending was so ambiguous.
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Simple and cliche, but also cute and funny
Story:The story is simple, and doesn't require much thinking. Shorter duration than a prime time series makes this series was rather fast-paced, eliminating the usual capricious characters and story we usually encounter in romantic comedy genre. It also had a downside, too, such as underdeveloped characters, or yet to be explained reasoning of certain situation. As a mainstream romantic comedy, this series had a good amount of comedy and cliche, but not cringey.
Acting/Cast:
In my opinion, this is where the series shines the most.
I don't know anything about Yamada Ryosuke, except being a member of Hey! Say! JUMP. Still, watching this drama made me feel "this is Yamada's drama!". His appearance fitted Kosuke perfectly, and his acting is certainly one of the best acting I've ever seen in a romantic comedy. His gesture and expression looks natural and convincing, rather than exaggerated. It makes me wonder, with this level of acting ability, why he didn't appear more often in drama series?
Then, I understand why the production team specifically wanted Yoshine Kyoko to play as Sanada. Even though her role was a "robot-woman", Yoshine not only relied on subtle change in her expression and voice intonation, but also cute though awkward gesture. So, instead of "a robot woman with no emotion", I grasped the idea of Izumi's character as "someone awkward who suppressed their emotion". Also, Sanada is a hard character to play, since she said a little about herself and the audiences barely have a chance to know what exactly she was thinking. Looking at how Yoshine brought Sanada to life, I think "young actress with one of the best acting ability of her generation" as dubbed by Kuroyanagi Tetsuko is not a merely flowery praise. (Yes, I'm kinda biased, but for real, Yoshine is one of the best actress that can pull any role perfectly)
Too summarize it: This drama could not be done without both Yamada and Yoshine. They're just too cute.
The other casts are also cute and charming! My favorite is Kaburagi's actor, Sakoda Takaya. Still, it makes me wondering until now why Furuta Arata was the one casted as the Mysterious Old Man.
Music:
While the theme song is great, this series had a small amount of BGM repository, makes it rather boring and somewhat repetitive. It couldn't be helped though, since this series is only a 30-minutes midnight drama.
Rewatch value:
I always found myself to rewatch the newest episode because I love their interaction. Maybe I will try to binge-watch the series if I ever missed their interaction in the future.
P.S:
For those who sometimes annoyed by Sanada, I think her character is always like that. She always ran from her problems. In other words, Sanada's character is pretty much coward and childish. But at least, she isn't wishy washy and clear. Also, I liked how she chose to solve her problems by herself, instead of relying on Maruya.
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Why is beauty so important?
Ever since I started watching asian dramas just over two years ago, I noticed, and for my european mentality rather odd, the importance put on being pretty, beautiful, handsome, cute! Every time people met for the first time, the next phrase after introduction would be "You are so pretty!" (or something similar!). Where I come from, commenting on person's looks/esthetics is considered rude(and used ONLY for children!) so these phrases I often heard in dramas were and still are so disconcerting and extremely superficial in my book!So, imagine my wonder when I started this jdrama where all everyone talks about is being cute! It is a story of a 29 year old man who has been successful in life only because of his cuteness . One day he meets an mysterious man who warns him that he'll stop being cute when he turns 30. That shakes him up and he starts unwittingly changing also under the influence of a new coworker! She is his complete opposite: serious, rigid and robotic but he falls for her. And he discovers, as well, that he is a competent professional and a caring person, which he never really considered himself to be!
The actors portrayed the characters beautifully. The office drama was not too heavy and even the loosing cuteness plot was not to dramatic: the main character accepted it as a fact and moved on! I have one little casting problem: the mysterious older man is supposed to be the ML's version from the future but the actor playing him is taller than the ML. People usually shrink not grow taller as they age!
In any case this drama is not to be taken seriously: it is a bit of lightweight fluff, fun to watch and very enjoyable and though it mentions the effects of beauty in the work environment, it is not really considered as a major problem!
I would just like to know where this obssession with the outside beauty in asian cultures comes from. I guess I'll need to do some serious research! In the meantime, let's all enjoy this sweet drama!
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Cheers to Cuteness!
This was such a damn cute show!I really loved watching Maruya-kun's asides/monologues they were so cute and hilarious.
I thought Sanada-san was so deadpan and funny, but above all I loved the harmony between all the characters.
I would've liked to see more development with the "mysterious old guy" and also Maruya-kun's family and some other additional characters. It definitely felt like there were slightly too many underdeveloped characters for the length of the show.
Overall, as the title promises, a cute drama that you can crack open a beer and enjoy! Cheers!
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Yamada once again picking bad dramas.
Words cannot describe how utterly boring this was week in, week out.This started off so well: Our cute lead meets his future self who tells him he's gunna stop looking good after his 30th birthday and will end up like an old, ugly, lonely man. Amazing idea right?
But we end up with the most boring, unsatisfactory, nonsense romance plotline.
The Female Lead literally has zero good points for our Male Lead to even be attracted to?!
Like what was even her attractive point? She's robotic, she's cold, she's overly polite to everyone to the extent it is actually downright RUDE. And then she has the audacity to be mad at him towards the end of the show?
This show would've been absolutely amazing if it had focused on our Male Lead trying to better himself and to find other skills (rather than just his cute looks) to get through his work successfully. The "romance" was not needed at all.
This show would've been amazing if it had focused on him and his three male coworkers, their comedy and bromance chemsity.
Finally, I am so genuinely mad at the ending. What was the point of this show being about "you look ugly in the future", if the ending is literally "you came back in time because you DIDN'T want your future to change"???? If the old man hadn't rocked up, his future WOULDN'T have changed regardless. So please, what was the point of this plot line?
Yamada, please please please STOP agreeing to every piece of work you're given. PLEASE start picking your roles and dramas/movies with more care. I'm tired of you picking the blandest, most boring, most terrible dramas, and you keep doing it year after year.
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Unique and cute
This drama ended more than a month ago but I keep rewatching it. Haha. For me, the story is unique. It's not stressful, its a light- hearted drama which i love because sometimes, watching a heavy drama makes me tired. This drama will make you smile. It was the first drama of Yamada Ryosuke that I watched. I actually did not not know about him, but now, I can't get over him. ☺️ I loved his acting, it was natural. His expressions are cute, and sometimes funny. Kinda mysterious story but I think they did not really dig deeper into it because again, this is just a light drama. Its a drama where you can just sit, relax, drink beer (maybe haha) while watching and just enjoy it to past the time, that kind of feeling. It also shows how hardworking Japanese people are haha. And the theme song, I liked it. Because of this drama, I discovered Hey!Say! JUMP, Yamada Ryosuke's group. That's what the effect of this drama to me. :)Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet and Awkward...
This is the story about the boy (ok man) who was hung up on being cute, the office he worked in and the awkward girl he got close too by fate... + himself 30 years later.The boys wish to hold on to his cuteness serves as criticism towards the profitably of the youth preservation market as well as shows how cuteness and so called good looks give a bunch of perks but besides not lasting also have some down sides to the, Cute people are people to... Basically what feminists have been talking about for years now shown though what one may call gender role reversal... without actually using those words. He may be a bit vain and obsessed with his looks but he is also a total warm sweetheart, insecure, jealous, and the type that makes you go ooooh how cute... about 80% of the time.
The female lead a typical icicle, awkward, stiff. and just my type. I love her, I love their interactions and how straight forward she is.
The side character are a bit to much for me, they had their good parts too and are defiantly not the worst or most extreme I have seen. but they are just not my cup of coffee however those who love the typical Japanese over the top comedy side characters will probably fall for these too.
There are a few unnecessary misunderstandings that take away from the fluff, but not too much of it. The kissing scenes are more ooh how cute slightly awkward than passionate. The male lead also seems to be respectful and have some kind of understanding of the concept of consent.
The overall message also seems decent.
Definitely an easy to binge , lovely fluffy drama that I recommend to those who want something sweet.
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This review may contain spoilers
I really enjoyed this drama’s focus on what I would consider a somewhat unusual subject matter, being the type of good-looking where you don’t necessarily have to work all that hard in life and what happens when you realize that attractiveness is fleeting, and your good looks are about to run out. Kosuke, our male lead, is a good-looking guy (I wasn’t into him in the beginning, but he definitely grew on me as the drama went on), and it’s made his life easy in a lot of ways. When his future self shows up to tell him ‘good looks have a shelf-life, and your expiration date is coming,’ it serves as a bit of a wakeup call for Kosuke. He hasn’t been a selfish or lazy or mean person, by any means, but his life has been pretty smooth sailing, and it’s made him a bit unaware of the people around him. For example, he’s never had to put in the effort to pursue a girl, because they’ve always just come to him due to his good looks. His current girlfriend (who quickly becomes his ex-girlfriend) says to him early on that he doesn’t seem to pay attention or notice other people’s feelings.Admittedly, the second half of the drama doesn’t really do any more exploration on this subject, the ramifications of being this good-looking, as the main characters romance ends up overshadowing this part of the plot. But the budding relationship between the leads is so incredibly sweet and charming, that I kind of didn’t notice (or mind) that it took over the story.
One complaint I saw from people who watched the drama before me was with the way things were wrapped up in the romance in the finale. From everyone’s comments, I understood that the leads don’t end up together. I went into the drama knowing that was going to happen, and I had prepared my heart for it. But to me, the last scene of the drama seems open to interpretation, and given the scene just before it, I think it's actually possible our leads got a romantic happy ending after all. Of course, this is speculation, and I could be wrong. If my interpretation of the final scene is incorrect, then I do think that creates some problems for the story, but I've chosen to make a happy ending my head cannon, because the last two scenes make it seem possible.
Apart from the possibility that the leads don’t end up together romantically in the future, I still like the rest of the finale. It’s overall pretty enjoyable and does actually involve our leads sort-of getting back together in the present with a kiss. But the most satisfying part ends up being Kosuke making peace with his possible future. When he has his last conversation with his future self, you realize that what he’s making peace with isn’t the future of his romance with Izumi, but rather, with the end of his good looks. He recognizes that future Kosuke didn’t make any attempt at changing the past, which means the future must not be so bad, and that gives present Kosuke confidence. Confidence to tell Izumi again that he loves her, and confidence to walk into the rest of his life knowing everything will be alright.
On this note, I was a bit frustrated with future Kosuke at one point, because it felt like he was going to be the reason present Kosuke and Izumi didn’t end up together in the future. But after both Kosuke’s conversation in the finale, I got the impression that what future Kosuke was trying to do was prepare present Kosuke for the end of his cuteness (not the end of his and Izumi’s romance). I thought that was a nice twist.
Overall, I thought this series was really charming, and I really hope it gets a special episode, because I would watch it. And I just want to add here that the main actor is PERFECT in this role. He NAILS the cute and comical expressions of his character, and I love it so much. I think it’s why I was finding the male lead so dang attractive by the end of the drama, lol.
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Cuteness Overload
This was exactly the light-hearted, fluffy josei I was looking for! I'm not usually eager to watch these drama with the male being the main character but Maruya was just too cute and hysterical. The story isn't anything too complex and I'm glad they didn't bother wedging additional problems outside the main one and work related affairs, it made for a good blend and balance.I was skeptical about the female lead in the first episode— not that her acting was bad but I wasn't confident their dynamic or chemistry would be entertaining. I was proven wrong.
When there onscreen together, it's a thrill and so sweet to watch as the relationship develops. She even has her own adorable flair too and I find Maruya even cuter when he's with her.
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Cute acting by ML, overall a fun watch but confusing ending
So really liked the ML’s acting, he really nailed it!. I feel like the writing was subpar though. It stars off good with an interesting premise (cute ML who attaches a lot of importance to his looks has been told he’ll lose it very soon by his “future self”) . It was v cute too in the initial episodes with the awkward budding romance but takes a nosedive in the later episodes and ends confusingly and rushed without doing any of the characters justice.**SPOILER AHEAD**
Like in the ending scene, it is implied that they don’t end up together? it honestly just didn’t make sense. If the future him was so satisfied why did he return? What was the purpose? And his future self did tell the present FL that he felt ashamed about facing that someone, so why then does he not want to change it?
And like what’s the reason for the sweet romance they showed us where he genuinely falls in love for the first time after a series of exes who only cared about his looks. In the course of that romance neither of therm really talk about or confront their fears either. Like he doesn’t confess to her about his fear that he’ll loose his cuteness and she doesn’t really tell him any of her issues really? Like she just breaks up? And then returns with no explanation.
Honestly an ending where they aren’t together would have been acceptable if there was some character growth for both ML and FL to justify it but nope.
From the synopsis I was expecting to see some personal growth for ML in regards to his career and his belief that his looks are all he has! I was very interested in that but we got none. In a scene his ex tells FL that he looks cute but only cares about his himself and is narcissistic but throughout the show there is no evidence of that? Like we don’t get to see any of his narcissistic tendencies at all. From what we see he’s always thoughtful and hardworking and friendly to his colleagues and girlfriends. So that comment just seems out of blue and unfounded but I feel like it’s supposed to be part of the story. It would have been so much more interesting if it was. And through the romance if he could realise those small things it would have been so much wholesome and satisfying than just cute.
And the FL’s character was so rushed and messy. Like I still don’t understand her characters motivations and fears. I think they started explaining her character only towards the end. But when I felt like I was beginning to understand she said or did things that didn’t makes sense and then the show ended lol leaving me going HUHHH in true Japanese fashion.
**END OF SPOILERS***
So yeah I have my fair share of gripes about the shows writing but if you can ignore the ending and what I’ve mentioned it’s a cute watch, the romance is adorkable and the comedic moments are nicely done too.
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