Unicorn ni Notte (2022)

Really Good Cast, Disappointing Drama

Once in a while, I remember "Unicorn ni Notte" and I get goosebumps all over my body. How did they manage to mess up so badly? They assembled an incredible cast only to produce such a dull and uninspiring outcome!

The story lacks excitement and the characters are incredibly bland. The romance feels lifeless and, to be honest, puts me to sleep. The only redeeming factor is the character of Nishijima Hidetoshi, who showcased great chemistry with Nagano Mei. Their storyline was the highlight of the show, and the exploration of ageism was well-executed.
I am unsure of what they were attempting to achieve with Sugino Yosuke's character. Their romance felt clichéd and completely outdated for 2022. A case of: too stupid to get together. As for the supporting characters, they are hardly worth mentioning, except for Bando Ryota's role, which was... okay.

The company's struggle, which is the main focus, was not particularly engaging, to be honest. I found it difficult to empathize with the ambitions of the main characters. Moreover, their discussions about the company are so basic and simplistic that it's no wonder they are on the brink of bankruptcy, to be honest. (lmao)

Overall, unless you are an avid fan of Nishijima Hidetoshi, who, even when typecast, always delivers, "Unicorn ni Notte" is not worth your time.

PS: nobody come for me pls thx!

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Hopeful startup drama with some ambiguous romance

I am unsure why the hate for this drama. In my opinion, it was a pretty good drama that focus primarily on a start-up and slowly expanding and growing. But I guess even though there are some challenges that the startup faces that was depicted in the show, it's mostly a smooth journey, which you might need to take a pinch of salt, if you are watching this drama with a focus on the business side of the story. I think it's definitely way harder to build a startup than what is portrayed in the drama. But I guess the drama wants to give off that hopeful vibe that if you have a dream, you work hard and you can attain it eventually. I am not complaining though as Iife is already hard and this kind of feel good drama definitely makes life better.

There are also the focus on the romantic life of the FL, who is a career woman. There were moments that they kept emphasizing on her attraction with Kotori but I don't see that they are romantically attracted to one other as it felt to me that Kotori was more of a fatherly figure to her than a partner and this makes a lot of sense because she don't have a father. But the script was written in an ambiguous fashion about their relationship (most likely on purpose to keep audience suspense to their relationship) and I thought that the two characters pull off the ambiguity quite well. Suzaki's role is more like a silent supporter for the FL but I do feel that he is rather out of place in the show as he don't have a lot of scenes and sometimes I am not even convinced he is one of the ML. But I am happy that they got together eventually even though the pact they had for not loving each other is kind of cliche. It was a wasted opportunity that they did not manage to build up the storylines of side characters especially for Jiro and Megumi. Would love to hear more about their backstories. I feel like they are just there for the sake of being there.

Music was great but forgettable. But it fits the vibe of the show.

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A Wonderful, Inspiring Story with wonderful characters!

This is a wonderful, inspiring story with wonderful characters! The negative reviews are so off the mark - it seems people are disappointed in the romance aspect of the drama, and that is like saying an Apple is bad because it isn't an Orange. This is a story about dreams, hope, aspirations and second chances in life, and the strength of camaraderie. There is the undercurrent of love in the story that is very well done, in my opinion. It is love that grows through the strength that forms through trials and tribulations - the love of family, and friends, as well as romantic partners in life.
The actors did a really good job, and the script was well done also.
This is a hidden Gem. I highly recommend this drama.

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Like most startups, Unicorn ni Notte ultimately fails

It had a lot going for it out of the gate, the production looks very good and the most of the cast is pretty good. Where it falls flat is, first the FL doesn't seem like a leader at all...there's no force to her personality. Instead, she just occasionally comes up with an idea and otherwise runs around flustered. She is likeable for sure, but just slightly off the mark.

Second, she is constantly doe eyed over the older ML even though you know it's not going any further than that. To make it worse, the younger ML is constantly in the background making creepy expressions. Sure it's supposed to be jealousy but he just looks like a creeper.

Finally, there really isn't anything that leads you to the think the FL and younger ML should be a couple but at the very end that is exactly what we get. Zero romance, zero build...nothing.

The portrayal of the older guy's difficulties adjusting where a bit ham handed as well. "old school" snacks, doesn't know how to react to a "give me 10" gesture. Then the constant "at my old job" scenes. Like seriously, someone's doing a presentation and he's going to make corrections and then print it and leave it on their desk!?

It's not a bad watch and at 10 episodes it doesn't drag too much . I guess the disappointment is that it could have been so much better.

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Enjoyable, but with it's flaws

It's a really enjoyable drama or at least the company parts of it are if you can ignore some of details. I especially liked the (inter)personal relationships in Dream Pony and that they showed how people from very different backgrounds all have their strenghts with which they can contribute to a start-up company. I was asking myself however if the IT industry in Japan is kind of a lawless playing field. Doesn't anyone have employment contracts? Is it really that easy for people to just go from one company to another, without notice and with their research work, and then go back to the original company a few days/weeks later, again without notice? Isn't everything an employee works on property of the company they did their work/research for? Is it ok if potential employers just record the job intereview without the knowledge of the interviewee, especially if most or all the questions are about this particular research/work he just took with him? Well, like I said, details...
Anyhow, if the drama is a realistic depiction, it's not surprising that the Japanese economy is at it's lowest point since the 50s/60s, with established companies still sticking to their bygone era-thinking of "never trust companies that aren't at least 10 years old" and "my son has to inherit the company, even though there would probably be 20 more suitable candidates if I would place an ad in the local newspaper".

Why only 7.5 (or more like a rounded 7.26) if I really enjoyed the main part of the drama? Two reasons.
It's definitely the most Korean influenced Japanese production I've watched to date, which I found pretty annoying because everyone and everything was always styled to the max in every scene and I don't think Nagano Mei wore one single piece of "normal" clothing you could get in a department store (like a standard shirt/blouse and jeans for example). It really made the supposed "struggle" of being the owner of a small start-up company and even more so the part about her being a "binbou shoujo", a poor girl that had so little money while growing up she couldn't even get the education she wanted, rather unbelievable. She basically went from a girl that ran around in worn out hoodies and bleached out jeans to fashionista with almost haute couture style wardrobe and perfect makeup in three years while trying to get a company in a unlucrative field of business off the ground. Where did she get all the knowledge and time to change that much and even more pressing, where did the money come from to buy a complete wardrobe of seemingly designer clothes? Maybe I watched the wrong ones so far, but these are the same questions I always asked myself in every KDrama I watched, which is why I can't seem to get myself to like them.

But the most unnecessary part, and the main reason for the rather low score, was the romance, even if it came across rather natural and wasn't forced like in most dramas. Either make it the main theme or leave it out completely, but the half-baked and stereotypical scenario Unicorn ni Notte chose is basically the perfect example why I always think twice about watching JDramas with focus on (a) career minded female lead(s) these days. Because even though the "business" part is supposed to be the main theme and she's really competent at what she does, there's always some guy that lingers in the office next door that makes the FL waver if she should EITHER choose her career OR start a romantic relationship. This problem lingered around in most episodes from time to time until it was solved in two conversations that didn't even take 10 minutes combined. What made the romance part even more annoying was the FL's little sister with her "you should stop working all the time and get a boyfriend because my hobby is changing mine more often than my underwear" talk and the ex-girlfriend of the ML who was one step away from being a stalker that attacks all the women the ML looks at.

I don't really have anything to say about the main actors' and actresses' performances because everyone who knows the leads probably also knows they'll make the most out of their characters regardless of the content and this was no exception. I didn't really notice the music most of the time and there was no dancing or cameos from real or imagined KPop groups (I wouldn't know either way anyways) for a change, which was a rather big plus for me.

So, if you want a business drama about a start-up lead by a competent woman and a really likeable staff, give it a go. But only if you are able to ignore some details on the business side and only if you don't dislike that every JDrama with a female lead needs to have some kind of overcomplicated romance in it.

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Mon petit poney VS Vieux canasson

Quand on se prend à rêver à des duos de stars dans un drama, on ne pense pas tout de suite à Nagano Mei et Nishijima Hidetoshi. 31 ans séparent ces excellents acteurs, et à part une apparition de Nishijama San en papa de Mei Chan, dans un drama dans lequel elle serait le personnage principal, on a du mal à imaginer d'autres situations. Enfin, vous peut-être, mais un scénariste japonais fait fit des conventions et de la bienséance. Dans le bien nommé Unicorn ni notte, les conventions sociales vont voler en éclats, pour notre plus grand bonheur.

Ne vous trompez pas, c'est bien Nagano Mei, l'héroine de cette comédie romantique au pays des Startups. Mais si, bien entendu, personne ne peut lui voler la vedette, elle laisse quand même de la place aux autres protagonistes pour développer leurs propres histoires. On retrouve ici le schéma classique des comédies romantiques à la japonaise. Une, encore très jeune, présidente d'une de ses fameuses ultra-cool Licornes du Net, met toute sa vie dans son travail et son entreprise. Pas le temps de penser à l'amour et à toute autre activité d'ailleurs, alors qu'elle se bat pour faire vivoter ça microentreprise. Elle est pourtant entourée de beaux garçons, dont l'un deux est follement amoureux d'elle et évidement elle ne semble pas en avoir conscience. La réalité est en fait plus compliquée que cette situation de Shōjos, mais on l'apprendra plus tard. Car malgré ses aspects de comédie plan plan, l'histoire est plutôt bien écrite et les révélations bien amenées. La situation se compliquera encore plus, avec l'arrivée inattendue dans sa vie de Nishijima Hidetoshi, 51 ans au compteur et embauché presque par accident par cette équipe de quasi-ados.

Les sentiments qui vont se développer entre nos héros resteront donc à l'appréciation de la morale du moment. Selon le degré d'acceptation de la Société dans laquelle vous avez grandi, vous serez soit choqué, soit enchanté par ses histoires d'amours, intergénérationnelle, platonique…, ou pas. En tout cas, les triangles amoureux vont s'enchainer et certainement vous faire naitre en vous l'espoir de fins heureuses à ses nombreuses Love Story et cela tout le long des 10 épisodes. Moi, quoi qu'il en soit, j'ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à imaginer qui finira ensemble. Mais l'intérêt essentiel, trouvédans ce drama, n'a pas été dans ce romantisme exacerbé (blasé surement). Non, c'est dans la manière dont a été compté l'histoire et le fond de celle-ci. L'histoire de ses Licornes du Net. Des rêves et des espoirs de la jeunesse d'aujourd'hui, nourri aux réseaux sociaux, aux rencontres virtuelles qui respirent la peur de l'engagement, mais aussi à la réussite facile. Ses aspirations et ses certitudes qui rentrent en collision avec l'ancien monde représenté par Nishijima San. Ce fossé entre les générations, mais également les classes sociales, qui par l'énergie que nos deux héros mettent à essayer de le combler, redonne foi en une humanité qui semble justement petit à petit la perdre. Le métavers et ses questionnements sont abordés. Les liens entre les personnes sont au cœur des réflexions. Mais quels liens ? Contre toutes attentes, c'est Le vieux ringard de l'histoire qui vient mettre de l'humain dans ses entreprises qui devraient pourtant respirer le friendship. Symbolisé par ses espaces remplis de poufs roses flashy, censés rendre tellement cool le travail dans ses startups, dans lesquelles tout le monde communique à travers des appareils. Ojisan amène de l'analogique à une génération en manque de tactile. Et c'est bien lui qui est prêt à apprendre des jeunes. Leur façon de travailler, entre autre, mais pas que… C'est lui, le plus ouvert à la nouveauté, dépeignant ainsi une jeunesse renfermée sur elle-même, égoïste et rempli de préjugés.

Me rapprochant dangereusement de l'age de Nishima san, je suis un peu partisant. Mais tout comme lui dans la série, je suis fan de Nagano Mei, qui insuffle toujours de la joie de vivre dans ses rôles, malgré les défaites et l'adversité. Mais en réalité, la série entière est un "feel good drama". Loin d'être mièvre comme beaucoup, il donne la pêche à qui a le moindre parcelle de petit cœur en soi. Ce ne sont pas que les sourires de Mei-chan ou de Nishijima-san, qui sont parmi les plus beaux du showbiz, mais ce sont vraiment leurs positives attitudes qui mettent en joie. Surtout en contre balance de tous ses influenceurs, programmeurs pétants et méprisants que l'on peut croiser. Même la musique respire la joie de vivre.

Cette comédie ne cherche pas forcément à vous faire mourir de rire par des situations improbables, mais bien à vous faire sourire et vous rendre un poil plus heureux qu'avant. Certes, Bando Ryota qui refait un drama avec Nishijama Hidetoshi vous fera sans doute marrer avec ses airs assumés d'hikikomori flippant (encore), mais cette série est réellement plus touchante que marrante. Elle vous apprendra le fonctionnement du monde du travail japonais, pour ceux qui ne le connaissent pas encore. Bien mis à jour pour la Startup Nation et les épisodes finiront, comme il se doit, par un Ending feel good de Dish// (#qui d'autre ?). Alors, il est temps de lever des fonds et d'investir dans cette licorne.

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