Mr. Bride

Initial charm fades with clichés, dragged-out plot.

"Watashi no Oyome-kun" kicks off with a promising premise—Hayami Honoka, a corporate ace with a messy secret, and Yamamoto Chihiro, a domestic superhero, forming an unlikely alliance. The initial quirkiness and chemistry between the leads, played by Haru and Mahiro Takasugi, create an engaging start. However, as the story progresses, the charm begins to wear thin.

The plot struggles with a lack of direction, relying heavily on annoying tropes and clichés, making it feel like the narrative is moving without a clear purpose. The attempt to break societal norms and gender roles is overshadowed by frustrating misunderstandings, overused drama, and numerous unnecessary love triangles.

While the lead couple's chemistry remains a highlight, the constant interruptions to their romance and the exaggerated misunderstandings contribute to a sense of irritation. The characters, particularly the side ones like Akamine, often come off as overly comical, destroying the balance between humor and genuine connection.

As the series reaches its later episodes, the pacing falters, with the story feeling dragged out and losing the initial fun that drew me in. It becomes apparent that the show could have wrapped up sooner without sacrificing its essence. Despite the shortcomings, the presence of Haru and Mahiro Takasugi keeps the interest alive, and moments of adlib add a touch of authenticity.

In conclusion, "Watashi no Oyome-kun" has its entertaining and funny moments, but a dull plot progression, irritating clichés, and a waning charm in the later episodes might leave viewers wanting more. It falls short of being a standout romance drama and may test the patience of those looking for a more substantial and well-paced narrative.

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A cute and light-hearted drama

I started watching this drama because of the OST sung by Sekai no Owari, and I fell in love with Haru all over again.
I found this drama most suitable to watch without any expectations, just enjoying it. Aside from that, I appreciate the message conveyed by this drama. The use of the terms "husband" and "wife" in the drama is intentionally stereotypical, but I really like how the "wife" tries her best at work and the "husband" puts effort into learning household chores, even though she's not very skilled at it.

Regarding the acting, I understand that dramas based on manga adaptations have their own distinctive style, but I like how the actors portrayed each character in this drama.

This drama is not without flaws, though. Some characters felt a bit annoying when they first appeared, but I still enjoyed the drama. And yes, Akamine is the best girl. Where else can you see a ML's female friend competing with the ML to win the heart of the FL? I also liked Koga.

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It was ok

The idea of this drama was very interesting. You don't often see dramas like this and to be honest, I wouldn't necessarily have watched it. However, I gave this drama a chance to see if it might be good after all.

The plot is quite sweet. I was impressed that the roles were reversed and I have to admit that I had to smile in some situations. The characters definitely fit, even if they were very over the top in some parts, but you know that when you watch Japanese dramas.

Even though I think the plot is ok, I have to say that it's not great either. I liked that both main characters have found a suitable way for themselves so that both are satisfied. Working towards this was very sweet, but also not really interesting. You can watch this drama for in between. There really isn't much to take away from it. There isn't much suspense, nor is there really any drama. It's not a drama that stays in your head for a long time. More like a drama that can be quickly forgotten.

Would I recommend it? Not really. The plot is far too simple for that.

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Starts with Promise, Then Flails and Falls

It's a comedy, so I'm supposed to ignore all the silly misunderstandings, nonsensical insta-love, and noble idiocy. As charming as the ML was, he couldn't overcome my flagging interest in the drama as it limped along.

Adults—people in their 30s—who act like preteens when it comes to romance... Why is this a drama thing? And talk about fantasy: three men, all handsome and talented, with two of them much younger, fall in love at the same time with a boring, older woman whose only outstanding merit is that she's a good salesperson.

I know I complain about over-the-top characters, but maybe the FL's insipidness balanced that out, and I really enjoyed ML's mother-in-law-ish brother, his flamboyant brother, and the exuberant 2FL. Akamine (2FL) was off-the-charts wacky and somehow made that endearing! I'd much rather deal with someone who is honest, speaks her mind, and has definite opinions than deal with the FL who denied her feelings, allowed herself to be manipulated, and lied continually.

Story should have been half as long, eliminated the love triangles, and focused on the aspects of a male taking on the traditional role of a wife. It should also have had a satisfying conclusion. Bah, humbug!

I added a star, because I'm grumpy and probably rated too low. Also, the supporting cast deserved it. And Takasugi Mahiro has puppy dog eyes.

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WELL.... THAT WAS NOT BAD

but not good either.

mahiro takasugi really has this puppy, younger brother aura that made him so non-threatening and in line with chihiro character. I love him in 'cursed in love' and 'kakegurui'. but what made me really stay tune to this drama is Akamine and Kaoru lmao. Nimura Sawa has this flair and flamboyance that NONE of japanese actress has able to pull and instead of being an annoying character, she felt very genuine and endearing. When I saw both of chihiro's brothers, i thought "wow, they really won the gen pool lottery" cos all of them are so fucking HOT!!!!! but Furukawa Yuuta as Kaoru was the one who caught my eyes. i love his extravagance and funny support to chihiro. I look forward to both of these stars work in the future!

aside of the actors' portrayal, the plot itself try to sell "breaking the societal norm and gender role" trope, but i feel like the screenwriter keep going backwards about it... it was pitiful to see how hard chihiro going for honoka in the first half of the episode. also there are a lot useless love triangles here and there. i can't say i enjoy it, but i don't hate it.

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The Ultimate LOL Role Reversal Comedy

This series is quite light hearted and funny, and the creators/director have really brought out the spirit of a manga/anime in all its strange weirdness, and I love it. I found myself thinking, there are very few shows that make me laugh out loud, even if I love many of them. This J drama is a rare gem although it goes way downhill in the last 3 episodes because of the female lead and her Debbie Downer best friend. The earlier episodes made me feel joyful just to watch it, even the intro song and their little moves they do- for some reason it makes me happy.. This is the kind of thing I can never find in the West, and why I love J dramas and anime so much. All the characters are a bit cooky and humorous, which makes them quite lovable. I love the characterization of Yamamoto’s protective older brothers acting like parents over him- it’s quirky, cute, and very anime like. Especially that 2nd older brother, the sassy cool Patisserie one Kaoru is straight out of Sailor Moon- he gives me Sailor Uranus vibes.

Hayami surrounded by an ocean of good looking men. It’s a sight for sore eyes.

I should give a 10 just for Yamamoto Chihiro and Akamine. Meanwhile, the female lead, Hayami and the actress who plays her is truly awful - a love pentagon revolving around a female lead who is not good looking and wears mom jeans style pants what on earth. I loved the show, but hated the female lead. She starts off dimensional, emotionally unavailable, and jaded like she doesn’t really care about anything including herself. And she largely remains that way from beginning to end. Shes almost in the wrong show because she’s so dull. All she has is her sales work persona. But Yamamoto is just adorable from all angles- he’s so handsome, so vulnerable and innocent, does all the physical and emotional labor, and his expressions and acting are just adorable. But there’s the whole fan/celebrity vibe in his dynamic with Hayami who he calls senpai, being 7 years younger than her, which is another detracting point from the possibility of a truly equal loving relationship..

But let’s get back to Hayami- I think she’s actually struggling from depression and a deep lack of self love and purpose. She puts on a decently happy face outside, but her house is a disaster and she eats spoiled food, doesn’t clean, or cook for herself. She doesn’t know or care how she feels about anything, and constantly lies about her feelings, and just says “I’m fine” and seems like she doesn’t care about Yamamoto, despite benefitting from his overdoing of all the chores while she just sits around taking advantage. She doesn’t care to know about their “1 month anniversary” which Yamamoto went all out preparing a feast for, and instead invites a colleague to eat the feast that was meant for them. She seems quite callous and empty on the inside like a black hole, confused, self absorbed, but not in a self loving way, but rather in a avoidant, almost narcissistically selfish kind of way. Like she doesn’t care about herself or her own feelings and doesn’t truly care about anyone else either. When Yamamoto leaves, she’s like “Oh well, guess I’ll just go back to the way I used to live,” and starts buying her usual junk. She’s a character that doesn’t really seem to change and doesn’t care either. She offers half apologies, and then runs at the first sight of vulnerability, while firmly keeping the lines of communication closed even when the onus to reach out is on her. Meanwhile Yamamoto, even though he can be a smothering mother type, puts in all the effort, and is typically the one who truly cares about her well being, while she still doesn’t care. But honestly from the beginning, Hayami never even desired to change because she didn’t think anything needed to change- it’s just what she did. She didn’t care if her house was a mess or if it was clean- the only reason she asked Yamamoto for cleaning help in the beginning was to appease her parents. But she herself didn’t care whether she ate garbage or the feast that he prepared. She literally doesn’t care about anything, except her job and maintaining the outer hollow shell. In the beginning she even says “I don’t have anything to offer you,” (except money) and that was right. Its interesting how all the men are so attracted to her outer shell, when she is so hollow and empty inside. Yamamoto makes her life easier by cooking and cleaning, like a live in maid, and asks how she’s doing. But that’s it. She made a sales presentation to Yamamoto’s brothers saying that she would make Yamomoto into a “sales God,” but did nothing of the sort, instead just drove him out while taking advantage of his cooking and cleaning. It’s a weird relationship, but if you reverse the roles, this is how many husbands are to their overworked wives. And this is how many women become attracted to hollow shells, shiny on the outside, but offer them nothing. A shell of a person who despite appearances, has low self worth , who doesn’t care about themselves or others, but is childish and selfish and just takes in the relationship, without giving anything of true value back (apart from a paycheck). To be honest Yamamoto is too good for her- but he’s drawn to her because his own mother was like that, so this is why his brothers have protected him so well, and yet the attraction to the parental wound was still too strong.

When Yamamoto goes to Akamine’s house to “do chores” (lol), Hayami ignores him for the most part, and doesn’t apologize until the other colleague (Koga) suggests it. She has no emotional intelligence, doesn’t care that she drove out Yamamoto, and then at some point drags him out of Akamine’s house by the hand just to ask if he helped her in a sales deal, and then says “I sort of miss you, and I don’t want you at other people’s houses.” Spoken like a man who tries to monopolize his wife for himself right? She says exactly that, “I want to monopolize you, but if you want to stay there I’ll leave,” and then walks away leaving him hanging and needing to do all the emotional work for her. Then she chickens out of talking to the brother/mother-in-law by saying “When I think about it, I’m not sure if I really like him.” I think she likes him and feels possessive in the same one would feel over a vacuum cleaner that does a good job. Not that she’d ever use one of those, though.

The only time where Hayami does any real work is during her birthday camp, when the brother/mother-in-law makes her chop wood, carry water, and all these chores, which is kind of funny. Other than that phase, she is kind of dead throughout the relationship, with Yamamoto having to compensate and pick up the slack.

It’s interesting how all the characters around Hayami are quite dramatic, flamboyant, and exaggerated (not to mention all fans of Hayami), although Hayami herself as the center seems to be quite uninteresting and dull in comparison. I’m not sure if it’s a casting issue but the actress who plays Hayami lacks spirit or vitality in her role compared to the others.. but then again, maybe that is part of her character in the series itself- she is truly lost- putting on an ace sales facade for the world, but an empty shell in her inner life, which is why something seems missing in her. It almost seems like she’s being dragged from scene to scene as an obligation, rather than by any inner spark or passion. It leaves a sorely lacking chemistry between her and Yamamoto or any of the other characters who are bouncing up and down the walls in comparison. They are all compensating for her dullness. But her character itself is like that so maybe it’s not a casting issue. Her focus and priority seems to be on her outward performance and appearance to the company and others, while her inner room/Self remains dirty, ignored, and unkept. To disregard one’s own house to that extent while maintaining an image of outer perfection reflects a profound lack of self care and self love. She’s often clueless about her own feelings and true needs, while her outer veneer remains impeccable. Yamamoto San and everyone else in the office who declared her as the “perfect wife material” is essentially in love with her fake outer shell, while knowing nothing of the true person, who is deeply unloved and uncared for. It’s only Yamamoto that broke past that outer shell and still continues to accept her the way she is, although he’s putting on a performance of his own in order to “earn” her love or acquire her like a toy or possession that he really wants. And meanwhile Hayami has ignored herself and her own physical and emotional needs for so long in the favor of tending to the needs of others that she has no idea who she really is or what she wants. None of this is real love so far (as of episode 4), but certainly it can go past surface superficiality. Let’s see…

I’ve never seen such an animated, vibrant bunch of supporting characters. As mentioned, Yamamoto’s brothers are unique in their characterization and lovable, even the office staff supporting characters are good looking and likable. Then there is Akamine San, the diva like villainess (almost seems like the author of the story itself, she says a line in episode 10: “Since I’m the writer, I can create one wave after another!”) who’s in HR, but her entire persona is an HR violation. With an aggressive crush on Hayami, she is quite entertaining in all her little schemes, while remaining thoroughly lovable and attractive which is rare and difficult to do in such a role. She lit up the screen every time she came on, and I was intrigued to see what facial expressions would come out of her next. The only supporting character who was rather dull was Hayami’s cafe owner friend, who was a perpetual downer. She, like Hayami lacked vitality or spirit in her role, and when I see the contrast with the other characters, it becomes very obvious. Somehow whenever I saw Hayami say “Daijobu da yo! /I’m fine!” With a facade while hiding her true feelings, it annoyed me. I guess, something about her (and her friend) is not likeable like the others. She actually seems disingenuous, fake, and inauthentic, while totally lost on the inside. She really doesn’t have it together at all in any way. Her dad captured it in the most LOL line at the beginning, “We were so worried that you’ll end up dying alone in a pile of trash!”

With all that said, the love “confession” and first kiss were actually really sweet, where for the first time I saw Hayami putting in effort (physical and emotional), not by force, but from her own inner feeling. I think the camp scene was the first turning point of the series, showing a real change in our main character. And from this point outwards (episode 6 onwards, my poor assessment towards Hayami shifted slightly.

But then episode 10 comes around and when poor Yamamoto fails an interview, but makes a feast anyways, and says he wants to continue being serious about their relationship and to get married. And what does Hayami do? Instead of being supportive of him, she acts like marriage is a shock (so what is she dating him for anyway?) and breaks up with him and says she’ll stay at someone else’s house and then goes with Koga like she has fallback options when one falls through. What is wrong with this character?! Her behavior is so irritating. Why can’t she openly communicate what’s wrong or show basic human empathy and affection instead of just breaking up when the poor guy just failed an interview. Man she’s so callous and cold. And then she can’t even do a 5 year old’s level of cooking and cleaning, that Yamamoto has to take on all the housework because she’s so useless despite her “trying so hard” and burning all the vegetables and throwing everything in the kitchen sink and messing up the house, while falling asleep in front of her laptop while the kitchen burns. And then she pouts to Yamamoto saying “I tried so hard, but it’s impossible.” And he’s wondering how she’s so awful at housework despite “trying really hard.” And of course she goes back to “let’s break up.” She’s an awful partner. She puts in zero effort and destroys everything and then breaks up without mutual consent, despite Yamamoto carrying the whole relationship. Then she goes around saying “We broke up - when she just gave up on the relationship because she ruined everything, and acts like everything is fine with her usual fake facade. Then sobs at home as if she’s the victim when she’s the one who ended the relationship and threw Yamamoto away. Then she does the usual trope of the mad dash to the airport before Yamamoto leaves and then gets there panting and puffing and says “Have a safe flight.” And he’s like “Uh is that what you came all this way to say?” And that’s it. That’s the extent of her communication skill. Shes an awful, awful character. She’s back to zero in my books. Yamamoto deserves better. Sadly his script dictates otherwise.

All the usual J drama tropes:
-Love triangle revolving around the female lead: In this case, more like a love pentagon. One of the love interests in a previously known dude from childhood or college or coworker.
-Lead has not had a relationship in a long time and acts like they have no clue how all this dating romance game works. Acts like she’s never seen a pot and pan in her life.
-As soon as love is confessed and locked down, the ex shows up with a “cut music” and echo of footsteps.
-Onsen intimacy
-An amazing job opportunity requires one to go for a training or whatever somewhere else which causes a temporary separation.
-An impeding temporary breakup over some stupid miscommunication turned catastrophic because the immature female lead refuses to communicate openly
-Backup romance prospects on the bench are called up to bat
-Some airport scene where people are running to catch the person before they go to America or (insert far off place here) for a “1 year training trip” … if they go, the relationship is on pause until a year passes by in 5 seconds and they pick up where they left off as if nothing and no one has changed.

I took off some acting points because of Haru and her character.

Hayami “is fine” after not seeing Yamamoto for 8 months and stayed busy at work. Seriously why is she in this relationship? And why is Yamamoto so “in love” with her? If he didn’t have that strong parental wound with his mother, this relationship would have ended long ago!

Rewatch value is actually a 10 for all the characters except Hayami- but since Hayami is the main female lead, I had to reduce the rating on that too.

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