This review may contain spoilers
Goes out of its way to be weird with little to no payoff
In order for me to set aside my personal objections to problematic relationship dynamics in dramas, the relationship has to 1) have a clear narrative purpose and/or 2) be entertaining enough that the details of the relationship on their face are less important. This drama unfortunately fails to meet both criteria.What bothers me most is that this drama feels risque for the sake of being risque, throwing in everything that could be possibly weird about this relationship and then not doing the work to make it make sense or really matter in the end. Why is an adult stranger offering to sleep in a cramped twin bed with a vulnerable high schooler who's just ran away from home? The whole reason Haru initially finds Rio "safe" to live with is because he's gay (despite her apparently having a fear/distrust of men while also having a normal, sweet relationship with her male childhood best friend), so why is he reciprocating physical intimacy with her, saying that it "feels good", and going so far as to almost have SEX (!!!) with her??? Even if we were to be charitable and assume that Rio is discovering he's gay in sexual relationships but genderblind emotionally, why is he going to a high schooler for emotional comfort when he had two fellow adult housemates the whole time??? Why not also add the fact that Rio is basically Haru's landlord but with no formal agreement so he could technically take away her place to stay at moment's notice to make things even ickier? And after all that, it ends with Haru not even being with Rio (not that I wanted them to get together) and instead getting a random modelling career??
To top it off, this drama is just so bland, from the presentation to the performances. Ikeda Masashi and Akita Shiori had almost no chemistry so I really didn't buy that Haru and Rio had such a deep, undeniable connection that she continues to pine for him after she leaves the house. If you're going to scandalize me with a problematic relationship, at least put some passion behind it! Iwakura, for one, might have been messy and jealous, but at least he behaved in a realistic way and you could feel the emotion that was driving him.
I think I was even more disappointed because I came to this drama after watching and enjoying If Only You Weren't the One, which also has Ikeda Masashi (and Kusakawa Naoya randomly lol) and also explores a relationship dynamic that I don't personally agree with, but it had all the elements that this one didn't to be compelling, so I'd certainly recommend it over this if being uncomfy is your jam.
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