Meari21

I think a character chart would be better. I just started this and even though I like the fight scenes, I have trouble keeping up with the many characters being introduced. I think I will need time to adjust. I still remember some of the characters from the Dark River assassins because they also appeared in Dashing Youth, which I watched more recently than Blood of Youth, but there are too many characters appearing all at once in this. 😆

These two have a long history together and those of us who watched The Blood of Youth already know what will happen to them. Tbh, I'm glad they chose to highlight the bromance between these two, they do have the chemistry. I don't think Gong Jun has ever thrived in a romance drama but I thought he was great in "bromance" dramas.

I did like him in Weak Hero. He played that role to a tee. And once again he proved that he’s worthy of attention. He did such a great job in Good News! 👏

Most Japanese actors have that vibe, tbh. The older actors are especially more "macho". lol

This is typical in J-dramas, though. The romance is often subtle because the Japanese themselves aren’t very expressive of their emotions. But you do see Sosuke’s growing fondness for Hana from the moment they decided to “practice” together. The fact that she’s the only one he could touch without recoiling is a huge deal. He probably couldn’t stop thinking about that fact and her. And every time he needed emotional support, she was there. Not to mention he greatly admired her talent. Wouldn’t you fall for a woman like that? As for her, he was the only one she could truly be herself. Whenever he was around, she felt more at ease. Plus he saved her life more than once. He also proved to her that he was compassionate and generous and not like what she originally thought. You end up falling for someone that makes you feel at home and safe, and brings out the best in you. My only beef with this drama is the unsatisfactory second couple’s storyline. It wasn’t as fleshed out as I had hoped. I don’t even know how they started “dating” or what really happened between them. And how they got back together in the end was even more disappointing. J-dramas are typically 10 episodes long so this was definitely rushed. But I guess because of budget constraints, they had to cut it down. J-dramas don’t usually have big budgets unlike K-dramas and it’s apparent in their production quality. But this has one of the best productions I’ve seen in a J-drama. They even filmed in Bali, Indonesia. I’m guessing there’s supposed to be at least one more episode because they skipped the matcha in the rainbow palette. The ending is also typical of a J-drama. I’m glad they actually made it clear that it’s a happy ending. I thought it was going to end with just them meeting in the competition and that’s it. 😆

Not yet. It depends on how the series does. If it doesn’t get enough streams then they might not do it.

A possible spin off most likely. Maybe the next season will feature them with different stories about mental illness.

It’s just not your cup of tea. It’s a political satire/dark comedy based on real events. I’m a bit of a history buff so I found this interesting. Plus, it stars Japanese and Korean actors I happen to like so I felt compelled to watch it.

K-drama? It’s a movie. 😆

I think the last scene with the Sakaguchi Kentaro and Song Joong Ki cameos is meant to hint at a possible spin-off. Maybe Romantics Anonymous is going to have more than one season featuring other stories of people with mental illness. I'm betting that the counselling group is going to play a role in it as well. After all, the term Romantics Anonymous is coined after Alcoholics Anonymous and other such therapy groups. I'm guessing it's going to be another joint production between Netflix Japan and Netflix South Korea.

Why is the rating so low? I'm seriously curious.

It stars Tseng Ching Hua and that's all I need to know.

I don't think I've liked a J-drama in quite a while. There's something about their production designs, directing styles, and acting that don't sit well with me anymore, so I avoided watching them and just cherry picked the ones I found interesting enough. But I'm a sucker for food dramas and it's an Oguri Shun drama. Plus, I like Han Hyo Joo, she was my favorite in Moving. So I was really looking forward to this. I'm not disappointed.

Me, since 2005. I first saw him in Gokusen because that was the first J-drama I watched but loved him in Hana Yori Dango as Hanazawa Rui. I followed his career since then.

It's possible that it'll head over to Netflix but I'm not sure. The Blood Youth and Dashing Youth never made it to Netflix, after all. But if they can bring these three dramas to more international platforms, it'd be nice.

People are review bombing it? I thought the rating actually went up from 7.7 to 8.2. J-dramas don't usually have the highest ratings on MDL. People here are mostly into K-dramas or C-dramas. I understand that J-dramas are not everyone's cup of tea and many people find it hard to get into hence the low ratings.

I get what you mean. I almost didn't recognize Han Hyo Joo in this. I thought she was a Japanese actress! She even sounds like one! lol I suppose they wanted her to act like pretty much every quirky Japanese character in a shojo manga. They didn't have to make her like that, though. She is, after all, a Korean working in Japan and not really Japanese. But I'll take that over the typical loud, brash, and confrontational Korean FLs in old school rom-coms. They drive me crazy. lol

He does. He’s one of those actors who acts with his eyes.

Oguri Shun? He’s one of the best Japanese actors in existence. He was a child actor and rose to fame with his roles in Gokusen and Hana Yori Dango. You could try Rich Man Poor Woman. I think he plays a similar character there. He was also in the original Hana Kimi. I liked him best in Crows Zero, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, and Ouroboros. The second male lead, the one with the long hair, is Akanishi Jin. He was a J-pop idol, member of the group KAT-TUN.

His character felt more like a supporting one than the first male lead. Too bad, I do like Zhang Linghe, just not in this drama. lol And surprisingly, I liked Yu Shuxin in this and the reason why I avoided this drama when it came out was because of her. Now I know she can be compelling if she takes on more serious roles and don’t act cutesy. I hope she does more roles like this.