22
22
2
Zii3
This review may contain spoilers
Thought-provoking exploration of relationship dynamics. Lots of fuzzy feelings.
A wonderfully intriguing exploration of relationship dynamics. Sweet, cute, thought-provoking, and romantic with lots of fuzzy feelings.
The amount of comfortable and very close skinship, cuddling and snuggling, hugging, and petting is maybe the highest of any show I've seen. And it is so cozy, comforting, heart-warming, and satisfying.
I loved how the dynamic between Sumire and Momo managed to be mostly balanced despite growing into codependency. They are both capable people yet they feel better when taking care of someone other than themselves and they feel more grounded when they are needed by somebody else. She needed him just as much as he wanted to be needed by her. Sumire is extremely bad at self-regulating her emotions and Takeshi is really good at helping her with that even though he's 10 years younger. The balance in their emotional maturity made their age gap a total non-issue.
Their master/pet relationship didn't come across as a power-play dynamic to me. There were moments where an imbalance of power would bubble up during arguments (with Sumire being the home owner) but that can happen with any couple.
This was so close to being a 9 out of 10, but the screenplay choices in the last couple episodes let me down in terms of character development and resolution. The ending was still moderately satisfying, the plot just gave into clichés at the end, which was disappointing and a waste of potential (further explained under the "specific spoilers" section at the bottom of my review).
The actors were great, especially Shishon Jun as Momo. He was also completely believable as a professional-level dancer.
FYI: Extra footage!
During the end credits of each episode there is a background video that is repeated and then a smaller box with scenes that change. At first, the small box shows repeated clips from that episode, but when the background video goes from the dog under to bedsheets to the drawer of shirts, the small box starts showing things unseen before! There's no audio, but it shows little snippets of scenes that could have happened to the characters in that episode that are otherwise unshown to the audience. There are some really cute and/or steamy-ish moments between Momo and Sumire that are fun to see as a little bonus.
SPECIFIC SPOILERS BELOW
My critique of the things that disappointed me in the last few episodes. (I had no other notable issues with the otherwise wonderful series.)
... ... ...
HASUMI & FUKUSHIMA:
I felt like saying Hasumi was "weak to seduction", like it was a character trait, was a bit of a cop-out. I think he was weak to being needed, just like every other main character was! And when Hasumi misses Fukushima and realizes how much he wants to be with her, I wish the screenplay had highlighted more than it did. There was repetition around her sexiness and big chest, her good cooking, and being weak, but I think there were more differences between her and Sumire that drew Hasumi in. Not only did Fukushima show vulnerability (often times faked or exaggerated as a seduction ploy), she showed Hasumi a wider range of emotions period! She showed excitement, happiness, eagerness, and desire to be with him. Hasumi could feel secure in her affection and be himself, instead of constantly and nervously trying to navigate the potential minefield of inscrutability that was Sumire. Fukushima allowed Hasumi to feel relaxed in a similar parallel to Momo and Sumire.
SUMIRE & MOMO / TAKESHI:
- I wish Sumire had at least made a decision to hold off on marriage to Hasumi and moving to Seoul, if not breaking up altogether, BEFORE she found out about him and Fukushima.
- The whole point of Takeshi not contacting Sumire first after he leaves is because, as he previously told Fukushima, Sumire doesn't go after what she wants. She may be greatly effected by losing someone yet she won't ever go after them, which is part of why he has never truly left before. So what was really needed was for Sumire to go after Takeshi. Maybe not right way, but to show her calling him first, to visit him first, to finally show her feelings in actions and words while supporting and encouraging him from afar while he pursued his career goals. NOT just WAITING 3 years in stoic silence for him. And while eventually it shows that Sumire has received letters from Takeshi, there's no indication that's she's reciprocated in any way.
- And then after 3 years she actually goes to a performance of his in Japan but leaves flowers without trying to see him! WTF? So in the end Takeshi is the one who, yet again, has to come to her. Sure, she accepts him romantically this time, but her lack in character growth negatively impacted her worthiness of him, in my opinion. So the resolution was far less impactful, meaningful, and satisfying than it easily could have been otherwise. It felt like the writers wanted a specific final scene of them meeting in the rain and sacrificed character integrity while resorting to clichés to make it happen.
The amount of comfortable and very close skinship, cuddling and snuggling, hugging, and petting is maybe the highest of any show I've seen. And it is so cozy, comforting, heart-warming, and satisfying.
I loved how the dynamic between Sumire and Momo managed to be mostly balanced despite growing into codependency. They are both capable people yet they feel better when taking care of someone other than themselves and they feel more grounded when they are needed by somebody else. She needed him just as much as he wanted to be needed by her. Sumire is extremely bad at self-regulating her emotions and Takeshi is really good at helping her with that even though he's 10 years younger. The balance in their emotional maturity made their age gap a total non-issue.
Their master/pet relationship didn't come across as a power-play dynamic to me. There were moments where an imbalance of power would bubble up during arguments (with Sumire being the home owner) but that can happen with any couple.
This was so close to being a 9 out of 10, but the screenplay choices in the last couple episodes let me down in terms of character development and resolution. The ending was still moderately satisfying, the plot just gave into clichés at the end, which was disappointing and a waste of potential (further explained under the "specific spoilers" section at the bottom of my review).
The actors were great, especially Shishon Jun as Momo. He was also completely believable as a professional-level dancer.
FYI: Extra footage!
During the end credits of each episode there is a background video that is repeated and then a smaller box with scenes that change. At first, the small box shows repeated clips from that episode, but when the background video goes from the dog under to bedsheets to the drawer of shirts, the small box starts showing things unseen before! There's no audio, but it shows little snippets of scenes that could have happened to the characters in that episode that are otherwise unshown to the audience. There are some really cute and/or steamy-ish moments between Momo and Sumire that are fun to see as a little bonus.
SPECIFIC SPOILERS BELOW
My critique of the things that disappointed me in the last few episodes. (I had no other notable issues with the otherwise wonderful series.)
... ... ...
HASUMI & FUKUSHIMA:
I felt like saying Hasumi was "weak to seduction", like it was a character trait, was a bit of a cop-out. I think he was weak to being needed, just like every other main character was! And when Hasumi misses Fukushima and realizes how much he wants to be with her, I wish the screenplay had highlighted more than it did. There was repetition around her sexiness and big chest, her good cooking, and being weak, but I think there were more differences between her and Sumire that drew Hasumi in. Not only did Fukushima show vulnerability (often times faked or exaggerated as a seduction ploy), she showed Hasumi a wider range of emotions period! She showed excitement, happiness, eagerness, and desire to be with him. Hasumi could feel secure in her affection and be himself, instead of constantly and nervously trying to navigate the potential minefield of inscrutability that was Sumire. Fukushima allowed Hasumi to feel relaxed in a similar parallel to Momo and Sumire.
SUMIRE & MOMO / TAKESHI:
- I wish Sumire had at least made a decision to hold off on marriage to Hasumi and moving to Seoul, if not breaking up altogether, BEFORE she found out about him and Fukushima.
- The whole point of Takeshi not contacting Sumire first after he leaves is because, as he previously told Fukushima, Sumire doesn't go after what she wants. She may be greatly effected by losing someone yet she won't ever go after them, which is part of why he has never truly left before. So what was really needed was for Sumire to go after Takeshi. Maybe not right way, but to show her calling him first, to visit him first, to finally show her feelings in actions and words while supporting and encouraging him from afar while he pursued his career goals. NOT just WAITING 3 years in stoic silence for him. And while eventually it shows that Sumire has received letters from Takeshi, there's no indication that's she's reciprocated in any way.
- And then after 3 years she actually goes to a performance of his in Japan but leaves flowers without trying to see him! WTF? So in the end Takeshi is the one who, yet again, has to come to her. Sure, she accepts him romantically this time, but her lack in character growth negatively impacted her worthiness of him, in my opinion. So the resolution was far less impactful, meaningful, and satisfying than it easily could have been otherwise. It felt like the writers wanted a specific final scene of them meeting in the rain and sacrificed character integrity while resorting to clichés to make it happen.
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