Revolutionary

I can't even put into words the importance of this drama not only to me as an aroace person but as a whole. I have never in main stream media seen an aroace character let alone two aroace characters explored and developed in such a beautiful and caring way. I could go into extensive detail on why this drama and representation is so important but the review would incredibly long so I'll try and keep it as short and sweet as possible.

The issues and also the joy in finding your aroace identity and living as an aroace in such an amatonormative world was explored so well in this drama. The exploration of Takahashi touch aversion has left me speechless, the way they handled it with such care. I've never seen touch aversion explored in the way that Koisenu Futari did and I think it will stay with me forever. One particular scene, which I won't go into detail due to spoilers, left such a massive impression on me and I think that's thanks to Takahashi Issei's portrayal and acting within the scene.

Everyone behind this drama went into it with such care and they handled everything so beautifully. You can tell that with how they explore even the hardest parts of finding and accepting your indentity and the reactions of those closest to you. It was hard to watch at times but it was necessary to see because so many aroaces experience the things that we see both Sakuko and Takahashi go through or even fear that they will go through that. So to see the hardest parts shown the way that Koisenu Futari showed us makes you realise that you're not so alone in your experiences and fears as you think you are.

What I loved about this drama the most was how I could see my own story reflected in both Sakuko and Takahashi depending on where in my aroace journey I was. I'm so grateful that this drama exists. Thank you to the writers, to the actors, to the producers, to everyone behind this drama for giving us this drama, for wanting to explore such an unrepresented identity and to do it with such love and care. This drama will stay with me forever.

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unexpected things happen in life one after the other

Do I think this drama should’ve been from the point of view of a trans man? Yes. 

Do I also understand that the issues this drama brings up more people would be willing to listen if it was portrayed through the eyes of a cisgender man? Sadly also yes.

I went into this drama very sceptical and had been sceptical about it ever since I read the plot description because storylines like this one almost always tread in transphobic waters. But I came out of this drama pleasantly surprised. The writers knew exactly what they were doing to grab people's attention, bringing awareness to topics that sadly society doesn't take seriously from pregnant people. The discussion on the idea of what "roles" men and women "should" take when it comes to having and raising a child was done brilliantly. Every member of the cast did an amazing job at portraying this story with such care.

The one thing I am a little disappointed on is after really the first episode the erasure and lack of mentioning of pregnant trans men and how they could most likely relate to a lot of the struggles and curiousity that we see multiple of the pregnant cis men go through within the drama. But other than that I did enjoy this drama and I think it did exactly what it was set out to do.

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this series is good if you disconnect it from the original series

I want to preface this review with I went into this knowing the outcome of who Haruta ended up with and as an avid Haruta/Maki shipper and as someone who loved Maki’s character as a whole in the original series. I was wary going into this series given how much I loved HaruMaki but I thought I’ll put my personal bias aside and give this ago (especially since I love Tanaka Kei and wanted to watch more of his dramas and this was one I hadn’t yet managed to watch, and I loved Haruta Soichi a lot in the first season as well).

In some aspects I do think this series was written better than the first season. I won’t lie and tell you that this series is not just a lot of the original series’s plot points reworked and rewritten to fit other characters, because it is pretty much is a lot of that. But I feel In The Sky for the most part does better and/or improves those plot points that we see in the original series.

Something that In The Sky did better than the original series was the bonds between the workers, they felt like a family, something I felt didn’t exist as much within the first season. Kurosawa’s character as a whole I believe was written so much better within In The Sky, he’s less intolerable and stalkerish and I found this a nice improvement.

As much as I feel like this series does improve on certain aspects it does lack something that the original season has and I think it’s the bond between Haruta and the person he ends up with. As much as I didn’t despise the ending (which given by the comments I read I thought I would) it did still feel like it came out of nowhere. I have a lot more to say about this, which I have written down but it's very spoilery so I'll keep it out of this review.

This series is good if you disconnect it from the original series, it’s enjoyable, it has the same humour that the original series has but it felt like something was missing and that was Maki. I loved the new characters I really did but it would’ve been nice to see this AU with Maki in it because his presence was what was missing, him being there next to Haruta was what was missing. Even though Kurosawa was there it felt like no one really was on Haruta’s side. Overall though I still did really enjoy this series.

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A nice short drama to pass the time

If you want a not so serious short drama and you don't mind older man/younger woman with a lot of kissing, romantic scenes, & somewhat mild sexual scenes to pass the time then I recommend this drama.

I went into this drama for Kiriyama Renn and I came out loving all of the characters & cast. I found myself laughing out loud at times and I loved how even when there were misunderstandings the characters communicated well especially Kei & Momo.

[ SPOILERS FROM HERE ON ]

Even though their relationship was kept secret for most of the drama I loved how the two of them cared for each other, both at their place of work and at home. They really became better people when they were together. You have two very different people that in any other circumstance they probably wouldn't have met let alone fall in love and you get see their love story beautifully play out and how they grow as a couple and as individuals.

The chemistry the whole cast had with each other was great, I loved every dynamic that we saw on the screen and I found myself looking forward to each episode. I will miss not having a new episode a week to watch I'm not going to lie.

My only really complaints are I wish the final episode didn't feel too rushed but I'm used to that when it comes to dramas so I'm not overly fussed about it. Also I wish Fukami Yu & Sagara Junpei's storylines were wrapped up a little better because I feel like they focused more on giving Momo & Kei's relationship more of a conclusion as well as solving the conflict with Kei's step mum, which is fine I just feel like maybe one more episode could've given those characters a somewhat conclusion (especially since there were 2 special episodes that were mostly recaps). So it kind of felt like their characters and their storylines were somewhat forgotten about but it is what it is.

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What can I say? I just really enjoyed it

Is this drama the greatest drama out there? No. But unironically I just really enjoyed it. I looked forward to thursdays because I had this silly (affectionate) little drama that made me happy once a week.

I went into it with no expectations, knowing not really much about it and when I saw Viki had picked it up I thought why not give it ago (especially since it's very rare for Japanese dramas to get picked up by a streaming service in my country) and I'm glad I did because I found this special little drama. It gave me a similar feeling I felt when I watched Prince of Legend but there was something about this drama that personally I liked just a little bit more.

I really love the message that appearance isn't everything. That kindness can be something that makes you "cool". Ryoma became a character I really came to love because of his kindness and the way he cared so much about those around him. I loved how each of the "traditionally attractive" cool boys all had different and interesting sides to them and we got to explore their stories outside of their appearance/being a cool boy. I loved the bonds that they had formed with each other by the end.

If you're looking for something fun to watch, something to pass the time, something that doesn't take itself seriously I totally recommend this drama!

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this drama made me feel warm

This drama is a simple one and it's one with short episodes and yet I felt so warm whilst watching it, there are no major conflicts like you get in most dramas so it was a very easy watch & even though there was no major drama I didn't find myself ever getting bored. The acting felt so natural at times that it felt like I was sitting in the room with them, there was something just really special about this drama, in some sense the warmth that this drama gives off feels like home. I really loved how the cooking and music elements played out in this drama, it's sad that it was so short but I think that's also part of what made it so special.

I didn't expect to get so emotional in the final episode but it was beautiful, well acted, and the moment the final studio version of goodbye not goodbye played in the background I was a sobbing mess (I say this like I wasn't already sobbing before but shh). It wasn't even sad per se it was like the song says itself goodbye not goodbye, a beautiful bitter sweet ending that makes me wish there was more.

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"Beauty is something you create"

This drama truly was something special and the beautiful messages it conveyed almost every episode made it easily become one of my favourites.

I went into this mainly because I'm a fan of both Kamio Fuju and Itagaki Mizuki and I was excited to see that the two of them were in a drama together so I went in not really knowing anything about it other than that it was something relating to a pageant. But Black Cinderella is so much more than that, it's about dreams, it's about self confidence, it's about friendship, it's about love, and of course it's about beauty.

This drama made me laugh out loud, it made me cry, it made me experience so many different emotions and I'm so glad that I took the time to watch it. Riko did an amazing job at portraying Manaha and her story to the point that I was incredibly surprised to find out this is only her second main role in a tv drama.

"Even mistakes and places with scratches become beautiful depending on the person, and their point of view" this truly is the moral of the drama, beauty is the eye of the beholder and we see multiple of our characters struggle with that and their views on perfection and it's done so beautifully.

I was really was proud to see Manaha's development shine through in the final episode. She was her true, raw, honest self and Riko did a wonderful job at portraying the journey that Manaha had been through to get to those final moments.

The way they brought in the Cinderella aspects was such a nice refreshing change to what we usually see when it comes to stories inspired by Cinderella, there's just so much I loved about this drama that I could go on forever. If you're thinking about watching this please do I really do recommend it.

The only reason I couldn't give this a full 10 as much as I really wanted too was because Yuri got so insufferable at times that it did infuriate me a bit too much.

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