I watched this drama on a whim, a bit shocked at its existence honestly. I have a bit to say about it, so keep your mind open as it might seem a bit harsh.
I thought this drama was great up until episode 6. First off, Hanata annoyed the living hell out of me. His character was so off putting, such an absolute douche bag that I hated the idea of Misaki and him being together. I also didn’t understand how the characters feelings switched around so much. Misaki loses feelings for Chiaki, gains feelings for Hanata, Chiaki “loses” feelings for his girlfriend and develops feelings for Misaki… it’s a whole mess. Some writing flaws are:
1. What would’ve been the big deal with telling Hanata he’s adopted to begin with? Is it really worth losing your damn restaurant over fear of the truth? Why did that one leathery looking man even want the restaurant so badly in the first place, that he’d blackmail and use violence to get it?
2. Why did Chiaki continue dating his girlfriend after developing feelings for Misaki? And how didn’t he catch on to her obvious feelings towards him in the first place when he claimed he could tell how she felt at all times one multiple occasions?
3. Why did Hanata wait so long to tell Misaki how he felt in the end? Why did he care to wait so long if he planned on pulling a stupid stunt and running to her at the airport only to call her stupid? Sorry I hate his character.
Anyways, I don’t know if this gives you any picture at all of what this show was.
It was a ton of dramatic scenes over petty, immature misunderstandings, a lot of verbal abuse on Hanata’s part that just felt pointless towards his character. His character could’ve been perceived by viewers as cold without the unnecessary rude dialogue. Misaki wasn’t unlikeable, but her character’s child-like mannerisms made me forget constantly that she was 26. This is a Jdrama, so exaggeration was expected, but her maturity in her patisserie position was completely different from her level of maturity outside of that. Touma was a wreck, but also a bit relatable to me until the very end when he valiantly decided to become a chef. I was happy for him I guess, it was heartwarming.
Chiaki was hot, but a bit… boring. His character wasn’t triggered by much, which made him likeable, but sometimes I just wanted him to beat Hanata’s dumbass. Literally hardly corrected Hanata even after he verbally bullied Misaki. I know the bullying was supposed to be motivated with good intentions, but was it seriously always that way? Hanata was a red flag man… I just hated that he got the girl.
Anyways, my review concludes with this. The acting was great, music great, cinematography great, story meh, characters meh… that’s all:)