305
707
142
13
18
20
13
3
10
35
6
16
1
2
25
45
2
12
10
3
5
6
3
6
10
1
3
4
9
23
20
41
This review may contain spoilers
The standards are in hell.
If you ask me, this is a borderline pedo fantasy - making Risa legally old enough there is no issue, while also making her mentally a toddler. She was beyond childish, innocent and naive, she was written to act like a child. This is a juvenile acid dream. I’m giving one star for Sakurada Dori and half star for how ridiculously entertained I was while ranting about this drama. That’s it.
Risa was just painful to watch. Someone could stab her with a knife and she would apologize to them. She was tested and threatened with sexual assault, and she thanked the person who did that. Girl was threatened with sexual assault but 80% of men in this show, and she stayed friends with them, because why not. Why did she have a mentally of someone who has been in an abusive relationship for the past 76 reincarnation cycles? She had no individual thought in her brain. Whatever someone said, she internalized it so hard. It was sad. And she had no concept of boundaries. Honestly, isn't this drama offensive for people who live in the countryside? Because this is how they excused and explained her behavior - she was dumb, innocent and knew nothing, because she was from the countryside.
The thing is, the drama was not even subtle at selling “child-adult” like romance, with Risa saying things like "I'm not cute. I'm just a kid". No, you are a grown up woman, the infantilization was wild. "Don't grow up so quickly" - WHAT DO YOU MEAN? She grew, she is an adult, she is not a child. Why would a grown up man want his partner to stay in that toddler like mentality, unless he has some pdf preferences? She said she wants to learn to be more independent and mature, and he went: nah. And there are more lines like that. Ride be saying “If this goes on, I’ll always remain as a child.” YOU ARE NOT A CHILD!
It did not help that often her reactions were framed as "overrelations" (don’t get me wrong, she did panic about most basic and random shit), but the whole concept and all the plot lines were not normal in the first place. There is no normal reaction for this abnormal situation. And they keep drilling into my head how much she needs him with lines like "I realized after being apart from you... That I'm too useless when you aren't with me" Baby girl, you were useless when he was around too.
And I kept being reminded how inexperienced she is. "Fukami-san you are too skilled" she said after he kissed you like he was possessed by a teen spirit of Park Shin Hye.
There was one thing I agreed on with Fukami Hiroto though: "When I'm with you, I become absentminded" - same. She was draining all the working neurons out of my brain. The drama tried to make me believe he changed for her and became more human-like, but only for Risa... but what do you mean? He did not behave like a normal human being with her either. But then did anyone in the show act like a real person? I still cannot move on from Risa’s bestie wanting to borrow Hiroto and then go on a threesome date with them, to try to steal him.
As for their romance, every episode I kept asking myself - so why do they love each other? Throughout the whole drama they did not have one proper conversation. We had it all in just one episode - holding hands, hugs, kisses, devil’s tango - BUT NOT ONE PROPER CONVERSATION. They kept saying things, proclaiming undying love and I kept screaming “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”. This was the most empty superficial love story on the planet of the Earth... and honestly any other planet in the whole universe. I still don't really know what they loved about each other.
I love some good age gap relationships in dramas, they often bring more realistic and well explored conflicts between the couple. The age gap was not the issue. The mental development was. She was in her 20s, he was in his 30s, maturity and experience wise, she was in her 10s. There were so many moments that were just framed in such a weird way. Example: her trying black coffee and acting as if the guy is trying to make her take hard drugs - I thought she might get a panic attack from the stress of it all.
Then we have some of the most ridiculous love rivalries ever. Tsubasa Yoshiki argues that Fukami Hiroto has no claim over Rise, because he did not know her that long… when in fact we know they literally saw/met her and got interested in her on the same day, maybe 30 minutes apart if I’m being generous. Not that it matters - you can know and love someone for years, it does not mean shit. Then we had a frenemy CEO who sexually harassed her, a stalker who sexually harassed her, and an ML’s assistant who sexually harassed her. You see the pattern right?
I don’t even want to talk about how every man in this drama got interested in Risa, because of her looking like a scared and shy child. Or how there was not one normal and healthy relationship of any kind - romantic, platonic or familial.
Production wise it was not any better. I still remember the make over compilation, where for some strange reason they decided to make the background keep matching the color of her outfit, so you could not really see much of how she looks - everything blended too well. Or how in the same scene, different angles our male lead would be shirtless in one shot, another angle long sleeve shirt - same bed, same moment.. Who cares about the continuity. Placement of the music? Wild. What was that euro summer club party from 2010s music during the attack and rescue scene?
Acting wise I truly have no thought. This is not the writing that could have been saved by performances. Risa was supposed to have one “scared and shy” face, Sakurada Dori was just supposed to look hot. That’s it. I can hear the directors suggestions just stating “male lead needs to be hot, female lead needs to act toddler”.
Overall, I am just left with one question - who the heck is the target audience for stuff like that?
Risa was just painful to watch. Someone could stab her with a knife and she would apologize to them. She was tested and threatened with sexual assault, and she thanked the person who did that. Girl was threatened with sexual assault but 80% of men in this show, and she stayed friends with them, because why not. Why did she have a mentally of someone who has been in an abusive relationship for the past 76 reincarnation cycles? She had no individual thought in her brain. Whatever someone said, she internalized it so hard. It was sad. And she had no concept of boundaries. Honestly, isn't this drama offensive for people who live in the countryside? Because this is how they excused and explained her behavior - she was dumb, innocent and knew nothing, because she was from the countryside.
The thing is, the drama was not even subtle at selling “child-adult” like romance, with Risa saying things like "I'm not cute. I'm just a kid". No, you are a grown up woman, the infantilization was wild. "Don't grow up so quickly" - WHAT DO YOU MEAN? She grew, she is an adult, she is not a child. Why would a grown up man want his partner to stay in that toddler like mentality, unless he has some pdf preferences? She said she wants to learn to be more independent and mature, and he went: nah. And there are more lines like that. Ride be saying “If this goes on, I’ll always remain as a child.” YOU ARE NOT A CHILD!
It did not help that often her reactions were framed as "overrelations" (don’t get me wrong, she did panic about most basic and random shit), but the whole concept and all the plot lines were not normal in the first place. There is no normal reaction for this abnormal situation. And they keep drilling into my head how much she needs him with lines like "I realized after being apart from you... That I'm too useless when you aren't with me" Baby girl, you were useless when he was around too.
And I kept being reminded how inexperienced she is. "Fukami-san you are too skilled" she said after he kissed you like he was possessed by a teen spirit of Park Shin Hye.
There was one thing I agreed on with Fukami Hiroto though: "When I'm with you, I become absentminded" - same. She was draining all the working neurons out of my brain. The drama tried to make me believe he changed for her and became more human-like, but only for Risa... but what do you mean? He did not behave like a normal human being with her either. But then did anyone in the show act like a real person? I still cannot move on from Risa’s bestie wanting to borrow Hiroto and then go on a threesome date with them, to try to steal him.
As for their romance, every episode I kept asking myself - so why do they love each other? Throughout the whole drama they did not have one proper conversation. We had it all in just one episode - holding hands, hugs, kisses, devil’s tango - BUT NOT ONE PROPER CONVERSATION. They kept saying things, proclaiming undying love and I kept screaming “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”. This was the most empty superficial love story on the planet of the Earth... and honestly any other planet in the whole universe. I still don't really know what they loved about each other.
I love some good age gap relationships in dramas, they often bring more realistic and well explored conflicts between the couple. The age gap was not the issue. The mental development was. She was in her 20s, he was in his 30s, maturity and experience wise, she was in her 10s. There were so many moments that were just framed in such a weird way. Example: her trying black coffee and acting as if the guy is trying to make her take hard drugs - I thought she might get a panic attack from the stress of it all.
Then we have some of the most ridiculous love rivalries ever. Tsubasa Yoshiki argues that Fukami Hiroto has no claim over Rise, because he did not know her that long… when in fact we know they literally saw/met her and got interested in her on the same day, maybe 30 minutes apart if I’m being generous. Not that it matters - you can know and love someone for years, it does not mean shit. Then we had a frenemy CEO who sexually harassed her, a stalker who sexually harassed her, and an ML’s assistant who sexually harassed her. You see the pattern right?
I don’t even want to talk about how every man in this drama got interested in Risa, because of her looking like a scared and shy child. Or how there was not one normal and healthy relationship of any kind - romantic, platonic or familial.
Production wise it was not any better. I still remember the make over compilation, where for some strange reason they decided to make the background keep matching the color of her outfit, so you could not really see much of how she looks - everything blended too well. Or how in the same scene, different angles our male lead would be shirtless in one shot, another angle long sleeve shirt - same bed, same moment.. Who cares about the continuity. Placement of the music? Wild. What was that euro summer club party from 2010s music during the attack and rescue scene?
Acting wise I truly have no thought. This is not the writing that could have been saved by performances. Risa was supposed to have one “scared and shy” face, Sakurada Dori was just supposed to look hot. That’s it. I can hear the directors suggestions just stating “male lead needs to be hot, female lead needs to act toddler”.
Overall, I am just left with one question - who the heck is the target audience for stuff like that?
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