I see this drama as Hotaru no Hikari with a sprinkle of Nodame Cantabile. There's the same sort of chemistry between the leads as in both but, unlike Hotaru no Hikari, I didn't find the lead unbelieving silly but, more like Nodame, just too kind, which some people look down on or take advantage of. When you see her for the first time, you think it's probably going to be a drama going around in circles but it's actually very direct. Kyoko Fukada is so versatile you don't know what you're going to find with her; her character, though too kind for her own good, is also very honest. Let me tell you, for a drama like this, that's actually refreshing.
But what I liked the most about this drama and the main reason I'm actually writing a review is the following: this is a romantic drama with love triangles and unrequited feelings in which none of the involved ladies take it on each other. They're not resentful, not vindictive and actually talk to each other about things other than the men in question. Heck, I even liked the relationship between the lead and her co-workers, which got developed from cliches that may have been unnecessary to something more realistic and interesting. There's a lot of ladies standing up for each other in this, I don't know if that's a merit of the manga which this is based of or not but hey, I'm so grateful.
All in all, I was faced with situations in which I thought the drama was intending to go towards a cliche and there it was, doing something else (especially with Shohei Miura's character). It's not devoid of cliches, mind you, there's a stern cold-seeming male lead saving a heartwarming cutesy female lead, but there's a lot in between I found absolutely worthy of my time.
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So where do I get a meat pillow? This is what I want to know....
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When I started watching this, I simply had to put aside everything else out of my way (including sleep!) just to finish this drama. Aside that, I also decided to edit the subs (which the last time I did so was in 2010) for better quality version and timing for my mom and cousins whom I'm going to share this drama with. I did it all for the sake of sharing the love of this cute dorama, that's how much I got hooked with it.
Truth be told, the drama was full of cliché and since it was basically adapted from a manga... well… for the shoujou manga fans, you know how romance can get out of hand in comic books. For those who don't have any idea, you might want to try reading the manga to understand. However, what sets this drama aside from all the other cliched ones, for me, are the following:
- It's light.
- Easy to watch
- Heartwarming
It reminded me on why I got addicted to watching Jdramas in the first place. I enjoyed them for the short series episodes, simple story line and its uncomplicated humor. It's a mix of all the elements I was looking for a Rom-Com. No politics or heavy conflicts mixed into the drama which really worked well for me.
This is also the first drama I have seen Fujioki Dean act in and I was smitten with the way he spoke in English and Mandarin. I don’t know how his accent for Chinese was, but for his English it was perfect. Undoubtedly, it was given that he'd have a perfect American accent because he did grow up and study in USA. But that aside, I love how charismatic he was as “Shunin”, he was exuding the aura of an irritable middle aged guy but has a heart of a lost puppy (just saying). On the other hand, Fukada Kyoko is another story. I’ve seen her in the drama “Last Friends” a Japanese-Korean drama collaboration which also starred Won Bin. She looked so different from that drama in comparison to this one because she looks younger! Very unbelievable, but thanks to advanced cosmetic technology, it was very much possible. Now she looked a bit like Miyazaki Aoi which was a bit disturbing. Other than that, her acting has improved as well, so it’s quite cool that she came a long way as an actress.
The OST for this drama was done by Aiko and oh how much I’ve missed her voice. As always, she never disappoints, her cute voice suddenly popping out in those sweet or crucial moments throughout the drama leaves an aftertaste of good feels. I might be re-watching this soon in the future when drama drought comes in, but for now, I'm savoring the memory of fluff.
Over all this drama is a fun watch, it won’t leave you heated up or annoyed. Recommending this to all those Jdrama fans who loves to watch Romantic Comedies with lots of cute stuff and good vibes.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Constant Insults Equals Love, Apparently.
General spoilers only. Not sweet to me. The ML calls the FL an idiot, stupid, useless, hopeless, incompetent, a hag, etc throughout the ENTIRE show. He insults, demeans, and belittles. He shouts at her and berates her when she asks for help. He has a very small character arc at the end that was not enough to redeem him in my eyes.The SML, however, was sweet, sincere in his interest, earnest in his love, encouraging, supportive, and accepting. The FL even says he made the world seem like it could be a nicer place!
It was so frustrating that the FL instead fell for the emotional abuse with crumbs of care (and cooked meals) that the ML dished out. It seems love is through the stomach after all (sarcasm). A lot of the FL's insecurities even stemmed from how the ML treated her at their previous job when she was a subordinate that he was nasty to. His excuse for treating her like sh*t is that he was unhappy forcing himself to work at a job he didn't like but was good at. Poor him (sarcasm). I don’t think that justifies the extent to which he behaved badly.
At least the FL grows a bit of a backbone and starts bickering back to the ML. I didn't feel romantic chemistry from that however.
I kept waiting for a turning point in the ML's behavior and an increase in romance, but the change was miniscule. The few kisses were dead-fish-kisses and one of them was 100% non-consentual (FL kissed ML while he was sleeping, which I find creepy).
This felt unsatisfying and a waste of time; I wish I had dropped it partway through instead of hoping for improvements in character growth that never came. The actors did a good job with what they were given, I just really disliked how the screenplay was written.
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Anyway, this was a cute drama. Pure fluff and just what I was looking for after crying my eyes out from some of the more serious options available. I did enjoy the storyline however predictable it was because- let's be honest with each other for a second- if you want to watch this drama its likely for its sappy, syrupy goodness. There are a lot of romantic entanglements in this drama but nothing too serious and you get used to it after a while.
The main female lead was a bit of a push over. The main male lead a bit emotionally cut off. Some reviewers said that they didn't really feel the chemistry between the two leads. While I agree that it appears the two have nothing but friendship between them in the beginning, I did catch a few of their sparks. This isn't a fireworks type of love. The fire builds slowly and just when you think you'll finally get the big pay off (I.E. kiss) you find yourself disappointed. There are kisses but nothing to write home about. This is Please Love The Useless Me's major drawback. However, I'm a sucker for a couple that squabbles cutely with each other so I don't really mind the lack of fireworks.
Overall the story is about our main female lead's debilitating "nice girl" personality and general "uselessness" that gets her into all kinds of trouble. She grows as a person because of emotionally distant Ayumu who can't help but look out for her- for a price. He offers her room and board, free food, and a place to stay. However, she must work for him and call him "master". She in turn lands her dream job, begins an awesome relationship, and stops making stupid mistakes because of Ayumu's backhanded compliments and kindness (often disguised in the forms of errands just to torture her etc). She finds herself in debt to him but also slowly (slooooooowly) falling in love with him. It's a cute story and the acting is ok. I wouldn't mind having Dean cook homemade meals from scratch for me every day. A girl can dream....
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In the beginning, I thought that just Shibata and Shunin were going to have importance to history. But all of them was important!
Akira, Haruko and Mogami-kun were very insteresting characters, with a lot of personality. Mogami-kun also was really cute and I felt in love with him.
In the other hand, Shunin and Shibata had a lot of chemistry.
The soundtrack was amazing!!
I would to like to watch this drama again!
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This review may contain spoilers
I'm still somewhat new to Jdrama's, as I've only been truly seeking them out often to watch for two or three years now. But wrapping my head around the fact that this drama was made in the same year as We Married as a Job (Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu) really throws me for a loop. We Married as a Job is one of my favorite dramas of all time. It's stellarly written and paced with an absolutely charming and sweet and thoughtful romance. And it is so incredibly different from Please Love the Useless Me. We Married as a Job feels modern and current while Please Love the Useless Me feels old-school and a bit dated. And yet, something about Please Love the Useless Me charmed me. Do I think they spent too long on the second male lead love interest when they weren't actually going to end up together? Yes. Did they forget to spend much if any time at all developing a romance between the leads? Yes. Did I find the constant focus on treating virginity as something to be embarrassed of and done away with forthwith and oh no! she has yellow panties! annoying??? Absolutely yes. (Don't get me started about the panties.)The story is quite flawed and silly. But still...I enjoyed it, lol.
A lot of people are going to call the male lead a jerk, and they're not exactly wrong. He says rude things. But I do think a lot of people misunderstand just what kind of jerk he is. It seemed kind of obvious to me that the intention with his character was for him to come across as rough around the edges (because of his high school days as a Yanki), and he's probably that way with everyone, but it comes from a well-meaning place. Unfortunately, Dean Fujioka just does not look the part of a reformed but still a little rough Yanki, and I don't think his acting really sold that aspect of his character either. But...it's Dean Fujioka, so I kind of have to give him a pass, lol.
An equal number of people are going to dislike the female lead, because she comes across as dumb and too self-sacrificing and too insecure. But I don't need my female leads to be super-smart, I like characters who are self-sacrificial, and I relate to characters that are insecure and struggle with figuring out whether someone is trustworthy or not. She's clearly not wise in who she chooses to trust, but she wants the best for others, and I love that. I connected with her on an emotional level, and that matters to me most in my drama female leads. She also consistently gives it back to the male lead any time he's rude or dismissive, which I liked.
I read in the MDL comments that they cut out all of the romantic bits from the original manga, which is frustrating. The story needed some actual romance between our leads. We get plenty of shots of both of them looking at each other, shots that are obviously intended to convey that they have feelings for each other. They also do nice things for each other throughout the series. But we get way more insight into the female lead's feelings than we do the leads, and apart from the looks and some nice gestures, there is essentially no romance. They also apparently killed off the brother in the drama. I can't fathom why that decision was made, but if I find out it was so they could create the male leads crush on his brother's widow, I'm gonna be irritated. That's probably my least favorite part of the drama.
Given what I read in the comments about the original manga and the way this drama still managed to charm me without it really deserving to, I really want to read the manga now. While I got enjoyment out of the drama, it would be nice to read a version where there's actually some romance.
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