Tokyo Tarareba Girls

Tokyo Tarareba Musume was the most entertaining drama I've watched in the last few months. I really enjoyed watching this drama. It was bright, funny, lighthearted, relatable and had a good ending (for the most part!). I could see myself and my two best friends in Rinko, Kaori and Koyuki. I believe that everyone makes goals for themselves in the back of their mind, especially for relationships. You may find yourself saying "this year for sure I'll meet someone nice and get a boyfriend!" but 3 years pass without any hope for the next one. It's during those times you rely on your friends to not only boost your mood but remind you that as long as you have them around, you'll be okay no matter what happens.

This drama shows us the power of friendship even when things get rough. At times, watching the characters got frustrating but this reminded me that each of us are different, and we come to different decisions based on our own experiences. I would never defend some of the questionable things the characters did, but hey that's drama for you. I couldn't stop watching to see what would happen next. Also, I love the fact that each of the main girls had careers they were proud to be in. Japan has seen an increase in young women working instead of quickly getting married and staying at home, so this is a positive example of such.

The cinematography is modern and fitting for the times (they mention the 2020 Olympics so it felt 'in the now' haha). The characters are usually in the Harajuku/Omotensando area for those who have been to Tokyo and love to see characters in places they have visited. The acting is good too, Rinko's character is the main protagonist and I liked how driven she was. Can't especially say the same for almost all male characters though. The chemistry between the 3 friends was A+. The music is also fun; the theme song is "Tokyo Girl" by Perfume. The CG effects are also pretty funny!

Finally, the title of the show is a fun play on words. 'Tara' and 'reba' are the grammatical endings used for conditional statements in Japanese, basically "what if". So, if you are looking for an enjoyable drama, don't ask 'what if', and just go for it! :)

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I don't know that I like this drama. I like the main characters and relate to their struggles with finding love and purpose and meaning in their lives. I like their friendship with each other and how loyal they are to one another and always there to lend a shoulder or an ear. And I inherently love stories that explore what it means to love and be in a relationship and all that juicy romantic stuff. It's just the story built around these characters and their friendship and their pursuit of love that could have been fleshed out better.

Rinko's story has the most substance to it and the most development. She's a rather immature character who spends most of the drama seeking the most shallow idea of love possible. Throughout the story, you find yourself feeling more and more frustrated with her childish, immature way of thinking and how many times she makes a decision only to change her mind at the last minute, because the truth is, she really doesn't know what she wants or what she's doing. But she does have a genuine story arch and experiences some real character growth, and by the end of the drama, you can tell that she's finally, genuinely trying to get it right. She really wants it this time, and she's doing everything the right way...and yet she still gets it wrong. Ooof, did I feel for her in that moment.

The other female leads stories were not nearly as engaging.

We have Kaori whose story arch starts off strong. She runs into her ex after having not seen him for years and swiftly finds herself engaging in an affair with him despite her better judgement. I will never approve of affairs as a matter of principle, but the storyline Makes Sense. There's history there, unresolved feelings, the question of what-if, and you can understand how Kaori would find herself in such a situation, even if you don't agree with her choices. But the storyline starts to fizzle out toward the end, and by the time the situation is resolved (and it's resolved in a mostly satisfactory way), you've kind of lost interest.

Then's there Koyuki. I feel like the writers got to Koyuki and were like 'Uhhh, we don't know what to do with this character, sooooooooo let's make her have an affair too!' Not only is her relationship with 'random guy' probably the most BORing relationship ever, but it feels so incredibly out of character for Koyuki to engage in an affair in the first place. She's the most headstrong, conscientious one of the three leads, and I was hoping for something more meaty and interesting for her character. Like maybe she meets a man who is disabled, and the people around her are all telling her not to be with him because of how difficult the relationship would be, but she defies them all and loves him anyway. Or maybe she decides to eschew love and marriage altogether and live out the rest of her life a single lady, because she's happy with things just the way they are. Either way, both of these options would have been better than what we ended up with. I honestly feel bad for her character, because she really does get the short end of the stick in terms of storyline.

But what really frustrates me with this drama is that none of the leads, with the exception of the main lead towards the end, take any real responsibility for their part in the situations they find themselves in. It takes two to tango (or to have an affair in the case of this drama), but neither of the girls involved in the affairs really take much accountability for their actions, and that's just about the most annoying thing ever.

You're probably wondering at this point in the review why I kept watching this drama if I found the female leads separate storylines so frustrating. Well, first and foremost, their friendship with each other is one of the best parts of the drama, and one of the things that kept me coming back. As annoying as it is to watch them make such silly decisions on repeat, it's equally delightful watching them together, chatting over food and drinks about the daily goings on of their lives. They're such a tight-knit group, so loyal to each other, and they just look like a lot of fun to be around.

I also really liked Rinko's two biggest potential romantic interests, KEY and Tetsuro. I was sad for Tetsuro at the end, because he came so close to getting the girl (and honestly is every bit deserving of her as any other guy, and might even be more suited to her, if we're being honest), but he ultimately found himself in second male lead land through no fault of his own, and I hope he's able to find his own happiness in the sequel drama coming out later this year.

As for KEY, a lot of people think he's mean or abusive or what-have you, but I have to disagree. Yeah, he could be kind of a jerk at times, poking his nose into the leads business and offering his unwanted opinions and being rather judgmental of them (although I can't totally fault him for that one considering how consistent these girls are in making stupid choices and then whining about it later), but he's certainly not this awful, abusive monster that a lot of people have made him out to be. His bark is definitely worse than his bite, and I personally was not opposed to him ending up with our female lead at the end.

My only complaint with KEY is that his tragic backstory...is that he married his high school teacher because she was dying to fulfill her last wish????? I'm not surprised to see this in a Japanese drama, because it's the sort of thing I would expect at this point in my drama viewing history, but I will never stop finding these sorts of plot lines ridiculous. I don't know much about marriage laws in Japan, and it may very well be legal for a teacher to marry their student, but I certainly don't find that particularly...copasetic. I also just find it pretty stupid, because how does marrying your student whom you are not in love with fulfill your dying wish of falling in love and getting married? Um, it doesn't. But it's a fortunately small part of the drama and was no more than an innocent friendship rather than romantic relationship, so I can overlook it.

Now, if you've read all of that above ^ and are thinking 'this girl didn't like this drama and probably won't watch the sequel'........I will most DEFinitely be watching the sequel, because as frustrating as this drama was, I also strangely enjoyed it. I know. I started this review saying I don't think I like this drama and then I ended the review saying I enjoyed it. I guess I'm as illogical and all over the place as the Tokyo Tarareba Girls, lol. But it's true. I've given this drama an 8 overall, because in spite of it's flaws and the frustration with characters decisions and there not being enough character and story development for two of the leads, I'm invested in these girls and want to see where they end up.

That and I had planned a trip to Japan this year during the Olympics myself that all fell apart (before the Covid stuff ever happened), and I guess I want to live vicariously through these characters a little bit.

So sue me, lol.

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