Haru ga Kita (2018)

Haru ga Kita is a 5-episode light drama from WOWOW which imports a popular K-pop bandmember to lead his first Japanese drama. Starring Kuroshina Kana and EXOs' Kai, the show tells the tale of a Korean photographer and a shy undergarments staff named Naoko (Kurashina) who develop feelings for each other.

While the story is generic (guy meets girl, falls in love, encounters challenges, etc), there are certain twists and turns that will keep the viewers glued. What works here is the on-screen chemistry between the lead. I don't watch Korean drama simply because I write Japanese movie/drama reviews exclusively. I just had to grant the request of my twin sister who also enjoyed the show as I did.

The use of silence here and how 'awkward' the two actors are - in many of their scenes - is deliberate and intentional. Unless you expect everything to be automatic or 'logical' you may not enjoy the show. Perhaps if you're an avid fan of the Kpop member you may justify everything to be fine. That makes this show particularly good because not everything is what it seems. Kuroshina is a veteran Japanese actress who did plenty of supporting characters in her career. She was excellent in the two-part March Comes In Like a Lion LA, sharing scenes with one of Japan's foremost young actors, Kamiki Ryunosuke. In this drama, she's a 31-year old shy, vulnerable and no-confident woman who never had the chance to experience love until now.

Kai, who is first and foremost a performer, is surprisingly and convincingly good as a first-time actor in a Japanese show. Unlike some of the Korean dramas I saw, which rely heavily on impressive production values, special effects, and music, Haru ga Kita has a simplistic yet effective approach. This style suits Kai quite well because he manages to put on a character which is slowly revealed as the drama progresses. A Japanese actor, Fukushi Sota, has an uncanny similarity to this EXO band member, yet Kai is the better actor. He's not a deadfisheye at all.

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Haru ga Kita started off great. The plot line seemed somewhat fresh, exciting and very promising. I could've dropped this series after 3 episodes because I started to dislike it, however, I though that since Kai is so damn gorgeous, I just needed to finish those last episodes. Also, this drama was a lovely Japanese-Korean collaboration, which I seriously loved! Kai speaking Japanese? Very attractive. The chemistry between the main couple? Not so much. The female lead drove me absolutely nuts in a bad way. I hate when the main female character is weak and doesn't leave a strong impression. What I loved though was that the side characters were illustrated beautifully, each with their own unique story. Music didn't play a huge part in this series, so I don't have much to say about it. Overall, this review is short and simple just because the drama was, how to call it, kind of "meh". If you want to take a break from watching a long series, then maybe this will be the refreshment drama for you, since it's only 5 episodes. If you're here for Kai, definitely watch it because HANDSOME ALERT. But anyway, with so little time, look for a more promising short drama out there.

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