Strawberry Night Saga (2019)

I just wish I liked Himekawa better. I don't know if it's the fault of the actress or just the way the character is designed, but somehow I don't think that her benefactress intended her to be that messed up as an adult. My guess is that therapy isn't really a thing in Japan, or if it is, it's discouraged instead of encouraged, but she would have definitely benefited from years of therapy. At least then she would have been able to move on from her pain instead of clinging to it so sharply and letting it feed her.

The show overall, in terms of episodic plots, is pretty good. Episodes 7-9 nearly lost me with the whole yakuza thing, probably because I would never fall in love with a yakuza, especially not one played by that actor. But the rest of the episodes, I thought were very compelling. The issue still stands of casting Kamenashi in a role without giving him a lot to do other than stand around silently supporting the female lead. That's not enough, imo. In terms of giving him more to do, Red Eyes is a better choice.

What I can say is that the drama was well-performed, very intense, and for those who don't mind the revenge-filled female psyche, would probably be an awesome choice. Sometimes I totally get characters like her and other times, not at all, as in this case. But that doesn't mean the drama wasn't worth my time. I just know that I'll never rewatch it.

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