Iine! Hikari Genji-kun (2020)

" Liked! Hikaru Genji-kun " was a fun ride.

The drama had many solid funny moments and the comedy element was well handled. The romance was subtle, but the pace was a bit too slow for the length of the drama and thus, it was underdeveloped. Still, as the drama focused more on the comedy element, the love story can be excused. The relationships between the characters were, overall, well established as friends and family and they were all adorable. However, the ending, with the conclusion of the mystery about the time travel, as not well managed and it was sloppily ended. That is why, even though they were doing well with the fantasy element, in the end, they just rushed to the end without properly explaining things.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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I picked this up because I found the premise interesting and most of all because I'm a fan of Ito Sairi, whom I find both a very good actress and a beautiful woman - though I understand that whereas *subjectively* I find her very attractive, probably *objectively* she isn't considered a beauty in Japan...therefore the fact that her appearance was constantly belittled in the dorama, though annoying and even insulting as I have felt it, still wasn't enough to completely inhibit my "suspension of disbelief" - as anyone who has read a little about literature/theater/cinema/scriptwriting surely knows, a *vital* process in the consumption of fiction. Unfortunately, the ML instead made the afore-mentioned "suspension of disbelief" absolutely impossible for me, considered that the viewer is supposed to believe he's a playboy and skirt-chaser from the Heian Period, while the guy - sorry to be so blunt - doesn't have an ounce of manliness in him; not in the way he looks (those Bambi eyes, those constantly pouting lips, those puffy cheeks...everything screams "pre-school kid" to me!), not in the way he moves (gestures, body language etc.). Adding insult to injury, the interesting premise wasn't actually developed, making it a missed opportunity as far as I'm concerned. What a waste of Ito Sairi's talent! p.s. I liked the opening credits song, though!

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