Sensitive and educational
I'm just really happy to come across with this drama, thanks to a user here on the feeds (it was a while ago), I've decided to watch it this week-end. One of my best and favorite (japanese) drama ever! I even wished I'd watched it at the same age as the teenage girls but the time it was released, I was already in my twenties. But it's still useful, a nice introduction to sex education.The development of the plot was really nice and interesting to follow along.
It tackles diverse topics despite being a short drama, but maybe I'm a bit nitpicky, some elements could be done before or some details should be more added but it's my personal opinion. Also, the small "negative" point is that, as I'm not fluent in Japanese, I don't even understand it apart some typical sentences or words, I might missed important and interesting messages. It's still very informative enough.
I really love the friendship, despite having different personality, the girls can communicate well and understand each other. It's funny that they even dare to talk about "taboo" topics at a public restaurant but why not lol
It's endearing and nice after all, to follow each characters, everyone, the story till the end.
Bonus: I also liked the editing of the intro and outro
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This review may contain spoilers
Enlightening and fun exploration
When I first encountered this drama, I wasn't expecting much out of it. The trailer and the description didn't get me interested and I watched this one out of boredom and to kill time that I had. Nonetheless, this one is a gem in the rough for me. I never thought that I would love this to an extent.First of all, the topic about sex, sexuality, and beyond romances are quite messy and embarrassing. It has became a norm that such conversations are treated with malice, somehow sacred, and been shoved into the a treasure chest that ends up sinking into the depths of the ocean. With the growing curiosity of young adults these days, it is crucial to let them be brave enough to come forward and not be ashamed of opening such topics to older adults for them to be properly guided and safely seek out the truth within. The fact that the main leads of this drama are not scared enough to talk about things in a diner (a public place) is a great visualization of how common and open these topics should be in the first place.
The visualization and concepts used for this drama are also jaw-dropping. I never expected them to tackle masturbation for women. It has become a common knowledge that the act is usually done by men but sort of unexpected for women. I love how they showed here that both genders have needs and that they are associated to health. They also showed how women tends to be more indulged into the pleasure of it than men does, which is quite refreshing to see, knowing how people tend to box genders with proper conduct and manners. Masturbation is not a bad thing at all, and it is clearly shown here in a digestible manner.
They also tackled a situation where a young adult became pregnant before graduating. The fears, worries, and discrimination that teenage pregnancy experiences were clearly shown here as well. It is quite heartbreaking that this happens a lot within our society and it is often depicted as a major disappointment. Yet this was only a result of misguided and strict approach towards explorations of sex and sexuality. It is great to also know that there are a lot of ways in how to deal with the situation without degrading the young parents who made a mistake.
I don't know much about the other sexuality types but they had some conversations about them in here too. I went along and enjoyed how they explored the topics of LGBT+++ communities and how they differ to one another. I think I might indulge myself about them some other time as I find them quite interesting too. I did come across before an Asexual spectrum term "Demisexual and Demiromantic" as some of my friends defined this to be my closest sexuality. I am not too sure and I didn't really dive into it about it that much yet but I might try to learn about it soon.
Overall, this drama gave me a refreshing food for thought about commonly unapproached and unexplored topic, sex and sexuality. This drama shows how progressive the minds of people are and how they are not afraid to question the norms and societal standards anymore. I really love this and would recommend this to young people who are afraid to ask initially, to somehow give them a boost and let them be curious while they still want and can.
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Knowledge equals protection
If you are looking for a good sex ed course, you have found it! Frankly, this drama should be an obligatory watch for all teenagers and their parents.What comes out here is the total lack of communication between the kids and the adults be it at home or in school. The adults expect the blind obeissance from the kids who need answers to their questions about life and are not getting them. So they just stumble blindly in the dark, hoping to guess the answer by trial and error. But in this case, the errors can be life changing!
This drama tells the story of three 17 yr old girls on the bring of adulthood but still so ignorant about life. They do not get the knowledge they need from adults, so they confide in each other and try to figure things out.
Sakura is an ordinary girl who feels pressured by articles saying the average age for the first sex experience is when you are 17.3 yrs old. Supported by her two friends she goes to her boyfriends house but bolts at the last minute. He makes fun of her in school so she hides in the biology lab where she meets Yu who confirms to her that she was right to do what she did. She also has an apparently close minded mother difficult to talk to.
Yuna is the sexually active teen, having already had 5 boyfriends the last of whom gave her an STD. She falls afterwards for a handsome boy who is actually a virgin and has no idea what to do.
Tsumugi is a quiet, studious girl not interested in love or dating and confused about her feelings. She is brought up by single father and is convinced he does not care about her but just sees her as a woman who needs to get married and have kids to be happy.
Luckily for them, there is the no nonsense biology teacher who gives them guidance they need.
The characters are a bit of cliché but they serve as examples and they were ultimately well presented. My favourite was Asahi Yu, a smart boy who doesn't are what others think of him (which is so unusual amongst teenagers who live for the likes from others). He is instrumental in helping the girls come out of their confusion.
It seems that this series tackles every problem involving sex a teenager might encounter: the first experience, peer pressure, gender, pregnancy, protection ...and they are all well explained through the stories of these three girls and their friends. They stresses the importance of education and communication.
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It is refreshing to see how the three friends differ in their outlook on love, lust, and beyond. While some are shy, they still communicate their concerns and thoughts to each other, albeit ironically, in a very public restaurant.
I find this drama highly entertaining and educational without being preachy. It’s certainly hilarious how things kept falling out of Sakura’s bag, and how shocked she is at finding things she deemed “dirty” are actually a normal part of human sexuality. I am stanning also for the ace and bi rep, especially after both Tsumugi’s and Yu’s speech.
Even with only nine brief episodes, this drama thoroughly explores everything related to sex, including, but not limited to pregnancy, birth control, consent, periods, etc. The show thoroughly examines these subjects and handles them honestly, without disguising the truth. It certainly is a progressive approach to education in an Asian country, mostly perpetuated by conservative principles.
And as one teacher suggested, it is important for schools to provide proper sex education so that students can make informed decisions and not make assumptions about sex. Highly recommend this drama as it dispels the misconceptions and myth about sex.
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Lack of plot
The series talks really well about sexuality and sexual desires of teenage girls. That being the only advantage of the series. When it comes to plot, it has nearly none. The conversations between characters are written in a way to show many posible situations, outomes and solutions about sexuality, almost like in manual. Its hard to like characters when they are just a vesel for the type (asexual, "normal", promiscous), and not much character beside, which becomes more apparent in any conversation the three girls hold.In the first any situation the asexual will openly say things like "i don't get why you want to date", "i will never have sex" even though she never learned about the posibility of pople being asexual, and has only normative frinds. She just skipped whole self discovery panic time that not het teenangers have to be confident in not liking anyone, only to have the crisis emerge in episode two when its time for her arc (in ep 1 she was more of the side character).
I only watched two episodes so can't say more, but it has little value for a person thats not teenenger struglling with sex life. It is just boring.
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Drama adolescenziale che parla di tematiche molto attuali
Recensito da: Jade IG: _Dramalia_Seino Sakura viene da una famiglia molto severa e mentalmente chiusa quando si parla di relazioni, sesso e quant’altro. Sua madre è il tipo di persona con cui non si può parlare e lei è cresciuta in un clima di repressione e disinformazioni tali da non avere quasi idea delle basi della sessualità. Purtroppo per lei il suo fidanzato, Ryusei, è il tipo che invece non vede l’ora di arrivare al dunque e quindi la invita a casa sua per fare sesso. Totalmente impreparata sull’argomento, Sakura chiede aiuto alle sue due migliori amiche: Tsumugi, una seria ragazzina inquadrata, senza alcun interesse per le relazioni, e Yuna, libertina e spensierata con alle spalle già cinque amanti. Le due, che in realtà non sono affatto esperte, la incoraggiano ad andare fino in fondo, ma quando si trova al dunque, nervosa e spaventata, scappa via di corsa. Scopre così che il simpaticissimo Ryusei non è altro che un manigoldo della peggior specie, che non solo ha raccontato a tutti che si è depilata le zone intime, ma che ha scommesso con gli amici di riuscire a portarsela a letto entro un mese. Sconvolta e amareggiata, Sakura si rifugia nel laboratorio di biologia, dove incontra Asahi Yu, un ragazzo strano, aperto di mente e assolutamente impossibile da mettere a disagio. Tra i due si instaura subito un bel rapporto e presto l’amicizia si trasforma in amore. Viene dunque fuori che Yu è pansessuale e che prima non ha mai amato una ragazza. Si apre così per Sakura un mondo nuovo, totalmente sconosciuto con cui fare i conti. Attraverso di lei e le sue due amiche ci avventuriamo nella sessualità e in tutte le sue sfumature. Passiamo attraverso l’asessualità, problemi di erezioni, verginità, malattie sessuali, gravidanza tra adolescenti, masturbazione, genitori bigotti e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Le tre ragazze si immergono lentamente nelle acque agitate della loro adolescenza, scoprendo più su loro stesse e sui loro amici e affrontando problemi quotidiani che permettono loro di ampliare orizzonti assai ristretti. Si destreggiano attraverso la scoperta non solo della sessualità, ma anche di come approcciarsi col prossimo, di come il sistema condanni gli adolescenti che fanno sesso, ma non li prepari ad affrontarlo. Ci sono temi caldi, in particolare quando Yu confessa di essere pansessuale e viene bullizzato dagli altri, perchè ha avuto rapporti con altri uomini. Oppure quando una ragazzina con un futuro brillante, per l’errore di una volta, finisce incinta a dover abbandonare la scuola che la rifiuta totalmente. Il tutto è condito di risate e di momenti commoventi davvero ben strutturati. Ogni puntata affronta un tema diverso, ma sono tutte collegate, sfociando nell’ultima in cui si vede veramente quanto Sakura sia cresciuta e sia finalmente pronta a fare sesso consapevolmente, affrontando sua madre a testa alta. Ho trovato meraviglioso specialmente il personaggio di Yu, un ragazzo goffo che sembra vivere nel laboratorio di biologia, interessato a tutto e assolutamente stoico nei suoi atteggiamenti. E’ non solo aperto di mente, ma sempre pronto ad aiutare il prossimo, generoso, comprensivo e delicato nei suoi atteggiamenti, insomma un vero gentiluomo. Ho apprezzato anche il modo in cui affrontano tutte queste tematiche, senza scadere nel banale, nel troppo stucchevole politically correct, o nella volgarità. Infatti, anche quando si parla della disinibita Yuna, con i suoi amanti e le malattie sessuali, non si ha mai l’impressione del troppo, dell’esagerazione o della caricatura. Anzi è tutto affrontato coi guanti bianchi e con parole chiare, quasi come se fosse una sorta di drama per insegnare qualcosa ai ragazzini di oggi. Il che non sarebbe male come pensata, se non che in realtà è tratto da un manga. E’ anche interessante il personaggio della professoressa di biologia che aiuta i ragazzi nella loro crescita, mettendosi sempre a disposizione e anzi, difendendoli a spada tratta nel momento del bisogno. E’ lei che alla fine fa comprendere l’importanza dell’educazione sessuale e di parlare chiaramente di problemi impossibili da affrontare in famiglia. Essendo un drama adolescenziale non ci sono scene spinte ed è tutto lasciato piuttosto all’immaginazione, benché si parli apertamente anche di masturbazione genitoriale. Nel complesso l’ho trovato interessante e scorrevole, anche se magari sarebbe stato meglio prendere attori con un minimo di chimica l’uno con l’altro, ma dopotutto non posso chiedere troppo.
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