Deep and thought-provoking conversations & quotes - BUT could be too much and boring to some.
I forgot how I stumbled upon this drama, “Is Love Sustainable?” aka “Jizoku Kanona Koi Desuka: Chichi to Musume no Kekkon Koushinkyoku”. It’s either from the feeds, or as I was browsing through dramas of the male lead, Tanaka Kei, after watching him in Ossan Love. I wanted to see him play a slightly more normal character, not crazy and over-the-top.I was very impressed with the first episode. It was full of meaningful conversations, great chemistry between daughter and father, and good romantic chemistry between Kyoka and Seita. It has some nice cinematography, and thought-provoking enough for me to be interested in their views of relationships and marriages. But as the story progresses, I realize some of these positives could be negatives for other viewers.
This is a pretty slow-paced slice-of-life drama. The plot is character-driven, and really nothing too exciting happens. There are many wonderful quotes of life and marriages, and a lot of yoga and yoga teachings. I don’t practice yoga, and especially not understanding its deeper meanings and lectures. Dad is a lexicographer and dictionary editor. He loves words! Throughout the drama, you can see him explaining the origin of words and seeing him trying to learn new slangs is quite interesting. All of this could either be very wonderful and interesting, or super boring to the viewers. I was initially impressed but it did get to be a little too much towards the end.
I enjoy watching the romance development of both couples. They are mature, communicative, and have some cute moments. Both couples have great chemistry. The drama also challenges traditional gender roles at home. Not all wives want to be home and are good at doing household chores. It also talks about the difficulty of balancing work, family life and personal time.
Overall, I had a pretty decent time watching “Is Love Sustainable?”. The pace at times is slow and I think 10 episodes are too much, maybe 8 would be better. If you enjoy thought-provoking quotes/teachings and deep conversations, this is the drama for you. But if you like something faster paced and more plot-driven, then I would not recommend this for you.
Other Random Observations:
1. Tanaka Kei is a very normal-looking guy, but there’s something about him that I like. He also looks pretty good in suits.
2. It’s quite interesting seeing a bunch of old guys (dictionary editors) discussing ‘kyun’ and other modern slangs.
3. Who knew match-making services are that involved and comprehensive. They even teach you how to start and carry a conversation.
4. Igawa Haruka (Ortho surgeon) is so beautiful and elegant!
5. Ueno Jury (FL) makes me believe she’s a yoga instructor. Her body type and yoga moves look very legit from my novice eyes.
6. Pleasantly surprised to see a Jdorama (or Asian dramas) to feature a body-positive yoga class.
Completed: 4/27/2024 - Review #434
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This review may contain spoilers
Unhealthy Obsession with marriage, family, relationships
Though I have normally enjoyed J dramas, something about this one didn’t sit right with me. I think it was rather poorly done. I get it that traditional societies value marriage and family etc, but seriously this series borders on obsession with marriage and finding a relationship that feels almost suffocating. It’s just obsessive and not healthy. Every conversation is about marriage and how can I get more married and get into a better relationship? It tends to define one’s self worth based on one’s ability to get married. It just made me sick to be honest. I didn’t like this series at all, but watched until the end out of obligation.Pros:
- Scenery is nice and beautiful
- I like the yoga angle- as a yoga teacher, I liked that she brought in philosophies of self care into her classes. However, the yoga she teaches it highly westernized “white people yoga” which is divorced from real yoga.
- Shots and cinematography are nice and clean just like any Japanese series- beautiful colors
- Hayate was cool
Cons:
- The male and female lead have no chemistry and are generally unlikeable (actually I find most of the characters in this series to be rather unlikeable, lifeless, or meh)- the single dad looks old and constipated throughout the series. He can’t even express himself properly and for a grown a$$ man, that’s pathetic. If people are this repressed/constipated with their emotions, how on earth can they possibly carry on a healthy relationship that they obsess so much about? At least Hayate is open and honest with his emotions (of course it was totally one sided but anyways).
-After two meetings, the characters say these stock lines like “let’s date for marriage!” And then start holding hands, doing the statue kiss, and acting like a couple. It just feels so scripted like they’re playing a role. “Now we’re dating so we have to act like this…” it doesn’t feel organic, natural, or genuine. Just like playing rigid roles. The old guy (female lead’s dad) says to Hinata “Let’s date!” Then they start holding hands and going through the motions. It’s so robotic and unnatural to me. And the “sumimasens” were starting to get a little excessive. Seriously? Politeness is fine but can’t people just act a little more natural? The single dad main lead acts like every scene is a job interview, including the “romantic” scenes. It’s suffocating to watch.
- You have the nice older single woman trope who keeps griping about her age, menopause, and not being married, alluding to this idea that she’s a high achieving career woman, but ultimately has no value because she’s not married. I have seen this in another series- Full Time Wife Escapist- the older unmarried aunt who’s whole identity is that she’s an older career woman who’s single and unmarried and constantly complaining because she believes she is worthless. What a backward belief system that trains women to think this way.
- Hayate was young handsome, caring, loving, a great cook, and caretaker of the house, and successful but the female lead treated him as a joke the entire series. That was sad to see him literally trashed and taken advantage of. Poor guy.
- The English used throughout the series (especially by the fat yoga instructor) was soooo cringe, inappropriate, and awful. She’d just come out and say some random weird catchphrase and I couldn’t make out what she was saying until I read the subtitles.
So in summary, I didn’t like this series at all but finished the whole thing. I have an affinity for Japan, J-Dramas, anime, and Japanese culture, but this one was just excessive and annoying. Might be the first series that I’ve actually disliked. I think they should just rename the series to “Sumimasen!”
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Entertaining
An enjoyable drama and a bit underrated. The characters are normal, nothing big nor small, they just live their lives and make their own decisions which it’s perfect for slice-of-life drama lovers. The relationship among the characters is what I enjoyed the most, there is chemistry and it was sweet to see the development of the two couples. However, I exclude the second male lead, this is the first time I highly dislike this type of character, he was intrusive, a liar, and a bad friend. Fortunately, this wasn’t a big deal for me to drop the drama cause the main leads usually made decent decisions, I liked them. Additionally, there is not much to expect from this drama a part of how life goes for our characters but it is quite entertaining, there is no time for you to get bored, at least for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Slow-paced but worthwhile?
I went into this expecting a slow, slice-of-life drama and got exactly that. The main couple, Kyoka and Seita, are extremely awkward to say the least, and it hurt a bit to watch sometimes. But for some reason, that was what charmed me about them, and I found myself enjoying every little bit of their awkwardness. It's also those slow and comfortably tense moments that I felt that I could see the leads' acting shine through. I don't think I would have continued through and finished watching otherwise, as the drama itself isn't anything extraordinary, so extra points for the main leads (and the rest of the cast really).Was this review helpful to you?
A Little Charmer
Is Love Sustainable explores the question of marriage against a changing backdrop of cultural norms. We see how, although Kayoka wants to launch her own yoga business, underneath it all she would like to get married. Show does tease out the traditional view of putting work first. Kayoka deals with this issue splendidly i.e. on her own terms. She will always put the right thing first - family, friends and relationships.Her father, a noted linguist and widower decides to respect the wishes of his late wife and get remarried. I enjoyed his journey very much. In fact, I liked his relationship with his new partner more than I did that of the lead couple. Kayoka’s father is a very decent human being. He loves his daughter, adored his late wife and easily got lost in his own geekiness but his level of responsibility is second to none.
As for Seita, he was painted as a bit wimpy. However, he’s not. He is the type of person who needs time to do his thing. He is very capable, a loving father and respectful towards his ex wife. When he discovers Kayoko, you are there urging him on. She knows a good thing. The SML was, thankfully, toned down compared to most love competitors. He gave it his best shot but at the end of the day was a nice guy.
There are moments where you cheer and moments where you tear up. I loved the daughter dad dynamic and the father son relationship. Show draws you in, explores key issues in a pleasant way and leaves you wanting what’s best for all involved.
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Another American cliché show
Story:The worn-out cliché that if you achieve your dream, you will be happy, and that it is more important than family, that it's okay not to get married, it's okay to be alone, and that if you keep chasing your dream and don't compromise along the way, you might also find a relationship.
Acting/Cast
Japan top actors,
I really love the main couple, and all the actors were excellent.
Music
They could have done much more, put in much more effort musically. It seemed like they didn't invest at all.
Overall
The series started off beautifully; Unfortunately, I didn't have the patience to watch until the final episode and dropped out around episode 6. I didn't connect with the main idea of achieving a dream for the sake of happiness. It feels like a very Western concept that doesn’t quite resonate with the Japanese, but they are trying to force it in unnaturally. In my opinion, if she had understood that family, a partner, and children are the highest values, not the other way around, it might have better represented Japanese culture and felt more genuine and authentic.
It's not that one can't understand the frustration of working as an employee, especially in Japan where employees can truly suffer not only from overwork and stress but also from other issues. It's really challenging. However, portraying the idea that an independent person is happy and fulfilled or succeeds solely because of hard work is one of the biggest illusions sold to us. It gives the impression that despite having an experienced and popular cast, the audience is watching a Netflix series rather than a Japanese series.
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