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Avoid if you're a fan of the manga
So... as a big fan of the manga, I was totally ecstatic when I heard there was going to be an adaptation of this manga into a drama. I was really hopeful as a lot of recent Japanese BLs like Cherry Magic, Keita Atsukoi or Old-fashioned Cupcake are fantastic adaptations and are praised by many. But as soon as I watched the first episode, I knew it was going to be far from those dramas in terms of quality and acting (especially acting...).The story is, in my opinion, the best thing of this drama as it was taken from the manga - minor some changes. And I would even argue that the changes made were well-made. The major change is that they took the plot from the fourth book and they put it in the middle of the plot from the first book. It doesn't really change anything to be honest so I didn't mind that change. What I didn't quite like, though, was the fact that they didn't really define the role of the girl that we see in the first episode (and that appears once again in another episode after that). We don't know who she is and why Onoe reacts how he does when he sees her with Kaburagi. In the manga, it is clear: this girl is (or was) his girlfriend and he broke up with her because of Kaburagi (as he thought she was cheated on him with him). So, if you haven't read the manga before I don't know how you can understand what is happening during those scenes. Also, the different cases the characters work on felt a little flat, boring even, but I would say that it is more the fault of the direction rather that the story in itself.
My main argument about this disaster is the acting. I admit that I probably think that because I compare the acting with the characters that I know from the manga. But let's face it: the drama has been made for the manga lovers or at least, they knew that the fans of the manga would watch this series so... why didn't they respect the characters from the manga!! My main complain is about Onoe's character. In the manga, he is a joyful character, very outgoing and very expressive. Anybody can see what he is feeling just by looking at him. But here, in the drama, the actor is so bland!!! And I'm not entirely blaming only the actor, it is also the director's fault as he accepted him to act like this!! He probably even asked him to act like this!! And I don't understand this decision because Onoe is a very loving character and I didn't like him at all in the drama... The actor of Kaburagi had it easier as Kaburagi is an introvert but the acting wasn't great on his part either... And that's a shame because I know that if the actors studied a minimum the characters from the manga and understood what to do with them, I would have probably liked the drama much better.
I would add that the kisses were okay and I was quite surprised that they filmed a bed scene (even though, it was pretty cringe) but I think I would have prefered nothing like Cherry Magic and Keita Atsukoi and actors that know how to act...
So don't watch if you're a fan of the manga, you will probably regret it. If not, watch it without expecting too much.
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Another cute BL
When two reporters from different departments are asked to pair up, some resentments flair up. One week, Onoe Satoshi was expecting to get the magazine's cover story, but it was replaced by Kaburagi Motoharu's article and photos instead. Onoe was not keen to work with his rival reporter, photojournalist Kaburagi. But they are forced to spend stake-outs for hours at a time in very close quarters, eventually getting to know each other a little better. Onoe finds out what a good person Kabu is, and Kabu, in turn, finds out how smart and ethical Onoe is. Their mutual admiration grows and they start thinking about moving in together.But a serious misunderstanding threatens their growing affection. Has Onoe become as cynical as Kaburagi after all? Getting the weekly scoop has become so important that you sell your body for information. Has Onoe sold his soul too?
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it's really cute and hurting too
so this bl was really something, I don't know, but I just fell in love with this bl. I just love the characters. Onoe seems like cute, funny and kind person. Kaburagi he's cold at first sight, but actually he's really caring and kind, too.I like Masayan's restaurant, or waht it is, too, because there was truly emotional episode, that episode was so cute, sad and I just was so happy for them at that moment. And I'm happy for them even now :)).
Also the last episodes I was sad, but am glad that the production give us the lovely scenes at the end, I love that! :)<3
I have some theory, too and I think it's possible. I think that Masayan have fellings for Onoe and the prove is that if you look at his face at the last episode when he push him to Kaburagi you just can see it on his face idk I just see it in his face.
I dont know what shout I say bad ebout this, meybe that I wouldn't watch it again, it's not that I would like it, I just don't want, meybe the emotional happy scenes hehe.
So this is kind of pretty good review :DD, go watch it it's not hat long :)
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A Paradox Of Feelings Attached To This
So I'm a big fan of the manga this BL series is based off of. Do I think they followed the manga closely? Yes and no. There's definitely a lot more animosity between our two leads in the manga than in this, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Also this storytelling is much faster than in the manga. It takes the entire first volume for them to even admit feelings and get together, let alone be intimate. So I enjoyed seeing more from them as a couple in this.Our leads are pretty solid and had good chemistry. I enjoyed the multiple storylines going on with different cases. However, this desperately needs a season 2 I just don't know if that's going to happen. They ended it in a way where it could go either way. In the manga, the second volume goes into meetings each others families which didn't happen in this show. I want to see that stuff! Not just getting together, but the reality of being together.
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Sweet but a little too soft
aka: Candy Colour ParadoxSweet story and I liked the casting. I don't know the Manga, so can't say how it measures up.
I found the repetitive intro of each ML at the start of all episodes a bit redundant.
Their scoop projects were varied and pretty relevant, but with short and few eps, there could never be any depth to them. Also, considering the fact Yakuza and crime syndicates were mentioned more than once, it feels a little unreal that there were no thugs or threats of the consequences for their scoops.
The naive half of the duo, Onowe, might be just that, but he's far from stupid. I actually see it more as an innocence ~ he's well aware of the dark side of life, but chooses to believe in people until he's proven wrong, at which point he has no qualms about facing up to reality.
Our more jaded other half, Kaburagi, who must have had some really bad experiences of being let down to be so cynical at a relatively young age, appears to need Onowe... like a light in the dark.
They are both dreadful at communicating their feelings, so at times their interactions are frustrating, but they would be irl with 2 such emotionally introverted people getting together. They both start opening up in the latter part of the drama and we get an insight into Onoe. It is a real shame we didn't get to see more of that and background on Kaburagi.
However, if you are looking for a short, sweet romance with opposite characters that is all about the couple, which isn't deep or have a strong back-storyline , this is perfect.
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Good as a standalone
If you don't come in with the expectation of this series being a perfect remake of the manga, you'll like this (or at least won't hate it).This drama falls into the lukewarm territory between great and average for me. I really enjoyed both characters individually and I enjoyed their story but I think there is a little bit of a pacing issue when it comes to their relationship development. I wish we had a more fleshed out one sided rivalry phase and a gradual change to the love interest phase. Despite that, this series still managed to get me invested in the main characters because they are both just so lovable.
I do hate the way they tried to trivialize the whole selling actresses to the porn industry thing though - it was not meant to be simplified into the whole "he's doing it for love" trope.
I still do think this is worth a watch if you're not too deeply attached to the manga. I personally would rewatch this a couple more times.
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Some people here aren't doing this series justice - it's good!
The reviews and comments led me to believe this was going to be a fest of miscommunications and bad comedic acting, but it's far from that. The acting is subtle, the chemistry feels natural, and the characters are understandable and nuanced. It's true that some dramas use bad communication to drive the plot forward and I find it as frustrating as the next guy, but don't forget that there are real people who find it very hard to figure out and communicate their feelings, and this drama falls in the latter category. Whatever lack of communication there is comes from their clashing personalities and ways of approaching someone they like, but they're both upfront about their interest in each other, and they don't intentionally hide things from each other for an absurd amount of time (aside from near the end, that felt a little forced). For the most part, I thought the tempo at which the information and feelings were revealed was organic and kept me invested.The directing was simple, but very effective. Often there was a scene with just two steady cameras showing each of the characters or one long uninterrupted shot, but that setup allowed a more natural flow of a scene and emphasised how good the actors are. I enjoyed how this budding workplace romance intertwined with the subplots stemming from their job as journalists for a tabloid, and I thought the characters were layered enough to make the main romance plot work well.
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It is a remarkable and surprisingly good series about love
It is in so many ways a soft, impressible BL series with its end message literally taking off like wildfire. It is an astonishing and extraordinarily good series about love. But told deeply reflectively and more so without words than with words.The series is more abstruse than the storyline because of the complexities of the main characters. The acting is simply superb. They underplay the roles yet bring such an underlying tone of sincerity to them. Both are misfits. Both are passionate, sincere, honorable, and dedicated. Both easily get wounded and without a doubt wear their emotions on their sleeves yet try to pretend they are not there. They speak volumes by what they do not say.
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Interesting throughout
This was a good series with some great characters and terrific acting. The premise and script were fairly simple which didn't really allow for remarkable performances however I thought everyone did a great job with their respective tasks.There was minimal angst and most issues that came up were resolved fairly quickly instead of being drawn out to the point of frustration. The cute moments between the leads were satisfying and their bantering was interesting enough to keep me engaged in the story.
It was simple though it was nice to see an uncomplicated storyline surrounding adults. I don't know if it will be high on my rewatch list but I also wouldn't be against seeing it again. Overall a middle-of-the-pack kind of series.
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Sulky kids in love
Everything felt somehow off here!This is a story about a journalist and a photographer working for a investigative news magazine.They start off as enemies but very quickly things between them become serious as they investigate "case of the week". Things change when journalist goes investigating all by himself, without the photographer.
Ameiro Paradox is a weird title. The manga has been sitting on my "Plan to Read" list forever now but I never got around to reading it so I do not really understand the title!
Practically every episode deals with a different case they investigate. And in the background their relationship develop. It is mostly one sided. Onoe, the journalist very quickly falls for Kaburagi. These characters are such opposites. Onoe is a child, behaving and thinking like a 2 year old(vexed, sulky, throwing temper tantrums!) so much so one cannot help but wonder how he managed to become investigative journalist: every time he tries to follow someone, he is so conspicuous his target notices him immediately: he is clumsy and unconvincing! Kaburagi, on the other hand is an adult, with adult experiences in adult world, who knows how to investigate and in the beginning he cannot believe that he had been saddled with such an incompetent journalist child but he quickly falls under his charm.
And there is the word that keeps repeating: quickly! They go from enemies to friends to lovers in a blink of an eye! This is also based on a manga so there is some manga like exaggerated behaviour ! But I must give it to them they managed to tone it down quite a bit!
Other reviewers mentioned that the lack of communication as the plot feature moving the story forward, is a hge problem with this drama. I'd take it a bit further, and say that the problem is the characters: when you have a child and an adult interacting, the child will act as any child would by not speaking and sulking and hiding in their room. Towards the end, Kaburagi seems to have been too long under the child Onoe's influence that even he starts behaving like a child and sulk!
The love story is not convincing either: they have no chemistry. I was more interested in Editor-in-Chief and his sidekick: their story seems to be more interesting so I am a bit disappointed we never really find more about those two together!
Mercifully it is short and easy to watch, there is no unnecessary toxicity or serious conflict. But the whole series is far from convincing: everything seemed unreal. Even the streets were weirdly empty!
You can watch it if you need something beginning with A for the Alphabet Drama Challenge like myself. If not, you won't miss anything if you skip it. Maybe just a couple of skinship scenes in the last episode!
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It's a Filler Drama, so Don't Watch with Any Expectations
All I can say about this drama is to watch it without any expectations. It's not too bad if you watch it without any.However, if you are going to watch this after watching other Japanese dramas like Utsukushii Kare or Cherry Magic, you're going to be very disappointed. It's a decent watch, but it's not anything spectacular.
Similarly, if you are coming to watch this because you've already read the manga, then you will also be disappointed. I think you need to watch this as a standalone drama without comparing it to the manga. Don't worry, I'll explain below.
That being said it's not a terrible drama. However, it is mediocre and definitely a filler drama. Don't bother to watch this if you want a good quality drama. Do watch this if you need a filler drama with good looking men falling in love.
•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦
Onoe gets transferred to the stake-out team of the weekly gossip magazine he works for. His new partner is Kaburagi, who is the magazine's best cameraman. While Onoe is very serious and well mannered, Kaburagi is notorious for being a lady's man and Onoe finds him to be very rude. At first they don't get along, but the more cases they take on together, the more closer they become. Onoe learns there's more to Kaburagi then meets the eye.
Honestly the story is not too bad. It is based on an older manga so it is a little bit cliché, but it's not terrible. I personally found myself interested in the antics that the two were getting into. The only part of the drama that was strange was the bed scene that the screenwriter's crammed in at the end. Honestly, we could have gone without that.
While not the best drama, the biggest issue with this drama isn't really the story, but rather the acting. Honestly the acting wasn't great, but at the same time I preferred how they portrayed Onoe and Kaburagi in this drama rather than the manga.
ONOE X KABURAGI
Onoe is a very serious writer for the weekly magazine. He is more of a bookworm that's not really good at lying. He also doesn't seem to have much luck with the ladies. In contrast, Kaburagi seems to have a double personality. Usually he's stoic and doesn't seem to care about others, but other times he suddenly becomes a lady's man. He also is very good at lying and manipulating people. At first, Onoe hated Kaburagi because of his seemingly twisted personality and his lack of care when lying and manipulating people. However, once Onoe learns that Kaburagi actually hates lying and is actually more sensitive than he lets on, his whole perspective of Kaburagi changes. He also ends up falling in love with the sensitive side of Kaburagi.
•❅✧❅✦ ACTING •❅✧❅✦
Even though it's not that bad, the worst part of this drama is the acting. Every actor, from the main to the side characters, is on a different wave length and it's just a mess.
Kimura Keito, who plays Onoe, unfortunately is very stiff when acting. While not terrible, it is obvious that he's acting and it doesn't look natural when compared to Yamanaka. It looks like his acting is forced and that he's putting on a show. Again, it's not bad, but it is obvious that he needs more practice. (On a small note, Kimura is part of Exile's FANTASTICS with Yagi Yusei, who plays Kiyoi in Utsukushii Kare. It makes me wonder if Kimura's management is trying to ride the BL wave that boosted Yagi's popularity. Also, I can't help but compare the two. I haven't seen Kimura's other works, but I wonder if Kimura actually wanted to do this BL or if it was the management's choice.)
Yamanaka Jyutaro plays Kaburagi. Now, some people might not like his acting and say he's non-expressive, but I beg to differ. There are times where his acting is a little stiff, but for the most part I thought it was okay. As a character, Kaburagi is stoic and non-expressive, so I liked how Yamanaka played him. His acting felt more natural as I have met guys like Kaburagi in Tokyo and they do act like how Yamanaka plays Kaburagi, so I had no problem with his acting. Again it's not perfect, but it is hard to play a stoic and non-expressive character so I will give him some credit.
Lastly, the side characters. All of the side characters were on different wave lengths as well. I found that the older cast were better at acting than the younger ones. All of them are not on screen for very long so it's not too noticeable, but they are stiff. The actor who plays Masayan was probably the worst offender out of all of the actors. While his acting wasn't terrible, it was very exaggerated. His acting might be more suited for comedies, but I just couldn't watch any scene he was in because it was overly exaggerated.
•❅✧❅✦ DRAMA vs MANGA •❅✧❅✦
Something to note is that I had read Ameiro Paradox as a manga a few years before this drama came out. I didn't fully remember what the story was about, but I had a basic knowledge about the plot before watching. After watching the drama I went back and I reread the manga. This is how I am analyzing the drama, so I might be a little less biased toward the manga than others who read the manga first and went into the drama with the manga in mind.
As a drama, Ameiro Paradox is completely different from the manga. While the drama adapted most of the storylines and changed some aspects of the plot to fit the drama, the biggest change made was the relationship and personalities of the Onoe and Kaburagi. This change made the drama completely different from the manga as the manga fans might not like the new version of Onoe and Kaburagi, and their relationship.
The manga has more of a cat-dog relationship between the Onoe and Kaburagi, while the drama is more romantic. In the manga, Onoe is more feisty and stubborn, while in the drama he seems to be more innocent and just putting on a strong front.
As a character, Kaburagi also is different. In the manga he is stoic and non-expressive throughout their whole relationship. Even after they begin dating, Kaburagi doesn't really show many facial expressions aside from getting angry. On the other hand, in the drama Kaburagi is stoic and non-expressive only until they begin dating. Once he is in a relationship with Onoe, Kaburagi begins to show more emotions. Even then Kaburagi gives off a more softer, sensitive, and sympathetic vibe compared to the manga where he is never sensitive, always horny, and acts like an old man trapped in a 21 year old's body.
All of these changes made to the characters' personalities change the dynamics of Onoe and Kaburagi's relationship, which in turn might throw off fans of the manga. The manga is all about the fighting and weird antics that the cat and dog relationship brings to this couple. The drama however, is all about Onoe learning about Kaburagi's sensitive nature and how love with make a stoic man more loving and emotional.
Now, I personally like the drama version of Ameiro Paradox more than the manga as I do like my men to be a little more sensitive and mature. To me, Kaburagi in the manga is just an old man in a young man's body and he doesn't really express his love to Onoe. I don't understand how Onoe can love someone that doesn't really act like he loves him back, but again the manga is all about the antics that they get into. I prefer storylines where the characters grow to love each other based on what they learn about each other and their personalities rather than storylines where it's all situational, which the manga is situational.
•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦
I didn't really hate Ameiro Paradox. It's not bad, but there are better drama's out there. It's definitely a filler drama and a one time watch.
Also, if you liked his drama don't bother reading manga since the characters' personalities are different and the relationship between Kaburagi and Onoe are completely different as well.
Similarly, don't bother watching this drama if you are a fan of the manga and want to see the weird antics that Onoe and Kaburagi get into in the manga. This drama is all about their relationship, so if can't watch this drama with an open mind, then you should probably skip this manga.
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Paradox of Emotions
Ameiro Paradox is one of those few dramas that I have to give two ratings, the core one and the emotional one. The core one is the 7.0. That's the rating that gets into the story, the character development, acting, etc. The emotional rating gets an 8.5. That is purely based on the impression it left me with, the emotions, how it made me feel, etc. I wouldn't say this is a good drama. It lacks a lot of backstory and information that would be helpful in developing it and its characters. However, it is a very enjoyable one and I was not disappointed in the slightest.One of the things I have come to expect, not like, but expect, is a lack of depth with most Japanese and Korean BLs. Their run time tends to be much shorter than Thai BL's, typically between 20 and 30 minutes and somewhere between 6 and 10 episodes. That is not a whole lot of time to fit in a fully developed story. So with that in mind, they do a pretty decent job here with Ameiro Paradox. It's inevitable that things feel rushed, the pacing of the romance is a bit all over the place, but I don't hate it. This is one though that I wish was a bit longer because more information would have been helpful particularly regarding the backgrounds of both Onoe and Kaburagi. More information as to why Kaburagi is just so jaded when he is initially paired with Onoe and likewise why Onoe is that odd combination of naïve and smart. Onoe especially though. He's been a journalist for a while but he really is just so naïve with some things, I wanted to delve into his character a bit more with that. Since they were journalists, I would have liked to see it serve as a little more of a focal point. We had a lot of them sitting around waiting to take pictures and I would have liked to see other aspects featured as well, researching topics, doing more interviews like the one with the porn actress who came forward, that kind of thing. However, one thing that I did appreciate was the portrayal that there are consequences and it's not an easy job, on both sides. Particularly that first case with the commercial actress, knowing that she had done what she did to care for her mother and knowing that exposing her was going to affect that. It was one of those little things that was very thought provoking. And it was the same with each of the other cases.
They did well with keeping the cast to the bare minimum and making the cast they did have meaningful. Obviously we had our two leads. Onoe and Kaburagi start off appearing to be a study in opposites. Onoe is innocent, in more ways than one, he doesn't lie, he's open and friendly. And then there's Kaburagi, flirtatious, devious, seemingly willing to do anything to get a story whether paying for it with money or his own body. He claims to be numb to the job, but as Onoe spends more time with him, he comes to realize that's not the case at all, that it's all a façade and Kaburagi is, in fact, a gentle and kind soul. The biggest issue with these two, like in most BLs, is their lack of communication. Onoe is better about trying to communicate although his fear sometimes gets in the way, which is certainly valid, but it's hard to say what exactly is keeping Kaburagi silent. This is not a BL where the characters' sexuality is discussed. Is he struggling with coming to terms that he might actually just like one person and that one person is a man and he's not ready to put that into words? We don't know and that's something else that would have been nice to explore. Their misunderstanding at the end is again due to a miscommunication, mostly on Kaburagi's part since Onoe does try to talk to him and Kaburagi just gives him the cold shoulder. I know the Editor-in-Chief comments that Kaburagi has trust issues, but I would really love to have learned more about that because there has to be more to it. They do finally talk things out and hopefully end up with a little bit of a better understanding of each other going forward. Masayan, Onoe's friend, was a good combination of some of the friends typically seen in BLs: the comic and the advisor. He served his purpose as a bit of comic relief while also acting as a sounding board for Onoe when he was trying to piece together his thoughts and feelings. The nice thing here though was that he actually gave solid well thought out advice and what he didn't know, he firmly stated that he didn't know. There are so many dramas where you have friends who give terrible advice, not maliciously, they just have no idea what they're talking about. I also liked the Editor in Chief and the way he quietly observed his people and stepped in when it became necessary, but not in an obtrusive way. He saw that Kaburagi needed a perspective adjustment and he took the initiative to help him see that. He also saw that Onoe and Kaburagi would be a good pair together and be beneficial to each other.
The acting was okay. Both Kimura and Yamanaka are fairly young and I don't think either have a ton of acting experience. I think they have a lot of promise and with more experience will get better. Yamanaka struggled with his facial expressions. He alternated between appearing wooden and tense. He looked like he needed to just relax, think less and sink into the character more. Kimura did better but needs to work on a bit more variation with his expressions. Their chemistry was understated, but I do still think it was there. It just wasn't as flamboyant as other actors'.
I did have a few things that stood out to me as bigger issues. The biggest being Kaburagi's actions after Onoe was assaulted by the tax guy. That was not the time or place to come onto him and it was just uncomfortable to watch. I don't know how he could have possibly thought that was in any way appropriate. Onoe was the absolute worst tailer. It was almost physically painful watching him. Did Kaburagi not show him how to do that? I don't know but it was really bad. And I'm sure it was there for comedic purposes, but it just didn't work for me. Along those same lines, Onoe filming the guy for the phone scam was so painfully obvious. There was nothing discreet about it and how the other guy didn't notice his phone there is beyond me.
I found this drama to be simple and sweet. It's not deep or particularly thought provoking, although it does have its moments, but its heartwarming and I found myself really enjoying. It's short enough that it's an easy binge watch and it is one that I absolutely recommend.
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