Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi (2023)

Very cute!!

I watched this drama since it was kinda short and I honestly wasn’t disappointed! I personally love contract relationships in dramas. As one of my favorite tropes this definitely hit all the cliché moments you can think of in any drama, but not in a bad way. The chemistry wasn’t all there for me between these two lead actors, but you could ABSOLUTELY feel the love they had for each other!!! That feeling alone gave me butterflies and made me wanna continue watching!! Togo is nothing but a big teddy bear even tho he tries to act all scary and tough. Out of the entire drama I’m gonna miss Negi the most tho (ifykyk😭)

If you want a fairly quick filler cause you can’t find anything to watch and you like lovey dovey borderline cringe moments I definitely recommend this one!! Some of the actings not AMAZING, but it’s enough to enjoy!!!

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Comédia romântica gostosinha, mas vamos por a mão na consciência também

Para um jdrama, até que esse foi menos tóxico do que os outros que formaram minha experiência com doramas japoneses.

O início, por volta dos 6 primeiros eps, é perfeito, química, história, tudo. O que lasca realmente é a questão da "traição"/est*pro que, embora não tenha realmente acontecido, torna-se uma questão muito delicada. Se o cara *afirma* que dormiu com uma mulher bêbada ao ponto da inconsciência, isso é est*pro, não dá para relativizar. O fato de o narrador dizer que o que de fato chateou o ML ter sido a palavra confiança é até forçar a barra.

A FM, nesse ponto, também me irrita. Ao mesmo tempo em que ela se mostrou forte no começo, também se mostrou empática... mas perdoar, dizer que confia, etc., etc., em quem está tentando acabar com seu casamento? isso pra mim já é ter sangue de barata.

Porém esses dois pontos não vejo exatamente como falhas da história, mas como um reflexo de questões que deveriam ser mais debatidas na sociedade japonesa, porque mostram visões beeeeem preocupantes sobre a mulher que é culpabilizada quando vítima de uma violência e sobre a mulher ser sempre essa fonte inesgotável de abnegação (que até deixou a personagem muito plana, em comparação com como ela começou na história).

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A whole lot of good stuff begingn with the letter C

This is another one of those dramas that combines a lot of stuff I enjoy watching. While I am willing to admit that this pretty much lacks depth and substance, it does have a whole lot of great stuff that begin with the letter C: Cliche
Characters, Co habitation, Contract, Cinderella story, Combos, Cold leads, Crushes (unrequited), Cute dog, Cool Lads/siblings... Cunning parents, Cuddly parents, Cuddling Cuople, Corruption, Conning, Cuteness overload and and so on and so on...


This is in no way a masterpiece, but it is an entertaining watch with the usual twists, a lovely family and is a easy binge that even had me feeling a bunch of stuff...

So if you love your C's this is a great Choice!

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Good Enough

Japanese Drama " Osama Ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi " is a romantic comedy with the theme of a contract marriage.

The drama has an enjoyable plot, kind of predictable and kind of cheesy, but if you enjoy this kind of dramas then you will probably enjoy this one as well.

The couple was cute as well and had chemistry. The love triangle, however, was boring.

Nevertheless, the characters were adorable and the main ones had a lot of sweet and romantic moments.

The performances were enjoyable as well by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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amazing until it wasn't

I started this knowing it was either a hit or miss but tbh it was both at the same time. I found myself screaming at the TV one minute and then clapping at how cute the two leads were.

the first EP was a bit confusing and the chemistry wasn't really there until ep2 or 3. I was really rooting for them and found the "villain" arch to be awful. I'd recommend skipping EP 8&9 and just watch then last ~30 minutes of EP 10 if you want to trash the villain stuff.

won't rewatch it again but it had it's moments so take a chance on it if you're looking for a cute jdrama.

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100% lumped clichees

This drama benefices of several very cute and potentially promising actors.

However, this capital is ruined by several greedy production mistakes.
My initial enthusiasm vanished at about episode 5, but I watched it till the end.

The writing is dilettante: the story is based on a very rich and long manga.
Instead of making either a longer series (such that the actors can develop and
we may enjoy them for longer) or making a clever selection, the writer lumps
too much together, so much that the actors do not have the occasion to show
what they eventually could. The story rashes from one "kyun" moment to another.
There is zero opportunity for depth, very often there is no logic and
the acting is forced to be reduced to a minimum,
As a result, we get 10 episodes of 45 minutes each with 100% lumped clichees.

There is almost no camera work, sadly.

The director seemed to be focused only in product placement which is pushed
to hilarious limits (e.g. the clothes they were supposed to wear inside the sauna).
The whole gives the impression of a rushed, low cost, high profit production.

Unless you like these actors very much and you are fond of 100% clichees,
watching this drama is a loss if time.

This drama is worth about 25% of its watching time.

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A Nice Contract Marriage Romance

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Japanese romance series with 10, 45-60 minute episodes. Also known under the Japanese title Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi

First I provide a Unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Hanada (Kanna Hashimoto) has had a tough life because she is so pretty people assume she uses her looks to get ahead and treat her poorly as a result. She has a hard time keeping jobs because customers pock up on her and colleagues are jealous. She finally gets a job as a wedding planner and thinks she has finally landed a job she can keep. It is not long though and trouble starts there, landing her in the office of the company President. Togo Nitta (Ryosuke Yamada) has turned down a variety of eligible women preferring to be alone to having a fake relationship. His focus is on increasing the sales for the bridal company to prove his ability as his father’s successor. When he sees Ayuka he comes up with a mutually beneficial plan in the form of a marriage contact. She needs money for her struggling family and he can use the perfect marriage to promote his business. No pesky feelings involved right?

Review

It is a nicely paced romance with a happy ending. If you like the cold CEO type, contract marriages and/or cinderella like stories this is a good one for all of that.

Spoiler

I found the plot point that being too attractive has its own set of problems compelling. It is a phenomenon not frequently recognized but those that have experienced it know it exists.

She had a way about her that she remained positive despite people treating her unfairly due to assumptions they made about her. They were perfect for each other as each led ampn isolated life for different reasons

I was a little disappointed when he broke it off with her and was pursuing an arranged marriage. That is one of my least favorite tropes. I was glad she realized what was going in and basically told him knock it off.

#KissingtheRingFinger

#KannaHashimoto

#RyosukeYamada

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Fabulous start ruined by disappointing end

First drama completed in 2024! And what a fabulous start it was until it got ruined by a cliched ending. The first 7 episodes were a solid 9 for me, but sadly, the last few episodes took a turn in favour of unnecessary dramatic flair, making me lower my rating.

Pros:
- I really liked the main characters here! Ayaka was such a refreshing character (especially in the beginning) and I think the actress did really well in her role. Let's talk about the ML, I absolutely loved Togo, esp his hilarious expressions and the sound effects for him. Loved his character development. They were both pretty realistic and relatable, for the most part. They had "hidden caring personalities" but were jerks on the outside until they slowly grew to let the world see it. It was also nice to see the FL fight back with the same indifference/attitude as the ML in the beginning. They had good chemistry and I liked them together. Togo falls first and he falls hard lol I absolutely loved the slow mo "oh" moments when they realize they liked the other.
- There were some very funny parts that made me laugh out loud (during these parts you can tell Yamada was breaking character due to sheer ridiculousness of the scenes but those were my absolute favourites!).
- I liked how there were no second pair to distract us from their development and how they grew to trust and forgive each other realistically. Even the love triangle wasn't really a thing. I'm glad they also choose to focus on the family angle. There was some very interesting dynamics within the family that surprised me because it was different/not what I expected. I did love their families (minus the wacko mother-in-law, everyone else was wonderful). Plus the doggo! That was one hella well trained pupper and his development with Togo was so cute loll
- The attention to detail in the sets was fabulous, especially in Ayaka's home, like that place genuinely looked like it was actively being lived in by a large family with its ghibli-esque clutter. Also loved the growing collection of their pictures in their own home!
- I was really hoping/knew they were building up to planning a same-sex marriage so I was glad they did. I think they brought that in at the perfect time after establishing the importance of accepting all different types of marriages in the previous episodes.
- This was my first Yamada drama and oh boy did he grow on me so much omg I'm excited to see him in his upcoming movie Silent Love! It was already on my list of movies to look forward to and now even more reason to watch it! I did spiral into Hey! Say! JUMP after this and its safe to say I'm a goner. Seeing him dance in "Ready to Jump"??!! excuse me?? NO don't do this to me Yamada TT I was not ready for that
- This was one of the first jdramas I completed after my recent trip to Japan and it was so nice to see all the areas I recognized! I miss it so muchhh! Esp not my guy Togo looking absolutely gutted in front of a spectacularly clear view of Mt. Fuji TT

Cons:
- How did they think they'll get away with not living together tho?? that's wack
- Spoiler alert: Evil mother-in-law is eviling, I don;t understand why no one was stopping her.
- The conflict with Kamiyama unsettled me, like I understand the position he was in but I still think what he did was too extreme for them to forgive so easily? esp when after he did what he did, he literally went and told such a brazen disgusting lie to Togo's FACE??!! I was shook. I really liked him before but this made me see him differently the rest of the drama
- There was a lot of miscommunication or just lack of communication in the last few episodes between literally everyone which was wild
- they really did what I was hoping they wouldn't and had the useless breakup trope, LIKE WHYYYYYY when the evil mil thing started I knew it was leading to this "I'll break up with her to protect her" trope, TELL ME WHYyyyyy, aint nothin but a heartache TELL ME WHY, why they have to have the break-up then the time skip trope TELL ME WHy why couldn't they have had this talk 10 months ago and have saved everyone the painnnnnn, and this intervention with the mother should have happened long ago, I don't understand why they let it go on for as long as it did...like her behaviour? what a slap in the face for Arata
- sighssssss, I'll have to settle for a 8.5 for all this crazy mil/breakup business even tho I was enjoying it so much.

tags/tropes:
Evil mother-in-law, blackmail, lack of communication (in the last couple episodes), contract marriage, ML falls first, break-up, time jump

(Completed Jan 2024)

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Good production, good romance

The best jdrama I've watched ever. I loved the couple, they are really great together. Togo is just perfect! He seemed to be harsh and rude, but he's actually gentle, sensible and understanding. Whenever he got angry with her, he had very good reasons and, in the end, he always forgave her and understood her. Besides that, he's the most handsome japanese ML I've ever seen. So he's the best. I liked FL too, the way she wasn't a plain female lead. She entered the contract marriage for the money and wasn't afraid to admit it. Also, she's beautiful and knows that. They formed a beautiful couple who chose and fought to be together always.

The production for this drama was really good. I couldn't stop remarking, as I was watching, how it seemed I was watching a kdrama. The plot full of cliches that were mostly well explored felt like it. Also, in my experience jdramas are very low-budget-looking and this one was the opposite. Very good production.

Regarding the narrative, in the overall it was good and simple. It was a lot funny and the romance got me too. But there were some writing problems related to the villains:

- Kamiyama was the worst! Although he's a good guy, few things justify the way he tried to break up the leads, and he didn't have a good reason. Yes, he needed the money for his father and their company, but that wasn't reason for him to take a drunk FL to a hotel room, take off her dress, and pretend they had a night together. That was just disgusting! And from where I come from, this is a crime, you can go to jail for these things. So all that had totally ruined the character for me. And I didn't understand how FL forgave him for that. I was totally on ML's side for getting angry at her for trusting a man who did what he did to her. As a woman, I'm afraid of these types who disguise as friend to gaslight and manipulate women. Ugh, so disgusted!

- As for ML's mother, I knew there was smth wrong with her. She acted weird from the very beginning. Hated how she had a redemption and they forgave her although she never asked for it and was willing to continue with her malicious plans. It wasn't clear why she stopped trying to separate the leads cuz she clearly had an obssession with Togo and I can't believe that everything went well in the end bc he just asked her to stop. She needed mental treatment really.

On the overall it was a very enjoying drama. The romance was the best part. If you overlook the poor villain arcs it was very good and worth watching.

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a very cute and wholesome drama

This is a wonderful and cute drama that is easy to binge due to it only having 10 episodes! I loved the chemistry between the main leads, there are some slow bits here and there which is why the rating dropped a bit but overall I recommend it. Maybe far fetched but I’d love a spinoff with her oldest younger brother maybe set in a couple years when he’s older, I grew to love him a lot! If you’re looking for something quick and easy that doesn’t have much drama apart from the ending episodes with his disapproving mother I recommend this drama, I loved the domestic vibes it had because the main leads lived together throughout most of the drama. It’s just super comforting and wholesome and I can see myself rewatching in the future.

Overall rating: 9.4/10

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