Episodes 1 & 2 Thoughts (SPOILERS)

I'm a little late to the Learning to Love party but I binged 5 episodes last week and now I'm obsessed. For those of you who are new to the drama like me, here's some thoughts about eps 1 & 2 that show how good the writing and directing are:

But red also makes an unexpected appearance at Manami’s school: the altar cloth underneath a pure white Virgin Mary statue. Red also shows up behind Manami in many shots, suggesting the terrifying emotions she’s trying to turn her back on.

This is a world where no one presents an authentic face, not even the tteokbokki seller. Soy sauce flavored tteokbokki is just wrong but people prefer it that way, they’d rather have the false thing than the real thing. Also the woman who wants real tteokboki is wearing red!

Even though they come from opposite social classes, Manami’s and Haoru’s rooms are both narrow and claustrophobic. But Haoru’s room has a ladder and light coming in through the windows, which suggests hope. (Also, Manami’s father being a compliance officer is perfect, well done writers!)

At the start of ep 2, Manami and her student are standing on the same side, facing the enforcers of appropriate behavior. The nun and school administrator tell them to go back to normal, to return to hiding their real feelings. But that spot of red is still in the frame.

Should a mother brag about prioritizing her daughter over her job or is this just what she's supposed to do? Also the mother brawling with the nun with Mary and baby Jesus outside the door definitely feels like some kind of judgment.

The hotel sequence is brutal. Taiga and Manami aren’t asked if they want to go, their partners buy them jewelry which is a way of buying them and then they’re both assaulted when they won’t allow themselves to be forced into sex. They are completely dehumanized by the circumstances they’re in.

After the customer assaults Taiga, she tries to buy him off with a steak dinner. But the way he reclaims his own humanity is by writing his name the way Manami taught him.

Finally, Manami goes to meet Taiga at night on the rooftop where she offers to teach him to write and he offers to teach her about love (but that flickering neon light says love won’t be easy)

Good color analysis as well, thanks!  I love the music played whenever Kawahara shows up, makes me laugh.  Society thinks Taiga is bad but he's actually good, and Kawahara is viewed as good but has a lot of deceit within, although he's been redeemed a bit in later episodes.

I feel like them being the most themselves at the rooftop scene in the end of ep2.  

And I can’t help but think  would be the other outcome of hotel scene for both if the didn’t meet in elevator. Like maybe they did it.