Why is cousin romance featured in this? Is this normalized in Japan?
If I recall, first cousin marriage is legal in Japan.
In the first episode it's mentioned that Masashi's mother is the older sister of Junko's Father. In the manga when Junko and him both attended a marriage ceremony of their distant cousin, they were interrogated about their life and why they aren't married at that age. One of the relatives made a joke that they should just get married to each other to get the problem solved XD
Masashi is also like a childhoodfriend that just happens to be blood-related to Junko. Since Junko was so into studying she was never close to boys except for Masashi (who she sees as a relative/friend and being close to him won't violate her Mother's "no dating until passing Tokyo U policy") and to some extent Yamashita (and we saw how his love letter turned out once seen by Junko's mother in the drama)
But if they follow the extra manga chapter, Masashi didn't see Junko in "that" way until a certain incident happened when they were 14 y/o causing him to fall for Junko and realizes he loves her more than as a cousin/friend.
Wait... *sees tags* was there a "Older Man/Younger Woman" in the series? Yamashita, Masashi, Miwa and Junko are around the same age (31-32 y/o). They are classmates from the same highschool.
I think Mon-chan should be the same age too, in the manga she also received a letter from her middleschool self. But it looks like they modified her background in the drama, aside from being a reki-jo (japanese history buff) they also made her the number one hostess in Club Miwa. So I guess they made her younger?
oh.. then perhaps it's for the highschoolgirl Eto?
I really liked episode 2! It's a mix of serious, cute, funny, sweet and touching moments. The part where Junko received a letter from her 15-year-old self really hits close to my heart. I also like the scene where she gave a lecture in Kyohei's Highschool.
The main and support characters are really cute, fun and likable!
I can't decide which guy I want to root for... I feel like the cousin is kinda awkward and doomed to get cousin-zoned,…
The teacher (Yamashita) is an interesting character in the manga. He was like Yuri during his highschool days, a delinquent disliked by teachers and hated studying. Junko patiently tutored him to help him get passable grades and unknowingly influenced him to become a teacher.
She was also his "first love" but felt she was out of his league. He was the delinquent bad boy while she was the diligent Ms. Honor student.
Junko rejected his date invitations because she was too focused on studying and she rejected his confession back then because she felt that the person who Yamashita liked is different from the current her who failed to pass Tokyo University. She thought she was no longer the girl he fell for and could not accept his feelings at that time.
I read the manga up to volume 6 and I was looking forward to the drama. I was a bit disappointed that some scenes were changed or didn't make it in the first episode of the live action. They also added some stuff that weren't in the manga.
But so far the drama has it's own charm and I liked the first episode.
Yuri Yuri with the black hair during the short flashback of his middleschool days looked cool, he looked like a honor student~ and I can't believe the actress playing Junko is 36 (She's older than her 3 male leads XD)! She's really cute! even the child actress playing the loli Junko was cute!
Tororo is a different breed of dog in the manga but the Tororo of the drama is super cute and fluffy~
In the first episode it's mentioned that Masashi's mother is the older sister of Junko's Father. In the manga when Junko and him both attended a marriage ceremony of their distant cousin, they were interrogated about their life and why they aren't married at that age. One of the relatives made a joke that they should just get married to each other to get the problem solved XD
Masashi is also like a childhoodfriend that just happens to be blood-related to Junko. Since Junko was so into studying she was never close to boys except for Masashi (who she sees as a relative/friend and being close to him won't violate her Mother's "no dating until passing Tokyo U policy") and to some extent Yamashita (and we saw how his love letter turned out once seen by Junko's mother in the drama)
But if they follow the extra manga chapter, Masashi didn't see Junko in "that" way until a certain incident happened when they were 14 y/o causing him to fall for Junko and realizes he loves her more than as a cousin/friend.
I think Mon-chan should be the same age too, in the manga she also received a letter from her middleschool self. But it looks like they modified her background in the drama, aside from being a reki-jo (japanese history buff) they also made her the number one hostess in Club Miwa. So I guess they made her younger?
oh.. then perhaps it's for the highschoolgirl Eto?
The part where Junko received a letter from her 15-year-old self really hits close to my heart. I also like the scene where she gave a lecture in Kyohei's Highschool.
The main and support characters are really cute, fun and likable!
She was also his "first love" but felt she was out of his league. He was the delinquent bad boy while she was the diligent Ms. Honor student.
Junko rejected his date invitations because she was too focused on studying and she rejected his confession back then because she felt that the person who Yamashita liked is different from the current her who failed to pass Tokyo University. She thought she was no longer the girl he fell for and could not accept his feelings at that time.
But so far the drama has it's own charm and I liked the first episode.
Yuri Yuri with the black hair during the short flashback of his middleschool days looked cool, he looked like a honor student~ and I can't believe the actress playing Junko is 36 (She's older than her 3 male leads XD)! She's really cute! even the child actress playing the loli Junko was cute!
Tororo is a different breed of dog in the manga but the Tororo of the drama is super cute and fluffy~
Thanks to Blitzfansub for doing the english sub!