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A thrilling series with a lot of unhinged moments and serving culinary esthetics treats !
This Japanese drama is at its core a enemies-to-lovers romance combined with a murder mystery set up in a reputable traditional Japanese sweets shop. It is a series that push the viewer to theorize about a lot of elements, as the pieces of the puzzle revealed themselves. If I very quickly guessed some of the twists, I must admit that the finale did surprise me. I was both happy of the surprising outcome but quite disappointed because it felt relatively illogical to me.
There were also a lot of forced misunderstanding in the relationship which I felt were a bit heavily handled writing-wise. But overall, despite my frustration at those and the consequent wounds (self-inflicted and totally avoidable), I really loved the relationship between the leads.
Casting-wise, I really liked finding back Hamabe Minami and Yokohama Ryusei in the main roles. Their dynamics together was very convincing : I believed in the twisted love they shared. I wish the script offered them even more moments because there were so many possibilities to make this even angstier and spicier given the nature of their characters' relationship. The ensemble cast was pretty good with maybe the exception of Mizuki Alisa who had quite an unbalanced performance. Some of her scenes were really over-the-top and taking me out, while some others were excellent.
In addition to enjoying the romance as well as being quite invested in the story, I definitely appreciated the most the esthetics of the drama. The way a wide variety of delicate Japanese sweets was featured into each of the episodes, as well as the numerous beautiful kimonos worn by the cast, were the biggest part of my enjoyment of the series. I was really captivated by the atmosphere highlighted by chilling nursery rhymes...
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a mystery series set up in a traditional Japanese house. The artisanal talk around the Japanese sweets making, as well as the overall elegance of it all was my favorite part of the series. I come out of it having learnt a lot on this art form. I really liked the story in its first half but then felt that soap opera scenes got overboard. The ending felt definitely lacking to me as the mystery unfolded in a unhinged way. If you enjoy melodramatic moments with a lot of shock factor, you will be served for sure !
There were also a lot of forced misunderstanding in the relationship which I felt were a bit heavily handled writing-wise. But overall, despite my frustration at those and the consequent wounds (self-inflicted and totally avoidable), I really loved the relationship between the leads.
Casting-wise, I really liked finding back Hamabe Minami and Yokohama Ryusei in the main roles. Their dynamics together was very convincing : I believed in the twisted love they shared. I wish the script offered them even more moments because there were so many possibilities to make this even angstier and spicier given the nature of their characters' relationship. The ensemble cast was pretty good with maybe the exception of Mizuki Alisa who had quite an unbalanced performance. Some of her scenes were really over-the-top and taking me out, while some others were excellent.
In addition to enjoying the romance as well as being quite invested in the story, I definitely appreciated the most the esthetics of the drama. The way a wide variety of delicate Japanese sweets was featured into each of the episodes, as well as the numerous beautiful kimonos worn by the cast, were the biggest part of my enjoyment of the series. I was really captivated by the atmosphere highlighted by chilling nursery rhymes...
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a mystery series set up in a traditional Japanese house. The artisanal talk around the Japanese sweets making, as well as the overall elegance of it all was my favorite part of the series. I come out of it having learnt a lot on this art form. I really liked the story in its first half but then felt that soap opera scenes got overboard. The ending felt definitely lacking to me as the mystery unfolded in a unhinged way. If you enjoy melodramatic moments with a lot of shock factor, you will be served for sure !
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