a shallow story that lacks substance
First off I would like to admit that a drama format of 8 episodes ~50 minutes each is sometimes not enough to bring out the most fleshed out characters, deliver the most believable and meaningful character development on screen, or to express properly the subtle changes in each character's emotional side or trauma, which is best portrayed through interactions with other characters and the choices that they make along the story. But still within the same time constraints of such a drama format, there have been many masterpieces that gave birth to memorable characters, moving moments, and heartfelt scripts, some even created a cultural phenomenon and left a long-lasting strong impression on many a viewer. so to say that simply a shallow story or half-baked character development arcs is owing to time constraints would be an insult to such successful short format dramas.
watching this drama made me feel like I was reading a short comic book. Not just cause the story sometimes felt childish with an avalanche of convenient coincidences, or that the characters felt two-dimensional lacking depth, but also that the writers relied almost solely on the script to express all character's feelings, reasons behind their decisions and their regrets...I mean there is so much a script can do, but having to stretch it to the point of making it feel like an on-stage actor's monologue or a cheap speech bubble on a comic frame that summarizes people's intents and feelings in just a couple of words, it felt lazy on the writer's side.
Adding insult to injury the script was just so amateurish and cringe it pushed me to eye rolling and shutting my eyes to avoid watching the pure cringe taking place on screen.
the story and chatacters were cute and all but lacked in believability and relatability which didn't help, add to that the fact that the story featured an extra dose of cliché to the point I actually appreciated the meta moments where the drama made fun of its own clichéd tropes.
the romance to be honest was lacking imo, which might have been for several reasons, one of which is that the whole story felt rushed to the point that it didn't provide enough material that shows the gradual development in their relationship. we need the back and forth in intercations, the ups and downs in the relationship, the pushing and pulling of their mutual attractions etc, such scenes are exactly the key to building a strong and believable chemistry between even the most unlikely Combination of actors. this drama mostly skimmed over all that and rushed to create attraction out of thin air, the writers depended in this part on the unexplained "card" of each being the other's miracle exception to their phobia, she's literally the only person he can touch and he's the only person she can maintain eye contact with....that is a sure way to provide an inescapable base on which to push any romantic scenario to its climax without the need of much gradual development.
to put it bluntly, I felt the two actors didn't exude chemistry between them, even watching the finale I felt like it was just that "two actors doing their job to earn their paycheck" that's how their chemistry was lacking for me.
the acting overall was not bad, oguri shun did the best with what he was given and delivered the most cringe script with his utmost degree of professionalism, and even though I mostly like the actress I was annoyed with her acting here, I know she was aiming to portray someone who has to avoid eye contact with surrounding people, but sometimes it felt her movements even when she was alone felt so over the top fake and annoying.
would I watch this again. no probably not. and it will join other dramas that I will eventually forget into oblivion.
watching this drama made me feel like I was reading a short comic book. Not just cause the story sometimes felt childish with an avalanche of convenient coincidences, or that the characters felt two-dimensional lacking depth, but also that the writers relied almost solely on the script to express all character's feelings, reasons behind their decisions and their regrets...I mean there is so much a script can do, but having to stretch it to the point of making it feel like an on-stage actor's monologue or a cheap speech bubble on a comic frame that summarizes people's intents and feelings in just a couple of words, it felt lazy on the writer's side.
Adding insult to injury the script was just so amateurish and cringe it pushed me to eye rolling and shutting my eyes to avoid watching the pure cringe taking place on screen.
the story and chatacters were cute and all but lacked in believability and relatability which didn't help, add to that the fact that the story featured an extra dose of cliché to the point I actually appreciated the meta moments where the drama made fun of its own clichéd tropes.
the romance to be honest was lacking imo, which might have been for several reasons, one of which is that the whole story felt rushed to the point that it didn't provide enough material that shows the gradual development in their relationship. we need the back and forth in intercations, the ups and downs in the relationship, the pushing and pulling of their mutual attractions etc, such scenes are exactly the key to building a strong and believable chemistry between even the most unlikely Combination of actors. this drama mostly skimmed over all that and rushed to create attraction out of thin air, the writers depended in this part on the unexplained "card" of each being the other's miracle exception to their phobia, she's literally the only person he can touch and he's the only person she can maintain eye contact with....that is a sure way to provide an inescapable base on which to push any romantic scenario to its climax without the need of much gradual development.
to put it bluntly, I felt the two actors didn't exude chemistry between them, even watching the finale I felt like it was just that "two actors doing their job to earn their paycheck" that's how their chemistry was lacking for me.
the acting overall was not bad, oguri shun did the best with what he was given and delivered the most cringe script with his utmost degree of professionalism, and even though I mostly like the actress I was annoyed with her acting here, I know she was aiming to portray someone who has to avoid eye contact with surrounding people, but sometimes it felt her movements even when she was alone felt so over the top fake and annoying.
would I watch this again. no probably not. and it will join other dramas that I will eventually forget into oblivion.
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