This review may contain spoilers
A Pleasant Surprise, Indeed.
I've been in an Asian drama SLUMP for the better part of a year now. Yes, I think it's been at least a year where I haven't been able to get back on the horse with Asian dramas (as a whole), so to speak. I've been jumping from country to country trying to find a drama to pull me out of this slump and nothing worked. However, something compelled me to start watching this. As time progressed, it took me until the middle of the first episode to realize that I'd watched this before. Rather, I'd began watching this once upon a time and I dropped it shortly after. For some strange reason, reading the synopsis and title did nothing to jog my memory. I think I dropped it maybe around episode 2 or 3. I can't remember which.
Anyway, I almost dropped it AGAIN but something told me to skip to episode 6 and start watching from there and that was the single best thing I could have done for this drama. For anyone reading this review in 2025, watch the first episode for some background information but I'd suggest you skip right to episode 5 or 6 for things to really start getting interesting. Unfortunately, the first few episodes of this drama are incredibly DIFFICULT to watch in a painfully awkward way. Then again, if you're someone who has experience watching J Dramas, then you'd be fine with the ridiculousness often found in these types of dramas. If you're not, then you might not like it. J Dramas can be an acquired taste in many different ways and you have to acquire a taste for it. So yes, the first few episodes are 'cringy.' However, once you push through those few episodes, you will enjoy yourself. The unique advantage of J Dramas is the average runtime/length of them. They're short and sweet; you won't have to sit through tens of episodes before you get to the good stuff.
Now, Sakura and Tendo are our main couple. It's hard to conceptualize this couple because they don't fit the typical mold of a lead couple in a drama. There's an age gap. Not necessarily a creepy one, but it does exist. Tendo is your typical tsundere type, so he's going to be quite stone-faced for the majority of the drama. I know some people are into that, so you may enjoy it. But for the people who are not, he's like that most of the time so there's your warning. Their chemistry is slightly nonexistent but existent, if that makes sense. If Tendo wasn't a tsundere type, I think the chemistry would have been a lot more felt. But because his character is a tsundere, it's difficult to figure out if he even likes her or not. There are kisses. But there's always the question of - are you kissing her because you like her and it's what you want to do or are you kissing her to indulge her because you know that she likes you? It definitely affects the chemistry in a big way, in my opinion. Also, Sakura is very very immature. She's the cutesy, childish female lead that most of us are familiar with in this market. Typically, I don't like those types of characters but she experienced a LOT of growth and character development over the course of this drama. We watch her grow and make decisions that are suitable for a fully grown adult. The actress? OMG! She's GOOD. The actress is so good; she will make you cry and I commend her for that.
Also, there are SO MANY love triangles/squares going on outside of the main couple that will make you want to rip your hair out. Unfortunately, I skipped all the scenes with the side characters because I couldn't be bothered to invest any time in that strange game of musical chairs. You can skip those scenes and not miss a single thing. And yes, some of those side characters are interested in each of the lead characters but it's all unrequited/one-sided. The leads only have eyes for each other. It does get annoying watching the side characters chase them despite knowing this, but those scenes are totally skippable.
Again, there won't be many romantic moments between the leads until the last few episodes. But hey, it comes with the territory of a tsundere ML. I didn't expect to like this drama that much honestly because both leads are prime examples of my least favorite character tropes. I'm not a fan of tsundere male leads or cutesy, immature female leads but here I am singing this drama's praises in spite of that. Amazing work from the actors!
Anyway, I almost dropped it AGAIN but something told me to skip to episode 6 and start watching from there and that was the single best thing I could have done for this drama. For anyone reading this review in 2025, watch the first episode for some background information but I'd suggest you skip right to episode 5 or 6 for things to really start getting interesting. Unfortunately, the first few episodes of this drama are incredibly DIFFICULT to watch in a painfully awkward way. Then again, if you're someone who has experience watching J Dramas, then you'd be fine with the ridiculousness often found in these types of dramas. If you're not, then you might not like it. J Dramas can be an acquired taste in many different ways and you have to acquire a taste for it. So yes, the first few episodes are 'cringy.' However, once you push through those few episodes, you will enjoy yourself. The unique advantage of J Dramas is the average runtime/length of them. They're short and sweet; you won't have to sit through tens of episodes before you get to the good stuff.
Now, Sakura and Tendo are our main couple. It's hard to conceptualize this couple because they don't fit the typical mold of a lead couple in a drama. There's an age gap. Not necessarily a creepy one, but it does exist. Tendo is your typical tsundere type, so he's going to be quite stone-faced for the majority of the drama. I know some people are into that, so you may enjoy it. But for the people who are not, he's like that most of the time so there's your warning. Their chemistry is slightly nonexistent but existent, if that makes sense. If Tendo wasn't a tsundere type, I think the chemistry would have been a lot more felt. But because his character is a tsundere, it's difficult to figure out if he even likes her or not. There are kisses. But there's always the question of - are you kissing her because you like her and it's what you want to do or are you kissing her to indulge her because you know that she likes you? It definitely affects the chemistry in a big way, in my opinion. Also, Sakura is very very immature. She's the cutesy, childish female lead that most of us are familiar with in this market. Typically, I don't like those types of characters but she experienced a LOT of growth and character development over the course of this drama. We watch her grow and make decisions that are suitable for a fully grown adult. The actress? OMG! She's GOOD. The actress is so good; she will make you cry and I commend her for that.
Also, there are SO MANY love triangles/squares going on outside of the main couple that will make you want to rip your hair out. Unfortunately, I skipped all the scenes with the side characters because I couldn't be bothered to invest any time in that strange game of musical chairs. You can skip those scenes and not miss a single thing. And yes, some of those side characters are interested in each of the lead characters but it's all unrequited/one-sided. The leads only have eyes for each other. It does get annoying watching the side characters chase them despite knowing this, but those scenes are totally skippable.
Again, there won't be many romantic moments between the leads until the last few episodes. But hey, it comes with the territory of a tsundere ML. I didn't expect to like this drama that much honestly because both leads are prime examples of my least favorite character tropes. I'm not a fan of tsundere male leads or cutesy, immature female leads but here I am singing this drama's praises in spite of that. Amazing work from the actors!
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