Actually, from what we've seen until now, the ML is almost 100% endgame... it's either him or nobody, I'd think.
Ha ha, I actually kinda love this trope because I'm generally all in for weird characters like that... so intense, so alive, just beautiful!🤣🤣 Thinking of it, the only real shrine thing I remember wasn't in a Japanese drama but in a US kids' show: Helga's shrine for Arnold in "Hey Arnold"... so, it might even be an international trope after all... but they do the pictures-on-the-wall-thing differently in the US... in another US show, "Lucifer", there was a female stalker who had pictures of the ML in her room, it looked more like for some crime investigation... (they chose an Asian actress for that scene and I still wonder if that was by chance, btw.) She also made plush figures who looked like the ML for her own kind of shelf mini shrine, but she didn't even collect his hair or stuff he left behind... just no passion compared to J-dramas...😅😉 Just kidding...
I don't know why, but I don't think Nishima is actually creepy as a person, maybe that's why I can't feel genuinely scared about his room although it is just a disturbing creep collectibles exhibition after all... The actor who plays Nishima really does a great job for this character. Not everybody could pull that off... for ML roles, so often idols are used whose acting skills are sometimes a bit limited, but he seems to really be a real actor, I like that!
And I think it kind of shows that this drama is based on a novel, I don't know how to explain this well, but, the way the story is progressing, it's really well done and often in similar settings, especially with mangas as source material, things would look much clearer and have frustrating twists towards the end that make no sense, but here, it looks really relatable how everybody is behaving up until now.
Regarding your question, if you think of Nishinas extreme behaviour as a redirection activity, then, as soon as he'd be able to normally love the FL and be in a relationship with her (although that became - at least momentarily - rather difficult to achieve for him after ep. 7, but we will see...), it would probably normalize and fade out somewhat fast... So her friends and family might need quite some time, but seeing him starting to behave more like a normal guy would change their opinion of him over time, I'd guess. He has no other means to express his intensive emotions at this point of the story and so every tiny thing that has any connection to her (even her popsicle stick and her hairs etc.) is very precious to him, but that would probably change a bit if they were really together and he got to have much better things in his life in the form of closeness and regular experiences together with her.
Actually, from what we've seen until now, the ML is almost 100% endgame... it's either him or nobody, I'd think.
Yeah, that's probably about it.💯 The drama portrays him as excessively in love, caring and worrying for her, but never as dangerous to her or anybody else for that matter (except to himself of cause, because his mental health condition let him to consider suicide...). So he is characterized as very redeemable from the beginning on as a person with a most likely toxic family, and, possibly resulting of that, a bunch of personal problems like low self-esteem and quite weird attachment issues. He is also very shy and gentle when with her and even hesitating and backing off at first when they are about to kiss... not the "typical" predatory kind of violent and possessive stalker one reads about in the news, more "just" a person with extreme emotions unable to process them in a more socially accepted and healthy way and unable to just approach his target more directly and openly from the start on. Also, his looks, money, the elite job/family, he checks on all the classical romantic interest stats more than any other male character in the story. The typical morally gray ML type that people not used to J drama might feel quite uneasy about(?). xD
lol I was wondering why they don't have a "stalker" tag, but then again this kind of thing may be considered "normal"…
In Japanese media this seems a rather common trope to me. I have seen this, including the wall-of-pictures-visualization, various times over the years, but I clearly remember only the very first time, when it still felt "fresh" and novel to me: In the GTO manga. If I remember correct, the target of the stalking in that story was even abducted by her stalker later on...
And weird obsessions with a love interest are in general quite normal in J-dramas. E. g. "Home Room" or "Kono Otoko ha Jinsei saidai no Ayamachi" etc. are different but still rather extreme other examples of this. Intense and uncommon love stories in general, often quite toxic, are a staple of J-drama I would say.
Also, as I noted elsewhere, the beginning of the story as seen in the manga sample pages and the original novel (readable online in Japanese) are nowhere this dark, it's mildly scary at best, so there's still the possibility the creator never even meant this to be *that* much of a horror story, but rather for it to be a more shojo-typical romance (albeit with this topic), who knows at this point (I don't intend to read the whole novel only to find out beforehand and spoil it to myself, so no idea though).
Why is this so much darker than the manga? There's a free sample online of the beginning of the first volume (probably…
I just found out that this was originally an online novel, not a manga like stated above. And the novel (I only checked the beginning again) starts just like the manga, so they chose a somewhat different approach for the drama on purpose. So far, I like the drama more than the original story, as it adds more depth.
After watching episode 2, I get the impression that almost all male characters introduced by now might be mental cases... Also, that colleague with the glasses (Kashiwagi) constantly reminds me of Professor Snape with his movements and facial expressions... but the ML of another drama of this summer season (Sweet Moratorium) looks like Harry Potter, so, perfect timing, I guess?🤣
Why is this so much darker than the manga? There's a free sample online of the beginning of the first volume (probably only in Japanese) and the atmosphere was completely different... much more like your usual shoujo manga. I'm wondering where this is heading now...😅
In S01, the male leads and some of the other characters were too childish too often for my taste and in S02 they toned that down quite a bit what made it much easier to watch (at least for me). Much of the cast was completely different (aside from the actor who was involved in a scandal), what I found a bit sad, especially because they even had an Odoru Daisousasen actor in S01... but much of the old cast possibly was busy with other work after all this time and to get this drama revived it was probably necessary to slightly move it into a different direction anyway, and they were mostly replaced with good actors and actresses (although I still miss some of the S01 cast, but with Japanese dramas it's a common thing anyway in second seasons that without explanation much of the colleagues of the lead characters are completely different people). In S02, the relationships between the characters were much more of a focus than before and the cases seemed a tiny bit more engaging to me, but overall the characters mostly felt less childish and more balanced, what to me is important enough to be noticed twice, lol. I didn't really think the change in Meguro was good for his character though as he was a bit more unlikable than before what made the first episode a tad unnerving. And I'm going to ignore all the bad CGI used for signs on or in front of buildings... The ending suggests there might be a S03. I'd watch that, but I like procedurals anyway, I'm not sure if everybody in general would like it. The screenwriter is well-known for dramas like "Hero" though.
Also, the change in the Yokohama landscape between the show's seasons can be seen very nicely. I didn't catch the Gundam, but the Air Cabin gondolas were well visible several times what gives it a rather modern touch.
I don't know why, but I don't think Nishima is actually creepy as a person, maybe that's why I can't feel genuinely scared about his room although it is just a disturbing creep collectibles exhibition after all...
The actor who plays Nishima really does a great job for this character. Not everybody could pull that off... for ML roles, so often idols are used whose acting skills are sometimes a bit limited, but he seems to really be a real actor, I like that!
And I think it kind of shows that this drama is based on a novel, I don't know how to explain this well, but, the way the story is progressing, it's really well done and often in similar settings, especially with mangas as source material, things would look much clearer and have frustrating twists towards the end that make no sense, but here, it looks really relatable how everybody is behaving up until now.
Look at this, here's even a guy trying to find out how many pictures your wall needs to make your room a stalker room: https://mazisuka.com/?p=18761 🤣
And here's the GTO room example from manga, anime and drama (I don't even remember it having been in the drama version at all):
https://twitter.com/BS_BeniHaruka/status/1397792543237054467, https://twitter.com/kyouboupant/status/1240637673968005120
Or here's the room of the ML from Homeroom, it's also similar, but he lives in a much older Shouwa house, no modern appartment, so he doesn't have those nice and big walls for pictures...😂: https://twitter.com/homeroom_drama/status/1227507811279503362/photo/1, https://twitter.com/homeroom_drama/status/1226356418237714434
Regarding your question, if you think of Nishinas extreme behaviour as a redirection activity, then, as soon as he'd be able to normally love the FL and be in a relationship with her (although that became - at least momentarily - rather difficult to achieve for him after ep. 7, but we will see...), it would probably normalize and fade out somewhat fast... So her friends and family might need quite some time, but seeing him starting to behave more like a normal guy would change their opinion of him over time, I'd guess. He has no other means to express his intensive emotions at this point of the story and so every tiny thing that has any connection to her (even her popsicle stick and her hairs etc.) is very precious to him, but that would probably change a bit if they were really together and he got to have much better things in his life in the form of closeness and regular experiences together with her.
And weird obsessions with a love interest are in general quite normal in J-dramas. E. g. "Home Room" or "Kono Otoko ha Jinsei saidai no Ayamachi" etc. are different but still rather extreme other examples of this. Intense and uncommon love stories in general, often quite toxic, are a staple of J-drama I would say.
Also, as I noted elsewhere, the beginning of the story as seen in the manga sample pages and the original novel (readable online in Japanese) are nowhere this dark, it's mildly scary at best, so there's still the possibility the creator never even meant this to be *that* much of a horror story, but rather for it to be a more shojo-typical romance (albeit with this topic), who knows at this point (I don't intend to read the whole novel only to find out beforehand and spoil it to myself, so no idea though).
Also, that colleague with the glasses (Kashiwagi) constantly reminds me of Professor Snape with his movements and facial expressions... but the ML of another drama of this summer season (Sweet Moratorium) looks like Harry Potter, so, perfect timing, I guess?🤣
Also, the change in the Yokohama landscape between the show's seasons can be seen very nicely. I didn't catch the Gundam, but the Air Cabin gondolas were well visible several times what gives it a rather modern touch.