Gigi

Words can't express how my heart broke into a million pieces when the male lead hit the female lead. I adored them so much I was about to put them in my top asadora couples list, but he ruined everything! I still managed to enjoy the story overall, particularly because of the twist near the end and how things unfolded romantically for the female lead, but still, goddammit, Yoshitake!

Besides the romance, I want to point out the WWII plot, because I always pay attention to that in Japanese dramas for obvious reasons, and the plot made me feel like the "they had us in the first half, not gonna lie" meme. They clearly state that Japan occupied other countries (or at least that's how the subber translated what the narrator said), and they mention Japan's connection with Nazi Germany, which made me think I'll finally see the past being portrayed in a somewhat honest way, but then we see soldiers replicate antisemitic talk points and as the narrator goes on about Japan's battle wins we also see the rising sun flag being waved on screen in a nationalistic manner that makes the comments be less about the violent nature of the Axis Powers and more like a message of pride over the Empire's actions and a glorification of Hitler's racist policies against jewish people.

I know it might be silly of me to hope for one day to come across a drama or movie where Japan is actually honest about its past considering how it lives in a state of denial, but I'm a fan of history, so I can't help it, and since I'm once again left disappointed my rating isn't higher, but aside from this extremely problematic part that cannot be ignored, I'd say Mio Tsukushi is one of the best asadoras I've seen.