The actor's is doing a really good job, for sure. I don't think there's anything wrong with the plot. Fujisawa's…
Yeah, I saw people mention the toe situation as a red flag. Personally, it escaped my attention while I was watching the drama, but I kept noticing a lot of those other subtle "techniques" Fujisawa used. If you separate them into individual occurrences, some of them were obviously alarming (like Fuji not relaying the msgs from Sei's friends), other more lowkey, like his passive aggressive behaviour here and there. But generally, I'd say he was rather covert and "skilful" about it until that "explosion" in ep 6.
Sooo most of you in here hated Kazuaki because of the rape ... Personally I loved Matsumoto more because of this…
The actor's is doing a really good job, for sure. I don't think there's anything wrong with the plot. Fujisawa's been abusive towards Sei for years and, as it is often the case, the abuse escalated. It's neither that weird, uncommon or surprising. Even more so, because it happened when Fujisawa felt he was losing his grip/control over Sei. As some other commentators mentioned before, it's all about control - and I agree. Fujisawa had his ways to assert his power over Sei, from isolating him from his friends, to deciding the arrangement of their shared house, judging his choices, e.g. to go to a work party or finally "dosing" his affection. When he found out Sei had sex with Hagiwara, he felt threatened/insecure, so he proposed for them to move (isolating Sei from Hagiwara and other city temptations and possibilities for a hook-up, encouraging to quit his job etc. to further his control).
When that didn't work the way he intended, he confronted Sei but Sei wasn't particularly ashamed of what he did. I guess you could even say that he intentionally tried to upset Fujisawa by saying things like "we went at it like rabbits". Moreover, he even wanted to contact Hagiwara and "wanted to see him". A very symbolic element of that scene was Sei listening to the rain sound on his phone sent to him by Hagiwara. All of this was a clear indicator for Fujisawa that he was losing control established over the years and it - I can only assume - made him crazy with insecurity.
A way to establish that control back was to escalate his abuse. Why a sexual assault though? Well, I have some theories: 1) Sei had sex with Hagiwara, and in Fujisawa's eyes he was reclaiming what was "his" by having sex with Sei as well. 2) Because Sei had always wanted sex from him before, so in a desperation to make Sei dependant on him again, he decided to give him what he had wanted. 3) It was a form of punishment. As in "oh, so you wanted to have sex, huh? then you better enjoy it now!" kinda twisted logic.
Whether these are correct or not, I still think that the very fact that Fujisawa's - previously somewhat covert and subtle - abuse simply escalated. And the reason why it escalated so much in a span of one evening is because he felt he was loosing his power.
The amount of tv shows, movies and dramas I've watched in my life where cheating was one of the themes is countless. Yet that fact NEVER made me think cheating is ok. I think most of us is capable to tell fiction from reality...
Besides, it's not like this drama is promoted as some educational piece of fiction with a recommendation to draw life lessons from it. It's supposed to be an entertainment, a comedy show broadcasted on a commercial streaming site... which btw, I'm sure, features plenty of waaay more offensive material on it.
Comedies - since... always - were making fun of different aspects of life, not seldom including sensitive topics. There are comedies about gangsters and breaking the law, comedies about... I don't know, running a funeral house, comedies about losing weight, cross-dressing and so on and so forth. Why cheating, of all subjects, should be some untouchable topic?
Finally... the drama hasn't been out yet and so many people have already decided it's trash. Without knowing anything about the quality of the script, directing, storytelling, editing, acting... In fact, we don't even know how the cheating will be portrayed and what will be the final message at the end of the drama.
I need someone who's smarter than me or maybe knows Japanese to explain to me what happened between Kotoha and…
Ok, I feel reassured to some extent when reading someone who interpreted that scene in Kotoha's place in a similar way. I also thought she stopped, but the whole bridge conversation afterwards confused me...
But then again, it was just super weird in general. I agree that there's some redeeming quality in Kotoha knowing she should apologize. Agreed one hundred percent on how Megumi handled that apology... it was quite terrible! Even if we ignore what's wrong and right and what would be the healthy reaction in reality, her dismissive attitude with "I was kinda into it" doesn't really fit the Megumi who was very clear about setting the boundaries straight in the first episode. Feels out of character to some extent. It's like she regressed... Unless we're supposed to believe it's all due to being a fool in love 🙃
I actually still have mixed feelings about this episode... But at least it was definitely filmed very beautifully.
On his wrist there were marks of being gripped tightly and wrist is only gripped tightly when the someone don't…
A hickey was not a rape evidence, it was an evidence of Sei getting intimate with someone. The wrist marks *and* what Sei said beforehand (the remark about blind fury) + the fact that it all happened at a very specific moment (right after Hagiwara and Sei were caught) all put together suggested something more sinister happened.
I do kinda agree that it was simplified, though. But not to the unbearable extent. In my opinion at least.
Being with an abusive person can completely break someone. Narcissists can literally corrode the very core of someone's being and it's extremely difficult to "shake off" this type of influence.
Sei has been conditioned to rely on Fujisawa after his parents died. He has been isolated from any friends. He's been subtly undermined and criticised by Fujisawa on daily basis (how about that moment when Fujisawa suggests Sei's work is of no importance? or how about he dismisses Sei's conversations with his email pal as silly?) and restricted as to what he should and shouldn't do, to the point that he doesn't watch TV, sprays himself before going back home not to displease Fujisawa with how he smells or washes hands like crazy after masturbating...
It's been suggested and shown a bit here and there that Sei's natural personality is more defiant, very direct, a bit cheeky and mischievous. We saw glimpses of that in his emails with Hagiwara or their conversation at the beginning of episode 4, I think (just right after they found out each other's identities). It's also clearly shown that he was someone liked by his university friends, who'd want to keep in touch with him. It's Fujisawa who kept dimming his light all the time, weaving his web of control and abuse around Sei.
Sei pushing Hagiwara away has probably (in my opinion) a lot to do with him feeling indebted to Fujisawa, who "took care" of him after his parents' death. And ofc plenty to do with the fact how much he's been mentally (and now, also physically) victimized and conditioned by Fujisawa. It's difficult to break the cycle of abuse, and I honestly feel super sorry for him and sympathize with his position.
Can someone who watched ep 6 tell me wth just happened?
I need someone who's smarter than me or maybe knows Japanese to explain to me what happened between Kotoha and Megumi at Kotoha's place. I was certain she did not go through with her assault after that moment when both of them stared at the plushie (and the plushie seemed to stare back, as if judging Kotoha and possibly triggerning some traumatic memory from the past as well).
However, I got confused by their conversation afterwards when they were walking together at the bridge. Kotoha apologized to Megumi and it kinda sounded like she went through it? Was it a translation mistake or it actually happened?
I hope it's a misunderstanding, because... I honestly don't like this development.
I was not one among people appauled by the first episode. I thought the whole thing at Megumi's place was handled pretty well. Megumi defended herself, she drew the boundary, called what Kotoha was doing for what it was (a crime). I also understood the importance of that event storywise, as it was establishing Kotoha's character and gave us a glimpse of what might've happened to her (e.g. "you think the police will treat it seriously if it's two women" sentence she says - I'm quoting from memory so it's definitely not accurate).
However they completely lost me at episode 6 and that bridge scene. What was that "yay, hurray, let's be together forever" atmosphere? I know that Megumi has this saviour personality to the extent it's not healthy, but wasn't it a bit too much? Especially if the rape actually happened...
Which is why I think it didn't and Kotoha was apologizing for forcing herself on Megumi *before* she stopped. But I wish someone who watched the episode shared their impressions with me.
While the chances for season 2 went up with the recent post from Mou Mou official account, the second season is *not* officially confirmed yet. What is officially confirmed though is a second fan meeting. Anyone from Thailand (or with money to go to Thailand 😋) and with a will to go, get ready, I guess ;)
I don’t think ppl should care so much of ratings. The drama is done really well but I knew their carefully crafted…
I usually don't. Plenty of my favourite stuff has rather low ratings on MDL and plenty of stuff I consider subpar soars above 8,5 😋
It's just that... the drama is still ongoing, I wish it didn't have a rating that immediately scares the possible audiences away. Another thing is the genre - costume cdramas seem to usually be around 8.5 so 7.9 for such a smart script is just rubbing me the wrong way. I know it's not the most productive emotion to have ;)
I thought her role was a psychologist not a heart doctor ( cardiologist ) ?
She is something of a psychiatrist. I guess the confusion in the article might come from the fact that in Chinese culture the concepts of heart and mind were kinda interchangeable. But that's just my guess.
I watched two episodes, but I'm unsure if I should continue.
That really depends on your expectations. This drama is more on the serious side and requires a bit of attention from the viewer. As others already stated, it's not very romance-heavy.
That really depends on your idea of "good". It's definitely very different. I'd say it's more artistic, there's visual symbolism, the cinematography is great, despite it not looking to be high budget. There's strong focus on psychology of characters. The kissing scenes will most likely look lacklustre to someone used to Thai GLs...
Personally, to me, this drama is better, but I'm sure there are ppl who'd disagree.
The episodes are short. How about just give it a try and see for yourself? :)
New watchers, dont bother with 7.9 rating. If you are into smart and scheming plot, go with this 😎
I second that!!! The writing in this drama is really good. I usually need to suspend my disbelief or look the other way in order to enjoy a lot of dramas, but here I haven't spotted any logical flaws or inconsistencies so far. If they're there, they're hidden very well 😉 The characters are smart (and not just by the setting that tells us they're smart and by everyone around them being surprisingly stupid; they're really smart, it's a joy to watch them plot, think and deduce).
The acting is also good. It's the first time I'm seeing Shawn Dou in anything, but he's doing such a good job!
Overall, the rating (when compared to other drama ratings on MDL) is a misunderstanding to me. It's a really good work. Do give it a try, everybody who wonders if they should!
Where are you all watching this?If Viki .. which region are you from of VPN plugged in?Says 12 eps dropped??
It's not available on Viki yet. They'd drop first three eps in three days, I think.
It's available on Youku's official YouTube channel, but they drop it one ep per each day and currently are at 5 episodes available. You can watch it for free there at such pace.
Then finally, you can also get the Youku app - where you can watch all of the officially released episodes already :)
1 
But generally, I'd say he was rather covert and "skilful" about it until that "explosion" in ep 6.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the plot. Fujisawa's been abusive towards Sei for years and, as it is often the case, the abuse escalated. It's neither that weird, uncommon or surprising. Even more so, because it happened when Fujisawa felt he was losing his grip/control over Sei. As some other commentators mentioned before, it's all about control - and I agree. Fujisawa had his ways to assert his power over Sei, from isolating him from his friends, to deciding the arrangement of their shared house, judging his choices, e.g. to go to a work party or finally "dosing" his affection.
When he found out Sei had sex with Hagiwara, he felt threatened/insecure, so he proposed for them to move (isolating Sei from Hagiwara and other city temptations and possibilities for a hook-up, encouraging to quit his job etc. to further his control).
When that didn't work the way he intended, he confronted Sei but Sei wasn't particularly ashamed of what he did. I guess you could even say that he intentionally tried to upset Fujisawa by saying things like "we went at it like rabbits". Moreover, he even wanted to contact Hagiwara and "wanted to see him". A very symbolic element of that scene was Sei listening to the rain sound on his phone sent to him by Hagiwara. All of this was a clear indicator for Fujisawa that he was losing control established over the years and it - I can only assume - made him crazy with insecurity.
A way to establish that control back was to escalate his abuse. Why a sexual assault though? Well, I have some theories:
1) Sei had sex with Hagiwara, and in Fujisawa's eyes he was reclaiming what was "his" by having sex with Sei as well.
2) Because Sei had always wanted sex from him before, so in a desperation to make Sei dependant on him again, he decided to give him what he had wanted.
3) It was a form of punishment. As in "oh, so you wanted to have sex, huh? then you better enjoy it now!" kinda twisted logic.
Whether these are correct or not, I still think that the very fact that Fujisawa's - previously somewhat covert and subtle - abuse simply escalated. And the reason why it escalated so much in a span of one evening is because he felt he was loosing his power.
Besides, it's not like this drama is promoted as some educational piece of fiction with a recommendation to draw life lessons from it. It's supposed to be an entertainment, a comedy show broadcasted on a commercial streaming site... which btw, I'm sure, features plenty of waaay more offensive material on it.
Comedies - since... always - were making fun of different aspects of life, not seldom including sensitive topics. There are comedies about gangsters and breaking the law, comedies about... I don't know, running a funeral house, comedies about losing weight, cross-dressing and so on and so forth. Why cheating, of all subjects, should be some untouchable topic?
Finally... the drama hasn't been out yet and so many people have already decided it's trash. Without knowing anything about the quality of the script, directing, storytelling, editing, acting...
In fact, we don't even know how the cheating will be portrayed and what will be the final message at the end of the drama.
But then again, it was just super weird in general. I agree that there's some redeeming quality in Kotoha knowing she should apologize. Agreed one hundred percent on how Megumi handled that apology... it was quite terrible! Even if we ignore what's wrong and right and what would be the healthy reaction in reality, her dismissive attitude with "I was kinda into it" doesn't really fit the Megumi who was very clear about setting the boundaries straight in the first episode. Feels out of character to some extent. It's like she regressed...
Unless we're supposed to believe it's all due to being a fool in love 🙃
I actually still have mixed feelings about this episode... But at least it was definitely filmed very beautifully.
The wrist marks *and* what Sei said beforehand (the remark about blind fury) + the fact that it all happened at a very specific moment (right after Hagiwara and Sei were caught) all put together suggested something more sinister happened.
I do kinda agree that it was simplified, though. But not to the unbearable extent. In my opinion at least.
Sei has been conditioned to rely on Fujisawa after his parents died. He has been isolated from any friends. He's been subtly undermined and criticised by Fujisawa on daily basis (how about that moment when Fujisawa suggests Sei's work is of no importance? or how about he dismisses Sei's conversations with his email pal as silly?) and restricted as to what he should and shouldn't do, to the point that he doesn't watch TV, sprays himself before going back home not to displease Fujisawa with how he smells or washes hands like crazy after masturbating...
It's been suggested and shown a bit here and there that Sei's natural personality is more defiant, very direct, a bit cheeky and mischievous. We saw glimpses of that in his emails with Hagiwara or their conversation at the beginning of episode 4, I think (just right after they found out each other's identities). It's also clearly shown that he was someone liked by his university friends, who'd want to keep in touch with him. It's Fujisawa who kept dimming his light all the time, weaving his web of control and abuse around Sei.
Sei pushing Hagiwara away has probably (in my opinion) a lot to do with him feeling indebted to Fujisawa, who "took care" of him after his parents' death. And ofc plenty to do with the fact how much he's been mentally (and now, also physically) victimized and conditioned by Fujisawa. It's difficult to break the cycle of abuse, and I honestly feel super sorry for him and sympathize with his position.
However, I got confused by their conversation afterwards when they were walking together at the bridge. Kotoha apologized to Megumi and it kinda sounded like she went through it? Was it a translation mistake or it actually happened?
I hope it's a misunderstanding, because... I honestly don't like this development.
I was not one among people appauled by the first episode. I thought the whole thing at Megumi's place was handled pretty well. Megumi defended herself, she drew the boundary, called what Kotoha was doing for what it was (a crime). I also understood the importance of that event storywise, as it was establishing Kotoha's character and gave us a glimpse of what might've happened to her (e.g. "you think the police will treat it seriously if it's two women" sentence she says - I'm quoting from memory so it's definitely not accurate).
However they completely lost me at episode 6 and that bridge scene. What was that "yay, hurray, let's be together forever" atmosphere? I know that Megumi has this saviour personality to the extent it's not healthy, but wasn't it a bit too much? Especially if the rape actually happened...
Which is why I think it didn't and Kotoha was apologizing for forcing herself on Megumi *before* she stopped. But I wish someone who watched the episode shared their impressions with me.
What is officially confirmed though is a second fan meeting. Anyone from Thailand (or with money to go to Thailand 😋) and with a will to go, get ready, I guess ;)
It's just that... the drama is still ongoing, I wish it didn't have a rating that immediately scares the possible audiences away.
Another thing is the genre - costume cdramas seem to usually be around 8.5 so 7.9 for such a smart script is just rubbing me the wrong way. I know it's not the most productive emotion to have ;)
I guess the confusion in the article might come from the fact that in Chinese culture the concepts of heart and mind were kinda interchangeable. But that's just my guess.
This drama is more on the serious side and requires a bit of attention from the viewer.
As others already stated, it's not very romance-heavy.
It's definitely very different. I'd say it's more artistic, there's visual symbolism, the cinematography is great, despite it not looking to be high budget. There's strong focus on psychology of characters.
The kissing scenes will most likely look lacklustre to someone used to Thai GLs...
Personally, to me, this drama is better, but I'm sure there are ppl who'd disagree.
The episodes are short. How about just give it a try and see for yourself? :)
The writing in this drama is really good. I usually need to suspend my disbelief or look the other way in order to enjoy a lot of dramas, but here I haven't spotted any logical flaws or inconsistencies so far. If they're there, they're hidden very well 😉
The characters are smart (and not just by the setting that tells us they're smart and by everyone around them being surprisingly stupid; they're really smart, it's a joy to watch them plot, think and deduce).
The acting is also good. It's the first time I'm seeing Shawn Dou in anything, but he's doing such a good job!
Overall, the rating (when compared to other drama ratings on MDL) is a misunderstanding to me.
It's a really good work. Do give it a try, everybody who wonders if they should!
It's available on Youku's official YouTube channel, but they drop it one ep per each day and currently are at 5 episodes available. You can watch it for free there at such pace.
Then finally, you can also get the Youku app - where you can watch all of the officially released episodes already :)
Thanks a lot for the info! :)