This review may contain spoilers
love is a poison, but this show is an antidote
i don’t normally watch japanese shows, but i’m really glad i watched this one! i loved every minute of it. the characters are sweet and have good chemistry, and it’s decently light-hearted, even in moments of drama. it’s an easy watch if you’re stressed or in a bad mood, i watched this in the week leading up to and my week of finals, and it was a great break.
love is a poison is a really short watch. there are 12 episodes, each about 19 minutes long, so the show only takes about 4 hours to watch. they do get a full show with developed characters and a tied up plot at the end of it, so props to them! i will say, most of my complaints do stem from the fact that there isn’t enough time to develop the characters properly.
haruto’s past wasn’t handle in the best way to reveal it. it all came out within the last 40ish minutes of the show, and is mentioned very briefly, almost like the only point was for it to be used in the trial against his dad. i really wish we could know more about him and his life, especially when they mention what happened to his mom. i want to mention i haven’t read the source material, so maybe that stuff is mentioned. i also feel like i know basically nothing about ryoma other than the fact that he wants to be “the Guardian of the Law”. that’s okay, i guess, but saying that he’s the main character, it’s a little disappointing. that is another thing that’s bad about shorter shows, all the characters don’t get to fully be known, especially if you’re an side character.
the characters do seem unrealistic at points. i know it’s a drama, but still, does ryoma shiba seem like the kind of guy to be comfortable with a strange man? as i write this, i realize that it’s probably to go with the theme of how love poisons you (which ryoma acknowledges even in the ending episode) but sometimes it does make it unrealistic. this isn’t a full grievance, more of a “huh, this really wouldn’t have really happened, right?” that occurred after the show is over, but i kind of enjoy that.
the plot, of course, is rushed. it also isn’t the best too, but it works for the show(?) if that makes sense. the team involved in production really made the plot they had work with everything else. i really would love to know more about the teens that haruto was taking care of, they were so sweet. then again, it’s a 4 hour show, so i’m glad they were there.
finally, the music. i’m only going to really talk about ‘love toxin’ by wanuka (the intro song) because i wasn’t the biggest fan of ‘geometric’ by osage (the outro song) (i don’t have a real reason- it’s a good song, you should listen to it, but it’s not my favorite). the song perfectly encapsulates what love is a poison is about. the intro portrays this well; it’s an upbeat song that sounds perfect for both ryoma and haruto’s love story and a big city romance. this song is a really great highlight song for the series and i would play the intro just to listen to this song. i want to listen to wanuka more because of this now.
overall, a fun and short story with a few flaws, but it’s a great show to watch if you have some freetime or need a pick me up!
love is a poison is a really short watch. there are 12 episodes, each about 19 minutes long, so the show only takes about 4 hours to watch. they do get a full show with developed characters and a tied up plot at the end of it, so props to them! i will say, most of my complaints do stem from the fact that there isn’t enough time to develop the characters properly.
haruto’s past wasn’t handle in the best way to reveal it. it all came out within the last 40ish minutes of the show, and is mentioned very briefly, almost like the only point was for it to be used in the trial against his dad. i really wish we could know more about him and his life, especially when they mention what happened to his mom. i want to mention i haven’t read the source material, so maybe that stuff is mentioned. i also feel like i know basically nothing about ryoma other than the fact that he wants to be “the Guardian of the Law”. that’s okay, i guess, but saying that he’s the main character, it’s a little disappointing. that is another thing that’s bad about shorter shows, all the characters don’t get to fully be known, especially if you’re an side character.
the characters do seem unrealistic at points. i know it’s a drama, but still, does ryoma shiba seem like the kind of guy to be comfortable with a strange man? as i write this, i realize that it’s probably to go with the theme of how love poisons you (which ryoma acknowledges even in the ending episode) but sometimes it does make it unrealistic. this isn’t a full grievance, more of a “huh, this really wouldn’t have really happened, right?” that occurred after the show is over, but i kind of enjoy that.
the plot, of course, is rushed. it also isn’t the best too, but it works for the show(?) if that makes sense. the team involved in production really made the plot they had work with everything else. i really would love to know more about the teens that haruto was taking care of, they were so sweet. then again, it’s a 4 hour show, so i’m glad they were there.
finally, the music. i’m only going to really talk about ‘love toxin’ by wanuka (the intro song) because i wasn’t the biggest fan of ‘geometric’ by osage (the outro song) (i don’t have a real reason- it’s a good song, you should listen to it, but it’s not my favorite). the song perfectly encapsulates what love is a poison is about. the intro portrays this well; it’s an upbeat song that sounds perfect for both ryoma and haruto’s love story and a big city romance. this song is a really great highlight song for the series and i would play the intro just to listen to this song. i want to listen to wanuka more because of this now.
overall, a fun and short story with a few flaws, but it’s a great show to watch if you have some freetime or need a pick me up!
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