badrad

I had to have an extra serving of Suspended Disbelief on that scene. If my kids were still young, this would be an example of what to NEVER do if you are totally on your own.

yeah, I was so hoping somewhere in the last episode he might show up during the fight to save his niece, but I suppose it was important to show her growth arc that she found the strength within herself.

yeah, its got a few holes that still need filling in, also really kinda underwhelmed by LDW scenes. Of course the emphasis was on her and her survival, but LDW seemed like the forgotten man.

Naka Riisa singing!!! be still my heart! I already fell in love with her in MIL, and now this with singing!

So I went back to ep1 and rewatched the bar singing portion with patience. After actually listening to the song, it was actually quite good! The messages came across well, as did the opposing arguments by each. Now having enjoyed this sequence I am looking forward to the next episodes!

Interesting first episode. I'm happy to see four from Mother's in Love (Abe Sadawo, Naka Riisa, Yoshida Yoh and Isomuro Hyato) and will be interested to see if there will love interests bloom amongst them.
As other have mentioned, all seemed okay until the musical scene. Threw me for a bit of loop, just really didn't fit, although since this is somewhat of time travel fantasy anyways, the singing still just didn't fit. It's almost like how do we fill in some of this gap - instead of dialog, let's sing it out?
Honestly if this was supposed to be more of a musical, the few opening scenes might have been better spots - for instance the baseball practice field (the kids could be singing the drudgery of practice) or when he was on the bus - other passengers singing against his smoking?
So as far as how it goes I'll see where the next few episodes take us.

If you are also looking for a complete series, there are a few that have no romance just drama or mystery to be solved. For instance The Veil, The Good Manager, Hot Stove League, The Travel Nurse, Mystery to Iu Nakare, Sherlock.

Yes all 3 series are Japanese. Solitary Gourmet has run 10 seasons, with several New Years specials and a few summer mini-webstyle episodes during the pandemic, all are quite good. There is a single season Taiwanese version of Solitary Gourmet. Wakako Zake is into 6 or 7 season?, and Solo Katsu is 3rd with a confirmed 4th season.

Solitary Gourmet? Zero romance for ML, but tons of food love. On the other hand, if looking for single FL there's either Wakako Zake, or Solo Katsu - although Solo Katsu has only been partially subbed first season.

I was okay with most of the subtitles, at least getting the general meaning of the majority of the movie. There were subtleties during some of the more personal conversations like in the restaurant, and in particular the washroom scene, and a few scenes that did require a rewind and some head scratching. But in all didn't detract too much from enjoying the movie. Seriously though, it was waiting for that magic moment of the first kiss anyways!
Good enough for now, as who knows when the professional translation comes around.

yes, actually what resonated with me with the HK version was just the haunting emptiness and loneliness in many of the scenes. The ghostly empty airport, the quiet streets, the barren cafes. Strangely, this may have been shot post lockdown in HK, but it was a bit unnerving feeling the emptiness of the scenes.

The Korean FL was also bit of a doormat in the beginning, she seemed to get steamrolled quite a bit by family and bullied by college friends. So both character appear to be about on par in early episodes.
Some differences I notice btw the two versions though, while the HK FL seemed to keep to her initial character thru the series, the Korean FL started to show signs of growth as in her dress better and more confidence in the later episodes as she is appreciated at work and her budding relationship with ML.
In all, having watched both, each have decent takeaways although from a nice visual and production values the Korean version is better done. From a dialog and some scenes I was actually nicely surprised by the HK version.

Her whining made my ears bleed! But have to admit, she's quite a pretty actress. And she was quite funny melting down in the various scenes! But her screams were like nails on a chalkboard!

It's funny, for me I have the same criticisms of this series. It feels like just a super crappy knock off of the Korean original. The makeup department, the costuming, and the background scenes and no extra actors are lacking so much, some times it feels like they could have just done everything green screen. The actors aren't super great, in particular the ML is a bit hard to look at in some scenes, especially he sometime appears to have way too much makeup on his face.
But, that said, when I just watch some of scenes with ML and FL (and maybe those scenes that ML makeup isn't that bad), they do seem to click well for me. So yeah, as a whole I kinda feel cringe with how they made the series, but watching some of the scenes slightly redeems it for me, not totally but enough that I have kept watching. Maybe I'm just in for the punishment...

Budget or sponsor limits? Yeah, her wardrobe seems very drab. By comparison to the Korean version, while FL was in her worker identity, she still had some nice clothes. LIkely HK didn't have any significnt clothing sponsors for their episodes, so little product placement?

Fingers crossed. Seeing how in these first few episodes, ML and FL seem very grounded and both appear faithful, so at this time could not imagine. However, several of the side players seem very promiscuous so maybe it's that? But it will be a journey.

Same here, I found the HK version a bit tighter and bit more playful. As for the ML, I couldn't stand his left side lick of hair. sort of bothered me that is seemed like a pasted strip down the side of his head. But as the episodes progressed he's getting easier to look at.

Starts off as a nice rom com, and slaps you in the face with heartwrenching ending. Whenever I re-watch, I totally skip the heartbreak section - from 1:16 to the credits. The perfect happy ending is him softly whispering to her about looking for a crib together - suggesting his embracing becoming a father, then jump to ending song and credits.
So for me, with the original ending - maybe a 5.5-7, with the tragedy cut out I am putting into an enjoyable 8 to 8.5.

It's a good ending. 100 Yen love ending in the ring, but uplifting with the daughter.

Yes so glad! This series took so long especially with the break after ep 10.
My wife has 2 rules for introducing any drama series to her (1) the series is complete so she can binge and (2) a happy ending without leads dying by the last scene.
So will check on ep 21 and see it this meets her criteria. Fingers crossed as she is a NKM fan.