I expected something deeper, darker and psychological but this left me disappointed. The story was bland, and so were the characters. What a time waste.
Picture the chaos and madness when a devout catholic girls school and a gangster-ish pervy boys school merge.. this delivered and how in both comedy and heart. As always, Kudo Kankuro doesn't disappoint in creating a wacky universe you can't help but fall in love with. All the characters were loveable in their own ways that I couldn't help but root for all of them. And boy, did they all grow up as the show progressed. I almost teared up in some scenes. Even the sexist / inappropriate jokes were used to poke fun at everything and ended up making me laugh. I felt sad when it ended, because I am going to miss these characters. P.S Only Mitsushima Hikari could pull off those atrocious outfits and end up looking cool.
That synopsis needs to be revised because this is no Cinderella-meets-prince story. It is much more than that. I enjoyed the leads' and their love story, however just like others who are clueless about the source material, I didn't fully understand what was going on [beyond the love story]. For that unfortunately, I can't give this a very high rating even though the movie was shot and acted well. Meguro Ren and Imada Mio deserved better because they clearly gave their all, but the screenplay let them down.
Soredemo, Ikite Yuku Nijiiro Karute Kazoku Game Prism Ore no Hanashi wa Nagai The Great White Tower Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita Ukiwa: Tomodachi Ijo, Furin Miman
Lesson in love.. NOT. LOL who came up with that title?!This had the potential to be so much more. There were some…
The confrontation scene between the mum and the FL. Now that was a class apart. How I wish they retained that game between them, rather than tame the mother into using some melodramatic fake incest plot to keep the FL away from the ML. Like come on! The ML's mother was such an interesting character.. I seriously wanted more of her beyond just being a villain for the leads. Also can't believe they whitewashed her in the last episode. URGHHHHH.
The poor girl character Yuxin.. ooh she was an interesting one as well. She was so complex, smart and manipulative. I am glad they gave her more screen space in the 2nd half because she made the show interesting for me while the FL was being your typical melodrama queen.
I think the ML was pretty interesting too. I do wish we got a little bit more of his psychology. Why he was so drawn to the FL from the get go, or his family dynamics. Like his father was almost non-existent? His relationship with his friends which seemed pretty intense in the 1st episode but it was all watered down once the romance kicked in. He had a lot of rage in the first 2 episodes but they went with the he's-a-nice-guy-deep-down trope and almost changed his personality into a puppy devoted ML. BORING. They could have retained some of the darker aspects of his personality more.
The father was quite the non-existent character but the way he confronted the mum in E11. DAMN. Why wasn't he given more screen space in the show?! He's clearly not the simple guy he was shown to be, and seemed somewhat ambitious and capable of being darker.
The FL. To think the premise centred on the FL's revenge but we weren't given enough of what she was thinking when she interacted with the ML. They probably were going for a mysterious vibe but there wasn't enough to keep you hooked to her character. Tiffany has grown into a much better actress over the years, and she was great in 'Shards of Her' but I felt that she was a little flat in this. She had great chemistry with the ML, though. Those kisses *swoons* no other Asian dramas do kisses like Taiwan.
And what is with the scene in the first episode where the ML asks the FL what she is to him.. that never played out. IT WAS FREAKING CLICKBAIT WTF. I was actually waiting for that scene to play out. What a freaking bummer!
The stalker director. Another character that could have been used better beyond the 2nd ML-simping-for-the-FL trope. The drama could have clearly done without him because his stalking served little purpose. Not sure why they kept his revelation at the last episode [it was so damn obvious] like it would add something to the plot when it clearly didn't.
One thing that bothered me so much - the way Yi Xiang openly chased the FL, and all the teachers, parents were aware yet did nothing about it. No matter the mum's connections, that didn't make sense. Major plot flaw that wasn't justified well enough. They should have the leads relationship a secret; that would have made it so much more interesting and thrilling. Also towards the end, when the media hounded them over their relationship - how come there were no implications? Why wasn't she charged for dating a student? So so unrealistic.
If they focused on the interplay of all these characters beyond just the romance, this drama had the potential to be so damn good.
Lesson in love.. NOT. LOL who came up with that title?! This had the potential to be so much more. There were some dynamics between the characters that I wish were explored more, [see spoiler] but I don't fault the writer for not writing this darker. I guess this was meant to be a love story rather than a psychological drama. Pity because many of the characters (beyond the leads romance) were pretty layered and interesting and were clearly driving the story, especially the melodramatic 2nd half. All in all, this ended up being a mediocre drama for me.
I'd recommend Kenja No Ai if you're looking for something with a similar premise that is actually darker, meatier and much more tight-scripted.
A wholesome drama about doing the best you can for the people you love sprinkled with heartwarming friendships, tons of nostalgia and the quintessential Japanese banter. An A1 drama all around with a cast that had natural, crackling chemistry together. Thank you Bakarhythm for this gem with my favourite actors. Highly highly recommended for all :)
3 
8 
1 
1 
1 
I hope he'll continue to get work. He's so talented
SIGHHHHHHHHHHH
P.S Only Mitsushima Hikari could pull off those atrocious outfits and end up looking cool.
Meguro Ren and Imada Mio deserved better because they clearly gave their all, but the screenplay let them down.
Soredemo, Ikite Yuku
Nijiiro Karute
Kazoku Game
Prism
Ore no Hanashi wa Nagai
The Great White Tower
Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita
Ukiwa: Tomodachi Ijo, Furin Miman
More can be found in my list: https://kisskh.at/list/LQJEl7R3
The ML's mother was such an interesting character.. I seriously wanted more of her beyond just being a villain for the leads. Also can't believe they whitewashed her in the last episode. URGHHHHH.
The poor girl character Yuxin.. ooh she was an interesting one as well. She was so complex, smart and manipulative. I am glad they gave her more screen space in the 2nd half because she made the show interesting for me while the FL was being your typical melodrama queen.
I think the ML was pretty interesting too. I do wish we got a little bit more of his psychology. Why he was so drawn to the FL from the get go, or his family dynamics. Like his father was almost non-existent? His relationship with his friends which seemed pretty intense in the 1st episode but it was all watered down once the romance kicked in. He had a lot of rage in the first 2 episodes but they went with the he's-a-nice-guy-deep-down trope and almost changed his personality into a puppy devoted ML. BORING. They could have retained some of the darker aspects of his personality more.
The father was quite the non-existent character but the way he confronted the mum in E11. DAMN. Why wasn't he given more screen space in the show?! He's clearly not the simple guy he was shown to be, and seemed somewhat ambitious and capable of being darker.
The FL. To think the premise centred on the FL's revenge but we weren't given enough of what she was thinking when she interacted with the ML. They probably were going for a mysterious vibe but there wasn't enough to keep you hooked to her character. Tiffany has grown into a much better actress over the years, and she was great in 'Shards of Her' but I felt that she was a little flat in this. She had great chemistry with the ML, though. Those kisses *swoons* no other Asian dramas do kisses like Taiwan.
And what is with the scene in the first episode where the ML asks the FL what she is to him.. that never played out. IT WAS FREAKING CLICKBAIT WTF. I was actually waiting for that scene to play out. What a freaking bummer!
The stalker director. Another character that could have been used better beyond the 2nd ML-simping-for-the-FL trope. The drama could have clearly done without him because his stalking served little purpose. Not sure why they kept his revelation at the last episode [it was so damn obvious] like it would add something to the plot when it clearly didn't.
One thing that bothered me so much - the way Yi Xiang openly chased the FL, and all the teachers, parents were aware yet did nothing about it. No matter the mum's connections, that didn't make sense. Major plot flaw that wasn't justified well enough. They should have the leads relationship a secret; that would have made it so much more interesting and thrilling.
Also towards the end, when the media hounded them over their relationship - how come there were no implications? Why wasn't she charged for dating a student? So so unrealistic.
If they focused on the interplay of all these characters beyond just the romance, this drama had the potential to be so damn good.
LOL who came up with that title?!
This had the potential to be so much more. There were some dynamics between the characters that I wish were explored more, [see spoiler] but I don't fault the writer for not writing this darker. I guess this was meant to be a love story rather than a psychological drama. Pity because many of the characters (beyond the leads romance) were pretty layered and interesting and were clearly driving the story, especially the melodramatic 2nd half. All in all, this ended up being a mediocre drama for me.
I'd recommend Kenja No Ai if you're looking for something with a similar premise that is actually darker, meatier and much more tight-scripted.
Thank you Bakarhythm for this gem with my favourite actors.
Highly highly recommended for all :)
FYI.
No subs yet, though.