Kiss Kiss (Bangs Bangs)
Disclaimer: I came into this as a big fan of the manga, so that influences my opinion a lot.
Kiss Bare was a decent drama that was easy to watch and generally charming. Some of the production choices do confuse me though, and I'm sorry to say that my main gripe is with.... the bangs.
Y'all. I appreciate how they tried to give the male lead the same messy sleepy bangs that Shioya has in the manga, but what they came up with was not it. To the point of being honestly distracting in the first 5 episodes until your eyes just kind of get used to them (and maybe the hair styling got a tiny bit better with practice). Shioya is a sleepy type guy whose charm and style come without effort-- I mean, the start of the show's intro is him getting pissed at his alarm clock. So why does it look like he's waking up 2 hours early to style these god awful bangs?? This hairstyle belong on a pedantic OCD class president-type or maybe someone who's never been outside. I have to admit I spent a lot of the slower moments in the plot just debating whether it was a bad wig or not.
Adapting dramas from manga is a difficult task, especially when it comes to translating stylized character designs to real life features. I get that, so not having a perfect match for Shioya is understandable. The problem is that the styling choices were distracting to the point of actually undermining his characterization. (Were there no wavy-haired actors available? Did the racier scenes mean fewer actors were interested in the role? I'm not deeply familiar with Japan's TV industry so these were just questions I was asking myself.)
Fuji Ryusei (Shioya) is a good looking guy with an appealing voice, but the I don't think the styling and overall production really suited him nor his features. I'd be curious to see what the casting pool was like. Likewise, the casting for Mizoguchi (Kawashima Noel) really puzzled me when this drama was first announced. His performance turned out to be quite fun and balanced the sober Shioya nicely (and he's great at acting wasted) so he won me over somewhat, but he is unrecognizable from the manga's Mizoguchi. As to why, perhaps production wanted to make absolutely sure the second male lead wouldn't be more attractive than / distracting from Shioya. I can only guess. However, in the end it all just left me scratching my head about casting the whole time I was watching.
The female lead Kaede, on the other hand, was wonderfully cast. Konno Ayaka gave a great performance. (And, I might mention, they kept Kaede's bangs while updating them into a look that suited the actress! Just saying! Ahem.) She had good chemistry with the male lead and carried the show well. Usuda (Wagatsuma Miwako) was lovely too.
One more note about adapting from a manga: the oops-I-slipped-and-fell-onto-his-lips type of gag works better in a comic strip. They left way too many of these in the drama for my taste, because in live action it reeeally tests the viewers' suspension of disbelief. That being said, it's always a good laugh (if only at the show's expense) and I can appreciate camp / corniness. I'm not watching a J drama adaptation of josei smut manga for gritty realism, after all! I'm hear to have fun, and generally, I got what I came for.
Overall, I enjoyed watching this. The bones of the plot are simple but really work for me and it's nice to see a J drama featuring intimacy like this. But given the genre, it's hard to ignore the fact that this was shockingly a show where I didn't really find any of the male leads very handsome. A missed opportunity, since the tone of the romance in this story is an unbelievably hot perfect hidden gem boyfriend vibe. It doesn't hurt the show's watchability, it just distracts from the intended tone of the story.
If you're down with indulgent josei office romance (and the meek FLs they tend to feature), I would give this a try! Even if it doesn't change your life, it goes down smooth and leaves you with some great heart-pounding moments.
Side note: I promise I'm not usually so focused on hairstyling while watching dramas (even when it's xianxia!!)-- that was just my journey watching this particular show. I truly think those bangs (shiver) would have distracted me even if I had never touched the manga. Relieved to see I wasn't alone there!
Kiss Bare was a decent drama that was easy to watch and generally charming. Some of the production choices do confuse me though, and I'm sorry to say that my main gripe is with.... the bangs.
Y'all. I appreciate how they tried to give the male lead the same messy sleepy bangs that Shioya has in the manga, but what they came up with was not it. To the point of being honestly distracting in the first 5 episodes until your eyes just kind of get used to them (and maybe the hair styling got a tiny bit better with practice). Shioya is a sleepy type guy whose charm and style come without effort-- I mean, the start of the show's intro is him getting pissed at his alarm clock. So why does it look like he's waking up 2 hours early to style these god awful bangs?? This hairstyle belong on a pedantic OCD class president-type or maybe someone who's never been outside. I have to admit I spent a lot of the slower moments in the plot just debating whether it was a bad wig or not.
Adapting dramas from manga is a difficult task, especially when it comes to translating stylized character designs to real life features. I get that, so not having a perfect match for Shioya is understandable. The problem is that the styling choices were distracting to the point of actually undermining his characterization. (Were there no wavy-haired actors available? Did the racier scenes mean fewer actors were interested in the role? I'm not deeply familiar with Japan's TV industry so these were just questions I was asking myself.)
Fuji Ryusei (Shioya) is a good looking guy with an appealing voice, but the I don't think the styling and overall production really suited him nor his features. I'd be curious to see what the casting pool was like. Likewise, the casting for Mizoguchi (Kawashima Noel) really puzzled me when this drama was first announced. His performance turned out to be quite fun and balanced the sober Shioya nicely (and he's great at acting wasted) so he won me over somewhat, but he is unrecognizable from the manga's Mizoguchi. As to why, perhaps production wanted to make absolutely sure the second male lead wouldn't be more attractive than / distracting from Shioya. I can only guess. However, in the end it all just left me scratching my head about casting the whole time I was watching.
The female lead Kaede, on the other hand, was wonderfully cast. Konno Ayaka gave a great performance. (And, I might mention, they kept Kaede's bangs while updating them into a look that suited the actress! Just saying! Ahem.) She had good chemistry with the male lead and carried the show well. Usuda (Wagatsuma Miwako) was lovely too.
One more note about adapting from a manga: the oops-I-slipped-and-fell-onto-his-lips type of gag works better in a comic strip. They left way too many of these in the drama for my taste, because in live action it reeeally tests the viewers' suspension of disbelief. That being said, it's always a good laugh (if only at the show's expense) and I can appreciate camp / corniness. I'm not watching a J drama adaptation of josei smut manga for gritty realism, after all! I'm hear to have fun, and generally, I got what I came for.
Overall, I enjoyed watching this. The bones of the plot are simple but really work for me and it's nice to see a J drama featuring intimacy like this. But given the genre, it's hard to ignore the fact that this was shockingly a show where I didn't really find any of the male leads very handsome. A missed opportunity, since the tone of the romance in this story is an unbelievably hot perfect hidden gem boyfriend vibe. It doesn't hurt the show's watchability, it just distracts from the intended tone of the story.
If you're down with indulgent josei office romance (and the meek FLs they tend to feature), I would give this a try! Even if it doesn't change your life, it goes down smooth and leaves you with some great heart-pounding moments.
Side note: I promise I'm not usually so focused on hairstyling while watching dramas (even when it's xianxia!!)-- that was just my journey watching this particular show. I truly think those bangs (shiver) would have distracted me even if I had never touched the manga. Relieved to see I wasn't alone there!
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