This review may contain spoilers
no frills, straight forward romance that actually shows happy marriage ending
This was showing up in my recommends for some time and decided to give it a go in 2025 :D . (I have turned on spoilers flag just in case)
Overall I found the entire serial enjoyable. The four leads were all easy on the eye and could act reasonably well. Producer, director, writer and composer were all female. You can see the influences in various facets of the final product. The lead actress seems very popular, going by her prolific catalogue of work.
The story itself isn't earth shattering. Part slice of life, part existential angst (all too common in story telling in last few decades). The tropes surrounding the leads are relatable too: For the FL, a put together life for "best social media appearances". The ML has been burnt out by "quick success followed by crash and burn" so now he's covering it up playing "edgy cool". Antisocial female artist and metrosexual man bring up the rear.
What I liked
First and foremost, unlike majority kdramas, they resolved the arc by showing the hero and heroine had married soon after and having a cute 4-5 year old daughter in the end. It was a literal breath of fresh air. Much appreciated! The side leads resolving the side FL's tantrums and marrying in thr end!
1. Pacing was great. kdramas could learn this some more from jdramas. Story ends in 10 episodes!
2. Most loose ends were resolved fairly quickly.
3. For all the "trauma" they've gone through, the leads are shown as fairly emotionally grounded.
4. The dialogues were fairly mature - not too many cliches.
5. Lovely use of the dog as a plot device and eye candy. It was beautiful.
6. Good use of slow-motion and hero's athleticism in scenes where he chases after the heroine. Overall the framing of the shots, the camera following were done well.
7. Outdoors filming was also tastefully done.
8. Featuring some actual artwork for the second heroine. They looked nice. The finished cherry blossom, the art gallery, the finished painting of the model, etc.
9. The cooking scenes were well filmed too. I liked that aspect of the presentation.
10. Fan service showing the ML putting all the effort for the FL
11. All the leads taking an active interest in at least resolving the misunderstanding in the relationships and putting their love lives on track. All 4 of them were equally shown doing it as well as the landlady character's husband.
12. Heroine shown as not averse to the idea of following the hero in his career. This is so uncommon nowadays that it was a very pleasant surprise. Going by the hero's immediate reaction to her, it was clear the writer was likely pandering to some "audience demography survey" and not present reality for what it is.
13. I hated the way the president opportunistically inserts himself into shun's place in the french restaurant scene. Shun not calling Kurumi from the restaurant to announce his delay was also idiotic. However hero redeemed himself like a champ the next day (smooth moves pro maxxed) and the girl didn't seem stuck up on it which was a relief. So, I liked the ending while I still dislike the beginning. The more I think about the scene it was just unnecessarily added drama at multiple levels.
14. Haru-chan's character portrayal as a counselor and as a human was super well fleshed out.
Disliked
1. The "president" character didn't click for me at all. He took the girl for granted (almost treated like doormat, a few compliments notwithstanding). He could see she was in awe of him harboured a crush) and as using her mostly to prop his own ego. In office settings it is common to see someone in a powerful aura due to being in their presence for 8+ hours but when that setting is taken away, the aura dies too. At least that much was shown. It was scummy move of him to proclaim his own love for her to her after she gets with the main guy and gives him her farewell speech (and confesses her feelings which was also odd for me too, everything else she said was fine). Specially since he was already bailing out like he did in the beginning. The whole usurping shun's place in the french restaurant date by him also puts him in a very negative light. If he hadn't shun would have joined late.
2. The landlady (including the whole "angry with ex-husband") arc really put me off. It felt like a self-insert by the writer whether it was playing cupid, sometimes totally wrong way, or playing "saviour" to the tenants. All the scenes featuring ex-husband in person or being referenced was 100% self insert. The more the ex-husband was emasculated and made to grovel, the more you realise someone was playing out their on fantasy of how they wanted it to be. The resolution towards the end "more then friends, less than family" was total nonsense. Anyway, I didn't like her nor her arc with the husband etc.
3. Not a fan of "stealing another man's girlfriend" arc implied in the case of Mashiba's subordinates. they could have avoided that nonsense. Sullied an otherwise nice story.
4. the "healing and moving on" resolution. Her opening a small shop in the end and "pursuing her dreams" was nice and all, but could have easily been done in hokkaido. Him wanting to be a "japan travelling food cart savant" was stupid in every sense. That the two of them went along with each other's proclamation with a lame "I will support you" was so out of character to how level headed they had been portrayed totally took me off the immersion. This resolution was playing to someone's fantasy clearly and was idiotic and unrealistic in every sense of the word.
5. Showing important scenes in a post title epilogue. If I hadn't read one reviewer pointing this out, I might have missed important scenes. Bad move.
6. Kurumi's mother was altogether too air-headed for my liking and suddenly being all mature when it suited the writer's whim
7. The "eat play love" cliche reflected in both drama genres "eat well, be happy" said too often by too many people
8. The sea shell lamp arc procurement resolution was ridiculously done.
Final thoughts:
1. Straightforward girl meets boy, sparks fly, then girl falls for boy, boy transforms a lot for the girl (the timeless girl tames the boy trope). Just what majority look for in entertainment.
2. Relatable leads for the most part. Realistic portrayal of people's situations.
3. ex-husband putting in some effort to get back and be given another chance (and should have been given one imo, as he was very sincere)
4. No unnecessary drama to drag out two extra episodes! Western entertainment - take note!
Thanks for reading. Appreciate it.
Overall I found the entire serial enjoyable. The four leads were all easy on the eye and could act reasonably well. Producer, director, writer and composer were all female. You can see the influences in various facets of the final product. The lead actress seems very popular, going by her prolific catalogue of work.
The story itself isn't earth shattering. Part slice of life, part existential angst (all too common in story telling in last few decades). The tropes surrounding the leads are relatable too: For the FL, a put together life for "best social media appearances". The ML has been burnt out by "quick success followed by crash and burn" so now he's covering it up playing "edgy cool". Antisocial female artist and metrosexual man bring up the rear.
What I liked
First and foremost, unlike majority kdramas, they resolved the arc by showing the hero and heroine had married soon after and having a cute 4-5 year old daughter in the end. It was a literal breath of fresh air. Much appreciated! The side leads resolving the side FL's tantrums and marrying in thr end!
1. Pacing was great. kdramas could learn this some more from jdramas. Story ends in 10 episodes!
2. Most loose ends were resolved fairly quickly.
3. For all the "trauma" they've gone through, the leads are shown as fairly emotionally grounded.
4. The dialogues were fairly mature - not too many cliches.
5. Lovely use of the dog as a plot device and eye candy. It was beautiful.
6. Good use of slow-motion and hero's athleticism in scenes where he chases after the heroine. Overall the framing of the shots, the camera following were done well.
7. Outdoors filming was also tastefully done.
8. Featuring some actual artwork for the second heroine. They looked nice. The finished cherry blossom, the art gallery, the finished painting of the model, etc.
9. The cooking scenes were well filmed too. I liked that aspect of the presentation.
10. Fan service showing the ML putting all the effort for the FL
11. All the leads taking an active interest in at least resolving the misunderstanding in the relationships and putting their love lives on track. All 4 of them were equally shown doing it as well as the landlady character's husband.
12. Heroine shown as not averse to the idea of following the hero in his career. This is so uncommon nowadays that it was a very pleasant surprise. Going by the hero's immediate reaction to her, it was clear the writer was likely pandering to some "audience demography survey" and not present reality for what it is.
13. I hated the way the president opportunistically inserts himself into shun's place in the french restaurant scene. Shun not calling Kurumi from the restaurant to announce his delay was also idiotic. However hero redeemed himself like a champ the next day (smooth moves pro maxxed) and the girl didn't seem stuck up on it which was a relief. So, I liked the ending while I still dislike the beginning. The more I think about the scene it was just unnecessarily added drama at multiple levels.
14. Haru-chan's character portrayal as a counselor and as a human was super well fleshed out.
Disliked
1. The "president" character didn't click for me at all. He took the girl for granted (almost treated like doormat, a few compliments notwithstanding). He could see she was in awe of him harboured a crush) and as using her mostly to prop his own ego. In office settings it is common to see someone in a powerful aura due to being in their presence for 8+ hours but when that setting is taken away, the aura dies too. At least that much was shown. It was scummy move of him to proclaim his own love for her to her after she gets with the main guy and gives him her farewell speech (and confesses her feelings which was also odd for me too, everything else she said was fine). Specially since he was already bailing out like he did in the beginning. The whole usurping shun's place in the french restaurant date by him also puts him in a very negative light. If he hadn't shun would have joined late.
2. The landlady (including the whole "angry with ex-husband") arc really put me off. It felt like a self-insert by the writer whether it was playing cupid, sometimes totally wrong way, or playing "saviour" to the tenants. All the scenes featuring ex-husband in person or being referenced was 100% self insert. The more the ex-husband was emasculated and made to grovel, the more you realise someone was playing out their on fantasy of how they wanted it to be. The resolution towards the end "more then friends, less than family" was total nonsense. Anyway, I didn't like her nor her arc with the husband etc.
3. Not a fan of "stealing another man's girlfriend" arc implied in the case of Mashiba's subordinates. they could have avoided that nonsense. Sullied an otherwise nice story.
4. the "healing and moving on" resolution. Her opening a small shop in the end and "pursuing her dreams" was nice and all, but could have easily been done in hokkaido. Him wanting to be a "japan travelling food cart savant" was stupid in every sense. That the two of them went along with each other's proclamation with a lame "I will support you" was so out of character to how level headed they had been portrayed totally took me off the immersion. This resolution was playing to someone's fantasy clearly and was idiotic and unrealistic in every sense of the word.
5. Showing important scenes in a post title epilogue. If I hadn't read one reviewer pointing this out, I might have missed important scenes. Bad move.
6. Kurumi's mother was altogether too air-headed for my liking and suddenly being all mature when it suited the writer's whim
7. The "eat play love" cliche reflected in both drama genres "eat well, be happy" said too often by too many people
8. The sea shell lamp arc procurement resolution was ridiculously done.
Final thoughts:
1. Straightforward girl meets boy, sparks fly, then girl falls for boy, boy transforms a lot for the girl (the timeless girl tames the boy trope). Just what majority look for in entertainment.
2. Relatable leads for the most part. Realistic portrayal of people's situations.
3. ex-husband putting in some effort to get back and be given another chance (and should have been given one imo, as he was very sincere)
4. No unnecessary drama to drag out two extra episodes! Western entertainment - take note!
Thanks for reading. Appreciate it.
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