This review may contain spoilers
Oh so close, but not close enough
*sigh* Japan tricked me again. I have literally only found like 3 Jdramas that are swoon worthy. Everything else is just bittersweet with an emphasis on the bitter. This was one of them, until the last 2 episodes. While there are many types of love, I will NEVER believe you can truly be in love with someone and they be in love with you but they still separate because "love can't overcome everything". Yes love can overcome everything. It's not easy, but its not the love part thats not easy, its the choices you make, the sacrifices you make for love. I'm not talking about maybe being in love, I'm talking about your soulmate love. This had a lot of that but, they switched it at the end to "lets become better people first". I can understand that to an extent, but not the way this drama did it with a contract at the end.
I totally agree having a relationship with a minor is bad and a big no no. I do not think she was at fault for swaying him at all. Meaning, they didn't show or suggest she did in any way. He was very aggressive towards her in the beginning and running hot later as well. Yes, he was 15, so its somewhat understandable. But, also, so what? Are we not holding teenagers responsible for their emotional actions at all just because they are young? That's ridiculous to me.
If you want to talk about power dynamics, lets talk about it. The teacher is pretty small and not strong. Physically, he can over take her. Her power as a teach/adult was full on challenged from episode 1. Yes, she should have reported the slap he gave her in the hallway. But what would they have done? Nothing. They would have asked that she let it go. Which was what they did when that other kid spread harmful rumors about her on the website. It impacted her job and life. She was told to let it slide by the head of the school.
Being a pedophile means you like children in an inappropriate way. She did and does not! The way they wrote it was "right soulmate at the wrong time". She did not act on anything and tried to stay clear of him. Again, he was the aggressor in all of these situations. You couldn't even tell she had any feelings for him until she slightly admitted it half way through the seires.
Yes, it is wrong.
Now that's out of the way.
I really wish she would have stuck to her decision to be with him and not sign that stupid contract. To me, that was stupid. They ended up together anyway. It would have been a whole lot better if they just talked it through and said they were going to become better people and to "wait for me" kind of deal. Instead, they literally said "bye bye" to each other like they would never see each other again. Stupid.
When are they going to make a drama that really does stick to "to hell with everyone else, I'm not giving up my soulmate."? Thats what I was really hoping for in this. That is what they kept acting like. But instead we get a lot of promises of them both saying and acting like they will be together no matter what, to then throw it out the window, and then at the very last 15 seconds get back together. *sigh*
The mother of the teen was insufferable. I didn't empathize with the teacher he was in love with, I was fully feeling the teen when I watched this because I have also felt that way in those years. My mother did a similar thing to me and I think it's crazy. Rather than getting angry and dismissing your teens feelings, you should try and reach out more and understand. Telling someone not to feel or that they are wrong about how they feel won't change a persons feelings, it will only make them hide them. And when he was 18, ugh, her getting the police involved at that point was dumb and controlling. If she really had an issue with it, she should have called them when he was 15 to report it.
She said many times that he was acting crazy before that teacher even showed up.
That teacher literally gave him a goal and purpose when he had no direction in the beginning.
Love can overcome anything with the right person and no one can ever tell me any different.
The only reason I'm giving it 7 is because they got together at the end. If they didn't get together, I would have given it a 1. There were some good and endearing parts that really touched me, but mostly skippable moments when they weren't together, which was a lot of it.
Just my opinion. Not judging anyone else. If you are looking for a great romance drama, this isn't it. Still, I'd say try it. See if you like it. Maybe you will.
I totally agree having a relationship with a minor is bad and a big no no. I do not think she was at fault for swaying him at all. Meaning, they didn't show or suggest she did in any way. He was very aggressive towards her in the beginning and running hot later as well. Yes, he was 15, so its somewhat understandable. But, also, so what? Are we not holding teenagers responsible for their emotional actions at all just because they are young? That's ridiculous to me.
If you want to talk about power dynamics, lets talk about it. The teacher is pretty small and not strong. Physically, he can over take her. Her power as a teach/adult was full on challenged from episode 1. Yes, she should have reported the slap he gave her in the hallway. But what would they have done? Nothing. They would have asked that she let it go. Which was what they did when that other kid spread harmful rumors about her on the website. It impacted her job and life. She was told to let it slide by the head of the school.
Being a pedophile means you like children in an inappropriate way. She did and does not! The way they wrote it was "right soulmate at the wrong time". She did not act on anything and tried to stay clear of him. Again, he was the aggressor in all of these situations. You couldn't even tell she had any feelings for him until she slightly admitted it half way through the seires.
Yes, it is wrong.
Now that's out of the way.
I really wish she would have stuck to her decision to be with him and not sign that stupid contract. To me, that was stupid. They ended up together anyway. It would have been a whole lot better if they just talked it through and said they were going to become better people and to "wait for me" kind of deal. Instead, they literally said "bye bye" to each other like they would never see each other again. Stupid.
When are they going to make a drama that really does stick to "to hell with everyone else, I'm not giving up my soulmate."? Thats what I was really hoping for in this. That is what they kept acting like. But instead we get a lot of promises of them both saying and acting like they will be together no matter what, to then throw it out the window, and then at the very last 15 seconds get back together. *sigh*
The mother of the teen was insufferable. I didn't empathize with the teacher he was in love with, I was fully feeling the teen when I watched this because I have also felt that way in those years. My mother did a similar thing to me and I think it's crazy. Rather than getting angry and dismissing your teens feelings, you should try and reach out more and understand. Telling someone not to feel or that they are wrong about how they feel won't change a persons feelings, it will only make them hide them. And when he was 18, ugh, her getting the police involved at that point was dumb and controlling. If she really had an issue with it, she should have called them when he was 15 to report it.
She said many times that he was acting crazy before that teacher even showed up.
That teacher literally gave him a goal and purpose when he had no direction in the beginning.
Love can overcome anything with the right person and no one can ever tell me any different.
The only reason I'm giving it 7 is because they got together at the end. If they didn't get together, I would have given it a 1. There were some good and endearing parts that really touched me, but mostly skippable moments when they weren't together, which was a lot of it.
Just my opinion. Not judging anyone else. If you are looking for a great romance drama, this isn't it. Still, I'd say try it. See if you like it. Maybe you will.
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