Kate

What I looked for was a shallow feel good fluff slice of life, what I’ve got was so much better. Be it in terms of romance, character development, the depth of storytelling or the quality of presentation - it went beyond what I expected. As much as I enjoyed the romance, the portrayal of the hardships these characters had to go through and how they supported each other was what truly won me over.

The complexity of abuse and neglect - difference between physical and emotional abuse, direct and indirect, intentional and unintentional behavior. Truth to be told, both Jin and Haruki were abused by their parents. One could argue Jin was “only” neglected, but is that true?

In the case of Hirukawa Haruki it’s really clear - he was psychically and emotionally abused by his father, who used him as a relief for his own issues. Fueled by his grievance about divorce, sense of abandonment and alcoholism, he channeled all his anger, hatred and sense of incompetence into abusing Haruki. It was awful to witness, but the scene that actually broke me was when Haruki blamed himself for his father’s death. This is the true horror of abuse. It’s not the bruises, it's not the physical pain, but the way your personality, identity, confidence, self-value shatters. When you start blaming yourself for others’ choices and the consequences that follow.

I also do not want to give any slack to his mother. There is no way on the planet she did not put two and two together that his father was abusing him. She just did not want to acknowledge it, even to herself. The lack of interest in her own child’s well being was just sad to witness. She cared enough to make herself feel good and blameless in this situation. She failed as a parent as much as the father did. And it’s not just her neglect about Haruki’s current situation, but what led to it in the first place. The fact it was Haruki who thought he needed to protect his mother and her new family, instead of him feeling like she should go to her for help tells you all you need to know about their relationship and her role in his life.

Minase Jin’s family situation does mirror Haruki’s. Even if initially it feels less severe, long term it has similar consequences. Here we have an abusive mother and neglectful father. From one perspective his family situation was worse, because it did not seem like neglect and abuse. When your father beats you up, people know it’s wrong. When your mother tries to control every aspect of your life and emotionally guilts you into obedience, how do you even explain it to people? When you say you are scared to leave, because your abusive father might actually kill you, people understand your fear. But if you say you are scared of making your own decisions and being disobedient to a parent, because you fear disappointing them - that’s so much harder to grasp for someone who looks at your situation from the outside. People won’t say that you should be grateful to your father for beating you up, because he did it for you and he had good intentions. But people will try to convince you that your mother is dictating your whole future and telling you to not have friends and only study for your benefit. Abuse that does not seem like abuse is scary, because in most cases you won’t get external validation for wanting to get out of it, you won't get support or understanding.

And I think we see it in the drama - after Hirukawa Haruki’s father dies, he is able to chase his own dreams, build a stable life, reach his goals and set new ones - find his identity and thrive. On the other hand Minase Jin still somehow lives his mother’s dreams. We know he got to the university of his first choice - was it his first choice, or was it his mother? How much of the path he is taking is what he wants to do, and how much is it him appeasing his mom and just going with her plan for his life? This is one aspect of the show I wish they explored more - Minase Jin family relations in adulthood.

For romance, I’d say this is the perfect example of meeting the right person at the right times - the plural here is important. Usually I am completely against the couple breaking up when tough times come, to lessen the burden on their partner, but here it just made sense and was the correct choice. They were extremely young, inexperienced in any and all areas of life, confused about who they were and what they wanted. What they both needed is alone time to explore and to grow and I think staying in a romantic relationship at that time would only become another cage that stops their progress. The deep feelings they had for each other would lead to them always prioritizing the other person and that’s unhealthy.

They were the source of each other's strength in the dark times, but without some growth and exploration as individuals, the support they gave each other would turn into co-dependency. That’s why I was fine with them saying their goodbyes as teens, and meeting again as adults. I wished the transition between these time periods was a bit smoother and better presented, but I am for sure not against the idea of separation itself.

For the production I especially want to talk about the make up for the injuries and bruises. Whoever was the make-up artist, they need a raise - these were truly well done. It’s one thing to half ass the job when the story does not center around abuse - throw that red paint and call it a day, sure. But for a plot where the injuries are in fact important, they are used as a tool to progress the development of the relationship between the characters, a way to portray the harsh reality Haruki was facing, you need to put more effort, and effort they put! Truly amazing work.

What’s more, the drama had its poetic flavor mostly delivered by Jin and that tone quite well contrasted the expectations put on him and the strong opposition to arts his mother had. I feel like this was another way of showing the internal conflict and confusion our main character had to deal with. Getting a glimpse of his writing style in his novel we can see that he does enjoy arts, that he has an artistic soul in him that was squashed by his mother's expectations. That directing choice just made me appreciate the drama more, even if I am not exactly a poetic person myself.

Acting wise I highly doubt anyone can have any real criticisms. Be it the chemistry between the leads, the fluffy moments that brought a smile on my face, the abuse and hardships they faced that made me want to punch a wall, the development and growth they achieved that made me feel like a proud mom - they cooked, I ate, no crumbs were left.

Overall, I went into it expecting fluff and a cute slice of life. What I’ve got had far more depth and realism. It presents a surprising quality of storytelling for a short drama dealing with such complex subjects. You understand the full picture of what the characters were going through, and how they overcame all the obstacles without each and every moment of their existence being spelled out.