Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi (2019)

Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi reminded me of two other dramas : at first, the Flying Colors (2015), as the guy was trying to overcome himself and everyone's expectations and to score enough to get into uni, and then Chugakusei Nikki, with the younger boy falling for his teacher. And even though I loved these two, I can't say I felt the same about Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi. The story was nice and clever, with the girl having to choose between three quite different men. The rivals in love were actually pretty decent, although the student, who had the coolest hair in 2019, hands down, felt more like a puppy love than anything. Actually, I saw the main character as a strong woman who, yet, needed someone to support her and Yuri was just too young for that. But, there were two other men waiting for her, right?
Part of that part of the romance that just didn't feat for me, the story was kind of slice of life and cute, but, sometimes, it lacked intensity and there were some scenes that were, unfortunately, boring. That said, the performances were really good from everyone and the story's pace well managed.

Leggi di Più

I want to make it clear firstly that although this drama is listed as teacher-student, woman-younger man under the tags, this is really not THAT kind of drama. Haji Koi is rather about a cram school teacher helping her student get into the University of Tokyo. Yes, that student happens to fall for her, but it never feels wrong to me, like with other student-teacher dramas/movies. I really appreciated how relatable Haji Koi was, as a student myself. But, while the drama is very 'studying' focused, there is a lovely bit of romance (somewhat questionable at times but sweet all the same) too between the main actress (Fukada Kyoko) and 3 suitors, if you'd like.

The cast are all great in their own ways, especially Adachi Yumi (Miwa) and Nagayama Kento (Masashi). Adachi Yumi really surprised me because I'm quite used to seeing her portray really sad or angry roles, but lately, her more peppy and positive sides are so fun to see. Nagayama Kento is really handsome and his character is funny too. Though you may be surprised to find Masashi is Junko's cousin (the whole time I watched I wanted to believe that was a lie). Fukada Kyoko (Harumi Junko), on the other hand isn't the most versatile actress in my opinion. She seems to act the same as she does in other dramas I have seen her in. But hey, at least she is super cute in this, and to be honest I don't really imagine anyone else pulling off Junko. The last thing I watched Yokohama Ryusei in was Nijiiro Days, and he is tons better here in my opinion. I love his character Yuri Kyohei (Yuri Yuri) a lot. He is an amazing person and Yokohama Ryusei delivered 110%. The side characters were fun and did add a little bit more depth to the story too.

There isn't much to say about the music because to be fair there isn't much of it. However, the ending theme Happy Birthday by Back Number is amazing and I couldn't help but hum along to it every time.

So anyway to conclude, don't be deceived by the tags, Haji Koi is an inspirational and light-hearted rom-com drama about a teacher and her student working hard on a common goal. There are many moments it tugged at the heart strings but overall it didn't fail to put a smile on my face.

Leggi di Più

My first JDrama and first JDrama review

This is my first JDrama (I’ve watched a couple of movies, but this is my first ever drama series) so much of my confusion or misunderstanding may come from not yet being familiar with the Japanese culture as portrayed in dramaland.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this rates a “meh”.

Things I liked:
This may be shallow, but I really liked the FL’s clothing. Her stylists did an excellent job. One thing that bugs me a bit about most c- and k-dramas is that the FL always seems to wear clothes that are too big for her (which may be a fashion trend, so no judgement on those who like it that way), just for me, I liked Harumi Junko’s style (though, of course, a underpaid tutor like her would never actually be able to afford such a wardrobe. And if her back hurt so bad, why was she always in heels!?). I think all the actors did well in their roles, there was no one I felt was just phoning it in.

Things I did not like:
I shipped her with Yamashita Kazuma because (a) he was not her cousin (was she ACTUALLY related to Yakumo Masashi!? Or was ‘cousin’ just a translation of a Japanese term that does not actually mean they’re related?—because if they weren’t actually related, then I truly felt Masashi was the best fit for her); (b) he wasn’t 15+ years younger than her; and (c) they had the strongest chemistry. Then the script writers took a rather lame approach to getting him out of the picture which was disappointing. I’ll probably get hate for this, but a fifteen-year age gap regardless of the gender of the oldest/youngest is going to be hard going for the FL & ML. And I just don’t see someone in their late teens really knowing what they want for the rest of their life—enough to stick out what is going to be a socially/culturally difficult relationship. (Though she brought up all those points so I’m glad at least the script writers had them talk through/think through those challenges). The other thing I felt was lacking was a point to the drama. Getting a kid through a test just isn’t an exciting plot point. It just seemed like a ‘slice of life’ drama about relationships and tutoring which (for me, personally) isn’t exciting enough of a plot.

Since what I liked was less than what I did not like, I rated it a ‘meh’, but I still got through it which is why its not a ‘nah’—(though I have gotten through ‘nah’ dramas before…)

Leggi di Più

Petite perle niponne sur le système scolaire et le célibat

En réalité, un bon 9,5.

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce drama qui traite de 2 thèmes importants :

- le système scolaire japonais, extrêmement compétitif, élitiste, qui entraine un bachotage et une pression parentale excessive (de mon point de vue de mère et d'enseignante française).

- du célibat de plus en plus important des trentenaires au Japon. L'éducation, la culture, la société,... pousse les jeunes adultes vers un statut marital dont ils ne veulent pas forcément assumer les contraintes (e mariage est une prison quand ce n'est pas choisi par amour).

Ce contexte place le parcours de Yuri et son amour pour Junko au coeur de l'histoire.
❤❤❤ Ryusei Yokohama ❤❤❤ interprète Yuri de façon magistrale, touchante, et je suis sûre qu'il va faire une magnifique carrière vu son talent !! J'ai même fini par apprécier son incroyable "pink invincible" !! Un grand bravo...

Le personnage de Junko, très bien incarné par Fukada Kyoko,est assez récurrent dans les J-dramas : celui de la trentenaire célibataire, mal dans sa peau, très introvertie, qui a subi le système et la pression de sa famille toute sa vie sans broncher. Elle finit par trouver le courage d'assumer sa vie et ses choix d'adulte, mais c'est dur !

Les personnages secondaires sont détaillés, décrits dans leur complexité : Miwa (l'amie maligne), Yamashita (le collègue et +/- lover), et tous les autres.

Par contre, je refuse de croire au personnage de Masashi, le cousin et amoureux non déclaré de Junko depuis 20 ans ! Ce personnage (récurrent aussi dans les dramas) n'est pas crédible dans la vraie vie. Dans la réalité, un amour à sens unique, très douloureux, passe automatiquement à autre chose en quelques mois...C'est une question de survie.
Alors, pourquoi rencontre-t-on ce cliché dans tant de dramas ???

Les OST sont typiquement japonaises (pour les amateurs d'animés).

En résumé, un excellent J drama à ne pas louper.

Leggi di Più

Maybe, I don't understand what "being mature" means to other people. Or I have another way of looking at that sentence. Because from what I read some comments, many think that Yuri is more mature than Masashi and Yamashita, so they like Harumi's decision to choose Yuri.
However, I think Yuri is the most immature of all. It could be seen from his jealous attitude towards Masashi on their first meeting that even his relationship with Harumi as teacher and student had only just begun.
Besides, when he was jealous of Yamashita, he decided not to go to school just because he didn't want to meet his teacher.
From the reason he decided to take private lessons because Harumi was also a ridiculous reason.
At first, He also always refuses help from Masashi or Yamashita only he thinks that he can be independent. (Aahh that's the attitude childish who feels himself strong without anyone's help)
Maybe many thought he was mature, when he congratulated Masashi on his marriage to Harumi which was a misunderstanding. I think Yuri also admits that Masashi is the best for Harumi because of his figure who is always there for Harumi, and his established makes him think he will always be able to make Harumi happy.
Yes, I admit that's when he became mature.

But I think here the most mature is Masashi. He has even been beside Harumi at all times for 20 years without Harumi realizing his feelings. Even though he tried to express it several times, Harumi always failed to understand. For the sake of the relationship not being awkward because after all they are relatives, he can refrain himself from acting as a cousin or brother who is always there for her.
Even he knows Yuri's feelings for Harumi, but he sincerely helps Yuri to pass the Todai entrance exam. We could see how happy he was when he found out that Yuri had successfully passed into Todai.
I'm sure people thought he was immature when he hit Yamashita because he claimed to have spent the night with Harumi. (Hahaha..Yamashita is the one who acts like a child. Why did he say that to him, I'm sure he knows Masashi likes Harumi, that's why he said that to make him jealous. Uhhhh that's disgusting)
Yamashita attitude when asking Harumi on a date also tends to be pushy. He had just submitted the divorce papers, but he had already decided to start a new relationship with Harumi. (Oooh that's ridiculous)
But I admit, his decision to side with his father-in-law to help Yuri's father was mature. That's when I saw him as a teacher figure for Yuri.

At the beginning of the story, I thought that Miwa liked Masashi, it was seen when Masashi asked him to support his relationship with Harumi, but I saw that Miwa seemed to be blocking their relationship. It made me think that she liked Masashi. (Hahaha I was wrong)
But if the storyline was like that it would probably be a better ending for Masashi. Yes, maybe when Masashi decides to move on from Harumi, he can open up his feelings to Miwa, because they sometimes have the same way of thinking. I see good chemistry in both of them. Hahaha

For the whole storyline of this drama I like it.
It's just that the ending of the story is a bit forced in my opinion, because from the start I didn't see Harumi having romantic feelings for Yuri, but why at the end of the episode it was told that she actually liked him.
The author describes Harumi as a woman who is inexperienced in love. She sincerely helps a student who has a dream to pass the Todai entrance exam, she put all her might to help him by placing herself as a teacher instead of a woman who supports her boyfriend. (Yes, I saw her sincerity only as a teacher not a woman)
It would be better for me if at the end of the story she also rejected Yuri as her partner, because her feelings for Yuri were nothing more than her feelings for a teacher to a student. It's the same with her feelings for Masashi who is nothing more than a cousin.
Instead I doubted her feelings for Yamashita, her awkward feelings when she knew Yamashita was someone who was married but still comfortably drank with him. Even when Yamashita asked her out she didn't refuse. (Is it true that Harumi doesn't have romantic feelings for Yamashita? What does the awkward feeling mean? Doesn't someone who likes each other feel awkward before starting a relationship? I don't know, maybe it's just a personal question)
But still I prefer the ending of the story does not end with a romance story, it would be better if the four of them remained on good terms without any romantic relationship between them.
3 men who were rejected by the same 1 woman, but these three men are always there anytime, anywhere when this woman needs help.
(Classic ending from other Japanese dramas that I used to watch. Hahaha, maybe because I'm used to endings like that, when I was given a definite ending, I wasn't ready to accept it)

Overall, this drama get point 8/10 for me.
(Sorry my english so bad)

Leggi di Più

It's been a long time ever since I wrote a review for a drama and here it comes!

At first, this drama was my everything. I watched the first two episodes in a single whim and it pulled me right into it. The story felt fresh, sweet and heart-warming. In fact, the chemistry between the leads was already amazing. The other two second leads in the reverse harem, were also great! The female lead was a somewhat realistic 32-year-old and I found her quite strong at times and sweet.

Now, the real thing is how this drama depends on a person's taste or choices. This drama definitely does not suit everybody's taste, and I noticed that as I continued to the drama. In the middle, the plot from my view became a tad-bit boring and kind of predictable. Not that I dislike predictable plots, something important felt missing in this drama. It was sweet and really cute in the beginning but things start to change in the middle. Maybe because the amount of waiting that had to be done for each episode to come out may have decreased my excitement for it and thus I wasn't looking forward to it anymore? That's possible.
Overall, this drama was pretty good in my opinion and the objective of the story was touching and nice. It reminded me of the Japanese movie 'Flying Colors' in many ways and I personally loved that movie. About the cast, the actors was amazing at portraying their characters. My most favorite thing about this drama is the music. The OST 'Happy Birthday' was such a good song!

This drama actually depends on your preferences and taste so I suggest you give it a try to see if it suits you :)

Leggi di Più

I thought of increasing the rating to 8.
Regardless of what I actually think about huge age gap relationships (especially with the woman being the older one), this drama has good life lessons plus I think the whole studying process looked very realistic and inspiring. :)♡

Also I appreciate the fact that there was no infidelity or despicable characters in this drama. Although the 3 male leads were love rivals, they were still pretty nice to each other. Especially how Masashi and Yamashita supported Yuri with his studies...it was just sweet. ^-^♡

But I'm still not that pleased with the ending..

So overall, what I liked about the drama:
- The studying process looking realistic. ♡
- Yuri's hair colour *-*
- No despicable characters
- The comedy. The humour throughout the drama made me feel less weird about the age gap and the cousin issue.

What I'm not really fond about this drama:
- The female lead being way older than the male lead and the fact that she's his teacher..
- The female lead being a bit too dense lol
- Masashi being in love with his cousin..o.o He's a sweet guy..but the fact that he's Hiromi's cousin really put me off.
- The fact that it's unrealistic that no one seems to have a problem with Yuri's and Hiromi's age gap and the fact that she is his teacher.
- Also the last episode was kind of cheesy and a bit rushed so I'm not so happy with how it ended.

The main part that I really really liked is Yuri studying to get into Todai. I think everything related to his studying process and how Harumi helped him as a teacher looked realistic and very inspiring! ^-^ ☆♡

So overall, I did enjoy the drama and I think it's kind of a guilty pleasure for me because although I'm not generally fond of age gap relationships, I did sort of ship the leads together..o.o sort of.. I was mostly shipping Hiromi and Yamashita together.

Leggi di Più

If you like light rom-coms then this one might be for you. It isn't intense at all, and the characters are wonderful imo. The story isn't perfect, and feels a bit rushed at times, but i didn't really mind that. You might have to bear a little bit for the female lead though, since she can be a bit too oblivious sometimes, but that's all part of her schtick.

What's unique about this drama is how it tackles the age gap problem. It really carries out the "innocence" theme really well, most likely because the relationship happened in the final episode, so there wasn't really time to show the controversy/problems that came with it. You'll either like it, or you'll hate it.

In conclusion, i really enjoyed my time with this drama. Good characters, good story, but again, not for everyone.

Leggi di Più

I just can't take this....
pink hair likes her becasue he's looking for a mother figure/someone who'll devote their time to him. while the fl is just like kyoko? she gets obsessed with things because she looks at them as a project, but pink hair thinks he's special and then there's the fact that pink guy is also falling for her "pureness" and drunkenness ;/

cousin guy is literally family, and even though I guess it's normal but again it's like worse than being friend zoned, she doesn't see him as a man and he's way too obsessed with the "image" he had of her for 10 years which is extremely burdensome, like dude, if you couldn't confess for 10 years then it's too late move on!

teacher guy again is the only normal one, but he too seems to be still hang up on the fact that she devoted her time to help him (he was that kid right? xD) and unless he is the "one" I don't want to watch this

then the fl. her talk about back pain and the cane drives me nuts, she's not 90! and then that falling scene, I hate that move ;/
and she's being way too skinshipy with the kids, and she's like forcing herself in their friends group trying to relive her youthfulness or more like try to put herself in a position where she's the most mature because around people her age she's extremely naive.

I used to like reverse harem because it gave diverse relationships and choices, but it's more like she's so clueless that she can't see how everyone mercilessly likes her...

Leggi di Più

i really like and dislike at the same time
as a noona romance i like the idea but not for an adolescence it's weird and not realistic at all

adolescence's feelings always not stable
how could just a child 18 yrs old can be responsible about a 30's yrs old woman
there is a huge gap in thinking between them

if he was in his 20's as 25 for ex. and she 35 or 37 i could swallow it
but really i don't know y i saw it abnormal at all he is just a child
i couldn't take off this idea out of my mind during watching

and my feelings was in between i like and something not comfortable
he didn't experience the world at all
even if the FL was innocent but still she went during many experience more than him
like work and being responsible according to her age
i'm not against love or age difference but it should be realistic

any woman want to feel secure ... how this will be wz just a child


at the last ep. she told him we should marry fast
HOW????
she should wait at least 4 yrs till he graduate
then at least 1 another yr till he work

the only thing i liked so, that the community didn't judge them at all
or even humiliate any of them specially the woman or accusing her with seducing a teenage

the story was very slow to me
although it was just 10 eps i saw it repetitive
and the hair style for all men at this drama was really horrible

Leggi di Più