Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo (2013)

I'm not going to claim that this story was flawless, but it did keep me engaged in it from the first episode, because of this I think this story deserves a 9/10. I wrote the following after watching episode 10, but I believe those thoughts can be applied to the overall drama (except for the ending):

"This episode cemented my belief that this is the best rendition of "Mischievous Kiss" [for me].
1.The pacing is great. They cover so much ground in each episode, while keeping and emphasizing on the important areas of character/arc/relationship development.
2.Even in the instances when Kotoko becomes a bit childish, they never really cross the line into cartoonish and overly annoying. As much as I loved Tversion, and Ariel Lin, it was painful to watch her character sometimes. I won't even mention the Korean one!
3. The characterization of all characters just seems richer, deeper and more realistic. Kotoko and Kin Chan have shown more skinship,friendship and awareness of each other. Irie is not so cold and is more complex in this version.
Kotoko is not as annoying, dumb and helpless as in the other versions.
[There were times in the story I thought they were finally going to cross the edge on too corny, silly or angst, but somehow it was always reined in, even if at the last second. I thought that was an attribute to the story]
4.Irie's mom is just: QUEEN. She is so adorable,funny, loving, manipulating and nosy. I love it.
Kotoko's dad's is also less pathetic.

Overall I think this show is doing a great job in keeping all the original elements of the story that we love, yet is bringing new life and dimension to how the story is represented, thus keeping it fresh and addicting."

As much as I liked the drama I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the ending. It felt a bit rushed and by denying to show us the consequences of Irie's decision I felt a bit robbed. They took away an opportunity of some angst (I'm not a huge fan of unnecessary angst), but I think it would have added a level of more sincere resolution. The ending felt a bit too...Sugar, spice, cotton candy and everything nice...for me.
Still, I would highly recommend this drama to fans of the other versions, or anyone looking for a sweet, breezy, light drama.

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This was my very first drama. I watched the anime and when I saw that there was a live action drama I just had to watch it.
The plot is very amazing! I love how each character developed as the series went on and how each character changed. I know some people wouldn't want to continue after a few episodes cos of the main guy but please give it a chance and continue. It gets better. I guarantee it does. Since I watched the anime and read the manga, I already knew what to expect. It was better than I thought it would be.
I can say that this version is different and is the best in it's own way from the other versions. It's light, cute and fluffy, while the Korean version is a bit more hilariously fierce (haha) I could not stop laughing while watching this version and the Taiwanese version is more deeply romantic and it feels more real cos they improvised a lot more.
I didn't really dislike anything about this drama cos the actors, they did exactly what they were supposed to based on the manga/anime. They found great casts to portray the characters and I loved that. I'm glad they didn't take the acting and exaggerated it (like faking). It was just refreshing to watch.
The music was good and it set the mood for each scene in the show.

I definitely rewatched this a million times and never got bored. I love his drama so much!!!! It was a never ending rollercoaster of emotions, from sad to angry to giggly, but it was worth it! I am happy to see these characters lives being continued in season 2! AHHHH I CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE EPISODES! The suspense is killing me!!! YUKI FURUKAWA AND HONOKO MIKI ARE SO CUTE!!!! Perfect couple~
The feels for this J-Drama are so real! FANGIRLING OVER HERE! hehe! ~~~~

Respond

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The important premise: I approached this drama well knowing the plot. I have watched the Korean version of this story and found it unbearably stupid. Therefore, I can only blame myself for treading on such a ground. Actually, I dropped the drama by episode 6, but then decided to pick it up again, since so many well trusted friends enjoyed it a lot.
I wanted to know why.

So please forgive me if I truly didn't get why.
Why is this drama so popular?
Why so many people find the misadventures of a brainless girl and her just as stupid entourage romantic?

I could even accept this thing as a purely over the top comedic soap, but the pretense of romance fills every fiber of my being with indignation.

Once again, I apologize a hundred times to the lovers of this super popular story if I offend them, but, really, how can a person sink so low in the name of love? A love with no dignity, no reasoning, no scope outside itself is not worth of this name: it's just a shallow obsession.

Kotoko looks and acts like a ditz from the fifties. She has no ambitions whatsoever, no self-esteem, no curiosity of the world outside the Irie's house. She's cheerful and when challenged she can actually learn, so why don't emphasize these traits, let her grow stronger, and make use of what she's been compelled to learn? No, what really pisses me off is that she makes one step forward and then retreats behind the start line. We come to the end of this story, and all she dreams about is EXACTLY the same thing she dreamt about on episode 1: marry Naoki. And what's even worse, she proclaims her undying love 1 trillion times, but her love as well as her life is ruled by an incredibly narrow tunnel vision. She never takes Naoki's feelings into consideration: I love him, when will he love me back?

I had hoped for this new version to give us a different heroine. They could have deviated from the original manga all they wanted; even Shakespeare has been revisited, for Pete's sake! In the beginning I had some hopes, she seemed a little more combative than her previous versions, but soon the fighting spirit turned into stalker spirit and her cuteness into overdone pantomime. Not to mention the whole set of medieval clichés with arranged marriages, meddling parents, cooking girls in aprons, walking 2 metres behind the guy, marrying at 19. Is this truly romantic? Do any of you really dream of this kind of "love", of completely cancel yourself for someone else?

I can understand Naoki's allure. His character is cold and distant, but he's honest. If I had been pestered by such a persistent admirer myself, I think I'd have resorted to murder, so I applaud his Patience of Job. And while it's not my task to decide why so many love this drama, I can venture the guess that many female viewers have a crush on him. The actor pulls off this role very well, and - allow me - holds up the whole drama. His character's the only one with a true arc: he moves forward, grows up, learns, changes. Which is ironic to say the least, since he's the genius of the day.

I know I'm not going to convince anyone not to watch this drama. I didn't write anything new, really, and as I premised, I was aware of the type of drama I was going to watch, so shame on me for hoping. But since I watched Playful Kiss and remained silent on the wreck it was, I had to get this one out of my chest.

I can only hope most viewers won't take this girl as anything even remotely resembling a role model, or I'll lose all my faith in the evolution of the species.

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This is what i was waiting 4 ,they got me with the poster hahaha Xd

STORY :Okay it's not a new storyline , we all know it an love it!!

it's not new , but it's very fresh they finally made justice to this story in my opinion :P
sticks to the manga ?


CAST : this one has an amazing cast , the best of all the version YUKI and MIKI where the best choice to portraited irie and kotoko, they look good together , 4 god sake the have chemestry (not like certain kdrama , that i'm not gonna mention hahahahahhaXD)

Irie : they didn't made irie to cold or anything, actually it felt more human. I really liked that. yuki made a very very good job.
Kotoko: she wasn't annoying like in other version. miki made her very sweet and likeable.
Kin-chan was the best of all kin-chan thats all you need to know.

the music was very catchy really like it!!!

REWATCH VALUE :Go for ti , it's nice, funny, romantic,classic, good , and very cute


Overall. great adaptation , amazing cast,it has love, tears, Laug, and some very romantic scene of yiki and miki.

:3 u will love it every time !!!

give it a shot !!!?

In my own personal opinion
I didn't really like the old japanese version was kind of boring actually.

the taiwanese version It Started with a Kiss was so much better definetly,.

then the catastrophe of playful kiss,I enjoyed, buy it didn't feel like itazura na kiss.(love the kisses BTW)

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So here it is! Tadaa! ~

I know you guys would probably skip my review since there are lot of reviews about it and the series' posters look awesome and promising for those planning to watch it but I don't care. lol haha I just feel like writing one. I honestly just finished it like 2 minutes ago. (w/c is ironic cause you don't care anyway) But man, the feels! They're killing me.

Ok, so here it goes. *whew* ~

I love it. It's so... revolutionary! ... So bold! CLAP CLAP HAHA

But kidding aside, it's one heck of a whirlwind drama.

When the show was like still on the news and over-all new - slash - fetus stage, I was like meh, kay, I'll "try" to watch it. Almost anyone in this world is probably aware of the plot. Even I but I won't put that into scenario cause that would just probably ruin the whole point of an uhmm... unprejudiced report.

Got any tissues? The review is only beginning.

K here it goes again.

The story. If I were a newbie who's not very fond of Kdramas, JDoramas, TDramas (Tdramas?!), I would probably get hooked with them if I watch this drama. The story's simple. Basic. Maybe a little too basic for that part. It's about a girl who falls in love with a guy out of her league. Stereotype, I know right. But that's just what anyone can relate to. I mean, we all fall for some crush beyond our reach. Everyone in this world has likely fallen in that bittersweet phase of lurve. We are only humans after all. Uhm, to make it more simple, ItaKiss is like Princess Hours, sending feel-good sensations to every hopeless romantic out there. It's similar in a way that it makes us reminisce on those what-if moments. What if my high school crush turned out to be the love of my life? What if I get to be with the hottest guy/gal in school? It makes us remember those fluttery feelings of the heart. And that what makes ItaKiss special.

As for the casting, I couldn't agree more. Miki (Aihara Kotoko) brings happiness to the screen whenever she appears. She's like the epitome of all Japanese girls. She's a blast :) As for Yuki (Irie Naoki) well, he's a handsome lad! They look too good together. As a fan of the show, I like did a little research on the actors playing cause they were really good and I just learned that they were 10 years apart. IMAGINE! TEN TEN TEN YEARS APART! And I did some searching on other sites cause I can't believe myself. But then I just had to cause well, it's reality. But who'd knew right? I mean, Yuki's just too adorable for his age and I might as well say, he's the epitome of all Japanese men SO does age really matter? HECK NO HAHA! As long as the chemistry's right, it's okay. But I gotta note that I worship the female lead for having to act with a tall, handsome, okay maybe perfect Japanese actor (WHO BTW SPEAKS FLUENT ENGLISH). I was like, "Isn't that intimidating?" lols but then I thought, WORK IT, SISTER! YOU GO GIRL HAHAHA (she's so luckyy :3)

Overall, they fitted flawlessly in their respective parts. Everyone did. I gotta admit, it's one of the best castings around. :) Yuki's subtle, Miki's sweet, the mother OH GOSH WHO WOULDN'T LOVE HER, the little brother and his arrogance, the plump father and the list goes on and on. I like how they put emphasis not just on the two leads but to everybody. You can obviously see each character's progression. That's just really lovely cause it polishes the story even more.

As for music, the OST is just totes awesome! There's like this opening sequence in every episode and sigh~ it's just toooo cute! Watch the series but mind you: ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY SKIP THE OPENING SONG. HAHAHAHA

As for the instrumentals, well, Japanese makes the best of them. I couldn't agree more.

Rewatch Value! Uhm 10. Cause it's GV. GV EVERYWHERE (As you can see, I'm rushing toward the end. So sleepy grr)

And for the overall, BIG TEN. I GIVE IT TWO THUMBS UP. MAYBE FOUR, INCLUDING MY FAT BIG TOES. But then again I'll look stupid if I raise them up. But anyhoo, you just can't not love ItaKiss no matter how numb, frozen, anaesthetized being you are (WHAT ARE YOU? SOME TIN MAN FROM OZ? GOSH! IT'S THE 20TH CENTURY, SPREAD THE LOVE PEOPLE). If I were to watch ItaKiss for the second or the third or the fourth time around, I would fall in love with it all over again. It's like Hana Kimi or Kung Fu Hustle... goes better every single time.

So zzzzz... That's me sleeping. Some of you probably spent minutes reading my review. Thanks. Though it wasn't much of a review since I myself can't proclaim I'm a critic. But words cannot just plainly describe the feels of this too good a series. So if you want to know more about it, you got no choice but to watch it baby ;)

Till next time~

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I hated the characters!

STORYLINE: I didn't buy this story. She falls in love with him why? After hearing him give a speech? He is the epitome of a cold fish, and no matter how mean he is to her, she still loves him. Can we talk about having no self-esteem? There are a number of words that came to mind watching her - stalker, dumb, crazy, silly. As for him - mean, robotic, verbally abusive, poor decision skills, self-centered. I didn't care for either one of these characters throughout the entire show. I like to watch shows that have people that I can relate to in some fashion - either in shared experiences or people that I might be friends with in real life. Add to that the fact that the male lead supposedly has a complete turnaround in the last episode. I have absolutely NO idea why he would have fallen in love with her, other than he liked the idea that she worshipped him. And I'll get a little picky here, but can someone please tell me why he always that his giant bag slung over his shoulder, yet carried his books in his other arm?
ACTING: The acting is bad in this drama; however, I will say that if it was supposed to be like a live-action cartoon, they accomplished that goal. He is completely flat with no emotions whatsoever throughout the entire drama. He had no emotions in his eyes, he was wooden when he walked. The female lead what just completely over-the-top. Her constant pursing of her lips, which looked completely unnatural and forced, and her eye rolling and "comical" expressions and movements did not work. There was a lot of overacting by many others in the cast, most notably his mother and her friends. All of their reactions were so exaggerated so as not to be realistic at all.
CHEMISTRY: None. There were a couple of kisses but I was still never able to figure out why they liked each other.
REWATCH: Not on your life!

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I was reluctant watching this. I didn't know if I should have of shouldn't have. I was afraid of wasting my time since I didn't enjoy the Korean version of this. BUT, I ended up liking this drama, surprisingly. This drama is no where near the ''BEST'', but it's still worth a watch.

STORY-7, I'm sure everybody already knows the story, so I won't bother summarizing it up. Basically it's about a girl who has a one-sided love for a this dude and somehow ended up in his house. To me, the story is kind of stupid and unrealistic. I mean, couldn't her father just rent or buy a new house/apartment? BUT, despite that, I still think that the story is cute. If she moved, then we wouldn't get to see a lot of moments between her and the Naoki. One other thing I liked about this version is that the lead actress didn't annoy me for some reason. I actually really like her. But in the Korean version, omg, the female lead annoyed me a LOT that I almost dropped the drama because of her. Anyways, I like this version better since it's quick paced and simple. Not slow and draggy like the other version.

ACTING/CAST-8, the acting was actually pretty good here. At first, I thought Naoki couldn't act, but that was probably just his character. Honoka Miki was really good as Kotoko. I can't believe she's only 16! I thought she would be around 19 or 20! Oh, and I love the guy who played Kin-chan! He made me like him so much that I wanted Kotoko to end up with him instead. This is the only version where I wanted Kotoko to end up with Kin-chan instead of Naoki!

REWATCH VALUE- 5,I love the chemistry between Yuki and Miki! They're so cute together. I've already seen so many versions of this though. The story is getting old watching it over and over again. So I most likely won't re-watch this!

OVERALL- 7, so overall, this is a good drama. Not very good, or even close to awesome, BUT it is worth a watch. One of the most popular of this year too. I recommend this to people who wants a cold guy ending up falling for a girl who he never once liked. But if you're a person who hates these types of story, then don't watch it.

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I must say that i love every version of Tada Kaoru's Itazura na kiss but this was second best after It started with a kiss which is Taiwanese version.The plot is as always the same but the acting was completely new for me!The actors took their roles really well which i love!Miki Honoka is a young actress but the way she act is so mature!The lead couple have amazing chemistry and that's why you enjoy the love scenes between the two even more!I highly recommend it to watch!If you liked the Playfull kiss and It started with a kiss you will also fell in love with this version!

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As a big fan of the Taiwanese version and the anime I was a little iffy about watching this considering the 1996 version was so bad I could not finish the first episode. However I am glad I gave this a chance because this is a really good remake. In my heart I will always love the Taiwanese version and in my head these two are tied, however, I will admit that in some ways this version is superior.

I don't think I have to give a run down of the story because most who will read this will in some way(manga, anime, or drama) know this story. If this is your first exposure to this story please read on otherwise do not read until you see this $$$:
Kotoko was a girl with no brains from the infamous class F. She fell in love with Irie the smart, cold, athletic, handsome boy from Class A. She tries to convey her feelings via love letter(old school, but this story came out in the 90's so it gets a pass!), but Irie rejects it. Fate however brings the two together when an earthquake(wait that is in the anime) I mean a star destroys the house Kotoko and her father were going to live in. Homeless, Kotoko father's friend offer them a place to stay. That friend happens to be Irie's dad and the two live together under the same roof. The story is basically how their love blossom from this miracle. It's very cliche especially in terms of shoujo standard, but once again this story was created in a time when this wasn't so cliche so it gets a pass.
$$$
I love the story. I fell in love with it when I watched the anime. The main reason I loved it was because the after part of happily ever after. You got to see what happens when the girl gets the prince and their obstacles to come. I felt sad that I couldn't see that in this version, however the before happily ever after was so well acted and so well written that I could looked passed it. The pacing was great in this show until the last few episodes when they try to force the story line some. Many people have been begging for a season 2, but despite the fact I like this version I wouldn't want a second season. I think this show is good enough to stand on it's own and because of one of the actors age there may be issue with some of the events that take place in season 2.
The best part of this version was the acting. When it comes to the cast besides Tanaka Yoji(Kotoko's dad) I did not recognized any of the actors. I must say these guys were the best even better than most of the Taiwanese actors. Furukawa Yuki was the best Irie. He wasn't too cold nor was he too caring. He was just right. The kind of guy you would admire from afar, but wouldn't date unless you were into Unubore(cocky) guys. Miki Honoka was a great Kotoko. First off she is actually around Kotoko's age(16) so maybe it makes her a natural. Either way despite her idiotic ways you can sense her strength until the middle which picks back up to the end. A lot of people say she played Kotoko the best, but I'm still an Ariel Lin maniac. Lastly, Yamada Yuki was the best in terms of acting, but as Kin-chan he was not. As a second lead he knew his bounds unlike the Taiwanese version. He cared for Kotoko, but supported her at the same time. That's sweet and all, but that is not Kin-chan! Kin-chan fought for Kotoko to the point of annoyance and made you like Irie more than a second lead fangirl would.
The music was alright. I liked the opening theme because it cuteness matched the show, but that is about it. Overall, great job Japan. Japan gets a bad rep for their romance drama because people say the actors are stiff. I think that like any other country you just have to search for the right drama. So romance fans that like mild action check this out!

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