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…)