A story that causes controversial overreaction by viewers without doing anything controversial

This is my first time writing a drama review because I was usually a silent viewer but this drama was so interesting that I ended up feeling the need to write one despite this is not a language I speak.

Story:

When I first read the synopsis, I thought that It must be one of those lazy shoujo/BL story that used to be popular with trope like bully x victim cheesy high school romance which usually end with bully kept enjoying the bullying while the victim just submit to them after awhile because they can’t fight back. It started with two kids with troubles of their own who seemed like it will end up in a bad relationship but the story turned out different the more I watched. It was about calling out their deep rooted issues until they are ready to face it together and touched on topics like communication, idolatry, consent and first love. Because of first episode alone I feel like these characters have more behind what they are showing on facade so I chose to look for the source material and found the audio drama adaptation which is close to the original Novel. I LOVE IT. I was anxious and anticipated to see how the drama which only have 2 and half hours run time overall would be able to adapt such complicated story accurately.

Characters:

They started like one of those boring flat characters, an obsessive introvert boy and his crush who’s the opposite. However, what you will realize is that, the story is being told in first person point of view, which mean for the over half of the drama you will hear from this boy Hira about his life and his obsession over his crush. From his point of view, me and the other viewers are sympathized with him and feel the anger toward the crush who seems like bland untouchable character but we are so wrong when the narration switched to Kiyoi, the popular boy, to be the one telling the story from his eyes which to be honest, more realistic view than Hira’s. It told you the complexity of both characters and WHY there was misunderstanding between them because even we, as the third person who watch them, also misunderstood them. Worth noting that this story might not have much of them as romantic partners but more like HOW they became a couple because this is only adapted from 1st book of the novel trilogy.

A lot of people’s reaction to this drama was a shallow view and criticism on the story and characters without looking closer and reflecting. The word “Toxic” and “Abusive” wouldn’t be what I would call their romance, I would say they are two teenagers with their own issue who found comfort in each other but miscommunication happened, loneliness and bad timing didn’t help either.

Rewatch value: HELL YEAH this is the only romance drama that I suggest rewatching because trust me, every rewatch will give you new details you didn’t notice before and that should thank to awesome and attentive production team as well as the young actors who surprisingly are good at portraying complex story and characters with such a short limit of time.

I believe drama-only fans won’t find it anything special but this drama put a lot of effort in including favorite lines and hidden detail from its source material so the rewatch value is MUCH higher for fans who love the novel and audio drama version.

However, I would suggest everyone to give it a try and watch for yourself. This is a good story but probably not for everyone, especially those who refuse to open their mind.

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Short, beautiful and well made

The story is simple but deliver some great message and reflection to real world which we ended up thinking about after finishing watching such a short story.

I have nothing much to say about the plot except I want everyone to watch it and I really really wish they made this into a series instead of just one hour special because I already loved both Mizuki and Ryosuke.

Here I want to point out what I noticed about the writing choice of making Mizuki a lemon farmer and Ryosuke an elementary teacher. For it, when I first heard the plot it was almost too random and hilarious. Why so oddly specific?

However, after watching it I think I noticed something and how those are important to shape the characters and their story here.

First of all, Ryosuke as a teacher who works with kids, he wanted to make everyone happy even though It’s out of his reach. He didn’t tell his childhood sweetheart He’s gay afraid that it would hurt her feelings and it ended up making her wait endlessly for him. He didn’t tell his fiancé that his family didn’t approve of gay marriage bc his fiancé told him he wants a wedding in front of everyone. He fell into a deep dilemma because he was desperate to make everyone happy. The whole mess started because he was too ambitious to please everyone and it made him selfish and hurt the one he loves instead. For Mizuki being lemon farmer led to the comparison of his relationship to the bitter sour taste of it and yellow color is very aesthetic. Speaking of aesthetic, I hope you also notice how they purposely made Mizuki and ryosuke wear clothes that complement each other color both their casual and wedding suits lol IMO made the movie very pretty and pleasing.

Overall, it’s well thought and I’m glad I watched it.

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Less Joke but make you love the characters more

Ok, this will be a short review because the series itself is really short that I finish quickly after it’s released on GagaOOlala.

Story:

I was interested because the season 1 cracked me up so hard that until today I still laughed thinking about it sometime lol It was satire comedy about BL manga tropes and shouldn’t be taken too serious, however it is slightly different for season 2 here. While Mob having to continue fighting the world of BL that kept having men trying to join his harem, This time instead of enthusiastically trying to deny that he doesn’t like boy it was more like he’s broken hearted and can’t move on to like another guy even though they tried to hit on him with those BL flags so It became a bit more serious and less joke. I like this though, our Mob became a more mature character and even gave relationship advice to other guys lol There’re some parts that still crack me up. I read manga of this before and I know most people dislike how the drama is going to different route by giving mob one and only love interest but I find it fun to be different, this one you seeing a man who’s taken but still having to dodge the tropes lol

Music:

Nothing much to say, the OP song stuck in my head since season 1 and I’m glad they kept it and even better with an even more extra dance video LMAO I never skipped it.

Rewatch Value:

It’s short and fun so I will say I can rewatch it anytime if I feel down.

From the ending tease, It seems they are opened for season 3 ?? I hope they make it lol even though he has a boyfriend now he will still have to fight the tropes in that world.

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Simple yet sweet mutual pining love story between two childhood friends

Seeing reviews and comments about how this show was bad and boring, I decided I will give my own thought about it after weekly watching each episode. (Apologizing beforehand for my clumsy English )

The Characters:

Kazuhito and Ryota, for me, are fresh characters. While their story is simple and not much different from other Jdrama that had been done before, I love how these guys tried their best (clumsily) tried to communicate their feelings for each other the best they could as college teenagers. Kazuhito, being born in a more traditional family and has the pressure of being perfect, he tends to be the quiet one and keep his feelings to himself afraid that he could make the other uncomfortable while Ryota, while he’s awkward, he’s big brother in his family and chose to be the one initiated the question which Kazuhito would not hesitate to give answer. They are perfect combination for me and both actors did very well with their chemistry.

The Story:

I used to don’t have much patience for slow burn slice of life BL but a few good one taught me to love it and I really love how Living with Him did it. Some might say they are too slow and dragging but I think the pacing was perfect for a character to prepare his thought process to seriously consider his friend’s romantic feelings toward him.
Kazuhito has years to get ready to accept his own feeling but Ryota only had a short time and It’s necessary for him to have space for thoughts.
Each episode focused on how Ryota fell in love with Kazuhito and come to accept his feelings and decided how he should give his response which was realistic for someone like Ryota.

A lot were complaining about the lack of passionate kiss in this drama but it’s exactly following the source material (except their smut manga spin-off), Kazuhito barely kissed Ryota after confession in the manga which Ryota in the manga even asked him one day how could he hold himself back so much lol and Kazuhito was just being his considerate self and didn’t want to startle Ryota who just recently come to accept his feeling.

My only complaint would be the filter and colors choice used for this drama which was not my favorite and I think it didn’t give the Actor’s visual full Justice but it wasn’t too bad that distracted me from enjoying the drama overall.

In conclusion, Living with Him wasn’t for everyone but It’s definitely for me. I will put it as one of my favorite JBL from now.

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Heartwarming story and beautifully made drama

This is one of a few Jdrama that I followed it weekly and I am also writing this review as someone who read this manga long before the drama.

Beautiful Cinematography:
There’s always complaint about most JBL drama having cheap and unappetizing cinematography with bad color grading which I can’t even defend but Mitsuya sensei drama is different, every screenshot looks like art as they paid attention to details in decorations, the atmosphere of the scenes and carefully set the right shot. I’m just obsessed with how they organized Mitsuya’s house especially.

Not a single character was wasted:
This drama made sure every supporting character has a role to play in shaping the story around Mitsuya and Ishida and It got you hooked to see every single of them. Ishida’s co-workers and boss have their roles on Ishida’s side, Frito the dog and Shige and Kaoru have their role with mainly Mitsuya and also Ishida. I especially love how they wrote Kaoru not just as an asshole exboyfriend who comes back to make Ishida jealous and stir up conflict but he’s there to make Mitsuya move on and to give Ishida a new inspiration for his passion in sport.
Frito the dog is the real MVP of this drama until the end as well, he’s such a good boy with good acting that deserves to be praised as well.

Director has a vision of actors that they wanted:
Most controversy about this drama before and after it started that I heard from was people upset about how they cast and styled Mitsuya as a simple down to earth old man instead of following the seductive sexy old man that he was in the manga, but the story clearly showed that they did on purpose for the vision they had they which was different from the manga. Mitsuya in the drama showed more of this emotional side and the loneliness he held for 10 years compare to his manga version which I love both versions by the way.

Overall, it’s such a good adaption, I would say it’s in my top 3 JBL this year and I would rewatch again. It’s a shame that it was one of VERY FEW JBL drama that wasn’t chosen to have international release.

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Sweet balance between comedy and serious story

I was worried when I heard this story would only have 3 episodes but turns out each episode was twice longer than usual Jdrama so I was happy and had high hope for it.

The story:
Their story was simple so this amount of time was just perfect. Both main characters got their equal screen time and control of narration to expressed their side and point of view. The genius switching between their thoughts and showed us how much they misunderstood each other without communicating was such a signature for JBL that I always loved, they made it both funny and heavy to watch.

The characters:
I can say that I love all the major characters in this drama despite the short amount of time seeing them. Start with both main characters, they had their flaw and they are self-aware quickly like adults which was refreshing to see. Hajime and Akafuji both had their backstory that explained so much why they are who they are and how they expressed their characters. Their supporting characters such as the girl, the idol and the managers are great additions and even they had the chance to have their own small part of the story.

The actors:
I feel like last year there are many up and down for me with JBL because they kept giving lead roles to actors who are too new to handle such role and I was having JBL fatigue for a while but this drama did a good job having actors who are capable of doing both the comedic and heavy parts of the story. I really have no complaint.

The music was just okay but I really wish the drama was longer even though I was also satisfied with this amount of story.

P.S. I really how there would be at least spin-off for the managers lol their love story seems… interesting.

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Would call it a sentai Soap Opera (in a good way)

As someone who watched years of Kamen Rider and only saw 2 Sentai shows before King Ohger, I think King Ohger just opened the new door for me and I might want to see more sentai and less Rider after this.

First of all, what attracted me to give it a try was the acting and the debut of first episode. Gira got a really good actor and how they introduced him and other kings was just too awesome that I decided to stick around even though I wasn’t even a sentai fan.
I always had the impression that sentai is a more child-like shows compared to more edgy and cool stuff in Kamen Rider and it tends to have easier and episodic plot but King Ohger seems to play something they never did before and decided to dump a huge chunk of series where the story continued one big plots from start to the end and even had time skip and 2 parts.

Every character was given their own highlight, backstory and character development which made them more dimensional and not just Gira who was the main characters. In the end, Gira’s backstory big reveal with his brother and the universe’s secret really nailed it for me to crown King Ohger as one of the best toku shows for me.

I really would recommend this to people who are new to sentai and I would also rewatch it myself later.

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Slow, sweet and soft romance

This might be unpopular opinion but I like this drama. It can be too slow but their frustrating mutual pinning from start to end is what made my Thursday excited every week lol I will not say it’s a good drama but it’s my favorite especially because of the casting if you are a kamen rider fan like me it’s very interesting to see this pairing together in a romantic drama.

Coming from a smutty manga, this drama went the opposite way of its source material. By going opposite, I didn’t just mean it’s being innocent romance but also the point of view. In the manga, their romance starts with mostly point of view from Yanase who was broken and insecure while Kaneda being the love interest who worship his existence and that pressure more on Yanase even more while in the drama their story is mostly told from kaneda so Yanase’s being seen as the cool and godly senpai most of the time. It’s actually quite fun to compare the different view between the source material and the drama.

Overall, this is the typical Jdrama romcom, not much to think or analyze about and I suggest viewers not to overanalyze it and expect things to be deep. I saw too many people try to make logical debate on the plot, I would say that’s not how you enjoy a simple story it will only ruin your viewing experience. Just sit back and enjoy the chaotic romance between two co-workers.

Oh the ending song and the ending sequence was so good by the way! I never skipped.

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Unnecessary changes of source material

First of all, I’m not strictly someone who demand that ALL show shall follow the source material because there are cases where the show did better than the manga/novel and that was awesome. However, this show, this DAMN show managed to pissed me off so much that I had to drop it so I don’t have to talk badly of it further because it had one actor who I like and always wanted to see in a BL or any drama.

I really had to praise them for their ability to adapt a manga where the characters and relationship was likable and healing into a drama where everyone EVERYONE was unlikable and annoying. Too much changes, too much rewriting just to stretch a one vol manga into 10 ep drama with their lazy writing because if someone’s first thought of making a drama longer was to add the evil ex plot to ruin an already healing and good relationship in the manga then they should’ve been stopped in the writing room already.

The main couple’s chemistry was bland as hell and it wasn’t because the ex was sexier or because they had kiss scene first but not even sex can save their chemistry. Sakae is played by an actor I like but he’s unbearable and has no backbone letting his ex ruins everything.

Yeah I will stop here because I dropped it and probably only hear about it from the people who still watch it to the end. Maybe I will pick it up again one day.
Wish the best luck to you guys.

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Enjoyable simple romance that make you feel butterflies

Reading the manga first, I watched the drama prepared myself to not take it too serious and just enjoy the comedy and that’s what I got so i was satisfied with it. Despite the fact that it came from the same TV that made “My beautiful man”, I know it will be a whole different genre and I hope everyone would watch it and don’t expect complexity and deep plot. The drama has very fun concept of super unlucky guy dating and balancing with super lucky guy and they are both head over heels for each other which makes you grin all by yourself watching them every episode. There’s not much ‘drama’ and headache from the plot, just two silly guys awkwardly love each other from an accidental relationship.

My only complaint is the overused filter that kinda ruined the cinematography and the structure of this drama where they kept repeating same structure every episodes which made everything too predictable and the overused flashback was getting boring. It didn’t bother me too much though because I’m here to see Kouta and Naoya and I’m happy with what I got.

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Missed opportunity but amazing cast

I was excited about this drama since last year when it was announced and even talked to people who already read manga to understand the story before it aired so… my expectation was too height and It’s my own fault.

The best point: cast and acting

Inukai and Nobuyuki has great chemistry and both are experienced with acting, I’m so in love with the actors and characters that they became the only reason that kept me watching until the end even after the story fell flat. If it was other drama without these cast I would’ve dropped a long time ago. I wish they had used this pair of actors better.

Story:

It wasn’t about bromance to romance even though for manga readers it was more clear as romance but it’s about how the writer for this drama changing order of event from the source and making it horrible pacing in the drama. It seems to be they were given too much budget and episodes and they didn’t know what to do with it. It seemed serious but goofy at the same time but not in a good way. I have to say I’m disappointed but again, the actors and characters saved it a lot. By the mid of the drama I started to stop caring for the plot and just watched for the main character.

Great music but I don’t think I would rewatch the drama, unless It’s just for seeing Inukai and Nobuyuki’s great performance as Shiro and Ichiro again lol

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The darker this story, the brighter their romance shines

As a manga reader, when i heard they were going to make this drama, my first thought was that the story would be 80% changed because there’s no way they could adapt all the stuffs in this manga into a TV drama.
And oh boy, I was wrong.
They took me by surprise by actually adapting as much as they could from this manga, every trigger warning contents from Haoren’s backstory and their relationship, they kept as much as a TV rating would let them in a short 8 episodes.

Many people thought they went too far by being this bold with this story especially for a TV drama instead of Movie but I ended up loving it even though some parts were genuinely difficult to stomach even for a manga reader like me.

The screen writing was good and showed they actually paid attention to the source material, due to small amount of episodes to cover entire 3 vols of the manga, they modified and summarized some part and in my opinion in a good way too.

The actors are good enough, even though this is their first leading role, they both worked hard and managed to nailed it until the end. The chemistry was strong as well between Haoren and Chihiro.

In contrast to what most people expected from this kind of story, especially for Haoren who went through hell unimaginable, they expected a tragic ending but just like the title “Happy Of The End”, the main message from this story was about not giving up, never stop clinging to the smallest hope of being happy one day, Haoren who lost hope found Chihiro, Chihiro who never give up on desperately find love, found Haoren who loves him unconditionally. They had the very last happy ending they both long deserve.

Because of how dark the story was, their love, their intimacy and small moments together become more important to viewers to see and I think that’s just beautiful.

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A perfect adaptation of a relatable manga for working adults

A Good Adaptation:
First of all, I think this is one of the most accurate TV adaptation of a source material which made me happy because see how it’s not that hard to just follow an existing material and made it work on screen. Perfect Propose didn’t just adapt every page of the manga and every lines but they added more background and interaction between main characters and their supporting characters to make them feel more relatable and dimensional. That’s the part I love the most of the story.

Relatable characters:
Some might be feel that Kai is relatable, some might feel more relatable to Hirokuni, for me it’s Hirokuni as we are suffering from very similar work condition and thoughts. The way he couldn’t sleep because if he closed his eyes he would open again to another morning really hit me hard because, me too.

Kai is a blessing for his dark gloomy and plain life where he lost the balance between work and life. It’s so pleasing to see Hiro starting to adapt healthier life style and yearn to be home because of Kai. Kai changed his life and vice versa because Hirokuni made Kai sees how his presence could make a huge change to someone’s life. They are made for each other.

The ending was satisfying for a story as simple as their love story. Some might find the lack of skinship and focus on romance tropes in this boring but keep in mind that their main point is how the main characters have each other as catalyst to change their life for better and I think that’s just beautiful and sweet for me.

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