If you care about lighting, directing, wardrobe, set design, pacing - this is not the drama for you. No, Kimi wa Petto foregoes basic filmmaking necessities to instead bring you one of the strangest and most genuine relationships I've seen in any drama.

This is a story about an emotionally closed-off, serious-minded female protagonist and a main male love interest brimming with love and excitement as he avoids his own issues, depicting maybe the most physically and emotionally affectionate pre-relationship in drama history.

That is enough to make this my favorite drama.

In a kind of abstract sense, Kimi wa Petto is about the loneliness of modern (city/working) life and (social) isolation; gender roles; the difficulty and necessity of emotional vulnerability; the exhaustion that comes with superficial kindness and politeness that's expected everywhere; how familiar comforts may be taken for granted.

In clearer terms, Kimi wa Petto is about a 29 year-old who desperately needs someone who will break down her walls because god knows she's not letting anyone in herself and a 20 year-old who is happy to do so and falls in love with her as much as he falls in love with who he becomes when he is with her. It's not always healthy, but it's comforting and cathartic.

Its only weakness is the second lead, who is much better portrayed in the prettier, cleaner 2017 adaption - but because Sumire and Momo are the heart of this show, and so perfectly portrayed in the 2003 adaption, I just can't bring myself to recommend anything else.

I scored 'Overall' with my heart. I've watched this show several times and I rewatch the first episode like it's my favorite movie.