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All of the actors were great. Anne Higashide was really cute as Yoriko. That duck face was too funny. She is so smart and despite appearance and her practical approach is very caring. When she upsets or hurts some one, it is obvious that she doesn't mean it. I would love to have a friend like Yoriko. At least I wouldn't have to second guess her motivation or friendship. Hiroki Hasegawa is also amazing. That funny strange smile Takumi has like he isn't used to smiling but is trying to express himself is perfect. I loved his character as some one that had a scar and like most of us are want to do we let it change our lives. I'm going to get a little personal here, because his character was most important to me on a personal level. As someone who has experience agoraphobia for months after I had a mental break down over a trauma, I can say that it can become a habit. Mostly because a person can become comfortable not facing a harsh world. I felt like my perspective of reality must be wrong and I was confused for a while between what was real and what wasn't. I thought that every one was lying to me and had other social anxiety issues. I went to counseling once a week for months until I could venture out into the world again. i don't know where I would be if I had not sought help. Maybe I would have been like Takumi. Anyway, I was totally invested in the main characters.
The music was good.
I will probably rewatch this at some point.
I recommend this drama to everyone. It isn't action, thriller, murder, mystery, amnesia, lost family member, etc. type drama. However, the writing, character development, and humor over the question "what is love to me?" is worth the watch.
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What differentiated this rom-com from other is its characters. Starting with Higashide Anne as Yabushita Yoriko. She is a girl obsessed with numbers and with things being exact.She pre-schedules everything and always needs to plan ahead anything she needs to be done. She's already set with her life and is inflexible even with the most mundane things. I find that she has a big heart and emotions, she just deals with things practically so can easily be viewed as heartless. Then there is Hasegawa Hiroki as Taniguchi Takumi who's treated as a NEET by all though he prefers a different title on himself. He refuses to work and just want someone and his view of women and emotions is unrealistic and comes from books and movies. He can easily be perceived as a loser, but somehow we start to understand him and the reason behind him becoming a hikikomori. Despite such odd personalities they had such a great chemistry. I loved each and every scene they had, and their conversations are always most fun to watch. Seeing them go through each hurdle that may be normal for most people with their particular views is part of the fun.
Other than the leads, we have many secondary characters. Nakajima Yuto as the innocent Washio as a delight. He is a sensitive young lad who cannot accept our leads' point of view on love and marriage and wants to prove them differently. He also has ulterior motive, and has such a sweet heart. Kuninaka Ryoko playing the cool Kaori is my favourite role for her. She kicks ass, she's cute, and she talks like a yankee XD. Her brother Sotaro played by Matsuo Satoru is maybe the most hilarious of all. He also is the one that makes things move when people are being in denial and refuse to move forward. Then there's the parents.
I really love Takumi's mother with her nature of not taking anything seriously. She does hide her pain behind a façade but she is very strong and doens't deny neither her weaknesses nor her son's. Yoriko's dad is also a sweetheart. He only wants his daughter to be happy. It is heartwarming how he accepts her the way she is. Another highlight is Yoriko's mom. There are many ways we can interpret her character but she always says the most hurtful things everyone want to ignore. For sure her mother has a big impact on her life and has Yoriko constantly competing with her.
So overall it was a great drama. It has an unconventional romcom with many interesting chararters and excellent performance. It may not be for someone who expect a romantic story despite the title. If you like light comedies and different themes about love, then that is your drama.
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Acting/Cast: Excellent acting and cast.
Music: Love the 'aunty' feel of the music - old school and adds to the humour and charm of the drama.
Re-watch value: I can imagine myself re-watching this during the year end holiday but not immediately. It has one of those 'relax, sit back and enjoy the show' feel to it that suits a lazy holiday afternoon, though it is not in the "OMG! I gotta re-watch this ASAP!" category.
Overall: A worthy entertainment and time spent. Short, sweet and direct with a good and suitable ending. It is a concise, compact product that will suit your basic entertainment need. Give it a try and let me know what you think. :)
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From the very first minutes of the first episode, you know you're in for a treat! The main leads are absolutely hilarious in their own way (probably because they don't even try to be hilarious, their mannerisms just take the cake!) but they have a very humane side too. They're not caricaturas that are just there for joke-value. In fact, this show, while it was 70% humour, the remaining "serious" 30% was presented in a very delicate, touching way.
You will get hilarious situations, extremely amusing and clever dialogues and a sincere look on the subject "what is love, really?"
I enjoyed it thoroughly, I definitely rec it to everyone that is looking for an alternative approach on this genre.
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Why? Because there is no awkwardness, no blushings, no exciting moments where one of them is thinking "does he/she likes me?". It is about honest love, where both characters get to know each other, like to quarrel and pretend they don't like each other, until someone else point the truth to both of them.
I honestly didn't think they suited each other: Yuriko is too robotic, methodical, and doesn't know when and how to read the mood. On the other hand, Takumi is a nervous hikkikimori. Do I need to add more? The last two people who want to find love, or expect for someone to love them. It took me a while to warm towards them, more specifically, it was episode 6 that changed everything. I find that episode the best, since it moved me to tears. I guess everything that relates to parents is poignant for me. But not only that, it is the episode where both Yuriko and Taniguchi start to change for better. By the end, the changes may not be OH WOW, WHAT A CHANGE, but they were significant, enough to make them more likable but still staying true to their essence.
Some situations were so funny. Like Taniguchi cooking for the family.
Cast: (9/10) Anne and Hasegawa Hiroki were perfect in their roles. I could actually see Anne as a robotic girl, and Hasegawa as a neurotic hikkikomori. I wish their respective other love interests weren't so attractive. How in the world someone as punk and pretty as Kaori (Kuninaka Ryoko) could hold a 15-year crush on someone like Takumi? How in the world someone as attractive and nice guy as Washio-kun (Nakajima Yuta) could fall in love with such a strange girl? These two may have been the nicest love interest both weirdos could find, but I couldn't root for them at all. And ok, Washio-kun may be an "ii-otoko" (as Takumi likes to say) but he was also kind of silly and also a wimp. What the need to cry at the end?? It was too much... not even Kaori cried.
This is the 3rd CURRENT drama I am watching with Matsushige Yutaka, he is like an Uncle to me XD Everything he does, he does it well. He does some funniest expressions without being too slapstick.
Takumi's mother (Fubuki Jun) is the Dorama Mother... I guess because she is perfect for that role.
I found Yuriko's mother (Wakui Emi) a bit annoying in the first couple of episodes, but later on I liked her role. I love that not only Yuriko likes to talk to her, but her father as well. Isn't that cute? She is dead, btw. She plays a ghost-like.
Music: (5/10) OMG, the OP song was ridiculous, but guess what, it totally match the dorama. It is silly and olfashioned, just like the characters of Yabushita and Taniguchi. The ED song was better, though.
I absolutely love that this was set in Yokohama, such a beautiful city! In Christmas time it looks sooo pretty. BEAUTIFUL.
The ending was good, but for anyone who wants more -like me-, the SP is a must.
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This drama has a very interesting premise in that the underdog gets what's he after in the end (marriage to a girl who can support his hikikomori habbits). But it lacks the momentum to carry it towards the end. You could have skipped episodes 4 to the second last one and you wouldn't' have missed a thing.
It does have its funny moments (main character performing a dance in public and embarasses himself infront of the girl, and main character dressed up like Bruce Lee).
It does have top notched acting. Everything single character in this show was gunning for an oscar award, if there is such a thing in Japan. All did fantastic jobs, even side characters.
The cast is made up mostly of beautiful ppl. The hikikomori is handsome, his competitor is handsome, the girl who has a crush on him and is his friend's sister is friggin gorgeous. Anne could have looked better though. I've seen her look more stunning in XXXHolic.
However, as mentioned above, the weakest part of the show was the story. I nearly gave up when they used the cliche love triangle romantic competitor device. But the last episode completely made up for it. It showed he (the romantic competitor) had a purpose in propelling the show towards the conclusion shown.
Hence all the above is why I rated it a 7/10!
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I'm really happy I finally decided to pick it up, as it really exceeded my expectations!!!
If you, like me, appreciate when writers manage to accomplish a well-done character development, then chances are you'll like this series too!
The leads slowly-but-surely develop, in fact, from the almost unbearable characters they are at the beginning (LOL, you'll need some patience, believe me!) to the more open, warmer, kinder and more humane persons they'll get to be in the end, all thanks to the help from those sorrounding them and to the fact that, as imperfect as they are, they can still become a little less imperfect just by staying together - and to this humble reviewer, that alone is a gazillion times more romantic than the usual "Cold male CEO x buck-eyed, eyelashes-batting Cinderella"!
(Too bad they kinda ruined it with the useless SP episode...but that's another story...)
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