This review may contain spoilers
Best-written Jdrama that explores work and love in your 30s
I was interested in this series after watching a particular scene on Asian Crush's Youtube channel. I enjoyed this drama so much!What I liked:
1) Writing - I Don't Love You Yet is the best-written Jdrama I've watched. Poignant. I love this series tackles different concerns of life such as dating/companionship, friendship & work.
2) Acting - Rika Adachi & Jin Shirasu really embodied their characters. They had natural chemistry and seemed like real besties.
3) Shoes - love that she works for a women shoes company and there were glimpses of shoes sketches shown in the series.
4) Format - This series felt like a Kdrama with its longer running time (45 minutes) and no. of episodes (16 in total).
5) The ending - It was cute but realistic. Relatable because not every ending has to include a grand gesture / event.
6) Yo's brother - Despite his quirkiness and lack of screentime, I liked his character because he represented a different point of view. Wish he had not given in to family pressure & remained skeptical.
What I disliked:
1) Her boyfriend - I understand that sometimes people deserve second chance. However I am infuriated in episode 14 / 15. How can Yo put up with Ryusei after knowing him for so long? He belittled her capabilities! I also don't like that he scolded her for cutting her hair without first informing him.
Favourite scene:
When difficult customer returned to the store. I like how Yo served that customer.
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A Solid Remake
I can't believe I haven't written a review of this Drama that I watched 4 years ago, but I've been prompted to by the number of reviews from people who have never seen "In Time With You"This is a "friendship first" " friends to lovers" next, Drama, for sure, and is VERY MUCH a remake. As remakes go, it's one of the best I've seen, of any Drama. As others have said, the music is not as strong, and personally I don't htink anyone's going to top Chen Bo lin's performance in the original. ITWY was one of the Dramas that made me a hardcore fan of Ariel Lin Yi Chen , and she aced her performance in the original, BUT, the one outstanding area where this remake beat the original in my view is in the personality and behaviour of the FL. Ariel's character was, quite frankly, just ruthlessly self-absorbed for too much of ITWY, and it was Ariel's delivery that made her character first tolerable, then likeable. The FL in this version was much easier to like. The fact that the J-version is significantly shorter didn't hurt, either.
In summary, ITWY has an ineradicable place in my heart, watched in the year I first started watching East Asian Dramas, and probably the 1st TW Drama I ever watched. So no remake was going to displace it. But this is a fine remake that stays true to the spirit and intent of the original, and improves in at least one significant area
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The entire storyline was dragged out for far too long, so I got bored and frustrated. They didn't even explore their romantic relationship because they did not get together until the last episode. Seeing the transition from friendship to romantic love would have been nice, yet another thing we did not get.
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Ignorance disguise as friendship
Cute Yo is so ignorant that she does not realize that Ishida Ren has always been in love with her.Interesting knowing that she dated some men, had boyfriends, but never compare how different her "best friend" was and why did he behave like that.
Living happily ever selfish, she could count on Ren every time. She wants to marry someone that can love her. WTF?!?!?!?!!?!?.
Does she deserve Ren’s love? Do not think so… Does Ren deserve to have this adoration for Yo?...
STORY - it is interesting the way that her job is portrait, her love for the shoes and the way she uses shoes to live her life… That part was very good for me.
A “bestie” always by her side, a former Boyfriend so stupid and selfish that she wants to go back to him and married, a painful feeling of longing and unintended love be Ren…
But the end can wash away all that.
ACTING – I really like it. The 2 main leads are very cute and there is a warm feeling as a sort of peeping tom. Everyone made a good job.
MUSIC – suits the mood very well.
REWATCH – maybe some parts. The way Ren loved her, the beautiful gestures he did…
OVERALL – even if sometimes I wish Ren could find someone that could cherish his ten year love, they are wonderful together. The ending, after that marathon, seems short. But I have almost always this feeling with JDramas.
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This review may contain spoilers
Very sweet and enjoyable drama. Although we all knew how it was going to end, the process was well-written and natural, and it kept you guessing how they will actually get there. I liked how all the characters were written, and the fine details of their changing relationships. I liked her honesty, how she was always trying to do the right thing, to be a mature, responsible adult, doing her very best for what she had committed to. I liked how they handled all of the exes. Both the men in her workplace. How she came to have a friendly relationship with them, how she developed a healthy relationship with her ex's new wife because of the classy way she handled it. The relationship with the pushy girl who was Ren's girlfriend for a while, how it developed, with no resentment. Even the Ryuhei character was realistic and well-rounded, not a hero but not a villain. The "bad" things about him were not evil, he just had a different agenda and he wanted her to be as he pictured her, not accepting her as she really was. Which is bad, yes, but it's human, people can be like that, especially in patriarchal societys like Japan. He wasn't portrayed as a monster, he really loved her, in his own way. And all the relationships with the families were really great too, not the usual slapstick, no stereotyped figures - except for the entomologist brother's character, who was drawn in wider brushstrokes and didn't feel that real.
The ups and lows of married life and motherhood shown through her friend/classmate. Even the school bullies were given a chance to redeem themselves and played an important role at the last moment.
So, kudos for character writing, and kudos for all the actors. Both leads were adorable and it was so refreshing to see that the actress did not feel the need to re-do her teeth, nor the male nead redo his nose. They were perfect just as they were and a treat to watch. They also had great chemistry.
However, I do have a gripe: I feel that the director should have shown a changed, romantic and sexy vibe between them after they became a couple. They acted EXACTLY like before. I understand about the force of habit, but still! What’s the point of dating if nothing changes? Aaaand... they waited for a full year before getting intimate? Really? That's complete nonsense and it took away from the realism of a drama which otherwise tried hard to be relatable and real-life-y.
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This review may contain spoilers
Boring
Oscar award in slow pace and repeated eventsExtremely boring
This show should be 09 episodes maximum
I know the drama was bad when i started fast forward it
Even when i skip quarter of the episode and jump to the next one i didn't miss anything
Even when i jumped to ep.14 and fast forward it then jumped to the end i got the whole drama
Which was really bad
I didn't enjoy at all,
I was so annoyed from 1st and 2nd FLs
Their acting was a big chaos
but Most of the time i hated 2nd fl more she was too sticky with no dignity at all
And her skin was too thick to understand hints plus her horrible acting
The 1st ML was really nice and cute but wasted his talent in such a bad drama and between two bad actresses
Thank god he was ended up with his love of life
At least it had a happy ending
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