This review may contain spoilers
I completed this drama with Chinese subs. I will give my general sentiments before providing a summary of the whole plot. Overall, the plot was tame; nothing too extraordinary, exciting or surprising. It had a happy ending though. While I do not regret watching this, I believe that those who are unable to watch this because of incomplete subs are not missing out either. I am also not someone who typically rewatches dramas, hence the rating of 5.
Now, for the summary of the drama. If you dont want spoilers then stop right here.
Maejima has a secret affair with Takuma. One day, Shinonome, who transfers from the company's New York branch to Japan's branch, catches Maejima and Takuma acting intimately secretly in the company's library. Shinonome then begins to persuade Maejima to break up with Takuma, because he believes that she is worth so much more than being bound to a married man. Convinced she should not limit herself and can find a better love, along with her blossoming feelings for Shinonome, Maejima breaks it off with Takuma. Later, her colleague, Ono, and Takuma warn her to stay away from Shinonome. Knowing full well herself that she is already in too deep, she ignores their warnings.
Maejima and Shinonome grow closer, and they go out on a date. Unfortunately, they spot Takuma and his wife having a great time. Shinonome stares in a dejected? Defeated? Longing? manner at the two. This is when Maejima recalls the warnings from Ono and Takuma, and correctly guesses that Shinonome had been in love with Takuma's wife all along. She guesses that Shinonome only got close to her so that she would break up with Takuma, so that Takuma would go back to being a faithful husband. She runs off and their relationship halts.
The drama then rewinds to tell Shinonome's backstory, about how he fell in love with Takuma's wife. He loved her and had a relationship with her before finding out she loved Takuma all along. Being unable to have the woman he loves, Shinonome decides to at least make sure she is happy. Thus his plot of flying to the Japan branch and seducing Maejima and making her break up with Takuma.
The drama replays several of the interactions between Maejima and Shinonome, but this time in Shinonome's POV. At first, he thinks of Maejima as despicable and sought to make her pay. Over time, as they interact more, he begins to empathise and fall in love with her.
Fast forward to present time, where Maejima's and Shinonome's relationship is still estranged. Maejima decides not to pursue this relationship because she believes Shinonome still loves Takuma's wife, and hates her for making the woman he loves suffer. On the other hand, Shinonome has already fallen in love with Maejima, but decides not to pursue her because he has hurt her and believes he has no qualifications to get her back.
A bunch of work stuff happen and Shinonome tells Maejima that Ono (who has a crush on Maejima) is the man who can give her happiness before flying back to New York. Eventually, Maejima realises that Shinonome had loved her all along and flies to New York to look for him. The two meet and reconcile, and the drama ends.
Hope this summary was useful :)
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The newly transferred designer from New York office gets involved with his planner in Tokyo office. It isn't as simple as it appears to be.
Loved the narration, how the story was presented. That made the first few episodes very passionate. It is a mature themed romance story.
Sakurada dori who handles such mature roles with ease, handled his role very well. 10 episodes are just enough.
The beauty of japanese dramas are, they don't drag the story to fit to a 1 hour length or a 16 episodes one.
Just writing what I need to write. Loved the music too.
If you are into mature romance dramas, give this a try!
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A nasty little tale full of nasty little people
I had heard that there were dodgy gender dynamics in Japanese dramas (I’m pretty new to them) and if you want a taste, then this is totally for you. I watched it to the end to make sure that I had a handle on the full intention of the author and was unsurprised to find that it was a male writer indulging in male dominance and submission fantasies. Where women are submissive, obedient supplicants who like to be all but raped. Where they are totally gullible, have no power over their own emotions, need to be told what’s good for them and go along with everything the man decides because they can’t help themselves. Oh dear, how inadequately sad. An insult to both men and women.Don’t get me wrong. I’m not put off by mildly explicit sex scenes, nor do I frown on consensual power playing in the bedroom. But there was a scene at the start that was not along those lines. It was abuse masquerading as masterful and fed into the myth that women secretly like to be raped. And later we learn it’s not the first time that the ML forced sex on a woman and even that on this occasion it was deliberate. However much you might like power play in your sex, engaging in it with an almost stranger, without prior consultation or a safe word, or even consent to being tied at the wrists, is not consensual sex, it’s abuse. It is the submissive that should hold the power, but here that was not clear at all and the viewer was left with the distinct impression that it was the dominant who held all the cards. However much, afterwards they tried to smooth it away and pretend he is a nice guy really.
My problem is not that this behaviour was included in a drama. My problem is that I am being asked to think that it is acceptable behaviour in a romantic drama between leads that I am supposed to identify with. And that shitty, abusive behaviour is acceptable as a basis for both starting and continuing a relationship. The ML character is a nasty piece of work and had red warning flags all over him; anyone (man or woman) capable of doing that once is capable of doing it again.
So, please explain to me how a woman could ultimately feel safe, respected and an equal partner with a man who has behaved despicably towards them. Because believe me, that’s what they need to feel to give themselves freely.
Hmmm. Do I want to watch a romance drama where I really don’t have any respect for the leading couple or what they stand for? It was very hard to engage with the story without any sympathetic characters to latch onto.
Ok, having said all that, what was it like as a drama? Not that good to be honest. The writing was very mediocre and played into stereotypes by the bucketload. There was a whole load of repetition that became tedious as it did not move the story forward at all except to explain motives that were totally obvious anyway. A little of it here and there would have been acceptable but wholesale chunks of it, like all of episodes 6 and 7, were not. A better writer would have been able to reveal the subtly changing emotions sufficiently so as not to have to explain them in exceedingly clunky thought speech and would have structured the story differently to avoid going over the same ground. The whole thing was not improved by the quality of the acting and directing, which was very ordinary.
The best thing about it was the cinematography. There was a beautiful sharpness and clarity to the images and nice camera angles and a good choice of locations lent itself to some impressive scenery.
What my rating means: 1 - 3+ Totally unbearable, but often compulsively watchable as you really can’t believe that it can be this bad.
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The story is predictable, but one can watch it nicely enough. Be aware that some scenes are mature though, but not too explicit. The love story was fun, although the leading lady did not match well with that older guy-her boss. She, however, had chemistry with her partner. Plus, there was a happy ending, after a nicely made twist.
The performances were okay as well. Though, some of the characters were simply annoying and felt like they were taking advantage of other characters.
So, five out of ten.
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if you are sadist and loves self torture. go ahead and watch this
This is one of the drama where the guy will go for the revenge and hurt the girl then later realise he is in love with her.Even after knowing he plotted to hurt her. She will shamelessly continue to love him and fall for him and the ONLY reason is she itself don't know why she attracted to him( duh.....? What kinda nonsense to stay in love after knowing the reason).
The only thing I liked about this drama is the Girl was Damn smart at her work.
*********But she compensated the required stupidity of the standard Asian-drama-female-lead in her love life**************
Another worst thing about this drama is first 4 episodes tells about the girl's perspective and the next 4 episodes tells about the guy's perspective OF THE SAME FUCKING STORY. like I haven't been watching this drama in marathon.
Glad that this wasn't like Turkish drama which has 2hrs/episodes and 30 episodes else I wouldn't have forgiven myself for marathoning this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
A dodgy script is also a crime
The first few episodes are tracking fine as far as a tropey romance/melodrama goes. Affairs, crushes and a complex web of lies are on full display.I have a feeling that the Show is banking on the visuals and chemistry between the leads to hook the viewers. It would have worked ok if they give the leads room to grow and the plot to develop some complexity. Unfortunately, it took a different turn and wasted a lot of potentials and time.
Problem stems from the Show’s decision to replay multiple scenes from different characters’ POV. This means instead of moving forwards, we went back and forth extensively for several episodes, replaying scenes from a slightly different angle or composition and sometimes adding a bit of inner monologue. Time and again, we are presented with pieces of information that we already know while other times, the information is actually contradictory.
This extends to other characters watching each other watching the leads so it is like a relay race without ends. I can accept it if it is a major revelation, but it is mostly along the line of “you like her but not me”, “she like him but not you”. We get it . . . we get it the first time.
It is also a surprise to see a 2019 show that objectifies female characters to such a degree. They are seen as objects of desire and targets for seduction. There are not a lot of rules, married woman, co-workers, anything goes. The flip side is that the female characters are willing to do anything in the name of “love”. Love in this case is a loose term. It is more like a hunger for attention and affection rather than the classic definition of love. Of course, the Show will tell us true love is most important but it also throws shade at itself. The Show is not short of mixed and contrary messages.
The logic behind the ML’s action is quite obtuse. He loves someone who is married to a man who is having an affair. He wants his crush to be happy so he steals the man’s mistress, not necessarily for revenge (it is a source of some confusion), but so that the man will go back to his wife and live HEA. What? How? If the husband have had one love affair, he can have three. Not to mention what is the ML going to do with that woman he just seduced. The plot didn't thicken, it congealed.
In the end, the Show is “saved” by the happy endings. It is hardly a surprise as the Show has no where else to go.
Acting is ok. There is quite a bit of skinship and more than the usual quota of bed scenes. Some are replayed several times for our titillation.
The repetitive nature of this Show means that only about 50% are truly original content. So if we were to extrapolate this to its logical conclusion then the Show would have worked much better if it is only half its current length. That works for me. Peace out.
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Don’t waste your time on this
The only thing worth in this drama are Dori’s visuals and that isn’t enough to save the writing and the terrible character development. I would have believed it to be some for of comedy instead of romance. Firstly, the characters are all horrible people, they indulge in infidelity and you as viewers are supposed to sympathise with them. Secondly, the writing is so bad and has zero progression or value. Half the drama is flashbacks with inner thoughts making an appearance. They do have interesting jobs though, and it could have been made better if the plot was focused on a little bit more. Another thing that put me off is how some of the explicit are straight up assault. That’s not romance or possessiveness, it’s assault. Tired of seeing such level of relationship portrayal!Was this review helpful to you?
I don’t know what to make of it
This series was absolutely bonkers, melodramatic in the best possible way, reminiscent of French films from the 60’s at times. But I also hated most of the acting and characters. I found myself saying out loud “ what on earth is happening!” The entire sequence where the male lead has an evil narrator was camp genius. I really don’t know what to say. I didn’t like it but I also really liked it. I will likely watch those middle scenes again because they are just so over the top.Was this review helpful to you?
I LOVED IT!
I love how the female lead has a backbone and gains the freedom she deserves because of the male lead. It was short and fast paced but i love how they take a break. overall so fun, cute but really emotional. definitely a re-watch.I didn't think the OST was the most memorable part but the way the series was structured gave so much information for such a short series. I was left shouting at the computer screen whenever someone i didn't like came up and the ending gave me butterflies and goosebumps.
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I like the development between the two leads and their subtle heart beating moments.
I like and don't like the flashbacks. The twists add "doki doki" feels but the rewind was too long for a flashback that it's somehow tiring to watch.
I felt quite emotional for the FC that I just wanna give her a hug (ㅠ.ㅠ)
For the final judgment, I'm in between "It's okay." and "I like it."
I say "It's okay." because it's not trashy or senseless or boring. It still has sense and story just that it's nothing special or it's not extraordinary enough to make me say, "I like it." It's probably something you may want to watch after watching a heavy drama/movie.
"I like it." because besides what was mentioned above, I also love the visuals ^^ specially the sophisticated look of the FC. PLUS! It's Dori Sakurada! >< (hahaha okay I wasn't really into Dori but youtube kept recommending clips of him and I finally clicked and wow goodness gracious! This man is talented! He isn't just an actor huh~ aight! imma check him out... and that is how I ended looking for more Dori dorama) ;)
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Dumb Title, Decent drama
The premise of the story was pretty standard. The acting was decent. The music wasn't annoying and production was okay too. I watched this because of Dori Sakurada and he didn't disappoint. I liked Yoko Kita as Reiko Usami.DISLIKES:
I really didn't like the FL until the very last episode.
Although adultery is a crime, the title didn't fit the drama.
Too many episodes of rehashing the same stuff, just to give us FL's point of view and then ML's point of view. Because of this, it just dragged on, where as they could've shown POV from FL & ML within maximum 2 episodes if that. POV wasn't needed, as it was pretty obvious anyway.
OVERALL:
It was an okay watch, some mature content, but nothing as some of Dori's roles in the past [for example Scum's Wish]. I wont rewatch it, but if someone does a clip compilation of just Dori's parts, without the POV, I'd watch that. 5.5/10 because the FL was good at her job and for once that was refreshing to see and because Dori was great.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was such a quick and interesting drama. While I feel like my emotions and thoughts are still reeling, I feel like I at least need to try to write my thoughts out before I forget them. LolI want to start off with I really really REALLY REEEAAAALLLLLYYYYYY hate homewreckers. They turn my stomach and just disgust me, So while Reina played Kaori very well, I hated her character through the whole thing. If it weren't for that bit, I really would have loved her characters because of how sweet and, oddly enough, pure she was. So I can't be mad that everyone loved her. It's crazy and a first for me to see. It's not everyday everyone knows you are a homewrecker and people still love you to death, and those that meet you will love you as well. It's weird.
I also hated how she had no backbone. There were times when you could see she had a fighting spirit (like when he told her to look at what he came up with without consulting her) --she actually got really pissed but of course ended up liking it.. So... where was that fire through the rest of the show? Seriously? Every man around her did the typical "call the shots" thing, which I kinda hate to say because yes, they were sweet too but.... she is a whole ass person... if y'all missed that memo? She just let them decide her life and there was so many times I would have either slapped or stomped some toes in anger, she just rolled with it and let them decide so much. rwghwleghowsahfgoua GRRRRR it's frustrating. Then again, seems like they did that with all the females. Typical. (I said what I said) *sigh*
Other than that, I really questioned what was going to happen through all of this. Mostly because it wasn't a love triangle... it was a freaking octagon. Lol somebody que up that Adam Sandler song from Wedding Singer "he loves her, but she loves this guy right here and he loves somebody else, you just can't when - and so it goes until the day you die, this thing they call love is gonna make you cryyyyy-I hate you" LOL! If you've seen that movie you know what I mean. If not, Sorry I wasted your time. XD
I'm a sucker for happy endings so I guess that is where it mostly won me over. I mean, I can't hate the acting or storyline either though because no matter what, it WAS a good story and and had a lot of depth. Especially with something so short.
I'll probably update this more later.
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