Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi (2023)

Comédia romântica gostosinha, mas vamos por a mão na consciência também

Para um jdrama, até que esse foi menos tóxico do que os outros que formaram minha experiência com doramas japoneses.

O início, por volta dos 6 primeiros eps, é perfeito, química, história, tudo. O que lasca realmente é a questão da "traição"/est*pro que, embora não tenha realmente acontecido, torna-se uma questão muito delicada. Se o cara *afirma* que dormiu com uma mulher bêbada ao ponto da inconsciência, isso é est*pro, não dá para relativizar. O fato de o narrador dizer que o que de fato chateou o ML ter sido a palavra confiança é até forçar a barra.

A FM, nesse ponto, também me irrita. Ao mesmo tempo em que ela se mostrou forte no começo, também se mostrou empática... mas perdoar, dizer que confia, etc., etc., em quem está tentando acabar com seu casamento? isso pra mim já é ter sangue de barata.

Porém esses dois pontos não vejo exatamente como falhas da história, mas como um reflexo de questões que deveriam ser mais debatidas na sociedade japonesa, porque mostram visões beeeeem preocupantes sobre a mulher que é culpabilizada quando vítima de uma violência e sobre a mulher ser sempre essa fonte inesgotável de abnegação (que até deixou a personagem muito plana, em comparação com como ela começou na história).

Read More

A whole lot of good stuff begingn with the letter C

This is another one of those dramas that combines a lot of stuff I enjoy watching. While I am willing to admit that this pretty much lacks depth and substance, it does have a whole lot of great stuff that begin with the letter C: Cliche
Characters, Co habitation, Contract, Cinderella story, Combos, Cold leads, Crushes (unrequited), Cute dog, Cool Lads/siblings... Cunning parents, Cuddly parents, Cuddling Cuople, Corruption, Conning, Cuteness overload and and so on and so on...


This is in no way a masterpiece, but it is an entertaining watch with the usual twists, a lovely family and is a easy binge that even had me feeling a bunch of stuff...

So if you love your C's this is a great Choice!

Read More

A Nice Contract Marriage Romance

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Japanese romance series with 10, 45-60 minute episodes. Also known under the Japanese title Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi

First I provide a Unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Hanada (Kanna Hashimoto) has had a tough life because she is so pretty people assume she uses her looks to get ahead and treat her poorly as a result. She has a hard time keeping jobs because customers pock up on her and colleagues are jealous. She finally gets a job as a wedding planner and thinks she has finally landed a job she can keep. It is not long though and trouble starts there, landing her in the office of the company President. Togo Nitta (Ryosuke Yamada) has turned down a variety of eligible women preferring to be alone to having a fake relationship. His focus is on increasing the sales for the bridal company to prove his ability as his father’s successor. When he sees Ayuka he comes up with a mutually beneficial plan in the form of a marriage contact. She needs money for her struggling family and he can use the perfect marriage to promote his business. No pesky feelings involved right?

Review

It is a nicely paced romance with a happy ending. If you like the cold CEO type, contract marriages and/or cinderella like stories this is a good one for all of that.

Spoiler

I found the plot point that being too attractive has its own set of problems compelling. It is a phenomenon not frequently recognized but those that have experienced it know it exists.

She had a way about her that she remained positive despite people treating her unfairly due to assumptions they made about her. They were perfect for each other as each led ampn isolated life for different reasons

I was a little disappointed when he broke it off with her and was pursuing an arranged marriage. That is one of my least favorite tropes. I was glad she realized what was going in and basically told him knock it off.

#KissingtheRingFinger

#KannaHashimoto

#RyosukeYamada

Read More

Fabulous start ruined by disappointing end

First drama completed in 2024! And what a fabulous start it was until it got ruined by a cliched ending. The first 7 episodes were a solid 9 for me, but sadly, the last few episodes took a turn in favour of unnecessary dramatic flair, making me lower my rating.

Pros:
- I really liked the main characters here! Ayaka was such a refreshing character (especially in the beginning) and I think the actress did really well in her role. Let's talk about the ML, I absolutely loved Togo, esp his hilarious expressions and the sound effects for him. Loved his character development. They were both pretty realistic and relatable, for the most part. They had "hidden caring personalities" but were jerks on the outside until they slowly grew to let the world see it. It was also nice to see the FL fight back with the same indifference/attitude as the ML in the beginning. They had good chemistry and I liked them together. Togo falls first and he falls hard lol I absolutely loved the slow mo "oh" moments when they realize they liked the other.
- There were some very funny parts that made me laugh out loud (during these parts you can tell Yamada was breaking character due to sheer ridiculousness of the scenes but those were my absolute favourites!).
- I liked how there were no second pair to distract us from their development and how they grew to trust and forgive each other realistically. Even the love triangle wasn't really a thing. I'm glad they also choose to focus on the family angle. There was some very interesting dynamics within the family that surprised me because it was different/not what I expected. I did love their families (minus the wacko mother-in-law, everyone else was wonderful). Plus the doggo! That was one hella well trained pupper and his development with Togo was so cute loll
- The attention to detail in the sets was fabulous, especially in Ayaka's home, like that place genuinely looked like it was actively being lived in by a large family with its ghibli-esque clutter. Also loved the growing collection of their pictures in their own home!
- I was really hoping/knew they were building up to planning a same-sex marriage so I was glad they did. I think they brought that in at the perfect time after establishing the importance of accepting all different types of marriages in the previous episodes.
- This was my first Yamada drama and oh boy did he grow on me so much omg I'm excited to see him in his upcoming movie Silent Love! It was already on my list of movies to look forward to and now even more reason to watch it! I did spiral into Hey! Say! JUMP after this and its safe to say I'm a goner. Seeing him dance in "Ready to Jump"??!! excuse me?? NO don't do this to me Yamada TT I was not ready for that
- This was one of the first jdramas I completed after my recent trip to Japan and it was so nice to see all the areas I recognized! I miss it so muchhh! Esp not my guy Togo looking absolutely gutted in front of a spectacularly clear view of Mt. Fuji TT

Cons:
- How did they think they'll get away with not living together tho?? that's wack
- Spoiler alert: Evil mother-in-law is eviling, I don;t understand why no one was stopping her.
- The conflict with Kamiyama unsettled me, like I understand the position he was in but I still think what he did was too extreme for them to forgive so easily? esp when after he did what he did, he literally went and told such a brazen disgusting lie to Togo's FACE??!! I was shook. I really liked him before but this made me see him differently the rest of the drama
- There was a lot of miscommunication or just lack of communication in the last few episodes between literally everyone which was wild
- they really did what I was hoping they wouldn't and had the useless breakup trope, LIKE WHYYYYYY when the evil mil thing started I knew it was leading to this "I'll break up with her to protect her" trope, TELL ME WHYyyyyy, aint nothin but a heartache TELL ME WHY, why they have to have the break-up then the time skip trope TELL ME WHy why couldn't they have had this talk 10 months ago and have saved everyone the painnnnnn, and this intervention with the mother should have happened long ago, I don't understand why they let it go on for as long as it did...like her behaviour? what a slap in the face for Arata
- sighssssss, I'll have to settle for a 8.5 for all this crazy mil/breakup business even tho I was enjoying it so much.

tags/tropes:
Evil mother-in-law, blackmail, lack of communication (in the last couple episodes), contract marriage, ML falls first, break-up, time jump

(Completed Jan 2024)

Read More

Good production, good romance

The best jdrama I've watched ever. I loved the couple, they are really great together. Togo is just perfect! He seemed to be harsh and rude, but he's actually gentle, sensible and understanding. Whenever he got angry with her, he had very good reasons and, in the end, he always forgave her and understood her. Besides that, he's the most handsome japanese ML I've ever seen. So he's the best. I liked FL too, the way she wasn't a plain female lead. She entered the contract marriage for the money and wasn't afraid to admit it. Also, she's beautiful and knows that. They formed a beautiful couple who chose and fought to be together always.

The production for this drama was really good. I couldn't stop remarking, as I was watching, how it seemed I was watching a kdrama. The plot full of cliches that were mostly well explored felt like it. Also, in my experience jdramas are very low-budget-looking and this one was the opposite. Very good production.

Regarding the narrative, in the overall it was good and simple. It was a lot funny and the romance got me too. But there were some writing problems related to the villains:

- Kamiyama was the worst! Although he's a good guy, few things justify the way he tried to break up the leads, and he didn't have a good reason. Yes, he needed the money for his father and their company, but that wasn't reason for him to take a drunk FL to a hotel room, take off her dress, and pretend they had a night together. That was just disgusting! And from where I come from, this is a crime, you can go to jail for these things. So all that had totally ruined the character for me. And I didn't understand how FL forgave him for that. I was totally on ML's side for getting angry at her for trusting a man who did what he did to her. As a woman, I'm afraid of these types who disguise as friend to gaslight and manipulate women. Ugh, so disgusted!

- As for ML's mother, I knew there was smth wrong with her. She acted weird from the very beginning. Hated how she had a redemption and they forgave her although she never asked for it and was willing to continue with her malicious plans. It wasn't clear why she stopped trying to separate the leads cuz she clearly had an obssession with Togo and I can't believe that everything went well in the end bc he just asked her to stop. She needed mental treatment really.

On the overall it was a very enjoying drama. The romance was the best part. If you overlook the poor villain arcs it was very good and worth watching.

Read More

100% lumped clichees

This drama benefices of several very cute and potentially promising actors.

However, this capital is ruined by several greedy production mistakes.
My initial enthusiasm vanished at about episode 5, but I watched it till the end.

The writing is dilettante: the story is based on a very rich and long manga.
Instead of making either a longer series (such that the actors can develop and
we may enjoy them for longer) or making a clever selection, the writer lumps
too much together, so much that the actors do not have the occasion to show
what they eventually could. The story rashes from one "kyun" moment to another.
There is zero opportunity for depth, very often there is no logic and
the acting is forced to be reduced to a minimum,
As a result, we get 10 episodes of 45 minutes each with 100% lumped clichees.

There is almost no camera work, sadly.

The director seemed to be focused only in product placement which is pushed
to hilarious limits (e.g. the clothes they were supposed to wear inside the sauna).
The whole gives the impression of a rushed, low cost, high profit production.

Unless you like these actors very much and you are fond of 100% clichees,
watching this drama is a loss if time.

This drama is worth about 25% of its watching time.

Read More

It's hard to sum up your thoughts for a drama that had such a great start before making a really good go of squandering its characters and stories. But sum them up I will try, because I do have some thoughts about this drama.

First and foremost, this drama has great chemistry between its leads. Ayaka and Togo are fun to watch together as they bickeringly charm their way into each other's hearts. Their little online videos together start off as part of their contract marriage obligations but quickly become some of the best moments of their genuine enjoyment of one another's company. (Not to mention they become more and more hilarious as the drama goes on.) These two are a couple you really want to see truly become a couple. Secondly, although I consider this of equal importance to the first point, the female lead is an incredibly sympathetic and complex character. I always love it when a drama surprises you with its characterizations, and Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi definitely does that with Ayaka. Ayaka has always been naturally pretty, and it has garnered her lots of attention in her life from the opposite sex. Unfortunately, much of that attention has not been good. A male teacher in her high school behaving inappropriately towards her, a client at her job as a wedding planner attempting to cheat on his fiancé with Ayaka, etc. To add insult to injury, Ayaka never does anything to encourage this behavior and she actively tries to avoid it, but the people around her consistently leave her holding the proverbial bag, wielding her attractiveness against her like a weapon, an excuse to turn her into the scapegoat for their own behavior. She's so pretty, so it's obviously her fault.

Not surprisingly, Ayaka has learned to handle this by acting nonchalant and unbothered, pretending she doesn't mind all the (truthfully negative) attention she gets from these men and that the sneers and accusations from others are like water off a ducks' back to her. Of course, we learn better when we see her alone holding back tears after she's been unfairly blamed for another incident. This characterization is very beautifully done, and gosh does it make me really like her. Unfortunately, the story drops this characterization in the second half, which I consider a serious misstep by the writers (among the multiple missteps they make with this drama). Ayaka is a strong female lead with a lot of depth worth exploring, but the writers appeared to only be interested in exploring it half-way.

Sadly, the writer's decision to step away from developing Ayaka as a character means they have to fill their time else ways, and they are two specific plot decisions in the last four episodes that deeply hamper the overall story. One is a very common, and often bemoaned trope, in Asian dramas that I actually think could have been made to work if given the time to develop properly. But the other is an infuriating, mind-boggling, head-scratching choice that was so improperly conveyed to the audience that there's really no way to fully salvage it as a writing decision.

Starting in ep 7 and concluding in ep 8 is a plot point around a possible sexual assault against Ayaka by the second male lead, Kamiyama. Personally, I don't believe any sexual assault actually occurred, but the whole things plays out in a way that does not make that clear. From the way things are set up, it very much looks like Ayaka has been assaulted. We start with her leaving a school reunion drunk, then she's passed out in a taxi with Kamiyama who intentionally hangs up her phone when Togo calls her, then Ayaka is waking up in a hotel room not wearing her dress and Kamiyama walks in without a shirt and intimates that something happened between them. Then when Ayaka tells Kamiyama she doesn't believe him, he tells both her and Togo that something absolutely did happen. Of course, Ayaka was passed out drunk while Kamiyama appeared to be relatively sober, so the perfectly rational conclusion for anyone watching would be that he did, in fact, assault her. But THEN in the very next episode, Kamiyama apologizes to Ayaka, saying he lied about something happening between them, and it's clear from the way this is presented to the viewer that he is telling the truth, and we as the viewer are supposed to believe him.

The problem is that the writers thought this one moment of apology was sufficient enough to clear up all of the confusion around what actually happened. But why Ayaka is not wearing her dress the next morning is a very important detail that the writers never explain, and not explaining it leaves viewers with the very strong impression that Kamiyama did, at the very least, attempt to sexually assault Ayaka and then maybe stopped himself part way. (Which is still assault.) I'm someone who tries to understand and respect the writers' intentions for their story, so since that's what the writer intended, I've chosen to believe that Ayaka took the dress off herself when she crawled into bed, and that Kamiyama left her there for the night and went home. But it's perfectly reasonable and understandable that some viewers would believe she was assaulted.

Of course, I have to talk about Togo's reaction to this situation, because it is not the best. His immediate reaction is anger and distrust, which very much upset me. He has no questions for Ayaka or Kamiyama about what happened, he immediately makes assumptions about Ayaka's character, he just has no interest in having an objective understanding of the situation. But it's also not clear he actually understood that Ayaka had potentially been assaulted in that hotel room. I get the impression that he thought Ayaka and Kamiyama had a consensual sexual encounter, which is obviously completely different from rape or assault. Since Ayaka never tells him what she remembers (for completely understandable reasons), and Kamiyama straight up lies, Togo never gets the full picture. I still think his reaction was unfair, and he owed Ayaka an apology when things were cleared up (and Kamiyama a swift kick in the groin and a clear warning never to come near Ayaka again), but I am willing to be more gracious and understanding towards Togo since I'm not sure he ever truly understood what was going on.

I wish I could say it was a surprise what the writers decided to do next, but this trope is so overused it literally never surprises me when I see it in a drama anymore (although it certainly often induces rage deep with me). After the very heightened events of the (very poorly handled) potential sexual assault, the writers decide the last two episodes are the perfect time for a forced separation between our leads (some drama writer habits die hard, apparently), and there's nowhere near enough time left in the drama to deal with all the varied aspects of this plot point. It comes with arranged marriage (between Togo's father and step-mother), prior relationships of both parents that both produced sons (Togo and his suddenly introduced half-brother), Togo's stepmother's unhealthy attachment to him, her terrified unwillingness to acknowledge her biological son, and a rushed conclusion where all four of them are suddenly happy and reconciled. There is so much to unpack in this plot point, things I actually wanted to see the drama unpack, and if the writers had not chosen the last two episodes to address all of these things, I think we might have actually gotten to see this part of the drama be more fleshed out. But it's not fleshed out. Instead, it's rushed and awkward, and Togo's stepmother ends up looking completely unhinged and irrational.

Overall, the writers bungled the last four episodes of this drama. They should have chosen to focus on one of the above plot points instead of trying to do both, because trying to do both hurt the story. For my part, I think it would have been a wiser use of their time to focus on Togo's relationship with his stepmother and her secret son and all of the things that come attached to a situation as tenuous as that. There was a lot of really interesting stuff brought up in that situation that was never explored, and I even think the forced separation could have worked if the writers had really wanted to do it.

But we'll never know what that would have looked like in this drama, will we? Cause it didn't happen.

Having finished this and gotten plenty of genuine enjoyment out of it, I wouldn't tell people not to watch this drama. I think you might want to be aware of the missteps that happen in the latter half so you can temper your expectations. But some viewers aren't going to be so frustrated by the writing choices in the latter half of the story as I, and many other viewers, are. I myself might even rewatch this someday just to relive the leads amazing chemistry and the comedy and enjoy the short-lived effort at exploring such an interesting and sympathetic female lead.

Key word being someday.

Someday farrrrr in the future when I've gotten over the disappointment that the ending of this drama was.

Read More

a very cute and wholesome drama

This is a wonderful and cute drama that is easy to binge due to it only having 10 episodes! I loved the chemistry between the main leads, there are some slow bits here and there which is why the rating dropped a bit but overall I recommend it. Maybe far fetched but I’d love a spinoff with her oldest younger brother maybe set in a couple years when he’s older, I grew to love him a lot! If you’re looking for something quick and easy that doesn’t have much drama apart from the ending episodes with his disapproving mother I recommend this drama, I loved the domestic vibes it had because the main leads lived together throughout most of the drama. It’s just super comforting and wholesome and I can see myself rewatching in the future.

Overall rating: 9.4/10

Read More

Amazing start... but then it became lousy

I binged this jdrama in a day, it was so fun at first, The chemistry between the leads was so good and it was all very fun and had really nice rom-com vibes <3 I loved them getting to know each other. I generally just love the contract marriage trope and they did it so well :) They had so many cute moments and it was def gonna be one of my top romcoms at least. I did enjoy it and I don't regret watching it, it's just that it was great in a little more than the first half and then it really became mid !!!




They got together in the 5th episode, and it has 10 episodes.... I feel like it's common for it all to go downhill after T-T and this jdrama did !! it got to the "villain arc" which I hated so much...

I started to not like the characters as much... the male lead just runs away and they portrayed the female lead as this trusting, undoubting girl... how could they keep in contact with the guy who assaulted her!!!! and they didn't even portray it as assault, just made it out to be like he had no choice and even if he did, he's still such a jerk for that ?! and the villain is such a witch... I just don't understand her, I get what they're trying to portray but I just don't feel any depth in it at all

And lastly I hate the ending trope of the couple separating, time passes and then they get back together(especially for dumb reasons) . I also hate when everything just gets hastily solved in the last episode, it feels so unplanned :<

In the end. I did enjoy it, that's why I gave it a 6,5. The plot really worsened but ig I'm the type to be able to just watch without thinking too much... still, it's too bad cause it really could have been a perfect rom-com !!!!!

Read More

Just by the premise alone, you can tell that this drama will be full of tropes, including, but not limited to: Rich Man/Poor Woman, Boss/Employee, Fake Relationship, Contract Marriage, etc. So, going in, I already expected that it would be a show filled with cliches, and probably have ill-timed laughter that serves no purpose except to be adorable. And this show just does that in the beginning.

We are presented with a female lead who had to grapple with so many false accusations because of her looks. It was one problem that is supposedly plaguing someone so pretty that you are supposed to feel sorry for her, and thus a young, handsome man (not to mention rich) falls on her lap to solve all her issues. It’s all fine and dandy until the latter half of the show.

Here, the drama tried to incorporate heavier topics like the implication of infidelity, implied abuse and other conflicts that came out of left field, that I wonder whether even if it’s the same story we are dealing with. We also see Ayaka's family being supportive of her despite their financial struggles. My only gripe here is that they seem to be happy despite their dire situation, with so many mouths to feed and a baby on the way. Haven’t they ever heard of condoms?

Nevertheless, it is a decent effort by the production crew, especially by the main leads who carried most of the drama weight on their shoulders.

Read More