Iyashi no Otonari-san ni wa Himitsu ga aru (2023)

This show doesn't excuse stalking-

But it does aspire to redeem a stalker. I found this show fascinating and very enjoyable. As a dark romance book lover, I was fully prepared to overlook the stalking anyway (I'm not here to defend my book tastes so don't come for me ?), however this show did not intend to let the viewer overlook this.

Nishina was very mentally unstable and unhealthy. He was suicidal and latched onto the person who saved him and this grew into obsession. His obsession lead to his delusion that what he was doing was just keeping her safe. We watch as he breaks down and comes to terms with his actions. Sakamoto sees that his intentions were well placed, but poorly executed. He stands firm that regardless of your intentions, how your actions affect someone else are what matters, therefore his actions were inexcusable. This hard truth really opens Nishina's eyes and crumbles the illusion before him. He realizes his actions are no different than Fujiko's workplace stalker and harasser.

The show doesn't excuse Nishina. He says, "but I didn't hurt her, I wasn't violent." because he only followed from a distance and took her picture. The message is non-negotiable that despite the intent, the trauma caused to Fujiko is the same. In his case, maybe worse because she truly fell for him. This is where he is redeemed. He truly did not realize his actions and takes the time to process and reflect. He realized the harm of listening to his inner voice rather than considering her feelings. He admitted he had been so in tune with his inner monolog, he was too far gone. He took his talk with Sakamoto to heart and began the process of actually changing.

The proof of his change is really highlighted by the scene where Fujiko says she loves him. He doesn't immediately abandon his dream and his journey for himself. He acknowledges that he does love her, but he has to change. These two demonstrate a healthy relationship foundation through supporting each other, even in times of distance.

Nishina definitely needed therapy. But I did appreciate this show demonstrating his commitment to becoming a better person. I think this was well done, well acted, and definitely worth the watch!

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I must confess I started watching this "Iyashi no Otonari-san ni wa Himitsu ga aru" only out of my love for Tanabe Momoko, who's my #1 fave of the current generation of Japanese actresses (and considering that she has some fierce competition there, that's saying quite a lot, isn't it?). And indeed she was once again perfect to a "T", gorgeous and tremendously talented as always.
On the other hand, I didn't have any expectation at all about the drama itself: I was actually expecting the Nth crappy hollywoodian story of "the good guy next door seems nice but actually is a psycho, so beware of other people, stay alone and unhappy 'cause that's how we want you to be"...but it ended up being, much to my surprise, quite the other way around!
The writers aren't keeping from us that the ML is a "psycho"; I mean, seriously, they portray him right from the beginning with a demented grin on his face, and on top of that, humming the European Union anthem! Hard to be crazier than that, right? >___<
(...yeah, I know it's Beethoven's "Ode to the Joy", but the EU using it has ruined that completely for me, sorry...)
Back to what I was saying (and more seriously!), what the writers did here was to actually orchestrate an intricate "double play": on the surface, we have the FL finding out, slowly but surely, that the ML ain't what he seems...but on a deeper level, we viewers take just the opposite path, finding out precisely that he's not as crazy (nor as "stalkerish") as we initially thought him to be! So in the end the message is a completely non-hollywoodian "the next person might be a lot better than you think, so open up and be happy", which is pretty damn nice, coming to think about it!
The music is good, the "packaging" too, the scenography great (I want an apartment like that! Of course as long as I could share the balcony with Momoko-chan, LOL).
But the absolute best part is the acting. ALL the cast did marvelously, with virtual standing ovations for both leads!
The only reason I'm not grading this as a "Perfect 10" (SPOILER ahead) is that I've found the stabbing scene with the subsequent endless monologue really forced and overall annoyingly clichéd; had they done that more nicely, it would've been perfect. But it got close.

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