Kake kara Hajimaru Sayonara no Koi (2023)

Predictable but Comforting. Adorable Leads with Great Chemistry!

Subjective Gut Rating; 8.5
Objective Rating: 7.5-8.0

Why am I rating this quite high? Well, because this is my cup of tea! I love when main leads are in love with each other, yet thinking the other doesn’t like them. I LOVE the guessing game. That’s my jam! If you are like me, then you will enjoy this drama. If this is not your thing, then “Goodbye’s Love Begins With Betting” is a predictable, easy and light watch. You have seen everything. There is no surprise, but a comfort watch.

Nao (FL) and Koichi (ML) are both very likable characters. Nao is known as the Ice Iron lady, and Koichi is known as the handsome, but indecisive guy who will say yes to everyone. Both of them started dating due to a bet. And you probably can guess that they ended up liking each other and are worried about how this bet is going to ruin their relationship. The leads have great chemistry and I enjoy all their scenes together.

There are a lot of internal monologues to show Nao’s internal conflict and how she is so different outwardly than her true self. She is adorable and it’s quite interesting to hear the internal turmoil while watching her with an emotionless face. Yamazaki Hirona played Nao really well. I was rooting for her the whole time. But what I adore even more is Koseki Yuta’s beautiful and sunshine smile. It’s no wonder our female lead is so in love with him. Koichi might be indecisive but I don’t find him frustrating because he presents himself so well and because Yuta plays his role so well.

The best friends are the rational and sensible support system that our leads need. I’m glad the drama doesn’t force-feed us a secondary romance, but really centers all attention to our leads. The two best friends play an important supporting role in the story and not just wallflowers. I also adore FL’s co-worker as the cute cheerleader. The ‘villain’ isn’t too irritating either.

If you are looking for a fun, easy and light watch, this is it for you. Don’t expect anything unique or groundbreaking, but sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!



Completed: 6/8/2024 - Review #450

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Cheers!!!

Well, nothing earth-shattering here! Just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, based on a manga romcom. And it is fine! If that's what you're looking for!

I thought I was! And I loved the first couple of episodes! And then I did not any more! It is not that it gets bad but it gets too long and eventually it becomes boring! I think that says something when the drama has only 8 episodes 30min long!

But first I would like to than donsubbers for the subs! Keep up the good work! We do appreciate it!

It is an office romance between an icy straight forward office lady and a people pleaser, handsome but spineless office worker. He is forced to accept a bet involving her, she overhears him accepting said bet. So they start dating, hesitantly enjoying each other's company but still holding back because of the bet. Their respective best friends try to help them out.

I loved the FL: strong, principled, honest and taking no nonsense which made her an outcast though she was appreciated for her professional attitude and her competence. She always managed to keep a straight face while the storm was brewing behind it: the j dramas' favourite trope i.e. the inner monologue came useful here though they used it a bit too much when she was all alone and acting out the very monologue! Those were also the moments when the manga origins of this drama came to evidence: grimaces, gesturing, jumping around, turning eyes...the actress did all of this to perfection but managed not to go overboard so I was not put out by it much (since I usually drop a drama when they go OTT with manga codes, this is a good sign!).
I hated the ML: spineless, wanting to please everyone, boring, flavorless and annoyingly cowardly but, to his defence, he grows a pair by the end of the drama and stands up against the office harassment.

The office harassment was actually the main topic behind the romcom: it is used as an initial motivation for the plot but it is left superficial even though the main harasser is punished, learns his lesson and becomes a better person. It is very unrealistic but I should not expect more from the treatment of this topic here since this is first and foremost a romantic comedy and it is not to be taken seriously.

There are some interesting support characters, like the FL's coworker who hero worships her and then observes from afar her love life cheering her on, the FL's parents: the talkative mother and the newspaper reading absent father(they were funny), and last but not least the chemistry overflowing best friends and hopefully a future couple. They were a spicy couple in contrast with the vanilla main one! Much more interesting but not present enough!

I liked the music: it was the right kind and right amount and it accompanied the story well without drowning it as is often the case in j dramas (at least among those I've seen so far!).

The production was solid but there was one scene in which I found the extras' attitudes bizarre! In the scene the second couple is walking down the almost empty street discussing their friends, they are not speaking particularly loudly so it was surprising to see extras, far away from them stop and watch them: there was no reason for them to do that! I was wondering if they filmed it with real passer bys who stopped to watch the filming of the scene out of curiosity because that is what the scene looked like !

This is an easily bingeable, light and fun drama and you might spend a relaxing moment watching it if you do not expect much!

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