The purpose of my review basically boils down to the headline: This drama is in ALL the top lists recommending Japanese dramas to viewers- and they are utterly WRONG. And this mess shouldn`t be blamed on being an adaptation - That`s too much leeway. A Story To Read When You First Fall in Love, Love Lasts Forever and Hans Yori Dango are all dramas adapted from romance drama material. Only, these cases had caring writers who fixed what was wrong(if anything) and added to people wanting to see them. That`s why it`s called an ADAPTATION, not shot-for-shot(or panel-for-panel) remake. I`m well acquainted with the original mangaka of this drama and most of her work(because she has been working for a long time) is grounded in the popular points of the past, when readers weren`t really that concerned with how creepy even the whole premise is. Most of her male leads are exasperating, arrogant and on-the-nose willful, so I wasn`t surprised by that going into it.

What I am surprised about, however, is, though I haven`t read the manga, I`m familiar with her stuff enough to know that the writers probably stuck to most of how things were in the manga. And if my hunch is right, let me ask:Why?Love Lasts Forever`s Kairi was, in the manga, very possessive, manipulative and overall overbearing. However, the drama`s version doesn`t even possess a fraction of those misgivings and that`s thanks to very talented writing team. So what happened here?A drama can retain the feelings of the manga without having to abide by every plot point and reason. In fact, if you see that the material you are supposed to ADAPT is too outdated for your audience, then fix those elements accordingly. I am really struggling with director`s vision here. Now, onto the acting, which was serviceable, but overshadowed by absolute godawful character building. I`ve seen this drama a few months ago and I just kept thinking, Why would these two end up together?Why is he such a nonce and a whole stalker?Why are we abandoning her wanting to be ambitious and forward thinking, to turn her into yet another female lead won over by constant following and borderline harassment?There is absolutely no connection or chemistry between the characters here. I finished this drama feeling both weirded out and worried for those who put this in their favorite Japanese dramas. Just...don`t.