I must presume that only people who will agree with my review of "Mei-chan no Shitsuji" will be those of you who, much like me, grew up on Japanese dramas. If that`s so, then this little cringy gem was surely a part of your childhood. "Hana Yori Dango", "Hana Kimi" and this drama could very well be referred to as the Holy Trinity of early 2000s Japanese drama world. And if you`ve followed me this far, then you must realize why my rating is so high. And you would be right on the money. Pure, unadulterated NOSTALGIA.

Is "Mei-chan no Shitsuji" a collection of over-the-top scenes that amount to slapstick jokes and overdramatic revelations most of the time?Well yeah, it`s based on a shoujo manga by an artist whose scope of world building and character development is very, very flawed. Most of the characters, excluding the main ones, are positively one dimensional. And stereotypical at that. A womanizer, a rich heiress, a rich girl who won`t stop eating, macabre couple of misfits...check,check,check! And despite all that, there IS this sense of overall earnestness that made this drama so popular in dark, private Japanese drama circles(just kidding). And the majority of that likeability falls on our lead pair and most importantly, on the character of Mei. Her story is completely clichéd, `fish out of the water` type that became worn out even back in 2009. However, much like "Hana Yori Dango"`s Makino(a less developed version for sure), Mei is a character who was extremely amplified by the actress playing her, to the point of where she`s miles ahead of her manga counterpart. The actress Hana Eikura decided to be on her A game while shooting this drama, and brought us a character that`s sarcastic, everyman and for the most part, relatable(except for the whole falling in love with an S rank butler of a prestigious academy part). Her love interest Rihito, played by the ever so charming Hiro Mizushima, is also one most Jdrama watchers remember due to his charisma and dare I say, appropriate chemistry. Don`t be fooled by my review, it`s nothing like the chemistry level of Makino and Tsukasa(Mao Inoue and Jun Matsumoto) but it is there. Now, if I were to dive deep into the many, many flaws of "Mei-chan no Shitsuji) this review would take a nosedive into those dreadful 4s, so I`m not going to do that.

Yes, the plot is exasperatedly overdone and obvious. Yes, the situations are cringy and villains cartoonish and...Well, hm.
About that "cartoonish villains" part. Unlike vast majority of dramas dealing with this subject matter, the actual villains in the form of Shinobu, Shiori, Tami and Kanda are better than what you would expect. I remember the 12 year old me being shocked that Tami and Kanda were that blood thirsty and ready to execute their plan of getting rid of Mei when they were with her at the bottom of the ladder for such a long time. That reveal alone, albeit a bit predictable, made me appreciate the show that much more.

Be it for uncontrollable amount of love and unwarranted protection I`ve got for this blast from the past, be it for something having possession over me, I have to give this show an 8 because I still genuinely rewatch it from time to time and still have the fun of my life doing so. I`m not saying you`ll like it(in fact I`m sure you won`t) but maybe give it a try for when you just want to watch something outlandish but still fun as hell.