Man, I really wanted to like this drama since the premise is so good - a great set up for a slow burn romance! Granted, the bromance is excellent but really that is the only saving grace.

I liked the first few episodes when we are introduced to the characters and I love that the FL is not some gullible love struck woman, as is common in most japenese dramas - she's reserved, introverted and rational while still sporting a warm but wounded heart. She wants so desperately to be loved and cherishes her relationship with her family and friend. I love that she knows how to take care of herself and that episode where she eats ramen and drinks by herself on her birthday is honestly so special and rare to see in any kdrama or japenese romance drama I have seen. I like how she takes her time to warm up to the ML and her reservations are valid. Unfortunately, when she does open up to the ML and takes a chance, there's hardly any chemistry between the leads and it's not because they get together so late into the drama but because the leads simply are not able to act out their chemistry real well. They are awkward together and their conversations a bit silly despite them being grown adults. This is my main gripe with most romcoms - the leads simply do not talk about things that matter and their relationship is akin to that of high schoolers and it is simply not cute. If I wanted to see that kind of relationship, I would watch a high school/coming of age drama and not this.

The ML started off as endearing, passionate and determined. He is not aggressive in his pursuit but quite patient and kind. I was afraid his relentless pursuit of her may border on stalking and boundary pushing behaviour but he is careful and seems to takes on rejection well - it helps that destiny and "god" is on his side and they keep having chance encounters and so perhaps he doesn't need to be creepy. I liked that he was kind of a dork in the beginning but then it got old & boring really fast and his chemistry with the FL just fell flat because of his awkward and shy ways. I also felt that his acting was a bit over the top - I am new to Japenese shows and so I am wondering if thats just the nature of Japense cinema? The acting is kinda exaggerated, anime-ish and it takes time getting used to. It is particularly exaggerated in the comedy genre and so some of the "funny" gimmicks came off as a bit cringy to me - simply not my cup of tea.

"God" was perfect though. He was hilarous, bossy, rude and arrogant. He had excellent chemistry with the ML - I loved all of their interactions and they looked like they were having a ball of a time while on scene. His departure in the end was not really a tear jerker for me but that may also be that I had stopped caring for the drama by the end though I still enjoyed his scenes and he is the reason I would give this drama 5/10 for acting because he is just that good.

Finally, even though the second leads were excellent, kind hearted and loyal friends they were pigeon holed into caricature like roles. A lot of their buildup probably happened off screen and that's fine, I guess, but may have been interesting to watch especially when the storyline started to get more and more contrived with the dad objecting to the leads relationship for no logical reason, the ML having to force his boss to eat carrots (WTF was that lmao?), long montages of him excercising and learning how to detect people's ring sizes and other such nonsense tasks he was assigned by God. Some of the tasks made sense and I understood the overall message of the drama which is that effort + destiny together makes or breaks the final outcome but it was just dragged on for so long and took up way too much screen time. The space could have been taken up to flesh out the SMLs or even build the chemistry of the leads themselves.

I am not going to bother talking about the other characters such as the workplace employees and the parents because they were all so cringy and annoying to watch. The FL's mom was nice but the dad's acting was again so OTT and I did not care for these side characters at all.

Anyway, my final verdict is that it was just an okay watch. I am still on the hunt for compelling japenese romcom in order to get me through my kdrama slump and I guess I must keep looking because this was just not it.