primvictorian
USA
A fun show to watch while stuck in bed
Koi to Dangan or as I will refer to it in my review Yakuza Lover was one of those shows where I turned the lights out, got some popcorn, and dived in. Watching the ML and FL hop through the story made me cackle, groan, and giggle like a 14-year-old again. What this drama does well is that it retains the spirit of the manga and doesn't attempt to be more than it is: a josei manga adaptation.
Story-5.0:
The story is from the manga My Yakuza Lover and I recommend giving it a go if you like romance and cute characters. I felt that the overall message from the Manga about how Life is short and it's better to love than not love at all was well retained in the drama. The romance was surprisingly good and the love scenes were very artistic which I came to enjoy. The story is capable of some good comedy moments making some of the more unrealistic parts more watchable and also grounds itself in reality when a more serious bit starts which was refreshing. The story is only 9 manga volumes/9 thirty minute episodes so don't expect a slow burn or tons of backstory. The drama is very fast-paced and to the point without any filler.
I took points off my score mainly due to three issues. The first problem I had with the drama was how it reordered arcs from the manga and left out several vital pieces of context that give you a better understanding of why the ML/FL are happy, upset, angry, etc. It also makes certain scenes feel like they come out of nowhere when in the manga you can understand that character's motives clearly, like the scenes with Jin in them.
The second problem was that the pacing is a little rushed and I felt the story would have been better served if they had given all 9 episodes an hour each that way an hour is given to each manga volume. The depth of the plot and characters might have been a little more developed then.
The third and perhaps biggest issue with the whole drama was the lighting. I don't know why but nearly half the scenes have a bright light obscuring the cast's faces during scenes or a light glare on them. It got fairly irritating by episode 4 and I was really to chuck my phone by episode 7. These issues made me wonder if some corners were cut with the budget in the lighting department.
Acting/Cast-7.0:
The overall cast was a little hit-and-miss for me. Some characters were very reliable and similar to the manga and others were pretty underwhelming. For the most part, they didn't take me out of the story so the cast gets points for that. Also, none of the cast were so cringey or unbelievable that it makes the drama unwatchable so points for that too.
Furukawa Yuuta /Oya-san was the most enjoyable character to watch throughout the entire drama. He had a good sellable charisma on the screen that kept me invested and his tattoos were well replicated from the manga. He has a good emotional range and portrayed Oya's soft side with Yuri very well. He plays Oya pretty much in line with the manga character which was great because deviating from that would have made a lot of scenes nearly unwatchable.
Hashimoto Manami/Mama was also very well portrayed. Her role as the mature and understanding female support lead was very well done and I enjoyed all the scenes with her present. Arai Myra/Mai and Nakao Yuuka/Erina both did a good job as Yuri's best friends. They are present and remind you that Yuri does have a life separate from Oya and both actresses avoided being the in-your-face, BFFs forever type of character which was great. I also enjoyed watching the goons Nanase Kou/Shogo and Yamanaka Jyutaro/Ginji for the same reasons.
Baba Fumika/Yuri was a little disappointing. I liked her for the most part but she lacked the bubbly personality of Yuri. She was a little wooden in some of her scenes where instead of smiling and being sad she just looked surprised or scared. Her scenes with Oya were alright but sometimes I felt like he was doing the bulk of the acting. Also, a pet peeve of mine was her wardrobe. In the manga, Yuri wears a lot of cute but classy clothing in soft colors and while the drama wardrobe was nice I didn't think it fit her character well.
Kimura Keito/Jin did alright but he lacked the emotional depth the manga character had. This is mainly due to a lack of plot complexity. The same problem occurs to a bigger degree with Nakamura Shizuka/Chouko who was a bigger antagonist in the manga. Kuroba Mario/Cemilio was portrayed well and emulated how weird his character was in the manga pretty darn well.
Music-9.0:
No complaints with the music except for the occasional volume issue during a scene. The music score complimented the drama very nicely.
Rewatch Value-7.0:
I will probably rewatch this while I'm sewing, knitting, or doing chores. It would also be a good girl's night watch or something entertaining to watch on a sick day.
Story-5.0:
The story is from the manga My Yakuza Lover and I recommend giving it a go if you like romance and cute characters. I felt that the overall message from the Manga about how Life is short and it's better to love than not love at all was well retained in the drama. The romance was surprisingly good and the love scenes were very artistic which I came to enjoy. The story is capable of some good comedy moments making some of the more unrealistic parts more watchable and also grounds itself in reality when a more serious bit starts which was refreshing. The story is only 9 manga volumes/9 thirty minute episodes so don't expect a slow burn or tons of backstory. The drama is very fast-paced and to the point without any filler.
I took points off my score mainly due to three issues. The first problem I had with the drama was how it reordered arcs from the manga and left out several vital pieces of context that give you a better understanding of why the ML/FL are happy, upset, angry, etc. It also makes certain scenes feel like they come out of nowhere when in the manga you can understand that character's motives clearly, like the scenes with Jin in them.
The second problem was that the pacing is a little rushed and I felt the story would have been better served if they had given all 9 episodes an hour each that way an hour is given to each manga volume. The depth of the plot and characters might have been a little more developed then.
The third and perhaps biggest issue with the whole drama was the lighting. I don't know why but nearly half the scenes have a bright light obscuring the cast's faces during scenes or a light glare on them. It got fairly irritating by episode 4 and I was really to chuck my phone by episode 7. These issues made me wonder if some corners were cut with the budget in the lighting department.
Acting/Cast-7.0:
The overall cast was a little hit-and-miss for me. Some characters were very reliable and similar to the manga and others were pretty underwhelming. For the most part, they didn't take me out of the story so the cast gets points for that. Also, none of the cast were so cringey or unbelievable that it makes the drama unwatchable so points for that too.
Furukawa Yuuta /Oya-san was the most enjoyable character to watch throughout the entire drama. He had a good sellable charisma on the screen that kept me invested and his tattoos were well replicated from the manga. He has a good emotional range and portrayed Oya's soft side with Yuri very well. He plays Oya pretty much in line with the manga character which was great because deviating from that would have made a lot of scenes nearly unwatchable.
Hashimoto Manami/Mama was also very well portrayed. Her role as the mature and understanding female support lead was very well done and I enjoyed all the scenes with her present. Arai Myra/Mai and Nakao Yuuka/Erina both did a good job as Yuri's best friends. They are present and remind you that Yuri does have a life separate from Oya and both actresses avoided being the in-your-face, BFFs forever type of character which was great. I also enjoyed watching the goons Nanase Kou/Shogo and Yamanaka Jyutaro/Ginji for the same reasons.
Baba Fumika/Yuri was a little disappointing. I liked her for the most part but she lacked the bubbly personality of Yuri. She was a little wooden in some of her scenes where instead of smiling and being sad she just looked surprised or scared. Her scenes with Oya were alright but sometimes I felt like he was doing the bulk of the acting. Also, a pet peeve of mine was her wardrobe. In the manga, Yuri wears a lot of cute but classy clothing in soft colors and while the drama wardrobe was nice I didn't think it fit her character well.
Kimura Keito/Jin did alright but he lacked the emotional depth the manga character had. This is mainly due to a lack of plot complexity. The same problem occurs to a bigger degree with Nakamura Shizuka/Chouko who was a bigger antagonist in the manga. Kuroba Mario/Cemilio was portrayed well and emulated how weird his character was in the manga pretty darn well.
Music-9.0:
No complaints with the music except for the occasional volume issue during a scene. The music score complimented the drama very nicely.
Rewatch Value-7.0:
I will probably rewatch this while I'm sewing, knitting, or doing chores. It would also be a good girl's night watch or something entertaining to watch on a sick day.
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