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skinnypenguin

Not Dwelling in the Real World

skinnypenguin

Not Dwelling in the Real World
After-School Starlight japanese drama review
Completed
After-School Starlight
1 people found this review helpful
by skinnypenguin
Aug 19, 2024
Completed
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Bromance Interrupted

I was expecting a typical angsty teen drama with two boys interested in the same girl, and it delivered in a lackluster storyline. This story was that, but on a repeat cycle. It was obvious, to me. from the beginning who Sei would end up with. She meets Taiyo in class and has a bad first encounter with him. Later, she makes friends with Mizuki who notices her love of stars and introduces her to the Astromomy Club that Taiyo also belongs to. I knew that there was another girl lurking in their past who was bound to make an appearance and she did in the character of Sak, a middle school friend i who was a member of the original Astronomy Club trio.

Saki's return pushes Sei to recognize her feelings or at least has her questioning them. The boys also have to face the past and their love triangle. The three were friends in middle school and Saki liked Taiyo, but was jealous that he paid more attention to to Mizuki. She kissed Mizuki because she was jealous and purposefully hurt Taiyo. What plays out when Saki returns is that she expects to pick up where she left off. She was a manipulative bulldozer, playing on Taiyo's guilt for a past incident, none of which was his fault. The decision she made to stand in the rain, knowing she has a heart condition was her own. Had he shown up, they would still have been in the rain and he couldn't have changed anything, especially as a middle school student. She tries to pull him back to her side, playing up her illness in a very selfish way and even admits she refused surgery because of the complications and her remaining ill would keep Taiyo by her side.

There isn't much in the way of original storyline nor character growth other than Sei making peace with her bullies as they encourage her. It ended the way it started - rather underwhelming.
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