Notes
Note to self, narration from mangas is wonderfully effective. All of Takemoto's inner thoughts are chicken soup for the soul. In fact, the entire cast is equally witty and smart, which creates plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments. "Want me to lay another one on you?" Simple brilliance.
The main love story remains out of grasp. Plenty of side romances to take up time, but that isn't what should drive the drama. Takemoto's journey to find himself is amusing and serves a great purpose in the end, but it's a bit overlong.
No cardboards, no complaints. Hagumi is sweetly hippie, Morita makes everyone laugh as the resident class clown, Mayama is smooth as can be, and Ayumi is thoroughly likeable for her support and resolve. Nice guy Takemoto has your vote from shot one.
Love triangles are the actual focus, so... yeah. We see them, we ship who we like, and we move on.
No shark to jump.
Meaningful, but not fully gratifying. Everyone gets more closure than the main character, which is ludicrous. Why can't Toma get the girl already, he's so flippin' adorable.
There is that lovely cherry blossom scene, but otherwise, same old, same old.
Nice when you hear it, but forgettable.
I watched the drama knowing full well that Riko was only 15 and Toma, 23, which probably explains some of the discretion. It's rare that you get that big an age gap between actors who are already pretty young, so I was extremely curious how it would play out. It was nothing, of course. They were friendly, courteous, and more like siblings.
Apple's Tier Ranking: 3rd
