Notes
Quick and smart enough. The humor is well timed and the script seems familiar, but comfortable. Every now and then, some deeply profound, sentimental line would suddenly hit me right between the eyes, and I'd spend the next few minutes just recuperating. Swear to God. Perfect example: "He's 10 years younger, unreliable, and kind of cheeky. And someone so wonderful that it's sad he's wasted on me."
*faint* Seriously!?! I actually started crying after that line. For a light, run-of-the-mill romcom, I actually spilled some tears. It was one of the few, few times a drama ever caught me off guard with sap. With witty retorts or blunt declarations, yes, but rarely sap.
Not to sound obvious, but it's episodic. A relentless cycle of, Akiyama Satomi Saves the Day!, whether it's student woes, teacher relations, or personal issues. It plodded along at an entertaining enough pace, but nothing really struck sincerity until at least episode 7.
Despite having many of the usual cougar heroine characteristics (quirky, jaded, speaks her mind), Akiyama had some atypical flaws. Probably the most baffling one was that she took credit for Kamisaka's ideas and brushed it off as seniority. Eh? There were quite a few moments when you wanted her to stop being cool and just be sincere. I guess that's why Kamisaka had to be overly so. He was an innocent hero, endearing and harmless. Everyone else, sufficiently supportive.
You can have someone and still be good at being alone. Yes. That is it. The secret to life.
If the heroine is richer/smarter/posseses any kind of advantage over her man, why do writers always feel the need to make the hero go do his own thing to "prove himself"? Serious breadwinner syndrome. Come into the 21st century, people. And let's be honest here, all of .01% of men would actually do that.
Standard and well-framed close ups here and there. Slightly warm.
"Koe wo kikasete, sunao ni nareba kitto..." I sang along every time the credits rolled. Songs were decent, but the score was particularly nice. It had its share of generic, happy, skippy orchestrations, but the slow, mellow tracks were a surprising step up. I could almost imagine them in a melodrama.
Slightly awkward at first, but they got better. They both fit their roles, but don't quite fit each other. Teppei looks and acts much younger than 23, and next to Alisa, it's magnified. But I think he was more believable, since he actually acted like he liked her, whereas she always played it cool. Apparently they've worked together before, so I was amused to see that some were looking forward to their first romantic pairing. Overall, I think the chemistry fell short of some other great cougar dramas, and it's hard not to compare.
Apple's Tier Ranking: 2nd
