Notes
Not repetitive, but pretty bland. The only lines that really count are saved for the 'moral of the day' scenes which came at the end of every episode like some
Full House throwback. Dialogue was sincere when it wanted to be, but careless and cut off in other places.
Speaking of cut off, this is probably the sloppiest editing I've ever seen in a J-drama. Continuity and scene transitions were really choppy and abrupt, often killing the mood in all the quiet and/or soft moments. Development was average. I wasn't really interested in the story until about episode 6. Out of 9 total, that's pretty late to suddenly get good.
As far as the spoiled brat stock character goes, An managed to pull off a sincere change. She's more decisive than all the other characters combined, which was a nice catalyst to actually making things happen. Kotarou... was okay. Maybe it was the way Moco played it, but he was either ridiculously over passionate about something, or so disinterested that you wanted to kick him in shins. That goes for Ms. Manager as well. Kato Rosa is too damn talented to be reduced to a curt, fussy, ineffective body on screen who might have been the plant in the corner for all her effect. Everyone else--cardboard.
Themes having to do with children usually have me from square one, but this never really landed. Like I said, the exchanges were so abrupt, the moments so cut off, you never really felt the sincerity until those very obvious moral inserts. Good concepts, but mediocre execution.
No shark to jump.
Vanilla. After all they've been through together, An and Kotarou still part ways, as you'd expect, but it's not sad. Or happy. Just neutral. You're just like, "That's the end? Oh. I wonder what's for dinner."
Standard. A little gray.
Same old stuff. Nice enough ending theme, forgettable BGM.
Before the drama aired, I had a really good feeling about Moco and Rosa, both of whom have delivered awesome romantic performances in the past. But their "love-hate" relationship turned out to be a
very generous interpretation of the phrase, and their chemistry was near non-existent thanks to the choppy writing. It was really disappointing, since they're both so great.
Apple's Tier Ranking: 3rd
