Kekkon Surutte, Honto desu ka?: 365 Days to the Wedding

Go on a short trip with travel agents. They know how to get around.

Aoi Wakana is Honjoji Rika - she's a bit of a cartophile. She doesn't mind being alone. Not one lil bit 〰 All she needs is a 🗺. Sato Kanta plays Ohara Takuya. Both leads are good, but he makes the show. He's pure & earnest. It's adorable. Kamo is a kitty that he rescued. Abused in her previous home, she's only recently started turning her back to show her tail to him; a sign of trust. So when their workplace announces that somebody #single would be selected to head up the new Anchorage branch (ALASKA!?), he couldn't bear the thought of taking his 🐱 there. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving her with someone else, either.

In the meantime, Rika looked up all the stats for Anchorage and studied it on the map. It's over 5000km from Japan... She ain't going there! When she runs into Takuya on their day off, she suggests they enter a fake engagement and start planning their wedding. That way, they will no longer be considered single, and as such, they won't be forced to move to The Wall, um, I mean Alaska.

Planning a wedding is much like planning a trip, anyway. Rika begins mapping it out. She doesn't just map out the wedding but the whole relationship, rather - dates, cover stories, places. Travel agents? She shoulda been CIA. These 2 are positively brilliant (mostly Rika). They are navigating flawlessly! /Except for/ that one time at work when somebody overheard them discussing their dastardly plans ~ Now they are being anonymously threatened with exposure. OH NO!!!

Forget that! Even WORSE - Their parents found out (half of) the truth. They think their kids are engaged!

Rika and Takuya are socially awkward and withdrawn (they each portrayed trees in school plays). Rika has true grit. She will hunker down and handle situations that arise. He's a big marshmallow. Together, they are just cute. This show is adorbs.

As they get deeper into their ruse, they are forced to get deeper into their ruse. "What!? You are going home and not taking Rika?" The office is scandalized (if they only knew). Rika ends up going home to meet Takuya's family. They have to act like they are living together and invite the work friends over. Suspicions still aren't entirely diffused so they are forced to scurry for 10 episodes. They scurry so much they hardly realize what's happening to their hearts.

MFTW is a 2022 release that is rated 7.4 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 10 30-40-minute episodes. Kanome Keiko & Takaishi Akihiko are the screenwriters. It was adapted from the manga "Kekkon Surutte, Hontou Desu ka? - 365 Days to the Wedding" by Wakaki Tamiki, whose most popular work is: The World God Only Knows. The director is Miyawaki Ryo.

"When I was little I thought adults were good at everything... But the older I get, the more confused I am about how the world works." As they spend time together, Takuya gradually opens up to Rika more. Always reserved on the outside, Takuya has no clue that his endearing authenticity is crumbling Rika from the inside out. She's one to chart things out and lay down parameters. With all the sincerity he can muster, earnestly trying to roll with Rika's crazy ideas, watching Takuya is... Simple and cute... I feel like a hot ☕ cocoa, about now.

It gets more endearing as the episodes trek by. He's shy, but he can rise to the occasion. She's terrified of her feelings. Simply being /touched/ freaks her out, but she's falling for him. She's quite a bit like Kamo.

MFTW is intended to be simple escapism. The pithy soundtrack augments the lite mood perfectly. It is relaxing and sweet. Some will find too simple, but sometimes that is exactly what we're looking for. It's a purrrfectly comfortable excursion.

There's final content after the credits roll in ep10.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣7.7 📝7.4 🎭7.6 💓6.5 🦋5 🌞6 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.8 😅3.7 😭1.5 😱2 😯3 🤔4 💤0 🔚7.8

Age 12+ Language: su©k; Marital troubles, a kid looks for a missing dad, adult situations - It's all tame but probably not meant for elementary schoolers.

Re-📺? Toss up. I have a Crunchyroll sub now, so I'll checkout the anime next.

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Japanese lite romcoms: Maid Sama (10), Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo (7.8), Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions (8.4), Toradora (8.5)

Korean Modern Day: Mad For Each Other 7.8 ~silly fun; My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks); A Witch's Love 7.8; Love to Hate You 8.9; Her Private Life 8; Touch your heart 8.2; Romance is a bonus book 7.9; Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max; Crash Landing On You 9.1; Oh My Ghost 10; It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9; Love Struck in the City 7.3; Hospital Playlist 9; My Mister 9.5; More Than Friends 8; I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9; Something in the Rain 9.

Japanese Drama " Kekkon Surutte, Honto Desu Ka? " is a contract marriage drama.

However, and even though the performances from the main leads were enjoyable and there were some cute moments, with an interesting main story, the drama got overcomplicated for no reason. It was silly for the main lead to keep refusing her partner, when she was the one who was hoping that he would ask her out for real and she was the first one who got jealous when they were nothing but partners in crime.

Anyway, other than that, and not considering the second female lead who overdo it by trying to be cute and friendly, the rest of the drama was smooth and enjoyable.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Having been reading the manga this was based on, I was excited to see it made into a series...and not surprised. The manga is charming with some nice reflections on marriage and relationships. The plot is this: Takuya, an introverted, unconfident young man and Rika, an extremely introverted young woman with an obsession with maps, work in a travel agency. A new office is opening in Canada and one of the single employees will be sent there to run it. The idea of moving there terrifies them both and so they decide to pretend to be engaged to get themselves removed as candidates. In the course of their deception, Rika and Takuya inadvertently get to know each other better as well as their co-workers. One of the funnier and at the same time heartwarming events is how the pair are surprised at the warm reaction they get when they announce their fake engagement. Both assumed themselves to be nonentities when, in fact, they are actually well-liked. In addition, the map motif which is cute in the manga is also nicely utilized here. The actress playing Rika is fine though seems a bit too put together when compared with the character in the manga who is a bundle of insecurities. However, the actor playing Takuya is perfect, expertly capturing that character's inarticulate and wide-eyed reactions to events around him. But the series is just a little disappointing. One of the charms of the manga is how achingly slow the pair progresses in their relationship and how their own personalities are the main barrier. The series resorted to the rather worn technique of introducing another man and woman as romantic competition to create tension. Those particular plot points seemed unnecessary to me but it would be foolish to think that any series or movie is going to reflect all aspects of its source. Still, the series is cute and funny and worth watching.

I am about half way through. I want to know more. I don't expect many surprises that are meaningful at this stage. I'm a little disappointed in the reviews. This is really pretty good. The main leads are interesting, cute and have good chemistry. The situation is a bit implausible, but they manage to make real and keep your interest. It is all about relationships with people that have trouble expressing themselves. That is the sadness that underlies some truly funny moments of this show. Academy Awards, no. But a weekend of feel good fun, yes. You know where the map leads, the fun is in the journey.