Ainori: Asian Journey

Happened upon this show...binge watching now. A cast of would be possible love interests and their interactions while they travel the countryside and cities of several Asian countries. The main characters/participants are interesting and fun to watch. They go through their own personal transformations while engaging in possible love interests. One of the surprising and refreshing things about this show is that you get to experience different settings that are not so well known and the cultures of the different locations. They also make the setting of a 'poor man's' vacation so it's not opulent and dresses the cast down to the very essence of engaging with one another (no cell phones, etc...). The studio cast is fine and the production is also fine. Recommend watching...

I loved the concept of this show, but Season 1 had one character that got violent and bullied and actually punched a guy that made it uncomfortable for everyone. Somehow she got it turned around with the directors and others on the love wagon into staying and continuing. I thought it was detrimental to the show. So I thought I would give Season 2 a chance since I loved the concept and was looking forward to it. I could not believe my eyes when they brought back the same girl again for season 2, and it wasn't long before she bullied and hit another male who was really struggling with it as he was clearly having PSTD from it. He couldn't defend himself since he was brought up never to hit a woman and he described it as assault because she pulled out his hair, punched him and more. Yet, they keeped her and profiled her more than anyone else. This was upsetting and unfortunate as this could have been a great show. I felt real good about a few of the love matches that were made and thank goodness for those because the one character ruined the show.

Really enjoyed watching this. I'm not too sure about the romance part, ok in the end it produced several couples, but I don't think the intensity of the filming helps much. In my opinion, it's either love at first sight or more time to develop a budding romance than the time span this series allows. The other part of the programme I really really enjoyed was the travelling across the asiAs countries. I'm from the UK and it was wonderful to see these countries and learning about their cultures. Also, enjoyed the critics review in the studio in Japan, very funny. Beginning to realise that countries like Japan, S. Korea etc have a very similar humour to the British

First season was 9/10 - maybe the best dating show I've ever seen. Genuine interactions, with a lot of great cast members. And the major romances that ended up being the focus were super enjoyable to watch.

The second season was 1/10, basically unwatchable - completely ruined by focusing the entire show around an abusive, violent bully. Really tragic decline. And the show paints her out to be the heroine, letting her get away with all of her terrible behavior, over and over again. She should have been removed from the show after she assaulted one member - but nope, then she assaulted another cast member, then another cast member, then several crew members - and all the while the show is bending over backwards to each and every one of her whims. Absolutely insane stuff.

The first season was great, I had some minor issues here and then but I really loved the show. Second season though... I don't know whose brilliant idea was to reintroduce Depparin on the show. She is incredibly problematic and you can tell how much distress she inflicts on the other participants. Watching her "voice out her opinions" really gives me anxiety and I wonder why someone doesn't just kick her out. The show would be pleasant to watch if it was actually about people finding love, not about Depparin steamrolling over everybody's feelings.