This is a frustrating review to make for me. I've re-written it a couple of times now.. I had ample expectations for this, especially after seeing the cast! As both leads were part of one of my favorite JDramas from Japan's Golden Age: "Long Vacation" (a story I highly recommend). Of course, the credited writer is different, so it is entirely my fault.. but once you've heard the catchy theme song and immerse yourself in 90s Japan again, it'd be hard not to.
This is a romance drama that mostly deals in "it was a misunderstanding" and "you are lying", while the main couple has many chances interrupted by other things. But they are both very competent when it comes to life. So it is mostly their maturity, insecurities and context that impedes their development. Sometimes I couldn't help but slap my forehead and laugh in disbelief!
Tomoko Yamaguchi played a supporting role in Long Vacation. Here she plays Riko, and is basically the same energetic character.
I quite like her straightforwardness, conceitedness, and her constant push-and-pull attitude toward love. She balances immaturity, pushiness and weirdness in a very charming way, easily becoming the reason I wanted to watch more! Considering it is her personality that binds it all together, and makes it easy to understand how they would get into such situations.. repeatedly! Still, her constant bickering with Takuya Kimura's playboy Teppei, is endearing most of the time. And while it is easy to understand why she fluctuates so much between childishness and maturity.. Riko doesn't have much to develop! Teppei is a "nice guy" caught in the past and the present, and matures over time. Riko just is.
Sadly, this repetitive give-and-take gets tedious after a while.. especially since it tends to go in circles, like a dog chasing its own tail, repeating itself without adding much! And while they end up attracting each other through an understanding of their loneliness and their honesty, it is primarily one-sided most of the time. Ultimately, it feels like love can only bloom once they can "get it going", instead of tackling their relationship more deeply.. which is quite unsatisfactory.
It's not as compressed and polished as "Long Vacation", feeling quite underwritten in comparison.
Personally, I would have finished it after episode 9 (by picking up the call and letting her listen to the "speech"), instead of prolonging it for 2 more episodes where it dwells a little too much into situations they have already been in.
If curious, give it a go, as there were parts I REALLY liked, with plenty of memorable lines and great acting overall. The OST is also quite contagious!! But the script definitely needed revisions..
P. S. I'd love to know.. what does that damn crystal-apple mean exactly!?
