Not a regular J-drama watcher and someone who actually struggles to get into and finish them, I am glad I gave this one a try.
It felt personal, and I rarely rewatch dramas, but I think this is the one I'd love to rewatch if I had time, and I'll recommend it to my friends too.
Children with special needs representation, handled subject matter and society taboo topics well, less forced physical intimacy, more relationship dynamics seen, no grooming typa age-gap(both were adults), great acting and nothing felt over-acted; struggling adulthood, importance of literacy, self-growth, more character depth, and every character took responsibility for their actions at the end
I mostly watch kdramas and cdramas, so I always struggled with jdramas' pacing and the acting (especially since female leads in the romance genre are mostly written as very childish, dumb, wanting to be saved by the male lead and damsel in distress ), but this one was very well written. The characters were mature , they helped each other out , and the relationship dynamics felt BALANCED. They leaned on each other (a few times, maybe, bcuz they were still in the process of trusting each other). Nothing felt TOO abrupt; the pace was perfect, I would say. You can actually feel the characters gradually going through inner conflicts.
Another point is that both leads were so honest with themselves. Do you realize how important this is? Yes, they had inner conflicts and lacked self-confidence, but they never lied to themselves. To be honest with others, you have to be honest with yourself first, acknowledge your shortcomings, and never fake them.
So me giving a jdrama 9/10 IS a HIGH rating! I love it when dramas make me write episode-by-episode reviews, and I keep thinking about them even after finishing, and I did that in this drama
Only one point less because stalking is something that SHOULDN'T be taken lightly, it is DANGEROUS and should be dealt with accordingly. Secondly, in toxic relationships, it is best to walk away; don't waste more years. Thirdly, why jdramas always wrap up the "and they got together "part in the last 10-20 minutes of the last episode T_T At least give a separate episode for that haha .
Please recommend something similar to this, I loved Gokusen season 1 too