5-ji Kara 9-ji Made Review

Title: 5-ji Kara 9-ji Made

AKA: 5→9 From Five to Nine

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 10

Broadcast Period: Oct-2015 to Dec-2016

Cast: Ishihara Satomi, Yamashita Tomohisa, Tanaka Kei, Furukawa Yuki, Takanashi Rin, Saeko, Yoshimoto Miyu,

Sakuraba Junko (Ishihara Satomi) is a part-time teacher at an English conversation school who dreams of one day working in New York. Junko strives hard to achieve her dreams, but New York seems a far distant reality. She hasn't had much luck with romance for a while either. Things suddenly start to change when one day, Junko encounters a handsome Tokyo University graduate monk Hoshikawa Takane (Yamashita Tomohisa) at a funeral service. Due to numbness of her legs after sitting for a long time, Junko accidentally knocks over the bowl of ashes, which falls right onto the head of Takene. After such embarrassing mishap, Junko figures she would never see him again. However, the two end up meeting again in a matchmaking session that was set up by Junko's mother.

I don’t know what I expected, but I was definitely surprised by the plot. It’s not one of those typical japanese dramas, where you quickly figure out what’s going to happen. It keeps surprising you with all kind of plot twists. It really has a nice feeling overall. As usual, Yamashita Tomohisa nails the character on point. I loved all the small details he brought to it, and the way he interacted with “the outside world”, since he’s only used to the temple. The chemistry between the leads were so adorable, I liked how they developed feelings for each other quite naturally. All in all a successful drama, I read somewhere they were going to make a SP, (or maybe it was fan-wishing), but I hope they do it soon, because I can’t get enough of those two. 

☆☆☆☆½ / 4½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥½ / 4½ out of 5 hearts

Itazura na Kiss Review

Title: Itazura na Kiss

AKA: It started with a kiss / Mischievous kiss / Itazura na Kiss - Love in Tokyo

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Episodes: 16

Broadcast period: 2013-Mar to 2013-Jul

Cast: Miki Honoka, Furukawa Yuki and Yamada Yuki.

Finally getting the courage to express her feelings, Aihara Kotoko (Miki Honoka) writes a love letter to her crush Irie Naoki (Furukawa Yuki). Naoki is the class A’s no.1 in Tonan High School, which they both attend: he is known as a genius, who has good looks and is amazingly athletic. When she hands him the letter, she is turned down cruelly, and being one of bottom students, in class F on top that, she is turned into a gossip item.

After the incident, she decides to let it go, and focus on her moving into her new house with her father, but when the most absurd incident happens, the two are left without a home. That is until they get a phone call by Kotokos father’s best friend, who offers them to live with them. They gladly accept, and even move in, but things are turned upside down for Kotoko when she finds out that the house is no other than Irie Naokis…

After watching the very first Itazura na Kiss which aired in 1996, the Taiwanese version and the Korean version, I have to admit, this was by far my very favorite. For the first time I realized WHY the male lead fell for the lead actress, and for the VERY first time, I liked the girl. Though the amount of push and pulling was draggy, I did like the small situations of flutter, and yes, if you have watched at least 1 of those three mentioned in the beginning, you will probably know what is going to happen almost all the time. I loved the lead actress, I cried laughing, and I LOVED the lead actor, I mean he REALLY COULD SPEAK GOOOOOD ENGLISH, lol.. Like he really seemed smart.

No matter what anyone sais, this storyline “Itazura na Kiss” is the most classic ever, and you really don’t get bored, no matter how many new versions there are, which I believe should be, since every new generation should watch this story :)

☆☆☆☆ / 4 out of 5 stars

♥♥♥♥ / 4 out of 5 hearts