Drama Digest
Kiki Inoue works part-time at a convenience store, where she spends a large part of her day lazing about without doing much or reviewing sweets on her social media accounts. While at work, one day, she is introduced to the convenience store chain’s CEO, Takumi Asada. To her surprise, the CEO is quite aware of the sweet reviews she conducts online and asks her to develop a new line of desserts to sell through the chain. However, Asada as CEO needs to turn the chain’s fortunes around as they are ranked lower than all their competitors. He hopes that the collaboration with Inoue will turn things around. But with this collaboration comes some complications that lead to Inoue and Asaba starting to fall for each other through their new line of sweets. What will the two get into? Will Asaba meet his goal? What will their relationship turn into? Watch the drama and find out.
The Feel-Good Part
The drama is a good feel good romance. It has a fascinating plot that seems to go against Japanese drama norms. The leads have great chemistry with opposites attract dynamic that ends in an adorable romance. They seem to be very fleshed out and have their motives and desires. It has a great message of compromise and working towards achieving a common goal. Visually it’s a stunning portrayal with direction and camera angles that add to the greatness of the viewing experience and develop the characters further. What’s more? The cast consists of wonderful actors that are indeed a treat on screen. But it’s not just their looks, as they also have some great acting moments throughout the drama.
The Disappointing Factor
The drama seems to be heavily influenced by Korean dramas, even though it’s a Japanese drama. In that sense, it loses its sense of identity and appears a bit formulaic. The story beats are a bit cliqued. The acting is a bit generic even though each actor delivers an excellent performance. The show makes odd choices regarding how they showcase time with very awkward time skips that do not make sense and are not believable in the slightest. There are tropes used that do not mirror the real life of people who work in the management industry, which takes us out of the relatability the show tries to establish.
In-Depth Analysis
Inoue and Asaba are opposites in every sense of the word. Inoue is a part-time worker, she’s poor, she’s a bit lazy, but she can make up for that with her sweet reviews which show her passionate and creative side. Asaba on the other hand is rich, powerful, and hardworking but lacks any real-world knowledge that can help his company connect with people in a better way. The drama uses the opposites-attract trope to show how you can fix a problem if you put your mind to it and work with unlikely people. The drama also deviates from the Japanese drama norm but does not do so in an innovative way, instead, it opts to apply K-drama tropes and beats that don’t do the drama any justice.
Star Power
Two directors at the helm of this drama are Tsuboi Toshio and Okamoto Shingo. Tsuboi Toshio has directed several projects, including Rikokatsu, Kono Koi Atatamemasu ka, Nagi no Oitoma, Chugakusei Nikki, Love Shuffle, and Maou. Okamoto Shingo has directed several projects such as 99.9: Keiji Senmon Bengoshi, In Hand, Fight Song, and Kono Hatsukoi was Fiction desu. Our main couple consists of Inoue and Asaba, played by Mori Nana and Nakamura Tomoya, respectively. Both actors have great chemistry and truly add to the greatness of the drama. Mori Nana, in particular, is very charming to have on screen. She starred in several movies and dramas such as The Anthem of the Heart, Tokyo Ghoul S, The First Supper, Iari: Mienai Kao, Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi, 3 Nen A Gumi: Ima kara Mina-san wa, Hitojichi Desu, and yell. The other two notable performances in the show come from Inoue’s friends, Shintani Makoto, and Kitagawa Riho, played by Nakano Taiga and Ishibashi Shizuka, respectively. Both of them are fun to have on screen and are a welcome presence. Nakano Taiga has starred in Nasu Shonenki, My Man, Tokyo Surprise, Yae no Sakura, Botanical Life of Verandar, and Aogeba Toutoshi. Ishibashi Shizuka starred in Hanbun Aoi, Kono Koi Atatamemasu ka, Night’s Tightrope, Parks, and The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue.
Overall Opinion
While it may come across as cliche, generic, and formulaic, it still tells a story that is worth watching with characters with great chemistry and love.
