Hajimete Koi o Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi (A Story to Read When You First Fall in Love) 10 episodes based on manga by Aki Mochida
Junko Harumi was an ace student in highschool but her failure to get into Tokyo University will lead her to live an unfulfilling life in her thirties. She still lives with her family, just ended a half-hearted relationship and is in danger of losing her job in cram school. Then she meets Kyohei Yuri, a delinquent student, who's aiming for Tokyo University. Can she help him reach an impossible dream?
It is reverse harem with a total of three guys who are in love with her. The other two are her former schoolmates. At one point, her friend Miwa mentioned reverse harem. I love it when reverse harem titles do that. It's as if there's an unspoken rule that they do not identify as reverse harem. I wished I made a compilation of it.
This drama really hit a sore spot when they call her old. Ouch! And what's up with back pain when she's only 31. She's not 70 or 80! I am not a fan of age difference and in this case, the woman is older and the main guy is younger. And she's the teacher and he's her student. And he's under 18 years at the start of the drama. Thus I was not keen with the premise but to my surprise, I was hooked with the story right away. I love it when Yuri gets jealous. It's hilarious too when Junko makes herself looks older than she's supposed to be and Yuri sees right through it. I didn't find him handsome or remarkable at first but his expressions and acting just consumes me! I was caught surprised when he stuck his tongue out which is so out of his character but oh so charming. But even though I'm totally smitten with Yuri I can't help to root for the ever dependable cousin, Masashi.
I feel guilty for crushing younger guys on Good Morning Kiss, The Flame's Daughter and now this. Yeah, that's my new hobby now. But heck I am close to the actress' age so there's hope for me after all. Just kidding. But I'm impressed with how Fukuda (Junko) was able to portray a role that is five years younger. Her real age is 35. Rysuei (Yuri) is actually older by 5 years too in real life. He's already 22. Meanwhile, Kento (Masashi) is 30 and Tomoya (Kazuma) is 32. This is also Kento's fourth reverse harem drama. He was in Atashinchi no Danshi (but not part of harem), Asuko March and Party wa Owatta.
So yeah I'm happy they cast an older woman while all the guys are younger in real life. Maybe because in Hollywood they almost always cast younger women for roles against much older men. For example, The Greatest Showman: Zendaya, 22 and Zac, 31; Michelle, 38 and Hugh, 50. Kdramas are fun of age difference too, for example, Scarlet Heart Ryeo and more but it's noteworthy that kdramas and jdramas are fond of noona romances. By the way, what is the Japanese equivalent for noona? And now I realized that there are other reverse harem noona dramas like Hot For Teacher and Flower Ramyun Shop. There are also other dramas where there is a younger character added in the harem so technically has a noona element like Luncho no Joou, Suki na Hito ga Iru Koto, From 5 to 9, Gogh The Starry Night, Himitsu no Hanazono and so much more. I'm not even going to attempt to look for noona in anime and manga. @_@ Also check out teacher tag for other titles with student-teacher relationship.
I find it cute that there are so many pink items in the scenes or in Junko's clothes that match with his pink hair. I also admired the dedication and focus of the characters in studying. And it makes me pumped up to go back in time and study again. Okay, wait. No I don't want to go back to study again. Lol.
I find it cute that there are so many pink items in the scenes or in Junko's clothes that match with his pink hair. I also admired the dedication and focus of the characters in studying. And it makes me pumped up to go back in time and study again. Okay, wait. No I don't want to go back to study again. Lol.
I enjoyed the drama but I was disappointed with the ending. I wanted to see her and the guy well into their relationship. But then again that might be the charm of the story that it doesn't make viewers uncomfortable. But don't let me get started with Erika.
Hooray for my second review from the latest winter reverse harem lineup! ^_^
Hooray for my second review from the latest winter reverse harem lineup! ^_^