I'm Sorry, I Don't Love You But I'm Watching You Anyway
I watched the first episode of Nagase Tomoya's new drama, 'Gomen, Aishiteru', and apparently I have some feelings about it, so here we go. LONG POST IS LONG AND VERY FULL OF PICTURES, I APOLOGISE IF THIS BREAKS YOUR INTERNETS.
Thank you, Tomoyan, this is pretty much how I felt while I was watching it.
(I'm just going to state for the record here that I haven't watched the original Korean version, I don't tend to watch jdrama romances as it's not my favourite genre, and I'm only watching it in the first place for Tomoyan's dorky face.)
Okay, I'm sorry if this is controversial, but from the first episode I think this may actually be the worst jdrama I have watched so far. Maybe it's a cultural thing but jdrama romances tend to irritate me as the characters always seem to make the absolute worst decisions, and for a genre which is meant to be about feelings nobody ever actually talks about them so it just ends up being a huge mess of people not saying what they need to say and ending up hideously unsatisfied, which for me as a viewer is kind of frustrating.
It's not just the genre, though - this series feels like it's trying to lay the emotions on so heavily that it just comes across as terrible cliched and false? Or are all jdrama romance series like this? I'm enjoying it anyway as Nagase Tomoya is one of my absolute favourite actors, but... hmm. We'll see.
Help me, it's like somebody fed 'Mukodono' too much sugar then smeared the camera lens in Vaseline.
This is the female lead character, Mita Rinka. Apparently she falls over a lot, and is in love with her... brother? Best friend from childhood? Maybe both? It's not entirely clear although maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to the subs
And this is our first proper glimpse of Okazaki Ritsu. (Is it just me or does he look like he fell asleep on the set of a Kanjani8 video?) I really can't stand this hairstyle, though. Apparently it's a popular style in South Korea which makes sense, but, ehhhh. I'm personally not a fan since it obscures his face, and you can visibly see him tossing it out of his eyes all the time. :|
It's established pretty early on that Ritsu is some kind of a badass. He's... a bouncer in a casino maybe? Some kind of criminal enforcer? This also wasn't explained or I managed to miss this, too. Either way he gets to stand around and look broody in a black shirt which is fine by me. I don't think Tomo gets nearly enough roles as a badass. -___-
For some reason his criminal underworld boss Ran really wants Ritsu to become his brother which apparently gives his other underlings Epic Sadface.
...now I am imagining an entirely DIFFERENT kind of drama
God bless those folks at TBS for giving us this shot of Wet!Tomo. And his hair is out of his face too! Hallelujah!
While we're on the subject, if somebody told me to imagine Tomo in a scene on the floor in the mens' toilets this is not what I would have imagined, but I'll take what I can get.
...oh, no, you did not just make one of the most effeminate and LGBT-positive members of Johnny's Entertainment play a homophobic character (unless this is one huge psyche-out and Ritsu is going to end up hitting on Rinka's brother in which case I APPLAUD YOU, SIRS)
Seriously man, that f**king hair Anyway, Rinka gets her luggage stolen by Ritsu's business associates but decides it's perfectly fine to get drunk with some random guy she just met instead of, I don't know, ringing her mother or going to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul or something. And then sleeping with him on a dirty mattress whilst being stared at by homeless people. SO ROMANTIC
Okay can we just take a moment here to appreciate how stupidly tall this man is? He is a human Skytree. He's the TOKIO Tower, ahahaha
Oh, and then Ritsu gets beaten up by and goes back to working with the same business associates who kidnapped Rinka in the first place. It's a jopok thing, you wouldn't understand. Ritsu then takes a bullet or two intended for his boss/brother, Ran. No information on where the business associates are at this time. Worst. Bodyguards. Ever.
Does Baek Ran is gay? Shameless 'Mystic Messenger' reference, sorry
This guy with the flowers is Hyuga Satoru, the man Rinka is in love with. He goes on a date with the woman he's fancied for ages, only for her to randomly just leave the restaurant in the middle of it without even f**king telling him and she ends up playing the saxophone on the street with some guy she only just met and going home with Saxophone Man and then Rinka tells Satoru that he should totally hold out for this girl and date her anyway and I'm just like
no
why
this is absolutely terrible advice, this is not romantic, this is utterly, utterly stupid,
please do not ever do this
I dunno, maybe I should just stop expecting this drama to make any sense.
Following the unfortunate getting-shot-twice-because-Ran's-bodyguards-are-useless-incident,
Ritsu finds out he may only have months to live so he returns to Japan to find his birth mother and also shacks up for a day with a friend from his childhood. Apparently he has a thing for sharing beds with women he barely knows. (Bless that person at TBS again for giving us a lovely shot of his arms.)
Oh man, I wish *I* had a special hoodie which magically travelled across continents to return to me whenever I left it somewhere. Yeah, I know, I know.
Having located the woman who may be his birth mother, Ritsu is faced with two options. He could a) ring the doorbell and wait to be admitted into her house, say hello, explain who he is and find out the truth, or b) force his way into her house, push Rinka around without saying a word, and just cry at his mother without actually doing anything until he gets thrown out.
He chooses option b).
Me: Tell her you think she's your birth mother and show her the ring!
Inner Me: SAY NOTHING, STAND AND STARE BROODILY AT THE HOUSE IN THE POURING RAIN
Thank you, Tomoyan, this is pretty much how I felt while I was watching it.
(I'm just going to state for the record here that I haven't watched the original Korean version, I don't tend to watch jdrama romances as it's not my favourite genre, and I'm only watching it in the first place for Tomoyan's dorky face.)
Okay, I'm sorry if this is controversial, but from the first episode I think this may actually be the worst jdrama I have watched so far. Maybe it's a cultural thing but jdrama romances tend to irritate me as the characters always seem to make the absolute worst decisions, and for a genre which is meant to be about feelings nobody ever actually talks about them so it just ends up being a huge mess of people not saying what they need to say and ending up hideously unsatisfied, which for me as a viewer is kind of frustrating.
It's not just the genre, though - this series feels like it's trying to lay the emotions on so heavily that it just comes across as terrible cliched and false? Or are all jdrama romance series like this? I'm enjoying it anyway as Nagase Tomoya is one of my absolute favourite actors, but... hmm. We'll see.
Help me, it's like somebody fed 'Mukodono' too much sugar then smeared the camera lens in Vaseline.
This is the female lead character, Mita Rinka. Apparently she falls over a lot, and is in love with her... brother? Best friend from childhood? Maybe both? It's not entirely clear although maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to the subs
And this is our first proper glimpse of Okazaki Ritsu. (Is it just me or does he look like he fell asleep on the set of a Kanjani8 video?) I really can't stand this hairstyle, though. Apparently it's a popular style in South Korea which makes sense, but, ehhhh. I'm personally not a fan since it obscures his face, and you can visibly see him tossing it out of his eyes all the time. :|
It's established pretty early on that Ritsu is some kind of a badass. He's... a bouncer in a casino maybe? Some kind of criminal enforcer? This also wasn't explained or I managed to miss this, too. Either way he gets to stand around and look broody in a black shirt which is fine by me. I don't think Tomo gets nearly enough roles as a badass. -___-
For some reason his criminal underworld boss Ran really wants Ritsu to become his brother which apparently gives his other underlings Epic Sadface.
...now I am imagining an entirely DIFFERENT kind of drama
God bless those folks at TBS for giving us this shot of Wet!Tomo. And his hair is out of his face too! Hallelujah!
While we're on the subject, if somebody told me to imagine Tomo in a scene on the floor in the mens' toilets this is not what I would have imagined, but I'll take what I can get.
...oh, no, you did not just make one of the most effeminate and LGBT-positive members of Johnny's Entertainment play a homophobic character (unless this is one huge psyche-out and Ritsu is going to end up hitting on Rinka's brother in which case I APPLAUD YOU, SIRS)
Seriously man, that f**king hair Anyway, Rinka gets her luggage stolen by Ritsu's business associates but decides it's perfectly fine to get drunk with some random guy she just met instead of, I don't know, ringing her mother or going to the Japanese Embassy in Seoul or something. And then sleeping with him on a dirty mattress whilst being stared at by homeless people. SO ROMANTIC
Okay can we just take a moment here to appreciate how stupidly tall this man is? He is a human Skytree. He's the TOKIO Tower, ahahaha
Oh, and then Ritsu gets beaten up by and goes back to working with the same business associates who kidnapped Rinka in the first place. It's a jopok thing, you wouldn't understand. Ritsu then takes a bullet or two intended for his boss/brother, Ran. No information on where the business associates are at this time. Worst. Bodyguards. Ever.
Does Baek Ran is gay? Shameless 'Mystic Messenger' reference, sorry
This guy with the flowers is Hyuga Satoru, the man Rinka is in love with. He goes on a date with the woman he's fancied for ages, only for her to randomly just leave the restaurant in the middle of it without even f**king telling him and she ends up playing the saxophone on the street with some guy she only just met and going home with Saxophone Man and then Rinka tells Satoru that he should totally hold out for this girl and date her anyway and I'm just like
no
why
this is absolutely terrible advice, this is not romantic, this is utterly, utterly stupid,
please do not ever do this
I dunno, maybe I should just stop expecting this drama to make any sense.
Following the unfortunate getting-shot-twice-because-Ran's-bodyguards-are-useless-incident,
Ritsu finds out he may only have months to live so he returns to Japan to find his birth mother and also shacks up for a day with a friend from his childhood. Apparently he has a thing for sharing beds with women he barely knows. (Bless that person at TBS again for giving us a lovely shot of his arms.)
Oh man, I wish *I* had a special hoodie which magically travelled across continents to return to me whenever I left it somewhere. Yeah, I know, I know.
Having located the woman who may be his birth mother, Ritsu is faced with two options. He could a) ring the doorbell and wait to be admitted into her house, say hello, explain who he is and find out the truth, or b) force his way into her house, push Rinka around without saying a word, and just cry at his mother without actually doing anything until he gets thrown out.
He chooses option b).
Me: Tell her you think she's your birth mother and show her the ring!
Inner Me: SAY NOTHING, STAND AND STARE BROODILY AT THE HOUSE IN THE POURING RAIN