My rating: 3.5-4 out of 5 stars
Reason for watching this: Fruitage Inc.
(with spoilers and otome game references)
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| Fruitage inc logo at back looks familiar :P |
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| Voltage inc (ボルテージ) is one of the sponsors |
Well, it was only used as the background setting for Aki's workplace but man... I play (read?) the things produced by the real company it was based on. But they didn't mention much of their games. All I saw were characters from:
- スイートルームで悪戯なキス Love Trap [the non-SNS version is Kissed by the Baddest Bidder] (Eisuke)
- ...and characters from 上司と秘密の2LDK [Our Two Bedroom Story | edit 31.Mar.2016: Recently, they released an SNS version of this as 上司と秘密の2LDK Love Happening].
And because of that I can't help it... I watched the entire dorama unfolding as if I play a route from their game. So I'm afraid there will be a lot of references to Voltage inc games in this review.
There are several boyfriend candidates for Aki although I only had my eyes on one since episode 1. If this is an otome game, you can easily see that they all can be expanded as playable routes. The snarky and rude scriptwriter, Takayama. The cheating ex-boyfriend, Shinji (but I won't want this be an option because he's a cheater). The flirty and charming boss, Kurita. The young and energetic subordinate (& obviously in love with Aki), Ryosuke. Last but not least, the mature workaholic (which I can imagine a route that I might regret purchasing because he's kind of boring :P), Ikeda.
Overall, it's a nice dorama. Though you won't find me recommending this so hard to anyone. It's all about romance for アラフォー Arafou [Around Forty] women. Besides Aki, we have her two other best friends: Moeko, who is single but stuck with an overprotective(?) mother & Midori, a single mother with 3 sons. Moeko will be involved with Kurita later while Midori with one of her sons' teacher. Spoiler: they got normal ends.
Was hoping that Moeko will be "the one" for the playboy Kurita but he (I guess that was supposed to be his inner issues like most otome game guys have) had issues with her mother. The younger Sawada-sensei is interested in Midori & alas... the dorama went on to remind us that it doesn't deal with love the "I'll follow my own feelings" way. It's kinda realistic in a way I guess. Like Aki, Moeko & Midori are strong women. I like Moeko's spirit. She isn't afraid to talk back to the younger women who dated (or dating?) Kurita. I think her decision to live separately from her mother in the end showed her character's growth. Midori chose family over romance... for now. I can just imagine her accepting the sensei later after her son graduated from school.
Saito Takumi's cameo as Aki's boyfriend at the beginning was great. They showed that almost everything was fine between them (but it should've been a bad sign if Aki had to lie about her eating habits). They supported each other very closely. Seeing the pleasant beginning made seeing the cheating scene more heartbreaking for me. It's hard for me to re-watch the first episode because of that. When I think back about it after seeing the ending, Aki really acted very mature - she was very cool. It irritates me when her colleagues made fun of her age & she was there to overhear them. Oh gosh just thinking about it makes me boil in rage. One of them even had the nerve to ruin Aki's reputation! Aki should've sued her for defamation of character! And here we reach one of her traits that I find is a disadvantage: Aki is too kind. Too soft to teach someone a hard lesson. *sigh*
I'm so glad she reached her happy ending. I guess all the experiences she had since episode 1 was necessary for her to realise who is better for her/pick her guy better (can be seen from the scene where Ikeda tried to approach her again & also when he hug her to comfort her). I like the light banters she had with Takayama. They had this silent chemistry about them. It was gradual (I think this is what people call slow romance in jdorama?) although it felt a tiny bit awkward (BUT cute!) when Takayama was straight in his advances. If he's one of the Voltage men, he would be the mysterious eccentric-ish writer that Main Character (MC) was annoyed with at first meeting... The thing lacking here is the moments how he ended up falling in love with her. I wanted to see more of that. I guess it's inevitable having him fall in love when he's always observing and discussing about her relationship issues with her. In the end, I have to be satisfied with the honest discussions he had with her for his book. That part was kind of surreal too but I can see that happening in real life. You know, it would be interesting to read his PoV story...
Now when I think about it, the title for Takayama's book was so fitting...
