#hatsukoi

A classic yandere story....interrupted! When our protagonist awakens with memory loss her handsome fiance swears he'll take care of her. Her heart thumps, and the hospital doors burst open! Three more men appear, claiming to be her fiance? Is one of them lying? Are all of them lying? Why are they all so devoted??? She has to figure it out!

POSTING THIS HERE BECAUSE I'M WATCHING THIS DRAMA AGAIN FOR 50TH TIME SINCE FEBRUARY AND IT ALWAYS HIT SAME😭

🎬 First Love / İlk Aşk (2022)

Son günlerde izlediğim hoş bir Japon dizisi.

*spoiler free!*

First Love is a 2022 Japanese drama that focuses on two former high school sweethearts who have grown apart as the years passed. They end up crossing paths again 20 years later in the city of Sapporo, and the story follows their journeys both individually and together as they've grown into different people than their teenage selves could have predicted.

While the story is told non-linearly, both of the main characters are at 'present' 35 years old; one of them is a security guard, and the other is a taxi driver and a single mom. I really appreciated that these characters were a bit older, had regular jobs, and had been in previous serious relationships. Not that 35 is old by any means, but a lot of romance media is focused on young people or takes place in high school and college. While this story does contain high school and college romances as well, it felt very fresh to have a different demographic take the protagonist seat.

The characters in this story are very likable and immediately sympathetic, however to me they also feel a lot more real and grounded than many other fictional romance protagonists do. And this is because these characters are not perfect; far from it. They make questionable choices, hurt others, hurt themselves, and while you may find yourself frustrated and disappointed with some of the decisions they make, they are still human decisions. If you go into it with an open mind, you will end up loving and appreciating these characters despite their flaws.

An interesting aspect to this drama is that the story was loosely based on the song First Love by Hikaru Utada (in addition to the later song Hatsukoi) and several songs from the First Love album are featured on the soundtrack. Hikaru Utada is practically a character in the story; they are the same age as the protagonists, and their music often reminds Yae and Noguchi of several important moments in their life and their relationship with each other.

One last thing of note is that this show is extremely well shot, showcasing both the beauty of the Hokkaido countryside and Sapporo's city landscapes. I was amazed by the cinematography and had to mention it in this review somewhere.