Review: Minami -kun no Koibito (2015)

Cast:

Taishi Nakagawa ... Shunichi Minami 

Maika Yamamoto ... Chiyomi Horikiri
Mirai Suzuki ... Riku Takagi
Erina Nakayama ... Sayori Nomura

Mangaka: Shungiku Uchida
No of episodes: 10
Release Date: November 9, 2015 - January 11, 2016

Summary 

Chiyomi Horikiri and  Shunichi Minami were the best of friends when they were kids. They were so close that they even promised, that one day, when they grow old, they will get married and stay together forever. Everything changed when Minami's father left the family. Minami has grown cold and distant. It has been several years, both Chiyomi and Minami moved on their respective lives. On one cold rainy night, Chiyomi wished that she and Minami can have the same relationship that they had when they were little. The morning after, Chiyomi did turn little and enlists the help of Minami.

Review 

The Good

The story

I have to admit I'm always a sucker for a good love story, always wandering about that true love's kiss.  The story, hence, made it a point to woo its audience with all those tender moments ( may I remind you that this series is a Japanese drama, there are no intense PDA scenes like what you see in Game of Thrones), although it kind of fell apart towards the end of the series. The ending scenes were very much an over-exaggerated moment likened to that incident when Tom Cruise jumped on a sofa declaring his love to Katie (Holmes).

The Location 
The backdrop set in a small town off one island in Japan ( probably in Kanto region, because you do get to see Mt Fuji on some of the scenes) do set up the mood for a good love story.    

The Bad

Taishi Nakagawa as Shunichi Minami

Actually, there are points when you can credit his acting ( He looks like a young Mokomichi, but anyway) but there are parts when it's just plain ludicrous especially towards the last part of the series. He got conscious all of a sudden and he wasn't his usual self. He's supposed to portray a young man in love but it turned out to be something awkward. 

The Ugly

Maika Yamamoto as Chiyomi Horikiri

When someone is already putting their hearts out, you don't need to do a fake cry, you have to bring yourself to go and float along the scene. I didn't feel one bit of emotion coming out from Chiyomi. She could have done better. ( No wonder when she played Kaede in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, I forgot that she was on it. It was such a forgettable role ).
She can be annoying at times too. Her childlike tantrums (I don't really think the scene needs it), and her unwarranted dances makes you want to pull out some hairs and say, " Do I really need to see this!"

The dancing routine 

I do know that dancing as been a part of her life. But I have no idea, why it has to be incorporated way too much in the story. When she's feeling happy, she dances. When she's feeling sad, she dances. Every emotion that she has, she dances. Every little thing she does, she dances.This is not Step Up the movie and the whole thing was just seriously unnecessary.

Also, her dance troupe comrades, real life idol group, yumemiru adolescene, must have gotten a big favor from the producers for them to be included in the scene ( which doesn't really amount to anything). None of the members were genuinely concerned about her disappearance. They conveniently appear when needed like during practice at the first episode and again when Chiyomi returns to her normal life, but nowhere in the series do you see them looked worried.

Honestly, I  was really turned off by it. They gave so much emphasis on her dancing but it did not give any value to the story. If the story line had her be an idol, ( maybe that would have been more convincing) , then her doing a song and dance number won't surprise the viewers. She wants to be a lot of things. They also incorporate the fact that she's a popular online novelist. So are we just giving her dreams that are popular with the youngsters nowadays?

Final Thoughts:

Well, this series could have done better when they were setting up the characterization of the lead. They can put the guy to be vulnerable, the girl to be strong that despite the adversary in her life, she still have mustered the courage and turn his and her life around. The dance routine, song and dance number was utterly unnecessary. The story, on its own, manages to keep it together but you'll be confronted with a lot of questions and skepticism. The whole series seemed like a patch up story.

Also, a note to the viewers watching the series, just hang in there. Good things come to those who wait ( till the end of the series). 

Rating: 6 of 10.

Is this a binge-worthy show? No.

The series streams on Netflix.

Trivia:

• Taishi Nakagawa will play Arata Kaizaki in live adaptation of ReLife. He will appear alongside Yudai Chiba. He will also play in Sentaro Kawabuchi the live adaptation of Sakamichi no Apollon with Yuri Chinen. 
• Maika Yamamoto played Kaede Kayano in the live adaptation of Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (Assassination Classroom). 
• This is already the fourth adaptation of the novel, the first one was in 1990 (Hikari Ishida, Masaki Kudo), the second was in 1994 (Yumiko Takahashi, Shinji Takeda) and the third one was in 2004 (Kyoko Fukada, Kazanari Ninomiya)