First things first: what’s so great about Shinohara Ryoko?
So far I have been given no reason to think she is all that and a bag of chips. I’ll watch Anego someday and I’m sure I will like it/her, but YEESH people are being so annoying about Shinohara being so wonderful and Lin Chiling being the worst actress in the history of humankind. I’m not familiar with either of their work, but Lin isn’t as bad as people are making her out to be, I think. I think her character as Liu Xui Mei is interesting, especially compared to Ninomiya Maemi. Maemi is (so far) the college buddy who probably has feelings for Hazuki. The third wheel. Someone he can depend on. She knows him best, but something has kept her from pursuing a relationship with him for this long. What is it?
The consensus is that this episode wasn’t great compared to the last one but I thought it was good. It was entertaining. We got to see Hazuki’s true colors, as if we didn’t already know he was a douchebag! He is the kind of guy that wants everyone to fit his standards and he obviously does not take anyone else into consideration.
Also, is it ever attractive for a guy to man handle a girl into kissing/embracing him?!? I get it, you “want” her, but she’s not really going anywhere (yes she was). A tap on the shoulder would do: “oh, what do you want”, surprise kiss! The arm twist into your body or whatever was totally unnecessary. How about we just stop violently grabbing girls’ arms to get them to look at you? Calling attention to every Asian drama ever! (On another note, I was very pleased that she was the one to kiss him first, and not the other way around. Get it, girl.)
This drama operates on a pretty expensive budget, and they take every opportunity they can get to showcase how trendy and pricey everything is.
– The Apple notebooks
– Hazuki’s Lexus
– Hazuki and Kazami constantly wearing their brand name sunglasses (they look like Ray Bans, but I’m sure they are not)
– Employment of Europeans/multilingualism (I think, lol)
– Shopping at high end stores
And because it’s so expensive, they can afford to make other things look nice, too. Good camera work/settings:
It’s only been the second episode, but I hope they delve into the other characters stories a bit more. Yuzuki and Maemi are very one dimensional, and Kazami is… Kazami. I like what they’ve done with Xiu Mei (or what they plan to do with her character by looking at the preview for episode three); what attracted/attracts Hazuki to her was her innocence, but his manipulation of her may be his downfall (no doubt that they are both playing each other, though):
I’ll steal his heart and then throw it away.
He’s created a m-m-monsterrr…
» I think I might be projecting onto her character (boring as of the second episode) and the fact that it would be disappointing for Maemi and Hazuki to be the “endgame”. They’re too safe! TWU WUV, she was in front of you all along… nah.