Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo (2013)

As a person who's watched the Itazura na Kiss anime then, the first 90's Japanese version drama of Itazura na Kiss, then It Started with a Kiss, then They Kissed Again, then Playful Kiss and now this recent adaptation I have to say this is the best version of this manga once you minus the over the top cartoon like antics they give Kotoko in all the other versions which makes her borderline annoying and make you cringe in pity for her character when you just want someone to step in and save her from herself and the coldness of Irie / Zhi Shu / Baek Seung Jo as she faces endless rejection over and over again.

There is a refreshing open emotion in his facial expressions to this Irie that the other versions do not touch on. There is a real sweetness to this version that should not be over looked. I'm only on episode 9 but I love how they gave a cameo appearance to the 90's original Japanese versions actress as playing the nurse if you ever sat through the old crazy 90's version you know that woman's ears a mile away lol. It too is also comical given how the character eventually becomes a nurse so it's a strange little full circle moment there between the past and present actresses and how she stumbles as if to say Irie and then flees the room lol.
I find it unique how the writers in this are combining scenes from both the Taiwanese version and the Japanese versions together and meshing them together. I dunno how this version is going to end but I'm really looking forward to the coming ep.'s to see any of the more changes they have made.

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Oh my God, where do I even begin.

I watched the Korean version, which I hated, a long time ago. Last night, out of pure boredom and lack of good Japanese dramas on Viki, I decided to finally watch the Japanese version. Since then, my brain has been in so much pain.

First of all, let me just say that the plot is ridiculous (no surprise since it's based on a manga). To me it seems that Kotoko doesn't even love Naoki. Rather than that, she's just obsessed with him. How can you be in love with someone you don't even know personally? Having a small crush on that person, yes, but being in love? Really now? Really?

Oh, and she's plain stupid.

Like oh my freaking God, the guy shows no interest in her yet she tries so hard to make him fall in love with her. Kotoko's either a masochist or an idiot. Or both.

A normal and sane girl would give up on such a jerk. But not Kotoko, no. Instead, our lovely protagonist does everything to make sure her Prince Charming from hell doesn't get close to other girls so she can bother him for a little bit longer.

Seriously, girl, you need to stop. This is not healthy. You can't force someone to suddenly fall in love with you. Go see a psychiatrist, please. Also, she's being a b!tch herself because sometimes she gives Kinnosuke false hopes that maybe she likes likes him. Poor Kin-chan.
Or not.
Because dude, you also need to calm the fck down and stop liking a girl who's obviously blinded by her obsession with Naoki. Go find not a mentally sick girlfriend.

Now, moving on to Naoki.

He makes fun of Kotoko whenever he gets a chance, calls her stupid (well he's right) and other names, ignores her (no wonder, I'd ignore such an annoying girl too), and basically he's being a total d!ck to her. But at times, when he feels like it, he's nice to her.

Just because. For fun. Because YOLO, right, Naoki? Right? Oh wait, what are you saying? You can't hear me over your emotionless face and lack of any human feelings and reactions? But don't you worry, I'm sure that being a cold-hearted and soulless aßhole will help you. I mean, it's working, isn't it? There's already an idiot who's head over heels in obsession with you. But remember to be a d!ck to her to make sure she stays with you forever. And kiss her sometimes to mess with her feelings. Or you know, for fun.

Oh well. I hoped that at least the Japanese version would be more bearable and less idiotic.

Guess I was wrong.

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I love this version, but I have to admit I have a big issue with the pacing in it. There were 5 or so episodes where the story slowed down a lot, while still adding new wrinkles, which caused the last episode to seem a rushed and over-full. It felt a bit forced, and there wasn't room for the resolution we saw in other versions of this story. But this is still one of my favorite recent dramas. The actors are great, especially those who played Naoki and Kin-chan. This is the first time Naoki seemed like a complex person to me, and this Kin-chan was frankly a bad*ss. I really enjoyed this version of Kotoko, although I do wonder if the actress was a bit too young to do convincing romantic scenes. I will watch this again, probably soon.

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While I have not watched any other incarnation of this drama, I was aware of the basic plot before going into it. It's generally one of the types of plots that I like in romantic comedies and I haven't really watched a lot of Japanese ones so I decided to give it a shot. It ended up taking me over a year to finish.

I did enjoy it mostly but I would find myself in the groove of watching and suddenly Kotoko did something ridiculous and embarrassing. I would have to turn it off. Towards the middle, it just got to be too much. But I've been trying to finish dramas that I've started so I decided to push through. Once the show reached the last 4 or 5 episodes, it lost some of the silliness and I liked it more.

Miki Honoka is really young compared to the rest of the main cast and it showed quite often. Even the girls that were her friends, who are only slightly older, felt more mature than she did. Maybe that's because she made strange, dramatic faces throughout most of the show. It seemed like she was someone's younger sister rather than their classmate. Still, she managed to portray the obsessive one-sided love of a dim girl very well.

Furukawa Yuki did a good job with the emotionless Naoki.

I really liked Yamada Yuki as Kinnosuke, though I didn't really feel for him as the second lead until more than halfway through. I did like that he didn't sit around pining in secret but he was also pushy and that sometimes got annoying.

The music was kind of blah to me. I didn't love the opening or closing songs and I can't recall any music during the episodes.

I don't really see myself watching this drama again. If I was so inclined, I might watch the last 2 or 3 episodes only.

Overall, I didn't love this drama. It had way too much embarrassment going on for me to truly get into it. But I ended up liking it well enough and do plan of watching the sequel.

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I've watched evey version/remake of this frama and I think that the awesome thing about it is that there's always somethign to enjoy. There's just something appealing about watching a story like this about a one sided love being cherished and turnign into more.

While The Twdrama version starring Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng is still my favorite, I enjoyed this one a lot. Better than the original Jversion. It strated off really strong and ending strong, but my main complaint was that the pacing of the relationship between the two main characters was a bit slow and then way rushed in the end.

First, I loved all the actors. Out two leads had great chemistry and embodied the characters nicely. Kotoko was really adorable without being over the top. She was sweet and I really sympathised with her. My only issue was that she was too much of a door mat for Irie, especially towards the end. I really wanted her to mirror Ariel Lin's portrayal and really pull away from Irie towards the end. I enjoyed Furukawa Yuki's portrayal here, but I wished he showed a little more in the way of being charmed by Kotoko and fallign for her despite his issues with his parents expectations and figuring out his own feelings.

The plot was dealt with nicely here. They hit all the beats we were expecting (except the guy showing interest in Kotoko like in the other versions. I was looking forward to that). I just wish they would have paced the romantic development between our main characters better. I felt like we didn't really get an of the subtle, but strong hints from Irie leadign up to the ending that making this story so great. As a result, the ended felt sort of rushed and I was a bit disappointed.

Oh, and ISWAK (the TWdrama remake) still has the best soundtrack. Seriously, what happened here?

All in all, this was a really good remake with some rough spots here and there. Still I recommend you watch this and the other versions if you have time. They all have somethign to offer.

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Goodness, am I the only one who didn't like this drama?!
I had no expectations whatsoever when watching this drama, except that it was going to be good. People raved about it on the Internet. I did not read the manga or watch the other adaptations so I really did not know what I was getting myself into.
First of all, story is super cliche. Seen the characters before, didn't really care for them. Not really likable to me. Main guy is just quiet and emotionless. He's smart, but extremely boring. Who would fall for him?! Main girl is not much better. She's got a better personality but is dumb and SUPER persistent. She doesn't know when to quit. What she's doing in the drama is called STALKING. It's not love or infatuation anymore, it's obsession. The idea that a dumb girl can win over a smart guy by stalking him is just appalling. REALLY?!?? So unbelievable and unrealistic. I forced myself to watch all of the episodes even though by halfway, I wanted to quit so much. I'm definitely not watching the special or the second season.
The only thing I liked about this drama was the views of Tokyo. Very pretty scenes and shots but that's it.

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I loved this version. For me the whole reason why I got addicted to Korean Dramas in the first place was because of this anime and story.

My first Korean drama was playful kiss because I enjoyed the anime so much. My first Tawianese drama was It Started With A Kiss. I was really disappointed with the old Japanese version that had little to do with the anime: Itazura na Kiss. So, I was excited to hear about this new version.

I am excited they are making a sequel. The actor that played Irie was perfect, I felt like I was falling in love with the story all over again. Some parts were of course changed, but, this is still an awesome and heartwarming version.

I enjoyed every bit of it and I will certain have to marathon all versions pretty soon go decide my personal favorite.

And like the rest of you guys I will be waiting for second season.

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Sadly, I had to change my review from 7 to 4.5 stars. This is a pretty annoying series, all in all. The age gap between the two leading actors is massive, and it really shows. Yuuki Furukawa is way too reserved for a teenager and Honoka Yohagi was all over the place. I would have given anything for her to stop pursing her lips and just stand still for a second.

I'm less fond of tsundere characters now than when I watched this show and looking back, I don't like it. I would never rewatch it, and I can't believe it got a second season. The ML's mental cruelty for such a long period of time is inexcusable. Frankly, he's just mean, and no amount of cuteness at the end and their romantic scene in the rain is enough to change my mind.

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Even though i liked the Taiwanese version more but this one definitely takes second place in all four drama version of itazura na kiss series and is much much better than its Korean version. i am just writing this review bcoz i felt that the story here is much more realistic than other series.....specially the roles of Ikezawa Kinnosuke,Mother and kotoko's friends are really portrayed really well(close to manga and anime)in this series.....specially ikezawa, the way he scolds Naoki for his aloofness or the way he brings special bento for kotoko on Christmas knowing she is betrayed by her friends is.Like in other series i don't pity him here because he truly cares about Kotoko and in a way is more responsible then Naoki. About mother she is truly devious in this series.i truly enjoyed the way she executes her schemes and supports kotoko.In the last kotoko's girlfriends,both are selfish but they do care about her and support her love for Naoki in every way possible.So i highly recommend this series,its a must watch if you really enjoyed the manga and anime.

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Really cute drama!! Both main characters are good looking.
I love Honoka (Kotoko)'s facial reactions & expressions, they really contribute to her cute character.
If you watched the video of Furukawa for DramaFever, Furukawa said that he spent quite a bit of effort figuring out when to show emotion as Irie, since Irie doesn't really show his emotions.

Although it is part of his character, Irie's lack of emotion bothers during a few scenes. But when the camera zooms in to his face, and you can sort of see a bit of emotion in his eyes and sometimes even see the corner of his mouth moving a little as he tries to hide a smile, my heart goes ????!!

Not much of a review... since I did not read the manga, nor did I watch the other versions, so I don't really have anything to compare this version to :/

But I would definitely recommend watching this drama if you enjoy cute love stories that make your heart go dokidoki!!

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