Hatsukoi (2022)

Fated Love - Neither Time Nor Distance Can Prevent It

First Love: Hatsukoi has beautifully captured the twists and turns of destined love. With Fate pushing two people together but also pulling them apart when tragedy occurred, it was an addictive emotional roller coaster ride filled with the rapture of first love, the regret of lost love, and the joy of second chances.

A wonderful story about a love that transcended the sands of time, this drama fell into comfortable and familiar tropes. However, in this show, I found the cliches charming. With such strong chemistry between the leads (younger and older versions), I was happy just to be along with the ride and watch the heartfelt romance unfold.

Using distinct color palettes and compelling imagery, the director, Kanchiku Yuri, and the cinematographers breathed new life into tired story elements. Fluid camera movements transitioned the viewer seamlessly from the flashbacks of the leads' past into the reality of their present circumstances.

I liked how the director used elements like the snow, the sea, and the sounds of planes; many scenes were like expressive photographs with period details. In this show, color was not only an emotion, a state of mind but also part of the story itself. The way the show filtered and focused on the colors allowed me to experience the story through a unique lens that drew me further into it.

Of course, the music was one of this drama's most notable aspects. After all, Hikaru Utada's songs- First Love and Hatsukoi, inspired the story. In addition to these two, the drama music, including instrumental pieces by Taisei Iwasaki and other songs, captured the emotional moments flawlessly - joyful, nostalgic, or heart-wrenching. The music evoked empathy for the characters and was crucial to the narrative.

Despite a few rough spots that needed smoothing out, the story was well-written and flowed nicely. I appreciate that the plot was not only about romantic love but also about coming of age and the consequences of choices. There were also risque scenes which was an interesting change from the more conservative Chinese and Korean dramas.

The excellent acting also made this drama enjoyable for me. The characters were likable and relatable. The female lead's mother had moments where I wanted to smack her, but her heart was in the right place.

I liked and respected Mitsushima Hikari's Noguchi Yae, a character that I would describe as resilient. Society forced the idea of some being better than others and imposed unfair judgment on people like Yae's mother, but regardless, Yae knew that she and her mother deserved just as much as anyone else. Hikari was so lovely to watch, and her beguiling performance, along with Satoh Takeru as Namiki Harumichi, added the depth that completed the show. Takeru, with his melt-your-heart gaze, portrayed Harumichi perfectly. He is a really subtle actor whose eyes and micro-expressions speak volumes.

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the younger versions of the leads by Yagi Rikako and Kido Taisei. They were able to convey the feelings of an all-consuming idealistic young love, and Taisei's earnestness won me over as young Harumichi.

In summary, I do recommend this drama! I love a good love story, and this was definitely that. It is a story in which you cannot spend too much time thinking about the details. You just have to accept that the universe has plans for everyone, and everything will play out splendidly. As long as you enjoy the show in its little contained, cliched world, there is plenty to relish. Don't forget to watch the ending credits scene to the very end.

For posterity, I have included the Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWTSDEMZlKWZw?si=282686721a124f1d
Other songs:
- Escapade by Emro: https://open.spotify.com/track/71Pu8L7LWuig8tY3zuKH8C?si=44416f6cad1c4963
- Sleep With You by Egil Olsen
https://open.spotify.com/track/6dJabU4OhnOfyByP8NQeOF?si=caf81692d1dc4e4d
- Hard Work and Fate
https://open.spotify.com/track/29mpuWWmRUdH9P2zXz9a4k?si=858ee21bbd2040e4

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It's hell on Earth to keep driving, knowing it's really just a wrong turn.

^Summary of Harumichi's life so far, JK.

STORY - 9 ⭐️
This drama has artfully weaved some historical events (including this COVID pandemic era), cultural references, even social and political issues within this story. About the love story, I wouldn't say that it is something new; there are some cliches; but what I like most are the scenes that made me curious and then find more about it scenes later. Every character was well written, making them real people and have their own depth. I am not sure very sold with the 'love story' between Tsuzuru and Uta but maybe I'm just invested with the main couple's story.

Although presented as a love story in the trailers, it also showed youth's goals and dreams and how some get to fulfill it, some not making it or just taking detours. Some scenes can get preachy about it but over-all, the story's execution is actually good.

ACTING/CAST - 10 ⭐️
There's no denying that the main couple are veteran actors. Don't want to spoil anything but there's this scene that really made me tear up. The young actors did well too and their chemistry suits the theme of first love. Despite not looking like alike, (at least we get the moles right) I can definitely see the young characters maturing into the adult counterparts. Even the supporting characters too had delivered a good performance.

MUSIC - 10 ⭐️
Aside from Utada Hikaru's songs, I find Tsuzuru's music and the drama's sound design and transition faultless. I am no sound or music aficionado but as I watch this with my headphones, I find everything seamless and cinematic. There were a couple of mellow English songs too and it fit well in the atmosphere of the whole drama.

REWATCH VALUE - 8.5 ⭐️
I am not someone who rewatches dramas but the cinematography and the cast's performance alone could easily make me watch it again if I have the time.

OVERALL - 9⭐️

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Melodramatic and cliché-ridden

It was honestly difficult to rate this drama. On the one hand acting performances were top tier and the cinematography was wonderful. On the other hand the script and plot devices were frustratingly poor and predictable. So, I'll start with recalling some of the positives about "First Love." I have to give credit to the amazing acting of the female lead actress Mitsushima Hikari. She plays the adult version of the character Yae and I thought her performance was very convincing and well done. She acted with her eyes and facial expressions without needing a word of dialogue to convey what her character was thinking and going through. A highlight is the scene where Yae gives her son away and is crying on the road. That scene broke me and felt so real. Another great acting performance was that of the young Harumichi played by Kido Taisei. I thought the actor stole every scene he was in. He was very charismatic and multifaceted. He brought a teen and young adult Harumichi to life. Another plus, was frankly how this drama was beautiful to look at. The way color, lighting, and scenic details were used made for a pleasing experience to the eyes.

Now on to the things that made me rate this drama a 6.5.
To start, I could understand that this drama is based on a ballad "First Love" from 1999 and is clearly inspired by the melodrama romances of that era including Majo no Jouken, which interestingly enough used the song First love as it's theme. Also, I see the Taiwanese drama Autumn's Concerto as a possible influence as well. That's all fine and good, except First love 2022 incorporates all the hair splitting frustrating cliches of that bygone time and combines it into a mess of inconsistencies and plot driven narratives. And like a lot of 90s-00s melodramas, First Love starts off with promise and leaves viewers hooked only to fall flat on its face midway through. Like some reviews already covered, the tired old amnesia cliche is used as a plot device to separate our main leads. We also have the villain parent(s) that purposely keeps the young lovebirds apart, ruining their lives in the process. Very annoying! Yae gets amnesia and conveniently doesn't remember Harumichi at all. Her friend visits and even mentions him to her yet Yae never looks him up or investigates further. Yae's mother sees how her daughter is suffering for years and never tells her the truth. There were several moments that the mom made me want to punch my fist in a wall. The perfect time for Yae's mom to tell her the truth was when Yae gave up her son to her divorced husband. At this point the marriage and rich lifestyle the mother wanted for her daughter had failed so why not confess to Yae about her lost first love? In fact why was anyone keeping Yae's past from her, including the adult Harumichi? All these poor writing choices found in the worst melodramas like this one is to keep the main couple apart for as long as possible and make unnecessary events come between them. It's supposed to make for a powerful epic reunion of the lovers, but often it just results in an anticlimactic ending where viewers like myself forget to care.

Some bonus nit picks and wtfs:
*5th episode sex scene. Graphic and ill fitting for a romantic love story. Ml has sex with a random, has another scene where he gets physical with a gf, and Yae gets no intimate scenes at all. Did she have an immaculate conception or what lol.
*Harumichi's sister randomly tells Yae that her brother breastfed until 3rd grade and was addicted to pornos spending a whopping amount on AV tapes. Later in the timeline, Harumichi offers some of these porno tapes to Yae's 14 yr old son, yikes!
*Episode 8 where Harumichi just up and leaves Yae permanently and moves out of the country. Yae confessed that she loved him and he had already broke up with his fiancee. So wtf. Again, the show threw sense out the window for an "epic" reunion.
*Adult Harumichi cheated with his fiancee by kissing and flirting with Yae. What a swell guy.
*The time line issue. The first past timeline is supposed to be in the late 90s but things don't add up, such as "First love" the album and song came out April 1999. The CD is seen on display at a music store at the end of the first episode as if it's just been released making the year 99. Yet, teen Yae and Harumichi go to the theater to watch Titanic, came out in 1997 or Armageddon, which came out in 1998. I doubt these movies were still playing in Japanese theaters in 1999. Also, the CD player and earbuds used in the show look like a later model than what existed in the late 90s. Several other time period inaccuracies are present if you notice them.

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A quiet drama about how life goes on

Let me start by saying that I think the amnesia trope is one of the worst tropes out there — it's convenient, it's tired, and it's a lazy way of forcing characters to go through character development all over again. But there are some dramas where amnesia IS the plot, to which I have no choice but to just wait and see if it's done well.

In this case, it's...okay? The event itself and the fallout immediately after it is almost laughably early 2000s drama cliche, but the entire drama somehow does a good job of staying grounded in its melodramatic vibe and I think that's the part that makes all the difference.

At its core, this drama is very nonconfrontational, which I kind of have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it feels like there are scenes missing, especially discussions between characters that I wanted to see but didn't.

On the other hand, it feels like that's part of what gave this drama its mellow, realistic vibe. There are some things in life that you don't say, some unsent letters that will never be read, some decisions you can never undo. But life goes on.

Overall, this was a comforting watch and I admit I'm partial to the younger timeline (as I expected) simply because of how innocent, fun, and full of life the characters were. There are some side characters that got more screen time than I would've liked, but the leads did the job and stole my heart, all to the the tune of a fantastic OST.

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Starts strong but falls apart midway

I had high hopes for this one but despite an engaging start it kind of petered out and I started to get bored in the final stretch. Others have already mentioned the use of cliche tropes, which was clearly intentional and not necessarily a bad thing when deployed well. But in this show I don’t think they pulled it off.

The drama started strong, with the past timeline with the teen versions of the characters a particular bright spot. I found their story utterly charming and the actors were great.

Unfortunately the adult story line was a mess, despite strong performances. The pacing was off, with plot points dragged out unreasonably long and side stories that added little to the main narrative. There were multiple points in the story when I didn’t understand why the leads were behaving a certain way - and it was clear that the only real answer was the plot demanded it. Worst of all, despite being about 3 hours longer than it should have been, the show didn’t even provide satisfying resolutions to many of the conflicts and questions it introduced (I felt this most keenly wrt the FL’s mother, who was never taken to account for her interference that resulted in years of misery for everyone involved). And the choice to drag out the reunion until the last 15 minutes of the final episode meant we saw precious little of our couple actually together.

Lastly, I’ll just say that I thought the overall tone of the drama was a mismatch for the story. The main narrative was about a couple who were deeply in love losing 25 years together mostly because of outside interference, but the characters never seemed to get angry or feel any resentment about it. They were actually pretty chill most of the time despite the absolute tragedy of the story, and the tone of the whole drama was curiously light. A second pass on the script to tighten up the writing all around would have served this drama well.

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A solid Japanese drama

It's about first love (obviously if you see the title lol) and how no matter what happens in life, one never really forgets even two decades later. The drama moves at a good pace and has interesting supporting characters. It has beautiful cinematography as well. The interaction and chemistry between the two are excellent. Both Satoh Takumi and Hikari Mitsushima display complex emotions throughout. Each scene of their meetings was natural and there are many memorable lines in the script as well as emotional silent scenes that do not need words but are left to the virtuoso of the actor such as Satoh Takumi.

The "teenage" actors did an excellent job as well demonstrating the zest, excitement, and energy of a first crush, a first love. The drama does a great job of balancing the past and present in a non-confusing way.

The music (two songs) is from the ever-popular Utada Hikaru and this drama was inspired by those songs. Because of that, I read that this drama was top 10 in several countries and during the time it was streaming, it was number one in Japan. It was a success. I loved it, and I admit that I usually do not have the patience to watch slice-of-life or romance dramas but this is one to watch and share with those you care about.

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This is a gorgeous drama!

The good: Cinematography, direction, acting, music, pacing, chemistry. There is so much to love and this drama really draws you in.

The bad: The ONLY faults I can find are that it actually uses the now-ancient amnesia trope (although it succeeds in pulling it off, imo), and the adult ML did some things that made him not very likable. These were small things compared to the bigger picture, and this drama is still 100% worth watching. Actually, you don't want to miss it.

This is one of the best dramas of the year for me. It could have been better, but not much. It's close to perfect.

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Don't miss the scenes during and after the ending credits in the last episode!

Rating - 8.25

I remember back when Hikaru Utada’s song “First Love'' came out in 1999, many were obsessed with it, and I was one of them. I played this song many, many times. So when I heard a drama is coming out based on this song and starring the amazing Satoh Takeru, I have to watch it. The expectations were high and did the drama meet them? I am afraid not quite.

“First Love:Hatsukoi” is a beautifully made drama. Most of the drama was set in snowy Hokkaido and the cinematography was great. Even when it switches to Tokyo, the color palette fits the tone of the drama, especially when telling the story of our hard-working female lead. Because the drama was based on two songs, I was initially concerned that those songs would be overplayed. I am glad that wasn’t the case. It didn’t make me hate “First Love” (the song) but made me love it again. There are quite a few English songs in the drama, which I have hoped are Japanese instead. Maybe Netflix has something to do with it. It does give some sort of American feel to a supposedly very Japanese drama.

Acting is top notch. I am already a big fan of Satoh Takeru and his micro-expressions are no joke. It’s so nice to see him play a regular guy going through tough times. It’s fun to see him displaying a fun side when he’s a security guard joking with his co-worker. It’s a nice change from seeing him as a hotshot doctor, an over-the-top baker or a cold-blooded swordsman. I am glad to be introduced to Mitsushima Hikari. When she was first introduced in the drama, she was a hard-working but tired-looking taxi driver. But throughout the drama, you see different sides of Noguchi Yae, and Mitsushima Hikari does a beautiful job in portraying a young and naive wife, a young mother, a downtrodden divorcee and then a supportive mother to her teenage son. As amazing as these veteran actors are, the two young leads might have stolen their thunder a little bit. Yagi Rikako playing the younger Yae, and Kido Taisei as the younger Harumichi light up the screen. Their infectious smiles and bright sunny personalities make the drama so much fun to watch. Their story is more enjoyable and makes a bigger impression on me than the adult leads.

Not that the adult version of the love story is not memorable, it just lacks a certain gut punching feel. I was hoping for more angst, more heartbreaking moments between the adult Yae and Harumichi. I wanted more scenes between the two, more longing looks from Harumichi and more touching moments. I think the side story between Tsuzuru and Uta might have taken too much time from the main storyline. I don’t find this young romance too interesting, though the purpose of their romance is to remind the adults to pursue their dreams and loved ones. The pacing of the story is quite slow and I can certainly feel it when I am binge-watching this in a day.

I also have conflicting feelings in the use of flashbacks in the storytelling. I like how the different timelines are interwoven together, and how one timeline picks up the story of another timeline. But it did take me a quick second to get used to the transition. Viewers do need to pay close attention especially in the first episode to get used to the switches, especially when young Harumichi and Tsuzuru have very similar build and hairstyle. I think my biggest issue is how short these flashbacks could be, thus making the back-and-forth switches very abrupt.


Other Random Observations:
1. I love the wedding and the speech with sign language. I also love the blue color theme.
2. I remember those Titanic moments and it’s fun to see the young lovers re-enacting the famous scene.
3. I wonder how Harumichi becomes a security guard. Did I miss the explanation?
4. I like the bonding between Harumichi and Tsuzuru.
5. Don’t miss out on the scenes during and after the ending credits in the last episode!


Completed: 11/26/2022

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There are different paths one can take to reach their destination.

I have such conflicting and mixed feelings about this show. There were 2 or 3 episodes that seemed too perfect to be true, but at the same time, I weirdly felt a lot of emptiness as I watched. The drama kept building up the nostalgia, the longing, fear of missed opportunities, forgotten past and unsure future, but it never reached the climax - at some point it completely emotionally plateaued and stayed this way till the end.

The non-linear storytelling of First Love bothered me at first, but I grew to appreciate it even if it just fueled the depressing vibes the drama presented. There was a lot of low-key relatable sadness and the lack of positivity in the characters, the emptiness of their lives just slowly crept in and kept me up at night wondering if I am not on the similar path of loneliness. And I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad aspect of the drama though...

I cannot say it was all sad. One of my favorite things about First Love was Noguchi Yae’s relationship with her son. A great portrayal of love and sacrifice, but also support and trust. Watching their little family dates was just calming and heartwarming. What’s more, I loved the support system Noguchi Yea had around her, even if she was not fully aware of its existence. She was so used to keeping to the sidelines so she did not notice how many people liked and appreciated her.

On the other hand, some plotlines and relationships did not get enough of the closure I wished for. Some past encounters, decisions that were made - lacked the resolution, conversation and… ending.

Luckily you can forget it all and truly get immersed into the story thanks to the great performance of the whole cast, but especially our leading couple both in the past and present: Mitsushima Hikari and Satoh Takeru, and Yagi Rikako and Kido Taisei. Some of the best casting for younger versions of the characters I have ever seen. The actors matched each other's dynamics, presentation, interpretation of the characters perfectly! There were a lot of moments where strong emotions had to be presented in a subtle way, and they delivered it and much more.

As for the production, I’m just glad that even though it’s a Netflix production, it has that unique melancholic styling Japanese dramas perfected throughout the years, while adding the high production value a big company like Netflix can achieve.

Overall, it was for sure enjoyable and surprisingly good for binge watching. Chances are that if I watched it at a different time, when my mood was more in the “looking for nostalgic feelings” state, I'd have enjoyed it a lot more.

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A love that I hope to have one day...

First Love is a really beautiful drama. The cinematography is perfect, the transitions of the scenes from the past to the present are very clever (although I wish they would put the year because at times it can be confusing). and most importantly: the actors' chemistry is phenomenal. I'm a fan of Satoh Takeru so I knew he would please me easily but Kido Taisei stole the series for me on several occasions. Of course, Takeru is still Takeru, an excellent actor and his chemistry with Hikari was perfect (I also love Hikari, she was amazing as always here), but we really need to praise the younger actors here. Mainly because most of the romantic scenes came from them and if they didn't convince us, it would be difficult to buy the couple further on and the overwhelming love they have for each other, something that not even years apart could destroy. They may have fallen in love with other people but as Harumichi says, it was fate for them to be together. And a love like this is really rare, that's why it's so beautiful to see. So yeah, besides Takeru and Hikari`s amazing chemistry and acting, kudos to Kido Taisei and Yagi Rakiko.

I have nothing to complain about the personality of the main leads as well. it's very easy to love both, in the past and present time, because besides being cute and fun, I felt that they were characters very close to reality. It's easy to root for their happiness. The OST was very well selected too but of course we have to highlight First Love and Hatsukoi, which are very beautiful and emotional songs, even if you have never heard these songs before. The power of both songs is so high that no matter how many times it is played in the serie, it manages to thrill us every time.

In addition to the main couple, the secondary characters were very interesting. Yae's relationship with her mother was a beautiful thing, and later her relationship with her son too. Another thing I liked was his involvement with that female dancer. I found their scenes very beautiful and inspiring.

My only "negative comment" for the drama is that I wanted more scenes of the main leads together in the present time. They basically only stay together in the last few minutes, which makes us wanting more, because the drama has shown us several times how cute they were together in adolescence.

Anyway, in general it was a very captivating and beautiful drama to watch. I believe that even those who don't like Jdramas will be enchanted here. and I hope that with that, more people will be interested in Jdramas because there are several amazing ones and I feel that few are acclaimed.

PS: I'm looking forward to seeing Kido Taisei in future works, I completely fell in love with the actor here.

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Beautifully crafted but ultimately lacking the magic ingredient to make it really great

There is so much to praise about this production. In particular the cinematography and soundtrack are outstanding. The acting is good, the characters are appealing but the requisite sparkle, which can only spring from a really great script with insightful dialogue, was lacking. It’s not that it was bad, rather that it was ordinary and it wouldn’t have been so noticeable if the rest of the production hadn’t really shone.

The beginning in particular requires patience. If you need to be instantly captivated, forget this one. At the start it was pretty fragmented with nothing much to grab the attention. When you start writing a novel you can usually just dump the first two chapters because they are about writing yourself into the story and the first couple of episodes have that sort of feel. But persistence at this point will pay off in the end.

For the first third, many of the scenes are very short and there isn’t really enough personal interaction to pull you into the depth of the characters or reveal their uniqueness. The dialogue is sometimes quite fanciful and self-consciously poetic and is not always in keeping with the character speaking it. Time and effort is spent with the soundtrack and cinematography which would be better heaped on the relationship interactions. Imo, you need to engage the viewer with your characters from the get-go, then there will be time later for more emphasis on production values. There is not much to hold onto at the start and as a viewer I had to do a lot of work to generate the emotional connections. But later on it pays dividends as the actors slowly reveal the inner world of their characters.

I was not always convinced of the connection between the younger and older versions of the characters and it didn’t help that the actors playing the young versions, didn’t really resemble the actors playing the older ones. And neither did their character traits feel properly aligned. This is the fault of the director (who also wrote the script) as presumably the casts from different time periods didn’t meet each other on set.

Ok having said all that, let’s get into what was great about this drama.

Once used to it, I loved the interweaving of the past and present. The past shed light on the present and vice-versa and it was cleverly done by the author. At the start I was a little confused but soon settled into the structure of it. Memory loss again… which this time was put to good use and if it wasn’t such a hackneyed and clichéd trope I would have enjoyed the role it played here more. It was less of a plot device and more of an emotional device to create an unfolding of intimacy.

The soundtrack is something special, very thoughtful and inventive. There are so many different songs, many of them in English and the use of Bach’s theme from the Goldberg Variations is so poignant.

Beautiful cinematography. With a rich, deep, saturated colour palette in sombre blues and greys. Blue is the signature colour that runs throughout particularly in the clothes and the lighting. Replete with a liberal sprinkling of exquisite compositional set shots using carefully selected colour, form and space. There was also a clever use of aerial and space imagery and an absolutely stunning dance sequence.

The best performances came from Mitsushima Hikari and Satoh Takeru who added a depth of poignancy to the interactions that produced some beautifully moving moments. Overall, this is well worth watching and will leave you with a sweet taste in your mouth.

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

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CLASSIC

A classic love story that will never be boring no matter how many times you watched it.
I love how they mix between the past and present to not boring us and gives us explanation on each moment that we’re wanting to know.

Takeru Satoh never disappoints us in any of his project choices. He did deliver the emotions really well.

Thought that we will be getting a tear-jerking classic love story from the start until the end, yet it’s a perfect combination of both sad and happiness in a drama.

The OST is really suited the drama well (well it based on the song afterall) BUT i really like the OST so much.

WOULD REALLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO WATCH THIS EVEN ONCE.

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