25 Ji, Akasaka de (2024)

promising start that fizzled (watch suggestions)

Overall: I was excited after watching the first episode, but the thin plot swam in circles. 10 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4205/at-2500-in-akasaka-2024-e01

Watch Suggestions
- watch episode 1
- watch episode 7 until 21:50 or the whole thing (this explained why a character liked another character)
- watch episode 2 at 17 to the end if you enjoy dating scenes/montages
- can skip episode 3, there is a short cuddle around 15 min
- can watch ep 4 at 6:30 for a sensual gnocchi making scene and 21:30 for a brief kiss
- can watch ep 5 around 10 minutes for a hot bod and 19:20-20:40 for meh kisses
- watch ep 6 beginning to 10 minutes
- skip episode 8
- watch episode 9 at 3:30-5 and 10:20-12
- watch episode 10 (can end at 14 minutes or watch to the end)

What I Liked
- premise was set up well, the end of episode 1 was awesome
- the kneading dough scene was sensual (needed more scenes like that)
- managers cared about their actors
- that they looked realistically sweaty in episode 10 during the NSFW scene

Room For Improvement
- voice over for plot set up and voice overs in general
- slow pacing
- waited until episode 7 to show why one character was extremely attracted to the other character, this was much too late
- in episode 6 nearly doing something when the other person was sleeping
- cliche overheard something, made a stupid assumption, then ghosted/refused to communicate (communicated halfway thru episode 10 which was too late)
- a character said he had no idea how to reach the other character....I don't know maybe try....talking... #sarcasm
- some lackluster kisses
- odd wide shots during intimate scenes made me feel detached, I couldn't feel the characters' emotions
- episode 10 had a natural stopping point and then the ending half felt anti-climactic with the behind the scenes part, them acting in the series, them watching the series, then suddenly a different scene.

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Mild angst, major miscommunication.

Can I even call it miscommunication? Was it not just a reverse delulu - Shirasaki Yuki truly lived in his unfounded convictions and denied any possibility of mutual feelings between him and Hayama Asami. The only thing left for me to do was keep watching and keep sighing - little guy was chickenblocking himself.

Truth to be told, I actually loved the plot itself. I'd just tweak how Shirasaki Yuki was written to make him a bit less frustrating. His character effectively lowered my rating with each action he made. Dude kept acting as if he was rejected without being rejected. At some point his explanation of Hayama’s actions became so illogical all I could do was laugh. What the drama failed at was convincing me there was a valid reason for him not even thinking there is a chance Hayama might like him.

I do appreciate how it led to a nice pinning and angst from Hayama Asami tho, which was in fact the highlight of the show for me. With just two episodes focusing on his point of view, I somehow believe I understand his character and reasoning far better than Shirasaki’s. His hesitation made sense. How cautious and at times passive his behavior towards Shirasaki was - it was well explained and it was the most fun part of the drama to watch. I’m a connoisseur of mild angst and I was quite pleased with what I’ve got from 25 Ji, Akasaka de.

How about the chemistry ( which is undeniably important in romance driven shows)? Depends on which scene we are talking about. The first kiss the part shared was atrocious. It was not even a dead fish kiss. It was not a cute peck, they literally just put the lips together, barely touching, and stood there. The context of this scene made it even more ridiculous and I almost dropped the show when it happened. Luckily it only gets better from that point, so don’t give up hope (not that it could get any worse).

For the acting - it was good, just not my preferred style. I did not quite connect with Shirasaki Yuki’s character and Niihara Taisuke’s acting did not help either. I would not even say Komagine Kiita did an outstanding job either, but I just prefer the subtle ways emotions are shown, and that’s how the character was written and the performance directed.

Production wise I did like the drama a lot. Not only they wanted to present a cohesive story, but they wanted to do it in a visually pleasing way, that’s always a plus in my book.

Overall, it’s a nice show, but it’s not something I’m going to talk about and recommend after some time. I enjoyed it as it aired, and will have no issues quickly moving on to other new titles.

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