I really wanted to like this, and though this series has some great things going for it, overall, I found it kind of disappointing.

I have never read the manga, so this review is based solely on the show.

The premise of this could be interesting. I think the framing is slice-of-life, but I believe that genre marker does it more disservice than good. There are times when plot lines feel unfinished, and though I know that slice-of-life tends to make big moments seem smaller and more every day, in this drama, the way they're utilized, the storylines peter out and disappear. (Also, I'm sorry, Maya sucks.)

I wished the drama had followed a more standard storyline of two people falling in love, but these characters' zig-zag path toward each other often felt forced.

That brings me to the miscommunication as a plot device.

Generally, miscommunication as a plot device is frustrating. No different here, with one constantly jumping to the conclusion that his feelings aren't reciprocated and the other getting angry and removing himself from the situation. I don't think these actors are bad, but Taichi's actor constantly has this lost look on his face, making you wonder if he's listening. It happens so many times in the last few episodes - and it drags the tension of the storyline and makes you wonder if these two people should be together.

The end felt like it should have more payoff, but again, it felt shallow. I don't know if these actors lack chemistry together, but I don't know if I cared about them getting together at that point. Throughout the drama, I found myself wondering if they liked each other at all. I hardly felt the impact—it should have been more of a punch for two characters who supposedly had so much longing between them. I understand that Kohei has spent most of his life giving things up, but he did it so often and ended up hurting Taichi so much in the interim that I wished they would SPEAK to each other.

I don't know if a special episode or a second season would solve some of these problems. Overall, I think they had too many episodes to tell this story, which took them too long. It's got a low rewatch value to me; they spent a lot of time focusing on plot lines that didn't seem to matter, and certain things were rushed (that might have given the romance more impact), while other storylines had too much time spent on them.


Meh, just meh. It does not stand out to me.