I recently started watching Jdramas and this drama kept getting recommended to me as a must watch classic. Everyone was right -- this is one of the best dramas I've ever watched in any language. The story itself is pretty basic: an aging model gets ditched on her wedding day and ends up moving into her ex's old apartment with his former roommate, a classical pianist whose career is floundering. It's a slow burn opposites attract romance. But the execution is truly special.

A lot of people have already shouted out KimuTaku and the rest of the cast for their stellar performances and also the OST which is wonderful but I want to spend some time talking about the directing because it's incredibly good and makes it feel more like a film instead of a drama.

The drama mostly takes place in the apartment building where Minami and Sena live. It's a real apartment building not a set and the production took full advantage of the location. After a while ago you'll notice that certain emotional beats take place in certain parts of the building and street. For example almost all of their fights take place in the cramped apartment. But they draw closer when they are on the rooftop or on the basketball court adjacent to the building. Whenever Sena is feeling lost, lonely or contemplative he tends to stand alone on the path overlooking the river.

There are some iconic scenes that illustrate how the director used the site. One is when Sena throws Minami's glitter ball three stories down to the street and then catches it when it bounces back to him, symbolizing the ability to bounce back after setbacks. Another is when Minami tells Sena that she's planning on marrying her boyfriend, after she exits the building she can hear Sena playing her favorite song followed by the wedding march (heart wrenching!). Another one is a spectacular shot that starts with Sena standing alone in the apartment after Minami has moved out and then pans out across the river until he's out of sight to illustrate how lonely and isolated he feels now that she's no longer living with him.

Another thing I noticed was the hair styling and costuming. When the drama starts Sena wears a tweed jacket that seems to symbolize how trapped he feels in his life. Even his hair is styled in such a way to look stiff and unmoving. Minami wears trendy clothes in loud colors and a lot of makeup. But things change as they start to fall in love with each other and to emotionally mature. Sena stops wearing the blazer and is usually in tees when he's spending time with Minami and his hair becomes softer and looser. Minami starts wearing jeans and cotton shirts and very little makeup. She also starts to wear white shirts which are associated with Sena since he's often in a white shirt when teaching and performing.

These are just a few examples but honestly you could easily do a shot by shot analysis of this drama. Just how they use the visual space in the apartment in different scenes tells you so much about what's going on with and between the characters at different parts of the story.

This might sound dry and technical but it shows the care and attention that the production team put into all the details of the drama. And as a result you end up falling in love with the characters.