Ubai Ai, Fuyu (2017)

Oh man, where to even begin with this drama.... It's a very over the top, no-way-that-would-happen-in-real-life, but oddly compelling storyline spun out and wrapped up all in seven episodes. So if you're more of a fan of realistic dramas, this one is not for you unfortunately.

The story piles on a lot of small time concerns; meeting an ex-lover at work, recovering from such a meeting, questioning your current lover, confrontation of other partners, a lot of rather typical things that do actually happen in relationships. Pile on a cast of characters that are either rooting your relationship on, or prepared to take you apart, there is no room for middle ground. While you would think there's no way a plot like this could surprise you; every episode twisted away from what I thought was going to happen, and brought it in a new direction. This drama had me on my toes the entire time, rooting for some people, cursing others, and it was rather quick how I was to turn around who I was cheering for. The best question is who snatched whose love away in the end? (Btw, the title translated roughly to 'stolen love in winter'.

Acting; oh boy. This is where it gets good. The whole cast is golden. A little concerned about execution of such an over dramatic plot? Have no fear, the whole cast is here. Misuno Miki (Ran) absolutely STEALS the spotlight with her over the top but oddly relatable reactions. You'll be despising her character as much as you sort of sympathize with her at the end. A perfect villain or the perfect victim? You'll have to chose. Kurashina Kana (Hikaru) is the perfect opposite. More or less you will be rooting for this girl the entire time, and rightfully so. And while she appears much less dangerous a character then Ran; her development will give her the backbone to surprise you. Otani Ryohei (Shin) is the perfect match for and against Miura Shohei (Kota). Both lead males are so handsome, and believe me, incredibly romantic in the series like Hikaru you'll have a hard time choosing. Although I will have to admit, Shohei is experimenting with his acting style and it's got mixed reactions from me. Sometimes seeming too dramatic, sometimes not dramatic enough, it's fitting for this series though.

Music, realizing the ending theme is 'Magic' by AAA sold it for me. The use of repetitive songs kinda gets boring though to be honest. You can read a lot of the action and the direction it does by just the music cueing up. At least the opening theme and opening in general is short to focus more on the story. I'm not a rewatcher, but I'm curious when the subtitles come out (I did raws for this and mostly understood all the dialogues) how I'll feel about the series then.

Overall, if you're a fan of any of the main cast I highly recommend this series. If you want something so over the top, and somewhat of a guilty pleasure please watch!

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With Ubai Ai, Fuyu the problem doesn't lie on the main idea of the story, that might chase some viweres away, but rather, with the whole story. The begining was good, with the girl finally getting her life back on track and ready to marry the perfect guy. However, clouds start to gather quickly. And it wasn't just the reappearance of her ex boyfriend. Overall, I wouldn't have mind with the story so far, but things got out of hand quickly. The characters started acting irrationally, especially the wife of the girl's ex, who looked like a psycho even from the begining. Plus, the big secret was way too obvious. Towards the ending, things got even more out of control, with the story leaking from everywhere and the over the top events and cheesy conclusions pilling up. So, fout out of ten for this drama.

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