Love Phantom (2021)

In-lust to in-crush to in-love. Physically affectionate & healthy relationship with steady feelings.

The Ep 1 rooftop situation is odd, but equivalent to kissing a stranger at a club. I think it's the unfamiliar context that throws people off of what is a fairly common event used in many romance stories. After Ep 1, it's actually a very sweet, trusting, healthy relationship with a TON of chemistry.

I also think some suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this story! But again, that's true with many rom-coms. This is a light, sweet, and steamy (but non-explicit) romance without much angst.

The age gap didn't feel fetishized because the lead characters felt so compatible (physically and emotionally). The way they get together IS super fast, but also believable as instant attraction. The physical attraction is what gets them started, but as they continue, they learn more about each other and go from in-lust and in-crush to in-love. Both characters try to take care of each other in actions as well as with words and make efforts to communicate. What's great to see is that both characters gradually grow through their relationship. As they feel more secure with each other, the FL grows more confident and relaxed, and the ML grows brighter and relaxed (less reserved).

The FL is 22 and very naive. VERY. But I don't think she's dumb, I just think there's a part of her social radar that is oblivious because life hasn't dealt her enough lessons yet for that part to improve. It's like a translation issue: she *does* notice shifts in people's moods (she's especially aware of the ML), but she can't accurately tell what those shifts indicate. She likes to be helpful and to see people be happy, and treats everyone with the same genuine enthusiasm. She can't see how she might be sending mixed signals to some people because the concept is so far removed from her intentions that it can't even register. The ML understands this, and though he naturally gets a little jealous, he is more worried about her being taken advantage of than he is about her feelings wavering from him (which was also refreshing to see).

I enjoyed the clever ways the script had the FL's naivete turn expected clichéd situations on their ear; some of them were pretty funny. In addition to that, there were multiple times I thought "here we go" when there was prime opportunity for a cliche to start, but the screenplay would do something different. Not in a groundbreaking way, but still different enough that I would be pleasantly surprised.

I also greatly appreciated that though the FL character was completely inexperienced with intimacy, that she had a desire for it and actively participated. The portrayal was, I thought, completely believable for a 22 year old virgin, and easy to understand why she would be physical with a stranger so quickly if she felt an instant attraction. Though she's eager she also has moments of shyness and I love how the ML is conscious of how she feels/reacts and never forces her past what she's ready for.

The ML is 38 and *not* standoff-ish to the FL after the first episode. His growing affection is steady, patient, and occasionally lightly teasing in a playful way. He tries to alert the FL to social dangers and though he steps in to disrupt some situations, he does not try to dictate her life. Ep 3 has a couple scenes where their dynamic is written a little uncomfortably/imbalanced, but thankfully that didn't continue. The ML didn't feel condescending or like a father figure (which would have been a turn offs for me).

Both the desire and feelings the leads have for each other remain consistant throughout the show. There is a ton of skinship and making out, and even a couple kisses with a little tongue. There's nothing explicit though. The passion, affection, and sweetness feels natural, comfortable, and realistic. It's more satisfying than most JDramas (or KDramas) in that regard.

The secondary characters were mostly fun too. Nothing memorable about the music.

I watched on Viki and they had the 2 special episodes included with the main series. There's Ep 5 then an "Ep 5 Special" and Ep 10 then an "Ep 10 Special". The specials are basically recaps but done as the couple reminiscing together about their relationship thus far. It was fairly realistic, as that is something that couples do, but I wish it had given a few more insights into their thought processes than it did. The specials gives a little extra information, but they are not that necessary. The recap after Ep 5 was too repetitive when binge-watching. For me, I would have preferred to watch both specials at the end as a way to extend the good feelings from the show before leaving it to figure out what to watch next.

The story and characters may not be the most unique, but it was an easy, enjoyable, and satisfying watch for me, and I expect I'll re-watch again.

I also really like dramadesciples review:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/dramadisciple/review/152525
They have similar thoughts but say different things and summarize the lead characters and their dynamic well.

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SAY WHAT?

Okay this one is on a whole different level of WHAT THE FUDGE WAS THAT .
She sees a man on the roof who she thinks is about to jump but was mistaken, and instead of turning around and leaving, the girls deep kisses her and she doesn't find it offence or slap the shit out of the guy.
that's just ep 1.
the rest I don't remember how it went, but I did like it to finish watching it
FL is either crazy pysco or very stupid and naive or horny as a dog because she just invited a guy she doesn't know from adam to her house at night, the guy refused then show up at her house when she never ?gave him the address then she invite the guy to come up, then tells the guy what I said I wasn't thinking, what if I want a kiss?
who wrote this crap, this chic can get hurt by this man that no one knows like huh?
They always make the women in Jdramas look so easy for sex and doesn't care showing their boobs either
why is women lowered so much in these dramas? no self esteem for the women
FL screams crazy and all the men in here screams pysco what why is the drama so entertaining

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This is why one should be careful when adapting a manga

It is a mediocre drama full of cliches. But this isn't the problem.

What i didnt like about this live action is that they kept the key points but made them weaker. In the manga Hase and Momo fall in love at first sight which leads them to passionately kiss and unable to stay away from each other they start a relationship in which they BOTH take initiative. Their wish is to be close, live together and make a home for the two of them and their cat.(sidenote:WHERE IS THE CAT?) Buuut this doesnt get shown as such in the drama but rather it is shown as "lets just live together for the plot"

In the manga Momo is kind but never to the point you can call her an idiot. She is gentle but she knows what she wants in her relationship with Hase. Sure they have a lot of skinship and intimate moments but in no case would you think Hase had the upper hand in anything. In fact he was whipped for her since day one. In the drama it is shown but it gets buried underneath the ridiculousness, though it emerges every now and then.

That is my main complaint about this drama,especially in the beginning. That little bit of flame was what made the manga so enjoyable and is missed here making this just ok. Too bad because this could have been far better. But what can you do about it?

If you haven't read the manga though, you are in a mood for something fluff and you don't overthink the plot much there is a chance you'll enjoy watching it. ^^

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Whirlwind smutty romance

I was overwhelmed by how fast-paced the romance in this drama was. Just watch Episode 1 and you would know what I mean. It had everything that could have happened in 3-4 episodes in other dramas.

Even though this employs the cold mature man melted by a warm younger woman trope, the leads had a healthy relationship. The icy man also melted pretty quickly. Despite their large age gap, the ML never disrespected the FL once they established their relationship. Even though the ML was more experienced while the FL was still naive, you can feel that both are invested in making the relationship work. Though there were some jealousies, it never reached to the point of becoming a Great misunderstanding.

However, despite the seemingly great relationship, I can't help but feel some ick factor, it felt creepy somehow. Maybe it's just me but the ML was too overconfident and calculating, maybe he was just too experienced. To be honest, he never forced the FL to do anything she didn't want to, the FL just kept saying sorry for everything even when she had nothing to be sorry for. The ML finds this naivety super cute and when she says sorry you can be sure that he will kiss her or make love with her. So expect a lot of skinship scenes.

I also did not understand what happened in the last few episodes with the ML's stepmother. I didn't know what the conflict was or why the FL's solution resolved the conflict. I just know that everyone was happy.

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Little light drama full of sweet moments

Love Is Phantom is not the best drama out there, but it's definitely worth watching, especially when you just want to relax, not thinking about complicated stories and just enjoying a little bit of sweetness.
The episodes are a little bit shorter, around 24 minutes, so 10 episodes feels like very short time to tell a complicated story, which is true. The plot is quite straightforward but full of kissing and warm love moments that will make your heart flutter.
The main cast is chosen really well, I like both characters, the manly and sweet side of Hase-san, and nice and cute Momoko. Their chemistry just works especially well.
The thing I regret is that I thought some of the side characters will play a bigger role in the plot, but these were just merely short episodes when they interacted with the duo and nothing much happened, but sure, the time was very short for it.
I really liked it and can recommend watching it to everyone who just wants to sit and relax with coffee (most of the scenes are taking place in a café so I always wanted to drink coffee during watching), likes heartwarming moments and lot of kissing scenes.

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Drop it like it's hot! Or not...

Ok, so I don't mind less plot and more kissing but the little plot there is should make just a little bit of sense! The two main characters keep on doing and saying things that are jarring and unrealistic, and the whole thing just feels like the disjointed first draft of a 15 year old wannabe writer.
And the acting is...
The actress starts as cute and submissive, Coffee And Vanilla style, but then they try to make her into this bizarre hysterical mother hen type as well and it just doesn't blend together. The hero is another coffee and vanilla type, all the girls fall for him because he's good looking and rich and full of the elusive x factor... but as a viewer I didn't see any of this in him. He's just this mediocre guy that does and says things that don't make any sense.
I'm dropping, not even finishing the first episode.

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