Watashi no Shite Kurenai Pheromone Kareshi (2022)

Nicely done

Shoutout to My Hot Sexless Lover!

This drama follows a group of young adults in contemporary Japan. Each are in a different stage of their lives as they try to figure out their relationships with other people and themselves. But what I really liked about this drama is that it's mostly for a sweet love letter about embracing your needs in a healthy and responsible way in order to love yourself and others.

The story overall is kinda generic, so it's really the acting that carries this drama and the actors deliver with their performances.

Overall, I enjoyed this drama for what it is: an easygoing drama about love, sex and friendship.

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A cautionary tale on what not to do in a relationship.

The focus of this drama isn't really on events per se so much as it is on human behavior and relationships.

We have a ML who seemingly has no interest in sex or physical intimacy of any kind and a FL who struggles to understand him and where she stands in their relationship without physical intimacy. Believe it or not, the issues in their relationship doesn't stem from this huge disparity of beliefs and desires but rather the fact that both of them seem to be allergic to communication of any form.

The core point of it all was the message, i felt, that there isn't one right way to be in a relationship and the understanding that each relationship should cater to the needs and personalities of the people in them. (I could and should elaborate but although this doesn't feel like a drama that can be "spoiled" per se, my elaboration would include too much of an analysis of the characters that they it might influence your watching)

The execution wasn't great because they seem to be more focused on getting the message across than they did on telling a good story but I didn't hate it. It would've been better had it been longer-then they could've better explored this whole thing instead of it feeling as rushed and nonsensical as it did.

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About the younger generation lacking intimacy,

It seems this series has a message about the younger generation, which lacks desires or the will to have intimate relationships, suggesting that "everything is fine, you can live with this distortion" without addressing the causes and roots of these mental issues.

Story
A story about someone who is unable to maintain a intimacy relationship with his girlfriend, and both of them have to deal with the consequences. In my opinion, it's a diamond plot that could have been polished to reach particularly interesting places without forcing a contrived ending.
A good few years ago, Japanese series sometimes ended with an open ending or an unsatisfactory one. Today, this is hardly accepted; they always have to force a happy ending on the characters, even if it feels contrived and not right.

Acting/Cast
I am referring only to the main actors because the rest did not interest me, and I skipped their scenes.
The main actor is stunningly handsome; it's hard to know his acting abilities since, in my opinion, he wasn't really given a chance to show any emotional depth. On the other hand, the main actress was truly unbearable, and her acting abilities were nonexistent.

Music
The series' song was so successful that it distracted from the boredom of some scenes.

Overall
I don't have a problem with it being an educational program about intimacy, as most Japanese series are like that. However, I felt like I was watching a Korean or Western series because they tried to impose very different values from those usually conveyed in the Japanese series I've watched. I didn't fully watch the ending, and I don't believe it's possible to be in a romantic relationship that remains platonic or in a relationship where one partner forces themselves to have sex just to please the other. It's impossible. A person without sexual drive cannot maintain a relationship with a woman who has natural desires and needs.

The attempt to present them as a normal couple at the end, thinking that if we just educate him to be different, it will work, doesn't work and won't work. It seemed like they were trying to force a contrived ending where a partner with needs can accept a partner without needs.

It could be that this approach didn't work for additional reasons, such as a lack of depth in exploring the emotions of a person without desires or his lack of understanding of himself altogether, as if it is a normal thing when it is clear that it isn't. There is something beyond that here.

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I didn't pass the patience test...

Even with short 20-minute episodes, it's difficult to have the patience to continue watching. I couldn't get past the fourth episode. I decided to watch this because I liked Watanabe Keisuke in Kamen Rider Zi-O and because I found the synopsis interesting. but in practice...

What we have here is an extremely boring couple who talk about their fears and frustrations with other people instead of being honest with each other. We start with ML... he is the one who asks to start a relationship with FL, but why didn't he make it clear from the first moment that he didn't want any kind of intimate physical contact? Did he think she would want to play holding hands forever?

Meanwhile, FL talked about her frustration with co-workers without any filter, and the way the entire episode revolved around the word 'sex' made for an irritating watching experience.

Now, you see, ML wasn't a virgin, but he acted like he was an asexual person. all the more reason why he should have told her that from the beginning. he may not have liked the experience and created a kind of aversion to sex, which wouldn't be out of this world because I'm an asexual person and I understand perfectly.

the fact here is that ML wanted FL as a girlfriend, but felt uncomfortable when she touched him. This could lead the plot to debate the issue of asexuality, instead of showing FL just crazy for literally wanting to devour ML all the time. I've already read spoilers here about them actually having relations, so it's a waste of time watching, because I imagine ML's anguished face in this scene, so I'll pass.

another point to add is: why are most romance drama Fl's so annoying? because they are often scandalous, cry in a way that irritates the viewer's eardrums and are so childish? the fourth wall breaks were unnecessary, and I couldn't feel any depth in Rei's character.

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Communication is key

This story is about 2 people trying to navigate a relationship when both have different expectations of a relationship and what they think will make them happy. While Shuto is content with companionship, Rei becomes confused and insecure because Shuto hasn't "made a move" on her. Learning to communicate and making decisions based on their own desires, instead of the expectations of others, is a difficult but ultimately rewarding path for both of them.

I think that this would have been a better series if the writers had left out the attempt at humor and faced the story head on. I was kind of disappointed that this didn't go the asexual or aromantic route, because that would have been a new and interesting story. However, it did portray the insecurities of a new relationship. They took it a little far, though, by having the couple act as though neither had experienced sex, although one was experienced and the other had had sex at least once prior.

It wasn't a great story but it wasn't horrible (except for the attempts to break the 4th wall by talking to the camera bits.) More natural acting would definitely have been my preference. The attempt to draw the audience into the story just didn't work well here.

Please ignore the individual ratings, because...was there even music?

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