I am not a fan of sudden love at first sight kind of romances. For them to be believable it has to at least be mutual and the chemistry believable. Here the leads fall in love and are in a relationship within the first episode. At least the ML has seen the FL before but the FL just falls for a handsome face and a kind gesture and decides to accept him as a boyfriend. This supposedly from a totally innocent college girl new to Tokyo.
The ML does his best to save the drama, his affection and feelings translate to the screen. But the FL characterization as a doe eyed virginal college student totally spoils the romance because even after she supposedly falls in love and even sleeps with the ML she remains stiff, shy and immature till the very last episode! There were intimate scenes scattered throughout the drama and they all felt robotic and totally off putting as there was no build up to the romance and no cooperation from the FL. The drama would have worked better with just back hugs from the ML.
All the cliches you expect from a romance are present in this - cold handsome CEO ML mushy in love, pretty innocent poor village girl FL, something like a love triangle (but gets squashed within one episode), parent issue (again gets resolved within one episode), jealous friend, competitive friend who crosses the line (he even kisses the FL forcibly and she is dumb enough to go work at his cafe after that - talk about being brainless). None of them work because it all feels forced, cliched and not an organic buildup to the story.
The only redeeming factor about this one is that it is over in 10 episodes and yet it felt like a waste of time. I felt quite bad for the ML for wasting his potential on this drama where the script and FL characterization were absolutely pathetic.
I have seen many korean dramas where the buildup of the relationship is so masterfully done you root for the couple once they confess their feelings. This is my first Japanese drama and it has put me off so much I doubt I will see another Japanese one. If anyone is reading this review and feel there are actual good Jdrama romcoms out there kindly suggest those to me and change my mind.