Primeiro Amor (2022)

You are always gonna be my love

Esse é o dorama mais lindo que já vi! Sem defeitos!
História muito bem desenvolvida, que te prende e trás um mistos de sensações. Estou simplesmente apaixonada por esta obra-prima. E toda ligação das músicas da Utada Hikaru com a história.
De fato, ela se apaixonou duas vezes por ele, porque sempre o amou. E ele nunca deixou de amar, mesmo sem as memórias. Este é o verdadeiro significado de almas gêmeas e destino, tem pessoas que estão destinadas e não importa o quanto você goste dela, ela já tem sua pessoa.
A protagonista recuperando suas memórias e perseguindo seus sonhos foi tão perfeito, e ainda fazendo isso com o amor de sua vida.

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Eu também quero um primeiro amor.

E foi com esse sentimento que finalizei "first love", em reencontrar meu primeiro amor fracassado e viver um lindo romance na atualidade. Meu coração se encheu de alegria ao ver as diversas cenas do Harumichi e da Yae na adolescência, eles me fizeram tão feliz. Já na fase adulta, eu chorei muito mesmo, muito devido a carga emocional que os atores deram aos personagens, que foi incrível e fascinante. Quero destacar o modo pelo qual a história foi contada, sem pontas soltas ou situações criadas pra que as coisas dessem certo, isso me deixou muito imersa na história e fez com que eu maratonasse, o que não foi bom, já que me sentia extremamente triste e com a energia sugada após cada episódio. Quero realmente assistir novamente, foi uma experiência incrível.

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Sereno

Se você quiser viajar por aguas tranquilas , esse drama é perfeito para você. O enredo é interessante e as atuações são boas. Gosto muito da histórias representadas aqui, é de pessoas normais com problemas normais que todo mundo pode ter, você se emociona várias vezes, e tem alguns momentos que você pode até se indetificar com uma coisa ou outra. Os personagens são humanizados simples, sem muito glamur e efeitos que vemos em outros dramas.

Toda via nem tudo são flores , achei o drama bem arrastado mas não prejudicou a experiência em assisti-lo, foi interessante, não espere muita adrenalina ou melodrama aqui essa não é a intenção do drama, estando preparado para isto recomendo que você assisa, para mim foi um bom drama para passar o tempo.
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Serene

If you want to travel on smooth waters, this drama is perfect for you. The plot is interesting and the performances are good. I really like the stories represented here, it's about normal people with normal problems that everyone can have, you get emotional several times, and there are some moments that you can even identify with one thing or another. The characters are simple humanized, without much of the glamor and effects that we see in other dramas.

Not everything is flowers, I found the drama very drawn out but it did not affect the experience of watching it, it was interesting, do not expect a lot of adrenaline or melodrama here, this is not the intention of the drama, being prepared for this I recommend that you watch it, for me was a good drama to pass the time.

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Um Romance Maduro Bem Construído

Honestamente não gosto de histórias de primeiro amor, geralmente elas são maçantes e extremamente irritantes. Sim, eu confesso que só decidi assistir esse drama por causa do Satoh. Logo no primeiro episódio já percebi que esse J-drama não é um drama qualquer de um ator que eu gosto, não mesmo.

First Love: Hatsukoi é um drama maduro, com enredo interessante e atuações muito boas. Quanto mais você assistir mais quer saber sobre a história dos dois protagonistas, o que aconteceu com eles no passado e porque vivem dessa forma no presente. O desenvolvimento é lento, elaborado e denso, sem futilidades e muito realista.

Um ponto que me desagrada em dramas com transição de tempo entre passado e presente é que muitas vezes elas ficam confusas e a história acaba ficando chata de acompanhar. Se você é como eu, pode ficar tranquilo que aqui você não terá este problema, as passagens do tempo são muito bem apresentadas e agradáveis de assistir.

Com um romance sério, personagens bem construídos, história bem envolvente e uma produção primorosa esse drama merece muito reconhecimento.

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Hatsukoi

QUE DRAMA PERFEITO, LINDO DO INÍCIO AO FIM. EU TÔ TÃO FELIZ!!!!!!!! FECHOU MEU ANO COM CHAVE DE OURO SIM!
Sério, eu tenho tanto pra falar não sei por onde começar. Primeiro é incrível como a história foi desenvolvida inspirada em MÚSICAS dá pra acreditar nisso? E o mais engraçado é que apareceu um trailer aleatório no meu YouTube e eu fiquei com vontade de ver por causa da música e porque parecia ser triste!
Tão lindo, muito bem escrito, tão cheio de emoção! Os atores foram incríveis, acompanhar o passado deles e o presente, ver o filho dela tendo seu primeiro amor e com a ajuda dela e dele foi tão lindo ??
Ver ele mesmo novo apoiar ela e nos sonhos dela e continuar com essa ligação entre eles, é realmente amor e destino, tão lindo, me senti tão tocada por essa relação tão verdadeira.
A relação dela com o filho foi tão linda de ver.
As músicas são incríveis, as cenas, o azul que acho que faz parte deles kkkkkkk
Ensinou tanto, sobre sonhar, arriscar, viver, ser feliz, sobre o amor! Não me importaria de viver algo tão lindo isso!
Eu não sei o que dizer, eu fiquei tão emocionada, esse último episódio foi tão LINDO. ELES SÃO INCRÍVEIS ????
EU AMEI.

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Fated Love - Neither Time Nor Distance Can Prevent It

First Love: Hatsukoi has beautifully captured the twists and turns of destined love. With Fate pushing two people together but also pulling them apart when tragedy occurred, it was an addictive emotional roller coaster ride filled with the rapture of first love, the regret of lost love, and the joy of second chances.

A wonderful story about a love that transcended the sands of time, this drama fell into comfortable and familiar tropes. However, in this show, I found the cliches charming. With such strong chemistry between the leads (younger and older versions), I was happy just to be along with the ride and watch the heartfelt romance unfold.

Using distinct color palettes and compelling imagery, the director, Kanchiku Yuri, and the cinematographers breathed new life into tired story elements. Fluid camera movements transitioned the viewer seamlessly from the flashbacks of the leads' past into the reality of their present circumstances.

I liked how the director used elements like the snow, the sea, and the sounds of planes; many scenes were like expressive photographs with period details. In this show, color was not only an emotion, a state of mind but also part of the story itself. The way the show filtered and focused on the colors allowed me to experience the story through a unique lens that drew me further into it.

Of course, the music was one of this drama's most notable aspects. After all, Hikaru Utada's songs- First Love and Hatsukoi, inspired the story. In addition to these two, the drama music, including instrumental pieces by Taisei Iwasaki and other songs, captured the emotional moments flawlessly - joyful, nostalgic, or heart-wrenching. The music evoked empathy for the characters and was crucial to the narrative.

Despite a few rough spots that needed smoothing out, the story was well-written and flowed nicely. I appreciate that the plot was not only about romantic love but also about coming of age and the consequences of choices. There were also risque scenes which was an interesting change from the more conservative Chinese and Korean dramas.

The excellent acting also made this drama enjoyable for me. The characters were likable and relatable. The female lead's mother had moments where I wanted to smack her, but her heart was in the right place.

I liked and respected Mitsushima Hikari's Noguchi Yae, a character that I would describe as resilient. Society forced the idea of some being better than others and imposed unfair judgment on people like Yae's mother, but regardless, Yae knew that she and her mother deserved just as much as anyone else. Hikari was so lovely to watch, and her beguiling performance, along with Satoh Takeru as Namiki Harumichi, added the depth that completed the show. Takeru, with his melt-your-heart gaze, portrayed Harumichi perfectly. He is a really subtle actor whose eyes and micro-expressions speak volumes.

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the younger versions of the leads by Yagi Rikako and Kido Taisei. They were able to convey the feelings of an all-consuming idealistic young love, and Taisei's earnestness won me over as young Harumichi.

In summary, I do recommend this drama! I love a good love story, and this was definitely that. It is a story in which you cannot spend too much time thinking about the details. You just have to accept that the universe has plans for everyone, and everything will play out splendidly. As long as you enjoy the show in its little contained, cliched world, there is plenty to relish. Don't forget to watch the ending credits scene to the very end.

For posterity, I have included the Spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWTSDEMZlKWZw?si=282686721a124f1d
Other songs:
- Escapade by Emro: https://open.spotify.com/track/71Pu8L7LWuig8tY3zuKH8C?si=44416f6cad1c4963
- Sleep With You by Egil Olsen
https://open.spotify.com/track/6dJabU4OhnOfyByP8NQeOF?si=caf81692d1dc4e4d
- Hard Work and Fate
https://open.spotify.com/track/29mpuWWmRUdH9P2zXz9a4k?si=858ee21bbd2040e4

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It's hell on Earth to keep driving, knowing it's really just a wrong turn.

^Summary of Harumichi's life so far, JK.

STORY - 9 ⭐️
This drama has artfully weaved some historical events (including this COVID pandemic era), cultural references, even social and political issues within this story. About the love story, I wouldn't say that it is something new; there are some cliches; but what I like most are the scenes that made me curious and then find more about it scenes later. Every character was well written, making them real people and have their own depth. I am not sure very sold with the 'love story' between Tsuzuru and Uta but maybe I'm just invested with the main couple's story.

Although presented as a love story in the trailers, it also showed youth's goals and dreams and how some get to fulfill it, some not making it or just taking detours. Some scenes can get preachy about it but over-all, the story's execution is actually good.

ACTING/CAST - 10 ⭐️
There's no denying that the main couple are veteran actors. Don't want to spoil anything but there's this scene that really made me tear up. The young actors did well too and their chemistry suits the theme of first love. Despite not looking like alike, (at least we get the moles right) I can definitely see the young characters maturing into the adult counterparts. Even the supporting characters too had delivered a good performance.

MUSIC - 10 ⭐️
Aside from Utada Hikaru's songs, I find Tsuzuru's music and the drama's sound design and transition faultless. I am no sound or music aficionado but as I watch this with my headphones, I find everything seamless and cinematic. There were a couple of mellow English songs too and it fit well in the atmosphere of the whole drama.

REWATCH VALUE - 8.5 ⭐️
I am not someone who rewatches dramas but the cinematography and the cast's performance alone could easily make me watch it again if I have the time.

OVERALL - 9⭐️

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Melodramatic and cliché-ridden

It was honestly difficult to rate this drama. On the one hand acting performances were top tier and the cinematography was wonderful. On the other hand the script and plot devices were frustratingly poor and predictable. So, I'll start with recalling some of the positives about "First Love." I have to give credit to the amazing acting of the female lead actress Mitsushima Hikari. She plays the adult version of the character Yae and I thought her performance was very convincing and well done. She acted with her eyes and facial expressions without needing a word of dialogue to convey what her character was thinking and going through. A highlight is the scene where Yae gives her son away and is crying on the road. That scene broke me and felt so real. Another great acting performance was that of the young Harumichi played by Kido Taisei. I thought the actor stole every scene he was in. He was very charismatic and multifaceted. He brought a teen and young adult Harumichi to life. Another plus, was frankly how this drama was beautiful to look at. The way color, lighting, and scenic details were used made for a pleasing experience to the eyes.

Now on to the things that made me rate this drama a 6.5.
To start, I could understand that this drama is based on a ballad "First Love" from 1999 and is clearly inspired by the melodrama romances of that era including Majo no Jouken, which interestingly enough used the song First love as it's theme. Also, I see the Taiwanese drama Autumn's Concerto as a possible influence as well. That's all fine and good, except First love 2022 incorporates all the hair splitting frustrating cliches of that bygone time and combines it into a mess of inconsistencies and plot driven narratives. And like a lot of 90s-00s melodramas, First Love starts off with promise and leaves viewers hooked only to fall flat on its face midway through. Like some reviews already covered, the tired old amnesia cliche is used as a plot device to separate our main leads. We also have the villain parent(s) that purposely keeps the young lovebirds apart, ruining their lives in the process. Very annoying! Yae gets amnesia and conveniently doesn't remember Harumichi at all. Her friend visits and even mentions him to her yet Yae never looks him up or investigates further. Yae's mother sees how her daughter is suffering for years and never tells her the truth. There were several moments that the mom made me want to punch my fist in a wall. The perfect time for Yae's mom to tell her the truth was when Yae gave up her son to her divorced husband. At this point the marriage and rich lifestyle the mother wanted for her daughter had failed so why not confess to Yae about her lost first love? In fact why was anyone keeping Yae's past from her, including the adult Harumichi? All these poor writing choices found in the worst melodramas like this one is to keep the main couple apart for as long as possible and make unnecessary events come between them. It's supposed to make for a powerful epic reunion of the lovers, but often it just results in an anticlimactic ending where viewers like myself forget to care.

Some bonus nit picks and wtfs:
*5th episode sex scene. Graphic and ill fitting for a romantic love story. Ml has sex with a random, has another scene where he gets physical with a gf, and Yae gets no intimate scenes at all. Did she have an immaculate conception or what lol.
*Harumichi's sister randomly tells Yae that her brother breastfed until 3rd grade and was addicted to pornos spending a whopping amount on AV tapes. Later in the timeline, Harumichi offers some of these porno tapes to Yae's 14 yr old son, yikes!
*Episode 8 where Harumichi just up and leaves Yae permanently and moves out of the country. Yae confessed that she loved him and he had already broke up with his fiancee. So wtf. Again, the show threw sense out the window for an "epic" reunion.
*Adult Harumichi cheated with his fiancee by kissing and flirting with Yae. What a swell guy.
*The time line issue. The first past timeline is supposed to be in the late 90s but things don't add up, such as "First love" the album and song came out April 1999. The CD is seen on display at a music store at the end of the first episode as if it's just been released making the year 99. Yet, teen Yae and Harumichi go to the theater to watch Titanic, came out in 1997 or Armageddon, which came out in 1998. I doubt these movies were still playing in Japanese theaters in 1999. Also, the CD player and earbuds used in the show look like a later model than what existed in the late 90s. Several other time period inaccuracies are present if you notice them.

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A quiet drama about how life goes on

Let me start by saying that I think the amnesia trope is one of the worst tropes out there — it's convenient, it's tired, and it's a lazy way of forcing characters to go through character development all over again. But there are some dramas where amnesia IS the plot, to which I have no choice but to just wait and see if it's done well.

In this case, it's...okay? The event itself and the fallout immediately after it is almost laughably early 2000s drama cliche, but the entire drama somehow does a good job of staying grounded in its melodramatic vibe and I think that's the part that makes all the difference.

At its core, this drama is very nonconfrontational, which I kind of have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it feels like there are scenes missing, especially discussions between characters that I wanted to see but didn't.

On the other hand, it feels like that's part of what gave this drama its mellow, realistic vibe. There are some things in life that you don't say, some unsent letters that will never be read, some decisions you can never undo. But life goes on.

Overall, this was a comforting watch and I admit I'm partial to the younger timeline (as I expected) simply because of how innocent, fun, and full of life the characters were. There are some side characters that got more screen time than I would've liked, but the leads did the job and stole my heart, all to the the tune of a fantastic OST.

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Starts strong but falls apart midway

I had high hopes for this one but despite an engaging start it kind of petered out and I started to get bored in the final stretch. Others have already mentioned the use of cliche tropes, which was clearly intentional and not necessarily a bad thing when deployed well. But in this show I don’t think they pulled it off.

The drama started strong, with the past timeline with the teen versions of the characters a particular bright spot. I found their story utterly charming and the actors were great.

Unfortunately the adult story line was a mess, despite strong performances. The pacing was off, with plot points dragged out unreasonably long and side stories that added little to the main narrative. There were multiple points in the story when I didn’t understand why the leads were behaving a certain way - and it was clear that the only real answer was the plot demanded it. Worst of all, despite being about 3 hours longer than it should have been, the show didn’t even provide satisfying resolutions to many of the conflicts and questions it introduced (I felt this most keenly wrt the FL’s mother, who was never taken to account for her interference that resulted in years of misery for everyone involved). And the choice to drag out the reunion until the last 15 minutes of the final episode meant we saw precious little of our couple actually together.

Lastly, I’ll just say that I thought the overall tone of the drama was a mismatch for the story. The main narrative was about a couple who were deeply in love losing 25 years together mostly because of outside interference, but the characters never seemed to get angry or feel any resentment about it. They were actually pretty chill most of the time despite the absolute tragedy of the story, and the tone of the whole drama was curiously light. A second pass on the script to tighten up the writing all around would have served this drama well.

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A solid Japanese drama

It's about first love (obviously if you see the title lol) and how no matter what happens in life, one never really forgets even two decades later. The drama moves at a good pace and has interesting supporting characters. It has beautiful cinematography as well. The interaction and chemistry between the two are excellent. Both Satoh Takumi and Hikari Mitsushima display complex emotions throughout. Each scene of their meetings was natural and there are many memorable lines in the script as well as emotional silent scenes that do not need words but are left to the virtuoso of the actor such as Satoh Takumi.

The "teenage" actors did an excellent job as well demonstrating the zest, excitement, and energy of a first crush, a first love. The drama does a great job of balancing the past and present in a non-confusing way.

The music (two songs) is from the ever-popular Utada Hikaru and this drama was inspired by those songs. Because of that, I read that this drama was top 10 in several countries and during the time it was streaming, it was number one in Japan. It was a success. I loved it, and I admit that I usually do not have the patience to watch slice-of-life or romance dramas but this is one to watch and share with those you care about.

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