Pleasantly Surprised
I really enjoyed this beautiful love story of soul mates who fall in love as teenagers and lose track of each other into their adult years. It had me from the very first episode, very well-written and just a joy to watch the highly talented cast. When tragedy strikes, I was afraid the show would fall into a cliche plot, but it kept its dignity and sailed to a satisfactory end, despite the slow parts in the plot midway. I loved the slow burn of the first episode. There was an intimate sweetness portrayed so wonderfully by the young actors that they won me over completely.There are a few things I would have liked fleshed out. Perhaps a tete-a-tete between mother and daughter after everything transpires. The talk on how her mother's over-proctective attitude basically changes the course of her life and affected her would have added some closure in that, at times, rocky relationship. The pace slows down a bit towards the middle but then picks up again. The ends wrap up much too nicely making her eventual healing a little implausible. I was still very pleased with this beautiful love story. I highly recommended it.
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Forceful Fateful encounters
I am always skeptical about watching a Japanese drama.......They are capable of making a perfectly fine love story into a tragic ending one or not so great love story into somehow workable piece. So i read a lot of comments before staring this and 80% of the comments are positive.....so i gave it a go.......Let's talk about the story first....... Was it unique , NO? Was it memorable, NO? Was it worth your time, Probably yes.....
This story spans from leads highschool till all way to their late 30s. They are each other's first love, how sweet it is......But here comes the 1st cliche , Amnesia ........Damn!!!! FL conveniently just forgets her years with the ML...lol.....Later she falls in love with some other guy and marries him and they have a son together...... But she gets divorce with him for some silly reason. In every household , every in laws looks down on the other...but to get divorce over that...hmmmm....i mean, FL didn't do anything when she found out her husband is cheating on her but decided to divorce him when her mother in law insulted her mom. Ok.....This mom of FL's, she single handedly destroyed her daughters life because she wanted her daughter to lead a life different from hers. FL's misery for 20 years was because of this mom's single decision of keeping the leads away from each other....I don't know why people forget that getting rich on our own is different than marrying into a rich household. Obviously the poor will be looked down upon.
Acting by the cast: ML's younger version is the only memorable character for me.....His acting was by far superior than all the senior actors combined. Rest all did a good job, i might forget about them in a day or 2.
Casting: Cast for the ML (Harumichi) , both the actors(young and the old) looked more or less similar but not the FL. Their faces are so different , i don't know who approved them to be cast as younger and older version of Yae. No doubt both are good looking but not similar looking at all.
Cons:
1) Many viewers have pointed out many discrepancy in timeliness but i didn't note down that in particular because there were many time jumps in just 5 mins of a scene. Something else stood out for me....The actor who has played Yae's ex-husband is the same guy. There is no young and old version for him. He dates the younger version of the FL but after marriage she has magically turned into the older version, lol.....
2) I still didn't understand the motive behind Harumichi looking for Yae after 20 years in tokyo. I mean, after he found her, he flirted with her, made her fall for him, kissed her and when she confessed her feelings he left her and went abroad...i mean, why? Didn't he love her so he looked for her , so he broke up with his gf then why did he reject her ??? This is beyond me.....
3) Yae's memories came back just by listening to one song. I mean, she was just one song away from her lost memories. lol....
I feel life is short and the leads just spent 23 years in pushing and pulling. Last 3 years is totally on the ML, god knows why he rejected her....Writers attempt in showing the play of fate was little irritating. Thank god, this was just 9 episode series......
Will I watch this again, No....Will i recommend this to other, maybe....
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Romance sans guimauve, personnages réalistes sans noirceur, à consommer sans modération
J'ai toujours trouvé les Japonais très forts dans ce genre d’histoire sans vrais rebondissements, avec seulement la peinture délicate et sensible des sentiments, des états d’âme, et la description toute en nuance de la psychologie des personnages et de leur évolution.Là, je dois dire que c’est particulièrement réussi ! Si vous voulez un drama doudou (mais pas niais, pas sirupeux, ) avec une maîtrise parfaite des clichés du genre (amnésie, séparation, retrouvailles improbables) qui passent comme crème, comme on dit, il est pour vous. Rien ne semble artificiellement ajouté, ou mis en avant pour créer un faux suspens. Chaque situation s’inscrit dans l’histoire d’une façon parfaitement logique et rationnelle, et même ce que je déteste le plus, le « je t’aime mais je te quitte », est exactement à sa place et justifié par l’intelligence et la générosité du personnage, et non par le souci d’installer un faux rebondissement.
Le scénario très habile nous transporte sans cesse du passé au présent, de l’adolescence à l’âge adulte, allant un peu plus en profondeur à chaque fois. Les ellipses sont toujours très bien placées, n’apportant pas d’explications inutiles suivant l’épouse arrive chez sa mère avec sa valise… On a tout compris, ce qui se passe, et pourquoi ça se passe sans y passer 3 épisodes !! Toutes les pièces se mettent en place peu à peu pour aboutir à la conclusion finale.
Et la fin !!! Une petite merveille de bonheur ! Je défie quiconque de ne pas avoir un sourire jusqu’aux oreilles à la fin !
Je conseille, je conseille !!!! je CONSEILLE !
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watched 11/24-25
when i first saw the trailer i knew i was definitely going to be tuning in tho i do not know much of hikaru utada's songs, the trailer was enough to get me hooked. fist love stories may be cliche but it's a classic and if it's done well then im sold! what made me interest to even watch was the early 2000s/late 1990s setting (tho they can absolutely be heartbreaking - looking at you 2521 and 20th century girl) and the cinematography, let alone i had never seen a drama based on a song before. on an 'overall' note, the drama does not only touch on the main first love storyline, but as well as a youthful coming of age story of two people you see growing up and how it unfolds. it's also a story about a mother who works two jobs day and night to support her family. its about teenagers having dreams and goals of their own. it's about a man and woman finding themselves years later. i loved this drama on how it would give us a certain 'piece of the puzzle' then showing the backstory leading up to the exact 'moment'. i tried veryyy hard to avoid spoilers and the way yae (FL) got into the car crash and HER GETTING AMNSESIA??? had me shocked because i know the way dramas try to work around the trope and it sometimes does not end up as good as it should have been, but let me say that if yae never regained her memories with harumichi i would be pissed off and im so glad they did not do them dirty <3 i also loved harumichis relationship with his family (especially w/ his sister)the cinematography was breathtaking, every shot was so beautifully done - i think one of the best this year! as well as the writing, it was so inspiring sometimes. the soundtrack was great as always i think using 'first love' by hikaru utada was a perfect option for a drama based on it. rewatch value 3/5, not bad i think i see myself rewatching on a cold or rainy day when im sad or bored a year from now since its such a quick watch anyways. it really sucks how little promo there's been for the drama but i better see more people watching so it gets higher ratings and im very content this was my first japanese drama for 2022!!
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encounters and disagreements
To begin with, I should say that I cried a lot, I was extremely moved by many moments.At first I discovered the drama because of the music and every time it played I would burst into tears. When you catch the references throughout the series it's very emotional, like the strawberry scene, when you notice the fish scene...
I believe a lot in destiny, and that was exactly the case, I identified with the story a few times, and when I realized it, it was a new reason to cry.
It hurt deep in my soul to see all the time they wasted, the dreams they gave up on realizing, hurts to know everything she could have been, what they could have been if her mother hadn't done that, and then her mother still comes with the hypocritical talk that her (the mother's) fate was terrible? Everything was her fault and hers alone (it made me very angry).
I cried really hard in the scene where she was working cleaning while watching the flight attendants pass by, living the life she dreamed of living.
To top it off, I found the ending extremely rushed, it could have shown her meeting his family, her son discovering his mother's story. I was happy that they made their dreams come true. But I found the son's romance with the dancer a bit drawn out, I understand that because of that he got a lot closer to his mother and Namiki, but I found it so boring (It seemed like they were trying to promote some career, it wasn't natural).
Namiki is the embodiment of my ideal type, and their story is the most perfect thing, all the encounters and disagreements brought them together on the same path. It was emotional to discover the moment they fell in love for the first time they teenagers were the most perfect and cute thing).
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Une pépite de douceur
Un des plus beaux dramas japonais que j’ai vu jusqu'à maintenant.En cette fin d’année et période de fêtes, ce fut une magnifique surprise. Le jeu des acteurs est juste et touchante que ce soit dans les périodes actuelles ou passées. Sato Takeru est toujours aussi bon, et sa compagne à l’écran, que je découvre, est vraiment d’une douceur désarmante. Les acteurs qui jouent leurs rôles plus jeunes sont aussi excellents. L’OST est très belle et en accord avec le drama. L’histoire réserve quelques petits rebondissements, et c’est un concentré de douceur, bien mené et avec un très belle réalisation. On se laisse porter sans difficulté.
A découvrir.
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Great Acting, Lacking in Writing
LIKES:Colour palate, cinematography, landscapes and location settings, lighting, are all very good.
Acting: Young Harumichi (Kido Taisei), FL (Hikari Mitsushima), ML (Takaru Sato), young Yae (Rikako Yagi), were all excellent showing emotion and fitting their characters.
The concept of the story: First Love, the kind you can’t forget even as an adult and want to find again.
The sign language used was nice to see too.
Sound Track was okay, but needed more from the 90s to fit the story. The music didn’t overpower the voices of the actors and actresses. I did like the music tracks used to show Tsuzuru’s music production talent.
DISLIKES:
Production: once again no film stabilizer and it was extremely annoying and unnecessary for the camera to be shaking!
Editing: some of the sequences were out of order for showing the past when the main characters were teenagers.
Props: CDs, CD player, movie references, had wrong year if it’s supposed to match the song release. Some of the “costumes” were not the correct era.
Writing: Plot holes, cliches and a totally stupid (X-rated or should be) sex scene thrown in. KassyFan27 gives a lot of insight into the messy writing. Amnesia as a plot device, to explain Yae’s memory gaps… ridiculous or just lazy writing. Side characters that didn’t add to the story or help with character growth. Yae seemed to have character growth but not so much with Mr. Namiki.
OVERALL: I power watched it all in one night. I did like it, although it had some slow spots (pacing issues). Some stand out acting by a few people. I would recommend it if you like Melodramas or the ML & FL, but I won’t watch it again, (even though Takaru Sato looks very good in a uniform).
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100% worth watching if you enjoy romance
The male leads (both the teen and the adult) were just absolutely phenomenal in this show. The teenage girl and the adult woman FL didn't look much alike and that was honestly distracting.Some of the camera shots looked like paintings, especially at the beginning of each episode where they'd show the title. The still shot with the title was always absolutely beautiful.
It's not comedy, but-- like life-- there were some funny parts.
It's mostly sad, with a bit of hopeful and happy. I do have to say, I didn't understand the hero's reasoning in episode 8, it make no sense to me. Nor did the heroine's choices right after. It would've been good if they'd talked to someone to spell it out for the audience.
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Honestly.... a mixed bag.
I loved how Hatsukoi's trailer promised a modern touch despite all the old-school (read: classic) tropes. Never thought, the one characteristic of this drama that I looked forward to the most, would turn out to be so polarizing for me. The quiet and mellow narrative quality struck out to me as akin to an indie-movie. Which isn't problematic per se, but I would have still preferred my 'big moments' to be delivered as punchy and gut-wrenching. Dialing down the dramatic tension did disservice to what should have felt cathartic. It's certainly not how dramas would choose to deliver them.
Which brings me to my next point. I find the down-to-earth tones of a good slice-of-life j-dorama particularly endearing. However, for a 'fated' love story such as Hatsukoi, I question whether inundating the viewers with the mundanity, humdrum and the hardships of Yae's daily life was really the correct decision. The background noise from the never-ending series of details keeps us from fully realizing that the biggest tragedy in her life was indeed forgetting Harumichi (aka her first love).
Yes, her life is sh*tty, we get it. The writers didn't have to make it the 'bigger story to tell', is all I'm saying.
As for Harumichi, I was somehow hoping his defense background would have a part to play in how miserable and difficult his life has been too. But aside from a brief mention of a back-injury he received on the line-of-duty, and the Sendai Earthquake which doesn't play out exactly how you'd imagine in an angsty love-story... his character arc feels inconclusive because of details and events which add up to nothing. Again, I wish the writer did not undersell the 'real tragedy' of his first love being forgotten. And that his character background was realized to a fuller potential.
The movie-like treatment isn't entirely all negative though. Hatsukoi's strengths lie mainly in its cinematic narrative structure and I quickly ended up being a fan of its non-chronological storytelling. It lends a modern flair to melodrama-stories of the past with lengthy flashback arcs. The camera-language is beyond beautiful and the snowy Hokkaido landscapes were absolutely dream-like! The hardware department of the production has aced it, and viewers can clearly see where the money went! I enjoyed the performance of the younger actors, who were downright adorable (and sold the story more than the senior actors imo). The writer also cleverly sprinkles red-herrings throughout the early episodes, which kept me guessing from 'are Harumichi & Yae dating in the present or just heading their separate ways?' to 'is Tsuzuru Harumichi's son, and if so, how?' Made for an engaging watch, despite the obvious story flaws.
Bonus: the theme song (First Love by Utada Hikaru) isn't played to death, thankfully! :D
In conclusion, Hatsukoi is a good one-time watch, and even more so, if you aren't exactly a fan of old-school dramas. From a technical point-of-view, the drama appears super polished. My extremely biased POV is only a result of over-expectation, and anticipating the drama for TWO years.
However, it is my advice to ardent fans of the classics... you would miss those emotionally hard-hitting moments and the grandeur of larger-than-life love stories. Stick to Winter Sonata instead, if you wish to ugly-cry!
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Each memory has a soundtrack of its own. It takes 1 song to bring back 1000 of memories.
First love hatsukoi is a poem that you can read over and over again but still won't get bored. A love story full of heart breaks, mistakes and tragic turns.I watched it in the past and now I came here again after rewatching this, made me realise that how many times I watch this, I'll cry the same. This story makes you feel nostalgic, happy and sad all at once.
Actors did their job very well. Music is good. Overall quite overwhelming. Cinematography was beautiful. Found a extremely delicious looking dish Napolitan, I have to make that for sure!
P.S.- Don't forget to bring tissues. You'll need that.
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Fa credere nel destino!
Un drama corto ma drammatico e sofferto.Ambientato tra passato e presente, un amore da prima adolescenziale e poi il rincontro a distanza di anni con tanti eventi in mezzo.
Da giovanissimi si innamorano a prima vista praticamente ed è un amore bello dolce e innocente.Lei una brava ragazza e studente lui un bel ragazzo un po' selvaggio.
Un evento tragico interrompe questo amore giovanile e quando il destino li fa rincontrare praticamente si innamorano un altra volta ma lei ora è una mamma divorziata e che rimpiange la vita che avrebbe potuto avere mentre fa la tassista.Lui promesso sposo che dopo un infortunio aveva rinunciato alla vita che pensava.Lei non si ricorda di lui ma si innamorerà ma di nuovo si separeranno , ma poi finalmente un bel lieto fine.
In tutto ciò c'è sempre il destino dal primo incontro fino alla fine, fa credere e fa sperare che il destino si possa compiere nonostante tutte le difficoltà.
Attori molto bravi e la chimica tra le coppie davvero ottima.
Drama bello e sentimentale una piacevole visione.
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What it's like to live with a piece of your soul missing
This entire drama felt like you’re riding your bike under falling leaves of cherry blossom trees in the spring, only for someone to come out of nowhere and slam your fingers in their car doorOver and over
You’re eating a tasty dessert and someone comes and snatches the plate and fork from you
You’re enjoying a swim and someone comes up behind you and holds your head under water
You won the lottery and someone runs up on you and snatches your ticket
There’s a lot of pain, heartbreak and missed opportunities but oh, the joyous moments are filled with so much joy, and warmth.
This was a wonderful telling of the excitement and joys of youth-the carefree nature of that time. First love, dreams, hopes, family and everything else that seemed so fresh and novel-deserving of your excitement and reckless abandonment in an attempt to attain it.
It showed what it is to have hope and want for more from life and also how regret and a misstep can kill your spirit and alter the course of your life
Kido Tasei, you’ll always be famous💖 the eyes and smile that broke my heart
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