Karafurable (2021)

Colorful Love is everything it needs to be and more

I started watching this because I was looking for more josei manga to read and it was easier to find information about the show than the manga - which was because it was actively airing at the time. I didn't expect much and was blown away by how this show succeeds at every single thing it sets out to do!

MINI REVIEW: Colorful Love is a light-hearted, fun-loving celebration of differences. The 'hook' is that the main male lead dresses and acts without regard for typical gender roles; stylist Meguru enjoys wearing frills and dresses and bright nail-art and makeup, while model Kira prefers long sleek skirts, see-through blouses and an occasional harness. This is not the only area in which the show feels fresh and progressive, and it handles much more than simple romance, without ever keeping you on your toes too much - it mostly remains upbeat and harmless. Besides that, the actors are all skilled and/or charismatic, the characters are all likeable (flaws included!), and the directing, lighting, styling and even the editing are all incredibly well-done and perfectly tailored to the tone of the show.

FULL REVIEW (some spoilers here, but nothing big):

Our main couple is Wako and Meguru. They were two high school besties who have always liked each other but never really said anything. Meguru endured a lot of bullying due to his "feminine" appearance and interests, while Wako thought he was just the cutest thing ever and stood up for him - helping him to become confident in these aspects of himself as an adult. They accidentally reunite at a photoshoot - Wako works as a member of a josei manga magazine editorial team and Meguru is, among other things, a stylist for absurdly self-absorbed model Kira. Kira is half of our secondary couple; Wako's more serious but not unkind boss and editor-in-chief Asahi is the other half. The show revolves around these couples, their trials and tribulations in their blossoming relationships (some sooner than others) and the struggles they face personally and at work.

STORY
The story is clear, set up very well through fun, brief flashbacks and there's nothing wrong with the pacing. One or two episodes may be spent elsewhere, outside of our main storyline (mostly surrounding the characters' jobs and the developments that occur professionally affecting them personally and vice versa), but as they tend to further develop relationships between characters (including platonic ones!), I find it hard to deduct points for that.

It was an incredibly smart decision to add a secondary pairing that was essentially invented for the show (scroll down for some notes on the source material). Firstly, because a fair share of romance drama viewers prefer to see the pre-relationship will-they-won't-they development, and Wako and Meguru's mutual enthusiasm for each other was never going to let them stay apart for more than a few episodes. Asahi and Kira's relationship fills this void, slowly and convincingly developing over the course of 9/10 episodes. Secondly, because this is where this drama, the script, and the performances really truly shine. Kira-"sama" is turned into this confusingly charming clown of a man, so self-absorbed he can't tell he is absolutely 100% embarrassing himself, to the point where you can't even question it and find yourself unironically enjoying everything about this man, even as he winks at the camera and throws his jacket onto an assistant's head to invite more pictures of his chest. Then, having established this bizarre figure, we introduce realistic, older boss lady Asahi who won't allow him to get away with shit-talking staff or trying to flirt with/intimidate her, so she punches him in the stomach and he is immediately struck by cupid's bow. He's not the brightest though, so it takes him a bit to catch up.

CHARACTERS/CAST
- From what I can tell, Yoshikawa Ai (Wako) is the most talented and emotional, giving a very accurate performance of a young working woman who escapes into entertainment media the second she's done with work, without allowing herself to become completely engulfed by it (her apartment, however, is mostly merchandise). Besides that, her comedic chops are amazing, from drooling over cute boys to hissing at Meguru's bullies. I wish every #relatable jdrama protagonist could be like this, instead of the fumbling embarrassing mess they're usually made into.
- Itagaki Rihito (Meguru) is perfect for the role, definitely the standout in terms of how he seems to have jumped right out of the manga.
- Mizuno Miki (Asahi) was perfect for her role too, a very convincing and occasionally conflicted straight man to Kira and a mentor figure for almost everyone else. I just love her. I love cool 40+ year old main female characters in romance dramas. Someone quick rope her into another role like this! Except she's the main character this time!
- Kira's over the top antics stealing almost the entire drama makes it a crime to forget about Kiriyama Ren (Kira) - I have no clue how he kept a straight face during any of that. The comedy alone would have sufficed, but the more genuine moments were completely believable too.
- Oda Oideyasu (Sakai-san) is hilarious and he constantly corrects everyone on language, without being particularly mean-spirited (except towards one character LOL). He gets a special mention for not only being hilarious, but displaying such an earnest sensitive side surrounding his single fatherhood and his daughter. That got to me.
- Nagato Takato (Yuu-tan) is the perfect children's TV show host - his switch into someone who was poisoned by the bullying during his upbringing, who was desperate to see Meguru fail, super believable. I was kind of worried he'd be a gay villain, but he's just gay! A bit of a villain for two episodes, but he joins the gang. I love to see it. Him and Meguru connect over being bullied for being gender non-conforming in different ways! It was handled well imo.

The MUSIC is cute. Does what it needs to. The OST did not change my life. But I don't think this is very important.

In terms of REWATCH VALUE, I have literally already rewatched several episodes multiple times. By accident! I am already planning to make different friends who don't usually watch jdramas watch this one with me - it's so easy to recommend because it's funny and light-hearted but never in a cheap, vapid way.

SOURCE MATERIAL ('My Androgynous Boyfriend').
- The manga has gorgeous art and pretty much the exact dynamic we see between Wako and Meguru. They've already been together for several years when the manga begins, while the show follows their accidental reunion after going their separate ways as close friends in high school.
- Kira exists in the manga, to be beautiful and vaguely arrogant, but not much more. In the show, Kira steals the spotlight everywhere he goes; he's a bizarrely self-absorbed comic relief character who doesn't really care about anyone at first, but changes and grows into someone you can almost take seriously sometimes, because he's so, so serious about initially-uninterested Asahi.
- Asahi does not exist in the manga. Wako has a boss, but she's quite different. Asahi is the closest the show gets to a true straight man, but she never feels like a buzzkill.
- The show's structure, pacing, and the addition of Kira and Asahi, the creative liberties that were taken to improve the show (as opposed to blindly sticking to the manga), really elevate the show, while Meguru and Wako feel perfectly in-character, making it a faithful adaption in spirit AND an improvement from the source material.

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A lighthearted take on gender issues

I wasn't sure what I expected of this show, but I enjoyed it immensely. It's mostly fluffy, sweet fun. If you're looking for a cute romance to brighten your day, this is it! However, I also appreciated the handling of different kinds of gender issues in this show. There is the obvious one of Meguru being androgynous and his journey towards sharing his views on beauty and gender with the world was inspiring. However, there are also other gender and sexuality issues that pop up, like should women have to choose between work and family? Are men held to higher standards in the workplace than women are? Is it forgivable to out someone without their consent? Although it was sometimes a little too on the nose, I really enjoyed the lighthearted way the show approached these topics. My review kind of makes it seem like the show is heavy, but really it's the opposite (sometimes it's VERY goofy...which I loved!)

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El amor no siempre tiene que encajar un solo esquema

Hermosísima historia de amores no convencionales, una pareja que busca mostrar un pantallazo de la realidad colorida que vivimos hoy día, al menos en los países donde hay mayor libertad de expresión. Esta es una historia de amor entre un chico que tiene una expresión de género andrógena en su forma de vestir, a quien le gusta el maquillaje y cosas que normalmente la sociedad ha encasillado como cosas para mujeres, este es un hombre que le gustan estas cosas, lo cual no tiene nada de malo y no lo hace menos hombre, este chico se enamora de una chica que al contrario de lo que se espera de las chicas, ella no se preocupa por estar a la moda ni cosas como el maquillaje, pero es muy apasionada por su trabajo. Con esta primicia empezamos una bella historia de descubrimiento, sobre como estas personas opuestas se reencuentran y se enamoran. Adicionalmente a la pareja principal, la historia nos muestra la vida de otros personajes, todos muy memorables, también nos enseña importantes lecciones de vida y formas de vida no convencionales, vemos temas como padres solteros, personas que buscan ser de una manera pero son percibidas de otra forma, personas que piensan que ser profesional es el arte de ocultar lo que realmente piensan, vemos el prejuicio de que la perspectiva de una mujer es algo general que todas las mujeres lo piensan de la misma forma; en resumen es una historia que nos enseña a apreciar la individualidad de las personas, y que el mundo es un mundo colorido lleno de personas que no necesariamente encajan en los patrones que la sociedad ha diseñado como ideales, y que esto no tiene nada de malo, al contrario, esta diversidad es la que trae cosas hermosas. La conclusión de la historia me encantó, pienso que no pudo ser mejor, no podía parar de sonreir del hermoso final que nos regaló el equipo de producción de esta serie.

Los personajes de la historia son realmente el punto más fuerte de la historia, Rihito Itagaki como Meguru fue para mi uno de los mejores personajes que he visto en mucho tiempo, aparte de que lo amé, me sentí muy identificada con él en muchas cosas, yo siempre he pensado que la las reglas de vestimenta de lo que se supone que una mujer o un hombre "deben" vestir son simplemente reglas impuestas por la sociedad, y me encantó que Meguru sea un personaje que logra romper este paradigma, y mostrar que se puede tener la expresión visual que desee, y eso no hace que deje de ser él, esto reafirma su individualidad, esto es algo que me pegó mucho, y sentí que el personaje de Meguru nos enseña un mensaje muy positivo que yo esperaría que muchos tuvieran la oportunidad de ver, me agradó mucho ver a Rihito representando este personaje, que según él mismo, comenta que Meguru representa aproximadamente un 80% de el mismo, y creo que esto quedo muy claro, ya que se sentía muy natural, gracias a este dorama me volví su fan ahora. Ai Yoshikawa fue espectacular como Wako-chan, ella nos muestra que las mujeres de hoy en día pueden escoger otros caminos, pueden ser profesionales si así lo desean, no tienen que estar encasilladas a un simple esquema, vemos como Wako-chan aprende a no sentir pena de mostrarle a los demás lo que ella realmente le gusta y disfruta, y vemos como aprende a expresarse mejor en todos los sentidos, su desarrollo fue impresionante, no siempre el chico es el que debe proteger a la chica, esto puede ser alrevez en algunos casos y eso no tiene nada de malo! posteriormente, tenemos a Kiriyama Renn como Kira, su papel fue espectacular, fue quien nos trajo la mayor cantidad de risas durante toda la historia, con sus incontables intentos de conquistar el corazon de Asahi, interpretada por la bellísima Miki Mizuno, fueron realmente una pareja que me gustó muchísimo, y disfrute cada momento de sus interacciones. El resto de personajes fueron muy buenos también, una mención especial para Takato Nagata quién representó a Yuutan y nos trajo un poco de oscuridad a la historia en algunos puntos, ya que no todo puede ser siempre perfecto! adicionalmente, Takuya Kusakawa fue muy tierno como Sasame, me gustó mucho sus incontables intentos de querer ser cool, y no puedo dejar de mencionar a Akihisa Shiono como el presidente de la empresa de entretenimiento, su lenguaje corporal y expresiones fueron demasiado divertidas e inolvidables, pude notar su pasión! Oda Oideyasu también me gustó muchp como Sakai, con su acento de Osaka, siempre intenso y divertido, pero también conmovedor en muchas escenas. En general, voy a extrañar mucho a todos estos personajes.

La música de la serie es otro punto muy importante que debo mencionar, todas la banda sonora que escuchamos en los momentos entre Meguru y Wako, o los momentos divertidos de Kira y Asahi, la de momentos conmovedores, y la de momentos de éxito, son realmente excelentes músicas, la canción del opening también es muy bonita y tiene un ritmo muy animado, adicionalmente el tema principal de la serie "Question" de Amber's me encantó también, cada vez que comenzaba a sonar al final de cada capítulo en momentos donde mi corazón estaba en su límite, es algo que realmente nunca olvidaré.

Este dorama queda en mi lista de los mejores doramas que he visto en mi vida, una historia de amor que realmente nos muestra las parejas de la actualidad, una historia que hizo que sintiera mi corazón apretado de tantos sentimientos que me generó, hace tiempo que no veía una historia de amor que me hiciera sentir de esta forma, todo gracias a hermosos personajes interpretados por maravillosos actores y un guión que puedo decir que estuvo en un nivel de perfección que pocos doramas han podido llegar. Este es un dorama que me encantaría volver a ver todas las veces que sea necesario y lo recomiendo mucho a todos aquellos que estén dispuestos a ver una historia de amor que sale del estereotipo usual que normalmente estamos acostumbrados a ver.

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Good Enough

Japanese Drama 'Colourful Love: Gender Free Boy' is an innovative drama with an unconventional love story. The drama explores many taboo ideas and presents deeper and purer, probably more ordinary relationships.

However, the main characters are overshone by the second lead, who, by all means, was far more interesting than the main lead. And he kept the interest high till the ending, when the love story was established by then and few surprises were added to keep things perky and fresh. Actually, the drama, even though is presented as romance, it was more focused on the main character's career and friends.

On the other hand, the leading lady was a pretty fun character. She was not only relatable, but also a strong lead with a nice personality. The male lead was a bit banal though. Still, the performances were all spot on from everyone in the cast.

Finally, the colors and the costumes of the drama were all pretty and fun.

So, overall, 5.5 out of 10.

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Career + Self-Growth + Relationships.

The title of my review is exactly what this drama is. Don't go into this expecting some top tier romantic growth or charactef development. This has to be one of the most weirdest dramas I've watched in a long time.

Wako Machida is the unconventional female lead, who for once, was really unconventional than just being a label. She did not care about make up or clothes, but put in all her effort into the comics. Definitely a lovable female lead.

Soma Meguru, pretty boy who loves dressing up as he sees fit is perhaps the most interesting character that I looked forward to. I was surprised how everyone easily accepted his choices once he was an adult. But, the dark part of " pretty boys" being impelled to do stuff and fit themselves into parts that they don't need where perhaps the best portrayed here. I felt physically sick when the President came up with *concepts* and the others just went about with it to keep their job.

Last, but not the least: Kira. If someone told me that he was the same guy from Love is Phantom, I wouldn't have believed it, so a round of applause. I loved how unique he was and never put up with what anyoneone insisted. Although he was undoubtably an arrogant git during the initial episodes, he grew up and changed himself for the better.
I loved his completely crazy romance with the editor in chief. I'm afraid that I was more invested in their romance than the leads. (The leads had a lot of baggage to put up with, so I could understand why it happened .)

Sadly, it was not strong enough to compel me into watching the remaining episodes. I found myself fastforwarding 98% of the episodes, unfortunately. It isn't a bad drama. Just not interesting enough for me.

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Waste of potential

Watched 4/10 episodes
I feel very weird watching this drama because it feels like watching anime but with characters made of flesh (or maybe characters that don't feel like actual humans at all...). I've had amazing experiences with anime in the past but I find it cringe when actors are asked to act like anime characters because imo manga and anime language don't translate well into live action when it is done literally. At least for me it's hard to relate to the story when it's done that way. Another complaint that I have is that such an important and relevant topic as gender expression wasn't treated the way it deserved. I expected the drama to be a lot more serious and realistic than it is. Instead, the general tone just doesn't feel right for this kind of topic and that disappointed me big time. That's it. But I must say that Meguru is a very interesting character and I feel his potential was wasted.

The Kira character was kinda funny but way too anime-like for me (though I usually like eccentric characters but this one was maybe a little too much?) but the drama had much bigger problems than this particular character so whatever.

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