#ボク、運命の人です。critique

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 8

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Yamapi God is kind of a jerk

Whether Haruko’s father getting mad at Makoto is reasonable

Whether the underdog theory really works

The Rule(s):

Yes.

Not really.

People generally do root for the underdog, but in this scenario, the theory isn’t linked well to the drama’s plot.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: Unfortunately, I have to say that this episode was another lacklustre one. I sort of anticipated that it’d feel like a filler/boring episode and sadly, I turned out to be right.

Co-worker forces Makoto out to ask for some love advice

Boss voicing his opinion

Haruko’s dad happens to come by the restaurant and then hears about Makoto’s gossip

Makoto trying to explain things

Too pissed so walks out . . . -0-‘

Makoto’s ex love interest -> Beautiful woman’s ploy, gets caught again. 9 men were scammed 100 millions of yen.

Haruko’s father finds out that Makoto fell for this con artist woman and thought that she was the one. Then he gets super pissed at Makoto, so mad at him that he even fights with Haruko. Haruko and her father has this long period of no talking. Her father even throws out that water fountain and puts it in the backyard. Here we have this totally unreasonable fit of anger coming from Haruko’s father when he was the one that was totally rooting for Makoto to be with Haruko before. Ugh…

Yamapi God’s suggestion for Makoto to win over Haruko’s father again doesn’t make much sense to me. I even watched his explanation twice to see if I got anything wrong and did some research about a Japanese word he used. His theory is that an underdog aiming for his/her dream would lead to more success and seem more fabulous than the typical person realizing his/her dream.

Yamapi God gives an example of someone who strayed from the right path and then turned into the boss of some company or the hot, seemingly dumb girl would go to the best university in Japan, Tokyo University. Makoto would be like an underdog too and his striving to win over Haruko’s father’s respect would reap greater results. I just don’t think this theory is that profound or funny. In fact, Makoto goes off and practices how to play golf by himself because Haruko’s father likes golf and Mitsue was able to win over Haruko’s father respect by being on a golf poster and playing golf. (Somehow playing golf = a serious, honest person . . . right.)

Mitsue talking about how Haruko’s dad used to hate her.

The two of them listening to what Mitsue did to win over Haruko’s father’s trust

“Well I was this model for this golf poster”

  Mitsue being a cute golfer

“Then her father thought I wasn’t that bad..” 

Lol . . . Remember Mitsukuni’s poster? Chasing after Mitsue now? lol!

Makoto trying to learn golf by himself . . . without taking any lessons . . .-0-‘ (doesn’t really work that way – I know from personal experience.)

Golfing and golfing

Troll Mitsukuni joins in on the fun and goes off being weird. lol.

Then the drama writers throw in this clear underdog. He’s one of the employees working at Haruko’s father’s workplace. He is trying to win some boxing tournament to prove to himself that he’s good enough. He’s definitely not fit compared to the other boxers, but he tries super hard. Still, he fails which is expected and Makoto steps in to try to convince the boxer’s coach to let the guy box. Haruko’s father overhears this conversation and then thinks Makoto is still a good guy. The issue I have with this whole segment . . . I think this drama has already overused the underdog theory in the first place; we always see Makoto working hard. In this case, I just am not really touched or don’t think the scenes of Makoto working hard are funny/interesting. Plus the random underdog co-worker story . . . felt weird and out of place. How does that have to do with Makoto being an underdog and winning over Haruko’s father?

The preview for the next episode wasn’t that interesting as well. There’s some mystery about Yamapi God. I get the feeling that he’s not actually a God. He’s probably Haruko and Makoto’s kid from the future. Maybe his parents are splitting up and he doesn’t want them to split up. Perhaps, he’s just Makoto or Haruko’s kid and the two actually never really got together, but Makoto/Haruko still loves the other.

I’m really disappointed in this drama. There was just so much potential . . . but things just dragged on. Sigh.

Issue 1: Whether Yamapi God is kind of a jerk

Jubiemon J: I actually think he has always been a jerk, but since he’s funny (and doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking), he can get away with his bad attitude. I immediately thought he was a jerk when Makoto asked if he should go ask Mitsukuni for advice. Then Yamapi God was like “nope” and then he said that Mitsukuni was useless now and an empty shell.

Yamapi God: Mitch is useless, an empty shell.

Mitsukuni getting all excited and then Yamapi God ….

One episode back, he was being all “bromance-like” with Mitsukuni. Remember how I said Mitsukuni was super annoying in the first few episodes when he was fighting for Haruko’s love? I honestly take that back when you see him being super genuine and friendly with both Yamapi God and Makoto. Whenever Makoto has needed help later, Mitsukuni helps him immediately. I felt so, so bad for Mitsukuni because he was so eager to have a 3 people golf game. Yamapi God agreed at first, but then as soon as Makoto said he wasn’t going, Yamapi God immediately rejected Mitsukuni’s offer in a harsh way. Poor Mitsukuni . . .

Look at poor Mitch . . . being all sad when Yamapi God rejects him.. 😥 My little heart goes out to Mitch..

Issue 2: Whether Haruko’s father getting mad at Makoto is reasonable

Jubiemon J: No. I’ve said in the beginning how I thought Haruko’s father was getting mad for no reason. Makoto wasn’t even in the wrong. It’s not as if Makoto was dating the con artist girl AND Haruko. Makoto wasn’t even dating the con artist girl; he almost dated her. I think the fact that Makoto was deceived by the con artist girl just shows how “innocent” and “pure” he is. He’s pretty much the type that’ll believe in people’s words. I mean, in the start of this drama, Haruko’s dad was super supportive of the two of them and then in this episode, he did a whole 180 degree change. Ugh.

Besides this, I have to echo again how I think this whole madness was resolved was really weird too. The random underdog boxer and then the golfing? I just can’t push any deep theories out of this at all. And although I’ve said I liked how this drama plays on fate vs choice, I really thought sticking in the scene where Haruko’s father and Makoto was at the boxing match was just . . . a bit over. When Makoto said he knew what to do to win Haruko’s father back and then the scene went to Makoto going to to watch the tournament, I thought that meant that Makoto knew that Haruko’s father would be there. That’s why he went to support the underdog. To my surprise, Makoto acted super shocked that he saw Haruko’s father there…..-0-” Yeah . . . no.

Issue 3: Whether the underdog theory really works

Jubiemon J: I think we do like underdogs–seeing how a poor, weak guy gets his revenge over the evil boss, how a delinquent gets his/her act together or a small band becoming huge makes us root for them. However, I just don’t see how the underdog theory is particularly relevant to convince Haruko’s father to trust Makoto again. I don’t think Haruko’s father is seeing Makoto as some underdog and rooting for him. Just . . .doesn’t work.

Haruko’s father asking Haruko to bring Makoto over for dinner

Reconciliation dinner – Man . . . look at that yummy tempura!

Nervous Makoto~

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-8 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 8 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 10

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the ending fell flat

Whether it was necessary for Ichiro to show up

Whether the idea of fate was well-portrayed

The Rule(s):

Yes!

Ugh, really debatable. The last episode really messed things up.

Yes if it’s based on the narration and the previous episodes.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I have such mixed feelings about this episode. I think overall, this drama had a lot of potential in the beginning, fell flat in the middle, bounced back, and now fell flat again. I was expecting some emotional moment/parting for this episode, yet Makoto forgot about everything and will never remember Ichiro. Only Mitsukuni will remember Ichiro. Okay . . .  Let’s just dive to the analysis because I think I’m going to rant a lot. Be prepared.

Issue 1: Whether the ending fell flat

Jubiemon J: Although I like the happy endings like Mitsukuni and Mitsue are going to get married and Haruko and Makoto too will get married, I still can’t accept how Makoto seems completely fine without Ichiro.  Okay, I also like the little narration we have from Haruko and Makoto about their thoughts on fate.  Let me just jump back to Makoto being okay without Ichiro.

Sure, Makoto gets into a string of bad luck scenarios where he isn’t able to catch this balloon for this little girl who happens to be the sales associate’s daughter, someone spills tea over his ring receipt, someone decides not to buy fountains from him and more.

Excessive symbol 1 – painting separating the two

Mishap 2: Makoto upset that he couldn’t go to Osaka b/c the flight got cancelled

Mishap 3: Missing toppings from a bento he bought

How to resolve it then? Makoto goes to the “root of the problem” which he identifies as not getting the girl’s balloon. The girl specifically cares about the pink balloon because it was distributed by this mascot which she likes.

It’s later hinted that the guy who distributes balloons is very likely Ichiro. That may suggest that Makoto still needs Ichiro, but honestly . . . I just don’t feel like I get much of a deep heartfelt moment from knowing that Ichiro is the probably the one who handed Makoto the pink balloon (i.e. like always, Icihiro saves the day).

I will be very excited to see your performance 30 years later – message from Ichiro

Throughout this whole episode, we have other people telling Makoto how he did this and that back then and Makoto is completely oblivious. It’s like some car hit him and his memory of Ichiro disappears. We all know that Ichiro zapped away Makoto’s memory of him. Ichiro should have also zapped away Mitsukuni’s memory of him. I don’t get why Makoto’s memory has to disappear, yet Mitsukuni’s is allowed to stay.

Makoto not remembering about the carrots x boss thing.

Sure, people should likely not know about the future, but I was hoping for Makoto to have had more of a reaction to Ichiro’s disappearance. Like something or rather, someone, is missing in his life. He doesn’t know what, but he just feels empty. Nope. Makoto just keeps saying he doesn’t recall this and that happening. At most, he says I think . . . there may be God and he’s kind of arrogant. Seriously . . . that’s not enough when Ichiro is his son.

Though I did enjoy Ichiro bonding with Mitsukuni at the end, what also bugs me is how Mitsukuni just accepts that he’ll see Ichiro 30 years later. Okay . . . usually when people leave to work, they don’t say . . . let’s see each other 30 years later. Mitsukuni should have asked why?

Saying hi to Mitch! Lol at his t-shirt!

Happy Mitch!

Ichiro: Let’s play kick the can! I’ve never played that before.

Mitch: Okay. That’s fine.

Mitch promising not to mention Ichiro in front of Makoto

Promise continued – see you 30 years later says Ichiro!

And there are so many unresolved thing with Ichiro and Makoto. Why does Ichiro say he never got the chance to play kick the can when he was a kid? Why was Ichiro so keen on being friends with Makoto? Was Makoto a strict dad? Did Makoto die earlier? Why did it seem like Ichiro and Makoto had a cold relationship in the future? So many questions . . . no answers.

We just have Makoto with amnesia. Great. Why’d we go through all that bromance to have this? Ugh. Rolls eyes!

And this message at the end?!?!?

Translation of message: Congrats on the wedding! Can’t believe you did it Makoto!

Issue 2: Whether it was necessary for Ichiro to show up

Jubiemon J: It really depends. Sure, Ichiro was there to speed Makoto and Haruko’s relationship up, but was he THAT instrumental? Nope. Ichiro mentioned before that regardless of what happened, Makoto and Haruko would end up together. We see that Makoto is completely okay with Ichiro being gone. His proposal is a success. Like I mentioned before, sure that balloon guy likely is Ichiro passing the balloon to Makoto, but having a sad kid who loses her balloon ruin Makoto’s chances of marrying Haruko is just silly. Some of you might think that this is symbolic. I agree that the “balloon” is probably meant to be symbolic, but is this symbol effective in this case?

Nope and here’s why. In this episode, we have an overload of symbols. Nearly every other scene contains a symbol. Perhaps the director wanted to jog our memory about what happened before and show us again that this is fate, but I really think the director did too much. Too much of something is not wonderful; it’s just as terrible as someone wearing all the extravagant accessories he/she has on his/her body. So when we have all these symbols grouped one after another, the pink balloon seems insignificant. I’m also trying to be profound and think of something that the balloon could symbolize. Makoto losing grasp of his fated love? Yes, I guess that may be.

Even if that were the case, I don’t think the whole “must go to the root of the problem” solution works. To make sure that Makoto is able to grasp his fated love, he has to give another pink balloon to the little girl. After doing that, he gets rewarded by the girl’s mother with some tickets to that concert, which is where Makoto and Haruko met accidentally. The root of the problem . . . honestly seems too superficial, in my opinion. I don’t get laughter from it or a touching feeling from it either. If you compare this revelation with the small twist Ichiro played for last episode, this episode’s twist is just . . . pointless.

Did we really need Ichiro here to pass that balloon to Makoto to save the day? Ugh . . . no. Another guy in a costume could have done that. Lol. Did we really need Ichiro to even come to Makoto’s time? I don’t think so. There’s no answer from Ichiro saying that the world is saved or that he found a solution. Was it also necessary for Ichiro to come back to develop a friendship with Makoto,? Nope. Makoto forgot about him. Makoto just thinks there’s fate. Hooray for forgetting father-son bonds. -0-‘

Issue 3: Whether the idea of fate was well-portrayed

Jubiemon J: I’m going to end with a positive note. Generally speaking, the idea of fate was well-portrayed in this drama. There are many coincidences that play out and the two leads share many encounters. As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the narrations by the two leads. They share their thoughts about fate.

Makoto says on one of his saddest days, Haruko randomly talks to him and encourages him. Then Haruko thinks back to the day when she was super sad and Makoto spontaneously speaks to her. Makoto admits that at first, he thought fate was useless, but then he tried to believe in it. Haruko confesses that at first, the idea of fate made her disgusted, but she was afraid to believe in fate. Makoto says that after believing in fate, a series of unexpected events happened. For Haruko, the unexpected events made her slowly open her heart. Makoto concludes that “fate” is for those that will never give up on hope and continue to believe in it and as a result, occasionally reaps some rewards from all the hard work a person has put into it. On the other hand, Haruko believes that “fate” is a hidden treasure that arises from something that you believe is a coincidence and don’t think too deeply about it. The two both admit that they never used to think there was fate.

Just here b/c it’s a nice photo.

I think these two different, yet also similar beliefs about fate are interesting to think about and explore as viewers. We often associate fate with a series of coincidences. For Makoto, these coincidences come from hard work and determination. Sure, the first part of them being able to be together is that they are fated to meet. They met when they were kids and they met again during high school and later. However, even though there are these fated encounters, Makoto chooses to put in the effort to make his “fated love” happen. You can keep meeting someone or passing by someone, but if you don’t put in the additional effort and just expect everything to happen, nothing will arise. Conversely, we see Haruko riding the waves of fate. If you think about it, she hasn’t put in that much effort compared to Makoto to start this relationship. Haruko has always been on the receiving end and so it’s reasonable for her to see fate as something that comes out of these coincidences that you don’t initially think much about. I think the lesson here is someone has to make the effort for that “fated love” to happen. You need some balance from the two views about fate to be able to have this “fated love”.

Conclusion: Appeal Dismissed.

Rating: 2 = Yell At The Cast (Sorry I just hate how the bromance b/t Makoto and Ichiro disappeared and the huge overplay of symbols. Ugh. It’s like someone vomited symbols in 45 minutes. No.)

  File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-Desu-Ep-10 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 10 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 9

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether the highlight of this drama has actually been Ichiro and Makoto’s relationship

Whether a couple going on a vacation is the ultimate test of their relationship

Whether the “message” was a good spin

The Rule(s):

Totally!

It can be!

Yes!

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I was pleasantly surprised about this episode! I thought all was lost, but this episode reminded me why I enjoyed this drama in the first place. I really liked how the focus was actually more on Ichirō (who I used to call Yamapi God) and Makoto’s father-son relationship than Makoto and Haruko’s relationship. The twist about the message was great at the end too! There was no unnecessary drama that popped up, just plain, old good comedy and bromance. None of that forced, weird mission like from episode 8! Hooray! Now I’m hoping the finale will finish on a high note. I kind of want Haruko to meet Ichirō too. I would love to see her reaction to him. Hahaha!

Issue 1: Whether the highlight of this drama has actually been Ichiro and Makoto’s relationship 

Jubiemon J: The highlight of this drama is definitely the bromance. I can just watch them bicker all the time! This time, Ichirō tells Makoto that he has to succeed in sleeping with Haruko during their onsen trip in order to be able to make sure that he is born earlier. Ichirō also admits to Makoto that he is his son and the two of them engage in a hilarious conversation. The way that Ichirō confesses that he’s Makoto and Haruko’s son is cute and funny! Ichirō asks what would Makoto name his future kid as and Makoto says he doesn’t know. Off of the top of his head, Makoto just decides on “Ichirō” (一朗) because Makoto likes the famous baseball player, Suzuki Ichirō. Makoto also makes sure to emphasize that it’s not going to be the katakana form of spelling Ichirō – イチロー. That’s what the baseball player is often called.

Ichirō buying baby clothes for Makoto and Haruko! Lol!

Ichirō: What’d you name your kid?

Ichirō: You sure that’s your final answer? Ichirō?

Ichirō: CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE RIGHT!

Ichirō: I’m your son.

Makoto going the heck?!

Ichirō proving that he’s Makoto’s son with a driver’s license

Mini-sized driver’s license (side note: Look at the precision! The year! The name! The address!)

  Because Makoto says he’ll name his kid, Ichirō, Ichirō gets all excited and announces that he is Makoto’s son. Makoto clearly is unconvinced and thinks Ichirō is joking. Ichirō is always sort of joking and playing around anyway. As a result, Ichirō shows Makoto his driver’s license. Lol! Makoto only seems to care that it’s super, super small compared to the current Japanese driver’s license. Makoto keeps prompting Ichirō to explain how he knows so much about the current world if he’s from the future. Ichirō says he has nothing to do all day so he just watches TV and cleans Makoto’s house with a vacuum. Makoto comments how that’s why the electricity bill is so high this month, but then still says he should thank Ichirō for cleaning. Lol!

M: Even if you were my son, you shouldn’t have revealed your identity to me! Defies all the time travel rules!

I: Can’t believe that’s what you care the most about!

I: Huh? You never thought I was God?

M: Just thought you were a weirdo that liked to call himself “God”!

I: Then why’d you listen to me all this time?

M: Because you knew stuff that normal people wouldn’t have known!

I: Tell me how you felt after hearing that I’m your son!

M: Honestly? Can’t believe the driver’s licenses in the future are soooo small! Lol!

Sidenote: Ichirō bitches at Makoto for calling him Ichirō. My first instinct was that this name is probably not that popular or kind of old school/antiquated (ie. Mary, John, Betty, William, Robert, George, Margaret etc – those are still nice names, but more popular in the 1920s). I did a bit of research and the 2016 popular baby names don’t include Ichirō (See here). The top boy names include Ren, Hiroto, Haruto, Minato. Notice how the kanji characters don’t include any of the ones from Ichirō. Then I looked at other websites (See here ; there was no Ichirō. Later, I found this, which shows that in the 1910s, Ichirō was a very popular name. It’s consistently in the top 10.

Another site also proves that Ichirō is more of a historically popular name. If you scroll down that website, it talks about how having 3 kanji characters was prevalent in the olden days and different variations of X-taro or Y-ichirō would arise. The article then suggests some appealing variations of those endings like Kouichirō or Ryuichirō. Given all this information, it makes sense that Ichirō would bitch at his father, Makoto, for half-assing in naming him and giving him a more-or-less plain name.

Suggested variations of Y-ichiro like Ryuichirou)

Ichirō explains that a God told him to time travel to this era to make sure that Makoto and Haruko get married earlier and give birth to him earlier. Makoto gets annoyed because if he and Haruko would get married anyway, there was no need for Ichirō to show up. Ichirō says that Makoto would move at a snail’s pace and then Ichirō wouldn’t be able to finish his research in time to save the world. Makoto is still in denial that he’s his son and asks why Ichirō can teleport and disappear when guests show up. Ichirō says he invented this teleportation device. Lol!

Ichirō also describes what God looks like (old, bearded, long hair type) and Makoto believes him and says that’s what he thought God would be like. Ichirō teases and says no wonder they’re father-son. Ha! Makoto argues that if Ichirō is his son, he wouldn’t be so disrespectful towards Makoto and call him by his name “Makoto, Makoto”. Ichirō retorts that this won’t change after he’s born too. (Lol . . . Makoto the pushover . . . lol.) Makoto says that if he succeeds in the mission, Ichirō will have to call him “Dad” in a respectful way. Ichirō kind of ignores him. LOL!

I think I can probably watch Ichirō and Makoto banter all day. There’s probably more that the two said for that scene, but I can’t recall for now. They’re just hilarious! What I do remember is that Ichirō tells Makoto that he must drain out the onsen’s water to see the writing at the bottom of the pool. If he sees the writing, that’ll lead him to succeed in doing it with Haruko. We get trolled like Makoto because Makoto literally drains out the onsen water.

Seeing the little dialogue on the bottom of this box!

Female: Zutto watashi no “soba” ni ite ne. (Translation: Always stay by my side. ずっと私のそばにいて. Pun: Soba = type of noodles)

Male: “sōsu”ne – (Translation: That’s right (informal). そうっすね/Sōssu ne. Pun: sōsu = sauce.))

Then we think that the writing is from the box that’s holding the soba (a type of noodle). There’s also a cute pun! (Look at the captions in the photos for an explanation of the pun.)

In reality, the writing is from Ichirō. Makoto finds the writing on his bathtub. (Leave it to him to write it in black PERMANENT MARKER.) It’s a cute, touching speech, pretty much saying how much he enjoyed spending time with Makoto and watching Makoto try so hard. (He starts the letter by calling Makoto as Makoto and not Dad. Lol!)

This makes me wonder whether Makoto and Ichirō never really had a chance to bond in the future. It’d be kind of touching, yet sad if Makoto actually passed away when Ichirō was really young. I think in a way, that’d make sense because that’d also explain why Ichirō would really want to come back to the past and would treat Makoto like a friend. Based on the previews, though, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be the case. The preview indicates that Makoto will feel lost and confused after Ichirō ‘s departure. Makoto has lost his memories about Ichirō because Ichirō erases them, but Makoto will likely feel like something has been missing in his life. I get a feeling we’ll get a time lapse and we’ll see Ichirō again or Ichirō will pop by again to surprise Makoto in the past. Haha!

Issue 2: Whether a couple going on a vacation is the ultimate test of their relationship

Jubiemon J: I definitely think that whenever a couple goes on a vacation together (not just a day trip), they are put to a test. There’s a difference between dating someone and travelling with them. Living with someone for a few days or more can be a challenge. Like Makoto’s boss mentions, there’s the difference in sleeping habits (i.e. one person might like to sleep with a lamp on and the other wouldn’t). I agree with Ichirō saying that this is Makoto’s final test. Besides having the two become roommates, there isn’t much else to test their relationship on. (Look at them being all cute here.)

Luckily, Makoto and Haruko are very agreeable and share similar lifestyle habits. They had a smooth vacation! And the bed scene was hilarious!! The two of them had visions from their friends preaching at them. Lol!

  Issue 3: Whether the “message” was a good spin

Jubiemon J: I think the message was nicely done as a good-bye letter from Ichirō. I hadn’t expected him to say good-bye that way. Like I mentioned before, we would have expected the message to have ended with that cute little pun from the soba container. I really thought it was pretty sad when Ichirō just said goodbye casually and then Makoto was left scrubbing the bathtub while reading the letter! Kame does a great job expressing his sorrow.

Crying Makoto . . . so sad!

Conclusion: Appeal Dismissed.

Rating: 4 = I’ll Give You A Cookie (What a relief. A bounce back from last ep’s horrific writing. Phew. Yamapi x Kame saved the day.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-9 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 9 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 7

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether it is reasonable for Yamapi God to befriend Mitsukuni

Whether having a crush on someone brings some colour to one’s life

Whether getting two rings in two months is reasonable

The Rule(s):

Totally! The trio (Yamapi God x Makoto x Mitsukuni) are hilarious!

It can be, depending on one’s perspective.

It’s debatable.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I have to be frank here. Though I anticipated that there’d be some mission Makoto would be have to do and some other things would happen that would throw a twist on his mission, I think this episode falls flat to deliver that surprise or to highlight deeper meanings.

Here’s a brief recap. Yamapi God tells Makoto that Makoto should buy Haruko a ring as a belated birthday gift and to present that gift as a surprise. Giving her a plain, white umbrella for her birthday isn’t enough.

(Side note: I agree . . . somehow it doesn’t seem like such a great gift for a birthday. I don’t think giving an umbrella is taboo in Japanese culture; I tried to research if it was, nothing came up. In Chinese culture, umbrellas should not be given as gifts. The word for umbrella is  傘 (sǎn) . It sounds like 散 (sǎn), which means to scatter or part. White is also associated with death.)

Yamapi God teaching Makoto how to put the ring on Haruko’s hand!

Yamapi God hugging Makoto as a demo

Makoto is like . . . nope! Back off.

Because it must be a surprise, Makoto has to learn how to estimate someone’s ring size without asking. To do that, he goes through some training with Mitsukuni (no surprises there).

Makoto freaking out his boss by asking to measure his boss’ finger

Boss freaking out

The training begins!

What’s the size?!

Asparagus = best way to estimate ring sizes Lol!

Now tell me the size!

Buying asparagus just to guess the ring sizes lol

Go! What size?!

Yamapi God shows up during his training session with Mitsukuni and freaks Makoto out. The three of them become buddies and Mitsukuni and Yamapi God help Makoto train.

Makoto invites Haruko for a movie and tries to slip that ring during a movie scene. He misses his chance, so he asks her to go karaoke.

Even though she can’t sing, she still agrees. Makoto has another failed attempt at slipping the ring on her finger, so he invites her to bowling. It’s only when she’s about to bowl to try to get a third strike does he manage to put the ring on her finger. She’s shocked, but later she tells him she’s very happy and loves the design.

So . . . anything deep to get out of this? Not that I can think of. This episode felt a bit like a filler episode where there was nothing but sugar to the relationship. It’s definitely nice to see them be so sweet and cute; however, the plot itself hasn’t really advanced. I’m half looking forward to the next episode where Haruko’s father doesn’t want Haruko and Makoto to be together because he learns that Makoto’s ex-girlfriend is a con artist. (I already don’t think it’s Makoto’s fault that his ex was a con-artist. Makoto had no idea until she got caught, so my first instinct is that Haruko’s father is being unreasonable. I get this feeling that the script writer might be running out of ideas once Haruko and Makoto have started to date.)

Oddly,  for this episode, I was completely not used to Haruko giving those loving looks at Makoto. She also seemed so . . . subservient to Makoto, which made it seem different from the Haruko we’ve always known. She was just so . . . so . . . agreeable like it seemed as if anything Makoto asked, she’d just say yes. Her sudden increase in admiration and love for Makoto doesn’t seem too realistic to me. Sure they did have that heartfelt moment last episode, but it just feels off seeing her looking at Makoto with such lovey dovey eyes. She went from -40 degrees Celsius of love to a boiling 100 degrees Celsius of passion/love. Mmm…

1. Whether it is reasonable for Yamapi God to befriend Mitsukuni

Jubiemon J: Yes! I think this was one of the highlights of this episode–Yamapi God crashing Makoto’s training session with Mitsukuni! I loved the pun that Yamapi God used. He came in, holding a porcelain turtle figurine, and announced: “I’m Kami, no, I’m Kame.” Kami is the word for God. Kame is the word for turtle. Then, the other hilarious parts are how Makoto panics like crazy and tries to get Yamapi God to go away and how Mitsukuni is so easily accepts Yamapi God. I’m looking forward to see what this trio will do in the next few episodes! Yes to the bromance!

Kami being a kame Hehe.

Turtle time~

Makoto freaking out that Yamapi God is here

Yamapi God: Why don’t we smoke a cigar?

Makoto: Why don’t we just get Mitsukuni to estimate Haruko’s ring size? The boys: . . . . NO.

Makoto getting pissed at Yamapi God so here goes a human kick!

Makoto bitching at Yamapi God

Yamapi God saying that Haruko cares about his hard work and is the type to like him for that so he must do the ring estimation by himself

2. Whether having a crush on someone brings some colour to one’s life

Jubiemon J: I think this really depends on your perspective. When you have a crush on someone, you get all excited around that person and look forward to seeing him/her when you can. However, there’s also those moments where you’re unsure whether he/she likes you back or where you miss them. In this case, Haruko’s boss, Hatozaki Sumire, thanks Makoto’s boss, Torita Shokichi, for bringing some colour to her life and letting her want to try falling in love again! Her sudden change in thought is a bit abrupt, in my opinion, and sort of dealt with off-screen. In the beginning, she is super mad at Shokichi for not wearing a wedding ring and saying stuff about how their coincidences are like fate. Later, she suddenly says how she isn’t actually mad at him for not wearing a wedding ring and thanks him. Mm.

3. Whether getting two rings in two months is reasonable

Jubiemon J: I do think Yamapi God was right in that Makoto should get something that’s more meaningful than an umbrella for Haruko’s birthday. What I don’t really agree with is that it needs to be a ring. Yamapi God says Makoto should give her a ring for her birthday and then a month later, give her another ring for her wedding. Personally, I think it’s a bit redundant and wasteful to give two rings in a span of two months. I don’t really think Haruko would be the type to really love the idea of getting two rings. She seems to be more of the frugal sort. Thus, I wasn’t really sold on the two rings in two months idea.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed. 

Rating: 3 = MM. Okay. Fine. (I did get kind of bored during this episode, but I do like the new bromance we’re seeing with Makoto, Mitsukuni, and Yamapi God.)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-7 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 7 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

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Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

The Rule(s):

No!

It depends.

Totally! He’s so fun, hilarious, and so jokes.

Definitely!

Kind of. He was lucky that fate was on his side.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I really enjoyed this episode as well! I loved how different aspects of fate were played again. This time, this drama mostly used classical music as a way to hint what’s to come. When the rival came, they played a classical song that resembled the Devil. When Makoto and Haruko shared a cute phone call where they both saw the moon, Claude DeBussy’s Claire de Lune played. They played the wedding song when Mitsukuni proposed to Haruko. They picked pieces that most people would be familiar with, so that made the scenes even more hilarious or relatable. Plus, we had a co-worker who talked about how she thinks she met her fated one. There were the coincidental meetings between Makoto and Haruko and the boss’s dinner party that led to Makoto bumping into Mitsukuni (the rival). Finally there was that baseball scene with the kids whose surnames were “Akai” and “Ito” and the scoreboard ended up being Makoto’s phone number.

Makoto for the top part and Akai Ito for the bottom – Scoreboard = half of his phone number

Side note: Akai Ito = Red string of fate. It’s an East Asian belief that the Gods tie a red string to two people to string them together. In Japan, they usually believe that the red string is tied to the pinky finger.

Kids looking like . . . biotch plz, we are helping u!!! We did u a favour and played baseball with u!

I also liked the contrast shown between fate and choice, which is definitely a predominant theme throughout this drama. There’s Mitsukuni who is very aggressive and a total go-getter. Then there’s Makoto who is shown again as someone who is very passive and agreeable. Makoto is the one relying mostly on fate, while Mitsukuni carves his own path. Mitsukuni finds it super easy to ask for Haruko’s number. He also proposed to her in this episode; before in high school, he confessed to her and got rejected. Meanwhile, Makoto struggles to even get her number! During a group setting where we have Mitsukuni, Haruko, Mitsue, and himself, he is very quiet and doesn’t really serve the people. Makoto also does a huge roundabout when trying to ask for Haruko’s number. He doesn’t directly tell her; instead, he tells her that he’ll prove to her that they have fate via the baseball scoreboard. If he can get his full number on the scoreboard, then they’re fated to be together. (This is the final moment when he has the courage to actually try to tell her his number. I’ll get to the details about this later.) Before this scene, Makoto definitely had so many missed opportunities. I do like those because they show that it’s not just fate that’s important. You have to make the choice to act on fate.

Mitsukune telling Makoto he’s gonna propose to Haruko. Makoto: P-P-Propose?!

Makoto finally getting the guts to ask Haruko out ~

Other highlights of this episode would be Yamapi God love advice as well as the minor characters’ comedic relief. The co-workers are hilarious! I laughed a lot when they showed up. Yamapi God’s love advice was great too.

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis!

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis! Crisis! What are you gonna do? Crisis!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Issue 1: Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Jubiemon J: Yes! I really, really disliked how Mitsukuni was such a jerk and kept trying to make Makoto look terrible in front of the girls. Okay, I get he is the rival, but he totally doesn’t play fair at all. I haven’t met such an annoying second lead male till now. I usually root for the second lead male; I tend to suffer from the second lead male syndrome. However, this time I’m totally for Makoto. Mitsukuni definitely reminded me of those stereotypical sly Wall Street bankers or those stereotypical sleazy car sales people. Ugh! He purposely suggested that Makoto and Mitsue should date because they shared similar tastes in food. There were just two similarities: they preferred not to dip some meat in sauce and they liked dipping French fries in ketchup. Okay, just because they liked to do that doesn’t mean that they should date! Of course Makoto was completely shocked and said no way. Then Mitsue got all annoyed because she believed he was rude for rejecting her like that. (To be honest, I’m like Makoto, so I get his frustration. He’s a very straightforward guy and isn’t super sensitive to how his reactions would affect other people’s feelings.)

I totally blame Mitsukuni for making the whole atmosphere awkward. If he hadn’t made that “joke”, Makoto wouldn’t have been put in a tough spot. If he said yes or hinted that, then he’d be making a go at Mitsue. However, if he outright denied that, she’d get hurt. There was just no good way to save himself. Mitsukuni . . . sly guy. -0-

I also really didn’t like how Mitsukuni was super aggressive. He only had like one or two outings with Haruko and then he wanted to propose to her. Like what? Sure they’ve known each other since high school, but I really think he was forcing her to accepting him far too quickly. Plus I really hated how Mitsukuni thinks way too much/tries way too hard to get Haruko. That scene where he came out in cosplay as a singer and played a song with his guitar was so cringey and cheesy! Yuck!

The F is this?!?!?! Who does that a restaurant?!?!?! How’d he get his wig too? -0-

Makoto: … (Me too. Me too.)

Okay, so Makoto does try to ask her out too and seems to pop here really often, but I find Makoto’s actions to be reasonable. He hasn’t forced marriage on her. He only wanted to ask her out to dinner.

Even worse, Mitsukuni was a total jerk towards Makoto’s co-workers. They asked Makoto if he wanted to join their dinner party. Sure, they were interested in chilling with some hot co-workers that Mitsukuni was with, but Mitsukuni denied them. Okay, he had like 6-7 girls chilling with him and he seemed very happy about it. How is that being dedicated to Haruko? -0-”

Sleaze ball with his gals =___= . . . loyal my ass.

Makoto’s co-workers: If you want us to kill him, we will gladly do so. LOL!

 Issue 2: Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Jubiemon J: Mitsue and Haruko started off the episode with a presentation she did for her company. They were researching on what women consider the ideal marriage partner. The two presented this hexagon that showed the six points that are the most important for women when finding the ideal guy: (1) personality; (2) appearance; (3) income; (4) outlook on life; (5) humour; and (6) dependability. Mitsue stressed that because Mitsukuni is above average in all six aspects, he would be the ideal guy for Haruko. Of course, these points seem to be quite reasonable for a marriage partner, but I think Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is flawed in a few ways.

Not everyone would weight each point equally, so even though Mitsukuni would average out to be above average in all areas, there could be a few points where he scores very low. Those low points could be what Haruko really values. Moreover, not everyone would have all of those six points down as what makes their ideal marriage partner. Another point of consideration is as Haruko subtly mentioned: sometimes the points could be too sharp and cause pain. Let’s take “appearance”. Scoring high in appearance could result in the guy having more female pursuers or potentially being too narcissistic.

Although this love hexagon might be kind of flawed, I did like how the writer decided to throw in this other POV towards finding the right marriage partner. I think this balances out the heavy emphasis on “fated love” and also hints that love sometimes might not be as “logical” as some people might make it out to be.

Side note: The kanji for marriage is 結婚. This is the same in Mandarin as well. In Mandarin, when you take the second character, 婚, you will notice that it’s made up of two other words which are woman  (女) and dizziness (昏). To get married, your mind must have been “dizzy” (ie you weren’t thinking that clearly). Love blinds you. If you wanted to take it a step further by combining the woman and dizziness together, you could potentially say that the woman needs to have been blinded by love. I prefer thinking that both partners need to have some sort of irrationality to choose marriage. 

Issue 3: Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Jubiemon J: Yes! Yamapi God is perfect as a roommate. He gives the best love advice and shows up in the funniest ways like appearing in Makoto’s closet. Yamapi God constantly bitched at Makoto for being too passive, yet when Makoto finally had the courage to ask Haruko out, Yamapi God celebrated the win by drinking beer with Makoto.

Yamapi God: Yellow Card! Why’d you creep her office huh? If you had asked her number, you wouldn’t have need to have done that.

Cheers to asking her out! (So cute these two!)

Yamapi God doesn’t baby Makoto and pushes him to go for love. I think Yamapi God is really motivating Makoto to be less passive in life. Makoto is too easygoing and sort of lets things slide by, so Yamapi God often has to lecture him to “Yolo”. I seriously love how “God” here doesn’t just reward you for nothing. You actually have to work for something to get some reward. He made Makoto memorize 100 classical pieces which would allow Makoto to share a similar hobby as Haruko and to know what was to come. (I’ve talked before about how music was a foreshadowing of what would happen.)

Yamapi God: Happiness isn’t gonna come to someone who doesn’t love music. (Word.)

In addition, Yamapi God also didn’t constantly interfere with Makoto’s actions and wasn’t always all forgiving. Yamapi God would remind Makoto of his last chance to ask Haruko out since Mitsukune was going to propose to Haruko the next day. After Makoto still failed to ask her out the Nth time, Yamapi God got disappointed in him and disappeared for a while. Some tough love here . . . but it was necessary to push Makoto to do something!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Yamapi God: Stop giving me this ugly face! You were looking for me all this time. Makoto: Do you even know how I feel right now?!?!? He’s gonna propose to her..

Yamapi God: This is your last chance! Go!

Issue 4: Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Jubiemon J: Gosh the duo can be so annoying, yet so hilarious at the same time! They bothered Makoto about his love life. They bitched at Makoto for not letting them crash at some drinking party when Makoto went out with the “Goddess” ie Mitsue. According to the co-workers, if they were able to ride the elevator with Mitsue then they’d get the best luck for the day. Lol!

Not to mention, I laughed pretty hard when the co-workers were so excited to be able to drink with the other company since Mitsue worked there. The next scene then showed them drinking with the 1 older female boss and their faces were hilarious! Honestly without these two, the humour for this drama wouldn’t be complete, so I’m totally looking forward to what more they have to offer!

Issue 5: Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

Jubiemon J: Kind of. I get that Makoto is a shy type of guy and Haruko has a colder type of personality, the sort that’d outright say “No” to someone. Therefore it does make sense that Makoto would be more hesitant to ask her out. No one wants to be rejected. However, I think I got a bit impatient waiting for him to make a move. I was totally on Yamapi God’s side when he lectured Makoto. Makoto is super lucky that he has fate on his side to remind him to do this or that. If there wasn’t that scoreboard or the kids to ask him to play baseball, I doubt Makoto would have had the courage to ask Haruko out in the end. Plus, the part where he was trying to interrupt Mitsukune asking Makoto to marry him was so pitiful. Makoto was telling her he needed her opinion as to where the water fountain could be installed at this spot at her family’s house!

Even though what he did was cringing, I still liked how he tried his best. I also did like how when Makoto did tell her his number or at least half of it, he did that directly! That was good because he finally was putting in 100% of his efforts.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4. I’ll give you a cookie! (I was getting impatient waiting for Makoto to ask for her number . . . > _ <)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-3 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

[thedramafilesblog-blog]

Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

The Rule(s):

No!

It depends.

Totally! He’s so fun, hilarious, and so jokes.

Definitely!

Kind of. He was lucky that fate was on his side.

Analysis:

Jubiemon J: I really enjoyed this episode as well! I loved how different aspects of fate were played again. This time, this drama mostly used classical music as a way to hint what’s to come. When the rival came, they played a classical song that resembled the Devil. When Makoto and Haruko shared a cute phone call where they both saw the moon, Claude DeBussy’s Claire de Lune played. They played the wedding song when Mitsukuni proposed to Haruko. They picked pieces that most people would be familiar with, so that made the scenes even more hilarious or relatable. Plus, we had a co-worker who talked about how she thinks she met her fated one. There were the coincidental meetings between Makoto and Haruko and the boss’s dinner party that led to Makoto bumping into Mitsukuni (the rival). Finally there was that baseball scene with the kids whose surnames were “Akai” and “Ito” and the scoreboard ended up being Makoto’s phone number.

Makoto for the top part and Akai Ito for the bottom – Scoreboard = half of his phone number

Side note: Akai Ito = Red string of fate. It’s an East Asian belief that the Gods tie a red string to two people to string them together. In Japan, they usually believe that the red string is tied to the pinky finger.

Kids looking like . . . biotch plz, we are helping u!!! We did u a favour and played baseball with u!

I also liked the contrast shown between fate and choice, which is definitely a predominant theme throughout this drama. There’s Mitsukuni who is very aggressive and a total go-getter. Then there’s Makoto who is shown again as someone who is very passive and agreeable. Makoto is the one relying mostly on fate, while Mitsukuni carves his own path. Mitsukuni finds it super easy to ask for Haruko’s number. He also proposed to her in this episode; before in high school, he confessed to her and got rejected. Meanwhile, Makoto struggles to even get her number! During a group setting where we have Mitsukuni, Haruko, Mitsue, and himself, he is very quiet and doesn’t really serve the people. Makoto also does a huge roundabout when trying to ask for Haruko’s number. He doesn’t directly tell her; instead, he tells her that he’ll prove to her that they have fate via the baseball scoreboard. If he can get his full number on the scoreboard, then they’re fated to be together. (This is the final moment when he has the courage to actually try to tell her his number. I’ll get to the details about this later.) Before this scene, Makoto definitely had so many missed opportunities. I do like those because they show that it’s not just fate that’s important. You have to make the choice to act on fate.

Mitsukune telling Makoto he’s gonna propose to Haruko. Makoto: P-P-Propose?!

Makoto finally getting the guts to ask Haruko out ~

Other highlights of this episode would be Yamapi God love advice as well as the minor characters’ comedic relief. The co-workers are hilarious! I laughed a lot when they showed up. Yamapi God’s love advice was great too.

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis!

Yamapi God: Crisis! Crisis! Crisis! What are you gonna do? Crisis!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Issue 1: Whether Mitsukuni is one of the worst second lead males

Jubiemon J: Yes! I really, really disliked how Mitsukuni was such a jerk and kept trying to make Makoto look terrible in front of the girls. Okay, I get he is the rival, but he totally doesn’t play fair at all. I haven’t met such an annoying second lead male till now. I usually root for the second lead male; I tend to suffer from the second lead male syndrome. However, this time I’m totally for Makoto. Mitsukuni definitely reminded me of those stereotypical sly Wall Street bankers or those stereotypical sleazy car sales people. Ugh! He purposely suggested that Makoto and Mitsue should date because they shared similar tastes in food. There were just two similarities: they preferred not to dip some meat in sauce and they liked dipping French fries in ketchup. Okay, just because they liked to do that doesn’t mean that they should date! Of course Makoto was completely shocked and said no way. Then Mitsue got all annoyed because she believed he was rude for rejecting her like that. (To be honest, I’m like Makoto, so I get his frustration. He’s a very straightforward guy and isn’t super sensitive to how his reactions would affect other people’s feelings.)

I totally blame Mitsukuni for making the whole atmosphere awkward. If he hadn’t made that “joke”, Makoto wouldn’t have been put in a tough spot. If he said yes or hinted that, then he’d be making a go at Mitsue. However, if he outright denied that, she’d get hurt. There was just no good way to save himself. Mitsukuni . . . sly guy. -0-

I also really didn’t like how Mitsukuni was super aggressive. He only had like one or two outings with Haruko and then he wanted to propose to her. Like what? Sure they’ve known each other since high school, but I really think he was forcing her to accepting him far too quickly. Plus I really hated how Mitsukuni thinks way too much/tries way too hard to get Haruko. That scene where he came out in cosplay as a singer and played a song with his guitar was so cringey and cheesy! Yuck!

The F is this?!?!?! Who does that a restaurant?!?!?! How’d he get his wig too? -0-

Makoto: … (Me too. Me too.)

Okay, so Makoto does try to ask her out too and seems to pop here really often, but I find Makoto’s actions to be reasonable. He hasn’t forced marriage on her. He only wanted to ask her out to dinner.

Even worse, Mitsukuni was a total jerk towards Makoto’s co-workers. They asked Makoto if he wanted to join their dinner party. Sure, they were interested in chilling with some hot co-workers that Mitsukuni was with, but Mitsukuni denied them. Okay, he had like 6-7 girls chilling with him and he seemed very happy about it. How is that being dedicated to Haruko? -0-”

Sleaze ball with his gals =___= . . . loyal my ass.

Makoto’s co-workers: If you want us to kill him, we will gladly do so. LOL!

 Issue 2: Whether Yotsuya Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is correct

Jubiemon J: Mitsue and Haruko started off the episode with a presentation she did for her company. They were researching on what women consider the ideal marriage partner. The two presented this hexagon that showed the six points that are the most important for women when finding the ideal guy: (1) personality; (2) appearance; (3) income; (4) outlook on life; (5) humour; and (6) dependability. Mitsue stressed that because Mitsukuni is above average in all six aspects, he would be the ideal guy for Haruko. Of course, these points seem to be quite reasonable for a marriage partner, but I think Mitsue’s love ideology (hexagon) is flawed in a few ways.

Not everyone would weight each point equally, so even though Mitsukuni would average out to be above average in all areas, there could be a few points where he scores very low. Those low points could be what Haruko really values. Moreover, not everyone would have all of those six points down as what makes their ideal marriage partner. Another point of consideration is as Haruko subtly mentioned: sometimes the points could be too sharp and cause pain. Let’s take “appearance”. Scoring high in appearance could result in the guy having more female pursuers or potentially being too narcissistic.

Although this love hexagon might be kind of flawed, I did like how the writer decided to throw in this other POV towards finding the right marriage partner. I think this balances out the heavy emphasis on “fated love” and also hints that love sometimes might not be as “logical” as some people might make it out to be.

Side note: The kanji for marriage is 結婚. This is the same in Mandarin as well. In Mandarin, when you take the second character, 婚, you will notice that it’s made up of two other words which are woman  (女) and dizziness (昏). To get married, your mind must have been “dizzy” (ie you weren’t thinking that clearly). Love blinds you. If you wanted to take it a step further by combining the woman and dizziness together, you could potentially say that the woman needs to have been blinded by love. I prefer thinking that both partners need to have some sort of irrationality to choose marriage. 

Issue 3: Whether Yamapi God is the best roommate ever

Jubiemon J: Yes! Yamapi God is perfect as a roommate. He gives the best love advice and shows up in the funniest ways like appearing in Makoto’s closet. Yamapi God constantly bitched at Makoto for being too passive, yet when Makoto finally had the courage to ask Haruko out, Yamapi God celebrated the win by drinking beer with Makoto.

Yamapi God: Yellow Card! Why’d you creep her office huh? If you had asked her number, you wouldn’t have need to have done that.

Cheers to asking her out! (So cute these two!)

Yamapi God doesn’t baby Makoto and pushes him to go for love. I think Yamapi God is really motivating Makoto to be less passive in life. Makoto is too easygoing and sort of lets things slide by, so Yamapi God often has to lecture him to “Yolo”. I seriously love how “God” here doesn’t just reward you for nothing. You actually have to work for something to get some reward. He made Makoto memorize 100 classical pieces which would allow Makoto to share a similar hobby as Haruko and to know what was to come. (I’ve talked before about how music was a foreshadowing of what would happen.)

Yamapi God: Happiness isn’t gonna come to someone who doesn’t love music. (Word.)

In addition, Yamapi God also didn’t constantly interfere with Makoto’s actions and wasn’t always all forgiving. Yamapi God would remind Makoto of his last chance to ask Haruko out since Mitsukune was going to propose to Haruko the next day. After Makoto still failed to ask her out the Nth time, Yamapi God got disappointed in him and disappeared for a while. Some tough love here . . . but it was necessary to push Makoto to do something!

Yamapi God: It’s your own fault. You didn’t even get her number nor did you give her yours. Someone like you has no right to be with her!

Yamapi God: Stop giving me this ugly face! You were looking for me all this time. Makoto: Do you even know how I feel right now?!?!? He’s gonna propose to her..

Yamapi God: This is your last chance! Go!

Issue 4: Whether the co-workers give the best comedic relief

Jubiemon J: Gosh the duo can be so annoying, yet so hilarious at the same time! They bothered Makoto about his love life. They bitched at Makoto for not letting them crash at some drinking party when Makoto went out with the “Goddess” ie Mitsue. According to the co-workers, if they were able to ride the elevator with Mitsue then they’d get the best luck for the day. Lol!

Not to mention, I laughed pretty hard when the co-workers were so excited to be able to drink with the other company since Mitsue worked there. The next scene then showed them drinking with the 1 older female boss and their faces were hilarious! Honestly without these two, the humour for this drama wouldn’t be complete, so I’m totally looking forward to what more they have to offer!

Issue 5: Whether it was reasonable for Makoto to take such a long time to ask for her number

Jubiemon J: Kind of. I get that Makoto is a shy type of guy and Haruko has a colder type of personality, the sort that’d outright say “No” to someone. Therefore it does make sense that Makoto would be more hesitant to ask her out. No one wants to be rejected. However, I think I got a bit impatient waiting for him to make a move. I was totally on Yamapi God’s side when he lectured Makoto. Makoto is super lucky that he has fate on his side to remind him to do this or that. If there wasn’t that scoreboard or the kids to ask him to play baseball, I doubt Makoto would have had the courage to ask Haruko out in the end. Plus, the part where he was trying to interrupt Mitsukune asking Makoto to marry him was so pitiful. Makoto was telling her he needed her opinion as to where the water fountain could be installed at this spot at her family’s house!

Even though what he did was cringing, I still liked how he tried his best. I also did like how when Makoto did tell her his number or at least half of it, he did that directly! That was good because he finally was putting in 100% of his efforts.

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4. I’ll give you a cookie! (I was getting impatient waiting for Makoto to ask for her number . . . > _ <)

File No: Boku-Unmei-no-Hito-desu-Ep-3 Appearing before the Dramacourt: Boku Unmei no Hito desu Ep 3 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***