I might be at risk of giving the impression that I have A Serious Thing for contract marriage J-dramas here, what with my deep affection for 2016’s We Married As A Job, and general fondness for 2020’s Marry Me!, but when I heard about this short little J-drama and what it was about, I couldn’t resist checking it out.
I.. do have a soft spot for the contract marriage trope, can’t lie. But I rationalize that the premises for the contract marriages in all 3 shows are different and distinct from one another, and therefore I’m not essentially watching the same show done 3 different ways. 😅
At just seven 25-minute episodes, Show is easy and low-risk, and perfect for squeezing into little pockets of time – or marathoning in one sitting, if you prefer.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Haruta (Matsui Airi) is desperate to change her life after breaking up with her cheating longtime boyfriend, and agrees to an instant marriage with Miura (Itagaki Mizuki), whom she meets through a dating app. Once married, though, she finds herself very curious to get to know her handsome husband for real. Cue complications, when they discover belatedly that they actually work for the same company, and now need to balance being professional, with keeping their secret marriage, well, secret.
STUFF I LIKED
1. Show is pretty fast-paced, and our story – and our lead couple’s relationship milestones – roll right along without wasting any time.
2. Our leads are both nice people, and they are very cute individually and together, and I looked forward to seeing their love story unfold, within the context of their instant marriage.
3. Show feels off-kilter and weird, because the relationship milestones are all out of regular order, but it’s fascinating and entertaining, for the most part.
4. There’s no one in this drama world that is bad, unpleasant or scheming. Everyone’s kind, understanding and supportive in their own way. I liked that.
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
1. This show definitely needs a particular lens. I think an anime one works well.
2. Haruta’s cutesy behavior is par for the course in a J-drama I believe, but might throw off viewers who are new to this brand of J-dramas.
3. Because Show is designed to be fast and simple, a lot of the conflicts and resolutions lean simple too.
[SPOILER] I actually thought Miura’s reason for wanting to get married instantly – to set his ailing mother’s mind at ease – was a bit lame, considering that he didn’t even invite his mother to the wedding, [END SPOILER] but decided that this is just the way Show is built. On manga logic. 😉
4. Show is a little bold on the sexytimes front, [HIGH LEVEL SPOILER] with our couple quite quickly delving into the topic of consummating their instant marriage. [END SPOILER]
I just thought that would be good to mention, in case it’s an issue for some viewers.
THOUGHTS ON THE ENDING [SPOILERS]
Of course our couple gets their happy ending; I’d say that that was a given from the very beginning of our show, even.
We get some small spots of angst because Haruta is anxious over misplacing her wedding ring and is afraid Miura would be disappointed in her, and Miura is jealous over thoughts of Haruta’s ex-boyfriend, because Mom keeps mentioning him.
Ultimately, though, everything’s smoothed over quite easily, with Haruta assuring Miura that her 5 years with her ex is nothing compared to the 50 or more years that she plans to spend with him. And, after Miura goes to get Haruta his mother’s ring (which had been his grandmother’s), Haruta’s wedding ring is found, yay.
I like the idea of them taking their wedding photos all over again, now that they’ve become a real couple that loves each other, and I am also nicely amused at seeing flashbacks of their wedding day, now from Miura’s perspective – because he’d actually fallen in love with Haruta at first sight.
It’s all pretty predictable, especially if you’ve seen other dramas use similar narrative devices, but Miura’s infatuated face is pretty great, and it’s just sweet and heartwarming to see our cute couple enjoying their happy lovey-dovey ending. ❤️
THE FINAL VERDICT:
Fluffy, easy and quirky-cute in a way that’s quintessentially Japanese.
FINAL GRADE: B+
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