Watašitači wa dóka šite iru

For being only eight episodes long, it manages to have so many clichés that I couldn't even keep count. It reminded me a bit of 90's soap operas, and my husband, who was sitting on the sidelines and constantly wanting to comment on what was going on, was also reminded of those soap operas. It's just loaded with melodrama. Love, hate, kisses, punches, misunderstandings, understandings, beautiful kimonos, ornate wagashi, all in the familiar Kanazawa style. Perhaps all the clichés of the genre really came into play in some form here, to the point where some may find it annoying, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I found the main heroine to be fine, oddly enough (she simply knew how to pick herself up off the ground; she had some smarts, she didn't need to be handheld all the time), the main character wasn't the kind of prince dandy who kept all his feelings bottled up inside, but was quite honestly able to get them out. The setting is beautiful, you're constantly looking at ornate kimonos and tasting various Japanese traditional sweets, and for me it starts with my favorite "arranged marriage". I mean, it starts with the arranged marriage, but to agree what will come after is another thing. Anyway, the series both delighted and slightly disappointed me with the classic genre crutches used. Basically, what you watch for sixteen, twenty, thirty episodes in Korean series manages to happen here in eight. I found it a little too rushed at times (otherwise it had a fine pace), but I suppose that's partly due to the COVID situation. In the end, a relaxing matter that can keep you distracted. An improved 3 stars. (28/10/2020)