Review: Love and Fortune Series, 1 season
Japanese: 恋のツキ
Starring: Eri Tokunaga, Daichi Watanabe, Fuju Kamio
Directors: Yoshihiro Mori, Mai Sakai, Hana Matsumoto, Kenji Kuwajima
Writer: Akira Nitta (manga), Ryo Takada, Makiko Mizoguchi, Takamasa Oe.
Network: TV Tokyo, Netflix
Release Date: July 26, 2018 – October 12, 2018 (TV Tokyo) / November 30, 2018 (Netflix)
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
I stumbled upon this series on a whim. A lazy afternoon avoiding work had me starting on this series.
First off, it is very explicit. The first scene had the protagonist performing fellatio on her boyfriend. As someone who usually watches romantic Korean dramas, this was something new to me. Or unusual as far as Asian dramas go. I am probably a noob and this is normal in Japanese TV shows but it was still jarring for me.
And then we have the premise of the story -- an older woman pursuing a younger man and their resulting intense/toxic relationship. When I say young, he is indeed very young. Our 30 year old protagonist decides to pursue and fall in love with a 15 year old student despite already living-in with her current boyfriend. The story’s drama and crisis stems from the choices she ends up making and the entangled relationships she grapples with.
The series is very artsy. It has a slow dreamy quality at times and the imagery is consistent and satisfying. The visuals are good and it is a very romantic story -- if you ignore the elephant in the room and forget that in other countries this is statutory rape and punishable by law.
In Japan the age of consent is 13 years old, so apparently this is legal enough but it doesn’t make it any less awkward to be honest. I have a teenage son so this was, to an extent, horrifying to me. Imagine your son embarking on a serious sexual relationship with a 30 year old woman. Ang stressful!
If there is one thing I have gleaned from this story it is that a young man is hardly prepared for this kind of relationship and it rightly may lead to a toxic possessive obsession with your loved one. The story had a happy enough, open ended kind of ending, and it was a good story overall. If you are going to watch it, then you need to look beyond the age issue in the story. If you can’t, then this series is definitely not for you.
Starring: Eri Tokunaga, Daichi Watanabe, Fuju Kamio
Directors: Yoshihiro Mori, Mai Sakai, Hana Matsumoto, Kenji Kuwajima
Writer: Akira Nitta (manga), Ryo Takada, Makiko Mizoguchi, Takamasa Oe.
Network: TV Tokyo, Netflix
Release Date: July 26, 2018 – October 12, 2018 (TV Tokyo) / November 30, 2018 (Netflix)
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
I stumbled upon this series on a whim. A lazy afternoon avoiding work had me starting on this series.
First off, it is very explicit. The first scene had the protagonist performing fellatio on her boyfriend. As someone who usually watches romantic Korean dramas, this was something new to me. Or unusual as far as Asian dramas go. I am probably a noob and this is normal in Japanese TV shows but it was still jarring for me.
And then we have the premise of the story -- an older woman pursuing a younger man and their resulting intense/toxic relationship. When I say young, he is indeed very young. Our 30 year old protagonist decides to pursue and fall in love with a 15 year old student despite already living-in with her current boyfriend. The story’s drama and crisis stems from the choices she ends up making and the entangled relationships she grapples with.
The series is very artsy. It has a slow dreamy quality at times and the imagery is consistent and satisfying. The visuals are good and it is a very romantic story -- if you ignore the elephant in the room and forget that in other countries this is statutory rape and punishable by law.
In Japan the age of consent is 13 years old, so apparently this is legal enough but it doesn’t make it any less awkward to be honest. I have a teenage son so this was, to an extent, horrifying to me. Imagine your son embarking on a serious sexual relationship with a 30 year old woman. Ang stressful!
If there is one thing I have gleaned from this story it is that a young man is hardly prepared for this kind of relationship and it rightly may lead to a toxic possessive obsession with your loved one. The story had a happy enough, open ended kind of ending, and it was a good story overall. If you are going to watch it, then you need to look beyond the age issue in the story. If you can’t, then this series is definitely not for you.
|
|
Fuju Kamio playing Yumeaki Iko in Love and Fortune