Japanese Drama - Love is Phantom

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Love is Phantom is a 2021 Japanese romance drama directed by Minorikawa Osamu and is an adaptation of the manga "Love Phantom" by Mistuki Kako.

The series ran for 10 episodes, airing from the 14th of May 2021, and concluding on the 1st of July 2021.

Main Cast:

Kiriyama Renn as Hase Kei

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Konishi Sakurako as Hirasawa Momoko

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Supporting Cast:

Sato Megumi as Kimura Masae

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Kubota Yuki as Fukami Yu

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Hosoda Kanata as Sagara Junpei

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Matsumoto Wakana as Hase Hiromi

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Hotta Akane as Hirasawa Yuko

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Takigawa Yumi as Hase Aoi

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Murakami Hiroaki as Hara Gonta

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Nagano Sora as Young Hase Kei

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Young and a bit naive, Momoko Hirasawa is very much like most young women her age; a hardworking employee at a high-end hotel cafe. Momoko sends her days serving others and her nights at home, alone with absolutely no dating experience and zero prospects, Momoko wonders if she'll ever find that "special someone". Everyone always seems to be talking about. On the brink of giving up hope, a steamy encounter with a handsome stranger at the hotel's rooftop observatory changes everything.

Unable to forget that moment of passion, Momoko is determined to uncover the identity of her mysterious stranger. Spotting him at work, it doesn't take long for Momoko to learn that he is none other than Kei Hase, on of the high-ranking employees at the hotel. Convinced he is too far out of her league, Momoko tries to forget him, but the kisses they shared that fateful evening refuse to be forgotten. Approaching Kei, Momoko tries to find some sort of answer to the myriad of questions she has, but every attempt she makes is met with cold indifference.

Confused, Momoko tries once again to let Kei go but the harder she tries, the  more fate seems to bring them together .

Will time help Momoko break through Kei's cold exterior or will their rooftop kiss become a phantom to forever haunt her?

Viki Global TV

While I enjoyed watching this drama, I couldn't help think it was a typical Asian drama, in that a shy naive female lead, comes across a cold male lead and tries to pursue him while he keeps pushing her away, acting like he's not interested, for him to finally warm up to her and start a relationship. Personally for me I think the manga would pull me more into the plot more than this drama did. One of the main things I didn't like about this drama is the fact that the only main thing the female lead wanted out of her life was to find her special someone, it seemed very old-world, she also wanted to make herself better to be worthy of the male lead, because she felt he was more skilled in all ways.

To me it seemed that the male lead didn't really know what to make of his emotions because he's been raised to act and feel a certain way, he's also very career orientated, so the last thing on his mind is romance and romantic feelings. I think our female lead allows him to open up, lower his walls and learn than you can have both career and love.

I think while the drama tries to focus on the deeper aspects, there are times when some comedy is thrown in and it's needed to lighten the mood for the viewer.

I thought the cast did a pretty good job of bringing this drama to life, the question is would I watch it again, and if I'm completely honest, I'm just not sure. While I sometimes complain about the length of some Asian dramas, sometimes the shorter dramas don't tend to delve into much of a story and often have rushed plots, which can make you feel like you've not seen much growth from the characters, as well as random and odd character stories.

Have you watched Love is Phantom?

Were you a fan of the cast?

Did you enjoy the plot and script?

Have you read the manga?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Japanese Drama - Peanut Butter Sandwich

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Peanut Butter Sandwich is a 2020 Japanese drama written Mitsouko, Dave Stan and Yuko Shimoda, and directed by Keijiro Tsubakimoto and Kazuyuki Yamagishi.

The series is based on the webcomic of the same name by Mitsouko.

The series aired from the 2nd of April up until the 21st of May 2020, the series contains 8 episodes.

Main Cast:

Yahagi Honoka as Tachibana Tsubaki

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Ito Kentaro as Kobayashi

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Ito Shuko as Gonda

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Supporting Cast:

Hotta Akane as Katagiri Sayo

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Takimoto Miori as Morimoto Miharu

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Kakei Miwako as Yamashita Miwa

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Niwa Niki as Matsouka Akane

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Okuno So as Tokita Yuto

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Sato Ryuji as Tanaka Ryota

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Yoshida Jinto as Kaneko Shin

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Hama Shogo as Aoki Haruaki

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Hamao Noritaka as Igarashi Shu

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Oshinari Shugo as Sasayama Takumi

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Ichinose Ryu as Tsuda Kenji

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Guest Roles:

Kamura Mami as Katagiri Aki

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Wakasugi Kogarashi as Risa

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Suzuki Yuuka as Natsumi

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Check out the trailer for Peanut Butter Sandwich below.

Viki Global TV

Viki Global TV

I have to say I absolutely love the opening song for this drama, it's really fun and catchy and I always looked forward to it coming on.

Vickeblanka - Shekebon!

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Vickeblanka

With the number of women who still believe in "happily ever after" rapidly dwindling, the government created a top secret agency dedicated to supporting those still in search of their perfect match. Using high-tech equipment on par with any other national intelligence agency, the Peanut Butter Sandwich, or PBS, is well equipped to handle any job, be it big or small. As the newest recruit to the PBS, Tsubaki is tasked with monitoring four new targets and assisting them in finding their one true love; but the job won't be easy.

A successful manager at an IT company, Katagiri Sayo is convinced that you can obtain everything you need in life through hard work and she lives her life as proof. Setting extraordinarily high standards for herself, she doesn't see why a man can't live up to her standards as well. So far, none have and Sayo is beginning to wonder if anyone ever will.

Meanwhile, Morimoto Miharu is a nurse desperately holding onto the hope that her long-time boyfriend will finally propose; but after six years together, the odds aren't looking so good. It may be time to let go but how?

Equally desperate for love, Yamashita Miwa works at a local bank and suffers from such low self-esteem that she's willing to give herself to anyone willing to pay her even the slightest bit of attention, she's well aware that none of these men are interested in love, but she just can't seem to find a way to say no.

And then there's the stunningly gorgeous Matsuoka Akane, an executive assistant who has no problem drawing a man's attention but can't seem to find one who isn't exceedingly dull.

With four completely different targets assigned to her, Tsubaki can think of only one way to help these women and close her first case. Infiltrating their ranks by joining their yoga class, Tsubaki becomes one of the group but the job before her is monumental.

Can this rookie agent really help these love-starved souls find their perfect match?

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I kept seeing teasers for this drama and I knew I had to give it a watch because not only was Honoka Yahagi starring in the series, but we also had Kentaro Ito starring in the series too and I was familiar with him because of Good Morning Call.

I really enjoyed this series, and I couldn't help binge watching it all, when I first started watching I was expecting our lead female and lead male beginning a romantic relationship as that's normally how these types of dramas go, but for me it was a nice change that this didn't happen, and the story actually mainly focused on the supporting cast and they're troubles with both love and life.

I absolutely adored how the drama concluded and how it was all to change characters perspectives, as well as changing the viewers perspective on things brought up within the series.

The cast seemed to have good chemistry on set, which I think makes the plot and characters more believable.

I loved Honoka as Tachibana Tsubaki, I've mainly watched her in romance based drama's so it was nice to see her play a character that had different thoughts on love and romance, she had me laughing quite a few times, especially when she was constantly dressing up to try and help lead others onto different paths.

What I found odd about Kentaro Ito as Kobayashi, was that for a company that helped others with things in their life, like love and romance, was that while he had the brains and was good with the statistics, he didn't seem that interested in it himself, it was more like it was his job and it had to be done.

I often found myself craving peanut butter while watching this show and I put that blame onto Ito Shuko as Gonda, as whenever she was stressing she was seen eating peanut butter on toast, which made me laugh, like with Kobayashi, it seemed that this was just a job for her and she had no real interest herself in finding what she was helping others achieve.

Many women like Hotta Akane as Katagiri Sayo put their work before love and often end up with an unrequited love in the workplace, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her as she came to learn that he was actually off the market, after getting her hopes up that he also had feelings for her, thankfully, there is someone else right under her nose who she realises she has feelings for.

I originally saw Takimoto Miori in You Are My Destiny and at first I didn't click on it was her in both, I just thought they looked similar, but I loved seeing her as Morimoto Miharu. For her character it's more learning to communicate, and learning you don't know what you've got until it's gone. The only thing I disliked about her characters story was instead of talking to her boyfriend and possibly ending the relationship, she started seeing someone else leading her to cheat on him, then feeling guilty when she learnt that everything she thought was happening with her boyfriend was completely wrong.

For Kakei Miwako as Yamashita Miwa, this was more confidence based, she lacked confidence in both herself and her appearance meaning she had started a relationship with a guy who had a girlfriend because he gave her the attention she craved to boost how she felt about herself. I'm glad she got that turning point in her life and mindset to make her realise she's worth so much more, for me this is also what I've learnt for myself and often tell others who lack confidence, learn to love yourself first, because how can you want someone to love you, if you don't love yourself first.

For Niwa Niki as Matsouka Akane, she grew up poor so as she worked hard to change it, meaning she was also obsessed with having money not only for herself but also wanting a man that also wealthy, something that her friend Yamashita Miwa, helps her to realise that after meeting an old friend, isn't really what she truly craves.

While the male supporting cast help with the ladies journey's, it's really a series about the women, and how they change a grow to their circumstances and hurdles that get thrown in their way, but the same could be said for our male cast, we have Okuno So as Tokita Yuto who really likes Morimoto Miharu and is willing to pursue and wait for her knowing that she's conflicted because of her boyfriend, then there's Sato Ryuji as Tanaka Ryota, who is comfortable in his relationship with Morimoto Miharu, that he doesn't realise that there is a gap between the two of them, and even when he learns on her infidelity, he's willing to forgive her as long as they begin to communicate with one another about how they are feeling. Then we have Yoshida Jinto as Kaneko Shin, who wants to have his cake and eat it, cheating on his girlfriend with Yamashita Miwa, because he knows that with one phone call, she will come running to him. For me I think it's shown early on that Hama Shogo as Aoki Haruaki has a little crush on Katagiri Sayo, he's often seen helping her when she's in need, something that seems to work in his favour. Finally we also have Hamao Noritaka as Igarashi Shu, he helps to prove that money and love don't have to come hand in hand.

Overall I really enjoyed watching this drama and would happily sit and watch it all again to see if I can pick up any other life lessons from it. I'd love a separate series to see how all their relationships have blossomed and changed.

It's a series I will happily recommend to others to check out.

Have you watched Peanut Butter Sandwhich?

Were you a fan of the cast?

Were you a fan of the plot and script?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye