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안녕하세요
(Annyeonghaseyo)
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(Konnichiwa)
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(Ni Hao)
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The Flower and the Beast is a Japanese romance drama, the series is also known as Hana ni keda mono, which is also the title of the manga that this series is adapted from by Miwako Sugiyama. The series was directed by Kentaro Otani, Ryo Miyawaki and Akimori. It aired on the network dTV on Mondays from the 30th of October 2017, with the series concluding on the 10th of January 2018. The series contains 10 episodes with each episode being 25 minutes long. The series was also given a second season.
Main Cast:
Yurika Nakamura as Kumi Kumakura
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Yosuke Sugino as Hyo Kakizono
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Supporting Cast:
Takashi Matsuo as Chihaya Izumi
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Kai Shouma as Tatsuki Hiyoshi
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Anna Iriyama as Kanna Ogami
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Kumi Kumakura gets more than she bargained for when she transfers to a new high school. In her first few days at the new school, she meets the smooth-talking, kind and handsome Hyo Kakizono. Besotted with his charms, she ends up kissing him. But later, she makes a shocking discovery - Hyo has a reputation as a notorious womaniser! Despite her initial disappointment, Kumi realises that she cannot simply shrug off her feelings for him. And the more she gets to know him the more she understands that there is much more to this attractive classmate than his reputation might suggest.
Will Hyo give up his womanising ways for Kumi? And could true love one day blossom for the two classmates?
I spent a few of the episodes a little confused because the scenes seemed so familiar, I'd either watched this drama before and not remembered or I've read the manga, which is probably likely. While I did enjoy the series, I often felt at times that it seemed a little rushed, I think it could have done with the episodes either being closer to an hour or the series having more episodes to be able to get more background from the characters as well as seeing them grow more throughout the series. I think at times it was a little cliche as well as being a little predictable.
I was 50/50 when it came to Yurika Nakamura's character Kumi Kumakura, at times I found her character a little too naive for her age, especially when you could tell that she was sacrificing her own love life and happiness, for a friend that just couldn't let go. I feel bad for saying this but I wasn't always impressed with Yurika's acting, I'm going to put it down to bad directing and a bad script, rather than her being a bad actress.
I spent the first couple of episodes wondering why I recognised Yosuke Sugino, and then it clicked that he was Natsume Shu in the 2nd season of Good Morning Call. I thought his character in Good Morning Call was quite similar to Hyo Kakizono, in that they both seem to start as players but later fall in love and have the desire to change who they are for the better. I was a little disappointed that we never really got much of a background story for his character, but we did get to see his character grow and finally apologise to people he had hurt in the past.
I absolutely loved Takashi Matsuo as Chihaya Izumi, I had some serious conflicting emotions, I wanted him to end up with our female lead, but I also wanted the 2 leads to end up together. This is what we call second lead syndrome, I absolutely loved his character, he was definitely there to add more of a seriousness to the story.
I believe Kai Shouma's character Tatsuki Hiyoshi, is definitely there to add comedy to the show, sadly for me his problematic stomach got a little boring and repetitive, it reminded me of the anime/manga series Fairy Tail, with Natsu and his motion sickness. I did feel sorry for his character as he was stuck in a one-sided love and it was frustrating me that she seemed to be doing to him what had to been done to her in the way he was being treated.
I think Anna Iriyama was amazing as Kanna Ogami, I wish her character had been open and honest with not only herself but also with Yurika Nakamura's character, it would have prevented a lot of resentment and confusion in those characters. While I do feel she treated Kumi Kumakura pretty poor when she was always trying to aide her, I do feel that she herself was also conflicted by how she was feeling. I believe she thought she was still in love with our male lead, so when things got bad she tried to distance herself from her friend to stop her from making Yurika feel conflicted but, it made her feel conflicted anyway, I feel bad that all she needed was closure for the ability to move on and open her heart again to let others in.
I think overall, all the cast did an amazing job with what they were given, I wouldn't say this was one of my favourite drama's but I did enjoy watching it, it was short and sweet and we got a second season to tie up any loose ends.
I would still recommend this series if they wanted to watch a series that was quick and simple to follow, but don't expect it to get too deep or to really pull at your heartstrings.
Have you watched the first season of The Flower and The Beast?
Were you a fan of the cast, 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
