5 ji kara 9 ji made ~ Watashi ni koi shita ikemen sugiru obôsan

The cliched Japanese "Forced Pity" and "it was me but it wasn't" part of the story works against this one for me.

It goes too far to create drama and pull Junko away from Hoshikawa, only to sling them back together like two colliding planets in a black hole (as any drama or telenovela fan has seen a million times).. But by episode 3, the plot banks on this premise too hard and there's no fixing it in my opinion. The character of Hoshikawa becomes dislikeable in a way that cannot be taken back. His personality is that of a straightforward and confident man, but is extremely passive at times, yet insistent in an off-putting manner.. traits you don't want on your lead.

This problem is exacerbated due to the fact that the character written for Satomi Ishihara is so much better in comparison! She is cute, has attractive mannerism, driven and with unwavering goals, is tested (unnecessarily) yet still comes out on top (even if she didn't care about it, meaning she does her best in any situation), etc. This creates a really big gap and unbalance between the leads.. which makes me not care about their relationship (even desiring a better pair to come along, which the series doesn't have).

Even worse, no other character or plot is interesting! Not to forget I had a better chance at translating the Japanese on screen than understanding some of the spoken English. The production is REALLY good, though! And if you like clichés and these kind of male leads, by all means.. give it a try! I know now that there's nothing this series can do to change my mind.

Proof that as long as two people truly love each other and though they might come from two different worlds... anything is possible.

Junko Sakuraba's (Satomi Ishihara) dreams about moving to New York. She has never set foot in the streets of the city that never sleeps yet she knows every nook and cranny. She's a 28 year-old English teacher and every penny she earns takes her a step closer to fulfilling her dream.

From the moment he was born the life of Takane Hoshikawa (Tomohisa Yamashita) was set in stone, to become the head priest of their buddhist temple. Even his future wife will be chosen for him.

He never expected that during a funeral he would fall for the clumsy young woman. And with the help of the high priesr and her familly they are set up on a blind date.

Will they be able to over come their differences and begin their life together?

As a reader of the original manga, I didn't have a great deal of expectation for this series. Firstly, because manga adaptations rarely live up to the source material, and secondly, because many readers felt that Junko's character in the original work was too indecisive and easily swayed, and as the target of such criticism, I thought it would be hard to make her relatable/likable.

So then, color me shocked to discover that despite leaving the number and characteristics of Junko's suitors unchanged, the screenwriters managed to keep her from seeming fickle or weak-willed in the slightest. Moreover, despite some reworking of the overall plotline, nearly all the original elements/characters remained intact, and, not only did the original work not suffer, but on the contrary, the storytelling became far deeper, richer, more human and heartwarming. As far as story editing and screenwriting goes, this is one of the most masterful adapations I've seen (and OMG, giving Junko a crab-aholic and hilariously spastic side was sheer genius!)

Of course, all this praise is relative. Because the story originates with a manga, it is filled with plenty of cliches and unrealistic situations (though I have to say most were addressed in fresh ways, which IMO kept the plot from feeling too stale). Also, if you've never read the manga, are a fan of the steely, independent, "take-no-crap" female archetype, or think that persistent guys are a turn off, then you may be annoyed by the entire story setup. However, if you can get past these issues, you may find yourself identifying with Junko far more than you'd expect. Recommended!!!

ROMANCE RATING * * * 6/10 Despite some mildly exciting moments and upper body fanservice (courtesy of Takane's waterfall scenes), I am sad to report that the actual romantic contact in this show is woefully limited, and features only 1+ kiss scene for the main couple. I wish I could say that that kiss was a smoking hot, R rated kiss (or at least really long), especially since fans of the original know it pulled no punches in the intimate-contact department. But alas, it is PG at best, a classic case of "much build up, little payoff" which is so common in Asian shows. But if you don't mind keeping things family friendly, then that's ok!

Actually ended up enoying this drama once given a chance. This short 10 episode Japanese Romantic Love Story Drama is a little different than most of the ones I have seen. This story lacks any true sexy scenes - it has more innocent scenes with only 1 actual kiss at the end of the story. The first 2 episodes might offend some feminists as the conservative Monk Priest locks the girl that "he" decides should be his wife (it has to be her - as he describes it), in a room and won't let her out, in an attempt to get her to be submissive to his wishes.

The series is a balance between the different realm of extreme conservative values of the Priest vs. The more liberal values of the English teacher he wants for his wife who has a dream of going to New York and also side BL story lines weaved through the drama.

The main lead Tomohisa Yamashita who played the role of the Monk Priest. Takane Hoshikawa does an excellent job - serious persona and never has smiled until he finally falls in love. There is a funny humorous element to his naivety because of his sheltered upbringing but that is what give him his charms. First time in a long time that the FL in a J-Drama I have seen seemed like a nice match for the ML in both maturity and physically. One criticism I have is that even though it is a happy ending I think they should have just ended it at the kiss and could have left off the last dorky part at the end about New York. They took a perfect love story ending and added one little extra scene that just didn't need to be there.

This series captured my heart. It's funny. it's dramatic and cute, the two leads are amazing. The side plots become kind of stale, not being able to read japanese is definitely a bummer if the English they speak is unintelligible (I actually laughed a few times going "Wait, that was supposed to be English??!") and when a lot of descriptive text is on the screen. The characters that were fleshed out were really good. The ending was a bit meh, kind of a letdown after so much emotional buildup, but it all ends well so that's okay. Storytelling just kind of dropped in the last few episodes is all. I definitely recommend watching, if you like cheesy, dramatic shows!