Black Cinderella

Japanese Drama 'Black Cinderella' gives a new twist to the school romance dramas.

The story centers around the main character and her struggles to keep her smile when everything is falling down around her. Her determination and her journey to find herself and love herself were pretty much the highlights of the drama. Especially since the female lead was a well-constructed character. The love triangle was a nice touch too, cute and sweet. However, the main romance was predictable, adorable though. The male lead was not handled with that much care, however. The wicked second lead was a generic character who had a rushed character development and showed only specs of what was going on in her life.

Finally, the performances were pretty good by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, 7 out of 10.

Black Cinderella is a coming of age drama that follows Kamiya Manaha, a highly pessimistic 17 year-old high school student as she deals with youth, friendship, love, and constant self-doubt.

Kamiya Manaha may seem like the usual awkward heroine at first, but once her ordeal begins, you'll see that she's not a stock character. She's a kindhearted girl who often feels insecure and discouraged but always manages to persevere. Also, her relationship with her family is just so heartwarming to watch and I believe we could use more supportive parents in dramas. Meanwhile the will-they-won't-they romance is actually really cute and refreshing as both love interests are sincere and unselfish. I personally think that whom she chooses is exactly the type of person she needs by her side as she slowly rebuilds her self-confidence.

I honestly, truly, didn't expect the show to be this inspirational and uplifting. Young or adult I thought we could all get a lesson or two from it. Plus it's got a vivid cinematography and beautiful soundtrack, just the stuff I always love to see in films and shows that I watch.

8/10.