Literary Virgin

Kanoko Tsukishiro (Aoi Morikawa) is a 26 year-old virgin, literature editor and is not an expert at love. Nothing in the world would make her happier as Kanoko settles into the job of her dreams, that is until she is given the opportunity to work with a wildly popular mystery writer, Saku Kagaya (Yu Shirota).

The very same man that created her fist literature crush and gave her love lesson thast have shaped all her dreams and ideas on the subject. Unfortunately for her, Saku's past prevents him from feeling anything at all. He's petty and aloof, but finds pleasure only in teasing Kanoko.

Against her better judgement she finds herself slowly falling for him. Is this a good idea or is she willing to get her heart broken just to feel what love is all about?

Unfortunately I was left hanging, wanting more, expecting and needing for them to finally getting together.

Basically I found out about this live action series recently through a user called Sakura-k, who commented on episode 10 of "Before We Knew It" on the Webtoon site. Since I was pretty impatient in waiting for all free chapters to come out every week, I decided to check this series out!

Now of course there's going to be a major difference between the webtoon and the love action series in terms of its beautiful art but at least the story has the same flow. Anyways, when I watched this at the beginning of this month , it was honestly rather uncomfortably cheesy. The actors actually felt rather uncomfortable to look at. I felt the roles weren't the best match for them and they just seemed all over the place tbh.

Yeah if you want a very cringy romantic love triangle series, then this is for you boiis..

I like this series a lot, yet I feel there's inadequate love for it among some online forums. I think that's because it lacks the sort of symmetrical, happy-ever-after ending typical of K-Dramas. The Japanese, thankfully, are more interested in the ambiguity of real life. And I fear its frankness re a naughty subject might be off-putting to Koreaphiles. It also helps if you're a lover of books/reading ( I am ), since it's set in the world of publishing. I'll avoid describing the plot because it risks giving things away, though the titles ( it's also known as "Literary Virgin" ) & the poster offer hints. The central character is Kanoko ( Aoi Morikawa ), a young editor with a passion for books. Her company is currently focused on experienced male author Mr Kagaya ( Yu Shirota ), & the script revolves around her interactions with him & his work, along with a sub-plot or two. So why do I like it ? The well-written story is interesting, & in particular Kanoko's growth/journey as a person. And as an editor, since we get some intriguing insights into that area ( the excellent "Million Yen Women" visits the same territory ). Considering the brevity of the show ( 8 eps x 24 min ), the writer does a great job & I found the ending to be satisfying. In fact, short J-Dramas are renowned for the economy/efficiency of their storytelling & I've seen quite a few high-quality examples. The other important pillar of the narrative is its approach to the "S word. I've long lamented the ridiculous prudishness & denial of basic human biology/emotion endemic to most K-Dramas. Luckily for my ongoing sanity, the Japanese ( to their credit ) are the complete opposite & have no problem with exploring that most essential/enjoyable urge. It's something which impacts here on various characters, & though no skin is displayed, lots of talking does the job nicely & how refreshing to see jokes being made about lust ! All the cast are accomplished as expected, the likable Ms Morikawa leading the way with her infectious enthusiasm for the printed word & other things. The director & DP offer some visual style & the pacing is just right. I do love the sweet fantasy of K-Drama when it's done well, but too much sugar makes me sick.