Pardon me for spazzing on a Non-Korean Drama

I’ve binged on this drama a couple of months ago when I had another major K-Drama slump. I still cannot stop thinking about it. Itazura na Kiss is like Boys Over Flowers on the numerous times it was adapted into drama series. The most popular of its adaptation is the Taiwanese version, It Started With A Kiss. It’s about an academically challenged girl who falls in love at first sight with the smartest guy in their batch. We follow her journey as she pursues the guy who is totally out of her league and how she ends up being his wife.

The plot is really outdated now, and had this been a modern plot, I would have hated the female and male lead to no end. But Itazura Na Kiss Japanese version brings back a lot of memories. I loved It Started With a Kiss. Before I discovered K-Drama, I was so obsessed with TW-dramas.

*SPOILERS BELOW*

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    The plot heavily emphasizes on how Kotoko made Naoki her world. Everything she did was because of Naoki. While that is true, I could say the same thing with Naoki too. She is his world. Without her, he is an empty shell. Naoki said the reason he fell for her was because she completed him – he can do 90% of the things Kotoko cannot, but the 10% that he cannot, that’s when she excels. Kotoko’s biggest impact on Naoki’s life is when she gave his purpose. He is so smart he can do everything, and that is why everyday is uneventful for him. When she practically told him that he is a superhuman who can cure even an incurable disease, her unyielding confidence in him made him smile (even if it’s a tiny fraction smile), and that moment right there forever changed him. For the first time in his life, he dreamed to become somebody. He became a doctor because of her.

    I love that Kotoko is portrayed as the beautiful disaster in his life. Everything changed the moment she confessed her love for him and gave him that love letter he didn’t want. He didn’t know how face her and the calamity she brought in. And he hurt her in the meanest way possible whenever he was conflicted with emotions for her (really, typical old-fashioned male lead character). But what I loved about him is that once he’s come full circle, he never swayed and kept falling for her more and more. He didn’t show or say it more often than I and Kotoko would hope, but he loved her the way he knew how love. He bended over backwards on so many things, if not all, for her. He would argue at first, but it’s always a lost cause for him as he ends up doing whatever she wants. Kotoko, you’ve got him in the palm of your hand all this time you don’t even notice.

    Kotoko is amazing for doing everything to win the man of her dreams. I want to say stupid too, but this was how she won Naoki, right? Her stubbornness and simple-mindedness are parts of her charm all throughout the series. She might not be academically smart, but once she makes Naoki her goal, everything becomes possible for her too. The fact that she became a nurse for Naoki says it all. Nobody has ever told her on what to do. She does whatever she wants, and there’s only one thing that she wants – Naoki. Everything falls in its rightful place whenever Naoki has decided because really, Kotoko just follows through. And I love how Naoki pushes Kotoko to her limits. Because of Naoki, she always learns and strives to be on his equal footing and boy, does she work hard on it everytime.

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      Wow! Your review pulled at my heartstrings. I’m a sucker for this type of stories where hero and heroine mean all the world to each other and are so supportive of each other. “Without her, he is an empty shell.” The drama took my fancy. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m also in a k-drama slump so I began to watch j-dramas and c-dramas.

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        Thank you! What I find amazing in this series is that I get to see how their life unfolds – from high school to uni to getting married to getting careers in a 32 episode span. It’s a 45-50 min each episode. I loved that they showed me their life past their wedding – that it’s not HEA. Maybe they got married too early, but they always make an effort to fix the cracks in their relationship together. I call Naoki – Naoki-bot because really he’s dull and very passive. He shines when Kotoko is around and he knows that. He only gets a rise (mostly negative rise, yeah lol) when Kotoko is involved, and interestingly enough we’ve seen this change in him as early as ep 2 when Kotoko roped him in to be her tutor. That last gif was the very first of the many tutoring sessions they had together. He’s learned to be patient with her, levelled with her. He hated her for changing the dynamics in his robot life, but again, hate is not the opposite of love. 😀 And I loved how this drama heavily emphasized on that.

        Also, I will never forget Naoki whenever he and Kotoko would fight pre-married life. He always tells that he likes girls who can cook because Kotoko isn’t! But he eats her food every single time anyways no matter how awful it is.

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          Now I’m sure I will watch it. I myself live a robot life except that I haven’t found my own Kotoko to shine yet. So I can relate to the guy. “But he eats her food every single time anyways no matter how awful it is. ” Kawaii. A sure sign of true love.

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            heheh hope you enjoy! 🙂 Really – J-Dramas are my safe haven right now because K-dramas have been disappointing me. It sucks that I`m 4-5 years late in discovering this gem, but I`m still glad I found this series!

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    LOVE this post! Yes to everything! ItaKiss Tokyo holds a very special place in my heart, I used to pray for season 2 and when we got it I was soooo happy.
    The story is outdated for sure, which is why so many people criticized the drama – I saw it here on DB as well. Most people glossed over the fact that Kotoko literally changed Naoki’s life for the better in favor of arguing about how Kotoko didn’t take no for an answer/how she was treated like a door mat etc.
    But the fact is that the ‘dumb’ girl wearing her heart on her sleeve made the biggest impact on the super guy who might as well have been a robot. It’s their bumpy ride with all sorts of ups and downs that make the story so heartfelt. Some moments I love: Kotoko dressing up to spy on Naoki’s date and then realizing that it isn’t her date. And in season 2, when Naoki goes to work at a hospital in a different city and while he’s leaving that entire scene is so heartfelt!
    Because Naoki doesn’t say it enough, Kotoko’s insecurities get the best of her a lot, and Naoki experiencing jealousy almost tore them apart. They did a lot of learning and adjusting after getting married but by the end of the series they were so in tune with each other <3
    Really, the story is outdated but the drama remains magical. ItaKiss Tokyo made the best of it imo, and I enjoyed every single bit of it <3

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      Thank you! Same. After I finished season 2, I went around the web to look for reviews and feed my soul as I was having severe widthrawal. I was shocked to read lots of blog who loved season 1, but were disappointed with season 2. One of the main arguments was that Naoki didn’t change – but whoa, the entire series he was always the first one initiated the kisses and skinship. He is so in love with her.

      Personality doesn’t change completely. Naoki remains to be reserved, Kotoko with her bubbly over the top reactions but that’s who they are. I don’t want them to change either – this is their dynamic. Kotoko makes up for the lack of reaction from Naoki and Naoki dials her down, keeps her grounded with his passiveness.

      And yes, it’s sad that a lot of viewers of this drama only saw Kotoko that way. I can’t blame them tho as the drama was written from Kotoko’s point of view and we see Naoki through her eyes. But we were given enough to say the least Naoki has not loved Kotoko any less. Kotoko is not the only one who can’t say no in their relationship. I can’t remember a time he didn’t say no either to anything she wanted to do. He might not do all, but he’s always there fulfilling how his wife wants it to. ie their date on the boat, the nurse ceremony. Heck he even waited for her train to arrive to Kobe and picked her up even though he hasn’t slept for nights! It’s sad how these little things got overlooked because we feel bad for Kotoko.

      Anyways yes to all the things you mentioned. It’s really hard to pick what my most favourite is from both series. But off the top of my head it would be season 1 – their date in odaiba. He opened up to her, she tried to dissect what he meant which lead her to conclude that he wanted to marry her, he choked at that but he didn’t say no. She was on the right track just that marriage is way into the future but he didn’t disagree with her. Those little glances he did after that talk… like… ☺️☺️

      Season 2 – perhaps my most favourite is ep 1- honeymoon in Okinawa. I loved the entire episode but I melted in this scene:
      Naoki: We’ve come a long way to get here.
      Kotoko: Yeah but I don’t mind as long as I’m with you.
      Naoki: I’m not okay with it.
      😭☺️😭☺️ He desired her so much I don’t even have words.

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        THE FEEEEEEEEELS
        You’ve done this at the wrong time, I’ve got a final in 4 days. But it’s okay, I’ll just binge watch the show again later xD

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          Hahaha it really sucks that I am 4-5 years late! Now I can’t find anybody to spazz this with until you! 😭 thanks for sharing your thoughts on this again!

          And reviews on the blogs frustrated me, that I needed to write my own thoughts. Sad that I’m still not satisfied cuz there were 32 episodes to talk about and one big post about it doesn’t suffice as a lot have been missed.

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            I watched the show as it aired and I had no one to spazz with T_T
            I feel you ;_;

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    Sharing another favourite Itazura Na Kiss MV of mine. I thought the song really fit this drama and I loved the transitions that the editor of this mv did to fit the lyrics.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG90QauwWoQ

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    I love every bit of this 😍. This brings back so many memories i just have to rewatch a random episode right now 😆.
    This story works for me eeeeevery single time (and version) but Love in Tokyo was definetely my favorite version and favorite Kotoko and Irie-kun (i mean, look at that first gif 😍)

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      😭😭 loved It Started With A Kiss, I forgot what Playful Kiss was about, And Itazura Na Kiss wrecked me. I’ve watched this 2 months ago and I’m still here trying to get over it but it’s a lost cause 😭😭 Naoki and Kotoko felt so genuine in the 2014-2015 version that’s why I connect with them so well. Also I bought the 10 volumes of the manga and bought the bluray boxsets of the drama. Yep, I’m “irrevocably” In love with this Version. 😭😭♥️

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        I can totally relate! I had a severe withdrawal syndrome too and spent most of the times reblogging every gifset on tumblr and listened to the ost all day and got emotional all over again 😂

        If you don’t mind adding more to your list, have you watched the C-drama A Love So Beautiful? The plot is kinda similar and a lot of people thought that it was loosely based on Itakiss (even though it was actually based on a novel)

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          I have only seen one C-Drama so far – Meteor Garden 2018. Thanks for the recommendation! I`ll definitely check that drama out. I googled this and the main girl is Shen Yue????!!! I love her from Meteor Garden 2018!

          And omg the OSTs. I can’t get over the Season 2’s opening. It’s so lively and jumpy. I hear the song I`m always reminded of Love in Okinawa’s opening. I think I have watched all MVs on yt already related to Itazura Na Kiss – still not satisfied 🙁

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            Yes A Love So Beautiful is her first acting project. You’ll love her in this one too.
            You know mean Naoki has his charm but have you ever wished he would be a little bit nicer to her? I guess this drama is like the alternate version that can answer that. And it was clear from the beginning that he also has a crush on her!. That’s why i’m sold since the first episode 😆. Okay i should just stop here haha. Both Itazura na Kiss LIT and ALSB are ones of my favorite so i guess since you like LIT i hope you will enjoy ALSB as much as i did 😁

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    I remember watching the anime version around when it came out. I didn’t realize there were so many live-action versions. Which one do you recommend starting?

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      I would def suggest this version as it is the most recent and closest to being modern. The first Japanese version aired in 1996. The Taiwanese version was released 2005, the Korean version aired in 2010. The Japanese one was 2014-2015.

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    Ah my heart ~

    This drama is such a precious gem, I’m not sure how many times I have rewatched it. It still counts as one of my top all time dramas, of any language.

    I watched it on dramafever with my sister when it aired, and fell for all the characters. after watching most itazura na kiss versions it still remains my favorite because I feel it shows so well the love between Kotoko and Naoki. There’s a quiet understanding and kinship that runs between them whatever craziness is going on in the plot ~ I think my favorite moments are when Kotoko makes Naoki coffee, when he starts requesting her coffee, and they just sit together late at night, with no need to talk, grounding each other from their spectrums of cold genius and excitable heart.

    Gahhhhh now i want to rewatch again…

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      Same! OMG. I love that moment when he first tasted her coffee. He stopped at first sip, probably stunned that it tasted so great, and I just love how he asks her to make it for him. That always make my heart warm.

      I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched and I am stuck here spazzing and fangirling. </3

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