I’ve been following this by chance, really. I was trawling through Crunchyroll in the kitchen to find something to play in the background while preparing my meal for berbuka, when I noticed that they also have a list of J-dramas as well. I saw this and just clicked on it.


イタズラなKiss ~ Love in TOKYO (Itazura na kiss – alt. title being Mischievous Kiss) is a 16-parter rom-com which was shown on Fuji TV TWO back in 2013, and is based on a shōjo manga by the late Tada Kaoru[1]. The story is about a lass named Aihara Kotoko (Miki Honoka), a not-so-smart yet earnest daughter of a restaurant owner, who is in love with Irie Naoki (Furukawa Yuki) the dashing tennis player who happens to also be the smartest boy in her school. Despite his initial rebuff when Aihara attempted to give him a love letter, Irie had slowly taken a liking to her, especially after she and her dad move into his family home (both their dads are good friends) after an accident that led to the Aihara’s residence being demolished.


As with any J-dramas of this ilk, the story goes on how Aihara does all that she can so as to be with Irie, despite his cold exterior. To add to the mix, Aihara has a good friend, Kin-chan, a Kansai chap who actually fancies her. This is not strictly a high school drama, as they moved on to university by episode 6. By the time I am typing this post, I’ve only got to episode 14.

Whilst not sharing an identical plot, this drama reminds me of Hana Yori Dango. Although the amount of laughs in both dramas are somewhat similar, my main complain here is the ham acting that is prevalent in the drama – and it goes to almost all the characters, except for the male lead.

The only actor I recognise in this is Tanaka Yoji who plays Aihara senior. I have to admit I’ve never seen the works of any of the cast, and I do hope the over-exaggerating act they displayed is only this drama series.

That complain aside, I enjoy recognising some of the areas the drama was shot, having visited Tōkyō a number of times. The story is pretty okay to keep me interested this far. There is an SP and a 16-parter sequel too. Let’s see if it’s worth following the antics of these two.

__________________________
[1]The manga was incomplete as Tada Kaoru died following an accident in 1999.