Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru (2020)

I don't have anything to say about this drama but the theme of the storyline is great actually even the plot is just so so for me. I rarely watch jdrama with heavy story but I'm glad I can catch up with this one. Hopefully this drama will have second season because the ending is kinda rushing. I don't ever recommend this drama for those just want a love-dovey storyline.

I like both main character and I can see their chemistry especially the female one. Jdrama is known for having a cutie pie female character but this one is not. I love her so much. The male one has a fuckboy vibe and I totally like that. Wanna bite him so bad HELPPPP

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Soap opera with beautiful food (?)

To be honest the story was not my cup of tea - lost heir, family drama, etc. But you got to watch the beautiful wagashi and a bit of nice scenery in the drama. They managed to keep the main "mystery" until the very end, and I think it's the only thing that made me finish this drama. Acting by Minami Hamabe and Ryusei Yokohama are good for me, they were able to convey the emotion to the viewers. Alisa Mizuki who played Tsubaki's mother was successful in becoming your standard "soap opera antagonist". Yamazaki Ikusaburo also did well as a supporting character.

There's not much I can actually say about the drama, but somehow it is good enough and I can finish it... Watashi wa douka shite iru? ?

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An engaging plot with high quality acting!

I had my doubts. The J-Dramas I have watched so far always have at least one (or even both) out of the two most common flaws; horrible acting or terrible storyline. I dived into "Watashitachi Douka Shiteiru" with no high expectations, even when I was drawn by the visuals of Ryusei Yokohama and Minami Hamabe.

And thankfully, I totally was in for a surprise!

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The story opens with a tragedy 15 years ago, the young master of a major confectionary house, Kogetsu-an, was found murdered in his own home. The only witness was his young son, Tsubaki, who immediately put the blame on a female worker, who is not just anyone; it's the mother of his playmate (possibly even sweetheart) Nao! Needless to say, Nao's life shattered that very instant and her mother also died not long after the murder charge, leaving Nao as an orphan. In the end, Nao and Tsubaki separated with ill feelings for each other.

Fast forward to 15 years later, fate reunites Nao (Minami Hamabe) and Tsubaki (Ryusei Yokohama) once again. The catch? Tsubaki doesn't recognize her, but she does. And this time she will do the one thing she wasn't able to do when she was a kid; fighting for her mother's innocence. Nao has nothing to lose now as she has lost everything in literal sense 15 years ago. Meanwhile, Tsubaki seems to be attracted to her for real, so long as she doesn't expose her identity as his childhood friend whose life he destroyed.

A daughter of a murderer and son of the victim. Or are they?

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I was hooked from the very first episode until the last. Though I have to admit that halfway through the show I already had a guess who is the true murderer all along and it's proven right, I was still pleasantly surprised by how the mystery unraveled in a way that's unexpected. Minami and Ryusei are so brilliant with their acting, and there are no overreacting cutesy acts, a plain heroine who needs saving or a naïve one who is frustrating and infuriating (yes, Coffee and Vanilla, I'm referring to that disaster). Nao is a strong character who tries to demand what she is due; justice for her mother and closure to the tragedy that robbed her of her normal childhood and adulthood, and I love her for it.

The only flaw I think she has is probably how she could wholly forgive Tsubaki for all he did in the past. Maybe it's just because so many years has passed by, or it's because there are only 8 episodes in this show that everything seems a bit fast even with the three years time jump, or because they're just destined to be together, but yeah, it's a tiny weeny baffling to me how she selflessly forgives him. Why tiny weeny? Because at her core, Nao is a kind person and the past can't be changed. That aside, Tsubaki also regrets what he did and somehow even he got his karma mostly during the last episode of this show. The end is bittersweet, just like how I like it.

If you're like me, who has seen too many horrors of J-Dramas with domineering men and submissive women and is more or less fed up with the very fact, I suggest you to watch this show. The acting is superb, the supporting casts exist to create drama necessary for the storyline and the wardrobe is amazing! The vocabs about traditional Japanese confectionary are also helpful and unique. A totally worthy drama to watch in your spare time!

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watched on a whim and now has me hooked on j-dramas

And I still can't find any that compare! Only certain dramas compel me to watch beyond the first episode - this was one that made me binge it all night to completion! The chemistry between the two leads being electrifying since their first encounter is my number one reason. My only complaints are how dated some of the filming/editing feels to me - like something out of 2005-10 - but maybe that's why I love it so much, it has that nostalgic melodrama factor for me complemented with cheesy twists., along with a villain you just love to hate and a FL you root for to succeed! I'm a fan of fast-paced shojo mangas and this was based on one so I'm quite obsessed with it!

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Caught me by surprise

Wanted to watch a new Jdorama and saw this on Netflix. Netflix showed me a snippet of it - Seems to be something about people making Japanese desserts. I thought that was it and I was wrong...

Story: I just started it at random thinking that it was just an ordinary story about the artisan(s) who made Japanese dessert but then, I ended up binge watching it to the end. It was frustrating in the first 2 episodes, like I needed to know more. It feels like you learn new things in every episode. There's just more to this drama than just dessert making. Of course the story revolves around the business of making and selling the desserts but it also shows what happens to the people involved and their stories. I love how they showed the dessert with the explanation and illustration.

Acting/Cast/Production: I love the directing for this drama! The way the scenes were shot, the angles, I love it. This drama has an interesting plot but if directed wrongly can be very messy. The timeline is very important. Also, props to the screen writer! For the acting, I think I've found a new actress to love which is Minami Hanabe. I've seen her in Ano Hana and Kakegurui. She can really bring out the emotion of the character. Overall, all the cast in this drama did well. Special mention to the Arisa as Tsubaki's mother. The way she sing all those poems? or songs? has that horror vibe. Anyway, she did well in this drama.

Music: Love the main theme song by Tokyo Jihen. The OSTs are good, too.

Rewatch Value: It's really good the first time you watch it because there's many things to uncover. As for a rewatch value... I might rewatch it again as it was quite enjoyable but not sure if I'll get the same feelings I got the first time I watch it since I've already known how the story unfolds.

Anyway, I love this drama. It caught me by surprise but it was a good surprise. I'm recommending my fwens and family to watch this as I typed this review. If you like psychological thriller with a sprinkle of romance and lots of food (desserts), give it a try!

Thank you for reading till the end.

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In a bubble....

I love a good melodrama and this one was one of the best: short and to the point.

This drama takes place within the world of japanese sweets makers, bound by the rigid rules of japanese society. It is a world unlike any I have seen previously: it is apparently taking place at this day and age but their behaviour and the way of life is out of another era. They are wearing kimonos all the time and I have not seen a single mobile phone anywhere: when they needed to talk to someone at the distance, they used the old fashioned land line! Even the characters themselves admited to be strange: "There is something wrong with us!" they say repeatedly!

So into this world comes a young woman, an expert sweets maker with a revenge on mind and shakes everything up!

The story is a usual melodrama one: betrayal, lies, murder, fight for inheritance, back stabbing...everything is there and is so much fun to watch!

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9/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 Japanese suspense mystery, romance drama with 8, 37-52 minute episodes. Also known under the Japanese title Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru which translates to We Are Not Ourselves.

First I provide a synopsis then review.

Synopsis
Fifteen years ago Hanaoka (Okura) Nao’s (Hamabe Minami) mother was a talented baker at a family owned sweets shop. The son and heir of the highly successful confection shop, Takatsuki Tsubaki (Yakohama Ryusei), was Nao’s playmate as she lived in the staff area with her mother. The two young children learned to make confections together and Tsubaki fondly nicknamed Nao “Sakura”. That all changed when Tsubaki accused Mao’s mother of killing his father. After 15 years Nao is no longer the child TsubakI remembered and the two encounter each other through a confection competition. Not realizing the mysterious girl is his childhood friend whose mother he believes killed his father, Tsubaki asks Nao to marry him to get out of an arranged marriage. Without missing a beat, Nao accepts the proposal to be close to the family and location where she feels her mother was falsely accused. She keeps her true identity hidden as it is clear Tsubaki would not be okay in proximity of the daughter of the woman he believes murdered his father. Can Nao determine what really happened in the past without suffering a similar fate? Can the fragile love between the former childhood friends endure when they both discover the truth?

Review
Thus was eye candy in the beautiful Komono they wore and bright imagery. The sweets they created were amazingly detailed and it would have been worth it to watch just to see the artistry of making the Japanese sweets. But there was more to it than that. The mystery of what happened in the past was woven through well and it kept you guessing as new details were slowly revealed. The leads had great chemistry and their romance was believable, The villainess was well cast as I felt foreboding whenever she was on scene. It is a bit dark but still has a nice romance. I recommend this and would rewatch in the future.

Spoilers*
There we’re times when it was like if you would just let them both run it or select them both it would solve so many problems. Lead girl let the mistress get away with a lot as she would do something violent or despicable and she would not tell anyone else.

#CursedInLove
#WatashitachiWaDoukaShiteiru
#MinamiHamabe
#RyuseiYokohama
#IkusaburoYamazaki

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Romance with a plot twist ahead

The story were super intriguing and the cast totally hats it off. The depth of the character was quite good as well. Totally not a usual romance drama but it's really worth to watch.

The beautiful cinematography, kimono and wagashi (Japanese Sweets) will also get you hooked.

I keep guessing in my head in each episode who's the killer and near the end I also try to guess who's tsubaki's real dad.
This drama also portrait human character really well, like tsubaki's mother who's antagonist but in the end it was revealed she's not always bad and really care about tsubaki.

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Came expecting more...

To be honest, this was one of the first jdramas I watched, and it left me feeling like a lot happened without a lot of emotion behind it. The lead actress ended up being one of my favorites after watching other dramas she starred in and the ML is pretty popular, so I won't say anything to that. Here was my impression after watching it:

Pretty good, but similar to the other jdramas I've seen thus far, the pacing feels too fast. even tho the eps are ~1hr, it's too fast and not enough character moments. I don't feel as if the mains really do love each other, even with a few flashbacks and scenes of pining over each other. I did really enjoy the candy-making scenes, though!

Take this with a grain of salt, I don't tend to fall in love with melodramatic stories.

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An honest review

I believe that this drama is not bad, but not so good either. It’s more like a drama where you just want to watch something and anything.

To me it had some real major issues in it (u can avoid them if u try). Which r the story line (plot) and how they filmed it.

For the first part i just couldn’t feel any depth in the story, they didn’t really give the characters a great backstory to feel and understand their emotions better. Also the plot wasn’t smooth, many scenes were full of nonsense and didn’t make sense to me, and the just didn’t flow into each other, u would just feel like u don’t know y this is happening in the first place.

For the second part the somewhat filmed it like an Indian drama, and it felt really like it was a 2000s drama although it is only recent when they filmed it.

I really liked how they portrayed the sweets in this drama, they gave a very nice view to something not all people would think of every day or never, but yeah it was a really nice thing to include.

And that’s all, so if u just want to watch something for fun u can watch it, but if ur looking for a good story I wouldn’t really recommend.

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Must watch if you like romance jdrama

For 8 episodes it's amazing drama.
Acting is quiet good, female lead does always look a bit surprise face but it's ok.
Has a great story. Lots of romantic scenes if you like that.
For live action adaption this is a really good one. Sometimes live action adaptions are bit strange, especially if you've read the manga or novel.
It wraps up well. no time wasting. The rating I gave is 9/10 for it is a short drama.
The pacing of each episode is good. Again it only has 8 episodes and I think it didn't need more and I wouldn't go less.
Definitely worth watching. Even if you don't think it's that great it is only 8 episodes of your time.

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