Nishi Ogikubo Mitsuboshi Yoshudou (2021)

Warm human drama

I am very excited to watch this drama as this is the first lead drama for Machida Keita, and right after Cherry Magic where he is currently at the new height of popularity. The drama is very short, only 6 episodes 24 mins each so it is an easy watch. I like it quite a lot, the story is warm and light, the characters are well-acted and overall it is a well-made drama. I really couldn't find any fault in this show, except that it's rather short and I don't see enough Machida ^^

STORY
The synopsis will remind you of Midnight Diner, where the episode focuses on the troubles of the customer who comes to the establishment. But due to the short duration, the story is not as deep as Midnight Diner and is not explored further. You also get glimpses of the background of the three main characters (Amamiya, Nakauchi and Kobayashi), even though at the end Amamiya's background is still relatively unknown. I think it is also because the original manga is still very new (only 1 vol released so far) therefore they can't really explore his background further. The possibility of any sequel is very much open at this moment.
I also really like the visual of this drama, it is dominated with yellow/brown color which exudes warm atmosphere.

ACTING
All the characters are very well acted, including the guest roles which include some famous figures such as Kaji Yuki and Nakayama Miho. Machida is great as beautiful bartender even though I wish he had more lines and more scenes to show more of his acting capabilities. Fujiwara and and Morisaki also did a great job portraying their characters and I find Kobayashi's character is very interesting.

MUSIC
I think this is one of the J-drama that has the best music imo (besides Cherry Magic). The OP (Entertainer by I Don't Like Monday) song is very catchy and addictive, and the ED (Tooi Hoshi wo Kazoete by Sard Underground) is the remake of song by one of my favorite singers, Zard. Definitely recommended!

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