Oshi no Ojisama (2021)

More than just a romance drama featuring an older woman-younger man

Before we get to it, let me warn you that this review contains a lot of spoilers regarding the drama and the overall plot and hence, proceed at your own risk.

As always, let me start of this review by providing a brief summary of the plot. In short, the drama tells the story of a 36-year-old Hidaka Izumi, CEO of a start-up game production company who vows to change Wataru Igarashi, an uncultured 23-year-old to become a person just like ‘Kento Sama’ - a fictional game character and her ideal man.

At first glance, one would assume that this is just another romance drama featuring an older woman and a younger man however, there’s more to it than just that. In some ways, the drama is a complete opposite of what one would expect based on the synopsis. In the sense, the drama doesn’t just focus on the romance aspect but also touches on themes such as ‘Friendship’, ‘Sense of Belonging’ and ‘Fandoms’. Therefore, it can be said that the romance is more like a subplot than the main focus which I personally didn’t mind. Secondly, I also really liked the fact that there are no villains in this series which is rare in dramaland (if you ask me). Next, another aspect I absolutely loved was the acting which was convincing and cringe-free. All the actors did a brilliant job thereby, making the drama a lot more engaging. Additionally, I must also add that the budget for the drama seemed to be on the high-end cause the cinematography and the props used were of really good quality. And lastly, I really liked certain aspects of the plot (emphasis on ‘certain’) and found them quite relatable especially the scenes where Wataru is trying yet struggling to learn new skills and the scene where Izumi completely lost interest in the one thing she really liked. For some reason, those scenes really spoke to me.

Now, regarding my dislikes, although I don’t have any major complains but I was slightly dissatisfied with one particular aspect of the plot - Our leads dating other despite having feeling for one another. I get the fact that these things happen in real life too but I’m personally unsure as to how I feel about it cause it really made me feel bad for their significant others especially in Izumi’s case. Her decision to date her colleague just to ensure he remains by her side was off. On any other day, I would have applauded her decision but in this instance, it just came across as forced and unnecessary. Honestly, in the end, I just feel that had the leads been honest about their feeling from the onset, they probably would have been able to avoid the unnecessary heartache. But I’m glad they corrected it towards the end.

All in all, this was a good drama with a solid start which unfortunately declined slightly in the second half only to pick up in the finale. But with that being said, I’d still wholeheartedly recommend the series to those looking for a drama with a mature yet realistic romance.

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