Konin Todoke Nihan wo Oshita Dakedesuga (2021)

“Misunderstandings” with atypical characters just hit different

Hear me out.

While it has all the elements of a cliched contract marriage romcom, the characters’ personalities and values set this story apart from the rest. The male lead is somewhat neuroatypical. He has an almost over-logical way of thinking, and is unable to express himself to others. The female lead is passionate about her career and doesn’t consider marriage an important part in her future plans, which is slightly unconventional in “traditional” Japanese culture. This light romcom when viewed through an atypical lens can make for an easy, yet thought-provoking drama about understanding. The popular song 「Heart」 by Aimyon serves as its theme.

“Misunderstandings” is probably in my top 5 things I dislike about any drama because most of the time it’s used as an easy way to add conflict in a story and separate the couple for no good reason. But here, it’s used to highlight how the male lead struggles to communicate and understand what most consider to be conventional behaviour and feelings. Most of us take this understanding for granted. Think about it - we can say “I love you” to a best friend to mean platonic love, and say “I like you” to a new acquaintance to mean romantic love. How do you *KNOW* when is which?

Aside from the leads, supporting characters also explore their own version of unconventional “love” and “relationships” — which (in my opinion) Jdramas do best! What does it mean to be married? Is that really the only way to be “happy"? [SPOILER WARNING for side characters] A man wonders why his wife wants to get divorced in order to have a common-law marriage (where you are still lovers/partners in every way except on legal papers), A women who chose her partner not based on love, but to start an “ideal family”. A fangirl devoting her love to an idol. I loved these mini-insights that can easily be overlooked.

WHAT I WOULD HAVE CHANGED:

Of course, any drama has its flaws.

The last three episodes might be frustrating and slow for some, but I still found those episodes to be interesting. If you consider these two people not fitting into the mould of “normal”, there’s a need to explore a relationship that works best for them! Isn’t that the most important thing?

I also understood the reasons for the cliched setup and abundance of misunderstandings but could have done with a few less, especially the meddling love interests. And finally, I felt the leads could have had more build-up and chemistry with each other, and I wanted it to end slightly differently, but overall I was still satisfied with the romance.

TRY IT IF YOU LIKE:
The contract marriage trope, 『Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu』 (Japanese, 2016), "Because This Is My First Life" (Korean, 2017)

It’s not a character study on neurodivergence, but if you watch it with this open mind, you might gain a new perspective. Even if you’re not interested in the atypical angle, there are enough sweet doki-doki moments to keep a romcom fan entertained.

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