Ore no Kawaii wa Mosugu Shohi Kigen!? (2022)

An adorable narcissist? HOW?!

I actually started this drama on a whim, after watching an FMV of the couple. I loved how the ML looked at the FL. That's all there was to it to make me hit the play button. And I guess it's a good thing that I went in without looking any further. Because in episode 1 I was greeted with a narcissistic male lead and time travel. Two things that normally make me run for the hills.

What made me stay? The male lead is definitely narcissistic, but never crosses the line. In fact, the writers somehow managed to balance his narcissism with his genuine care for others. Simultaneously. I don't know if i've ever seen anything quite like it before. I kinda wanna go through the narcissism tag to see if I can find another... He also goes through tremendous character growth, that felt natural and unrushed - despite the shortness of the series. And, fortunately for me, the time travel comes into play with a support character, not the leads. So it actually didn't have too much focus, and contributed to the message of the story in very interesting ways.

It's told with the classic manga-esque dramatics that really only Japan can pull of. It really pulls the punches on commenting on Pretty Privilege/Kawaii Factor and biases, in a humorous way that sent me laughing. I thoroughly enjoyed all the support characters. Not a single one had me annoyed or sent me ranting, especially by the end. And I adored watching the romance (even if I would have liked more affection from the female lead).

It's kinda poetic actually, that a story that wound up being about biases, made me question some of my own drama-watching biases. I am still wondering how this writer managed to make a narcissist so adorable and root for-able.



*Disclaimer: I am referring to his possession of narcissistic/self-centered traits which are commonly found in everyone on a scale of intensity, not as someone who appears to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

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