Hamaru Otoko ni Keritai Onna (2023)

Cute, easy to watch rom-com that took the path of least resistance

The start of this show is actually the best part. The premise of an overbearing highflyer who flew too close to the sun, crash and burn to become a lowly live-in caretaker of a share house is interesting.

The fish out of water trope generated a few laughs. The injection of a FL who held a grudge against the ML sounds spicy but that's about as angsty as it got. Yes, there was a bit of payback fun and resultant character growth and healing but it is a tropey rom-com to its core so it is no surprise that the rest of the plotlines follow the well thumbed playbook.

I'm not saying that it is bad, to the contrary, it is quite light and an easy watch. The "problem" is that it doesn't push hard in any direction. The revenge plot is half hearted because the FL is too nice. The SML/SFL are too understanding and they just take the hint and move on. A bit of distraction and that's about it. The romance of the OTP is nice but not particularly passionate. Even the skinship is more coincidental than full on passionate affairs. I normally hate "angst for angst sake" type of writing but this show swings a little too far in the opposite direction.

Naturally, the ML is a changed man by the end of the show and we get the mandatory HEA ending. Totally fine and a bit of fan service but this puts it squarely in the middle of a very crowded space with little to separate it from the rest.
Worth the one time watch but hard to come back for seconds.

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