Kekkon Yoteibi (2023)

The Guessing Game

Subjective Gut Rating - 7.75

“The Date of Marriage” is a very typical Japanese rom-com. It’s comforting, cute and also very predictable. It’s great for stress relief, but don’t expect it to blow your mind.

I had a pretty enjoyable time watching this. But I think my enjoyment stems from me being a fan of the trope - “Does he/she like me? Nah.. probably not and it’s all in my head. There’s no way he/she will like me”. If you like this trope, you will have a very fun time watching “The Date of Marriage” because the leads are adorable, good-looking and have good chemistry. But if you don’t, you will be super annoyed as they spend more than half of this drama guessing each other’s feelings. The back-and-forth can be very annoying and frustrating.

J-dramas are known for their fast pacing and this drama jumps right to it. In supersonic speed, our female lead was dumped by her boyfriend in the beginning of the first episode and she fell for another guy by mid-second episode. You might also want to suspend realism and common sense. You know, a guy probably won’t promise to marry you if he doesn’t like you, no matter how kind he is. There’s no question to it and no guessing needed. But you have to go with the flow because this guessing game is a big part of the show. Our leads had other long-term relationships in the past but they acted like it’s their first relationship and forgot how to communicate and act, once they got together.

I do like how the stories are told in both the male and female lead’s perspectives (for part of the drama). You can hear their inner thoughts and their own narration. This storytelling seems to be most common with J-dramas, compared to other Asian countries. We also get a few good kisses and not just shy fish kisses.

Overall, this is not the best Japanese rom-coms out there, but it’s passable if you want to watch something short and easy. If you don’t like the trope I mentioned, then don’t watch it.


Other Random Observations:
1. Matsuda Genta is really handsome! LOL He looks older than his real age of 24.
2. Did our female lead wear the same nail polish for a whole year?
3. The comedic inner monologues/daydream confuse me a little in the beginning. I wasn’t sure if they were speaking to the camera/viewers, or to each other.



Completed: 10/3/2023 - Review #362

Lees verder