Shanai Marijjihani (2020)

Great chemistry, but a silly plot

Warning, DETAILED SPOILERS!! My review is basically an essay, so the TL;DR is that the lead actor and actress have great chemistry, but there are endless problems with the plot.

This drama had great chemistry between the lead actor and actress, which largely went to waste because one can’t help but be distracted by the silliness of the plot. I’ve seen my fair share of contract marriage dramas because I’m a sucker for this cliché, but never have I seen one which so egregiously fails to justify the reason for the parties entering into the contract marriage. For the lead girl, her “reason” for entering into the marriage is that she’s just come out of a 5 year relationship, with the guy cheating on her, and she just wants to get married and doesn’t care whether or not the marriage is loveless. Uh…what?? That makes absolutely no sense. With no real incentive e.g. financial, it’s completely illogical for someone who has just come out of a long-term relationship to go, ‘oh yes, let me get married to a stranger!’ For the lead guy, his “reason” is that his mum had recurrent breast cancer and he knows she doesn’t want to see him alone. And yet, despite him supposedly marrying to please his mum, she doesn’t even meet the wife until they’re well into their marriage. Oh, and of course, isn’t it oh so convenient that the “recurrent” breast cancer resolves itself, so that his mum is now perfectly fine!

So we’ve already got this ridiculous setup, but to make the plot even more egregious, we’re meant to believe that these strangers married without knowing anything about each other, not even where they work. Simply out of concern for your safety, as if you’d do that! But again, conveniently for the plot, they work at the same company and run into each other regularly at work once they’re married. Funny that, given they never ran into each other before marrying.

Now to dissect the idiocy in some serious detail…the pacing of this drama is ridiculous. We’re only half-way through Episode 1 (24 minute episodes mind you), and the lead girl's already fallen for the guy, with no time jump or anything involved. Also within the first episode, they’re flirting and kissing. The flirting and kissing was so ridiculous in its suddenness, that at first I thought the lead girl was fantasising but alas, despite them not even really knowing each other, I was wrong! There’s also straight-up plot holes, like the fact that in Episode 2 they both say ‘I love you’ (again, they hardly know each other), but then when the lead guy says ‘I love you’ again to the girl in Episode 3, she’s really surprised by it. Another plot hole in my opinion is that in Episode 6 we find out that the lead guy wants kids, even though we also found out that before his contract marriage, he never even wanted to get married. That hardly adds up.

There’s so many more examples of lazy writing. The girl repeatedly calls the guy a sadist, and he repeatedly calls her crafty and says she’s cute. Like, could you vary the dialogue a bit please? Then there’s the whole silly justification for keeping the marriage secret (he “missed the timing” to tell people, and “when my wife is trying to keep it a secret her reactions are cute” - Episode 4) which doesn't add up because it's so nonsensical and childish.

I also can’t help but be disappointed by the female lead. I’m not sure whether this is worth mentioning since it’s omnipresent in jdramas and films and it’s pretty scathing commentary, but we yet again have on our hands a boring, one-dimensional female lead. While the lead guy is (only naturally) a leader in his field, being at the top of sales every month, our main girl is thoroughly mediocre at work and at the end of the day, like all good Japanese women in jdramas, is above all else happy when she can please her man by acting like a good housewife. You know, despite her also working full-time…While she’s super-duper impressed by her husband cooking one meal (that apparently makes him the perfect husband), we see her frequently cooking up impressive meals for him. But not only that, when her husband’s friend comes over to their place, she’s over the moon about being able to impress him (and thereby her husband) with her cooking skills. As she says, ‘I’ve always longed for this’. Wow, isn’t that just fabulous, a woman longing to impress her future husband by feeding his friend. And if you think I’m being too harsh, think about how ridiculous you would find this scenario if the genders were reversed.

I’ve honed in on all of the bad things with this show deliberately, because I think it has an inflated rating on MDL and others have covered the good things already. However, I should briefly mention the good things. I absolutely love the chemistry and sensuality in the relationship, and love that they regularly have sex, like a normal couple does! I also love that the girl wants it just as much as the guy, even if he’s the initiator. I think it's great that their relationship is healthy, even with all of the plot holes. The show is sweet, with no over-the-top conflict. It's also the perfect length, great for a binge watch. While I was frustrated the whole time I was watching it, there’s something addictive about it (I’d say because of the leads’ chemistry).

So if you’re someone who just wants good chemistry between the leads and don’t care too much about a well-constructed plot, I’d say go ahead and watch! Otherwise, I’d say go into it without any serious expectations.

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