I have never read the novel or source material of this drama and I have not watched any other versions of this drama. I watched it because it popped up in my list of suggestions and because it was the latest version. Here is a feedback FULL OF SPOILER.

CHARACTERS/CAST:

- Sumire: She looked beautiful, competent, with a lot of professionalism and she was a successful woman at work. On the personnal plan, she was a mess. She was wishy washy and indecisive. She did not know how to address her own issues always looking for her pet to comfort her. I really had hard time to understand the difference of personnality and I could not find her likable. She was annoying specially when things started to become draggy. She was dumb to accept the marriage proposal when she was not sure of herself. Only at the end she decided to make things clear because she accidently found the truth.

- Takeshi: I liked him for the qualities he displayed although he looked very young: He was caring, gave attention, he was cheerful and he really had the ability to understand people and situations. In the same time, he looked struggling himself and trying to use the situation to his advantage to find the courage to progess. I thought he was a real good boy despite his own challenges and shortcomings. I liked how he managed the situation and the emotions and feelings he had the best way he could.

- Hasumi : Granted he was handsome and charming but that was the nice facade. I found he was pretty bland and not sincere at all. Too good and too proper to be real. I did not liked him as a person even if I could understand his sitution. And he was a coward until the end when she liberated him of their deadlock.

- Fukushima: She looked a total psycho and a gold digger and a stalker with her crazy schemes to steal the man she likes. Her personnality is weird because in the end, she reveals herselfs a reckless woman full of insecurities, family issues and she has to fight crazily for these reasons and find what she calls happiness. For me it does not made her any better.

STORY:

Basically it is about the relationship between Sumire and Momo and how it contradicts and enters in conflict with her relationship with Hasumi.

- Sumire and Hasumi: Sumire felt inlove with this student who cared for her and looked for her in the forest and saved her and her glasses . But their relationship short and intense does not last because he has a gf and Sumire moves to the USA. 10 years later, she meets her first love again and they quickling rekindle their feelings but truth is the guy is another guy now. He is a handsome professionnal reporter who is always looking neat and great and every girls like him. Their relationship is wrong. She is stucked with her old emotions and feelings for him and she likes being in his arms because it makes her feel valued but she cannot open her heart to him and be herself. As for him, work is his priority, he is not very sincere and never calls her when he is on business trip. He barely cares to know her or what she wants and what are her intentions or needs. It is like he is with her just for sex and he would not pay attention if she does not tell him. They are both human and I can totally understand their situation but I was still annoyed they could not find a solution like adults. Only their continuous mistakes will lead them to an inevitable exit.

- Sumire and Momo: This is called a pet/owner relationship but it has little of that. You can call the drama "You are my baby brother' or 'You are my little step cousin". There are few moments where he behaves like a "pet". He is rather a baby brother that she takes for cuddling playing with his hairs and giving him shampoo. The pet narrative is so inconsistent that it has little credibility. So it is normal that the "baby brother" who is not blood related starts to develop feelings for her and he hides this and plays the game she likes to support her. I thought that relationship was cute and the complexity of it was well described but it became draggy at some points. Maybe there was too many episodes. Momo put an end to this by making a big choice but his declaration was weirdly done. Luckily in the end it unflods greatly for them.

- Hasumi and Fukushima: Yes this is the second couple which forms towards the end. For some reason, Hasumi falls for Fukushima. Because on the contrary of Sumire who does not open to him, Fukushima has no shame and no fear to march head on to woo him. So he cannot resist the panzer charge and starts to think about her and be drawn to her. So it is easy for her to finish the job by establishing brazzenly a de facto "pet/owner" relationship with him which rather looks like a married couple relationship. I hated how he went back and forth and tried to marry Sumire asap to escape the situation. I started to really dislike these two even if they looked funny. Good thing they ended together as their personnalities and sexual needs looked very compatible

MUSIC: Good but nothing special

REWATCH VALUE: No I would not rewatch that.

OVERALL:
I would say it is a drama well made, well acted, with characters who are very humans and sensible despite their many shortcomings but it failed to entertain me because most of the time, they are tortured by their inabilty to face their problems and speak their true self. Overall, I think these kind of romances and their outcome are understandable but it does not make the characters involved any likable or sympathetic so I finally had little sympathy for them .