Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo

I remember when the show was getting started... I used to watch an episode a week and it was lovely because it always brightened my day and I was smiling like sunshine on dung. Then the weaker episodes started (you could still walk away from them with a positive feeling), and then even further down the line there were episodes that wouldn't have made you feel ashamed of your tears if you could empathize with Kotoko, Kinnosuke, and Naoki. For me, this was the best version of InK. Why? It wasn't so much Kotoko's goofy attitude, but Irie's. This Irie was alive. He was human, and that's what was beautiful about him. Although there are a lot of opinions that he was cold as a block of ice (and well acted – which I agree with), I don't think he was emotionless. He just hid it and it came out at times. I've seen every episode at least twice, so I've really done my homework! :-D Kotoko was a spunky dork whose stupidity I think anyone could forgive (well, okay, I admit there were times when I was really embarrassed for her, but that was the case in every version). Kinnosuke was a grown savage, at times like a badass, at times like a cretin. The music was fine – simple, but kind of fitting. I can still sing through the OP and ED now – plus I appreciate that they made their own video for the OP and didn’t just cut scenes together from the show, which is the usual practice. Actually, the whole thing was very vivid, not only the main characters but also the background (sometimes you just ignore the main characters and watch what's going on behind them or focus on Yuki; in one scene from episode 15 it looks like he doesn't know how to use chopsticks...). I had fun, felt awkward, enjoyed myself, sympathized, thought it through and understood their actions (except for maybe the stalking of Naoki and stuff...), and melted. Don't judge it right away, it's not obvious at first glance, but the story is brilliant! And so that I’m not just singing praises... sometimes the scenes were boring, drawn out, Koto's antics were unnecessarily too awkward, and sometimes the camera missed the mark too. But still, it gave me positive energy from the beginning, which I really needed at that time. Arigato ne. And that's also the main reason why I made for it. (20/07/2013)