Čúgakusei nikki

I actually ended up liking this. Basically what I appreciated most about it was the reserved, calm way everything was handled. Basically, there's a big scandal and moral panic because a teacher falls in love with a student. Except that the student is 15 years old. He also has a crush on his teacher, who is ten years older than he is. And this infatuation just can't be stopped, it's stronger than the people involved. Still, it's very believable. Most of this is helped, of course, by Okada Kenshi; it is extremely hard to believe that this is his first work. He was so great! The kid has really got it! He was so natural and great in the role that he alone makes it worth watching. Arimura wasn't bad either; she was good enough for her role as the gentle and very sincere teacher, but I believe she could have been better. Their two characters have reached the end of their run and we can really tell. The series covers quite a large span of time (even though it really depends on how you see it whether three years is a lot) and you can see how far the characters have come in that time. On top of that, we have two other pivotal characters – the mother of the student in love and (to complicate matters further) the new friend of the teacher in love. Both of these female characters interfere with the plot and move it along in some way. The mother, of course, is opposed to her son's relationship and takes this opposition to extremes – although the viewer may be repulsed by her behavior and will see her as the ultimate villain, when you think about it, her behavior makes sense and cannot be condemned outright. On the other hand, the new friend is a wonderful free thinker and it's no wonder Yoshida Yō won awards for her role. She is rooting for the couple the whole time, she has a great mindset, and you just have to like her, because it’s hard to find such an outspoken female (!) character in a Japanese series. If the mother is the darkness, she is the light. It's not a completely first-rate and straightforward story. Even watching it probably requires a bit of cooperation from the audience (of which there wasn't much from Japanese viewers, the ratings were lousy and the series was considered very controversial), and I think the first two episodes might not be particularly gripping. It took me a while to get past them myself. But then I just kept watching because I was interested to see what would happen to them next. It's a nice slice of life. But unfortunately the ending is rushed, almost inconvenient, and some things are left unfinished; I suppose it should have had an extra episode, but in the end the series was robbed of that episode due to low viewer interest. Too bad. It's not bad, but it’s not for everyone. Ultimately, the biggest weaknesses are Arimura, the not-so-interesting beginning, and the rushed ending. A weaker 4 stars. (12/03/2019)