The series is truly stunning and visually beautiful, and the lead actor is exceptionally captivating. Episodes 2-6 were mesmerizing in terms of attraction and romance, evoking a great sense of excitement and butterflies. However, there was always a lingering sense of doubt because it’s quite possible they aren’t a good match. She looks unnatural, and something feels off, while he says beautiful words that seem insincere. Until the very last minute, there’s a strong sense of forced chemistry between them.

There’s absolutely no comparison between this deep and compelling creation and the shallow, boring, and overly flashy Korean version. It seems like the Japanese are striving lately to acquire works from other countries and are using all their extraordinary skills and abilities to maximize what can’t always be perfected. You can’t turn every stone into a diamond. In this case, they came close, but unfortunately, there were many issues with the dialogues, which were so clearly Korean due to their endless cheesiness. That particular scene where everything halts in episode 7 marked the beginning of the decline. To their credit, they tried in episode 8 to restore the charm, and it partially worked, but the shallow dialogue and lack of chemistry between the leads were still evident.

In general, everyone’s acting was excellent, and the other couples were charming, attractive, and even very interesting in my opinion. The music, however, was not good and very annoying. It’s a shame it didn’t feel fully Japanese, coming off instead as a cheap American imitation.

Overall, it’s worth watching, even twice. The Japanese excel in expressing romance and are masters of combining it with art, which they do very successfully here.