Love Rerun (2018)

Love Rerun serves up a nonlinear narrative to an otherwise traditional and cliché-ridden love story about a girl, her unrequited love, and an ostensible do-over in the romance department. It basically plays up the notion of second chances and the futility of clinging on to a past love amidst a quagmire of work-related issues and awkward living arrangements. Fully showcasing its shōjo manga roots, the set up includes the drastic transformation of an insecure, mousy girl into a stylish beauty with a case of selective amnesia as the trigger for the character conflict. Sharing the same giddy and hopeful qualities of Proposal Daisakusen, viewers get to witness and revel at the main character's first blush of love, but it has none of the emotional nuance or dimension of Mou Ichido Kimi no Propose to elevate the flimsy material. 

Minami Sayaka (Nakamura Anne) has been in love with her childhood friend, Sagisawa Ryosuke (Otani Ryohei) for as long as she can remember. Single, about to turn thirty (30), and having absolutely no experience in love, she makes up her mind to confess her feelings to him on her birthday, hoping that he would see her as more than a friend.

Before the intended date, she closes her eyes to sleep, only to wake up in a strange apartment, in clothes that she would not customarily wear and in such a fashion that she could only dream of. Shortly after, a man enters the room telling her to leave as soon as she finishes packing her things. She rushes out of the building in a dazed state to discover that it's three months later, she got promoted at work, was cohabiting with a man named Machida Shohei (Furukawa Yuki),  and that the said relationship was over. Apparently a lot of things have changed but she has no recollection as to how and why she got in her current state.

Utterly clueless with nowhere else to go, Machida agrees to let her stay with him until she regains her lost memories. She's back to pining after her precious Ryo-chan but this stranger of a man, who plays her reluctant host, has the inherent ability to move her in ways that she can't ignore.

Love Rerun opens with this fairly staged story hook that keeps viewers engaged and curious about what happened in those lost three months. What came about Sayaka's love confession? How did she get to be in a relationship with a younger co-worker? And more importantly, what caused them to break up? The series is at its best when it ties in Machida and Sayaka's past encounters to present events, making the whole affair a rediscovery of love as much as a perplexing breakup.

The missing pieces of the puzzle are rendered through flashbacks so sincere and tender that it's without question how Machida won Sayaka's heart. The fact that he knows the right things to say to prod her into action and takes notice of little things make it fairly obvious that he cares deeply about her but the reason why he keeps his distance is the show's biggest conundrum. Unfortunately, whatever intrigue sparked by its first half would slowly devolve into a circuitous array of hurdles as the main characters yield to misunderstanding and interference from supporting characters who are too quick to have a change of heart. It's a long, frustrating road towards a foregone conclusion and a disappointing reveal of the cause of the split---which is nothing that a mature and committed couple can't handle after a serious discussion.

RATING: 
MYSTERY BREAKUP
NONLINEAR NARRATIVE
FICKLE CHARACTERS
CORNY ENDING

Categories: Furukawa Yuki, Japanese Drama, Nakamura Anne, Reviews