Dare to dream,Live the dream

Love Shuffle

Saturday, June 16, 2012 | 5:23 pm | 0 comments

Welcome to Love Shuffle!

The story goes that the 4 main characters (refer to above cast chart top row) - Usami Kei, Aizawa Airu, Sera Ojiro and Kikuta Masato bonded during a lift breakdown, and realized they were all neighbours who stayed on the same top level mansion.

Again, refer to the above cast chart, the characters on the bottom row - Mai, Yukichi, Reiko and Kairi are the respective partners/ friends of the top row characters.

Mai is engaged to Usami, but she wanted time out of their relationship. Airu wants to break up with Yukichi but Yukichi is in refusal and denial. Reiko is just Ojiro's friends with benefits. Lastly, in Kairi's case, she is Kikuta's patient.

Because I'm more than a little obsessed with Matsuda Shota right now, I am spamming all his dramas.

I must say though, I pretty enjoyed this character.

Modern, cool, caring, serious.

So begins their Love Shuffle.

Kikuta came up with this idea called Love Shuffle, whereby they will switch their partners and try dating for a week. It will either open them up to new partners, or make them see how awesome their old partners were. In the process, they made new friends and discovered new things about themselves.

I love how they used their lift foyer as their unofficial living room. They gather here almost every night for a pajama party where they drink, have dinner, and talk.

Very heartwarming.

Sera Ojiro portrays a classic bad boy image, bad-ass free-lance photographer who specialises in shooting female potraits. The interesting thing is he's a very shy and sensitive person, but he chooses to hide them all underneath his tough boy, cool photographer image. He understands women very well, which might explain why his photos are always so real, so honest.

Ojiro's love shuffle of the week is Airu and I must confess, I was rooting for this couple!

I really loved their chemistry together, and there were sparks that makes a viewer believe strongly this couple should be together!!

When Ojiro shot photos for Airu, I thought that was the coolest and sexiest scene ever.

Okay maybe it lost a little to the cooking scene below.

Airu looked amazingggggg in the studio, and I really loved her character. It shed some light on her background, and explained why she behaved the way she is. There is something very intriguing, and real about her character that the majority viewers can identify with.

This is my favourite shot from the entire drama season.

Mai, Reiko and Kairi's shots though equally good, can't compare to the intensity and beauty of this photo. There is something very raw, exposed and honest about this shot that endears to me.

Cooking scene!!

Ojiro is one hell of a chef, which makes this character all the more hotter.

I stand by my opinions, Ojiro and Airu are a good pair.

Except he ended up with Kairi in the end, who is simply a weird character with a fetish for pandas.

See what I mean about the panda?

She talks damn little in the drama, has minimal expression and is bent on suicide.

Apparently Ojiro is the reason why she's not busy trying to kill herself. So I guess they're good for each other. Though I am still rooting for Airu. lol.

Usami and Mai

For some reason, I didn't really like Mai.

I found her character immature, self-centered and her love was kinda superficial.

But all of that was packaged nicely so it wasn't an immediate turn-off.

The curious thing about this character is that it makes you think about your own life. To me, Mai is just a rich girl who has led too pampered a life and has not been through hardships at all. She is incapable of grasping the happiness in front of her because she's unsatisfied. Her life has been too perfect. She's the classic character who goes seeking some troubles so she can mess up her perfect little life and meanwhile, see if she can be more mature in future.

Usami, on the other hand, is someone who haven't found a niche. He isn't passionate about his job, and in Mai's eyes, that diminishes him in her eyes. It kinda makes sense in a way. Usami lives one day at a time, and doesn't give much thought to the future. Not that he's irresponsible, just that he didn't want to live life worrying about things that haven't happened yet. At the same time, he has also given in the harsh reality that passion and work do not coexist, which explains why he's slowing losing his "shine". Mai wanted Usami to find his niche and continue shining, because she knows that is where he truly belonged.

Tara Team

This pair is damn hilarious.

Tamaki Hiroshi is one comedian, I couldn't stop laughing at him even back in Nodame Cantabile.

All in all, I rate this show

I enjoyed the plot, and the characters really made me think and reflect on life.

Favourite character would be Aizawa Airu! Surprise surprise! Haha, bet you expected Sera Ojiro because I'm too obsessed with Matsuda Shota recently. ;)

4/5 stars

Definitely worth a watch!

Labels: Jap Dramas, June2012

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