Rating: 5/10*
*Personal opinions towards storyline and actors/actresses factor into the rating. Don’t take it too personal if a drama you liked/disliked has a rating you don’t agree with.
I just finished watching another drama a few days ago and it was interesting to say the least. It was much different than what I usually watch and the title of the drama was what caught my eye. “Busu”, according to my Japanese dictionary app, means “extremely ugly woman”. The whole title apparently means something like “in love with the busu’s eyes”.
Weird title would mean intriguing story, right? Well, I’m not so sure that’s the case after having finished this drama. It was a nice drama to pass some time and it does make you feel for the main actress, who is actually playing the role of an aspiring actress who works at a ramen shop part-time, trying to land her next big gig. The thing is though, while she’s got a great personality and is a nice person, she’s not what the Japanese consider conventionally attractive. Thus, the unfortunate use of “busu” is used towards her quite often and it’s such a shame. I understand it’s a drama so I didn’t put much thought into it, but I couldn’t help but wish they didn’t use such a rude word to describe her, or anyone for that matter.
But nonetheless, she’s sadly referred to as busu throughout the drama and we follow her story which includes her trying to get into the acting world, a sudden love interest of a handsome and a bonus love square! (I’m assuming since love triangle is three people, one more added person to the mix would make the complicated situation a square.) Would I recommend this drama? Not really. The main takeaway is that looks don’t matter when it comes to love, and it’s about the feelings between two people. And while that’s a great message, it just wasn’t portrayed in an entertaining enough manner and came off as rather corny. If you wanted something more along the lines of “attractive person falling in love with someone who isn’t considered conventionally attractive”, then I’d recommend Densha Otoko in that case.
Now for the spoilers!
The drama seemed to build a great storyline in my opinion in the beginning, but Osamu (Inagaki) and Miyuki’s (Murakami) relationship could’ve used some more expanding on if possible. Osamu clearly started to grow feelings for her, and he was suppressing them because he didn’t think she was his type, but suddenly getting dumped by his girlfriend and realizing he wants to marry Miyuki seemed too rushed. It’s a drama, one intended to be mostly funny, so of course it was an exaggeration but the other relationships he was in definitely didn’t feel so forced as this! That’s gotta be my biggest qualm with the drama, probably because most of the love stories in the precious dramas I’ve watched have a much better build up to it.
But oh well. I thought it was alright! Don’t go around calling people busu though, it’s rude!!
Journey To Japan 