I know for many of you this dorama (or Japanese drama) isn’t going to be sophisticated enough, and that’s fine.

But if I had a young daughter who was beginning to exhibit curiosity about boy-girl relationships, I think this would be a good series to watch together and have a conversation afterwards about dating expectations.

The old readers of this blog know well that one of my major gripes about Hollywood romcoms is instant gratification. I just don’t view carnal knowledge as critical to the development of the romance. I wouldn’t be screaming bloody murder if the couple don’t engage in sex till the last scenes. I actually prefer it to happen after the climax…errr… I mean, after all the conflicts have been resolved.

To me, what makes a romcom satisfying to watch is the couple’s struggle to conquer obstacles in their romance. I’m not picky about what sort of obstacle. It could be amnesia (lol), personality clashes, disapproval of the chaebol parents, marriage of inconvenience, age gaps, or time loops. As long as the couple overcome these obstacles with wit, panache and originality, then I’m a happy camper.

That’s why I stuck with this dorama. For one, I wanted to see if the writer could keep the story clean considering that this was about a 26-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl forced to enter an arranged marriage. For another, I was amused that it was the young girl who was corrupting the minor the elderly.

Pause: If I had a daughter, the age difference would make a good conversation starter. I’d explain why I would find it problematic if she was dating someone 21 or older when she was only 15 years old. But I’d also talk about cultural variations, e.g., why arranged marriages are acceptable practices in some countries.

The awkwardness of the 16-year-old Hana was obvious from the start when the camera focused on her sitting position. She was sitting on her feet. This position is called “seiza” and it can cause leg cramps.

Not only was Hana prepared to have a meal while sitting seiza style, but she also wore a stiff obi around her waist and an elaborate ornament on her hair. She was suffering all these inconveniences for the sake of her father who’d asked her to take her older sister’s place in an arranged marriage. His employer, the head of the Takaba Group, wanted his grandson and heir to marry the older sister.

Hana: Are you sure they’re not going to figure it out? Your boss asked you to bring my sister to this arranged marriage because he happened to see her and liked her, right? Do I even look 23 years old?
Dad: Well, my boss is pretty old and probably cannot see well, so I don’t think he will figure it out. Why would you even want to turn him down? Don’t you know he is the heir of that super famous Takaba Group?
Hana: My sister has been really into her boyfriend lately. I can’t believe you think you can get promoted after she marries into the Takaba Group.
Dad: (giving her the mean look) Don’t be a brat! Just don’t say much in front of him. Listen! We cannot turn him down, understood? They need to turn you down so there won’t be any problem.
Hana: I bet that the heir must be ugly and short since he has to do an arranged marriage to get married nowadays. Good thing my sister didn’t show up today.

Notes:

1. Hana was the filial child here. She was doing her father and sister a favor.
2. She was also pragmatic. She knew that her father was counting on nepotism to further his career.
3. Although her father wasn’t going to force the marriage if she didn’t want it, Mr. Takaba had to be the one to rescind the offer of an arranged marriage, not them.
4. Hana’s last comment suggested that she wasn’t finicky about the physical appearance of her marriage partner. Her sister would require a handsome husband, but she was willing to enter an arranged marriage with somebody ugly and short. lol. This said something about her self-esteem.
5. The general impression is that she was a biddable or complaisant child. She wasn’t rebellious.

Mr. Takaba walked in. The father bowed and said his greetings to his employer. Mr. Takaba ordered his grandson to enter already. As he walked in, Hana’s eyes widened in surprise.

Hana: (whispering to her dad) Oh my god! I can’t believe how handsome he is!
Dad: Be quiet.
Boss: This is my grandson, Takane.
Dad: Oh, you must be the Takaba Takane. Pl…please to meet you.
Hana: (noticing that her dad was stuttering in awe, whispered back at him) You are speaking weird.
Takane: (arrogantly) My name isn’t Takaba. My name is Saibara Takane.

Hana stared at him. This was a “strike one!” on Takane. She didn’t like that he rudely corrected her dad. However, Hana didn’t know that Takane’s last name was a sore spot for Takane. He was the son of the daughter of Mr. Takaba. Since he didn’t have the same last name as the other senior managers of the company, he was considered an outcast.

Dad: I’m so sorry. How stupid I was to assume your name! (introducing Hana and using his other daughter’s name) This is my daughter, Yukari.
Boss: Nice to meet you, Miss Yukari.
Hana: (gracefully bowing) Please look kindly on me.
Takane: (just eyeing her)
Dad: Wow, he looks amazing. He must be very popular.

Takane and Hana looked at each other. Hana bowed.

Boss: Well, I think it’s best for him to be with someone like your daughter who is quiet and is from an ordinary family. He’s going to be working on an important project for the company in the near future. To do well at work, it’s important to do this now. (Both Hana and her dad bowed again) Don’t be quiet; say something. (addressing Takane)
Takane: She looks way different from the picture I saw. (rolling his eyes) Too much makeup.
Hana: (flabbergasted)
Dad: Girls can make themselves look so different with makeup nowadays.

Three things:

1. Takane was right. She looked different from the picture because she wasn’t the girl in the picture. That would have been her older sister, Yukari. She probably put on make-up because she wanted to look older.
2. Takane was wrong. He wasn’t just being rude. He was being offensive.
3. This reminds me of the first meeting of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.” Mr. Darcy snubbed Lizzy, declaring, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me. I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” Meaning, the other men ignored her so why should he be the one to pay attention to her?

Takane: I hate a woman who puts on too much makeup trying to get attention from guys.
Boss: What are you saying?
Takane: You are wasting your time with all this makeup and all. You are not even classy. Did you think you can score someone like me with that rental kimono that seems like what most ordinary people choose? You have no idea!

Hana clenched her fists to control her temper. Takane continued his insults. My guess is he didn’t want to get married, and he thought that by offending her, they’d withdraw from the arrangement. In theory, this was the “rejection” that Hana and her dad wanted to get out of the arranged marriage without insulting his boss. Hana had to hold her temper for a few more seconds, and she could have been free of this arranged marriage deal.

Boss: Stop the nonsense!
Takane: Huh? You’re just a gold digger who only wants my money.
Boss: Why are you being so rude?

Then Hana exploded. She banged her open palms on the table and rested one foot on the table. Although she was showing him some skin, her pose didn’t look seductive. Instead, she reminded me of a cowboy with a boot on the railing.

I found this pose interesting because it mirrored the “wall slam” trope that she did at the end of this episode. In both instances she was enacting a stereotypical assertive male pose meant to intimidate a shy woman. But in her case, Takane was the one caught off-guard.

Hana: Do you think you can say whatever you want to say to me?
Dad: (trying to calm her down) Hana! I mean, Yukari! Yukari!
Hana: (removing her wig) To be honest, I have no interest in you! (throws the wig at his face and leaves the room)
Dad: Hana! Hana! (then looking at his boss) I’m sorry! I’m very sorry!

Meanwhile, Takane picked up the wig and smiled. This was the gamechanger.

The following day, Takane showed up at her school.

Takane: You, right there! I was dumbfounded to learn that you were taking your sister’s place. On top of that, you’re a freshman in high school.
Hana: How did you find out?
Takane: Who do you think I am?

This was a rhetorical question. What he meant was, he found out on his own. I think they both assumed that Mr. Takaba was unaware of the switch. Takane found out about her, most likely by digging up company files.

Hana: (answering literally) The heir of the large business conglomerate, Takaba Group.
Takane: Yes, and that heir bothered to come to see you.
Hana: I didn’t ask you to…
Takane: What?

He was shocked because she wasn’t impressed at all by his declaration that came looking for her. Other women would have been flattered that he took the time out of his busy schedule. So he looked at the bouquet of roses. He thought he could impress her with them.

Takane: Here. It’s for you. I bet you’ve never received such gorgeous roses before.
Hana: I’m returning them to you. Excuse me. (so he failed again to impress her)
Takane: Wait!
Hana: You came to pay me back for what I did yesterday, right? It’s so obvious.

She was a smart cookie. She wasn’t falling for his show of attention because she anticipated him to retaliate for his humiliation at her hands yesterday. But she misinterpreted his intentions. He was petty, but not this way.

Takane: I think your father would like to keep working at our company.
Hana: Are you threatening me?
Takane: You want him to be able to work until retirement age, don’t you? (opening his car door) Here. Get in.

And he took her to Ruth’s Steakhouse. He had reservations so this indicated that it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. He’d planned to do this. Hana must have changed clothes at her home because she wasn’t wearing her uniform.

Hana: I can’t accept this dress. It looks so expensive.
Takane: (angrily) Who said I would give it to you? How brazen of you. You probably don’t know but fancy restaurants have something called a dress code.

Now, later on, we’d find out that he actually planned to give it to her. We can start seeing a pattern in his behavior. Whenever he became shy or awkward, he’d respond brusquely to cover up his feelings.

Takane: (observing her gobbling up her food) I’ve never seen a girl who gobbles the fillet of the highest class Kobe beef like you.
Hana: (ignoring his insults) Mmm.mmm.mmm.
Takane: A commoner like you has never had anything like this, huh? You better chew it well and enjoy it.
Hana: (swallowing) It’s my motto to eat everything I’ve served.

He made a note of her big appetite. In later episode, he’d cook for her.

Hana: Why did you ask me to come here? You already know that I was a stand-in. I’ve nothing to do with you anymore. Ah! Is it because you have no one else to come here with?
Takane: (stressing this out) You should know that I’ve never had any problem getting women. You said it yourself. It’s payback.

No. It wasn’t payback. He was too proud to admit that he plan this dinner as an apology for his atrocious behavior the previous day. He made her forego her dinner so now he was making up for it by treating her to the best steakhouse in town.

Hana: (noticing that he left cherry tomatoes on the side) Ah ah ah! Don’t tell me you don’t like tomatoes. Like a little boy?

I think this is where the little doll came from. In future episodes, whenever Takane acted like a little boy, a little doll would prop up to indicate that he was having a major breakdown.

Takane: (glancing at her) I’ll eat them later.
Hana: (laughing) I’m right, aren’t I? You have to eat them. The lycopene in tomatoes helps your body recover from fatigue.
Takane: I’m different from commoners who devour whatever they see first. Don’t ever think that I’m the same as you.

He speared the tomato with his fork, and ate it against his will. Note: This marked the beginning of Hana’s “mind games.” In general, playing mind games isn’t a nice tactic. But with Hana, she tries to fluster him to disrupt his over-confidence.  Since her youth puts her in a disadvantage in this relationship, playing mind games with him is one of her many strategies to force him to regard her as an equal.

Thank goodness, she doesn’t do aegyo like the heroine in “Strong Woman Do Bong Soo”! That’s one of my pet peeves: grown-ass women doing aegyo. Remind me to do a post about this.

Creepy aegyo…

I thought the poster for this drama was spot on. It showed her pulling his necktie because she became an expert at “yanking his chain” and convincing him to do something he didn’t want to do.

source: viki

After dinner, Takane drove her home and he apologized

Hana: Thank you very much for the meal. I’ll have the dress dry-cleaned and sent it to you.
Takane: No. Keep it in your closet.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that it was HIS gift to HER. Instead, he ordered to her to store it away as if he didn’t care if she appreciated the gift or not. He was downplaying his gift after she rejected the roses.

Hana: But you said…
Takane: Yesterday… even though you were a stand-in…I said something that was unjust…
Hana: What?
Takane: I’m saying sorry! I heard later that the matchmaking happened at the whim of my grandfather.
Hana: I’m the one who should apologize.
Takane: Bye then.
Hana: Ah, by any chance…you came to see me to say that today?
Takane: Why would I do that? I’m going then.

Obviously, the dinner was an apology. I’m glad that Hana wasn’t obtuse.

If I had a daughter, I’d use this scene to teach her to pay attention to someone’s preferences. For instance, Takane bought Hana an expensive designer dress to apologize for insulting her rental kimono.

To me, his gesture indicated that:

one, he wasn’t into old-fashioned kimonos,
two, he didn’t like borrowed items,
three, he wasn’t against her wearing make-up or beautifying herself. But he was against her wearing gaudy make-up,
four, he didn’t like mousy women.

He wasn’t afraid of a partner who was attractive, modern, and spoke her own mind.

Also, he brought her to a restaurant because he owed her dinner from the previous night. However, instead of bringing her to the same traditional Japanese restaurant that served an elaborate multi-course dinner, he chose an American restaurant which was renowned for fine dining and good steaks. This told me that he liked a formal meal but he didn’t like a fussy setting. It also revealed to me that he wasn’t uncomfortable in her presence. Despite their age difference, he wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with her.

Will continue later.

I have to break down the whole 1st episode because everything after Episode 1 becomes self-explanatory.