Title: 恋するイヴ Koi Suru Ivu (Eve)
English Title:
- To Fall In Love at Christmas Eve
- Love at Christmas Eve
Language: Japanese
Year: 2013
Episode: 01
Cast:
- 溝端淳平 Mizobata Junpei
- 佐々木希 Sasaki Nozomi
- 千葉雄大 Chiba Yūdai
- 臼田あさ美 Usuda Asami
- 京野ことみ Kyono Kotomi
- 栗原類 Kurihara Rui (Louis Kurihara)
- 伊武雅刀 Ibu Masato
SYNOPSIS
Gakkun broke up with his workaholic girlfriend Mari but he hasn't moved on even after a year has passed by. Still depressed about his failed relationship, Gakkun wrote his sincere feelings in a letter to his ex-girlfriend, and he put the love letter inside a bottle attached to a Duffy teddy bear.
Gakkun finds out that his niece took the Duffy teddy bear to her kindergarten. When he gets there to get the stuffed toy with his letter back, his niece's classmate already took it. Gakkun runs after the toy's trail all over.
An exceptionally gloomy person, Nanami Nao always works overtime as a gift wrapper in a department store. She's single but she desperately wants to be in a relationship with someone.
Gakkun and Nao are strangers to each other but they are in very similar circumstances. On Christmas Eve, Gakkun unwittingly gives a miracle to Nao...
REVIEW
Koi Suru Eve is about people expressing their love to the most important people in their lives. It is sometimes not enough to show our love and affection through actions, there are instances wherein expressing our sincere feelings into words are necessary.
The drama is a fast-paced look at several people's stories, but focusing particularly on Gakkun and Nanami Nao. It's quite similar to the movie Love Actually.
Nao's blossoming romance with the delivery guy Iwai Kazuhiko was quite touching. It was also very funny because Kazuhiko gives life lessons to Nao, and it sort of offends her because she's older than him.
I wasn't very interested in Gakkun's reconciliation with his ex-girlfriend Tachibana Mari because I think Mari neglected their relationship, and she didn't have the courtesy to give Gakkun even the basic respect one person should accord to another person. I mean, if she's too busy to make a dinner date for a special occasion, she could have at least sent a text message or an email. She seemed uncaring and irresponsible for not contacting Gakkun the whole night until the restaurant closed down.
I think it is important to note that Christmas Eve became a holiday for lovers in Japan, somewhat similar to Valentine's Day. This is why Mari said people should confess their real feelings to their loved ones on Christmas Eve, and they should gather the courage to do so then before it is too late.
I grew up as a Catholic Christian and I went to Catholic schools, so Christmas Eve would always have that religious connotation for me. However, when you think about it, it is also essentially about love; God's unconditional love to humankind, and people's love to God and to one another.
Anyway, it is a good production objectively speaking, although it is somewhat fragmented and less cohesive. It was fun to watch, and the cast performed well in their respective roles.
However, I was very disappointed with Koi Suru Eve because it is different from my expectations. I assumed that the drama is about the love story between Gakkun and Nao, but it is in fact about their separate romances to other people. The twist in the story, where Gakkun unwittingly pushes Nao's romance with Kazuhiko forward, is something I am not happy with.
I've always made an effort to check out actor Mizobata Junpei's productions and I find Sasaki Nozomi quite charming, so I was looking forward to their pairing. Oh well, I suppose there's always that possibility that these actors will play as lovers in another film, so I could just look forward to that.
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恋するイヴ Koi Suru Eve
