#hence i created this account to summarize my feelings orz

[ghost--apple]

I feel as though I won't be able to move on from Ossan's Love and proceed with my life normally if I don't write what I feel about it so I need a place to dump all my feelings about it... 

(Spoilers ahead)

Basically, I have been experiencing horrible withdrawal symptoms after the drama ended around three weeks ago. I mean, I spent seven weeks looking forward to each episode and watching it in real-time (via live-stream) so of course after it ended I was like "how to proceed with life????" XD I didn't think I'd get THIS attached to the series and I seriously blame Hayashi Kento for it. A little backstory: after getting addicted to HIGH&LOW last year, I spent many months watching almost all dramas I could find with Masataka Kubota in it (since I fell in love with him after that, thanks Smoky!). And when there's nothing else to watch, I proceeded watching Hayashi Kento's dramas next since he became my number 2 favorite in H&L after Masa. So since I've been stalking them, I'd regularly see news about them in Twitter. Last March, when I saw the news in Twitter about Kento starring in a new spring drama called "Ossan's Love" (shortly after I got hooked on Masa's winter drama "Unnatural"), I immediately got intrigued because apparently, it's the drama version of a special one-episode “BL” drama that already aired in 2016.  

SO KENTO IN A “BL” DRAMA??? KENTO AS A GAY CHARACTER AGAIN??? YES PLEASE. So I immediately researched about the SP and in doing so, I realized that Kento didn't appear in it at all so initially I was like "WTH???" but still I watched it because I'm a fujoushi HAHAHA. And OMG I loved it, it was so insane and hilarious and just really a feel-good show!! I realized after watching it that Kento will actually replace one of the main characters (Hase) as an entirely new character (Maki), while the two other main characters will be played by the same actors (Tanaka Kei and Yoshida-san) reprising their roles from the SP (Haruta and Buchou). I already liked the character that Kento would be replacing but fortunately I love Kento as a person and as an actor so I was like "I hope Kento will do a great job in the drama so I will not miss Hase that much~" and it made me more excited to see how the drama version will unfold with Kento and the entrance of his character this time around.  (This is why I get quite sad when I read comments from other people who watched the SP that they're disappointed that Hase will be replaced, that the “new actor is not as cute as Hase” (EXCUSE ME!!!) etc etc~ T_T I was like “Kento is a wonderful actor, give him a chance!!!!”) 

AND SO THE DRAMA SERIES STARTED AND I IMMEDIATELY FELL INTO OSSAN'S LOVE HELL RIGHT AFTER THE FIRST EPISODE. So yes, why do I love it so much??????

Reason#1 HAYASHI KENTO AS MAKI

I'm not being biased when I say that Kento did an amazingly wonderful job in this drama as Maki. For me, he exceeded all expectations and proved all the doubters wrong. He was so great I almost immediately forgot that an SP prior to the drama ever existed (this is coming from a person who really enjoyed the SP and really liked Hase). No doubt he managed to capture a lot of hearts with his portrayal of Maki~! (*A*) I mean, while the series was being aired (and even now), he would consistently win in popularity polls regarding who's your favorite character in the currently airing spring dramas (or 2018 dramas), and he's not just winning, he's winning by a large margin even against people from Johnny's. Maki is already a great well-written character to begin with, but the way Kento played him, it's almost impossible to not root for him. AND HE'S SO PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AS MAKI I WANT TO HUG HIM SO MUCH AAAAAAHHHH. 

No seriously, Maki is a wonderful character (did I already say he’s wonderful???). He doesn't really show or say what he truly feels, he acts tough and okay all the time but actually has a lot of insecurities, prioritizes the happiness of the person he loves (read: Haruta) over his own happiness and I think these make us viewers really empathize with him. Maki never had any internal dialogues (unlike Haruta) so the audience only had to rely on Kento's acting-- his body language, the movement of his eyes, the sound of his voice -- to be really able to understand what Maki truly is going through, and I think Kento's acting was super effective as he was able to truly make me feel Maki's pain when he's suffering and Maki's joy when something good happens, even with just the slightest change in his facial expressions or voice. I can actually feel his emotions even in scenes wherein you can only see his back or silhouette!!! He's that great, his whole body is acting, but in a very natural way. 

For me, Maki is a complex character and I think it's a shame that we only get to see him mostly through Haruta's point of view, but I really love him because he's so self-aware, so strong yet also so vulnerable. While the show was airing, fans would mostly tweet "please be happy, Maki-kun!!" because seriously, he's a character who deserves all the happiness in the world!! I even came to a point when I was like "I don't care if Maki ends up with Haruta or come back to his ex-boyfriend Takekawa-san as long as he's happy!!!" because really, the screenwriter loves making him suffer, my poor child. And eventually, after finishing the drama, I came to understand why it seems Tanaka Kei would often say in interviews that the drama (drama's success??) relies on Kento's Maki (one of the directors even calls Kento something like "genius chihuahua bearing the future") because I seriously think Maki is the backbone of the story and how the viewers will accept Maki and eventually his relationship with Haruta (especially those who are already fond of Hase or who already love Buchou since the SP) will depend entirely on Kento's interpretation of this character. Haruta may be the face of the story, Buchou may serve as the arms (don’t know if this makes sense but whatever) but for me it's Maki who truly kept the story together. I've seen a lot of jdramas over the past thirteen years but I can say Maki is one of the most amazing characters I've ever come across. No seriously, I'm being overly dramatic but he's really special for me. *__* I'm really glad that Kento was chosen to play Maki in the drama version, bless the person who decided on this casting. (*A*) 

Reason#2 HARUMAKI

I think I'm in the minority this time since I prefer HaruMaki instead of MakiHaru. *coughs* Well... one of Maki's official character traits is being a "do-S" but actually I think he's just a tsundere. XD And he’s an extremely sweet person, almost an angel, how can that be do-S??? XD I get it that Maki's the one who's always doing the first move but I think that's primarily because he's the one who's sure of his feelings and sexuality. Haruta is still confused with all the things suddenly happening around him (since he’s dumb sometimes haha, but at least a lovable one) but I guess as soon as he's able to fully understand and come to terms with his feelings for Maki and the nature of their relationship, it will be easy for him to really start showing his affection for Maki and initiate ~things~. This is why I'm so thankful for that scene in the last episode!! Haruta going on top of Maki to kiss him with that smug expression on his face!! That just screams "HARUMAKI!!!!" to me and made all my dreams come true (well almost haha)!! Initially I felt sad that Maki had to suffer a lot because of his feelings for Haruta, but I know he really loves him and so I’ve been waiting for that moment when Haruta will finally return Maki's feelings and make him happy. Fortunately we see them getting the happy ending they deserve~!! The drama really did a great job showing all those funny, sweet, and bittersweet HaruMaki moments, until now I still keep on re-watching almost all of their scenes together. T_T (And OMG those kiss scenes seriously, Kento should be illegal!!!) 

Reason#3 TAKEMAKI

Okay so Ossan's Love is the only series that ever made me multi-ship!!! Since I watched the SP, I was so sure that I will be shipping Maki and Haruta hard and that they’re going to end up together (following the Hase+Haruta route in SP)... but then Takekawa Masamune happened HAHAHAHA. Takekawa-san was portrayed by Mashima-san whom I became fond of after watching another drama (TonaKazo) wherein he played as a gay character in a relationship with a younger guy too (my precious WataSaku!!!! but that's another story) so when I learned that he will be in Ossan's Love as well, I thought "wow, the more reason to look forward to it!" So some hours before the second episode aired, TheTelevison website posted this off-shot photo of Kento and Mashima-san and I was like "ooooh I can support this if it happens!!" jokingly since I love Kento and Mashima-san and they looked good in the photo together. And then as fate would have it, after the 2nd episode, the preview for the 3rd episode showed them finally interacting with each other with Takekawa-san shouting at Maki and kicking a trashcan!! And from there a lot of speculations arose-- does Takekawa-san like Haruta that's why he's angry at Maki, or he's actually Maki's ex-boyfriend?? I was praying for the latter because a lot of characters in the drama are already in love with Haruta (Buchou, Maki, Chizu)!! So somebody has to be in love with Maki too and make Haruta jealous so he'll eventually realize his feelings for Maki!! D: And then poof, THAT TAKEKAWA+MAKI “HAND-GRABBING” UNDER THE TABLE SCENE HAPPENED!! I almost fell from my seat while watching that for the first time and was like "HOW CAN THIS SCENE BE SO EROTIC?????" And so from then on I started officially shipping Maki with Takekawa-san too (although I call them my “guilty pleasure ship” since I love seeing them together but I want HaruMaki to end up together). And then it turns out they were really ex-lovers so I couldn't help wanting to know more things about when they were still in a relationship, why they broke up and so on. I keep saying this but really, I need TakeMaki spin-off of their time together!!! 

Reason#4 Everyone's acting

I know I gushed over Kento's acting a lot already, but the rest of the cast’s acting was so good as well. All characters complement each other that's why they’ve been such a delight to watch! Their interactions can be so funny and heart-warming that I just kept on wishing that each and everyone will be happy in the end! And plus points to Tanaka Kei for having extremely perfect comedic timing!!! Like other people said, Haruta can be an idiot sometimes (or most of the times?? XD) and can be borderline irritating occasionally, but Tanaka Kei makes the character adorkable and lovable despite all his flaws~ ^^;; I already watched him in another series I think two years ago (Kosodate Play) and his character there was almost similar to Haruta so I’m not surprised anymore about how extremely funny he is! ^_~

---

Wow, that’s gotten so long... I guess I should save my rant about things I’m not so fond of in the drama in another entry... 

#ossan's love #rip grammar #i already gushed over ossan's love in twitter for two whole months and counting but my thoughts are all over #hence i created this account to summarize my feelings orz #feels #feels everywhere