(Jdrama) Manatsu no Cinderella (2023)

English title: Cinderellas of Midsummer

Original title: 真夏のシンデレラ

11 episodes

 The Plot

A story about a group of young people from various educational backgrounds and environments, who fatefully meet at the sea in the middle of summer, and grow up together as they confront with their complex feelings and bottled-up emotions.

The vibe of summer is strong here...and the romance 😍

Three girls and four boys enjoy the lively summer on the beach. Who doesn't expect to have romance among them? Even I want to see romance aside from the promising casts.

The use of Cinderella as the title would make you recall the classic story of Cinderella, a poor girl whose godmother picked on her. But this 10-episode drama does not include the envious godmother and stepsisters. Instead, you will see the warm family consisting a father and two children. Natsumi Aoi or Natsu was the center of the story. Being born in a modest family, Natsu never imagined to come across someone educated from wealthy family, Kento.

The other two girls, Airi and Risa, also had their own stories of thrilling love encounters, just like the main leads. It all started from Kento and his two best friends, Mamoru and Osamu who spent their holiday on the beach. they happened to join paddling class held by Natsu. It was a coincidence that the two girls were Natsu's best friends, and Mamoru and Osamu are Kento's best friends. 

Looking at the poster, you can already predict that there would be love triangle among them. Natsu - Kento and Takumi (Natsu's childhood friend), Airi - Mamoru and Osamu, Risa (a married wife with a son) - Hayakawa sensei (a life guard as well as a pediatrician) and Risa's ex-husband. Who is into this many love triangles? Actually, I am NOT!

From the very beginning, episode one or two, you can already predict the whole story, even the leads' love interests, as well as their rivals. something that made me stay watching the drama was, of course, the casts. I love Nana Mori since she was cast in Kono Koi Atatamemasu ka? and Maiko-san Chi No Makanai-san. Both dramas showed her talent in cooking. I've no idea if she is really good at it. Another reason is the appearance of Koshi Mizukami. With his spiky hair, he looks attractive. Wow, I was fangirling while watching the drama. LOL. 

Aside from the great casts, I find the drama a bit typical and cliché. As I said earlier, you can even predict the story from episode two. Another thing that bothers me is Kento's family had had the villa since I don't exactly know, but he could locate the kitchen tools well. The beach where Natsu lived attracts tourist with its beach and paddling. Why could he just meet Natsu on that occasion? Was it because of the different social status or something? Judging from Kento's attitude, I think he was kind of kind guy who didn't really think about social status. 

From the characters, Natsu was also a kind of typical romance drama who always put other people first. Thanks God that Cinderella in this drama doesn't need to suffer like the one in the classic story. But the romance, well, it's too cliché for modern drama. The different status between Natsu and Kento are too obvious. The third and fourth wheel were too common in this kind of drama. As I said earlier, it's too predictable. I just finished watching episode 10 with Natsu almost got hit by a car, after Takumi, her childhood crush confessed. If it's not him got an accident, instead of Natsu, it would be Natsu herself. Kento, who was in the middle of leaving his father's company for the sake of his love of Natsu, or stayed in Tokyo, leaving Natsu. But there's no room of his dilemma since the drama only got 1 episode left. Then, the writer would make it a happy ending, with Kento's parents understanding their son's feeling, bla bla bla....

There are two other love stories in this drama; Osamu - Airi and Risa - Hayakawa sensei. Osamu's love story appears to be heading towards a happy ending as he finally came to understand his feelings for Airi. Put aside Mamoru, who just confessed his love for Airi. Airi and Osamu's different personality seemed to complement each other perfectly. Meanwhile, Risa just realized her attraction towards Hayakawa sensei even though her ex-husband asked to reunite. Pointing at Haruki's (Risa's son) yearn for a father figure, I bet reuniting with her ex might be a good choice, but for Risa herself might be the opposite. Well, I could only assume that they became parents at very young age that they could not handle marriage problems. Divorce was the only option. But Haruki seemed to enjoy his time with his father, and later with Hayakawa sensei. There's no info or past story of this knock-out sensei. How could fall for Risa and was ready to become Haruki's father? Well, anyway, Koshi Mizukami was my my reason to watch this drama. LOL.

Overall, it's an enjoyable light drama that you can watch in the midst of suspense dramas or after your hard days at work. You can watch the full episodes at Viki. Enjoy!

My rating:

Story: 6/10

Acting/ Casts: 8/10

Music: 7/10

Re-watch value: 5/10

Casts:

Nana Mori as Natsumi

Mamiya shotaro as Kento

Fuju Kamio as Takumi

Yoshikawa Ai as Airi

Hagiwara Riku as Osamu

Shirahama alam as Mamoru

Koshi Mizukami as Hayakawa

Nimura Sawa as Risa

The photos were taken from mydramalist

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