A Warmed Up Love (2020) - Jdrama Review

 -May contain major spoilers-

Photo source: TBS

A Warmed Up Love - Kono Koi Atatamemasu ka (この恋あたためますか) is a 10-episode TBS romantic Jdrama starring Mori Nana, Nakamura Tomoya, Nakano Taiga and Ishibashi Shizuka.

Summary

Inoue Kiki (Mori Nana) is a 21-year-old ex-idol who was kicked out due to her age and replaced by a younger, more popular girl before her group "Cupid" had its major debut and now works part-time at "Coco Every", a convenience store (something like 7-Eleven). Kiki's only passion is her love for sweets and she likes to review convenience store sweets on her social media. 

Asaba Takumi (Nakamura Tomoya) is the newly appointed President of "Coco Every". He has a cold personality and does not like sweets due to childhood trauma. 

When Kiki and Asaba meet they get off on the wrong foot, but when he sees how accurate Kiki's reviews are, he decides to hire her to help develop new desserts for "Coco Every".

Working with her is Shintani Makoto (Nakano Taiga), a friend of Asaba who works at "Dolce Kitchen", a subsidiary of "Coco Every" that makes sweets. Later, Asaba's ex-girlfriend Kitagawa Riho (Ishibashi Shizuka), who works in the research and development department, joins Kiki and Shintani to develop new sweets.

In addition to developing sweets, Inoue Kiki begins to develop feelings towards Asaba Takumi...

Thoughts

A Warmed Up Love is a really good business Jdrama that you should not watch if you are craving some sweets because you will end up feeling hungrier.

The cinematography is great, the color palette of this drama is super good, and I'm a big fan of winter-themed things, so this drama is a treat for me.

Kiki's backstory as an idol makes me feel so bad for her and Nana did a great job portraying Kiki's sadness. 

I really love Nakamura Tomoya, who I had previously watched in Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi, although I dropped that drama because SPOILERS I spoiled myself and was disappointed with what guy the lead chose (you can imagine who I wanted her to end up with 😉) SPOILER ENDS and I think he did a great job with Asaba's character growth.

I don't really like Shintani Makoto's character SPOILER Because I feel that he pressured Kiki into dating him even when she told him she was not interested in him in that way SPOILER ENDS

The leads have an age gap, but it doesn't bother me much. I thought that Nakamura Tomoya was a lot younger than he is (He was 34 when they filmed this drama)

This drama has a great ensemble cast and Kiki's co-workers at the convenience store are really lovely (in fact, they have their own 6 episode spin-off).

Soundtrack-wise, Sekai no Owari「Silent」is such a great song to listen to around wintertime (I'm currently in summer and I still love it though ^^;).

I recommend this Jdrama if you like to watch dramas about food and love a sweet but slow-burning romance. 

Rating 

Acting - 9/10

Plot - 9/10

Romance - 10/10

Soundtrack - 10/10

Cinematography - 9/10

Overall Rating - 9.5/10

Extended Drama Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 10.

Run Time: 57min/each.

Release Date: October 20, 2020.

Network: TBS.

Directed by: Tsuboi Toshio and Okamoto Shingo.

Starring: Mori Nana, Nakamura Tomoya, Nakano Taiga and Ishibashi Shizuka.