I Don't Love You Yet (2019) - Jdrama Review

 -may contain major spoilers-

Photo source: Fuji TV on Demand

I Don't Love You Yet (僕はまだ君を愛さないことができる) is a 16-episode FOD (Fuji TV On Demand) romantic comedy starring Adachi Rika and Shirasu Jin.

It's a remake of the 2011 Taiwanese drama In Time With You.

Summary

Mitarai Yo (Adachi Rika) is a successful career woman who works at DIANA (a shoe-making company that exists in real life) designing shoes. Her best friend is Ishida Ren (Shirasu Jin), a man who works as a city developer. They met in high school, but due to a misunderstanding, Yo hated Ren. They became friends during a university trip after they both missed the bus and Yo ended up forgetting her prejudice against Ren when they had fun while eating takoyaki (that she also had a prejudice about) Ren paid for all her food because she had forgotten her wallet at the campsite.

On her 29th birthday, Ren invites Yo to have dinner at a bar and celebrate by eating takoyaki, where she tells Ren her worries about being almost 30 years old and how her ex-boyfriend is engaged. After dinner, they decide to place a bet that whoever marries before 31 shall receive a congratulatory gift of 300,000 Yen (in 2019 that was more than 2,500 USD) from the loser.

Yo at the suggestion of a co-worker tries to meet someone through a dating app, but that doesn't work out well. 

Yo ends up meeting again with Mizusawa Ryusei (Kodai Asaka), her ex-boyfriend with whom she had a bitter breakup, Ryusei is the CEO of METEOR a company that is working with DIANA to create a shopping app. 

Meanwhile, Kono Maki (Matsumoto Kiyo), a junior at Ren's work, seems to have feelings for him... 

Thoughts

I Don't Love You Yet caught my attention and I simply couldn't stop watching it, always telling myself maybe I should watch just one episode more. I haven't seen the original version yet, so I can't compare them.

Mitarai Yo is a bit self-centered, but Adachi Rika does a wonderful job portraying her in a way that isn't annoying and you want to root for her love life. I think Ishida Ren is the perfect man, he is so nice and is always supporting Yo through thick and thin and Shirasu Jin is just perfect for the role, you can always feel how much he likes Yo.

On to the soundtrack, the opening theme「君に贈るうた」(-Kimi ni Okuru Uta- meaning: A Song for You) is sung by former AKB48 member Itano Tomomi and I'm sorry for what I am about to write, but her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, but the song is not bad. I really like the ending theme by Indigo la End 「結び様」(-Musubizama- meaning: Connection) and「小粋なバイバイ」(-Koikina Baibai- meaning: Stylish Goodbye) also by Indigo la End I have been listening to this song a lot since the first time I watched this drama.

The ending is very predictable, of course, but the path this drama takes is very lovely, even if it is a slow-burn romance SPOILER The romance between the leads appears only in the final episode :( I wish that part was a bit longer SPOILER ENDS. This Jdrama has my second favorite trope: friends to lovers (my favorite is enemy to friends to lovers), although maybe it's more of an enemies to friends to lovers. 

I recommend this drama if you want to watch something light-hearted and with a male lead that is super likable.

Rating

Acting - 10/10

Plot - 10/10

Romance - 9/10 

OST - 8/10

Cinematography - 9/10

Overall Rating - 9/10

Extended Drama Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 16.

Run Time: 48min/each.

Release Date: July 15, 2019.

Network: Fuji TV.

Based on: In Time With You (Taiwanese Drama).

Directed by: Tamazawa Kyohei and Kumasaka Izuru.

Written by: Arai Yuka and Imanara Takayuki.

Starring: Adachi Rika and Shirasu Jin.