I've been aware of this series for a really long time, due in no small part to that infamous screenshot from episode 1, “Don't treat us like idiots just because we're stupid!” (and also the “I don't even understand what I don't understand”, an image I have fond memories of passing around during exam season back in school). It's one of many adaptations of the 90’s shoujo manga Itazura na Kiss, which I've never read so I’ll keep my comments to the show itself.

The protagonist is 17-year-old Aihara Kotoko. To say she's not gifted when it comes to academics would be an understatement, and she’s an incredibly unlucky girl to boot. After becoming the laughingstock of the school due to getting rejected by her crush, the super-popular Irie Naoki, at the school gate, her brand-new house collapses after being hit by a meteor. She then moves to the house of an old friend of her dad—who turns out to be the father of none other than the boy who just turned her down.

Honestly I find Kotoko a bit annoying, but Naoki is way worse—seriously, who does that guy think he i—ahem. Even though he's the type that gets on my nerves, I found it to be a rather nice and comfy watch. It's pretty funny and has its fair share of cute moments. I ended up getting way more invested in the romance than I expected. At the start it made me feel somehow nostalgic for my own high school days—which were (thankfully!) much unlike these ones—maybe it's the Good Morning Call vibes. I was expecting it to be a high school romance, so it surprised me a bit when they graduated like 5 episodes in and it turned out that most of the show's episodes were set in college.

The final stretch was rather dramatic, and it made my heart hurt a little…but happiness tastes better after a bit of hardship, don't you agree? There's a second season (and also a movie I think?), but while I had a great time, I’m not sure if I care that much to see the afterstory, so I'll be saying goodbye to them here. I might check out the manga and watch the 90s version one of these days, though—the main actors had a cameo in this one, and it seems pretty fun.

I was under the impression that this was a movie until I started watching it, but at 4 episodes, it's not much of a difference.

The story follows a middle-aged woman who quits her job after losing her position as an editor and then decides to reopen her recently deceased mother's restaurant, with only two items on the menu: soup and sandwiches. What else do you need, really.

It's a very quiet and relaxing series, with an eternally calm pace, an atmosphere that's always like a brightly lit early morning. Taking care of stray plants as well as stray animals, remembering those who are gone through stories of other people, and serving some delicious-looking food.

I'd say it might be a bad show to watch when you're hungry, but I did pause episode 2 to go to the kitchen and put together what turned out to be one of the top 3 sandwiches I've ever made, so maybe you should watch it when you're hungry so that you can also receive the blessing of a really good sandwich. And even if you're not in the mood for food, it's still a very nice and sweet series, so you should watch it anyways. I loved it a lot ⁠♡

The year is 2000, and the location is Ikebukuro, Shibuya. Everyone is dressed in super fashionable outfits, gangs abound, and there's always something going on.

The protagonist is 21-year-old Makoto Majima. His mom owns a fruit shop which she's always neglecting in favor of the pyramid scheme she's bought into. People go to him to solve a variety of problems (much to his chagrin), and his friendship with a gang leader and constant proximity to trouble often put him at odds with a recently-transferred cop.

It's an incredibly stylish series that strongly captures the heart of a specific place and time in a story that mixes comedy, violence and tragedy, with characters that are as wild, messy, vibrant and alive as the city itself. Ranging from police officers, yakuza, sex workers, gang members, plus a variety of people living on the margins of society in some way or another, the show deals with them with surprising compassion. Does it do that perfectly? Well, of course not—but it's pretty cool regardless.

Sometimes a crime investigation show, sometimes a stupid sequence of gags, sometimes a love triangle, and always entertaining—to echo their own words: IWGP is the best!