Recently, Netflix's new series "First Love" not only topped the list of hits, but also received good reviews in various parts of Asia. This era love story spanning more than twenty years has all the vulgar plots of pure love Japanese dramas, but it still makes many viewers shed cheap tears for it.

"First Love" poster

Inspired by two divine comedies by famous singer Utada Hikaru: "First Love" released in 1999 and "First Love" in 2018, this play describes two teenagers who become each other's first love in the late 1990s. Twenty years later, one of them About to be engaged, the other is divorced, has a teenage son who has just fallen in love, and when they meet again, sparks fly and pull left and right.

This play is inspired by two divine comedies by the famous singer Utada Hikaru: "First Love" released in 1999 and "First Love" in 2018

The series is starring Mitsushima Hikaru and Sato Takeru, written and directed by Hanzhu Lily. This female director born in the 1980s wrote and directed the pure love film "Angel's Love" many years ago. She is a typical Japanese pure love film creator whose strength lies in delicate emotions and beautiful pictures.

It is reported that the filming of "First Love" began in mid-April 2021 and lasted until late March 2022 before it was announced that it was finished. The nine-episode drama has been filmed for a year. The effort of slow work and meticulous work is put on us. I am afraid it has driven the producer and the broadcasting platform crazy. worthy of this commitment.

After watching the first episode, the author exclaimed that the production level is extremely high, each scene is beautiful, the two-line narrative is clear and light, and it has a gentle force of four or two. It can be regarded as understanding pure love to play.

After watching the whole drama, the feeling is more subtle: exquisite, very delicate, but with complicated emotions, I feel that the top Japanese production team has made a cliché love story, which is a bit like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.

Let's talk about the sophistication of the play from several aspects of creation.

understand pure love to play

The story is divided into two main lines, the first love story of two teenagers twenty years ago, and the trivial daily life of two middle-aged people twenty years later. The two-line narrative seems like two unrelated stories at first glance. After the intersection, the cause of the heroine's amnesia is gradually revealed, and the life experiences of the two protagonists in the past twenty years are gradually unfolded. The two-line narrative gradually becomes a multi-point narrative from the perspective of the two protagonists, and finally ends twenty years ago. The beginning of the first love and the ending of the reunion twenty years later, the structure can be described as exquisite, which requires a high level of structural control on the screenwriter's side, as well as high requirements on the director's narrative ability.

Screenshot of "First Love"

A simple amnesiac story of dog-blooded first love, one episode has one theme, one episode has one suspense, the two groups of love echo each other, forming a polyphony, the "hook" under the first episode will be revealed for you in the ninth episode, each The small props that appear have the connection and conclusion of the plot behind them. Because of the delicate details and the exquisite narrative, they also have a new experience in the bloody vulgar bridge. One episode, revealing the loveliest and gentle beginning of first love, and the ending of the most romantic fairy tale at the moment, unfolding the highlights of the two love stories at the same time. At the climax, you have to be convinced that Hanzhu Lily put a lot of effort into the script.

The two storylines are played by two groups of actors: Hikari Mitsushima and Takeru Sato (above), Rikako Yagi and Daisho Kido (below)

The two story lines are played by two groups of actors: Mitsushima Hikari and Sato Takeru, Yagi Rikako and Kido Daisho. The appearance of the actors in the juvenile group and the adult group has nothing to do with it, and many viewers have questioned this. But it doesn't reach this level, so we can only speculate that this is the director's intention. Let the inter-age love that originally belonged to a pair of lovers become more like different stories of two couples in different eras.

Riko Yagi

The appearance of the youth group is youthful and vigorous, especially Yagi Rikako's upright and rosy face, which complements the unique temperament of the era in the late 90s, highlighting the joyful blooming of this love, the beauty without any shadows, which came to an abrupt end at the mercy of fate The ending is even more regrettable.

Screenshot of "First Love"

The two adults in the adult group, Hikaru Mitsushima's cool and sensitive temperament, and Takeru Sato's stern silhouette are more in line with the state of middle-aged urban men and women in the Heisei era. At first glance, the two are people who have experienced stories of brokenness, grinding, and failure. After the reunion, he hesitated to speak, repeatedly dragged, and over-thought, which seemed convincing.

This kind of deliberate comparison is embarrassing. When you are young, love is indomitable, bright and hot. When you are old, people's attitude towards love is often yearning and hesitant. Frustrated by past failures, one step forward and two steps back are commonplace. Love is no longer a piece of sky-blue candy shared by boys and girls under the sun, but a can of corn chowder that is not willing to open with warm palms in the cold urban night.

Stills of "First Love"

In terms of performance, Daisho Kido in the juvenile group and Hikari Mishima in the adult group are really excellent actors who should be thankful to any director who meets them. Kido interprets the love at first sight of the adolescent boy in a believable and lovely way, facing the clumsy and childishness of the girl who is attracted to him, he is full of joy, and it is all written in his eyes. Needless to say, Man Dao Guang has just the right mix of fragile and strong temperament, gentle motherhood in front of his son, and sensitivity and confusion in front of his lover. I can only cover my heart and say, Man Dao Guang, my light.

On the screen, it shows the control of Hanzhu Lily's obsessive-compulsive disorder. The composition of each frame is extremely beautiful. The colors from the costumes of the characters to the key props are full of design sense. The use of a large number of fresh sky blue is a topic in the play. exist.

Screenshot of "First Love"

Generally speaking, it is rare for TV dramas to take into account the color design of the main characters, but this drama is the background characters of a certain scene. For example, the four characters appearing in the foreground of an empty scene, the clothes of the two mothers echo the colors of the clothes of the two running children in front. It is really reasonable to suspect that the director is a Virgo.

The director is also very good at distinguishing narrative and time and space through visual effects and scene settings. The adult group Hikari Manshima's pleasant environment after marriage and the difficult life after divorce have made a needless to say through the texture of small props and the warm and cold tones of color. distinguish.

In terms of music, in addition to many famous songs by Hikaru Utada, the cooperation of dozens of songs in the nine episodes makes people sigh that Netflix is rich. However, the music is too full, so that the show sometimes has a texture that is too MV.

Screenshot of "First Love"

But all the advantages mentioned above serve a pure pure love story, which makes people a little unsatisfied. It can be seen that in addition to the theme of love, Han Zhu also interspersed two other themes-the irreversible personal destiny caused by the change of the times, and the shattering of youthful dreams-but the expression is still light.

This drama has characters that are rare in romantic love stories. Mitsushima is a taxi driver and Sato Takeru is a building security guard. Both of them have not fulfilled their childhood dreams. Mitsushima's identity as a single mother made her life even more difficult. . It can be felt that for the heroine, Han Zhu tried to describe how a girl who was once radiant was unfortunately caught in life and confined to a disheartened daily life, becoming an inconspicuous marginal person in the crowd. However, the ultimate pursuit of audio-visual language makes the situation of the hero and heroine highly beautified or even romanticized, which lacks convincingness. There is no further thinking about the reasons behind the changes of the times and the impact on the characters. It is understandable, but inevitable, to make the big era a blurred background board for a love, and make love the only salvation for the hero and heroine's youthful dreams. pity.

All in all, the show is a delicately packaged candy that was born based on Japan's highly industrialized film and television industry and the director's extreme personal creative aesthetics. It looks more eye-catching than ordinary idol dramas, but it doesn't stop there. Audiences who like romantic love stories may wish to watch it, it is safe to make money, and it is not necessary to think about it.

But life always needs a little sweetness that hangs above the daily life, as the material for dreaming and chicken soup for healing. From this perspective, "First Love" far exceeds expectations.

Screenshot of "First Love"