Review of Love Shuffle

This drama has turned out to be a surprise for me and I mean it in a good way. Frankly speaking, I was apprehensive about how this drama would develop since the theme is truly unique and virtually unheard of. I remember watching dramas of people exchanging wives or girlfriends or even reading about this in the newspapers but this time round, the participants in this Love Shuffle are doing it out of their own will. That means, they are all prepared and in the loop about the repercussions that may arise due to this. Of course, this means that things may also spiral out of control.

Before you continue reading this review, note that there will be lots of spoilers from this point onwards. If you have not watched this drama, please do not continue reading. If you do continue, please don't blame me for spoilling the fun for you. Although this is a romance comedy, there are some twists in the plot which are truly unexpected.

To begin with, here's a short rundown of the story: Usami Kei, Aizawa Airu, Sera Oujirou and Kikuta Masato are living on the top floor of a luxurious condominium building and bump into one another for the first time in the lift. Just then, the lift encounters a breakdown and the four are trapped. They start introducing themselves when they discover that Usami was just told by his fiancee, Mei that she wants to call off the engagement and start offering theories for Mei's action. Soon after that meeting, Kikuta suggests that they should take part in a Love Shuffle game so as to resolve the problems in their love lives. Airu's boyfriend, Ooishi Yukichi gets on her nerves too much while Oujirou's partner is a married woman, Kamijou Reiko who seems to be demanding too much from him that he feels stifled. As for Kikuta, he brings his patient, Hayakawa Kairi into the game with the aim of seeing if she can give up the idea of suicide once she finds someone who she loves. This thus begins the game where they switch partners every week.

Things start to go beyond control once the game starts. Usa-tan (nickname for Kei) is convinced that he and Mei will never change their feelings for each other even though she wants to call off the engagement. He hopes that the game can make Mei realize that he's the only one for her. On the other hand, Mei has never been in a relationship with anyone else other than Kei and hopes that this experience can make her grow up as a woman. Ai-Ai (Airu) wants to get Yukichi off her back and find out the reason why her relationships always end up in nought while Yukichi still harbours hope of getting back with her. Oujirou thinks that it is stressful to be with Reiko who demands a lot from him, be it in terms of time spent together or sexually. Kikuta's main aim appears to be related to Kairi but it is not clear whether that is all to it. Kairi appears more to be like following the flow of things instead of doing this because she's seeking a relationship. They all have their own agendas but the outcome is not really what they expected.

The scriptwriter, Nojima Shinji is more well-known for his dark theme stories and use of English oldies as the BGM and theme songs. I was pleasantly surprised by the jokes in the story although it can be a bit lame at times. It depends on whether you like it or not so other people may not take to the story as well as I did. The panda joke keeps appearing and is one of the better jokes featured. You would never have guessed that such jokes are coming from Nojima Shinji. The twists typical in the Nojima Shinji style are also present. For example, Kairi and Oujirou's pairing plus the truth about Kikuta's late lover were quite interesting subplots. It does seem that Japanese dramas and movies are getting more open about discussing homosexuality these days. When Reiko commented that Kikuta's ex-lover looked like someone in the Love Shuffle game, I was pretty certain that this refers to a guy. Given Nojima's style, he would never have made this to be a typical answer i.e. one of the ladies in the game. True to my guess, Kikuta is indeed gay. However, another twist to this is that he's actually OK both ways i.e. bi-sexual as he puts it. That is why he can be with Reiko at the end of the game. Seems like a gay character isn't a taboo anymore for TV. The nicknames given to the 4 main characters are also quite interesting. It grows on the viewer over time and makes us feel closer to them in a way.

As for the theme song, I prefer the ending theme, FANTASY to the insert song Eternal Flame. Somehow, I think the insert song sometimes comes in at the wrong scene and doesn't suit the atmosphere. Maybe using FANTASY exclusively could have been better.

With regards to my favourite pairing in the drama, that would have been Ou-chan and Kairi. This was a pretty surprising pair because I didn't really expect them to be together. It was only until when Ou-chan asked Kairi to sleep with him and she said yes that I thought that their pairing would be possible. They really are a cute-looking couple whom you would like to root for. As for Ai-Ai and Usa-tan, it's almost a certainty that they would be together. I assumed right at the beginning that everyone would not be with their original partners so the logical pairing was to put them together. Surely Nojima Shinji would put a conventional beauty and ikemen couple together! As such, there were no surprises at all when they ended together. Mei with Yukichi was a bit of a surprise but there were some telltale signs when they were in Round 1 of the Love Shuffle. Mei seemed to have struck a chord in Yukichi's heart at that time although he may not realize it yet. Frankly speaking, I don't really care much for Mei. Although her intention for wanting to break off the engagement was for Usa-tan's sake, I just thought her behaviour got on my nerves. Sometimes, when you try to do good, you end up doing harm instead. Reiko's pairing with Kikuta was another surprise too, not as much as Ou-chan and Kairi though. And it was good for the story to explain clearly who is the father of Reiko's baby instead of leaving it to the viewer to guess.

Among the 8 main cast members, I have my favourites and dislikes too. Well, not to the extent of dislike but rather irritated by the character's behaviour. Tamaki Hiroshi is definitely not as appealing to me as in Nodame Cantabile. He looks quite skinny now and his cheeks seem to have sunken in. Anyway, I've not been his fan right from the start other than when I was watching Nodame. Karina was especially dazzling this time round as Ai-Ai seems to be a real-life personification of her i.e. street-smart, frank and stylish. You've got to check out the nice clothes she's wearing and that photo shoot by Oujirou. She's such a natural in front of the camera which I guess should be due to her work as a model. Matsuda Shota continues the punky and frivolous look but his character Oujirou allows him to show off the emotional scenes which make him stand out from the pack. Yoshitaka Yuriko has been in many roles which potray her as a weirdo or someone who is rebellious. This time round, besides the aloofness, she manages to make Kairi extremely lovable especially after she falls for Ou-chan. Kojima Ijiri was of course sexy and oozing the mature charm of a woman but not to the point of being a slut. Tanihara Shosuke was good as usual as Kikurin especially when he tries to keep the others guessing with an ambiguous expression. DAIGO was cute as Yukichi with that huge pair of glasses but I don't really like him in real life because his hand gestures get on my nerves so much. As for Kanjiya Shihori, I must say that I'm not too keen on those weak and cute little girl characters so Mei is definitely not one of my favourites. However, I think that she did reasonably well as Mei because her cuteness was still within my bearable limits. Just don't give me someone like Fukada Kyoko and I'll be thankful.

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 8.5 out of 10 (Comedy and romance plus some unexpected twists)
Acting: 8 out of 10 (Most if not all of them did well
Theme song: 8 out of 10 (For the song Fantasy)
Visual effects / Scenery: 6.5 out of 10 (Scenery-wise, there's nothing much to speak of but I think the fashion displayed is worth checking out, be it for the guys and gals especially Karina)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 8 out of 10 (Lots of friendly banter and sizzling chemistry among the pairings)

Total: 39 out of 50