Ore no Kawaii wa Mousugu Shouhi Kigen!?

I really enjoyed this drama’s focus on what I would consider a somewhat unusual subject matter, being the type of good-looking where you don’t necessarily have to work all that hard in life and what happens when you realize that attractiveness is fleeting, and your good looks are about to run out. Kosuke, our male lead, is a good-looking guy (I wasn’t into him in the beginning, but he definitely grew on me as the drama went on), and it’s made his life easy in a lot of ways. When his future self shows up to tell him ‘good looks have a shelf-life, and your expiration date is coming,’ it serves as a bit of a wakeup call for Kosuke. He hasn’t been a selfish or lazy or mean person, by any means, but his life has been pretty smooth sailing, and it’s made him a bit unaware of the people around him. For example, he’s never had to put in the effort to pursue a girl, because they’ve always just come to him due to his good looks. His current girlfriend (who quickly becomes his ex-girlfriend) says to him early on that he doesn’t seem to pay attention or notice other people’s feelings.

Admittedly, the second half of the drama doesn’t really do any more exploration on this subject, the ramifications of being this good-looking, as the main characters romance ends up overshadowing this part of the plot. But the budding relationship between the leads is so incredibly sweet and charming, that I kind of didn’t notice (or mind) that it took over the story.

One complaint I saw from people who watched the drama before me was with the way things were wrapped up in the romance in the finale. From everyone’s comments, I understood that the leads don’t end up together. I went into the drama knowing that was going to happen, and I had prepared my heart for it. But to me, the last scene of the drama seems open to interpretation, and given the scene just before it, I think it’s actually possible our leads got a romantic happy ending after all. Of course, this is speculation, and I could be wrong. If my interpretation of the final scene is incorrect, then I do think that creates some problems for the story, but I’ve chosen to make a happy ending my head cannon, because the last two scenes make it seem possible.

Apart from the possibility that the leads don’t end up together romantically in the future, I still like the rest of the finale. It’s overall pretty enjoyable and does actually involve our leads sort-of getting back together in the present with a kiss. But the most satisfying part ends up being Kosuke making peace with his possible future. When he has his last conversation with his future self, you realize that what he’s making peace with isn’t the future of his romance with Izumi, but rather, with the end of his good looks. He recognizes that future Kosuke didn’t make any attempt at changing the past, which means the future must not be so bad, and that gives present Kosuke confidence. Confidence to tell Izumi again that he loves her, and confidence to walk into the rest of his life knowing everything will be alright.

On this note, I was a bit frustrated with future Kosuke at one point, because it felt like he was going to be the reason present Kosuke and Izumi didn’t end up together in the future. But after both Kosuke’s conversation in the finale, I got the impression that what future Kosuke was trying to do was prepare present Kosuke for the end of his cuteness, not the end of his and Izumi’s romance. I thought that was a nice twist.

Overall, I thought this series was really charming, and I really hope it gets a special episode, because I would watch it. And I just want to add here that the main actor is PERFECT in this role. He NAILS the cute and comical expressions of his character, and I love it so much. I think it’s why I was finding the male lead so dang attractive by the end of the drama, lol.