The first episode of the drama series "If She Calls It Love" starring actor Chiaki Kuriyama (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV, Thursdays 11:59 p.m.) was broadcast on April 3rd. Kentaro Ito, who plays Hisame, a man who falls in love with Ima (Kuriyama), became a hot topic on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers
The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Kei Ikki. Ima, a single mother with a high school daughter, falls in love again. The other person is Hisame, a graduate student majoring in biology. Ima already has two lovers. "Because we are lovers," "because we are mother and daughter," "because we are a wife," "because we are a mother"... This is a story that shakes up such rigid notions of "normalcy."
Ima tells Hisame that she has two boyfriends, Ao (Kento Senga) and Itaru (Tomoki Maruyama). Hearing her thoughts that she doesn't want to limit herself to one person, but wants to date everyone she likes, Hisame can't hide his confusion, saying, "I want to understand her if I can. But I can't expect me to accept everything about her."
Despite his inner conflict, Hisame decides to try to understand Ima's love. He calls Ima and tells her, "I love you, Ima. To be honest, I'm not sure if I can accept everything about you. But that's why I want to understand you little by little from now on."
"Can I kiss you?" asked Hisame. "If I say no, you won't do it?" Ima laughed, and Hisame kissed her.
On social media, people have been paying attention, saying things like, "Oh my, Hisame is so addictive. His complicated emotions and heartbreaking expressions are just too much," "Hisame is so cute," "The drama is interesting precisely because it's not realistic. You can understand Hisame's confused feelings," "The first episode was really interesting. I love Kentaro's acting as he's confused and troubled," and "There are scenes that make you chuckle and scenes that make your heart flutter. Hisame is so cute and all the characters are so charming. I'm once again looking forward to Thursday nights."
