The second episode of the drama series "If She Calls It Love" starring actor Chiaki Kuriyama (Yomiuri TV/Nippon TV, Thursdays 11:59 p.m.) aired on April 10. 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 film is based on the novel of the same name by Ikki Kei. 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."
Determined to understand Ima's love, Hisame decides to live with her "lovers", Ao (Kento Senga) and Itaru (Tomomi Maruyama). One day, Hisame discovers a pair of men's red boxer shorts in Ima's room. He is faced with the reality that she has a partner other than him.
Afu continued to advise Hisame, "There are many possibilities in love. If you've decided to live in this house, why don't you not be tied down as usual and try to find new possibilities with Ima?"
"If love has all kinds of possibilities, is play also a kind of love?" "Is her love just play? Or..." Hisame was troubled. At night, he couldn't sleep when he thought of the sound of someone's footsteps walking down the hallway disappearing into Ima's room. While wanting to understand Ima, he was conflicted, thinking, "My 'love' and her 'love' are surely different."
Even when Hisame told Ima about an episode with her ex-boyfriend, Ima didn't get jealous. Hisame was shaken, saying, "I lose confidence in myself again because she's not the least bit jealous of her ex-boyfriend."
On social media, comments such as "I'm captivated by Ito Kentaro's delicate facial expressions," "Ito Kentaro's confusion as Hisame was so realistic. His eye movements and changes in expression were so delicate," "Hisame who is confused and worried is also adorable," and "Ito Kentaro, who can express the delicate movements of emotions with just his eyes, is back" garnered attention.
