Anime Blog 67: Itazura na Kiss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itazura_na_Kiss

As a warning, this blog is gonna be kinda long.

Alright, Itazura na Kiss (INK) is a 25 episode anime with 4 different Live Action Drama series that I watched subbed and that I own the anime of.

The basic story is F class Kotoko has a crush on A class Naoki. She gives him a love letter, he rejects it. Due to circumstances her family moves in with him and from then on, many different emotions develop. Due to his genius nature, Naoki is cold and doesn't understand the concept of love whereas even though she isn't smart, Kotoko loves him no matter how mean he is. Naoki's mother tries to get them together and Kotoko's classmate Kin-chan loves her the same way she loves Naoki. LOVE TRIANGLE!

I really love this show! I've seen all the adaptations of it and some I love whereas 1 I dislike and 1 I think is weird :D

I'll also state here that the author died before she completed the manga. 3 of the dramas came out before the conclusion of the anime (where the author's husband found her notes and released the planned ending) so they have no conclusion in respect for the author.

So to start with the anime art!

Kotoko and Naoki

 

Then the first Japanese LAD was also titled Itazura na Kiss. It came out in 1996 and was only 9 episodes long...it went nowhere...I didn't really care for it.

Kotoko and Naoki

The next LAD was the Taiwanese series: It Started with a Kiss (30 eps) and it's sequal They Kiss Again (20 eps). I loved this series! It really did the story justice!

Zhi Shu (Naoki) and Xiang Qin (Kotoko)

Then the next LAD was the Korean series: Playful Kiss which ran for 16 episodes with a 7 episode sequel series. There was also a special 16 "episode" thing called Baek Seung-jo's Diary. This series was...for lack of a better word...weird. But it wasn't bad and I liked it well enough.

Oh Ha-ni (Kotoko) and Baek Seung-jo (Naoki)

Then the newest addition is the new Japanese adaptation that incorporates the actual ending. Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo just finished airing last month (?) It ran for a 16 episode S1 and 16 episode S2 along with a special episode titled: Mischievous Kiss: Love in Okinawa. This series really fights hard to beat ISWAK in my book. I really loved it too! It was AMAZING! I honestly can't pick a fave between them o_o

Naoki and Kotoko

 

So time for pros and cons!

 

Pros:

• So good it has 4 dramas
• ISWAK
• Love in Tokyo
• Awesome story
• Irie's mother
• Christine!
• All around AMAZING show!

Cons:

• well, it had to end didn't it? :(

Thanks for reading! Until next time,

 

~Kei