Bioluminescent plankton
This is the kind of drama that really blew me away, even though I'm picky to dramas and movies I watch. I've already seen quite a number of student-teacher relationship and the male lead is always the teacher, so it already pique my interest when the woman is the older one. Many may have immediately judged the drama before watching it mainly because of the large age gap of 10 years, but hey I bet if the teacher is the male lead people would likely overlooked the large age gap just because the teacher is swoony. That only shows the double standards of the society. But please give this drama a chance because it beautifully and carefully addresses the relationship of these two individuals.
I thought it would be sugar-coated as what I have seen to most stories with this kind, with the male lead doing such swoon-worthy gestures, but no, it did much more than that. Akira's love and adoration for his teacher is fascinating to see. Yes, he's stubborn, rebellious and immature, but that's what a normal teenager would behave. While Hijiri's inner turmoil will make you emphatize with her more. She knew that she's already attracted to Akira but she just kept on brushing it off and tried not to reciprocate that overwhelming affection ( except that one moment when everything is just too much). But the heart wants what it wants. That's the thing that the drama really did right, the execution and portrayal of their romance wherein you wouldn't see it as sensual and disturbing. It highlighted the genuineness of their feelings and how it came to that point where they're in now.
I also like that the story didn't condone and promote this kind of relationship and give us a glimpse to the consequences and what would others feel witnessing something like this blossom, like how Hijiri's friend kept on pointing out how wrong it is to fall for your student and how Akira's mom lose it when she learned that her son is in love with his teacher. Most of the characters are grey wherein you truly can't hate one, but instead pity and emphatize with them for we sometimes see their actions as something that would likely do because it's too mundane and didn't truly deviate with real life instances.
I thought it would be sugar-coated as what I have seen to most stories with this kind, with the male lead doing such swoon-worthy gestures, but no, it did much more than that. Akira's love and adoration for his teacher is fascinating to see. Yes, he's stubborn, rebellious and immature, but that's what a normal teenager would behave. While Hijiri's inner turmoil will make you emphatize with her more. She knew that she's already attracted to Akira but she just kept on brushing it off and tried not to reciprocate that overwhelming affection ( except that one moment when everything is just too much). But the heart wants what it wants. That's the thing that the drama really did right, the execution and portrayal of their romance wherein you wouldn't see it as sensual and disturbing. It highlighted the genuineness of their feelings and how it came to that point where they're in now.
I also like that the story didn't condone and promote this kind of relationship and give us a glimpse to the consequences and what would others feel witnessing something like this blossom, like how Hijiri's friend kept on pointing out how wrong it is to fall for your student and how Akira's mom lose it when she learned that her son is in love with his teacher. Most of the characters are grey wherein you truly can't hate one, but instead pity and emphatize with them for we sometimes see their actions as something that would likely do because it's too mundane and didn't truly deviate with real life instances.
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