Every time I think I’ve kicked (outgrown?) the j-drama addiction, I get hooked on some new series. Over the summer, that series was 私が恋愛できない理由 (roughly: The Reason I Can’t Romance). What really pulled me into the series were scenes of the two characters here, Saki and Takumi—the emotions that resonate between them during those moments. While the drama has other characters (almost overnumerously so) who are melodramatically interconnected (e.g. Takumi’s wife—yes, wife, no, that doesn’t give anything away), I rapidly became engrossed in the unfolding of interactions between Saki and Takumi, pretty much watching the drama just to see what would happen with them hoping they would continue to share something special together.

There’s something spectacular about the scene above, a turning point when rapidly everything changes between these two people who have a fundamentally deep need for each other, yet with all they’re entangled in, have significant challenges in forging the sort of connection each wants to have.

I can’t say I recommend the series, but if you like the notion of people who are capable of transforming one another even if only momentarily yet possibly profoundly while meeting in the midst of tough circumstances, you might find Saki and Takumi as compelling as I did.