Japan has no shortage of “awkward guy meets girl, falls in love, and his life changes” stories. The J-drama I had recently recommended, 逃げるは恥だが役に立つ, was exactly just this type of story. Blindly In Love follows the same path. It even has the same actor Hoshino Gen. It might even be in the same fictional universe… I mean look at the pictures.

箱入り息子の恋

逃げるは恥だが役に立つ

First thing: If you’ve seen the drama I recommended, you will like this movie (which came out 3 years before it and is, joking aside, completely unrelated to it).

Hoshino Gen is 35 years old, has never had a girlfriend, lives at his parent’s house, and plays a lot of video games. He doesn’t cause anyone any trouble. He’s a serious worker at the local government office, and he knows that he is not social. He has accepted himself, but his parents haven’t.

One day, his parents decide to go in his place to a お見合い (potential marriage interview) party. However, instead of the ordinary marriage party, where people looking to get married go, the parents of the potential marriage partners go in their place. Parents try to set up their children through the parents of other children looking for marriage.

I thought I had seen all kinds of marriage arrangement events, but this is the first parent-only one. It’s kind of awkward to watch Hoshino’s parents introducing his resume and trying to convince other parents to let their daughter meet him.

Indo Kaho is the adorable girl that Hoshino gets to meet due to a random encounter in the rain. She had lost her eye sight as a child, and the two of them somehow manage to fall in love with each other.

This is one of those feel good, bring a smile, movies. It doesn’t harp on the blindness aspect at all, so even if you don’t like the typical Japanese movie illness/physical handicap story element, it’s still enjoyable. They are just great together on screen, and it is fun to watch.

This was a great love story. It’s funny, cute, and emotional all in one.

The only thing that bothered me is it tries to pull a common Japanese movie trope, only to fake you out, pull it again, and then fake you out again. I won’t give any details about it, but I don’t think the movie needed this.

If you are looking for a nice charming life-changing love story, check it out!

Adam

Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.

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