Coffee & vanilla review – no this is not a Starbucks coffee drama!

Like many dramas, Risa is a naive Japanese girl. She turns out to be a typical countryside girl without a notion of how the city works. She relies on her friend to guide her in her questions. However, her friend seems unreasonable to me. She somehow pretends to know how the world works. Even if she falls for the tricks, she tried to warn the protagonist.

The friend, Natsuki, ends up falling in love at first sight for Risa’s new boyfriend, Fukami, how ironic!

The Jdrama story is an adaptation of the manga series. It shares the same name, ¨coffee & vanilla¨ (japanese: コーヒー&バニラ / kōhī ando banira). The manga is by Takara Akegami. Coffee & vanilla manga started to be published on the monthly manga magazine cheese! Since June 2015. Cheese! (チーズ! Chīzu) is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine under the publication of Shogakukan.

The television drama adaptation ran from July 5, 2019, to September 6, 2019. And currently available on Viki and Netflix. It’s a total of 10 episodes.

How do I describe this drama and the social issues?

Well, the soft dark side of society which is represented by the greedy and corrupted-soul man and boys. These people try a few nasty moves with risa, which kind of triggers me in my wishes to hit someone in the nose! (Internal thoughts: violence is not the answer, and repeat)

Forcing kisses, trapping into a corner, and fighting over Risa like she isn’t the one that decides her fate. In my perspective, Risa is a representation of the pure and innocent in a society with emotional damage and creeps. When I speak of emotional damage, I speak about Fukami. He grew too fast because he lost his parents. Whenever there is an issue with Risa, he instantly hugs with the fear she will also leave him alone. He is a bit possessive and has a puppy love that has a good level for both, not something toxic.

Coffee and Vanilla – Main synopsis:

Shiroki Risa (Fukuhara Haruka) is a beautiful young woman. She grew up in the countryside and decided to move to Tokyo. She moved to continue her education as a university first-year student. Although, moving to the countryside to the city, her life, and the attention around her shifts. In Tokyo, at university, male students fawn over her, but she is unimpressed by all of them. And when they stop following and go away, she suffers a panic attack. This happens because she is not used to it.

Her life changes quickly after she meets Fukami Hiroto (Dori Sakurada). He is a dashing and heroic stranger in the business world. Although he treats her kindly and is gentle, he appears to have a dark secret that he carefully hides.

Shiroki Risa finds herself irresistibly drawn to the new man in her life. She soon discovers that the feeling is mutual. This means her first relationship ever. Many challenges come with it.

Can true love bloom from a passionate romance? And will Fukami Hiroto become the coffee to Shiroki Risa’s vanilla?

Main actor that plays the role of Fukami

Dori Sakurada (桜田 通), born December 7, 1991. He is a Japanese actor and singer. You may know him from the series Alice in borderland season 1 and 2 as the character Nigari.

Personal thoughts about him: he is good. His facial expressions are suitable for love stories. This is due to the gentle charisma he shows. But sometimes, i wonder what he would look like if he did more ¨action movies, like samurai or Godzilla stories.

Main actress that plays the role of Risa

Haruka Fukuhara (福原 遥) born august 28, 1998. She is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer, and model from Saitama prefecture. For the ones that follow the many Jdramas and anime, you will probably recognize her voice or her looks.

In 2016, Haruka transitioned from a child to a young adult. This was in her first major drama, good morning call. She becomes the naive Nao Yoshikawa.

Personal thoughts about her: she is amazing! For the list and filmography, she already did, i can tell she tries her hardest. I have no doubt that if she had an opportunity to do an international movie, she would excel. She would also improve even more.

Emotional ranking

💕 Romance: 💕💕💕💕💕 (5/5) – The entire drama is centered on love and affection, with lots of kisses (rare for J-dramas).

👻 Creepy factor: 👻👻👻 (3/5) – Fukami’s controlling behavior and the power imbalance between him and Risa add an uncomfortable edge for some viewers.

🔥 Action: 🔥 (1/5) – No real action; drama comes from emotional conflict and jealousy.

😭 Drama (Emotional impact): 😭😭 (2/5) – Mostly light drama with a few intense emotional clashes.

🌸 Popularity: 🌸🌸🌸🌸 (4/5) – The manga’s success and bold adaptation made it stand out, especially for pushing the boundaries of Japanese romance dramas.

For now, I will leave you with the opening song:

 Good On The Reel – you & i

I love the strings work. And the tune is just felt right with the melody.

 Do you know Good On The Reel?

The Band was formed in 2006, when the members were going on the same school. The band name means “something feels good”. The members are Voice – Takahiro Chino. Guitarists are Ryota Imaruoka and Kohei Okazahi. The Bass player is Tomohiro Usami. Drums are played by Makoto Takahashi.

Official website: https://goodonthereel.net/