is a romantic comedy television series scheduled to air in the Tuesday Drama slot on TBS Television from October 2024. It stars Nao.
The catchphrase for this television series is "My love hurts."
Yuta Tamamori plays Kairi Kuzuya, a mysterious blond man who meets the main character, Hokomi. This is his first appearance in a Tuesday drama in three years since Oh My Boss! Love Not Included. It is a completely original scripted television series about a woman who takes both love and boxing earnestly.
The protagonist, Hokomi Sato (Nao), is a 29-year-old woman with a serious personality who works at a Kawasaki city hall, fictitious Kawasaki City, not the real Kawasaki, Kanagawa. After her boyfriend ran away from her on her wedding day and she also discovered that he had been unfaithful, she decided never to be steady with a scumbag again. Then she met Kairi Kuzuya (Yuta Tamamori), a kind and friendly man. He was to be the photographer at her wedding. Kairi encouraged Hokomi with gentle words and saved her troubles. And when he suddenly kissed her, she felt destined for him and gradually fell in love with him. However, she soon realized that Kairi was a scumbag who had the same gentle words for many other women, making them fall in love with him and spending a lot of money on him. She became so angry with Kairi that she joins a boxing gym to beat him up. However, she gradually learns of Kairi's secret past.
Television producer Mitsuki Tomura said that they created an original script to tell the story of a woman's growth through boxing and her love affair with someone she initially thought she disliked, but who she comes to gradually fall in love with. The main character, Hokomi, is a serious and clumsy woman, but her mere presence brightens up those around her and makes them want to cheer her on, so she was cast as a perfect match for Nao. Kairi is a man with secrets and is difficult to grasp, with a carefree smile and a dark expression. Tomura cast Tamamori for the role of Kairi because of the gap between when Tamamori smiles and when he has a straight face.
About the work, Nao, the lead actress, said that she is excited to see what kind of work it will be because she has never seen a combination of a romantic comedy and boxing in a television series before. She said she hopes to convey to everyone the appeal of boxing and the beauty of building trust with others. Nao also said she had never played a role where she was devoted to a sport before, and her mother wondered why Nao was chosen to play a role where she boxed. She said that more than four months prior to the start of this broadcast, she began restricting her diet and went to the gym to work on her muscle training. Thanks to her efforts, she was able to take on the filming with full preparation. Tamamori said that he was glad when he received the offer but also felt a lot of pressure. He said that it had been a long time since he had acted in a love story, so he wanted to give his all to the role. He said that Kairi is a character he has never played before, so he hoped that he could inspire the viewers. He said he hopes people will look forward to the television series, which is a romantic comedy but has various messages and is a passionate work. For this role, Tamamori also underwent a physical transformation. After a concert by his boy band Kis-My-Ft2 in February, Tamamori weighed , gained in two months with muscle training, then lost more than again.
Also cast as a boxer from the Hanegi Gym in this work is current WBO Women's World Super flyweight Champion boxer Mizuki Hiruta. Also, professional boxer Tenshin Nasukawa will appear. It was announced that Nasukawa, making his first appearance in a drama, will appear in every episode as a different character.
Prior to the broadcast of the television series starting in October 2024, television series appearing with Tamamori, La Grande Maison Tokyo, Oh My Boss! Love Not Included, Youth Detective Haruya and He is Beautiful, were streamed for a limited time from September 2024 on the free to stream TVer. Prior to the start of the drama's broadcast on October 8, a giant billboard was set up in the underground passageway of Shibuya Station, and adhesive bandages with the program's logo were distributed free of charge. At Shibuya Station on the TÃ Âyoko Line, the program was advertised on digital signage. Starring Nao and Tamamori appeared as secret guests at the Rakuten GirlsAward 2024 Autumn/Winter held at Makuhari Messe on October 19, 2024, while the theme song was playing, where they walked the catwalk in front of an audience of 23,000 people and promoted this television series.
As of 8 January 2025, the television series holds an approval rating of 64% on Filmarks, based on 362 reviews, with an average rating of 3.2/5. Many of the comments on Filmarks praised lead actress Nao's performance in the authentic boxing scenes and the beauty of the kissing scenes, while others noted that the storyline in the middle was dark and that the ending was somewhat predictable. Some viewers also mentioned that seeing friends or assistants of the main characters who did not seem to wish them happiness made the drama emotionally challenging to watch.
Mantanweb highlighted viewersâ reactions on social media following the drama's broadcast. Many expressed their emotions about key moments, such as being moved by the scene where Hokomi and Kairi, who had been apart for a long time, finally reunite. Others shared their hopes for supporting characters, for example, wishing that Oba â who had an unrequited love for Nao but remained a good person until the end â would find happiness in his next romance.
Television critic Yamakawa analyzed that the time slot for this series was often watched by viewers hoping to enjoy the romance between the main characters, but that the drama contained fewer romantic elements than expected and instead focused on serious boxing, which contributed to the moderate viewer ratings.
The original side story titled I Want to Forgive That Night was distributed on TVer after the broadcast of the sixth episode on November 12, 2024. It is a one-situation romantic comedy set in "Snack Akemi," a bar run by the mother of the heroine Sato Hokomi, and depicts various cast members who are not shown in the main story.