Just finished: Renai Kentei

"Just" as in "just about finished". It's been a bit of a slog doing these subs, but worth it in the end. As I was just finishing off these subs, I had the Paralympics on in the background and an athlete from Djibouti was slowly making his way around the final lap, long after the other competitors had ended. I kind of empathised with him, although I don't expect a standing ovation for my efforts.

In the end, this was an enjoyable light-hearted series of romances concerning four hopeless cases who have to pass a test of their power in love. We have a constant flirter who can't get a relationship going, a woman with low-self esteem, a man who's built up the perfect life for himself, and lastly a woman who can't get over the memory of an ex.

Hosshan plays the god who has to help them all find love, and he's very entertaining as the cynical, world-weary type who likes a drink and never seems that bothered about the feelings of his subjects. Since he's the main character, it helps that he's so good in the role.

Each episode had something in its favour and although each was a story in its own right, there were a couple of things running through it, such as the rumours on the internet about this god of love, and the Spanish bar where the stories always began.

With no weak stories, good performances and always a proper ending, I really enjoyed this series. Well, as long as I wasn't cursing how often they were using slang.