Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Creepy”
University student Shiga Takara doesn’t shy away from calling freshman Nakano Taishin a weirdo for choosing to leave his hometown to study in the same place as Takara, even though they’ve met only once before. The two had crossed paths on a hiking trail when Taishin was grieving his beloved pet’s death, and Takara, who was passing by, stopped to comfort him. Even though Takara gives Taishin the cold treatment at university, they slowly start growing close after Taishin joins the same trekking club as his crush.
Nakano Taishin (played by Konishi Eito) is so slow, he could compete with a sloth over who takes longer to finish their sentences. Now, some people might find it adorable: a cute-looking college boy who is naive, innocent, and talks like he is still learning to speak, but others might find it annoying. Four-year-old Kotaro from the anime series “Kotaro Lives Alone” is four times smarter than freshman Taishin.
Based on the manga series Takara’s Treasure (タカラのびいどろ – Takara no Vidro) by Minta Suzumaru, the live-action show has been directed by Tomita Miki and Ishibashi Yuho. Ishibashi has previously worked on “Shigatsu no Tokyo wa…” and “Our Dining Table,” so she is not new to the genre. Iwase Yoji plays the titular protagonist Takara, a handsome, aloof trekking enthusiast who always has a beeline of girls after him.
Iwase Yoji as Takara looks like he is out of a manga series; he is the ‘tsundere’ archetype, who often acts aloof and indifferent towards Taishin, but then also gets protective and caring. Apart from his passion for mountain treks, Takara is fascinated by glass marbles and loves collecting them. For him, they are beautiful pieces of treasure that might seem useless to others but are very precious to him. The English title “Takara’s Treasure” is a play on Takara’s name, as the Japanese word for ‘treasure’ is ‘takaramono’ (宝物).
Konishi Eito, on the other hand, as the simple, innocent Taishin, felt slightly miscast; he gave off more of a dancer/rapper vibe than that of a clueless, short, cute character he is supposed to be. Taishin is a weird mix of creepy-cute; obviously, it’s wack as hell if a random stranger decides to follow you to another city and study at the same university simply because you had a comforting conversation with them.
How the sweet, ‘pure’ Taishin and popular but haughty Takara fall in love and take it forward is the crux of the story. The other supporting characters that make their way in the series are forgettable and there aren’t many comedic moments.
Ten episodes long, “Takara’s Treasure” is slow, silly, and not engaging enough, but given that the leads are good-looking, a lot of viewers might find it to be adequately entertaining.
Random trivia: This the manga series won the 2023 Digital Comic Award in the BL category along with My Personal Weatherman (Taikan Yoho).
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