Rich Man, Poor Woman review

I have completed Rich Man, Poor Woman!
This drama spans 11 episodes which aired in the summer 2012. 

Synopsis ( From DramaWiki):

Oguri Shun plays Hyuga Toru, an affluent man whose personality is on the contrary, speckled with flaws. A CEO of an IT firm who is published on Forbes as a billionaire, Toru attained his fortune through chance and pure luck. A woman who meets Toru and eventually becomes attracted to him is Sawaki Chihiro, played by Ishihara Satomi. Chihiro is a hardworking college student at Tokyo University who has prepared for her future as much as she possibly could through studies and obtaining licenses. Despite her efforts, she has yet to land a job. Upon meeting Toru, she begins to unravel a genuine pureness inside him and solitude resulting from such pureness, which eventually draws her closer to him. The two repeatedly conflict each other, but little by little learn about one another to grow and develop together.

Cast : 

• Oguri Shun as Hyuga Toru
• Ishihara Satomi as Sawaki Chihiro/Natsui Makoto
• Aibu Saki as Asahina Yoko
• Iura Arata as Asahina Kosuke

My impressions

Story

When I first saw the title, I was like "what the hell is this?". I thought the title was unoriginal and sounded boring, but this drama is without a doubt not like that. This is a romantic comedic drama but with a twist, it is mainly about a company and its president. It is a fresh and interesting theme, I just could not stop watching and completed the drama in almost 3 days ( This is a very rare feat, as I get bored extreme easily).   

While this drama has most of the major components of a romantic drama ( rivals, quarrels,etc), it was somewhat exiting. I just had to continue watching to know what would happen next.

My only complaint about it was the "lack" of romantic moments. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of romantic scenes, it's just that I was always hoping to see more of it as a fan as they were quite exiting (and funny). 

Acting

A good strength of this drama is also the acting. The cast was good, the characters were interesting and I found them also believable. However, we have to note that I am not that difficult to be pleased with actor's acting in general. Personally, I think that Ishihara Satomi, Aibu Saki and Iura Arata acted so well in this. Their acting felt natural and the choices their characters make in the drama felt logical of their characters' personality.

There is also quite a lot of character development, much more than most dramas out there.

Music

I felt like the drama has only 2 songs being played over and over. They were not bad songs, but I noticed a lack of variety. However, when I hear the main theme, I somewhat get nostalgic about this drama.

Recommendation 

If you enjoyed watching the relationship between a poor woman and a rich man, I would suggest Hana Yori Dango (if you haven't watch already). While Rich man, poor woman is aimed for a more mature audience (around university level), Hana yori Dango is much more for a younger audience (high school level).

Overall, this was one of the best drama of 2012 for me.

A TV film sequel has just been released too!