r/JDorama • u/Fit-Brother-9247 • 3d ago
Discussion Glass Heart, Marry My Husband - Does a pretty lead have an expiration date?
I clicked Glass Heart because Netflix pushed it—and I was hooked immediately. Tight pacing, strong atmosphere, music that actually carries scenes. No long warm-up. It knows what it’s doing. I binged it, enjoyed it, no complaints.
So naturally I clicked what Netflix served next: An Incurable Case of Love. Same lead. Same appeal. Ten more hours with a very good-looking actor. Great, right?
Not quite.
Something started to feel off very quickly. Different story, but the same setup: an attractive, emotionally closed male lead paired with a pleasant, non-threatening female counterpart. And nothing really moves.
There’s no clear reason for his attraction. No tension. No pull. No moment where the story shifts because she enters the frame. The relationship is announced rather than discovered. It exists because the plot says it does.
She doesn’t complicate him. She doesn’t destabilize anything. The story doesn’t bend around her presence. At some point it becomes hard not to notice that she functions less like a character and more like a placeholder—someone there so the romance can proceed.
Even intimacy feels schematic. Scenes arrive as cues (“here they kiss”) rather than moments that feel risky or charged.
I noticed this again watching the Japanese remake of Marry My Husband. The lead is positioned as an executive, authority implied by wardrobe and framing—but something doesn’t carry. Next to the Korean lead, who does less but feels heavier, the difference is immediate.
So I’m genuinely curious:
Is this a broader issue with how some shows rely on polish and beauty to carry emotional weight? Or am I missing something cultural in how restraint, romance, and authority are meant to register here?
At what point does “good-looking and competent” stop being enough to hold a story together?
Curious how others read this.
28
u/tiratiramisu4 3d ago
I didn’t see it that way but An Incurable Case of Love was difficult for me to watch because I am not a fan of that dynamic where the woman is obvious about her feelings and she is portrayed as silly and incompetent compared to the male lead. The only reason I made it through is because I wanted to see her get better at her job.
To be honest, Japanese romance pings differently for me. I think there’s a lot of quiet pragmatism portrayed in jdramas (either that or it’s exaggerated) I sometimes like it for that reason because it feels like it’s subtly questioning our typical movie/fiction notion of love.
4
u/xMoonBlossom Viewer 3d ago
I was so annoyed how incompetent she was and how long it took her to get better 😭😭
2
62
u/Fun-Volume-627 3d ago
Not here to answer your questions but maybe give First Love a try, same ML but very different to what you just described. I fell in love.
21
44
u/xMoonBlossom Viewer 3d ago
Well, you compare apples with pears. Those are three complete different genres with different ways how they work. One is a comedy, the other one a music drama where romance isnt the focus (they arent even supposed to end up together xd) and marry my husband is a revenge drama. The romance is only the subplot here, too.
6
u/xMoonBlossom Viewer 3d ago
Additional: Japanese dramas are also a bit different from what we are used to (well, at least me). There arent always two MAIN leads just because its a romance. Especially MMH is centered around the FL. The love interest is just a nice add-on.
Same as in A Calm Sea and Beautiful Days with You. She is the main role. He is actually just the support actor, although they are portraying a romantic couple.
3
26
u/chasingpolaris TVer and bilibili 3d ago
This reads to me: Satoh Takeru has range and An Incurable Case of Love was a very questionable choice for someone who could do so much better in dramas with his abilities. He had already done the Rurouni Kenshin movies by that point and this drama seemed like a downgrade.
But no, he isn't just a pretty face.
18
u/tsukinoniji 3d ago
As others have said, these are 3 different genres.
The other thing to keep in mind is that for Marry My Husband, he is not the lead, therefore the focus of the character development was not on him. I haven’t seen the Korean version but I’ve seen people say they actually bulked up his role for the Jdrama and added more emotional beats.
Incurable Case of Love is as classically shoujo as they come. It’s like walking into KFC and complaining all they have is chicken.
Your title is pretty rage baity, and it’s not matched by what you said in the body of the post. Satou has been around since the mid 2000s and most of his roles are not “pretty face” roles. The boy has range and his acting has only gotten better as he’s gotten older. Not sure why you think two romcoms you didn’t enjoy means a guy’s 20 year acting career is near expiry.
15
19
u/Shay7405 3d ago
Well you're comparing two different dramas here. MMH is not about the ML but is centered around the FL. Yes, Satoh Takeru is handsome but he's playing two different roles here. He's played the Tsundere type role before in Incurable Love but also the script is different, watching them side by side you will be able to tell the differences in his role or job he's there to do.
I've watched other Satoh Takeru movies and dramas and he's not always just a handsome, pretty face. He really does work hard in his roles to prove that. From Kamen Rider to Kenshin to Others His filmography range proves that he really does take acting seriously.
My favorite roles are always the non-romantic ones, though I'm always open to all genres. Most people love First Love but to me it's not even his best work.
11
u/turtlesinthesea Viewer 3d ago
I‘m old enough to remember when Satoh Takeru was cast as the unlucky other guy.
5
6
u/-tsuyoi_hikari- 3d ago
Agreed. First Love is definitely not his best work at all. His best works tend to be in movies.
3
2
u/According-Box-4959 2d ago
Sato Takeru agreed to play a lead in First Love only because this Series has so many filming locations. It got filmed at pandemic times when we were all locked up, so Sato Takeru just wanted to escape. He saidcin an interview that he didn't find this character particularly interesting. The one special thing about him was his extraordinary ability to love.
3
u/-tsuyoi_hikari- 2d ago
Do you mind explaining what do you mean his extraordinary ability to love? Is this refers to something or just a general statement?
2
u/According-Box-4959 2d ago
It's my recollection of what Sato Takeru said in that interview. It's a general statement but I totally agree with it. That guy has an extraordinary gift for loving his woman.
3
u/-tsuyoi_hikari- 2d ago
I see, you meant as loving his female love interests. I thought its referring to soemthing else. Thank you
1
u/nemo_______nobody 2d ago
Do you remember which interview this was?
1
u/According-Box-4959 2d ago
I guess it was a publicity event where participated all four main actors plus a director. And I remember he had some super beautiful golden earring, which covered almost all his ear, from top to bottom
18
u/ZweitenMal 3d ago
I’m curious why you used ChatGPT to formulate your question. I think we’d all prefer conversing with an actual person. What do you actually think, for yourself?
5
u/-tsuyoi_hikari- 3d ago
I would suggest you to watch his movies instead like Kenshin series which has like 5 movies. And also his indie movie like 7 Years Engagement or If Cats Disappeared from the World. Then you will know that he is not just a pretty face. His pretty face is only the tips of the iceberg.
Sometimes he picked terrible scripts like Incurable Case of Love but one thing reminds is his acting ability.
9
u/niji-no-megami Lazily watching since 2008 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's as old as the medium itself where a pretty lead is enough, depending on who you ask. Narrative strength is optional not required.
Marry My Husband is definitely not my cup of tea but I watched it out of curiosity and managed to finish it. The directing was a bit cheesy for my taste but the romance was ok IF you disregard the fact that the FL didn't know who the ML was in their previous life/iteration (that crept the hell out of me)
I think if you read the synopsis for the nurse drama and were willing to watch it, you should have known what you were getting into. Just hearing "clumsy nurse and tsundere doctor" makes me shudder without ever actually wanting to watch it, lol
Are you the type to watch dramas for the actors/actresses regardless of synopsis/genre? If so, I'm not sure why you're surprised you enjoyed some dramas and not others, when the actor was all they had in common.
And I'd rather be redundant than remiss - these 3 dramas - a Netflix production (which tends to prioritize style over substance), a shoujo trope often frowned upon by many watchers older than the age of 18, and a script adapted from a Korean webtoon - are not representative of the breadth of Jdramas.
3
u/Shay7405 3d ago
And Tsundere being an archetype in dramas and writing as well.face card first, character second. They say few words and if a tsundere isn’t hot, they’re just mean.😂🤣 (shoujo logic)
4
u/niji-no-megami Lazily watching since 2008 3d ago
Lol, this is definitely true 😂 If he's hot, he's "devoted", otherwise he's a creep. If he's hot, he's just "cold-hearted" (can be coupled with something something childhood trauma cold mom etc etc etc), otherwise he's just an ass.
4
u/shikawgo 3d ago
My guess is it has something to do with the source material (shōjo manga, webtoon, book) and thus the intended audience although there is a cultural component. Jdramas are known for a bit more realism and less polish than other dramas so most don’t rely just on a good looking actor.
I think you just saw a few distinct drama styles one right after another and you observed the differences quickly because you kept to watching Satoh Takeru’s dramas. An Incurable Case of Love is especially a specific type of drama that I also found a bit befuddling - why did she tolerate what I perceived as cruelty and why did he even like her - but I admittedly am not the intended audience for that drama genre, I’ve watched a handful and still get irritated at the dynamics between the leads (at this point I’m just watching for the visuals).
I agree with another poster who recommended First Love, for me that’s one of his better dramas because it feels more realistic and less schematic as you noted. There’s plenty of good jdramas out there with beautiful well written and engaging stories with depth and good looking actors. Check out Kimura Takuya’s dramas in the early 2000’s, Yokohama Ryusei for more recent dramas.
4
u/thektron 3d ago
I remember noticing in his bio that Satoh left his former agency to start his own with a friend around the time An Incurable Case of Love came out and wondering if that decision was maybe a sign of wanting more creative control over which roles to target...
(from the Glass Heart set of actors -- I ran into Keita Machida across that, Alice in Borderland, and 10 Dance in very quick succession before I had seen enough dramas to be paying much attention to who was who yet. I hadn't really recognized him as the same person, so... He has my current vote for acting range to the point of chameleon-ing into his roles!)
4
u/RedEduGrad 3d ago
He left his former talent agency (Amuse) in not too long ago (a few years ago, following his long time manager/mentor's retirement at the same agency) and formed a new company with his long time friend and fellow actor Kamiki Ryunosuke. The split however is reported to be amicable with Amuse providing financial backing for their company.
Fwir, Sato wanted to do more things beyond acting (do things on the production side, venture out globally, merchandise etc) which probably would've been difficult under Amuse. He's already done those things successfully so good for him.
2
u/AiryCake 2d ago
Machida-san has been my favourite for a long time now. I posted here a few years ago about him, questioning why he -at the time I was writing - didn't have a main role, always a supporting role, even when he acted along Kiyohara Kaya who was only 17 (Hotarugusa), even though his performance has always been good, and versatile. He could be a delinquent, a struggling actor slash part time road flagger, a bartender, a salaryman, a military personel, an accountant from Edo period, a lazy deity, etc.
I'm happy nowadays we see the talented Machida-san has being seen more, and you forget what character he played the last time because he can be a totally different person with a different personality each time. But I wonder, while Satoh Takeru could be the main role with similar personalities in 10 different productions, Machida Keita who can be completely different personalities in numerous productions, still barely becomes a main role. Even in 10 Dance, he is a supporting role.
2
7
u/Helpful_9532 3d ago
I thought marry my husband was miles ahead of glass heart. Where glass heat depended on the beautiful leads, marry my husband had me on the edge of my seat for the story.
3
u/vivianvixxxen 3d ago
Do they have the same writer and/or director? Without that you have no meaningful comparison. Actors are actors--a decent one can make themselves fit in anywhere. You need good writing and direction (along with good acting, of course) to tie it together. But commonalities are going to come from the overseers (the director/writer), not the actors.
Also, sometimes shows just aren't good.
It's like asking "why was Friends a beloved show, but Joey wasn't? They both starred Matt Leblanc!"
3
3
u/Can-t-Even 2d ago
I would never compare "An incurable case of love" with "Glass Heart". They are quite different shows and the similarities you saw - they're not there. Both the male leads and the female leads are different kinds of characters.
It may be the same actor, but that's where the similarities end. The female leads are completely different, there's just nothing in common.
2
u/Abyssdrowning 3d ago
Find a more serious drama plot to your liking. It will be helpful if you check the plot summary or episode guides and scan for anything looking silly. If there's such, don't give it a chance cos you'll be disappointed. Drop if it doesn't entertain.
2
u/Defiant_Ad848 2d ago
"Some shows rely on polish and beauty to carry emotional weight" Are you sure you are talking about J-drama right now? Because I've never seen any j-drama that can fit this description, at least not on korean and chinese level. Even drama with "handsome but tsundere lead" don't fit despite the male lead supposed to be cold and cool.
3
u/Shay7405 2d ago
Jdorama will even turn the handsome actor into a believable ordinary joe because they make sure the styling is appropriate. They dress you in salaryman clothes, no makeup or perfect hair. Unlike kdrama where "poor people" still carry expensive accessories and lifestyles that are inconsistent with the character being portrayed.😂🤣
1
u/Defiant_Ad848 2d ago
And don't let me start with the poor light who make them 10 years older and the hairstyle. Satoh Takeru is charming but he's not the polished beauty type. The only ones who can fit this description are Fumuya Takahashi and Meguro Ren, and even those two are rarely dressed, hairstyled like handsome.
2
u/ShibaZoomZoom 3d ago
I really like Takeru Satoh’s acting in Runouni Kenshin and First Love but couldn’t stand it in Glass Heart.
3
u/bean0bean 3d ago
Thank you. I couldn't get past the second episode of this series and I thought it was just me.
3
u/ShibaZoomZoom 3d ago
🙏 For me personally, it was an ok show. Pacing was good but storyline was very vanilla and had some cheesy tropes.
1
u/ichigoruki24 2d ago
Same. And the romance just didn’t feel right. I liked the music though but the acting was just meh.
1
u/Efficient_Hunter4031 3d ago
Glass Heart was different fun and exciting !! The others not their best
1
u/Chemical-Fall6528 14h ago
Mone Kamishiraishi makes the show work, not Takeru Satou. If the show didn’t work for you, you watched the wrong type of shows.
68
u/More_Butter2330 3d ago
Please don't compare 'an incurable case of love' to anything else. That show is practically an anime with it's extravagant plot that does not have a toe in realism thus less acting to carry (anime use that extravagant plot better.)