This is one of the funnier dramas I have watched. Based on the manga by Natsumi Aida, this aired around end of 2011, so I'm a little bit late, but it was still a fun rom-com nonetheless.

Nishiuichi Mariya stars as Tamiya Nika, a pretty and popular girl in her school that has a hidden side to her. She has what you would call a "switch mode", wherein once she steps into the boundaries of her home, she completely reverts into her... not so appealing nature. Her popular girl image is a facade that she puts on and has to constantly maintain, lest she be avoided by her peers. The only person who knows about this "off-mode" nature of hers is her best friend, Nino (Sakata Rikako).

A transfer student named Arata (played by Kiriyama Renn), catches her eye. He also has his own "switch mode". He purposely hides behind an uninteresting nerdy image to achieve the opposite effect: to have girls avoid him, since he's too much of a fangirl material.

(O_O) *drool*

Okay, maybe yes.

The two accidentally discover each other's secret, and promise to keep them for their own sake. And thus, their romance ensues.

The adventures in the story aren't quite new. I don't know what's with the author and her obsession for people who purposely want to destroy other people. There's the second-guessing of love interests, as usual, and third parties. You know, rom-com stuff. If that's not your cup of tea, then I doubt you will enjoy this as much as I did.

There were definitely some things I could relate to, like the frustration of always putting on a socially-acceptable front. Coz we all have our sides that we don't want anyone to know. Like fashion emergencies, bodily misfunctions, and smelly food. I always get self-conscious whenever I bring fish to work, because I'm afraid people will scrunch their noses and say "Something died in here!" while I munch on my dried herring on the corner. Off-mode problems. But it's so good, I still eat up.

And I have times like these with Chris.

And definitely this.

You will also see a lot of this cat drawing covering up otherwise censored images, which I think is quite funny

And yet another eye candy alert! I'm having a secondary actor syndrome (SAS). Why, hello there, Jinnai Sho~

He looks like freakin' Tae Yang!

The fangirl in me has been revealed!

Bottom line, the story itself was okay. Typical rom-com with all the toppings, and if your sense of humor is pretty shallow like mine, then you will enjoy this. If you're a little hard to please... then I suggest move on. Acting wise, I think Renn wasn't so bad. He can smile at the very least. And Mariya really got into the acting, which is nice, I guess. Sometimes a little exaggerated, but better than under-delivering.

At least the kiss was convincing.

The gist: 6.5/10

It's an average drama, definitely funny for me. Not the best, but a fun watch. If you like your rom-coms and shoujo manga, this would be a good choice. I definitely got annoyed at some parts of the story, but that's okay. It's not one for the books, but if you're up to kill time, why not? I watched this on DramaFever, but you have to be a premium subscriber to watch beyond episode 6 for both seasons, which sucks. But they offer free premium trial for one week, so that's one thing to consider. I watched some episodes on GoodDrama.net, but they have subs for Chinese behind the English ones which makes them FRIGGIN HARD TO READ. DramaFever premium is only around $5 anyway.

So, to watch or not to watch? The choice is yours.

PIKA!!

Gif photo creds to the owners