Nowadays, it's rare when I'm hyped for an upcoming J-Drama. Instead, I'm often content rediscovering the classics. However, as I was researching the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist live-action sequel films, I was reminded that FMA live-action lead actor Ryosuke Yamada also has an ongoing J-Drama called, My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? 

And so I looked it up, and...

FINALLY, Hey! Say! JUMP's Ryosuke Yamada scored a rom-com lead! And what's more...it's REALLY GOOD!

Though Yamada has led a slew of films and TV series, and is an industry veteran at this point - his first role was in Detective School Q, where he played the too-cool-for-school Ryuu Amakusa at age 13 - he has yet to play a romantic lead. Why is that?

Ryosuke Yamada and His Ageless Face

Ryosuke Yamada debuted as a member of the Johnny & Associates boyband Hey! Say! JUMP in 2007. Popular as a Johnny's Jr., Yamada was one of the faces of the group, and became known for his powerful dancing skills and charismatic stage presence.

Despite being 14 when he debuted, and having a golden-boy image, Yamada was often sexualized with too-sexy-for-his-age solo songs like "Perfume," which he performed at the Hey! Say! JUMP Debut & First Concert Ikinari! in Tokyo Dome.

Yamada's popularity also led to him taking on acting roles in J-Dramas and movies. Something told the acting gods that Yamada was born to play detectives, which led to the young idol playing many, many high school detectives, and then crime-solving police officers.

Then it started getting weird that a man in his late-twenties was still playing high schoolers...but trying to buy Yamada as a police officer, even a rookie police officer, felt like too much of an ask sometimes. It's that face! He looks perpetually too young.

Similarly, Yamada was also cast in many live-action anime adaptations as the lead, such as in Assassination Classroom, Fullmetal Alchemist, and The Files of Young Kindaichi Neo - the last of which serves as double jeopardy, as Yamada plays a character who is both an anime live-action-adapted lead and a high school detective. So, no luck breaking typecasting there.

All this is to say that even though Johnny & Associates seemed to understand that the ladies loved Ryosuke Yamada, they seemed reluctant to put him in any roles where he played an adult man who could experience romance.

(I'm not counting Cain and Abel or The Memory Eraser because the romance in Cain and Abel was a melodramatic non-issue, and The Memory Eraser didn't really have Yamada's character act out a romantic relationship, since the whole point of the movie is for him to convince his girlfriend that she's lost all memory of him.)

I suspect casting agents were having a hard time seeing past Yamada's youthful appearance. That is, until My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? came about.

Enter 'My Cuteness Is About to Expire!?'

1. The Concept is a Perfect Fit

As mentioned previously, Ryosuke Yamada was never really given a chance to be a romantic comedy lead. With My Cuteness Is About to Expire!?, Yamada finally gets a concept that seems tailor-made for him.

In fact, it's such a perfect fit that I seriously wonder if the drama was written specifically for him as some 4D chess move engineered to push Yamada as a romantic lead.

Not only is the concept of the show a perfect fit, but it taps into Yamada's comedic chops. Despite his matinee idol looks, Yamada is unafraid to lean into comedy, and My Cuteness Is About to Expire!?'s existential story allows Yamada to engage his comedic timing and willingness to put himself in crazy situations alongside his more dramatic and soulful side.

2. The Cinematography Looks Beautiful

Perhaps because the show's protagonist is a man whose beauty and cuteness charms everyone in his path, but My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? looks great. I love the warm palette and the special care the team has taken with the lighting that seems a step above your usual J-Drama.

Set production design is also polished, and underscores how perfect Yamada's Kosuke Maruya's life is prior to him being quite forcefully confronted with the fact that his perfect face has a time limit.

Even the amount of mirrors decorating his office seems appropriate, and thematically in-line with the story.

3. Ryosuke's Acting Looks Top-Notch

This may be a hot take, but I firmly believe that Ryosuke Yamada is a talented actor. He just needs a good director. I know many discount Yamada due to his idol roots and his face - see, the J-Drama reflects reality! - but really, Yamada is actually a powerhouse actor when you give him the right material.

I've seen basically Yamada's entire filmography, and I can confidently say that while there are some goofy, overly melodramatic performances - I'm looking at you, Hidarime Tantei EYE and The Miracles of Namiya General Store - I believe that these performances are the result of directors who didn't reign Yamada in when he went a bit too full-out.

Because when Yamada is given the right direction, he's spectacular.

Despite his tiny stature, Grasshopper showed a scary side of Yamada as he played a deranged killer, and Semiotoko showed that Yamada can play a heightened concept without making it feel ridiculous, as he played a cicada who is granted a brief life on earth as a human.

Even in The Miracles of Namiya General Store - when he's not melodramatically crying - Yamada's acting is solid and moving - he just needed to dial things back a bit during the climax.

However, I'd like to argue that this ability to go too far in his performances is actually the mark of a superb actor, because, as any director will tell you it's always easier for actors to pull back than to push their performance further.

4. The Show Knows What Ryosuke's Fans Want

When you make a show about a cute boy starring a cute boy, the concept is inevitably going to serve up exactly what the audience is looking for. Yamada is known for his cute golden boy image, and so with a concept that centers around his face, be prepared for many beautiful shots of him smiling sweetly at the camera, à la Antonio Banderas' Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.

For those newer fans to J-Pop, the show also caters to them as well. It leverages Yamada's popularity to introduce his fans to the newest Johnny & Associates boyband Naniwa Danshi, through Kazuya Ohashi, who plays Kosuke's bubbly coworker.

The two have an adorable chemistry, though the whole time, I was half-wishing that they had cast fellow Hey! Say! JUMP member Daiki Arioka as the character instead, since this coworker relationship feels like a rehash of the sempai-kouhai relationship Yamada and Arioka shared in The Files of Young Kindaichi Neo.

But oh well, gotta go along with corporate mandates and introduce the new Johnny's, too, I guess.

5. 'My Cuteness Is About to Expire!?' Might Be Deeper Than You Think

While watching through the first episode of My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? without subtitles, I was unexpectedly moved by a thought I had: This was the first time I've seen a male-led romantic comedy where his struggle felt distinctly relatable as a woman.

Hear me out: From what I've seen, it's much more common for a rom-com to have a male lead in J-Dramas than in American movies or TV series. However, even when a romantic J-Drama had a clear male lead, the issues that they're struggling with always felt distinctly male somehow.

In Operation Love, Tomohisa Yamashita's friend-zoned Ken Iwase goes back in time through a series of photos in hopes of changing the past so that he ends up with his female best friend. In Heartbroken Chocolatier, Jun Matsumoto's Sota Koyurugi travels to Paris to learn how to become a chocolatier at his crush's favorite chocolate shop so he can make her regret never giving him a chance. Both of these situations felt like strangely male specific experiences - I couldn't imagine a woman going so far due to feeling entitled to man's love.

However, in My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? the premise accidentally sets up Kosuke Maruya to deal with a problem that most women - if not all women - actively deal with: What do you do when your looks (and your only perceived value in society) fade?

Sure, we are all on board with the idea that women should be valued for more than their looks. However, society has not advanced to the point where that feels true. Hollywood actors seem able to hold down leading roles in films long after age 40 and still be seen as sex symbols, while Hollywood actresses seem to lose all ability to play the ingenue and still be seen as appealing once they reach age 40.

It's why we often see older men dating way younger woman - it's because in our society, a man's power and value rises as they get old, while a women's depreciates.

Kosuke Maruya in My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? is a man who has tried everything to gain value outside of his looks. After a high school girlfriend rejects him for having nothing appealing outside his face, Kosuke tries his best to study hard, work out, and pick up a new instrument to become more multifaceted. However, he fails at becoming spectacular at any of these things, and decides that the only weapon he has is his cute face.

So, now we have a male protagonist who has to deal with the idea that his value is going to decrease when he loses his attractiveness - a fear that I think more women would find relatable than men.

In doing so, this show presents a strangely feminist story that argues that both genders can deal with oppressive beauty standards and societal expectations, and that worrying about your looks isn't solely a woman's issue.

All of this is to say that My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? is fascinating, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this experiment to launch Ryosuke Yamada as a rom-com lead unfolds.

Are you interested in watching My Cuteness Is About to Expire!? Have you thought about trying a J-Drama before this? Let us know!

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