First Love (2022 TV series)

First Love is a Japanese television series starring Hikari Mitsushima and Takeru Satoh, released by Netflix on 24 November 2022. The series and its Japanese title were inspired by two Hikaru Utada songs, "First Love" and "Hatsukoi".

Plot

The plot revolves around a man and a woman who met in the late 1990s as teenagers and grew up together in the early 2000s. After 15 years, they meet again and try to rekindle their first love through memories. Yae wanted to be a flight attendant but suffered an accident. Harumichi served as a pilot in the JASDF but his life took a different path.

Cast

Hikari Mitsushima as Yae Noguchi
* Rikako Yagi as young Yae
Takeru Satoh as Harumichi Namiki
* Taisei Kido as young Harumichi
Kaho as Tsunemi Arikawa
Minami as Yū Namiki
* Itsuki Nagasawa as young Yū
Akiyoshi Nakao as Bonji Kawano
* Jiei Wakabayashi as young Bonji
Towa Araki as Tsuzuru Kosaka
Aoi Yamada as Uta Komori
Gaku Hamada as Ōtaro

Reception

Phil Harrison from The Guardian wrote that "it’s tasteful, idealised and at times, a little antiseptic: romance as designed by Marie Kondo". James Hadfield from The Japan Times described First Love as "luscious and spectacularly silly". Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut praised the acting, commenting that “the actors really sell all the ups and downs,” but also said that “its well-worn plot beats are strung out over a runtime much too spacious for them to fill.”