Can’t Run Away From Love Review: Nahu and Takumi’s Chemistry Is The Only Reason To Watch Their Love Story

‘Can’t Run Away From Love’ is a short Japanese drama capturing the romance between a boss and his employee. The story is focused on showing how the central characters affect each other’s lives while giving tidbits of their past explaining why they are the way they are.

The show is problematic in many ways and suffers mainly because of a shaky plot and a dim story. Its only redeeming quality is its lead actors who do their best to capture your attention with their sincere performances. In fact, despite the gaping loopholes in the story, I could complete the show only because I liked their chemistry and I watched it only for them.    

Can’t Run Away From Love (Douse Mou Nigerarenai) (2021) (9 Episodes)

Nahu Nodakura (Mayuu Yokota) has been trying her best to secure a permanent job and lead the life of a regular office person. Sadly, despite trying everything she is unable to get a full-time job so she starts looking for a part-time job. On her way to a job interview, she sees a girl curse and abuses a boy who supposedly cheated on her. During the fight, the man looks at Nahu and pulls her close telling his girlfriend that this girl is his new girlfriend. Naho pushes him away and gives him a piece of her mind before leaving for the interview.

When she arrives for an interview at Solo Design Company, she discovers that the man she just met is the CEO Takumi Sakisaka (Jin Shirasu) and will be interviewing her. Takumi is not miffed Nahu and offers her a part-time position at his company. Takumi seems to have a special interest in Nahu as he enjoys pranking and teasing the newbie. Nahu too starts developing feelings for her kind-hearted boss. However, Takumi is hiding some demons of his past, which makes him push Nahu away from him.

Let’s have a look at what works for and against ‘Can’t Run Away From Love’ and if it is worth your time or not. 

I enjoyed watching ‘Can’t Run Away From Love’ because…

…I liked the lead actors Mayuu Yokota and Jin Shirasu. I would’ve stopped watching the show after the first episode itself but the main leads looked so sweet together that I couldn’t stop watching them. The runtime of 24 minutes for each episode also helped in making the show easy to watch.

Actress Mayuu Yokota did a good job as the naïve and helpful Nahu. Nahu is a job-seeker whose dream in life is to be a regular office goer. She is an emotional person who selflessly helps her friends and colleagues and even gets into trouble for it. At her last job, she took the blame for a blunder that was committed by someone else and left the job so that the person could continue working.

She is always taken advantage of because of which she suffers but never blames anyone for anything. She manages to lift herself up and move on in life.

When she meets Takumi she sees him getting beat up by a girl. Instead of despising him for his supposed promiscuity, she sees the fact that he is hurt and offers him her handkerchief to help clean the wound.

Takumi enjoys having a good laugh at her expense by playing silly pranks on her. But instead of the naughty guy, she sees the generous and considerate Takumi who offers her a full-time job at his company only to fulfill her dream of having a permanent position at a firm even though his company does not have the budget for a full-time employee.

Takumi realizes early on that Nahu is a thoughtful person and people take advantage of her good nature. So, when a shrewd man tries to fool her he comes to her defense and protects her. She is moved by his gesture and falls in love with him.

He too clearly likes her but is tormented by a painful past because of which he rejects Nahu’s love. But she is persistent and unwilling to let go of Takumi so easily. And he too feels glad to have Nahu around him.  

Actor Jin Shirasu does a good job playing the complex character of Takumi. He clearly loves Nahu but has to push her away because he is afraid that proximity to him will only cause harm to her. But seeing her every day it becomes more and more difficult for him to maintain distance from her.

As the show heads towards the climax, we see Nahu getting bolder in her approach as she refuses to give up on Takumi. Each time she tries to give up, she learns something about his painful past that softens her heart and strengthens her resolve to not leave Takumi’s side. We see how well she understands him even when he shuts himself away from the world.

Nahu and Takumi look cute together because Mayuu and Jin share good onscreen chemistry. Only if like the lead actors, will you be able to watch this drama because the show otherwise is quite disappointing.

I did NOT LIKE ‘Can’t Run Away From Love’ because…

…it is highly problematic. Right from the first episode, a lot that is shown is unacceptable on various levels. I will have to give spoilers to explain my point here.

[[Spoiler]] In episode 1, Takumi hires Nahu without much of an interview. As soon as she joins, he starts playing harmless pranks on her, which is very weird considering he is her boss. Okay, he is a fun person but had he been the same with everyone else it would have still made sense. When he pranks only one employee, it says a lot about how he feels for her.

In episode 2, learning about her dream of having a permanent job, he offers her the same at his company and even protects her from a guy who tries to take advantage of her situation. She feels so touched that she cleans the office on her own and then thanks him wholeheartedly for helping her. And he in return warns her to stay away from cunning people like him and then forcibly kisses her. She looks uncomfortable and tries to stop him but he only kisses her harder to make a point that is ‘run away from him’. She, however, straightens her spine and refuses to leave saying that he has said nice things to her that no one ever has before so she is not afraid of him and will not run away from him. Huh?

I wanted to scream at Nahu. Girl!!! That guy just kissed you forcibly. In the real world, this is counted as exploitation and workplace harassment. How can anyone be okay with it? Just because he is nice, it doesn’t mean he can have his way with her.  

I still understand Nahu as Takumi is relatively an angel compared to the guys she has met before him. So, she probably feels indebted to him and hence is loyal to him. But what’s with Takumi? Why kiss a girl like that? [[Spoiler]]

<<Major Spoiler>> In one scene, his sister-in-law comes to him distraught because she slept with a senior to receive some benefit at work. He tells her not to tell this to his brother Masami and she responds that her husband will never forgive her and that she is scared. He then tilts her head up and kisses her. He suggests that she should just think that it was he who she slept with. He asks her to believe a scenario in which he forced himself on her and that she resisted but couldn’t stop a strong man like him and then forget about it the next day.

If this isn’t absurd, then I don’t know what is. What’s more absurd is that she agrees to it. On the way home, he even confesses his love for her and she beams with joy. She tells him how he could have taken advantage of her but he didn’t. Huh? Really? That’s your brother-in-law lady what are you talking about?

The only way this scene can make sense is if we believe that the writer wanted to say that to make her forget the mistake of sleeping with her superior he suggested she make a bigger mistake by sleeping with her brother-in-law. Hahahahahaha. <<Major Spoiler End>>

There are many ludicrous scenarios that will make you facepalm yourself. Not to mention Nahu’s horrible wig that she starts wearing after being rejected by Takumi. In the story, Nahu trims her hair after Takumi rejects her saying he likes only her hair and nothing else about her. But as viewers we know she hasn’t cut her hair but is wearing is a wig that doesn’t suit her.   

I give ‘Can’t Run Away From Love‘ 2.5 out of 5 rating. This is a mindless romance lacking a strong plot and storyline. But the saving grace is Nahu and Takumi’s chemistry. Watch it only for them without expecting much from the show.

 

Image Courtesy: Rakuten Viki

 

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