Drama: In the Blunt Box / In The Dark Gray BoxRomaji: Nibiiro no Hako no Naka deJapanese: 鈍色の箱の中でDirector: Shinji KumaWriter: Tomohiro Shinohara (manga), Haruka OkitaActors: Sayu Kubota, Riku Hagiwara, Fuju Kamio, Natsumi Okamoto, Ayumu Mochizuki, Miwako KakeiThings to expect in this drama  kisses kissesmore kissesNow for the review:Nibiiro no Hako no Naka de is about childhood friends who lived in the same apartment complex for years and as they grew up thing have changed, some got into a relationship, one person developed a one sided love and one character distanced himself away from the group.There is a mystery element here and the way they present it reminds me a lot of Anata no Ban Desu, there is an eerie atmosphere in the show like people being watched by CCTV etc. It also happen that character live in one building so the comparison to that drama is quite evident. The difference is there is a lot of teen angst in this drama and also too many steamy kisses, so if you think of it this is like Anata no Ban Desu fluffy version.One key character in this drama is this blonde guy named Ritsu, he is the source of all the mess in this story and by far the biggest plot device I encountered in Jdramaland, it is like if you remove him there would be no story. He is one twisted individual like all those schemes he did in this drama. I think it is a double edged sword approach from the writers as it could present a strong captivating character but may look lazy way of writing to some people.The cast are composed of young fresh faces whom some of them could become big actors some day. Though their acting is good for the most part in the drama it is still quite evident that some of them are very raw, but the potential is already there. Kamio Fuji in particular the one who played Ritsu got an enormous potential, it might be a bit early but I sense a Yuya Yagira vibe in him.Watch it if you like dark twisted teen angst story with a taste of mystery and of course don't forget the fluff element.

ThatJapaneseDramaGuy