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 on many levels, weighed down by a shaky plot and an underwhelming story that never fully comes together. Its biggest saving grace is the lead pair, whose sincere performances manage to hold your attention even when the narrative falls apart. In fact, despite the glaring loopholes in the writing, I was able to finish the show solely because of their chemistry and I kept watching for them and them alone.    

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

Nahu Nodakura (Mayuu Yokota) is desperately trying to land a permanent job and live the stable life of an ordinary office worker. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she keeps facing rejection and is eventually forced to settle for part-time work. On her way to an interview, she witnesses a heated argument between a couple after the woman discovers that her boyfriend has cheated on her. In the middle of the chaos, the man suddenly pulls Naho close and claims that she is his new girlfriend. Furious at being dragged into the mess, Naho immediately pushes him away and gives him a well-deserved earful before rushing off to her interview.

Things take an awkward turn when Naho arrives at Solo Design Company and realizes that the same man from earlier is none other than the company’s CEO, Takumi Sakisaka (Jin Shirasu), who will also be interviewing her. Surprisingly, Takumi is more amused than offended by their earlier encounter and offers Naho a part-time position at the company. As days pass, Takumi takes a particular interest in the new employee, constantly teasing and pranking her in his own playful way. Naho, meanwhile, slowly begins to fall for her seemingly kind-hearted boss. However, beneath Takumi’s charming exterior lies emotional baggage from his past, scars that make him repeatedly push Naho away whenever they begin to get close.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what works and what does not and whether this romantic drama is actually worth your time.  

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

…I really liked the lead actors, Mayuu Yokota and Jin Shirasu. In fact, I probably would have dropped the show after the very first episode if it weren’t for how sweet the two leads looked together. Their chemistry kept me invested and made me want to continue watching. The short runtime of around 24 minutes per episode also made the show an easy and breezy watch.

Actress Mayuu Yokota does a good job portraying the naïve yet kind-hearted Naho. Naho is a job seeker whose biggest dream is to become a regular office worker and lead a stable life. She is deeply emotional and selflessly goes out of her way to help her friends and colleagues, often at her own expense. At her previous workplace, she even took the blame for a mistake committed by someone else and quit her job so that the actual culprit could continue working.

Because of her kind nature, Naho is constantly taken advantage of, and more often than not, she ends up suffering for it. Yet, despite everything, she never blames others for her misfortunes. Instead, she quietly picks herself back up and continues moving forward in life with remarkable resilience.

When she first meets Takumi, she finds him being beaten up by a furious girl. Rather than judging him for his supposed promiscuity, Naho notices that he is hurt and instinctively offers him her handkerchief to clean his wounds. It is this compassion and ability to look beyond surface-level impressions that defines her character.

Takumi, meanwhile, enjoys teasing Naho and often pulls silly pranks at her expense just to get a reaction out of her. However, instead of focusing on his mischievous side, Naho sees the thoughtful and generous person beneath it all. She recognizes the considerate Takumi who offers her a full-time position at his company simply because he wants to help her achieve her dream of becoming a permanent employee, even though the company itself can barely afford to hire a full-time worker.

Takumi realizes very early on that Naho is an incredibly thoughtful person whom others often take advantage of because of her good nature. So, when a manipulative man tries to deceive her, Takumi steps in to protect her without hesitation. Deeply moved by his concern and kindness, Naho slowly begins to fall in love with him.

Takumi, too, clearly has feelings for Naho, but he is haunted by a painful past that prevents him from accepting her love. Believing that getting close to him will only hurt her, he repeatedly pushes her away. Naho, however, refuses to give up on him so easily and remains persistent in her feelings. And despite all his attempts to distance himself, Takumi finds comfort and happiness in having Naho by his side.

Actor Jin Shirasu does a commendable job portraying the emotionally conflicted Takumi. He conveys the character’s inner turmoil convincingly as a man who genuinely loves Naho yet keeps rejecting her out of fear that his presence will only bring pain into her life. However, the more time he spends seeing her every day, the harder it becomes for him to maintain that emotional distance.

As the drama moves towards its climax, Naho gradually becomes bolder and more determined in her pursuit of Takumi. Mainly because each time she tries to distance herself from him, she ends up learning something new about his painful past, revelations that only deepen her sympathy for him and strengthen her resolve to stay by his side. Even when Takumi shuts himself off from the world and tries to push everyone away, Naho continues to understand him better than anyone else.

Naho and Takumi make an undeniably adorable pair, largely because Mayuu Yokota and Jin Shirasu share genuinely sweet onscreen chemistry. In fact, your enjoyment of Can’t Run Away From Love will depend heavily on whether you connect with the lead actors and their romance, because apart from them, the drama itself turns out to be quite disappointing.

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

…Can’t Run Away From Love is highly problematic, and right from the very first episode, several scenes cross lines that are difficult to ignore. To properly explain why the drama left me so frustrated, I will have to discuss a few spoilers.

[[Spoiler]]
In Episode 1, Takumi hires Naho with barely any interview process. Soon after she joins the company, he starts pulling harmless pranks on her, which already feels strange considering he is her boss. Sure, Takumi is supposed to be playful and fun-loving, but had he behaved this way with everyone, it would have felt more natural. Instead, he singles out Naho, which makes his feelings for her obvious.

Things become even more uncomfortable in Episode 2. After learning about Naho’s dream of securing a permanent position, Takumi offers her a full-time job at his company and even protects her from a manipulative man trying to exploit her vulnerability. Naho is so touched by his kindness that she cleans the office by herself and sincerely thanks him for helping her. And what does Takumi do in return? He warns her to stay away from cunning men like him and then forcibly kisses her.

Naho clearly looks uncomfortable and even tries to stop him, but he continues kissing her harder to supposedly prove a point i.e. that she should “run away” from him. Instead of reacting with anger, however, Naho gathers her courage and tells him she is not afraid of him because he has said kind things to her that no one else ever has. She refuses to leave his side.

At that point, I genuinely wanted to scream at Naho: Girl!!! That man just forcibly kissed you. In the real world, this would absolutely qualify as exploitation and workplace harassment. Just because Takumi has been kind to her does not give him the right to violate her boundaries.

I can somewhat understand Naho’s reaction because, compared to the terrible men she has previously encountered, Takumi probably seems like an angel to her. She likely feels emotionally indebted to him, which explains her loyalty. But Takumi’s actions are far harder to justify. Why would he kiss her like that in the first place? [[Spoiler End]]

<<Major Spoiler>>
One of the most absurd scenes in the drama involves Takumi’s sister-in-law. Distraught and guilt-ridden, she comes to him after sleeping with her senior at work in exchange for professional benefits. Terrified that her husband Masami will find out, she confesses everything to Takumi. Instead of giving her sensible advice, Takumi tilts her chin upward and kisses her.

He then suggests that she should simply pretend it was him she slept with instead. He asks her to imagine a scenario where he forced himself on her, she resisted, but ultimately could not stop a stronger man and then advises her to forget about it the next day.

If that does not sound absurd, I honestly do not know what does. What makes the scene even more baffling is that she actually agrees with him. On the way home, Takumi even confesses his love for her, and instead of being horrified, she beams with happiness. She praises him by saying he could have taken advantage of her but chose not to.

Excuse me… what? That is your brother-in-law. What exactly are we supposed to feel during this scene?

The only possible explanation is that the writer intended to suggest that, in order to help her forget the “mistake” of sleeping with her superior, Takumi encouraged her to commit an even bigger mistake by emotionally entangling herself with her brother-in-law. The entire sequence is so bizarre that it feels unintentionally comedic. <<Major Spoiler End>>

The drama is filled with similarly ludicrous scenarios that will leave you repeatedly facepalming yourself. And then there is Naho’s infamous wig. After Takumi rejects her by cruelly claiming that he only likes her hair and nothing else about her, Naho cuts her hair in the story. However, as viewers, we can clearly tell that actress Mayuu Yokota did not actually cut her hair and is instead wearing an extremely obvious wig, one that unfortunately does not suit her at all.

  

I give ‘Can’t Run Away From Love‘ 2.5 out of 5 rating. This is a mindless romance that lacks a compelling plot and a well-developed storyline. The drama survives almost entirely on the chemistry between Naho and Takumi, which remains its biggest strength from beginning to end. Mayuu Yokota and Jin Shirasu share a charming onscreen dynamic that makes even the most frustrating moments somewhat watchable. So, if you decide to give this show a chance, watch it purely for the lead pair and their chemistry, but keep your expectations from the story extremely low.

 

Image Courtesy: Rakuten Viki

 

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