Way Too Kawaii!’s Yudai Chiba

In a chat with TV Drama‘s Mansha Daswani, Way Too Kawaii! star Yudai Chiba gives a crash course in kawaii, explaining both his character’s and his own relationship to it, and how this culture of cuteness is perceived outside of Japan.

The actor also shares how it feels to know that Way Too Kawaii!, which bowed in Japan in October, has been introduced to the global television market.

Based on Kozue Osaki’s novel Pretty Ga Osugiru, Way Too Kawaii! stars Chiba as Niimi “Nankichi” Yoshitaka, a hotshot in the literary department of a mega-publishing company, who gets an unexpected and unwelcome transfer to a fashion magazine. As he’s swept into this world of strong-willed women and kawaii—a Japanese word for all things cute—his skepticism about the fashion industry erodes to be replaced by a genuine respect for the models and stylists with whom he’s now working. An office romance also ensues. The ten-part drama from Nippon TV was written by Shuko Arai and Mako Watanabe. Mitsuru Kubota directed.