‘Kisses, Kitty’: this is the spin-off of ‘To all the boys I fell in love with’ that you can now see on Netflix

In its first years of its own production, Netflix found a vein in romantic comedies for teenagers and, specifically, in the saga ‘To all the boys I fell in love with’, which became its main banner (this would be followed by other , like the Spanish ‘Through the sea’). The adorable relationship between Lara Jean and Peter, or what is the same Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, gave of itself for three films, but Her universe has now expanded in the form of a spin-off with ‘Kisses, Kitty’, a series focused on the little sister of the protagonist.

If the “fish out of water” formula is one of the most archetypal in television fiction, Netflix has found a subcategory with which it is more than happy: American girls around the world. Emily’s paletism recreating step by step all the Frenchy clichés ever and ever in ‘Emily in Paris’, for some reason, has conquered the audience and we also more recently had a Yankee falling in love with a Sicilian chef in Florence in ‘Since zero’. These locations give the fictions a differential and a touch of exoticism, values ​​that ‘Kisses, Kitty’ also seeks, taking its endearing protagonist to South Korea. Of course, the vision of the series of the place, although in these cases it is never too broad, does not fall so much into the cultural grievances of the community manager based in the city of the Eiffel Tower.

It is true that ‘Kisses, Kitty’ does not stray from the classic components of adolescent fiction, but its protagonist, Anna Cathcart has enough charisma to carry out a simple and predictable series but with a certain charm, being a worthy heir to ‘To all the boys…’. Already in the movies Kitty stood out as a bluestocking secondary and responsive that she stole every scene in which she appeared. But now that she is placed at the center of her story, she can’t just be comic relief and she has to experience what she previously saw in the flesh of her sisters and those close to her. Of course, for the cute chick to now star in her own romantic comedy means that her heart is bound to break.

And so will Dae (Choi Min-yeong), that boyfriend that Kitty had in Seoul and with whom she has a long-distance relationship until she decides to move to Seoul. She doesn’t do it just for him, but mainly yes, but also to strengthen her bond with her deceased mother by knowing the places of her youth. In fact, the school that she is going to, via scholarship, Kitty is the same one where her mother studied (and it is conveniently called KISS, kiss in English). Perhaps pulling on that thread we will find some originality: in addition to the plot of loves that come and go and entertain themselves along the way, ‘Kisses, Kitty’ opens a door to address issues such as the cultural identity of a daughter of immigrants, parental support, class differences or divorceas well as feminism and LGTBQ+ identity.

The tone of ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ remains almost intact, although the serial format expands the plots and gives more weight to the high school universe than the movies could. It’s on campus, and indoors, where we’ll be spending most of this series (and it’s only 10 half-hour episodes), but it shines brightest when it goes outside and we are allowed to see the streets of a distant and vibrant Seoul with which the protagonist will have to get acquainted and, even, when they leave the city to show us some landscapes of cherry blossoms. References to K-Pop and other localisms will delight Gen Z; Of course, here Netflix knows who it is addressing.