Reviews

I have a lot to thank this drama for. Thank you for being my first completed drama of 2016. Thank you for being the first drama that I finished whilst "currently airing" since 49 Days. It's been a long five years, but you did it. You kept me trapped from 1st episode to last.

Why did you keep me trapped?

Mostly because of Uee. To be able to capture the quiet moments of suffering (from cancer) is not an easy thing to achieve. To be able to cut off your hair and take of your make-up (both which required NO dialogue) but show such complexity of brevity - wow. Secondly because of Shin Rin Ah and Lee Seo Jin in equal measure. They literally propped up Uee, with stellar acting of their own. These three's characters in particular were well-developed, and made up for the fact that some secondary cast members (Na Yeon and Jung Hoon - also that rent-a-loan-shark he hired for example) were not written very well - they just provided cheap antagonism to "prevent" the couple from getting together and were slight irritants. Luckily, their screenplay was diminished as time went on, and Jung Hoon was packed off to America. (I also have to do a quick mention to his mom - that girl power moment when she told Ji Hoon's father he was going to die alone - give this woman a medal!) So yes, a medley of multi-dimensional characters and flat characters, that made me reduce the acting/cast score by 0.5.

The story is a typical cliche contract marriage. Execution is on point. I'm always a fan of the cliche, if it's executed very well - and let me tell you - it was!!! Bear with the first few episodes, as that will be the most easiest point to drop and move on - but as you go on, the acting will cinch it for you. If it doesn't - then your heart is made of stone :P

I don't see myself rewatching this anytime soon (I'm still happy I finished this!), but definitely maybe in about 5 or 10 years, I can see myself coming back. Which is why the rewatch score is so high.

Overall, thank you show for being awesome^^

Leia Mais

Having watched both seasons of Onna Kudoki Meshi, it is apparent that the entire series is unique in its concept and is not held down by the expected romantic vibe surrounding similar dramas.

I quite liked the one story per episode arc with each new charactering bringing in a new perspective on different types of people. Although the trope of this series is quite repetitive and can get quite boring, but all the great food porn definitely compensated for the lack of movement in terms of the plot. After watching 2 episodes, you can pretty much guess the rhythm and direction for the entire series. Very seldom would you be surprised by the overall plot, but the writer keeps inserting little surprises along the way. And I think that's the reason why the story keeps people going back to watch one episode after another.

I would definitely recommend this show to any foodies out there who would like a mini series that doesn't rely heavily on romance to drive the plot forward. Bon appétit!

Leia Mais

I spotted this drama on Viki, where it had excellent ratings and reviews, and I was excited to watch an Asian drama with queer themes as there aren't that many of them. I marathoned the whole thing, because the episodes are short and I have too much free time, and honestly I was disappointed. And more than disappointed, I was upset.

The plot has potential, and the actors are good (especially considering they're pretty much beginners), but I honestly have very little tolerance for queer storylines where every intimate interaction is more or less forced. Not forced as in 'the actors are clearly awkward about it', but forced as in 'if this scene happened in real life, it would be sexual harassment'.

I don't want to spoil anything but I think people should know this before they watch the drama, as it is content that may very well be triggering for some people. Some people will undoubtedly think I'm making this too big of a deal, but I have been sexually harassed and I don't take these things lightly. Personally, I was very uncomfortable watching the 'love' scenes of this drama, and also troubled by the fact that so many people find these forced kisses etc cute and romantic. I don't know if the creators thought kissing someone who's barely conscious or restraiting someone so you can kiss them was okay because the characters are both boys, or if it's just their opinion in general. Sadly, I've seen a similar problem with other queer storylines in Asian tv/cinema as well. I find it very concerning. There's nothing cute in forcing yourself on someone. And it's incredibly harmful to portray this kind of 'no means try harder' behaviour as normal and romantic.

If you cut out these disturbing scenes, the drama would be quite nice. The acting is good, and there are some funny moments. As the main couple was disappointing for me (not the actors; the behaviour of the characters), I found myself more invested in Bai Luo Yin's relationship with his father. Song Tao, who played the role of the absent-minded yet incredibly kind father, did a really good job. The dad was my favourite character. I also liked the classmates, Yang Meng and You Qi, though the drama definitely ended on a very confusing note re: those two.

TL;DR: this could've been a great drama, if not for the 'romantic' scenes being mainly sexual harassment.

Leia Mais

Story:
Maybe I am the odd man out, but I really love this drama. I have to agree that the pacing and story progression is off at times and it can get real awkward watching and asking yourself "How come we came here? Or how come that is happening or this is happening?" But at the heart of it all and why I continue to watch the story is perhaps the fact I simply love "Black and Swan".

Acting/Cast:
Lee Jin Wook acting is an okay for me and its not that he can't act, its rather as i mentioned previously, the pacing and awkwardness that I attribute more so to the directing. However, I do love the slow progression of Cha Ji Won into "Black". Despite the awkwardness I see Lee Jin Wok doing a great job in portraying that loss of innocence, trust, and focus on love (relationships including romance and friendship) into Black a man deeply scarred, jaded, and out and about for revenge for the loss of his father and search for his sister.

While my girl, Moon Chae Won, I have nothing left to say for her as every since Shining Inheritance I fell for her acting and it wasn't deterred by the least in this drama. Throughout the constant moaning and groaning about her character's appearance, I fell in love with the spunky, kind, upfront (blunt), and loyal Kaya or Seu Wan (Swan) and thought (so far) she has stayed true to her character as being someone who fights tooth and nail for someone that she loves, dependable, and is loyal.

Also Song Jae Rim, this is my first drama watching him but something about his smile and the consistency of his character and the fact that he is a second lead that hasn't annoyed the heck out of me. He comes off as a tsundere in the begining but he never changes to

Music:
Maybe because I have consistently blocked it out because after two or three episodes of the same love song, cute, but almost twelve episodes of the same love song at a certain point does become tiring. But at a certain point the song does change.

Rewatch:
I would re-watch this solely for the Swan and Black scenes, but also because of the hi-jinks of the supporting characters as they were hilarious during moments of intense scenes or when I just finish cursing out the stupidity of a character or when the evil guys piss me off from no end and makes me contemplate slamming my tablet on the floor from their nonsense.

Overall, this drama suffered in the beginning because of directing, a revenge plot that made no sense in the direction it was heading (which still has me wondering why? How come?) Because based on the synopsis I thought we were going full in with Black and Swan disguised as a married couple mingling in destroying his best friend and his ex-fiance for their betrayal while at the same time saving his sister and falling in love and being conflicting in destroying and losing himself as he went further went with his revenge plot but at the same time falling for Swan etc...

Instead we got a revenge plot where the revenger outed himself to the revengees (does that make sense???) in less than 30 minutes after (well we have a time period gap...but you get what I'm saying). But nevertheless, although I didn't get the official story that I wanted (or believed based on the synopsis) , I still highly recommend this drama because at the heart of it all it is a really, really great drama.

Leia Mais

I love this drama. The love story between a mother and child, friendship, family, and lovers is so well written, directed, and acted. I was skeptical of the chemistry between the leads at first because of the 15 year age gap, but I was absolutely wrong. Their love for each other is palpable. Although you would think that this drama is sad (and it is sometimes), I was left with a feeling of optimism. Live your life to the fullest because you never know if you have one day, one month, or years. The story does have typical Korean troupes such as rich, jerk man falling for poor, optimistic woman, but they are written in a way as to not interfere with the depth of the story.

Uee is phenomenal as Kang Hye Soo. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed her performance and I was completely invested in the character. Where did Lee Seo Jin come from? I have never seen him in anything and I am wondering why. I can see why Hye Soo fell for Han Ji Hoon. He felt real. With all the fake in this world, that is my highest compliment. All the other actors are good also. Shin Rin Ah is totally adorable as Cha Eun Sung.

I enjoyed the music and have downloaded some of it.

I may rewatch this sometime.

If you enjoy dramas that are uplifting, then I think you would enjoy this. It is reminiscent of the drama Scent of a Woman which I also highly recommend.

Leia Mais

It's certainly the best drama I've watched this month. I'm a little sad to bid it adieu--it had everything you could want from a drama: amazing actors, heartwarming moments, an adorable little kid, and a BEAUTIFUL love story that immersed you completely in the lives of these characters. Everything they felt, you felt. This drama grasped onto my heart and refused to let go. These actors really did a phenomenal job; I definitely want to check out some of their other dramas.

I think whether you are a fan of melodramas or not, this is definitely worth your time. While the subject matter of having a terminal illness is sad, rather than being this forlorn, sappy pit of one depressing scene after the other, it instead had a nostalgic, hopeful, and just plain beautiful feel to it. <33

It was about family and friendships--the important people in our lives and what we're willing to do for them. Appreciating them full-heartily and embracing our present happy moments. The OST is stunning, SO SO beautiful. It really added to all the moments in this drama.

If you're on the fence about whether to start this drama, I say barrel through that fence and just take a chance. It really doesn't disappoint: it's about life, family, love, and happiness. It's just so dang beautiful. I applaud everyone involved in it making it. <333

Leia Mais

I was slightly hesitant to start watching Marriage Contract back when it first started airing. While I've watched some very good dramas that center around a main character with a terminal illness, if they aren't done well the show ends up being flat out depressing. Marriage Contract, I am pleased to say, ended up being one of the best illness-centered dramas I've watched. It reminds me a lot of Scent of a Woman, but I actually think I prefer it over SoaW.

The story of Marriage Contract certainly isn't anything new. I'm sure we've all seen plenty of contract marriage and illness dramas. But I think that this was a strength for Marriage Contract. The whole drama had a very nostalgic and classic feel to it. It was very cliche, but still somehow felt fresh. It feels like it could be an older drama. The writers brilliantly used a simple plot and made mundane things into something special. The drama as a whole is very simple and doesn't have any crazy plot twists. We got many scenes of our characters enjoying the simple things in life (like singing, or kitties, or riding a bike). I think show did a very good job of making things that are normally taken for granted feel special. With a simple plot and no overly dramatic twists, the show was very relaxing, yet still engaging. We got to focus a lot on the characters instead of the typical tropes that show up in most dramas.

I was very impressed with the acting in Marriage Contract. I've seen bits and pieces of Uee's acting before, but was never extremely impressed. And while I haven't seen her as a main character in a drama before this (besides Birdie Buddy, which I never finished), I must say that she put everything into this role. I've noticed that many people have complained about her acting in the past, but looking purely at this role, I have nothing to complain about.

This is the first time I've seen Lee Seo Jin in a drama as well, but I thought he did a wonderful job. While he was a very rough and typical male lead at the beginning, I never truly hated his character. I loved seeing his growth throughout the drama. And while Uee undoubtedly played the main character, the show focused on Lee Seo Jin's character just as much. Together, Uee and Lee Seo Jin had surprisingly good chemistry. I questioned the pairing at first since we don't usually see such a large age gap between actors, but I think that somehow they really worked well together. The chemistry was very good and I really loved the progression of their relationship.

Shin Rin Ah was a very nice surprise as well. I think this is the first drama I've watched that has focused so much on a child character, but she played a crucial role. I was very impressed with Shin Rin Ah and was even more impressed to find out that she is only 6 years old (about the same age as her character in the drama). I could see her having a promising future in the industry if she chooses to pursue acting.

I really enjoyed the music and think it added to the classic feeling of the drama. The OST really set the mood and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall Marriage Contract was a very nice surprise. I went in expecting to watch a typical drama, but ended up with something that was somehow new and refreshing despite all of the cliches. I really enjoyed the ending as well. While it could have ended very differently, I don't really have any complaints about how it did end. They did a nice job of making a somewhat ambiguous ending feel final. While normally I would have maybe would have liked to see some ending for other characters in the show, I truly don't think it was needed. The focus was the main couple and I think trying to catch up with other characters would have thrown things off. Overall this was a very enjoyable show. It was solid and consistent and left me feeling more calm and happy than depressed.

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B12PR5zlUk8

Leia Mais

Romance, in kdramaland, is usually cheesy, deficient at times and often highly corny. I think it is safe to say that when you’ve watched a-few-too-many romance kdramas they tend to become repetitive as they all follow certain rules by the book. And when you think you’re done with the genre, Marriage Contract happens, and makes you completely revise all your thoughts and beliefs. It is not that MC broke any rules or reinvented the genre. MC actually followed all the clichés and yet managed to come out so refreshing and stimulating against all odds, and that is why Marriage Contract is a must watch.

STORY
Marriage contract is your average, predictable and cliché kdrama. We get our over-used closed and shut-down, borderline rude and arrogant rich, chaebol male lead; the younger, naïve, kind-hearted and poor girl and we see their love story develop through a very foreseeable melo plot-story. However, even if you feel you can predict everything from the first episode, MC manages to pull you in with its incredible and unique feel of raw-ness.

The characters are ordinary, and yet they are so original. The male lead is overly rough and mean on the outside, but with such a marshmallow core that makes him completely loveable from the first moment; the female lead is your average girl in need, but she is a fighter and you will root for her and her wonderful personality to be happy. Characterization and character development are commendable and one of the main reasons i would recommend this.

The drama is packed with small, simple moments of everyday life that superficially are skippable, but they ultimately make the drama what it really is. Small moments, like hugging a friend, trimming your hair, talking to your kid, playing with pets; moments that are insignificant in dramas, but mean so much for a person in real life, because they express happiness and sadness; life’s core traits. THIS is what this show is, and this is where it is unique, this is where it is extraordinary and this is where it exceeds expectations and becomes an amazing show.

Basically, what exactly is Marriage Contract? MC Is a story about how family can completely destroy you as a person, destroy your life, destroy your dreams, destroy your hopes, destroy everything you love. It depicts perfectly the bittersweet/love-hate feelings someone can have towards their family, and how these problems can be confronted. Opening up to a special someone is the key to being happy. Letting go, forgiving yourself and others, and ultimately loving and sharing your life with someone else; and when you've found that someone, live in the moment, don't spend your time restlessly thinking about the future. Be happy, in the moment!

The background of the drama is the very dysfunctional family of the male lead who desperately tries to find an organ donor for his sick and troubled mother. This is where the female lead comes into the picture, hence the marriage contract. See? Super simple, super predictable almost enough for someone to skip/drop this. And yet…. the drama is exquisite, in many ways it reminded me of It’s Ok, That’s Love.

Lastly, I would like to talk to you about the chemistry here, because it is probably the best thing this drama has to offer. I think i can safely say that real chemistry between the leads is rare in kdramas. Some people can ship any pretty faced actors together, I can’t. I need sparks; I need them to prove to me that they are worth my tears, my time and my frustration! Lee Seo Jin and Uee not only had sizzling and magnificent chemistry, not only they looked phenomenal together, not only each of their moments was heart-wrenching and mind-blowing, but they re-invented the term 'on screen chemistry' for me since they managed to actually seem like a family.

What’s more, the most astonishing thing of them all, the kid actress Shin Rin Ah managed to develop such an amazing chemistry not only with Uee (mother-daughter relationship), but with Lee Seo Jin as well (father-daughter relationship). The three of them looked so unrealistically wonderful together they will destroy and revive your feelings over and over again. One of the best overall on-set chemistries I’ve ever seen.

This drama is arguably a masterpiece, not because of an innovative plot or anything like it, but because of its raw simplicity and flawless chemistry.

ACTING
I’ll be frank. I’m tired of people hating Uee’s acting. I am not completely familiar with her previous projects, I’ve watched bits and pieces of them, but she certainly gave the performance of her life here, and I pity people who couldn’t see that! She is an actress who is improving, and she should be praised for this. She puts effort in her acting, she cares! She was impeccable, exquisite and luscious in every way here, there wasn’t a single moment where I didn’t feel what she was feeling, amazing facial expressions, great body expressions, very emotional crying, really mature deliverance by Uee overall. People, who disagree, apparently need someone to hate, please hate yourselves and leave Uee alone!

As far as Lee Seo Jin is concerned, for one, he was so hot, manly and handsome I was taken by surprise. Secondly he managed pull off brilliantly, a pretty complicated character, who could have been easily hated. He delivered a great and sensuous performance; he made his character understandable from the very beginning - he apparently took the time to actually understand his character before taking the role. What I’d like to especially mention is his terrific deliverance on the emotion of happiness. His character was largely depressed, the worst kind of depression; the kind, that is not visible and seem ok on the surface. Happiness is a funny thing, everyone can imitate and say they are happy but which of us actually are? Lee Seo Jin send shivers down my spine, specific moments made, not only his character feel more raw and real, but also it enhanced the whole point of the show and helped the drama have more impact.

Lastly, I feel the need to congratulate the kid actress Shin Rih Na, she is deadly talented, best kid actor I’ve seen thus far. Her role here, wasn’t just to be cute, her role was essential for the drama to make sense and she was exquisite in it. She has a bright future in this industry. These 3 should act together in the future again!

RECOMMEND/REWATCH
This is a melo-romance. People who like melodramas, you’ll like it, it is not overly sentimental (although it does get increasingly depressing), people who like rom-coms, this might be too much for you, but since I know you love a good romance, this is recommended. This kind of chemistry should not be missed or ignored! I will definitely rewatch this at some point!

Leia Mais

Local Hero is an OK drama. It was hard getting through the first 5 episodes, but it got better after that. The story is interesting and for the most part well written. Beyond being a spy/suspense drama, the neighborhood togetherness and supporting cast stories are more enjoyable. It is weird for me to write that because normally I feel like a lot of characters and side stories are unnecessary in a drama. This time they ARE the story. The whole point is to protect the people and it was nice to get to know the people that are being protected both good and bad. I also liked the dynamics between all of the characters and the character development. It ended as I thought it would.

It was interesting seeing Park Shi Hoo in a drama after his big "scandal". I have always thought he was cute and a good actor. Nothing has changed. Lee Soo Hyuk was excellent as cute, conflicted but loyal Choi Chan Gyu. The other actors are good too.

Yoon Tae Young as Yoon Sang Min stole the show. I know he was a bad guy, but I was totally infatuated with him from beginning to end. He is pretty much the only character that I cared about. I think it was worth watching this drama for him alone.

The music is good in this also.

I won't rewatch this.

If you enjoy community and action dramas, then I think you would enjoy this.

Leia Mais

Ok so let me be frank, I really liked Flowers for Algernon, so don't look down on this review only because I'm giving it a 6.5. Please let me develop first. My 6 equals a "fine", an "ok", something that goes beyond mediocrity, but that didn't manage to make use of the full potential and that partly managed to ruin my experience with it. However, Flowers for Algernon made me get really emotional despite everything, so i thought it deserves that + 0.5. I usually don't go out of my way to explain my rating this way, but in this case I think it was necessary. With this out of the way....

Story - 7 (Good)

I must be honest, this is actually my first J-drama and, while I know that Flowers for Algernon was adapted after an American novel with the same title, I think that Japan managed to give it a real emotional touch with how it managed to portray it. At first I was going to say that it was rushed, but then I looked back at it and it really isn't. The original novel has only more or less 300 pages, there was nothing else to say besides the main point of it: the life vision of a person affected by phenylketonuria,( or in common terms, a literally "stupid" person), as well as the people around him and questioning what would happen if this person suddenly became intelligent. What is the barrier between a stupid, a normal and a genius? Can these people get along with eachother or there will always be something that stops these people from caring for eachother and others that are different from them? I don't know how common this theme is in Japanese fiction (animes have a lack of these types of themes in general from my experience, I don't know about books or dramas), but I found it really refreshing from a general point of view; it's not something I usually encounter often in other mediums either.

I must start this with mentioning that in our lives, we tend to always be pushed to strive "normality". Society demands it. Most of us don't have a particularly high or low IQ, so sometimes what's common is accepted as "how things should be". But when you think of a person that is put in the position to not even be able to strive for that "normality" that connects most of us, then he or she is going to be treated as an outcast. No matter how one tries to change things, it has always been like that. Most people have a hard time to deal with people that are "different".: some think they're a bother, others don't know how to act, others just simply don't care. Flowers for Algernon is exactly about that.

However, while I can praise how it dealt with the topic on one side, some other times I don't think it did very well. While I understand that it tried to say that "being stupid" should be generally accepted (idealistically) and it's not a shame to have this problem, some other times it seemed almost selfish to say that. Maybe the point was exactly that: to leave that aftertaste, but it's a still difficult to deal with this topic and I don't expect it to manage to do it all perfectly. There will always be other stuff that you can say, other stuff that just don't always come right even if you never had any intention to make it sound bad. It's one of those touchy topics. So, I'm going to put up a disclaimer as well and mention that whatever I say in this review is not supposed to be discriminatory or offending or taken in any way other than what it is. Ok? Great! Moving on...

My main issue comes with the "side-stories" of this drama. I don't know if it's the thing of the actual novel too (someday I will read it and maybe come back here), but in the drama they looked almost like they tried to shove romance down my throat when it wasn't even remotely needed: Yanagawa and Mai were like that comic relief couple that were just there to talk about stuff and when it all ended, they weren't needed anymore. Hiyama and Rio were even worst with Hiyama getting this over the top, fast attachment to Rio after only seeing her 3 times in his life (believe me, being near a person in her condition is something difficult even for people that have been with that person for a lifetime. You can't tell me that a crush solves all that, unless Hiyama had this "hero" syndrome and felt in debt to mourn her when nobody else did). For me? They were both plot conveniences. Because they needed to do something for themselves, only for drama to be able to say "see? they have feelings! Now feel bad for them!".

The main couple quite annoyed me as well. I don't care that Sakuto is a really handsome guy, I would never be able to see him as a man, in a sexual way, after having to deal with him when he was "stupid". And if that sounds discriminatory, again, I'm not trying to be. I sometimes WORK with these people too and from my experience, i would never be able to look that way at a person that I'm taking care of as a mother and as a teacher. Or if I could, then definitely not as fast as it happened in this case. So again, though subjective, I felt like this romance was needed only as plot convenience for "feel bad for me even more!". Sure, it worked, it was really sad, but not as sad as it could have been if they kept the "motherly" feeling of the relationship only. But it was still nice how it tried to say that love and kindness doesn't always solve everything, despite being Sakuto's main philosophy. Life is just not that easy and it can't turn well for everybody.

Characters - 6 (Fine)

Besides Sakuto, Sakuto's mom and Hachisuka, I can't really praise anybody else. From this point of view, the drama was lacking. Maybe I can't even praise Sakuto till the end, but Sakuto is simply "Sakuto". There was nothing else to say.

Who impressed me, however, was Hachisuka. He is an ambitious man that started off by treating everybody as his tools towards success. A genius that arrogantly thought was above everybody else because of his intellect. But ultimately, there's no barrier between a genius and a stupid, not if you let it be one. Hachisuka realized that sometimes love is enough, letting go and giving up is sometimes needed and expected. It's no shame to give up, never too late to stop what you realized as wrong. His last scene, with the team accepting everything and going back to him despite him thinking he had enough, was simply very well executed and emotional.

As for the others, welp, I personally had a soft spot for Yanagawa, but not anybody else. Hiyama and Rio? Didn't really care, though I did like Hiyama in the beginning. I just thought he didn't grow as a person as well as he could have and it all revolved around Rio's condition way too much. Mai? Who even is Mai? Haruka? Eeh, I guess? Haruka was selfish till the end to me. Can I blame her? Not really. In her own way she was also one of the characters that maybe grew up the most, but just fails to impress. She doesn't have a breakthrough, she just goes with the flow, stubbornly holding to her own believes, sometimes selfish, sometimes rightful; it might be subjective from me that in the end i was kind of "meh" about her.

But going back to Yanagawa? I might have fallen for Kubota's charms here, but he seemed to be a more roundabout character than most, even if it doesn't come out as that. We didn't really have a solid background besides a mention, he didn't have a very important role and sometimes he doesn't even appear a lot, but everytime he does, I thought that it mattered. I felt like he was that normal person we needed to relate to and that he was useful in order to set the bar to what's "normal" between all those "differences". Let me explain. If Algernon-Sakuto represented the "genius" and Sakuto represented the "stupid", then Yanagawa represented the "average". Yanagawa was always that model of "normality" that Sakuto always yearned for, but both Sakuto and Algernon-Sakuto were never able to feel that "normality". Also, while Yanagawa used to use Sakuto, maybe not always with good intentions, once he was faced with the reality of it, he couldn't just pretend the issue doesn't exist, though he was painfully aware of his inability to do anything about it, because he was an "average person". He finally was able to feel what Sakuto felt for all his life: incompetence, not being able to do anything even when you desperately want to.

And then, I must speak of Algernon. Some of you might not even consider him a character, but this mouse just played with my feelings way too much. Maybe because he's just an animal, maybe because it was just portrayed in a very bittersweet way, but he was the character that I cherished the most. Like Sakuto, i thought Algernon was not just a mouse. He was a main character and shouldn't be ignored or forgotten.

Acting/Cast - 7 (Good)

I was initially almost looking down on it because I thought Japanese acting was kind of over the top for me, but in this drama it wasn't. it really wasn't.

I have some minor issues with Yamapi's acting as Sakuto, but I can't really blame him. it was a tough role and he didn't really fail, which is still commendable. He wasn't afraid to look funny or like an idiot and this is everything it was about, so i still praise him. Then, yes, Kubota is a very charming actor. He might not be the best, nor the most handsome, but he has that "something" that impressed me.

Music - 4,5 (Bad to Average)

Repetitive. The main song was pretty, sure, but everything was overall repetitive and very limited.

Overall - 6.5 (Fine to Good)

I suffer for the wasted potential when it comes to the execution of it. Story-wise, it did everything that it could do (if we don't count the side romances), but I can't not penalize the feeling of dread that I felt through episodes 6 to 8. It was almost painful to go through it and when it was all over, I didn't feel accomplished. Like "Yeah, this was one great story. One great drama that I'll always remember,". Nope. I just couldn't. I know that I'm not going to forget it because of the themes and it because it's my first J-drama, but it's also true that it didn't really leave me too emotionally attached. And that counts in the long run. Am I being too severe with it seeing everything that I have wrote? Probably. But this is also why I wanted to explain my rating; it was very subjective in the end. I wanted something more and I didn't get it and that reflected onto it. But don't think of it as a bad rating or a bad drama, on the contrary, it was so good, that it just couldn't help but not being able to match up to everything happening around it.
Do I recommend it? Definitely. There are not "but"s and "if"s. Just watch and see for yourself, then judge for yourself and maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to see the world with different eyes.

Leia Mais