George
South West, UK
The first episode is an obvious copy, but after the second and third eps you start to see a few big differences, if anything this remake is ALOT more like the Twain version. Its more faithful to the Manga which I love.
The cast is great, I do prefer the original cast though. Miura Shohei is my favourite from this cast, hes great and very funny.
I preferred the ending to this version more so than the others. Anyone who hasn't seen the original will defiantly enjoy this, if you have seen the original try not to compare the two and you'll love it!
I think everyone who is a fan of Hana Kimi should give this a go. Don't knock it till you've tried it!
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This review may contain spoilers
I started watching this straight after Switch Girl and I don't actually know what to say. While enjoyable, the second season of Switch Girl was utterly bizarre. The main story arc is Nika wanting to "take her relationship to the next level". With literally every drama cliche all packed into 8 episodes. It was over the top and funny at times, but most of the time I just felt very uncomfortable. I think as fans of dromas, we can all say that about 80% of dramas have some evil sex plot somewhere. But Switch Girl 2 seemed to have an evil rapist or sex gang in every episode. While the way she beat the "black nails" gang was hilarious (SPOILER: sex toys.), it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I also hate the way the drama somehow got me rooting for the pervy teacher to get the girl. I swear if i hear another guy say "do her" I may throw up.
I found Arata's broodiness very annoying after about 3 episodes. A romance that I started out as a huge fan of ended up boring me. Also, if you take a shot every time Nika cries you will be drunk in 10 minutes.
Having said all that, I did laugh out loud at least once an episode and found myself dancing along at the end.
If you have previously watched Switch Girl or are a huge fan of this genre, give it a watch as it can be hilarious. If not, this drama really has nothing for you to enjoy.
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The story is dark, very "gothic lolita". Basic plot- Rich girls family get murdered, she sells her soul in order to get revenge on her parents death to Sebastian, and he becomes her butler. A bunch of strange murders keep happening and they are trying to find out who is behind them. I found the plot and dialogue a tad corny but that didn't stop me from loving this movie.
The acting was good in my opinion, but its no secret I love Hiro- he needs to stay out of retirement to play attractive butlers. Some moments where very cheesey due to the acting, what is it with evil peoples manic laughs in dramas? So cringy. My favorite character had to be Lin the maid. She was totally bad-ass.
The costumes, sets, cinematography are all beautifully done and Its very easy to immerse yourself in the world. I thought the action and fighting scenes were very, very well choreographed. So many Japanese action films have been ruined for me because of the fake 90s sound effects, this film had none of that. I have actually never seen the anime, so maybe that's why I enjoyed the film so much. Most negative views are in comparison to said anime.
I will be re-watching this soon!
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GTO: Final Chapter - Farewell Onizuka! Graduation Special
3 people found this review helpful
The story is repetitive, Students struggling to realise their worth and Onizuka guiding them. The overall plot is dull, however I guess we needed a graduation to end our journey with class 2-4!
The acting was good, not as great as it has been previous episodes, but the cast is the same so nothing about the acting has changed. I think all the actors were just lacking something in this special, or maybe its just because I wasn't enjoying it as much.
I am glad I watched it but I probably wouldn't watch it again!
I'd give this Graduation Special a 7 overall.
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The first episode didn't draw me in, but I never give up watching something when I've only seen the first ep, be in English or Japanese. I'm so happy I kept on because I LOVED this!! Hyuga Toru can be the rich man to this poor woman any day.
The story isn't original: a rich, arrogant, attractive business man hires a poor clumsy woman to work for him. Sounds basic and dull, but it's the opposite. I found myself staying up till 4am binge watching episode after episode, I just couldn't look away. The acting was flawless, I am already a big Oguri fan but will have to add Ishihara Satomi to my list! She was amazing and so beautiful, I will be checking out more of her work now. Also- her characters style is on point, I found myself super envious over all her outfits.
I loved the music, found myself singing along on more than one occasion. I will be buying this on DVD to re-watch soon. This is a must watch for any romantic comedy fan. Now I'm off to watch the New York special!
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The story is quite dark, many people have said it was easy to guess what was going on but I didn't guess at all. Lots of violence and action scenes, which were very well done. No cartoon punching sound effects that ruin so many drama fights.
The acting was A++. Although I am a huge fan of both the leads, so I am slightly biased. I really enjoyed seeing Shun and Toma in a drama together again, the chemistry between them was brilliant. You really believe they care about each other.
I wouldn't say its very re-watchable. Its quite heavy and tragic. Its not what I'd call an easy watch.
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This drama is about a girl who is a total slob at home but a super charismatic attractive girl in public (I can relate to the slob at home part). I thought it was written very well and had me belly laughing a lot. The leads had such a good chemistry, and they actually kiss. Not those 'oh our lips grazed' kisses dramas so often have, but actual kisses.
Switch girl has all the drama classics- hot male lead with a tragic backstory, broody 'love rival' male with a pouty look holding his bag over his shoulder, the head hold hug, an evil girl who laughs manically, watching you while you sleep, and a pervy teacher that everyone forgives. All that was missing was the oops-i-slipped kiss.
My only problem is that Nishiuchi Mariya cries EVERY EPISODE, sometimes for no reason. I found myself shouting at the TV desperately trying to get her to stop.
This drama is great for a quick watch, especially if like me you love high school dramas.
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The story is about Next Innovation still trying to improve and develop the Personal File project, and Toru and Makoto's relationship. We are seriously playing fast and loose with the tern "NEW YORK special". Its a normal special with a few bits of cringey English and about twenty minutes in total of New York scenes.
I found the script and enjoyable and comedic, without being over the top. I loved the bit when Makoto was buying things for the house, it was very nice to see more of their relationship. The story was quite realistic and mirrored the normal problems we all go through when trying to figure out where you are in a relationship, and all the new things that come with it. The acting was amazing in my opinion, couldn't fault it at all.
While it was enjoyable, I probably wouldn't re-watch. Also, the soundtrack really starts to grind on you. There are only so many times you can hear the same song before wanting to mute the TV and stab yourself in the ear.
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The story is interesting- Two people share a dream of their love story in a past life and try to find each other. This has all the drama cliques, a crazy girlfriend, a broken down lift scene, slow motion hugs. Basically everything I love about Asian dramas.
The acting was very good, couldn't fault it at all. Seo Ji Hye was very good, I find that the protagonists can sometimes be over the top and comical, but she was very impressive. Although, as an engaged gay woman I found the protagonists "curse" to be hilarious.
The music really really started to grate on me, the same song was played every 20 minutes. I ended up having a migraine with the song playing over and over in my head like some kind of torture.
I would 100% watch this again in the future, it's a very easy drama to watch. While you do need to be paying attention to really understand the dreams, the episodes on netflix are very short and sweet.
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Jung Hoon and Se Yeon meet after she saves him form an accident and dies, Jung Hoon pays for her funeral only to discover she has come back to life.
It's a very short drama- about in hour in total- so it's very easy to watch on a lazy afternoon. The acting wasn't Oscar worthy, and it was cheesy in places (but that's to be be expected from a drama with this plot), but all in all it wasn't bad. I really liked Ji Eun Sung, I thought he was very cute and played his character well. Kim Yun Bae's character also made me laugh, I look forward to seeing him do more.
My only fault with the drama was the ending, it would have been better with a "bitter sweet" ending (to quote green_tokki in the comments).
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