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We get to see the story in two parts- one where the story begins and other six months later. It had me entertained, frustrated, depressed and happy. But only when a story manages in getting the right reactions out of you, you can say it was successful. And this definitely was. I was on a ride with all its characters throughout the span of 10 episodes. I can't believe how quickly it ended.
It has one of the most well-shot emotional scenes I have seen in dramas yet. The last two episodes had moments which had me close to tears. Some scenes were plain beautiful. Plus, the dialogues are exceptionally well-written. The OST was also great. Pink is one of my favourite singers and I liked the songs they picked. The background score is beyond amazing. I will keep listening to it until I get bored.
This is the kind of drama that you either love or hate. It might require some patience towards the middle of the story, but it is all worth it in the end. The plot loses its colour in this part, but I still wanted to know what would happen. I was very invested in the characters. Though its ending is predictable, it is difficult to guess anything in between. The writer will manage to provide you with a good twist every other episode.
It has some pretty solid characters. It reminded me of how humans really are like. All characters act in a way that would turn you off, but at the end of the day they are presented as very ordinary human beings. And that is how we all are- flawed. And we all make mistakes. This is exactly what the characters do- they screw up, but they also learn from their mistakes and move on. The character depth of Hikari was tremendous. She is initially presented as a thoughtless, immature bad girl to us. But in fact, she is lonely and has serious abandonment issues. I really loved how she grew up by the end. Also, the struggle of Natsumi touched me. She shows how important it is to keep fighting and never give up hope. On the other hand, I was pissed at Shuji. He was hard to like till the end. He has some good things about him too, but the bad ones really annoyed me.
There were some scenes of the school which didn't get through me. I don't know how it is in Japan, but isn't the private matter of teachers to not be discussed with the students? I didn't get why Shuji was so openly talking about his personal problems with the students. That was super weird. Maybe it had to with his honesty? I am confused about that.
As for the ending- it was perfect. Just how things should have been. This is the first ending that left me totally satisfied because it provided closure to each and every character. And every one got what they wanted. What better way than this to end a drama?
So, this drama is not just for light viewing. Unless you have the patience to sit through a story where you can't enjoy unless you think- this isn't for you. If you're up for complex stories, then go ahead. It will surely not let you down.
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Though the story was serious and was kind of heavy, it was not dragging and it was presented in a way that viewers would want to continue watching it 'til the end. It gives great impact and a lot of lessons. One would also learn to love each characters as the drama goes on. Music was just right and goes well with the emotions the drama is trying to give to its viewers.
This is one of those dramas that after watching it, you would realize a lot of things. One of those dramas that as the characters in the story changes, you could also feel that something deep inside you has changed. You would also learn as the characters in the story are learning. A must watch drama. A drama worth remembering.
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This drama is very well written. The storyline and the characters were very realistic. I felt like I could really identify with the characters, their feelings, their motives and the decisions they made. So many times when Shuji made an odd decision or did/said something unorthodox, I wanted to understand the reasoning behind it. Other times, I just wanted to slap some sense into him. They way the writers wrote the story, I couldn't tell for a long time who was supposed to be the female lead. Even though my conscience says one thing, I was confused as to which girl I was supposed to be rooting for to end up with Shuji (or if I should be rooting for Shuji's happiness at all). I couldn't tell if Shuji had romantic feelings towards Natsumi/Saeki, or if he was just being a nice guy. The characters are incredibly complex and showed many sides to them. The actors and actresses are so talented and did such an amazing job, especially Miura Haruma, Toda Erika and Takei Emi (this is my first time watching Takei Emi).
The music was great. The prelude was so beautiful and touching. I think some of the insert songs have swear words in them though lol (they're english pop songs). But they're properly placed and generates the right mood for the scene.
It can be a little predictable, but for the most part it's not. There were twists that were unexpected that weren't over the top, but enough to make it dramatic and make you want to find out what's gonna happen next. I think the drama did lose a little steam at the end, but you become emotionally invested in the characters and want to find out what's going to happen to them.
One thing I did not like is how serious the students were and their feelings towards their teachers. Hiraoka and Saeki were serious in wanting an actual relationship with their teachers. It's uncomfortable to think about, but i guess it does happen in real life since we hear of teachers having inappropriate relationships with students.
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Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about watching this drama a few years ago. I thought it was too heavy for me but watching the first episode got me hooked and until now I still watch some of its episodes because it's just so realistically inspiring. The idea that the drama revolved around the mistakes of the main characters was so appealing to me that I cry when they cry because I really feel emotionally absorbed while watching the drama. I think the drama portrayed that humans are naturally pure and honest - that we make honest mistakes but we can always make up for it with sincerity and genuine desire for change.
CAST/ACTING:
I considered watching this drama solely because of Miura Haruma and I thank him for always being just so good. Erika Toda and Emi Takei are just as amazing as Haruma.
MUSIC:
Although sometimes the lyrics of the songs are irrelevant, using Pink's voice for this series was a good move by the producers. The song "F. Perfect" blended really well with the drama's plot.
OVERALL:
This is one of my favorite dramas of all time so in my biased opinion, I highly recommend this series even to beginner Jdrama fans. This is the other side of the rom-coms and suspense thrillers that Japanese TV series are popular with.
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gleams of light wipe away the clouds
I decided to watch this to see how Miura handles a serious drama。initially I found it hard to understand or believe his character seducing a girl・ but even after the story became clearer I still found his character difficult to figure outーactually I found all the characters and their actions difficult to figure out! I guess I could see the Japanese social norms more than non-Japanese but even so really old fashioned〜 my main criticism is I found the ”martyr” feature in all the main characters was overdone 〜felt like shaking Miura sometimesfinally however I think I see how all this has been woven into a heart-warming story： I guess the story is love means loving someone for who they are even if part of who he/she is also means having a caring heart for othersー maybe not so original but story constructed very well （with my one criticism above） and well played。 Miura was a great actor and the female leads were also sensitively played by Toda and Takei。
this is a heavy drama but with wonderful gleams of brightness to light the way and stay with you〜 it may be hard for some to follow and some may find it sentimental rather than uplifting but it is worth sticking to it。
worst thing for me is truly bad and intrusive English incidental music about talking to the presidentー maybe intends to be uplifting but for me it was like a headache every time there is a tender moment （the theme and some other OST was OK）。
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In the end, I found this a really great Japanese drama about life and making decisions. The characters that annoyed me at times throughout, was only because they were portrayed as being very human and prone to mistakes, which I came to appreciate. It's not a drama about a student-teacher relationship. Rather, it's a drama about how the characters learned to deal with the relationships around them, with a student-teacher relationship being one of the ones that needed to be sorted out. The characters all have moments where they show their strengths and weaknesses, but they are above the stereotypical characters seen so often in dramas, which was the strong point of this drama. The scenarios and choices made were much more believable than what one usually expects from a drama.
I just wish they chose a different soundtrack.
It's not a typical romance drama, but it sure does have some really touching relationships and is definitely worth the watch if you're looking for something heartwarming and real.
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