Completed
Luly
10 people found this review helpful
Apr 1, 2016
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
First of all, this is what you need to know straight away: this drama is very short, it's about a writer trying to write a story (and mostly failing at it), his emotional connection to a friend that will aid him in more ways than he thinks and it's based on a book, which is a compilation of short stories, what results in various genres and outcomes in the same drama.

Now, let's move on to the specifics. As far as I'm concerned, the book this drama is based on groups 6 short stories, which are unrelated to one another. This drama uses, in one way or another, 3 of them (the protagonists of the drama being characters from the last story) and make a small reference to another story, which is not fully covered. The other two are, as far as I can tell, nowhere to be seen. So, if you read the book, don't worry, you don't yet know how this is gonna turn out because the plot twist in this drama has nothing to do with the book.

I find it strange that, being the actual writer of the book involved in the drama (and performing in it), he'd choose to make such big changes as to end with a resulting different story than any of the others, but maybe it was taken as an opportunity for people who had read the book to still be surprised and for people who haven't to still have a chance to read it and find out other perspectives. Still, I find the resulting story of this drama a bit lackluster in comparison to the ones in the book, in the sense that the plot twist of the drama is not the most unpredictable one you'd see, which contrasts with a story that was pretty heartfelt and trying to be very honest.

I enjoyed the performances, especially from Renn, and I think the drama is enjoyable as a whole, yet it may have benefited from either following the self-conclusive aspect of the short-story style the book has, picking one and going with it from start to finish or providing more episodes for this style they chose to really take flight. As it is, I like the idea of the "stories inside a story" style they pick for the first part, it's a good narrative device when used well, but being the amount of episodes so little, I found the change of perspective a bit forced and it didn't allow the self-discovery and emotional-fulfillment aspect the drama was trying to go for at the end to fully show.

There is a speck of LGBT representation in this drama, not as well handled as in other dramas of 2015 I've seen, but it is there and it's more than just a BL-ish fanservice note, it has to do with character development, so it's worthy of noting. In the book, though, the outcome of that character seems to be better.

All in all, it's an interesting format and it deserves a go. It has a bit of mystery, a bit of fantastic and a lot of emotion. To me, it was interesting in a narrative level, as to see the use of different devices and how that worked (or didn't). I'd like to see what other stories can Shige bring in the future.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
ElizaRapsodia
1 people found this review helpful
Sep 30, 2018
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
I feel kinda weird about this. I have no idea if this has some other souce material (I read here that's a book or a compilation of short stories) and because it's so short we don't really get that much character development. The story is about Hashimoto Jun, a writer that lives in Tokyo and his editor is asking him to write a love story, since it's been two years and he haven't been able to complete and publish anything. Suddenly Murata Keisuke, Jun's childhood friend arrives at his house. Jun haven't seen him in 15 years, but he is nice and cool, cooks for him and encourages to write the love story.

The story at the beginning has a big comedic touch into it but then it gets really dark and sad. The performances and good and the music and technical aspects are ok. I don't think it should have been longer but I think it could have been handled better with the emotional punch. maybe two episodes more. Overall, I liked it and it broke my heart.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Cute Gnome
0 people found this review helpful
Jun 28, 2018
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
ANTS WITHOUT UMBRELLA (Japanese Movie)
I will give a short overview of the story first. There was an author who is known for writing sci-fi stories where he became famous. Now for almost 2 years he experienced this what we call "writers block" where a writer can't write anymore. Now his editor-in-chief asked him to write a love story which is not of his genre and he found it difficult to do so. Five days left for him to submit the story to his boss but still he was not able to finish even one story.
One night somebody visited him which came out to be his childhood best friend. This friend gave him advises and ideas which enabled him to finish a story but the said story did not passed the standard of his boss. He write another story to the point where he can no longer differentiate what's real and what is not. He almost died in the process but was saved by his best friend because of this his boss asked him to take some rest. Still his friend encouraged him to never give up but he got angry to his friend for pestering him and asked his friend to leave.
One day he decided to visit his hometown and he reminisce the past. It was soon revealed through some flashbacks that his best friend fall in love with a guy and him (writer) as a friend tried to understand it but it never happened putting a distance in there friendship. He even think of committing suicide but he we saved by his friend.
When he returned to his hometown he met his first girlfriend and they had a chat. At the end of their conversation he mentioned that his best friend visited him days ago. The girl was shocked. She said how is it possible when he (writer's best friend) died more than 2 years ago . He was stunned upon hearing the revelations, and he then remembered that it was his best friend who became the reason why he decided to become a writer. At the end of the movies he was able to finish a good love story, using his best friend as an inspiration.
The End.
REVIEW :
I did not expect the twist in the end, and it made the story wonderful. Acting skills, just so so but I was drown in the story more. If I would give a rating, I will give 7.5/10. Worth watching for.
PS. There's a little touch of BL though.

Friendship / Best / Relationship

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Completed
Apaixonada por BL
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 10, 2021
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers
O Japão sempre traz histórias diferentes, instigantes, e essa não seria diferente.
Tem muito sentimento transmitido pelos atores nos momentos de flash back onde se fala de homossexualismo pela primeira vez, a sinceridade do Hashimoto Jun ao afirmar que sentia nojo (sem militância, na série ele estava apenas reproduzindo o comportamento esperado para o ano e o local representados, a Ásia é um dos lugares mais homofóbicos do mundo). A fotografia, mais uma vez impecável, e a atuação dos atores idém. O momento em que Hashimoto Jun descobre que Murata keisuke está morto há vários anos, é de uma força, um sentimento sem explicação.
Com certeza indico essa série.

Read More

Was this review helpful to you?
Kasa wo Motanai Aritachi wa (2016) poster

Details

Statistics

  • Score: 7.1 (scored by 713 users)
  • Ranked: #8651
  • Popularity: #5685
  • Watchers: 1,792

Top Contributors

6 edits
5 edits
3 edits
3 edits

Popular Lists

Related lists from users

Recently Watched By