This review may contain spoilers
Daily dose of sunshine....
I think that the Japanese are the only ones who actually know how to make a gripping, bingeable drama without evil characters and murder subplots. I don't know how they manage to do it? Maybe solid writing?Sleeper Hit is a drama I just finished watching and it has left me with a huge, happy and silly grin on my face.
It is a story about a weekly manga magazine, the editors working there and the mangakas providing the content. The whole set up is shown from the point of view of Kokoro, nicknamed Bear Cub by her coworkers, a former judoka who turned editor, as she learns the ropes of the trade and as she wins the tough editors over with her sincerity and inspires others to be proactive.
What puts this drama above the rest are the characters not plot. And they are a quirky lot. There is Kokoro with her eternal smile and optimism, open-mindedness and ingenuity. She is fearless and kind. Her mentor is Iokibe, always ready for a constructive advice while being mysteriously aloof, the chief editor Wada who is a baseball fan but has an incredible eye and instict for manga, striped T-shirt wearing cynical but with a heart of gold editor Yasui, there are also a group of mangakas of all ages and attitudes....The whole drama is character driven and it is so much fun to watch. The editor's work is explained to the minute details through production of weekly manga episodes: how the mangakas work and the input the editors give.
We do not know much about the characters' private lives or their background stories: only the details important to the drama plot are given and they are scarce. The important is the present!
It is also a story of books and how they are losing their place faced with internet onslaught: bookshops closures, book shredding, magazines not published anymore. "Books made me human!" How true!
The writing is perfect, the acting also, the music was nice but... Actually that is the only problem I had with this drama: the music. The soaring orchestral music at crucial moments made me think of those western movies when the leads reach the top of the mountain and the music just soars to heavens. It was a bit too much here! And the songs sounded very much like rearranged well known western songs (could not think of the name but they sounded extremely familiar! NB I do not listen to japanese music so it is not that I might have already heard them before!).
Each episode except for the last one, was told in a voiceover by one of the characters and that character is featured in the opening credits' animations (too cute)!
Just go watch this and have some fun! If you need a pick-me-up, this is a perfect solution!
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This review may contain spoilers
It's an absolute wonderful drama!I must honestly say that I wasn't very invested during the first few eps (maybe due to personal circumstances as well), but this one is a watch, that gets better with every episode. This series starts out not that serious. It seems like a casual watch, without any substance to it, but as you continue they'll drop little life lessons and emotional moments here and there. Even though it seems a bit hard to apply these things to your actual life, I think their principles and attitude are very inspiring.
Even though I originally started this show, because of Sakaguchi Kentaro (love), I must say in the end I fell in love with the character Kurosawa Kokoro. I LOVE her to bits. She is your typical bubbly girl with a bright attitude, which makes the room a bit awkward because she is just THAT bright... bear cub describes her so well. But even though it sounds annoying in theory, I totally loved it! Like I wish, I could be like that irl (though it's a bit hard I admit). She's cute, relatable, intelligent and so kind. Her spirit makes everyone adore her, you cannot not like Kurosawa.
Every side character was so lovable and interesting in their own way and their chemistry was so great. Especially towards the end, where you get the gags and know each of them better (sorry but Wada was so funny). I will definitely miss everyone, all editors, even the sales team (obviously Koizumi), and of course all manga artists!
Probably the most interesting thing about this drama is the process of creating a manga (I don't know how realistic it actually is tho). It was lovely to see that even though they were all different, they had one thing in common: their love for manga and their passion to make a piece of art.
I also very much enjoyed the way they structured the series. It's kind of episodic, but not all storylines end with the episode, they continue and pick up some later, it makes the whole watching progress interesting. It's amazing how characters don't just disappear after their story "has been told" (which happens very very often), but they continue to live on in the story, just like in real life! Because of that the whole show felt very coherent and the ending was sooo satisfying!
I wish there would be more!! I'll come back someday.
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Cheer Her Own
I always love a strong women and the lead female is one very strong women. She is an ex-athlete that put what she has learn in her athletic career to help her with her new job. She combines her love for web toons to her athletics career to make a change in her life. The men in this drama do not know what to do with her but she cheer them on and helps with the everyday problems and authors of these comic books. She also learn how to socialize with the book store owner and workers so these books get put in their shop so they can be better sold for both authors and shop owners. We follow the lead female how she grow in this career and her change in life. The actors performance is great and love the story line.Was this review helpful to you?
Es una historia de perseverancia y dedicación en la que acompañamos a Kokoro Kurosawa mientras encuentra un nuevo sueño.
La protagonista es un sol. Su actitud es tan positiva que contagia a los otros personajes. Disfruté mucho pasar diez episodios junto a ella, verla aprender de sus errores e intentarlo de nuevo.
En cada episodio conocemos la historia de alguno de los personajes secundarios, aprendemos el por qué de sus acciones. Hay historias muy emotivas que pueden entristecer.
Aunque el final es bueno, me habría gustado ver más episodios. Siento que sí podía dar para más, en especial con los personajes que tuvieron menos tiempo para desarrollarse.
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