I'm tired
It's a classic idea: no matter how I look, my inner self with shine. What a beautiful message. We can also applaud this show's valiant attempts to subvert (however unsuccessfully) the "pretty people good, ugly people bad," trope which is pretty much standard across television. If only the show was... good. This may be more of a controversial take than I was expecting based on other reviews of this drama, but I absolutely couldn't stand watching this. It's a miracle I got to the end. A mix of questionable acting with terrible directing and a messy plot ends up creating this hot garbage of a show, with my only motivation for watching to see how bad it could get.Unfortunately, this is not the kind of bad you can laugh at; it falls just short, in the unhappy middle ground of boredom and frustration. To get straight to the point, the acting and dialogue delivery in this show are pretty much copy paste of every other Jdrama (which unfortunately isn't a good thing). This is compounded by simply awful directing to the point where everything feels terribly unrealistic and overdramatized. I won't dive too much into the plot because it was so confused I could only really tell you the start and the end. It was bad. Let's leave it at that. Possibly the worst of it, though, was the romance. As always, we have our first male lead, our second male lead, and our love rival. Now I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just surmise to say I was not satisfied by the romantic progression between the two in the final couple. It wasn't helped any by the terribly contrived twists which just served to be confusing and muddle up the romance. The ending did not at all line up with what you'd expect from the rest of the show. There was quite an abrupt shift which was entirely unnatural. That's all I'll say about that. I do not recommend this drama.
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An entertaining short story, yet nuanced and impactful.
- Surprisingly entertaining and gripping storyline.- Fleshed out characters placed in real areas of conflict- does well to raise the stakes and moves the plot along well.
- Intriguing take on the body swap trope.
- Explores dark themes not usually done in a high school set drama.
- Potentially unnecessary graphic scenes, but adds to the gritty horror of life vs. death.
- Nuanced look at what ‘beauty inside’ means. Not done in a cheesy manner- topic excellently expanded.
- Full of heart and emotional impact comes from Tomita Miu’s performance.
- Quick-paced story perfect for when you’re looking for something short to watch.
- All plotlines are rounded up neatly, but does the ending satisfy? That’s for you to find out!
O V E R A L L : I surprisingly found myself binge-watching this show in one go. V. Entertaining watch & raises tension very well. It brings to life an unbelievable premise, and uses a high-school setting well.
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Started out interesting, but disappointing execution
As mentioned in the headline, Switched really grasped my interest the first episodes. I was taken by the realistic acting and more than excited to see how things would develop!Unfortunately it did not reach my standards, but 3-4 episodes in and it certainly started to crumble. What I thought would be valid criticism against society and an opportunity to bring up many important topics and life lessons, just ended up generic and actually rather problematic as well.
They really did not do Umine's character justice as she remained the ugly and bitter person within. This could have been a chance for Japan to discuss more sensitive issues such as bullying, mental health and suicide, yet the message given is peak toxic positivity and could basically be summarised as: "Don't be ungrateful and jealous, be happy and everything will be okay. If you're sad, it's your own fault for not trying hard enough". They could've at very least referred Umine to a therapist considering she tried to end her own life several times, but I guess her abusive mom making her an onigiri once was enough to magically cure her depression.
Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean to be pessimistic, I'm just sort of disappointed as I know how stigmatised mental illness is in our Asian community. Still impressed by the great acting though.
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What's inside is important
Was hopeful going in with a plus size actor, not bad cast, everyone acted decently. Short story.I do wish plus size folks were not usually shown as unhappy and hateful as they did. And that's just my personal opinion. (Based on the amount of media we have portraying it this way.) The ending was VERY short, and was not what I expected and felt almost incomplete. While there was some issues it was not bad to watch through. I was happy for character growth, especially Umine's mom! Produced well and flowed smoothly until the last episode. I will check out what these actors have also done since this show
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The drama really did a good job emphasizing the theme of how superficiality is so apparent in our society today. Your appearance is the first thing people judge you by in our society, and this drama really exemplifies that theme with Umine and Ayumi, both two separate characters, treated with a huge disparity by their appearance.
However, throughout the show, Umine is shown to have an ugly personality when she's already in the losing side in the first episode and Ayumi is shown to have a beautiful personality to fit her beautiful appearance is already very boring to me. This drama just tried to make Umine be in the back of the spotlight that Ayumi is dominating. Even when Umine and Ayume get switched into each other's bodies, it's still obvious Ayumi is being treated better than Umine because Ayumi is already known to be beautiful before this switch happened. Umine, even in the beautiful Ayumi's body, still gets looked over because she's not considered the real Ayumi. Therefore, this show still strongly harbors superficiality in their plot by making Ayumi get the better treatment than Umine, even when their bodies are switched, which is not helping the drama on proving how wrong superficiality is.
It was interesting how this drama made a story about how it feels like for someone wishing they were someone else because the person they wish to live a life as is perceived as having something they don't by the person filled with jealousy. The story shows that no matter how selfish some of Umine's actions were, you still feel some compassion for Umine from all the struggles she has faced just because of her appearance and that she didn't act completely out of selfishness, but also sorrow. The ending proved to us a lesson that no matter how much you wish you were someone else, in the end, you should still always be proud of the life you live because your life is completely unique from everyone else in this world and no one else can replace you no matter how hard they tried, except you, yourself.
Anyway, this drama has passable acting and good fitting music to go along with the story. The directing was not bad at all and captured the right feelings for most of the moments and emotions the characters enacted in this drama to really give us the full impact of some important scenes happening. It's a great drama to watch if you have some spare time to learn about how severe our society can sometimes really place importance on looks and how far concern someone has for outer beauty can drive them to accomplish what they are actually capable of.
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A smile means a lot
Through this drama, I truly learned a lesson about what looks and beauty means to society. The characters portrayed the part excellently as their personality shone through even when they looked different. Yet it could've been developed better and 6 episodes wasn't enough as it wasn't dissected thoughoughly.Zenko was alone with poor relationships destroying her self-esteem to the point where she wanted to rid herself.
Ayumi finally learned how fortunate she is to have true friends surrounding her and to be liked by others.
Kaga was a total sweetheart that he is my favourite with a bubbly personality who will fight for what he believe in.
koushirou however I felt was the cool silent type that is still manipulative towards others as he more jealous that people preferred kaga
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P.s: I have nothing more to say and i already finished my review, i didn’t reach the minimum number of words so ignore this.
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Interesting plot with deep lessons
I am not really a fan of J-Dramas. I have watched only few of them so I don't know much about their shows nor they actors but I can definitely say that I'm lucky I've seen this one.The plot is simple yet interesting. It's not that long too that's why I decided to give it a try. There's nothing so outstanding about the story alone however I really love the message and the overall theme of this series - "looking different on the outside doesn't change what's inside." I just kind of wish there were more depths on their characters because I felt like everything was focused on Umine's life only. There's very little I know about Ayumi, Kaga and Koshiro. I wished that we've known more about the personal demons of other characters and not just being someone who almost had it all and lost it overnight for something supernatural. I get Umine feeling the way she felt but I feel like Ayumi, Kaga and Koshiro was just born that way. They seem like they're just walking on a flowery road. Wouldn't it be better to see them as someone who became they are because they've conquered their own challenges? That's just my own opinion though.
Overall, I really liked this series and I recommend it highly. The life lessons here are so deep that I'm still reflecting about it even after I watched it.
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However, the reason of my low rating is because it left me with a very unpleasant feeling, all the situations, how they solve... it made me feel like even in the end nothing will change between them, and eventually the same might happen. I don't think this was the idea of the producers or any one, it is just how I saw it.
Anyway, don't watch this if you want a story that makes you feel that thinks can change, I think that the idea of this drama was a good one, what it teaches, beauty is in the inside is beautiful, the acting as well... but there was something missing for me.
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What should be loved? Looks or personality?
A lot of dramas, in general, have used the body-switching concept before but Switched managed to step up their game and completely own it.Most of the dramas carrying the same concept mainly focused on the comedic aspects of swapping bodies, as it's usually fun to watch how two different characters struggle with their new lives, right? But not with Switched. Seeing how the conventionally attractive girl lost her perfect life to an unpopular and bullied classmate, is like a huge slap to our faces that this is the truth; physical appearance can be a measure of how others would treat you. However, it didn't just stop with the ugly truth as the characters tried to overcome the hurdles of reality and change themselves for the better, which is a satisfying resolution for me.
That's why I had a hard time parting with this drama because I know that I won't easily forget such an impactful story. The acting was really superb, and it's more astonishing because they're still at a young age! Makes me look forward to their future performances because I'm sure that they would be promising actors & actresses someday. The cinematography is a bit different from what we usually see in Japanese dramas as there is a high production value, but it still didn't lose its usual essence and rawness. The only thing that I am frustrated with is the number of episodes. I don't have any problem with its conciseness, but just like what I've mentioned, I don't want to be done with it yet lol. This also made me love Japanese dramas more because I realized that it's possible to effectively tell and wrap up a well-written story in just six episodes (I don't have any issues with the ending haha), so what's stopping the other series to avoid dragging their audience with their numerous episodes and never-ending seasons?
Anyway, I think Switched has become one of my favorites so far, with Kaga also being on my list of favorite male Japanese drama characters. I'm late but now, I understand why the ladies love him!! Hoping that the success of this drama will open a door for others to explore engaging Japanese dramas like this. Give this a try if you're looking for a short drama that can blow you away in one sitting.
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A Teen Body-Swap J-Drama
SWITCHED is a Japanese drama. Although rated M for mature, it did seem more aimed at teenaged audiences. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and I didn't mind the silliness amid the darker subject matter. However, I tend to agree with many reviewers about the offputting techno dance music feeling jarring and out of place in this drama. The sound director really botched this one up. I understand anime's usually fly with this kind of music and this series was inspired by webtoon/manga, not sure if there's an anime yet, so that kind of explains the vibe they we're going for. Even still, it was kind of obnoxious, even for a teen series. It just didn't fit.Overall, this was a good series, not the greatest due to some predictable, and slightly problematic writing and the aforementioned music choices. Was worth a watch and had some good messages about living in another shoes and what not. It was entertaining, but had a lot of wasted potential, I felt. It only scratched the surface of what it might have achieved, and I'm not sure why it didn't go deeper. Still, it was worth a view. Definitely a well made series.
[NOTE: Kaga rocked!]
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Surprising Good
I know the plot before watching it and expected it to be average but it is surprising good and real in some sense. The first episode when she laughed with her best friend during the painting scene got me, wow it is such beautiful scene. Then the rest of the episodes didn't disappoint either. Acting is good too and there's a good message to this show about the body and self.The downside is perhaps the supporting character kaga didn't get the girl but it is a realistic portrayal of romance. Then this series is too short, only 6 episodes. I am hoping to see more of normal ayumi but there isn't much except for the last episode.
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