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I formally and sincerely apologies for any fans of this drama that I intentionally or unintentionally insulted.
Warning: I use the japanese names of the characters.
When I saw the first few minutes of the first episode, I thought it was okay. Ryoma's(Long Ma) father was more...sensible than his japanese counterpart (he was more silly and obnoxious in the manga, anime, and movie), figure of Ryoma was also taller (he was known to be short in the manga, anime, and movie).
I was a bit uncomfortable with the changes but I was sure I would get used to it. Thirty minutes into the drama, I perished that thought. There was nothing wrong with the plot or acting of course, except for the fact the characters were nothing alike to the originals AKA manga/anime.
Ryoma was portrayed wayyyy more angsty, limitlessly impulsive and emotionally explosive, picking fights with people who so much as look at him wrong left, right, and center, not at all like the Ryoma who is very composed, arrogantly calm and enjoys ruffling people's metaphorical feathers.
Kaido was another unpleasant surprise. He was shown as being SOCIABLE, SMILING and MAKING JOKES (the world must be coming to an end) with his teammates, no hissing (Kaido trademark copyright), although his pride hasn't changed at all.
All in all, I don't think I'll ever come to fully like this drama. The plot good, that I would gladly admit, nor was there anything wrong with the actors themselves or their skill of acting,but some of the characters were so out of sync that watching was just painful (I loved manga Ryoma's arrogant smirk. *sniffle* Why oh why couldn't it appear in the drama?).
I formally and sincerely apologies for any fans of this drama that I intentionally or unintentionally insulted.
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This review may contain spoilers
the best live action adaptation of prince of tennis, hands down...
For those of you who don't need Eng Sub, the full title is available here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV14W411M7yP/The tennis ball animations are laughable and the camerawork is very old school, but the story of this show is just so well adapted and so well acted! Rather than being a retelling of the anime, this joyful show explores Ryoma's weaknesses, his interpersonal relationships, and how he grows to overcome his character defects in the context of a noisy but supportive team. He starts off the show as a talented prodigy who thinks he's the lord's gift to his team, and can win a championship on his own. But the things he breaks and the people he hurts along the way, who hurt him in turn, give him a rich redemption story as he strives towards his athletic goals.
I really miss the Qin Junjie of this show, he was so suitable for the main role and he showed Ryoma's character arc so well. That being said, basically everyone especially the tennis team is very real, complex but also convincingly teenager. The natural cast of characters, each with their own problems, colliding in the context of the tennis championship, is even a bit reminiscent of the cast of shows like the Wire... I wish there was more cdrama I could say that for.
Here are no fancy effects or airbrushed heroes. All the same, the raw merit of the story consistent from the beginning to the end and the natural acting made each episode worthy of savoring.
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This review may contain spoilers
So Unnecessarily Melodramatic
Gosh! where do I start??? I guess I will start by saying I love this anime and I loved the 2019 version. The 2019 version is one of my favorite Cdramas period!!However, this 2008 version, that I desperately wanted to see sucked all the fun out of the story and characters for me. Not a single character was likeable, not even the lead. Like, seriously, how does that happen? Why the hell did they make this version so damn overly dramatic? Everyone is too damn emotional.
I started reading the manga b/c I was legit confused by the choices the writers, directors, producers chose to take/make for this series. I actually thought maybe the character development was more like the manga but it wasn't.
Long Ma (Ryoma character) was whiny and miserable from the start. That was never his disposition in the source material or anime. Guo Guang (Kunimitsu character and one of my favorites) was again nothing like the source material and was not a good leader in this series. He was just as whiny as Longa Ma. They have completely changed the Kaido character (another favorite of mine) and he is super obnoxious.
That being said every character whined so much it was hard to deal with. Another weird choice director/producers made was having them constantly yelling and screaming at each other even when they were in close quarters. Total drag. Also, hardly any of the matches were exciting.
Funny enough the only person I like in this series is the Sakuno character (Coach's niece) who is quite annoying in all the other versions I've seen. The Tomoko character is a nightmare and still super annoying!!
Anyway, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS to anyone who likes the anime, manga or even the 2019 version. It will just make you angry or if you are better than me you can push your prior knowledge aside and possibly enjoy, I guess.
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