I gave the rewatch value only a seven, just because I think the show loses some points if take off the mystery that is a big a part of its charm when you watch it for the first time.
All in all it was a great drama and I definitely recommend it to anyone that can appreciate a multi layered character and amazing acting.
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Plot: The story itself had a a great plot. You learn that Nitta Hayato [Miura Shohei] is searching for his older sister whom he only discovered existed after his mother's death. This brings Amihama Saki [Nakama Yukie] into the picture. What starts off as a heartwarming reunion soon turns into an eerie mystery as Hayato discovers that his lovely sister may be someone completely different than what she seems and she's actually got a hidden agenda of her own. She's out for revenge and nobody's going to get in her way. If you're someone who likes suspense, you'll definitely enjoy this drama because the whole time you're on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen to everyone and how she's going to bring them down. Although her actions are undeniably evil and wrong, you just might find yourself unable to hate her as the drama progresses. Up until the very end, I could not hate her character at all despite everything she did. This drama was very well done. You might feel a bit weird about wine and steak after this one though Lol...
Acting: The cast lineup and acting was great. Nakama Yukie was perfect at portraying an angelic woman who is in fact calculating and leading her targets to their own destruction. Her ability to express Saki's emotions was so amazing and I really felt for her character during the last episode. I'd love to see her reprise this kind of role again. Miura Shohei did well too and had great chemistry with Nakama Yukie although, I was amused at first since they went from having a student-teacher relationship in gokusen 3 to brother and sister xD Aside from that though, the cast was great. Uchida Yuki was awesome. I actually wish we saw even more of her in the drama. I'm also a fan of Okada Yoshinori so I was pleasantly surprised to see him in this drama. Takashima Masahiro, Kyo Nobuo, Ishiguro Hideo, and everyone else were great in their roles as well.
Music: Takahashi Minami's song Jane Doe was a great opening song and TVXQ's catch me fit perfectly with the ending scenes. There was also an english song they played, I'm not sure what it was called, but that song matched really well with the scenes they showed with Saki. All the music gave a perfect feel to the story.
Rewatch Value: I'd watch this drama again. The only thing is that the mystery part isn't much of a mystery anymore after seeing it twice and you somewhat lose the suspense so it won't exactly be the same. It's still a great drama and worth the time though. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who likes mystery or suspense. And of course, if you're a fan of Nakama Yukie but haven't seen it yet, I'd say check this one out as well as Utsukushii Rinjin, where Nakama Yukie played her first role as Saki =]
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This review may contain spoilers
Interesting and entertaining series, captivated me because of the lead and title character- Saki. Very intense character, and I loved rooting for her and against her. First, what i hated- subtitles- in episode 3, the subtitles were about 20 seconds behind, made it extremely difficult to follow. last episode- long sentences were cut off. As it was the end of the series i was kind of able to finish most of them but still very annoying. So that's the technical stuff.
What i didn't like about the story: not that i didn't like, because if it was missing, there would be no point to the whole series, but i just can't believe how a couple of these guys continued to fall for her mind games and then fall off the deep end, especially the hospital chief. Lose it all, but get on with your life. The way he flipped out seemed too extreme to me. Their whole story line with the wife is confusing for me as a western. Maybe a cultural thing. The shame of being the other woman in Japan must be so much more extreme; I can see an American couple telling Saki and anyone who cared: too bad bitch, get over it, we are together. Anyway, the way these guys became totally absorbed with Saki and how she was able to convince a couple of them to off themselves or become violent was a little laughable to me.
I didn't care for the reveal of each victims 'crime' in the last episode. Not much to them and you can argue that the 1st two fellows were just a matter of bad luck. I was expecting that the reason Saki did what she did to them was because they did something significantly bad that would justify her actions. They didn't do anything reprehensible, they were just aloof at the wrong moment, especially the AC guy. Even the lawyer, when realizing what he was doing, was bowing to apologize. Saki did not drive him to suicide for his main problem- loving his own sister, but because he mistakenly blocked the road. I can see the hospital chief to a degree, but i was even not sure if he directly turned the mother away, or that he was just the person being held responsible because he was the chief and father of the kid who was treated instead of the mother. His son was pretty much of a wimp. When Saki called him an idiot, i was hoping he would say- oh well, i almost made it with you, and then got on with his life.
Next- the final confrontation scene with her brother, Hayako (by the way, he was pretty good in the series, even though he always had a deep, glazed, duh look on his face). Anyway, I thought the scene could have solidified this chick as the ultimate villain, as evil as Hannibel Lector. I really thought that when she broke the glass out of his hand and started crying that she was faking, knowing that the glass she broke didn't have the poison and that she would get him to drink the other glass with the poison. As it turned out, she appears to have some humanity and saved him. Blaming him did prove she had a twisted mind, however, i guess he was able to convince her that he was not responsible, where the other guys had no real chance to do so. I would have also liked one final scene for them together to tie up were they stood with each other.
Lastly- the pregnancy. Where did that come from? Was it the lawyers?- his seemed the only relationship close to doing it. Maybe this all happened off screen. Would have liked to have known more about it, or maybe i missed something.
Now on to what i liked- Saki! Totally gorgeous, which attracted me to her immediately. A very beautiful lady, made even more so by her expressions and demeanor. The 'celebratory' food scenes with the steak and wine were different, and a little weird (shot of her throat), but i still thought it was pretty enticing. I loved watching her work her spell on everyone- even though it was hard to fathom how some of these guys went off the deep end because of it. One of the best female characters i have ever watched.
I did like the story, even though i mentioned more negatives above. I love watching Asian dramas, they are very entertaining, even when they are extremely implausible in my mind, like this one.
Overall, a very good watch. Check reality at the door and get ready for one of the best female lead characters in a A Drama- and some really weak guys!
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