10
30
2
Ashu
doesn't know whether to laugh or cry
“If it's something only a few people can have, it's not happiness."
Monster (2023) directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda who's very famous both in Japan and internationally for his heart-warming and humane stories. I watched this in theaters and it was one of the best experiences of my life. To think I'd be able to watch Sakura Ando and Nagayama Eita on the big screen is a dream come true for me as I'm a big fan of both of the actors. The screenwriter is again, a famous screenwriter in Japan called Sakamato Yuji . The music composer for this movie was Ryuichi Sakamato and he was an Oscar winner. This is his last work. So you can see how this is a collab of the year and can guess how excited Japanese people were for this, including me as I too am a big fan of these people. The movie actually lives up to the hype.
It's hard to talk about the movie without giving spoilers because it's best to experience the movie without knowing anything about it. But as it's my job to tell you, so I'll try to talk about it in vague terms. The movie is essentially about a single mother who noticed that her son, Minato , who's in middle school has started acting strange suddenly, when asked, it seems to be because of harassment from his homeroom teacher, Mr. Hori . The movie is about her trying to get to the truth to protect her child. But in actuality it's more than that. The story is told from different perspectives and how the truth gets lost because humans always try to protect themselves as their survival instinct so they try to believe in the truth that suits them the most unconsciously. There's no good or bad character in the movie, they are all very flawed, complex and humane . In the end of the day, the movie was about being human, not a monster ( In which all of the characters believe themselves to be the Monster) .
It was just so beautiful, I felt deeply touched by it. It's just a masterpiece. No more words. The only flaw is I felt the ending was a bit abrupt. I wanted a bit more closure but it’s forgivable. You should watch it if you've loved other Koreeda movies! If you're new to his or Japanese movies in general, I suggest this movie is for people who enjoyed character driven stories and portrayal of human emotions. The fan inside me wants to say that everyone should watch this movie at least once as it's essentially about being a human but if you can't digest some disturbing themes like bullying and parental neglect, I'd suggest to not watch, but otherwise I feel it's worth a try for everyone.
My rating: 9.5/10
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But other than it being disturbing af it's a masterpiece regardless. It truly explores human psychology and how different individuals deals with trauma, sexual trauma to be more precise.
The movie doesn't shy away from exploring such heavy and sensitive topics. It shows graphic rape scenes that were just too disturbing to watch but you also are curious to what will happen next.
Basically, as you might've read in the synopsis, the movie is about a guy finding out that the girl he has a crush on is being raped by her "friends" , he doesn't know how to react to that news but he nevertheless talks about it to her and he finds out that the girl despite getting
hurt is apparently ok with it since they are her friends and they consider rape as " just playing" but how can she be ok with it ? So he tells this whole thing to the only trustworthy teacher, our da Jun and he takes the case in charge but little did he knew that the truth is far more cruel than he thought.
Other than it showcasing things about sexual abuse so well, another thing that I loved about it was it's realistic portrayal of deaf kids and how society either shows prejudice or sympathy to them most of the time rather than empathy or help that they have to stay silent.
I feel like the movie does so well without having much dialogues in it. Most of the main characters are deaf from birth so they use sign language to talk to each other and literally the movie barely has any dialogues and I feel like that also helps in creating the eerie atmosphere in the movie plus it's done so well that you don't even realize the has little to no dialogues.
The acting is done effortlessly well that you don't feel the need for the movie to have dialogues plus subtitles are there to help you understand what they are saying by the sign language communication.
You rarely sees movies or stories from the eyes of someone who can't hear and speak but the movie does an incredible job in pulling that off.
Another thing that I loved about it is the poetic cinematography. Some scene/shots feel like they are trying to say something to the viewers. The atmosphere is really created in a way that gives you an eerie kinda feeling and the cinematography helps in keeping that atmosphere.
Now let's talk about my most favourite thing about this movie and it's how no one is a villian in here. The movie is a psychological one and like I said above that it explores sexual abuse in a very deep way. The movie blurs the line between the evil and good because everyone is a victim and everyone is the perpetrator in this movie.
Yes I hated Xiao gaung, the main "bad guy" in the movie in the beginning but I also cried buckets for him and I also know that a lot of other people did too. Cuz the movie and the characters are THAT complex.
Most of the movies that talk about abuse goes like this - ML ( it's always a guy idk why ) finds about abuse, reports to police, fights the villian/s and happy ending but in reality it's not that simple. Abuse specially sexual is not that simple. It makes you feel that your body is tainted and can also turn you into a monster yourself ( although not always the case but it happens, I've seen it happen. )
The movie goes deep into the mind of the "mastermind", why is he like this ? Why is he a monster ? Are monsters born or made ? According to the movie, monsters are clearly MADE and I agree but what do you think ? Watch the movie and tell me do you think they deserve punishment ? Do you think this will ever stop ?
The movie is a masterpiece and although after reading this blog you may have gotten an idea of the whole plot and I basically told you what happened in the real life and you might be thinking that it's no use to watch the movie since you're already spoiled. Don't think so. Watch the movie right now! It's just so needed and awesome! It's not the plot of the movie that makes it amazing, it's the execution of it! So go watch it now !
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The way they upgraded the mystery with adding a few more plot points than the original was clever and well fitted. The movie is a slow-burn psychological mystery kinda movie. It has a lot of plot twists specially towards the end of the movie when there's a big reveal, due to the plot twists it's really hard for me to talk about it without spoiling it but I'm still trying my best haha.
Often I see that if a movie or a drama is a mystery and psychological, becuase of too many plot twists, they loose the essence of it being psychological and they focus less on the character's emotions and all but that was not the case here. The way both of the genres were blend in so perfectly is one of the things I loved about this movie.
The plot twists aren't super mind-blowing and aren't like "omg I never saw that coming!" Lol but they totally are good enough plot twist and the pace of the movie makes you curious as to what happened that Min had to kill himself. The pace of the mystery was done so well but they never forgot to address any of the character's emotions throughout the movie.Be it the mom or even the brother who are supposed to be 'evil' . They aren't labelled as evil or anything and has both good and bad qualities in them and has a precious and complicated relationship with min .
The movie also teaches us that in life there are plenty of good things and bad things and it's our choice if we want to look at the bright side of the things or the not so bright side. It tells us that happiness is a choice and we should value the precious things and people we have right now cuz life is like prize that'll go away just like a home stay, we should value it when we have it and it's such a beautiful message!
Another thing I loved about it is the amazing cinematography, specially whenever the guardian angel cake in front of the protagonist, something fantasy liked happened and the way they captured all those scenes were beautiful in my opinion. I think I've complimented the acting enough but let me tell y'all again, everyone in this movie is a terrific actor especially James!
Overall, it's a slow-burn but good paced mystery yet psychological movie that talks a lot about the topic of suicidal thoughts and all so do give it a watch if you are a fan of any of these things!
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But that's not the only reason. The drama offered much more than just a representation. It gave me humane characters who make mistakes and learn from them and becomes better. Most of the dramas I see where the protagonist has a mental illness or something is that they try their absolute hardest to make you feel bad for the character and make you think that our protagonist is an absolute angel with no flaws other than their illness . While the drama did introduced our protagonist as a person with VERY kind heart, it did not in any way possible showed us that he has no flaws other than his illness.
The drama introduced to us a normal humane character who's personality was not like an angel. He had his own flaws despite the fact that he has autism. Did he overcame them? You have to watch the series to know that haha but that's the point of the story! Every character is as normal as our protagonist, every character has as much as problems as our protagonist. The drama unlike other dramas of its same genre did not made the drama only for the sole purpose of the protagonist being autistic. They told us that a person with autism is as normal as a person who doesn't have it! And I think that's a beautiful way to portray autism.
Now let's talk about the characters, omg did I got attached to all of them ? The character that I found annoying in the beginning...well yes I started loving the heck out of her and that is what I call great character development! Like I said every character is humane. They all are just like us and that's another thing I love about this drama. You may get frustrated or annoyed at their decisions at some point but don't worry, they will definitely receive character development! The drama can be called a character-driven one cuz I was so immensely attached with the characters. I cried with them, I laughed with them, became angry with them. Basically did everything with them. I got super attached with their fictional life as if I'm loving in it and that's the power of this drama's simple yet beautiful script. It defines that simple things can be heartwarming and enjoyable plus it has some great dialogues that are probably forever gonna stay in my heart.
If you start talking about the acting then god I can't praise it enough. Everyone literally everyone is SO good. I am not a big fan of tor and have only seen him in hormones and even though he wasn't bad in that one, he didn't necessarily impressed me either. But this series. Goodness he has developed IMMENSELY. I was always aw-strucken by his performance of a person with autism. The little movement he did were so amazing and needed. Definitely has increased my respect for him as an actor!
As for sky, I didn't expected him to be that good when he's not the person playing gym. Usually in dramas like this, the people who are around the protagonist are either for supporting their illness for bullying them because of their illness so the actor's acting skills are rarely present to impress but my goodness he has done his role so brilliantly that I loved his acting as much as tor! The little movement his face did wheather it was crying or honestly any moment was so well done! He has improved very much from hormones too lol
The child actors of Gym and Dong are very brilliant too and all the others ones too! Honestly nobody disappointed me on the acting part! The music was surprisingly good enough and suited the series greatly.
Overall, this drama is a masterpiece in my opinion. If you want to watch a drama that'd make you cry, definitely watch this one! If you are not into sad dramas, avoid it since I've never met a person who didn't cried at this one.
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Although the main focus of the drama is about an old age man finally learning ballet, it doesn't only revolve on him. I feel like the best thing about this drama for me was that it paid attention to all of its characters, from the main ones to the supporting ones. It doesn't feel forced and just feel real and raw. Every character has their story of their own, own flaws and strengths and we see them grow. There's no antagonist. You're gonna shed tears for the Characters you hated in the beginning or atleast I did lol
I also love how the characters are connected to one another. Sure a quarter of them are family but the other relationships are formed very unusually. At first they want to use one another for their own benefit but gradually they start forming deep emotional bonds, a friendship that'd last forever. The relationships of every character with one another was truly amusing and a delight to watch!
Another thing I love about it is that the drama realistic portrays Korean households where old folks and house wives usually don't get to live their dreams and men of the house have to have a rich job. It shows the struggles of Korean society. The struggles of people from different age range. It addresses different social problems in such a subtle and beautiful way that it captured my heart.
We have a character who's finding her own dreams, a character who couldn't follow his dreams, hardships of being in a society where people demand you to be stable no matter what, the hardships of being a new mother and working woman , the hardships of not having a dream etc etc. I loved how the main theme of the drama is following your dreams and that it's never late to follow them but it also tells us that even if you don't have a dream, it's ok. Just live your life the way you want to and do what makes you happy.
The acting from everyone was just amazing from everyone. I haven't seen song Kang act before becuase of his choices in dramas ( he always chooses cringy rom-coms I don't watch lol ) but he definitely did a good job here! Other actors are simply incredible as always!
The OSTs were also good enough and I had no problem with the music.
I am not professional and I know nothing about ballet actually but the ballet they did in this drama was believable and beautiful in my eyes so I have no problem on that. So there you go, it's a 10/10 drama cuz I see no flaws and I loved it so much.
If you're wondering if you should watch it or not then let me help you out by breaking it down :
You should watch it if :
• You like dramas that make you cry
• You like character-driven dramas
• You like dramas that address social issues
• You like family-oriented and dramas with strong friendship
• if you wanna see some beautiful ballet
You shouldn't watch it if :
• You don't like dramas that make you cry
• You don't like slice of life dramas where there's not much action
• You want romance in your dramas cuz there's NO romance in this one
• if you ONLY want to see ballet cuz even though it has ballet scenes there's not much and there's more to the story
• If you don't want to watch stories with old people as main characters
Well I guess that's it. Thanks for reading my review if you did. If you I made you help decide if you should watch this masterpiece or not or if you just simply enjoyed reading my review, I'm more than glad!
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Ok first of all, let me talk about the things that I did liked in the show ; The acting was great. Both BK and PP did a better job in the acting department then what they did in ITSAY. You can clearly see their development. Oab and goy being the seniors in acting they are were obviously great. The other cast also did a good enough job, nothing ground breaking but I don't think their roles offered enough for them to show potential.
Another thing that I did liked about it was the amazing cinematography. The cinematographer is someone who's work I've seen before and I'm not surprised how she outdid herself in this show. The Wong Kar wai references touched my heart since I'm his fan and truly the cinematography is one of the best I've seen. The environment they created was brilliant. Thanks to the BG music the atmosphere was again built in the most perfect way possible. Although ITSAY' BGM would always be the best, this show's BGM was Definitely not disappointing.
Now that's all the good things about the show. Now the where the show failed is in its script and execution and for me, cinematography and BGM comes as a bonus. If they are not good they don't affect my feelings or rating or enjoyment about the show but if they are very good but the show in itself is crappy then again it doesn't change my feelings about the overall show. Even acting comes as second for me. I really don't mind crappy acting. The story and execution is what matters to me the most and that is why I didn't liked this show and this is not at all because what happened in episode 3 but the show in its entirety is badly executed.
Episode 1 was the best one and yet it still wasn't moving one. You know the show is going downhill when they start the show with the timeline showing its 2021 when the prequel's story started in 2021 and ended in 2022. It's a small mistake at first but these small mistakes are everywhere in this show and to think that this show was supposed to be the sequel of a drama like ITSAY where the smallest things holds deeper meaning and symbolism is disappointing. I know I shouldn't compare but I can't help but do it cuz it is supposed to be it's sequel so I have every right to compare.
Anyways, let's talk about the execution and story now. The dramas writers wanted to represent the struggles young adults face trying to fit in a complete new city and how people and relationshipe change. They also wanted to add the struggles of actors and theatre and they wanted to talk about method acting. They also wanted to talk about not knowing what to do with your life and questionaning if you do belong to the major you chose and they also wanted to talk about how the entertainment industry in Thailand is very rude and old minded and doesn't cast people cuz they are too "feminine" ( the only point they were able to address well btw ). AND they also wanted to explore how young adults have to make a choice between career and relationships. You see there were MANY things that they wanted to address but they had only 5 episodes to do so and so they failed. They couldn't deeply explore any of the issues which made the drama a disaster.
What's the point of watching a show if you HAVE to watch it's behind the scenes to understand what's happening ? And when the BTS documentary is much more interesting than the show itself!
It's not that they didn't had enough story or problems to make a sequel about but more like maybe they had so much pressure and less time and they half-baked the show and presented it to us. It's like the show copied its own prequel. Same story with same characters going in circles. But with ITSAY it made sense cuz both of them were dumb teen-agers who know nothing about life and are confused about their sexual orientation and so much more. It made sense and millions of people related with it. But in IPTYM it does not make sense. Both are them are in their 20s and they should be matured enough to understand atleast their own feelings. In the end of ITSAY we were shown that teh has got character development so what's the point of degrading his character after such awesome development ? To create drama ? I'm not saying that you can't be confused when you're in your 20s but why is always teh who's confused or does something dumb ? Why is it never oh-aew ? ITSAY was about teh's confusion so shouldn't IPTYM be about oh-aew's confusion ? Him being confused ? Him making dumb decisions ? Honestly I don't like oh-aew. Yeah I know he's an angel but that is the exact reason why I don't like him. His flaw is that he's flawless and I'm sorry but in a coming of age series the Characters are not supposed to be this perfect especially the main characters. Yeah they did addressed his issue of him being confused with his college major but that wasn't explored deeply at all. Again too many problems less time to execute them all properly, making them a mess. Also I don't think the writers understand that being confused or dumb when you're young is totally different than being toxic. There is a big difference and the writers are apparantly blind cuz they couldn't see it.
Now let's talk about the method acting theme. So first of all, the method acting was addressed in a PROMOTION Nadao did and the word or even the clue of it was never mentioned in the drama itself so there's no way they executed it properly. Plus who practices method acting with their director ? If they wanted to address that issue they should've done it with teh's co-actress. So again big failed on the execution.
Also let's talk about how the time-jumps made the story lose its essence so much. Ok I know a lot of people think that the time-jumps and fast paced story is to represent the fast paced life in Bangkok and I respect your opinion but NO. Just no. That just ain't it. And people are saying that we are not able to digest the story cuz our comfort characters changed but that's the tagline of the show so we should try to understand ... First of all, my main problem with the show that both teh and oh-aew DID NOT changed at all! When you're show's tagline is about my people changing, it should show that to both of the main characters are still dumb and probably more dumb compared to their teenage selves. I wanted to see them grow when all I got is them becoming dumber and dumber and characters being dumb was never a problem for me but when you're promised that the characters are gonna grow you expect that.
Also the editing was SO dramatic with slow-motion and all that it felt like a makjang. See ITSAY was also dramatic, I admit that but again the ITSAY's team executed it the most beautiful way possible whereas here it just feels like a makjang.
And don't get me started on how people think this show represents how "ADULT" life works. I'm sorry sweetie but just becuase you are an adult in a city does not mean everyone's gonna end up being in a toxic relationship. The show literally justifies being in a toxic relationship. No it romantices it and I'm a person with high moral compass who can't let that go. Yes people grow but how many second chances ? And you can not redeem what teh did in this season. You just cannot. I won't go further on that cuz I don't want to spoil.
So yes the show is utter rubbish to me cuz it failed big time in its execution. ITSAY's story was full of cliché tropes just like IPTYM but their execution is what made it great and just like that IPTYM had interesting and clever ideas but it failed on execution so it sucks. As a sequel it sucks more but if it wasn't a sequel I would've dropped it at episode 3 or wouldn't have started in the first place . I'm not gonna be "nice" with my ratings cuz I can rate how I want to and I'm not nice at all. 3 things I liked about the show so my rating is 3. That's it.
Like you know a show is bad when fan-fics about it and fan theories about it are more interesting than the show itself. They should've made the fans wrote the script at this point lol. See I like a show when it makes me think about what's gonna happen next or even after it ended I'm still thinking about it and analysing it . I like it when it makes me feel the same things as the characters even though I've never been in there place and ITSAY did that, that's why I loved but IPTYM, I couldn't care less about what's gonna happen next and just didn't care about anything. Teh-oh used to be my comfort characters but I couldn't care or feel anything about them. That just shows how much i didn't like it cuz I was just laughing at all the sad and even romantic moments, not becuase the acting was not realistic but the story was just like it came straight out of wattpad lmao Anyways, Thanks for reading my long review! If you're a fan of ITSAY like me , I suggest not watching this cuz for me IPTYM does not exist. My Phuket boy's story ended in ltip.
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But the drama has so much more. It primarily follows Nana, who has focused on her work so much that she cannot give time to romance or her own personal time and how she meets Kotaro who makes her love herself for who she is.
The reason why the romance in this drama is so dear to my heart is because it follows three couples and I love and root for them all because the drama gives the same perspective to love in all these 3 three couples. The feeling of being enough around each other. The feeling of being able to accept oneself around the person you love. Being able to laugh around one another. It portrays love as soon gente and tender. The love they shared made all 6 of them realise what they are, what they truly need. It's a beautiful story.
Another wonderful part this drama did well was the sisterhood and the family bond. It was so beautiful to watch. These amazing women trying to make a career and to find themselves through the support of their loved ones was too beautiful that it made me cry a lot of times.
Also, each episode consists of an OST segment which was a fun thing to add. My favourite ost is definitely Romantic by Sekai no Owari. It suits the drama well.
Overall, a new favourite! A must watch if you enjoy Japanese slice of life and it's got a stellar cast and mesmerizing writing.
Ps - ofc I'd give it a 9 lol
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honestly don't know how to praise it
but I'll still try my best to write my
opinion about it. So as the synopsis
says, it's a story about three people who
were connected to a man who died 95
days ago due to cancer. Those three
people are his wife, his son and his "male
lover". yeah that's right the guy was gay.
Now even though Taiwan is the most
acceptable asain country i knew that
there were homophobia still there. And
the movie highlights that homophobia.
As an Indian person, I really relate with
the movie. Not that I had a gay husband
or something I'm in highschool lol but
what I relate with was how the society
was portrayed. How the wife was
presurized to do some things so her
husband doesn't cheat on her. All just
feels home cuz I've seen these things
with my own eyes and it hurts to see how
backwards we are. The homophobia too.
Atleast they expected the fact he was
gay. Here they don't do even that. I know
I know it's a review about society and
all but that aspect of it was very real and I
loved that. BLs often sugarcoat the
reality. But this one didn't. Well I wouldn't
call it a BL . It's more like a movie with
feelings. It really touched my heart, made
me cry. Yeah I cried. Not much I don't cry
like a baby lol y'all know me. It's rare for
me to tear up after watching some thing
but this movie really made me cry. I felt
sad for the guy, the wife and the son and
the dude that died too even though he
was a little selfish in my opinion still. (
Sorry I don't remember their names lmao )
ok ok I don't wanna say more things. But
this movie really touched my heart. I
haven't watched a Taiwanese movie ever
and I'm really glad this is my first
taiwenese movie. I don't think I'll be able
to forget about this story. The acting was top-notch. It was just
perfect. Every thing was perfect.
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A little weird but amazing
Ok so lets go a little deep here. This is amodern version of a classic story
called " Frankenstein " i wouldn't call it a
remake or a copy cuz the story and all is
very much different but the theme is
pretty much same.
Now we all know who real Frankenstein
is right? The monster we all were afraid
of on our childhood. If you don't know
what I am talking about. let me explain it
to you all.
" Frankenstein " is the name of the classic
novel written by marry Shelley and is
like one of the most famous thing on earth
and has been remade but
Hollywood multiple time. It's story is
about a scientist named " Frankenstein "
who does an experiment and creates a
horrifying " creature" .
To make it more specific Frankenstein
took a dead body of a particular
person and did an experiment and the
dead person became alive and well he
looks so ugly so scary that every one is
scared of him and as he is a. " monster"
he tries to kill Frankenstein and
his family and all that horror stuff.
This is the story we all know. A classic
horror tale but what we don't
know that " Frankenstein" isn't a horror
tale at all. Atleast it wasn't originaly made
like that. The original novel written by
marry was very much different and deep
while the Hollywood ruined its story and
main message and made it a horror.
We all followed the Hollywood version
and made the creature made by
Frankenstein a "monster" but was he
really a monster? Originally
" Frankenstein " was written to tell the
world that appearance isn't everything.
It was about an irresponsible
university or a studying scientist that
doesn't have much experience but as
he is immature and so he creates a
scary looking creature. He looks so ugly
that you can't even look at him but his
heart is made of gold and is nicer than
humans.
That nameless creature was infact a
vegetarian! ( a dead person that got alive
ate vegetables isn't that nice?) He didn't
wanted to harm human at all. Infact he
wanted to be friends with them! As the
creature was so ugly which
Frankenstein didn't thought, he
abandoned the creature.
The creature then lives alone and
teaches himself to write, read and the
basic things about humans but humans
around him starts to get terrified of
him as he looks so ugly. Everyone hates
him and refuses to talk to him because
of his ugliness and so he doesn't get to
receive love.
He was a human in the heart. As the
human he also wanted love. The only
thing he ever wanted was love but he
didn't got it. As he wanted someone to
love him he went to his father
Frankenstein to ask him to make
someone ugly as him and a female and
so they will love each other and live at
an island and will never bother him
again .
His wishes were so little and yet
Frankenstein refused and so that
creature was forced by the hollow society
and that monster Frankenstein to
become a "monster ". The creature killed
Frankenstein and his family in the end
and also committed suicide as he
didn't wanted to harm any innocent
human.
The story ends there but the nameless
creature that had no fault at all was
punished and for decades is
considered a " monster" . The book's
message was just becuase someone is
ugly doesn't mean that the person is a
monster.
It pointed out how bad our society is.
The nameless creature is referred to
Frankenstein as his creator's name was
that but in fact his creator Frankenstein
was a monster cuz he was just so
irresponsible and immature and i hated
him the most.Sorry this is so
unrelated ?
But this story touched my heart and i
thought i should spread the message
more so i did? Ok so as Hollywood
ruined the message but japan took the
message and made this drama asking
" is Frankenstein a monster?" " is it ok if
we fall in love with a human or live in
human world" is it?
All these questions are answered in this
drama and honestly i loved this drama!
Although this drama is kinda sad but
overall its a cute sweet bitter love story
of a " monster" and a girl. Yes a bitter
sweet love story suits the drama the
best.
Sometimes you will laugh with the
characters sometimes you will cry and
sometimes you will feel anger
sometimes nervousness and just
every emotion! Its a story a monster
learning about humams but on the way
we , humans learn a lot about humans
too!
The whole message of the drama is
" heart's beauty is what that matters
and nothing more" and it proves that
well! You know what no matter how
weird Japanese dramas i watch at the
end I'm left speechless or empty. That
feeling i always get of wanting more.
Honestly i never want more from a
drama but these just left me you know
feel touched. The stories touch me.
Whether its about a stupid guy
turning into a genius or two different
time line lovers or this.
Yes i loved this drama a lot. It made me
laugh, angry, nervous and all that. Their
love story is absolutely beautiful.Yes it
is. Although the drama is little weird but
it's just beautiful. A must watch!
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This review may contain spoilers
A masterpiece
I love this drama frombottom of my heart and there are
multiple reasons for it. First reason
is that the story is awesome. One of
the I've ever seen in a drama. 2nd the
characters are well written. Like very
well writer. All of them are different
and have different traits and receive
character and potential development.
( you know what I mean lol ) Usually
a drama is either plot-driven or
character-driven. It's very rare to find
one which is both and this one is one
of those rare gems. Also, the drama
has a lot of sub-genres. The drama
never loses its suspense and mystery
and every episode has a plot-twist.
You'll always have to look at the
screen and I love that. The other
thing is that they showed mental
illness and you all already know that
I love every drama that talks about it
lol correctly of course. It was a
surprise to me when I found out
one character had DID but but I felt
very glad that they showed it in the
drama. Another thing is that the
drama talks about how the school's
system and society affects the
children and it also talks about social
issues when it's a fantasy drama and
that's just amazing. I love the BG music
and the lightning is just awesome!
The direction is incredibly good and
cinematography...AHH just every scene
is amazing. Overall I love this drama a
lot. And I can't wait for the season two.
Really I'm dying from waiting. The gifted
is a masterpiece. Period.
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I always find dramas like this interesting when one main character of ours works according only to their brain and the other only listens to the heart. I wanted that throughout this drama, not only the female protagonist changes but both of them start to understand each other and use a mixture of both ideologies cuz a job like a judge needs both heart and brain but that did not happened. I know saying a drama is not great becuase it did not followed the route I wanted it to is not really right but this is just my opinion so I'm saying it honestly.
I wanted the drama to go more deeper but it was like the usual investigation drama that tells you to follow ideologies all the time cuz the real world doesn't do that so it's drama's job to put all the idealism in it. Is that a bad thing ? Not at all but I don't agree with it. I like idealism but I like my dramas to be at least a little realistic. You have this formula of this ideal hero who's always right with no flaws but I think that's a flaw in its own atleast to me and we see him bickering with kuroki's character throughout the drama. Is it fun ? For sure at first but it gets boring after some episodes.
There's a new case for them to judge each episode. It follows the typical crime , investigation drama but it's interesting and entertaining enough for you to watch one episode weekly. Judges do all the investigation cuz apparantly police is lazy and useless lol Every episode has a bizarre question that has been asked by the male main character's nephew and in the end of the episode we get the heart-touching answer of it by the female main character.
If we talk about the acting then I have nothing but praises. Everybody did their job flawlessly as expected from the critically acclaimed cast!
I definitely won't rewatch it cuz I was already bored Sometimes in the first watch but that's just me plus I rarely rewatch stuff.
So overall, it's not really a bad drama cuz it was entertaining and fun but it was nothing groundbreaking or special. Do I recommend it ?
Hell yeah if you wanna be just entertained trying to solve investigations with judges but if you want something special out of ordinary drama that'd touch your soul, this one isn't for you.
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• If you like family dramas : The drama is totally based on a huge ass Chinese family that follows the rules of patriarchy. The drama talks about how having a family is important to an individual and how family is still family no matter what and it'll always help you in your tough times. It's really a family-oriented drama so if you like those then this one is for you.
• If you like feminist things : As I said above it's about a Chinese family that follows the system of patriarchy. So, the drama tries to break that and tries to tell it's audience and the close-minded people in the drama that women CAN become the successor of a company and they CAN handle a company as brilliantly or maybe even more than a man. The drama tries to spread ideas of feminism throughout so if you are into that watch this.
• If you like mystery dramas : It's a very good mystery drama! As you might've read in the plot, the drama revolves around the murder mystery of the family's son. It's a big family and everybody had a motive to kill him lmao it really makes you wonder who is the killer throughout the show! Truly a hidden gem for murder mystery fans.
Why you should not watch this drama :
• If you don't like slow-paced stuff : I've seen people complain that the drama is super slow and all that and although for me, it wasn't slow at all but maybe that's because I was very involved in characters life that I didn't really cared or idk so like if you can't handle slow-paced stuff, it's better not to watch haha
• If you want romance or cute scenes : The drama is not at all romantic and it has little to none cute scenes so better not watch it if you are looking for a drama with that stuff!
• If you have a problem remembering names or too many characters : It has a big family and you WILL have to remember the names and relations of all the characters to understand the storyline. It'll be confusing at first and I did so I think many others would be able to do it too and like they explained it pretty well in the first episode, in fact the first episode was all about the introduction and stuff lol but yeah if you are not stuff where you'll have to remember so much, it's better not to watch hehe
• If you can't tolerate lacking acting from ANYONE : I'm not saying the acting is bad. The drama has a lot of characters like I said above so obviously it needs a lot of actors too. Most of the actors are amazing! But there are few only a few whose acting felt flat to me so yeah.
I hope I helped you decide if you should watch it or not ! Enjoy! Thanks for reading!
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Best portrayal of depression in an asain drama
This drama has the best example ofa depressed person I've ever seen
till now. Like I haven't seen a
depressed person is real life so I
can't say but after reading some
books and articles online and in real
life I got an idea of it. I'm so glad
this drama exists, even though it's
underrated af but I'm thankful to the
producers to make this kind of
drama cuz it really was needed.
Now for those who don't know about
it. The drama focuses one a high
school teen named boo who's
suffering from depression for quite
a long time. He does not know what
to do so he Google research like
any teenager and finds out that he
has symptoms of depression and so
he immediately told his father about
but his father said " it's just
SADNESS, you'll get over it. Focus
on your studies" after hearing that
boo knew that he ain't getting help
from anybody and he also tries to do
suicide but one thing stopped him -
his skateboard. One day, he stole a
skateboard from a guy name Simon
and now he loves to skate. It's the
only thing in his life that makes him
happy. The drama is his journey of
how he dealt with his depression
with the help of his friends and
family. The way they executed the
story was brilliant. I loved the
cinematography of it. I know it has
nothing to do with the psychological
genre but the colour of the drama
was of neon. They always used
neon colour or red and green which
really was amazing cuz that created
the atmosphere matching with the
storyline. The acting of every actor
was so good. Specially James and
Simon's actor. They really did an
mind-blowing performance. The
other actors were good too but
these two were just incredibly
amazing. It really felt like a drama
about a depressed person when the
colours were all neon. Boo's journey
was showed amazingly. I loved the
psychiatrist character's portrayal
and how she was an intern and
hence she had more feelings for
boo. Simon was an amusing
character and I loved him for that.
I loved how they showed that his
friends and his dad slowly started
to accept the fact that he's
depressed and slowly started to
understand his situation. It wasn't
quick and it wasn't that they were
not trying to but they took time as
a normal person would. I loved
every character's development and
how in the end they gave us a
beautiful message, you don't need
a beautiful reason to live, being
alive is beautiful in its own.
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A masterpiece
I honestly have no idea how should I express my feelings about this drama. In one word ; it's a ???????????. So like basically, the drama talks about social problems, specially social problems faced by Japanese people or asain married people so I think you need to have a little understanding about Japan's culture or atleast Asia's culture to understand this drama.Anyways, as an Asian myself, I related with this drama 100% . I'm not a mom myself but I've heard my own mom talk about stuff like that with her neighbours and it's a normal thing but the problem is IT SHOULD NOT BE NORMAL.
The problem with asia is that we have ALWAYS told everyone that a mother is a goddess. She's always right , she can't be wrong. She's a superwoman, she can't make mistakes. She's just Perfect. Some people even say that a mother is a total different type of species. So we grow up believing that. But the truth is all of the things said above is NONSENSE.
A mother is a human being herself and it's hard for her to take care of a child when her husband ain't even supporting rather calls her a "bad mother" , when her mother-in-law forces her to make her child stay at their home cuz apparantly she's not good at baby sitting. Yes they WORRY about the mother and the child but it's just wrong. A lot of people don't take PPD ( Postpatrum depression ) seriously.
They think it's normal becuase it happens to mostly every mother and yes it does but just becuase something occurs most of the time doesn't make it good or "normal" or great to ignore. All the mothers I know in my neighborhood or in my family, they always take care of the child while the father is away "working" doesn't come home after 10 or 11 pm at night, doesn't help the mother cuz that's her job .
If she's bad at it then scold her. Not does the mother has to take care of the child but she has to take care of the husband too cuz he's a child himself. Till the day my mother gives water to my father cuz apparantly he can't take water for himself. When I was little my father didn't even loved in our house cuz he had to "work" so we can live. Society always pressurize the mother to be the superwoman mother and work is just out of the case.
If you want to work then you have to take care of the child too cuz even though you do the same "hard" work as your husband you still have to be the superwoman and your husband will still not help you and he will still criticize you for being a bad mother. That's why a lot of women prefer to be a housewife only.
The husband is always considered an "ideal husband" becuase he "allows" the woman to work, is kind, brings enough money to the table and does not have an affair . Such obvious things make the husband a great Husband. You must be thinking that I'm lying cuz it's the 2020 and that petty things still happens ?? Well yes they do happen! Atleast in front me.
I've always grown up seeing this in my neighbor's houses and I think in most of the Asia this is the case and no one talks about it. No one! And it's amazing how greatly and deeply this 6 episode drama has talked about this taboo topic. Basically the drama dwells deep into the psychology of women and men in Japan and I think a lot of asain people can relate to that.
The drama doesn't tell you what's right or wrong. It tells you two different perspective and YOU have to decide what right or wrong for you. It talks about such social topics that basically everyone faces but doesn't talks about. It's frustrating to watch yet still beautifully done.
It's not for those people who watch dramas for peace or an escape from harsh reality. Instead it's for those people who love dramas that talks about social problems and mental illness, like me. I tried SO hard to find a fault in this drama since I don't let myself give a drama 10/10 rating much but I just couldn't find a fault in it. The drama is just, everything in it is just perfect for me . Straight 10/10! I highly recommend it!!!
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Touched my soul
First let's discuss about the name of thedrama. The world between us is a
poorly translated name. The good
translation of the name is " the
difference between us and evil" and I
think that is such a thoughtful name cuz
it really suits the drama. The drama
indirectly talks about how we should
not give in to our evil side. Every one
has a evil side and a good side and that
we should listen to to the good side not
like the killer two years ago, who gave
in to his bad side and chased so many
problems. The drama is like
contradicting the difference between
the murderer and his victims and how a
lot of murderer are themselves victims
and how many people become the
victims of social media and media. It's
just a great representation of that and
the name suits so much. You'd
understand if you watch the drama.
Also did I mention that I love this drama?
Like really really love it! Lol ok so on a
serious note, as I mentioned before this
drama is a serious one. Like really
serious one. It doesn’t have any kind of
romance so if you want one please
watch something else. This drama is
about the lives of the victim and their
families and murderer’s family and the
struggles they have to face, the
struggles people with mental illness
have to face, how the media shows only
bad things about mentally ill people and
a very important question; should we
forgive a killer just because he has
mental illness?
The drama shows how hard it is to live
in Taiwan if your son is a killer. I just
don’t understand. What is their fault if
their kid became a killer? What is their
fault if their kid was mentally ill? They
didn’t wanted him to be a killer! As the
mother said in the drama “no parent
would raise their child for 20 years just
to make him a killer”. I know that
parents are supposed to teach their
kids manners and all but I don’t think
its their fault that their child chose to
be a killer. They raised him like a
normal child so why do they have to
face all the hate that they get from the
media, the people and the victim’s
family. I can understand that the
victim families resent them but why
do people bully them and make it for
them to live? Like its so unfair and the
worst part about it is this happens in
real life too. I can’t say about every
country or every case but this has had
happened in real life too and its sick
how people blame the parents if the
child did something wrong. I am really
glad that the drama decided to show
us their feelings, their emotions, how
they never ever wanted their child to be
like this and how much regret they
have. Every day they try to over-analyze
and wonder what they did wrong in
raising their child and what they should
have done. The sister too wonders how
her brother was just like a normal kid
at first and how he changed after that
and how she could’ve stopped him
from doing such a sin. All those
feelings they showed us. It made me
cry so like prepare your tissues lol
The other thing they is show how much
pain a mother feels when she loose her
child, the regret, the resentment and
the sorrow. The pain of not being able
to let go of the past. The drama shows
her emotions very well.
Another thing the drama showed which
is major thing this drama is the life
about mentally ill people and how hard
it is for them to live in this society.
Especially because the media portrays
them us killer and us public simply
believes them and starts to hate on
them but the truth us far away from
that. Not every mentally ill person is a
killer. According to me and this drama
they are strong and brave people who
are able to live even though it is so
hard. They are truly inspiring and yet
media label them as bad people. The
drama talked about this issue in detail.
As how if media stops making them
the villain then it would probably be
nice and that if the government and us
people try to understand them how
better the world would become. How
we should try to understand them cuz
they deserve it guys… they truly do.
This is one of the few drama I’ve seen
that has shown mental illness and
schizophornia so correctly. For the
people who don’t know what
schizophornia is, let me explain.
Schizophornia is of different types and
people with this disease has split mind
and can't differentiate between the
reality and the imagination inside their
head. In simple language, the people
who have schizophornia hears voices
inside their head that aren’t real and
often times they tell them bad things
like “you are useless” and “ you should
die”etc etc… they get hallucinations too
so a lot of people think that they are
talking to ghosts which isn’t true. It is
hard to explain the disease through
words but the disease is really scary.
You can click Here to get more
information, I got it from here too.
So I hope you have the slightest idea of
how scary schizophornia is and the
chances of getting cured are very less.
Wang she in the drama really explained
it well ( no wonder he is my twin lol )
but I don’t wanna spoil it for you guys
so watch it for yourself. The drama
represented the disease so well.
Honestly the drama is a whole package
of things I wanted the world, normal
people to know. Most of the normal
people treat mentally ill people like
trash and gets scared of them. The
drama in depth explains how they
should be treated by us and how mental
illness shouldn’t be a taboo it is,
specially in asia.
Now the last question
: should we forgive a killer just
because he/ she is mentally ill?
Personally, I think no. no matter what the
situation is I think a crime is a crime
and he/she should not be forgiven no
matter what but… as wang she in the
drama said, giving punishment or
putting a mentally ill person in jail is
useless. A jail is a place for people who
have done crimes, it’s a place to make
them a better person but how just how
can a mentally ill person become better
when he/she doesn’t even realizes they
have done a crime! Their life would be
the same inside/outside the prison. The
main difference is that if they received
better treatment, they can be cured,
once they are cured put them in jail! No
objection from me and wang she but
like putting a sick person in jail is just
pointless. Of course that is entirely my
opinion and we can have different
opinions. As in the drama, song quoa
an said in the drama “ I wanna forgive
you but I can’t, I just can’t, I am so sorry
I am not that noble” yep that’s me. So
the answer is that a killer shouldn’t be
forgiven no matter what. ( that's my and
only my opinion )
Overall the drama is one of the best I’ve
seen. Yes its depressing but please do
watch it cuz the life lesson it gives are
amazing. I love this drama 10000!!!
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