Dumb Title, Decent drama

The premise of the story was pretty standard. The acting was decent. The music wasn't annoying and production was okay too. I watched this because of Dori Sakurada and he didn't disappoint. I liked Yoko Kita as Reiko Usami.

DISLIKES:
I really didn't like the FL until the very last episode.
Although adultery is a crime, the title didn't fit the drama.
Too many episodes of rehashing the same stuff, just to give us FL's point of view and then ML's point of view. Because of this, it just dragged on, where as they could've shown POV from FL & ML within maximum 2 episodes if that. POV wasn't needed, as it was pretty obvious anyway.

OVERALL:
It was an okay watch, some mature content, but nothing as some of Dori's roles in the past [for example Scum's Wish]. I wont rewatch it, but if someone does a clip compilation of just Dori's parts, without the POV, I'd watch that. 5.5/10 because the FL was good at her job and for once that was refreshing to see and because Dori was great.

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Good Start to Car Racing Movies

If you have never watched any car racing/street racing movies, this is a decent one to start with. The cast did well with acting. The story was interesting enough; mysteriousness mixed in with superstition. Beautiful cars and city scape. Good camera work, especially showing what the drivers' feet did and shifting of gears, when racing.

However they tried to make the Blue Z car like Steven King's Christine (the DEVIL aspect) and failed. Also the green screens used for just driving down the street, not the racing portion, were super noticeable. Leaving the parking lot and even some of the street racing, they just sped up the film and it looked extra cheesy. Decent FX at the end of the movie, but the wounds of the young driver looked like ketchup. Adding the Female teacher wasn't needed and could've been left out completely. The music often didn't fit with the scene, I ended up muting some of it.

It's an action movie, so I didn't expect any character growth or serious development. It was fun enough and great car engine sounds. Maybe this movie inspired some of the Fast and Furious franchise movies.

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Good Friendship Show with Great Cast.

I enjoyed this drama, because of its relatability to real life. Each episode's story was good and had connectivity. I'm a fan of Yamashita and I liked Karina in this too. The ending showed some character growth and was satisfactorily concluded.

The title didn't fit to the story and they tried to explain it when Asahi is talking about the summer. It should've been called Promises. LOL. I don't mind a slow build to romance, if the chemistry is shown or at least hinted at in a more obvious way; burning looks, accidental moments, touches, closeness, things like that. Or even if we were given some good kiss scenes, hinting at the chemistry. None of the couples really had that, including the owners of the cafe and restaurant on the beach. Their chemistry was on level of middle school kids and not adults. [Even in real life, if a guy or girl is as unreceptive or cold as these couples, we loose interest and move on.] The writing just wasn't strong enough beyond friendship and life trials. I would've given it a higher rating if the romance part of it was stronger.

A little too much time was spent on the teen romance, which wasn't even needed. The "Ricky" character and everything involved with him, was just dumb and felt like useless filler, when it could have been used on the ML 1 and FL2 (Asahi and Natsuki). Also the billboard part was too drawn out and repetitive; like they were beating us over the head with it. Twice was enough to make us understand Asahi's dependancy on remembering promises.

The production was good for the most part and the scenery was nice too. The music was decent, but nothing really memorable, at least I didn't have to mute it like in a lot of other dramas. There wasn't any FX that I can remember. Overall a solid 6.5/10, but I doubt I'll rewatch all of it.

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Good Story and worth the time.

All the characters did well with their acting. Great performance by Sano Hayato as Kota. The story was bitter sweet and predictable, but I love cherry blossoms and like that magical connection between past-present-future that was presented. Everything was well concluded at the end, so it was satisfying in terms of storylines.

What kept it from being a 10/10 was how they wrote the FL character Mei. I felt myself thinking she's a moron and was constantly waisting time. My mom died before xmas of 2021 and if I had a chance to meet her again, even in my dreams, I would be hugging her and telling her how much I missed her! I didn't like how Mei and Kota spent so much time avoiding their true feelings. Maybe in the first or send episode, but all the way through, it just felt ridiculous.

Overall it's a good watch, great production with decent FX and music. Worthy of a rewatch too.

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Not As Good As Season 1

I never read the Manga, but I did watch Season 1. Miura Haruma, Narimiya Hiroki and Satoh Takeru gave fantastic performances. The music was okay, but could've been better for adding suspense to some scenes. The story concept was good, but the writing and execution had too many holes. The Hornet vs The Falcon wasn't as intense as it should've been. There was enough suspense and action to keep me interested and watching all the way to the end.

However, like many other Japanese dramas/thrillers the production is not good and the director is lacking. Throughout the season no camera stabilizer was used, so the film is shaky and took away from the watchability of the show. It gave me a migraine, it was that bad. It didn't matter if the camera zoomed in or was out , the whole thing shook like a person who had too many Red Bulls or Coffee. Also there were scenes where the evil doer was trying to be all stealthy, but they didn't use a silencer on the gun? That's just stupid and amateurish. Also bad directing is that guns were pointed way to close to the other person's face. The point of using a gun instead of a knife, is so you can kill from a distance. Either you are a terrible shot or you've never used a gun. This all should've been caught by the director. With such great actors, these mistakes kept the show from hitting a higher overall score, hence 6/10.

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Quick Watch but Good

Because the episodes were so short and only 10 of them, it just started to get really good and then ended. It makes you want more. The FL was well cast, her acting was perfect. Baek Jae Woo cast as Kang Ji Han played his part really well too. As usual we hate the teacher and the parents, because of how they treat the kids. I would have liked for them to show the effect of their project of 'flipping the school upside down' and what the fall out of that was. That moment seemed to be left on the editor's chopping floor. Hopefully they will give a season 2. or a short movie as follow up.

Music, production, acting were all great. The writing could've been better in some ways, but still acceptable and held the viewer's interest, with a satisfactory ending. I would rewatch it, especially since it's so quick. A solid 7/10!

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Disappointing and Too Long

This had potential and fell completely flat. The writers failed. The story of a female programmer trying to make it in an all male code programming company was sometimes ridiculous. I had hopes that the FL would be shown as having not just a strong personality but intelligence too. The ML was supposed to be similar, but with some emotional past issues. This story line has been done before and much better. When the FL was dressing like a male, why keep the makeup so female and not even in the femboi category; mascara and eyeliner. They didn't even try to make the male part believable. Then later in the story the ML is supposed to be some super smart guy, but he doesn't even catch on to the female antagonist's tricks. Also the sister of the ML is so idiotic that mid way through this drama I had to fast forward or mute her parts. She showed no character growth, even in the end. Same with the FL's best friend; annoying and written like a moron. The parents of the FL were exceptionally annoying too, they were written terribly (supposed to be protective of their daughter, but was borderline verbally abusive). Her parents should've been supportive at least by the middle of the drama. I fast forwarded their parts too, because of how much they contradicted themselves. The theme music made me mute it all the time.

I did like the message of how females can conquer a male dominated industry, like code programming. The ML's best friend (Chen Yi Ming -actor: Yi Da Qian) was one of the characters I liked, until the end. The cinematography and locations were very well done, (with the exception of the in car green screens for the windows).

Overall the story is old fluff, that wasn't well executed. I wont be watching it again. 5/10

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Great Conclusion to the Series, Awesome Fight scenes

I have loved all the Rurouni Kenshin movies. The scenery locations, sets, clothing, makeup, etc. was all fantastic. The fight scenes were phenomenal as always. Favourite fight sequences were those with Mackenyu Arata's character. Both Takeru Satoh and Mackenyu were awesome in The Final. [I would love a spin off movie with Mackenyu's character.] The other actors/actresses that we saw in the other movies, came back for their rolls and they were all great too. Some new ones, as expected and everyone gave their best performances.

The only reason this movie didn't get a 10/10 from me is because: 1) there were re-caps/memories from one of the previous movies, that seemed too long, 2) Karou and Kenshin's partnership lacked growth and romance and 3) I wanted more screen time for Mackenyu's character.

I have rewatched this so many times, that I have bought the entire series (DVD set)!

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Great Fight Scenes

I read the manga after watching this show. The fight scenes were very realistic and so were the FX (bruises and knuckle damage, blood, etc.). The acting was awesome and believable. I've rewatched the fight scenes a few times! Good story, great production, appropriate music, well done all around.

There was a touch of female interaction, which could've been left out or should've had a little more. I hated the ending, because it felt like they were going to give us more seasons and yet we got nothing. For these two reasons it only gets an 8/10.

If you like fight scenes it's worth the rewatch!

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Some dark content but worth the watch

Everyone did a great job with their acting. You could actually feel the chemistry between Mackenyu as the dancer Masaaki and FL [Yuuko] Nana (maybe that's because they've been in other dramas together). Their kiss scene with the gyoza was hot (and I was happy to see Nana knows how to kiss). Sure his character was a super big jerk, but it forced her to mature too.

This drama is on the darker side for how FL is treated, however I did like the ending (once it got past the boring drawn out part). The OST was not annoying, but nothing special and nothing stood out for the visual effects. It dragged on in some parts, which is why it's only an 8/10, but it is rewatch worthy!

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Too Cute

I got sick of hearing the word "cute" as it was over used in this drama. Also having the FL constantly call the ML by his last name was dumb, by Episode 2, especially when they are alone. Sakurada Dori did the best he could in the role of Hiroto, but there was no chemistry with FL (Fukuhara Haruka) Risa. However she was better in this drama than in Good Morning Call. Drama's like this that have the FL as extremely incompetent and clueless, take away from the overall watchability. They could've had her learning self defence with Yuki or something. I felt more chemistry between Hiroto and Yuki, lol. And Risa had more chemistry with Tsubasa (Ogoe Yuki). The FL's childhood friend was under utilized and fell flat. I rate it 6.5/10 overall. It's a good watch for someone just starting to watch Japanese dramas. To be cheesie: The Vanilla overpowered the Coffee.

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Gentle Romance

The story is the typical j-drama romance formula. From the start we know that the female lead is terminally ill, so we can figure out the ending easily. It’s a simple storyline and focuses on the innocent romance. In some parts of the movie it moves very slowly and I think they could have used that time instead to show more of the dates that Yusuke and Miyuki go on, to help establish their relationship more. It felt abrupt at how the trip to Finland for them both occurred. Given the limited script they were given Hiroomi Tosaka and Ayami Nakajo to a great job of creating chemistry. But to really create the warmth of love, I felt that was lacking, with no fault of the actor and actress. The scenery of Finland and the Northern Lights are beautiful. I liked the moments with Yusuke’s family (brother and sister), and how his glass making was tied into the whole storyline too. There was so much potential within the storyline, but it fell a little short. There could’ve been more emphasis on her illness and how she hid it from him, so that the ending had more dramatic impact. Overall, I still enjoyed it.

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Overrated and Disappointing

LIKES:
FX:
decent amount of realism to scratches and wounds.
CAST:
well chosen, great acting from ML Park Ji Hoon and Choi Hyun Wook. Liked Shin Seung Ho in this role, as Seok-Dae.
Cinematography, locations and sets were well done.
Female presence not really doing much in terms of romance, but provided some addition to storyline.
DIRECTOR:
some of the fight scenes were okay, but could’ve had better choreography.
MUSIC:
was appropriate for the scenes and theme song not overly played.

DISLIKES:
FX:
bruised and damaged knuckles from punching was overlooked. CGI/green screen used during car driving scenes was very bad, so noticeable.
WRITING:
Adult abuse never had consequences; the father got away with everything & nothing got concluded about it. They should’ve just left it out, because it was over the top violent.
No character growth for anyone, except maybe the one “bad guy” played by actor Shin Seung Ho .
Conclusion felt rushed and incomplete, almost like there were more episodes needed.
They could’ve left out the female friend part, because she had little under developed reason to stay with the main leads. Similarly the writer didn’t conclude the fentanyl issue.
Typical tropes and cliches used, which made it a bit boring and overly predictable.
No explanation why Beom-Seok did what he did and that is totally lazy writing.
The main character Shi-Eun in the end didn’t use his brain as his character was described or made to use in beginning, it was more brainless braun. It felt like the writer didn’t know how to create the ending with that foundation still intact.
The important characters, main leads, Soo-ho & Shi-Eun had no backstory, which could’ve been done with short flashbacks, while too much of it was given for Beom-Seok.
The reason for the three friends to spit up was badly executed.
Too much violence used for the abuse inflicted by the father (the kid would’ve been hospitalized, instead of showing up to school the next day).
PRODUCTION:
shaky camera syndrome and the fight scenes had too many camera angles and zoom in parts. No truly good fight scenes, like in TONG: Memories (2016), which had a similar concept. Pacing issues for everything other than the fights.


OVERALL:
This was VERY overrated. The good acting and music, couldn’t save it from bad writing and execution.
Recommend TONG: Memories or Bokutachi ga Yarimashita (Fugitive Boys/We Did It) or Age of Rebellion (2018), instead of watching this mess. No fight scenes were so good I would rewatch it. I don’t recommend this show, but might read the manga to see if it’s better. If they do come out with a second season, depending on the cast, I check it out, but with VERY low expectations.

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