People who have never seen an asian series or movie in their lives, will watch this and enjoy it!
First of all, I really like Japanese series in general so I was quite excited when this was announced by Netflix. Why? First and foremost, because it is based on a manga that is mainly focused on death games (and we all know how good the Japanese are in this kind of themes) and secondly because of the budget.
One of the main things that people get to complain about, is the low budget that most Japanese series have. Many Jdoramas are character-driven stories, with dark cinematography and the absence of flashy clothes, homes or buildings in comparison with Kdramas. I personally don't really care about the low budget, since it adds realism to most of their series, but with this one it was different.
This is the kind of series that needs a good CGI and a very high budget. Many other Japanese series and movies could have been very famous if the production value was higher (Signal 100, Class 3A - All of You Are Hostages From Now On). And let me tell you that the production in this one is top notch. The directing is very well done and the music, even though not very memorable, adds to the suspense.
As for the plot, this is an ideal series for people who like death games. It is quite suspenseful, especially in the first challenges and the fact that the viewer tries to solve them together with the protagonists adds to the excitement. The characters are very unique and some of them stand out more than others (Chishiya and Kuina I am looking at you).
As for the portrayal from the actors I have a lot of things to say. Firstly, the majority of them were very good. Machida Keita was amazing and so was Asahina Aya. Secondly I want to apologize to Nijiro Murakami, because after watching him in Aogeba Toutoshi, I was very disappointed that he was going to play such an interesting character in this series. Not only he wasn't bad, but he was also the show stealer with his performance. Lastly, I will probably get killed because of this, but Yamazaki Kento was not as impressive as I expected him to be. He wasn't bad, but I felt like he was overacting at some points. Even though he might have wanted to give life to the manga by doing this, it felt very forced since all the other actors were very natural.
Give it a chance!
One of the main things that people get to complain about, is the low budget that most Japanese series have. Many Jdoramas are character-driven stories, with dark cinematography and the absence of flashy clothes, homes or buildings in comparison with Kdramas. I personally don't really care about the low budget, since it adds realism to most of their series, but with this one it was different.
This is the kind of series that needs a good CGI and a very high budget. Many other Japanese series and movies could have been very famous if the production value was higher (Signal 100, Class 3A - All of You Are Hostages From Now On). And let me tell you that the production in this one is top notch. The directing is very well done and the music, even though not very memorable, adds to the suspense.
As for the plot, this is an ideal series for people who like death games. It is quite suspenseful, especially in the first challenges and the fact that the viewer tries to solve them together with the protagonists adds to the excitement. The characters are very unique and some of them stand out more than others (Chishiya and Kuina I am looking at you).
As for the portrayal from the actors I have a lot of things to say. Firstly, the majority of them were very good. Machida Keita was amazing and so was Asahina Aya. Secondly I want to apologize to Nijiro Murakami, because after watching him in Aogeba Toutoshi, I was very disappointed that he was going to play such an interesting character in this series. Not only he wasn't bad, but he was also the show stealer with his performance. Lastly, I will probably get killed because of this, but Yamazaki Kento was not as impressive as I expected him to be. He wasn't bad, but I felt like he was overacting at some points. Even though he might have wanted to give life to the manga by doing this, it felt very forced since all the other actors were very natural.
Give it a chance!
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