HomeScreen Alchemist

You're welcome.
No, there's nothing to the explicit extent in terms of visualization. The only "trigger warning" is the potential "emotional disturbance" due to the nature of the content brought by this drama.

FYI. Kageyama Yuka also plays a support role in "Scandal Eve", and Narumi Yui plays in "Miss King". These 2 dramas are my Top 2 for 2025, and both are must-watch if you like darker atmosphere like Synanthrope. Yamagishi Santa, the director of Synanthrope is also the screenwriter/director of Miss King.

I wrote in-depth reviews for both of them (no spoilers). Check them out.
Scandal Eve (9.5/10):
https://mydramalist.com/profile/HomeScreenAlchemist/review/521994
Miss King (9/10):
https://mydramalist.com/profile/HomeScreenAlchemist/review/511812

Just finished watching the final episode. Wow! I'm moved by it.
For me this is pretty much 2025's best serial drama, followed by Miss King at #2, then Hirayasumi at #3.

After watching the final episode, I had to revise the rating to 9.5/10 on my review (originally 9/10 after 5 episodes, when the review was written). I did not use AI to write the review, so if you want to read any heartfelt & honest review, feel free to check that out (no spoilers).
https://mydramalist.com/profile/HomeScreenAlchemist/review/521994

Thank you! 🙏

6.5/10
Trying so hard to "look cool" by mixing Gen-Z style romantic-comedy with thriller/mystery genre. Not that mix-genre is bad, only here it doesn't seem to work.

Some characters are also seem to be a second-thought late-addition, for example the Kanna character played by Yui Narumi. She's an excellent actress but here her role is way under-used and her scenes are just pretty much "forced". They don't add to the story at all. There are so many "filler scenes" just to make time, long conversations that are unnecessary & don't add to the actual plot. That's the main problem. Maybe the TV station wanted to have 12 episodes (to get more income from commercial spots) while in reality this whole thing can be condensed into 8.

The good score is because they have some good casts. Anna Yamada and Yui Narumi are especially great for their acting, and they have attractive aura too. Overall directing by Yamagishi Santa is also good.

Great movie about self-discovery and realization to life itself.

Fully agree with you. I just posted the review of Scandal Eve, check it out [no spoiler].
I rate this 9.5/10.

This movie was released way before the terms "Mandela Effect", "Glitch in the Matrix" and "Timeline Shift" became popular. It's great to watch it right now when many people right now are experiencing a pretty much similar phenomenon, although mostly in milder sense.

Rena (kanji: 玲奈) is often interpreted as "beautiful like a jewel" or "the sound of jewels," symbolizing grace and purity. ❤️

I'd go hard on him but only at a certain level (because he's too "privileged" to ever get a main lead role without having enough acting talent/ability and experience to support him). But my main frustration & disgust is aimed at the AMUSE agency. They're the one who ruined this drama. Maybe because they have the publishing rights of the original manga. Then they decided to use this drama mainly as a promo tool for their Timeloss boyband/idol group thing and most likely they kinda forced the Masaki guy to do the main role (that he didn't even feel excited to do).

Where is she now??

Just watched episode 4 so far, and wow it was really good! I have a feeling they are based on true/actual stories (that cannot be exposed because the talents are still active in the industry) that had to be "fictionalized" to some degree. Kawaguchi Haruna's role here as Hirata Kanade is still very much a lovable sweet character too, although presented in a different angle.

Need to see more of Mitsushima Nazuna (who played the role of Akari-chan) in more dramas & movie. She's naturally cute 😍 and her acting is also really good. She can act with nuance in facial expression. Very talented!

There's nothing wrong with Riho Yoshioka. She has won numerous awards for her acting. Most people prefer to watch a better actress, because a movie is live, so acting matters.

As a fan of both Aju Makita & Yuri Tsunematsu, I'm looking forward to this.

I'd recommend Scandal Eve (another Abema TV original, currently airing on Netflix). It's really dark, intense & serious. Not for everyone, but worth a try.

This is an atypical horror movie with some obvious gnostic, esoteric understanding of reality thrown in (Life is an illusion, we live in an inverted version of the illusion where suffering & sacrifices are "needed" to maintain that illusion, etc.). Many Japanese manga & anime movies are deep into that theme, and they are more embraced and understood by the readers, watchers & fans of that genre. But in horror genre, I guess not so much. Those who normally watch horror genre are for the scares and thrills, and not quite interested in finding the allegorical meaning in the story or anything.

My miso soup tastes different after I watched this. 😕

Naturally kawaii!! 😍
Watching her in the drama Hirayasumi.

Yes. Judging from the various open locations, etc. this seems to have a large budget for the production, it's certainly larger than Miss King & many other "normal" dramas. So Abema has to have a "mission" to spread the awareness & message to a large number of audience through this drama. It's crazy to think otherwise. They also screened the first 2 episodes at Tokyo International Film Festival.