I enjoyed binging it. It's not great by any means but it's one of those dozens of period/fantasy dramas I can get through no problem. Cookie cutter drama in many ways but nothing wrong with that if you enjoy the themes.
I think the only downside from my perspective (as someone who loves costume dramas) is that it had the potential for a great story with Li Xuan and his origins but that was squandered. The story was okay. As others have mentioned below me there definitely are some plot holes so that might grate on you.
It's an ensemble cast but I couldn't understand the acting by the female lead. I had no idea what emotion she was trying to portray in many of the scenes.
A ton of action, gunfire and then hand to hand fights. They killed off some characters which surprised me. A lot of twists throughout.
This is far from a masterpiece but I somehow made it through to the end.
Like most Japanese TV it's based on absurdity and would have played better as a movie. 10 episodes feels long even with it being a comedy. It's alright mainly because Yuko Araki is amazing.
I liked the theme song. The show is okay but it felt like highschool drama in a strange setting for a highschool drama.
It's one thing to have drama, rule breaking in an office setting but this is a police academy. It's not Police Academy - a comedy from the 80s. With all the rule breaking and shenanigans I felt this would have been better as a comedy and not a serious drama.
I like the supporting cast but I think I tend to agree with people saying it's relatively simple and I'm bordering on being 'bored' as others have stated. I'll probably take it slow and we'll see if I make it to the end or give up.
She was the bright spot in Eternal King or whatever it was called. Too bad she's going to be the victim turned antagonist for the female lead. I want to see her in some leading roles with complex characters. I believe she can pull it off.
I think they're cute. The ending is a bit abrupt but I think the ending is obvious. Like a simpler version of Proud of Love in terms of the ending surrounding fate.
I liked the leads, they were good. Masterpiece? Nah. Something to watch? Yeah.
The female lead is beautiful. The story is good enough but it's not a masterpiece and it suffers from a lot of tropes especially with the villains.
The ending - does it have an ending? It really feels like it doesn't have an ending. And to be clear - I don't dislike how things ended. I'm wondering why the writer and director choose that final scene... because it did not feel like an ending.
It has its moments for sure and it had potential but it probably should have been 24 episodes and not 47 given the substance here. Too much repetition throughout the show.
A lot of people found the female lead annoying and I can see that but I didn't mind her quite as much. There are a lot of possessive male leads out there, why not a possessive female lead?
The ending for the majority of characters just felt super dumb and contrived. I can't really recommend anyone stick through watching this but give it a go I guess... just expect a lot of repetition for nearly every character.
If there weren't 18 episodes available already I might have given it a pass but I really like Jing Yi as an actress and while the story is messy I do like the contrast of her bubbly personality next to the more timid and mopey male lead.
Doubt it will pay off. The first episode was a drag. I don't need a full hour and 16 minutes to set up that the leads are unhappy with their lives. Filler in the first episode is a bad first impression.
Second thing is the characters make no sense and aren't consistent after the first episode. Given how consistent the episode was at setting an atmosphere... you would have hoped the characters wouldn't perform 180s by episode 1.
A considerable amount of the soundtrack sounds like it's straight out of the Soviet Union and I can imagine this drama being just as compelling (that is to say - not at all).
The preview for next episode seals the deal that this is a dropped show for me. It's going to be the same slap kiss makjang stuff but with camera effects, soundtracks and underacting by the leads so that there's this mopey-depressed feel. There is nothing groundbreaking in terms of substance here. It's like slapping lipstick on a pig.
" isn't a criticism or competition" - I couldn't agree more, well said! the article was really just seeking opinions,…
Yeah it was more for myself because I tend to be critical of most Japanese live action dramas as being surreal. Even the more serious stuff something usually feels 'off' and it can be hard to complete.
You named one of the few I really enjoyed - Nobunaga Concerto. I think it did a good job of managing moments and telling a complete story despite lack of romance. But by in large I think Japanese dramas are nowhere near as compelling as Korean dramas and the numbers show it.
I don't think shows need a romance but a romance helps mask poor storytelling, over-acting and many other problems. There's a reason most shows from any region of the world contains romance.
Hell the domestic Japanese numbers show it as well. Netflix Japan it's anime and Korean dramas that are the most popular. If it's not compelling to a Japanese audience... I'm not sure making Japanese dramas more widely available would make them much more popular if they're struggling to maintain domestic audiences.
This isn't a criticism or competition. I really like The IT Crowd. It has that same surreal feel as a lot of Japanese TV. And people have strong feelings about that show. It has a small but vocal fanbase. But if I polled people where I lived I bet you almost no one would have heard of it, and of the people who gave it a chance.... most would have dropped it.
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I think the only downside from my perspective (as someone who loves costume dramas) is that it had the potential for a great story with Li Xuan and his origins but that was squandered. The story was okay. As others have mentioned below me there definitely are some plot holes so that might grate on you.
A ton of action, gunfire and then hand to hand fights. They killed off some characters which surprised me. A lot of twists throughout.
This is far from a masterpiece but I somehow made it through to the end.
It's one thing to have drama, rule breaking in an office setting but this is a police academy. It's not Police Academy - a comedy from the 80s. With all the rule breaking and shenanigans I felt this would have been better as a comedy and not a serious drama.
I liked the leads, they were good. Masterpiece? Nah. Something to watch? Yeah.
The ending - does it have an ending? It really feels like it doesn't have an ending. And to be clear - I don't dislike how things ended. I'm wondering why the writer and director choose that final scene... because it did not feel like an ending.
A lot of people found the female lead annoying and I can see that but I didn't mind her quite as much. There are a lot of possessive male leads out there, why not a possessive female lead?
The ending for the majority of characters just felt super dumb and contrived. I can't really recommend anyone stick through watching this but give it a go I guess... just expect a lot of repetition for nearly every character.
Second thing is the characters make no sense and aren't consistent after the first episode. Given how consistent the episode was at setting an atmosphere... you would have hoped the characters wouldn't perform 180s by episode 1.
A considerable amount of the soundtrack sounds like it's straight out of the Soviet Union and I can imagine this drama being just as compelling (that is to say - not at all).
The preview for next episode seals the deal that this is a dropped show for me. It's going to be the same slap kiss makjang stuff but with camera effects, soundtracks and underacting by the leads so that there's this mopey-depressed feel. There is nothing groundbreaking in terms of substance here. It's like slapping lipstick on a pig.
I don't think shows need a romance but a romance helps mask poor storytelling, over-acting and many other problems. There's a reason most shows from any region of the world contains romance.
Hell the domestic Japanese numbers show it as well. Netflix Japan it's anime and Korean dramas that are the most popular. If it's not compelling to a Japanese audience... I'm not sure making Japanese dramas more widely available would make them much more popular if they're struggling to maintain domestic audiences.
This isn't a criticism or competition. I really like The IT Crowd. It has that same surreal feel as a lot of Japanese TV. And people have strong feelings about that show. It has a small but vocal fanbase. But if I polled people where I lived I bet you almost no one would have heard of it, and of the people who gave it a chance.... most would have dropped it.