MinBrin
United States
STORY: Gegege no Nyobo is based off the autobiography of the writer of Gegege no Kitaro (a popular old-time comic and anime). The settings and time periods evolve with Iida Fumie as it follows her from childhood, to young adulthood, to wife-hood, to motherhood, and to happiness. The main focus of the show is her relationship with her family, poverty, friends, success, and, most importantly, her husband. This drama starts out a little slow and at times I became annoyed with her younger self, but if you stick with it the relationships of her childhood continue to influence the entire show. I personally think the story is at its best when focused on Fumie and her husband. Their relationship is a complicated on that is very well expressed in the drama. Definitely a 10 for this story that will make you cry and laugh more than once and sometimes at the same time as you follow Fumie's life.
CAST: Most of the characters are well cast, especially Fumie's father who gives a great performance. As for the two mains, Matsushita Nao has played similar roles before and performs a good Fumie. Sometimes she can seem a bit dull but that's partly due to the writing. Mukai Osamu is the wrong age to play Fumie's older husband, but his makeup as done well enough to suspend disbelief. His scenes tend to be the standout ones. These two mains don't have an incredible amount of romantic chemistry, but I think that given the plot, this is for the better. All the other performances are up to par, usually adding to the scene rather than detracting. The cast performs 'caring about each other' very well (which is good since a lot of the drama needs that emotion). The children can get wooden but they do a splendid job usually, especially considering some of their ages.
MUSIC: Didn't detract but wasn't too special. Good at manipulating viewer emotions without the viewer realizing it. At first, I didn't like the opening song, but after a while, it really grew on me. Does its job without going beyond the call of duty.
REWATCH VALUE: I would rewatch it, if I were in the mood. You really have to get into what your watching or it could feel like a chore. There are five episodes in a week with really only one story being covered per week so it is easily digested in small weekly chunks (5*15=75 minutes/about a movie a week). Some weeks are more interesting than others so on subsequent watches I may skip the slower episodes. I think the story is a good on and so expansive that rewatching will always make you remember or discover something.
OVERALL: I really enjoyed this drama. Although sometimes I felt like I was only slogging through some episodes, at the end of each weekly story I was always eager for a new episode. I thoroughly enjoyed Fumie's life story and am surprised that it isn't more popular. Episodes can be extremely hard to find, but in the end I felt all that work was worth it.
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I really enjoyed this story. When I read the synopsis, I sort of thought this was going to be one of those terrible over-the-top comedic asian dramas that I can't stand. DON'T LET THE SYNOPSIS SCARE YOU. This Punch Lady is literally going to fight her abusive husband and there is nothing funny about the turmoil she is going through. Not to say that there is no comedic relief, but the main character is a battered woman, not merely a disgruntled one.
The acting was good, no particularly huge stand out performances, but everything was watchable. I definitely felt what the characters were suppose to feel. I laughed, I cried, I liked it. However, don't look for total groundbreaking.
Music- did its job, nothing memorable to me but nothing obnoxious either.
Definitely would see this again with a friend who liked it or hasn't seen it. I might watch it on my own, but most likely not. But such an experience would not be unenjoyable XD
Overall, if you haven't seen it, watch it. It's not a 20 episode long drama, just a movie. You have no excuse.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama and I have a love hate relationship. I love the drama and the material. I hated waiting for the subtitles. Unfortunately, Keizoku 2: SPEC and its prequel, Keizoku, are not destined to be listed among the most popular of dramas. Why? It's a matter of taste. It isn't just a cop drama or a supernatural drama. It's both. I found the story incredibly interesting and compelling. It was easy for me to believe the various SPEC powers and there were quite a few surprise moments in the story. It is very satisfying when the 'ah ha' moment happens for the viewer. I loved every episode except the last one (not to be a spoiler, just a warning). I don't think that everyone will have the problems with the ending I did, it just wasn't my cup of tea. There is a really good blend of random humor and extreme seriousness that I never thought was too jarring.
As for the cast, just look at the list. The two mains are great and have a good working chemistry. I can't think of one faulty acting part (except when its meant to be intentionally bad). My only complaint is that I think the drama had a couple too many underutilized characters (that appear in most episodes). But the actors are all up to snuff.
Music does its job. The really dramatic theme is dramatic, etc. The only song I really remember is the song that plays when they are thinking or in the office or just bantering. Its the only one that got stuck in my head.
I'll definitely watch this drama again (it was worth it the first time). The only complaint I have is that the surprises won't be quite so surprising, but the acting is top notch (in my opinion). It will definitely hit all of its humor cords at least.
Overall, loved the drama. Its in my top 10.
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STORY: The story is a time jumping one, specifically man jumping 200 years into the future. While time travel is usually overdone (this and Rooftop Prince where the two Korean time traveling dramas of the season) it feels very fresh. One thing that usually annoys me about time-travel romance dramas (especially Asian ones) is that the time traveling mechanic takes second place to the romance. This is a problem affecting many sci-fi Korean/Japanese dramas (Secret Garden in particular). However, they gave the time traveling device rules and stuck to those rules without having to over explain. Some would argue that in the end the rule is broken, but that isn't the way that I read it. Also, both the past and present time segments have very developed and enjoyable stories. Also, while there are other love interests in the drama the main characters are never really tempted which is nice since the story isn't focused on over dramatic love triangles. If the main characters stop believing in each other they always have a legitimate reason. As for the historical aspects, the various changes always feel natural and never forced (when time travely changes occur). Outside of the time travel, the politics are easy to understand and well explained thanks to both the explanations in the future setting as well as great cinematography in the past settings. Although not all these character's get a lot of screen time, their roles and actions are always clear. My only complaint is that Lady Jang in both past and present is used in the beginning and the end but almost absent from the middle. I would have liked to see more of that character since she should be an important figure in the plot. The story is definitely top notch in both the sci-fi, romance, and historical drama fronts.
ACTING: The acting in this drama is awesome and I can't think of any complaints. The two mains are truly fantastic and have great chemistry (at the time of this review they are dating). All the support roles are believable in both time periods. I think that the entire cast all just had great chemistry together and I wouldn't change a single person.
MUSIC: I want to give a higher music score, but now that I've finished the drama, I can only really recall one song. While the music in the drama is well paced with the scenes, none of the themes really made a lasting impression. The music definitely plays second fiddle to the story.
RE-WATCH VALUE: RE-WATCH THIS DRAMA! I started it again immediately after I finished it. The story is just so intricate and engaging that I couldn't help it. While you know how it's going to end and most of the surprise moments, re-watching can give you a better understanding of the time traveling aspects. Understanding the historical parts in-depth allows you to understand the main man much better.
OVERALL: I think that everyone should watch this drama. It has a great production value and story. Definitely an example for future sci-fi dramas to follow. In my top ten.
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STORY: The story centers around two detectives, Mayama and Shibata. While the initial story starts as a crime an episode you begin to eventually realize that there is a dark overarching nemesis. There were several surprise and unexpectedly dark turns in the story. While I did enjoy these parts, they could be really too dark and serious. Luckily there is a lot of humor in the show (often switching very abruptly). Unfortunately, I didn't think they found the balance between humor and dark. It was off just enough for my not to enjoy the story as much as I could. The romance is not light or heavy, but can be very subtle until the end. There are also several 'wait, what?' moments that didn't help the story and may have created some holes. What's nice is that you can try to guess who the main enemy is but you are never really sure until it's finally revealed.
ACTING/CAST: This is full of overacting and it's supposed to be. There was no other way to get the effect they were going for. The chemistry between the entire cast (especially the two mains) is what keeps the drama together despite some of the story flaws I felt. Not one person is miscast and I enjoyed all of their portrayals. The mains deserve special mention because a lot of their chemistry is unacted, you can simply sense it.
MUSIC: Really enjoyed the music of this show. The first song where the woman is moaning is hilarious and the opening song is one of my favorite openings of all time. A lot of the tension of the show is translated through the music. The soundtrack is one of the best parts of the show.
REWATCH VALUE: Rewatch this once to catch all the little things you didn't see before. Knowing the main baddy really gives some insight. However, after that, probably never again. It was good enough for me to watch twice but after that it was merely tiresome and predictable.
OVERALL: Overall I enjoyed this drama and it is obvious how it influenced the sequel produced over ten years later. It is definitely worth the watch.
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