Macy

"Shokojo Seira" is an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic "A Little Princess". My second favorite version of the story was also produced in Japan, an anime,titled "Princess Sarah" (1985). "Shokojo Seira" places the story in modern-day Japan and makes Sara (renamed Seira) a teenager. I liked the lead actress, Mirai Shida. Despite some changes to Sara's personality, Shida captured the more important aspects, including her selflessness.

After being raised in India, Seira returns to Japan to attend a boarding school. However, when her rich father dies, the school's headmistress forces her to work as a maid. In this version, the headmistress at least has reasons for hating Seira, though it is still appalling to watch her treat Seira horribly. Becky is changed to a male love interest named Kaito Miura. Their love story was sweet, but I felt the episode where they visit his hometown was a bit out-of-place. Masami (Ermengarde in the novel) kind of annoyed me, while I thought Maria (Lavinia) was probably the most interesting.

SS was a sweet story but unremarkable story. I think some might find the series frustrating, because the bullying scenes were a bit over-the-top. However, I still think most people will enjoy this drama. I also recommend the 1986 (find it on YouTube) and 1995 versions, though the latter does not really follow the book.

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"Invisible, yet it exists"

"GeGeGe no Nyobo" is the 35th asadora that I've watched. I wisely kept this one to watch towards the end of my asadora journey, though I'm hopeful that more asadoras will receive subtitles in the coming years. I thoroughly enjoyed watching "GeGeGe no Nyobo" so I'm happy I watched this asadora when I did, instead of leaving only iffy asadoras to the end.

Firstly, "GeGeGe" is another "couple" asadora, meaning one that focuses on a couple equally instead of mostly on the heroine. This one feels like it the model for all the couple asadoras of the past decade. It particularly reminded me of 2018's "Manpuku", which also features Matsushita Nao and Matsuzaka Keiko. There were also some similarities with 2013's "Gochisosan" and 2020's "Yell". One of the things most often complained about with couple asadoras is that there's not enough focus on the heroine or that she's just there to support her husband. "GeGeGe" definitely falls into this, but I don't really see this as a negative in this one. I guess it's more of a matter of taste, which differs per viewer.

Unlike most couple asadoras, Fumie (Matsushita) and Shigeru (Mukai Osamu) are a couple brought together through an arranged marriage. Because of that, a large part of the drama focuses on how a couple a) gets to know each other and b) learn to get along despite their contrasting personalities. For the most part, Fumie has a very laidback personality and above all she seems to be someone always striving for harmony. Shigeru is very strange in comparison as someone who is a workaholic with single-minded focus on manga. Sometimes he ignores Fumie's feelings but their conflicts ultimately lead to a better understanding of each other. I will say that the conflicts don't always end in the most satisfying way and Shigeru's tendency to act like a tyrant towards the end is annoying. However, this is my sole complaint for the entire asadora.

My favorite part of "GeGeGe no Nyobo" was learning more about manga and yokai. I had never heard of rental manga or kamishibai before, and I found it all very fascinating. As suggested by the title, the asadora is about the beginnings of famous manga artist Mizuki Shigeru whom created works such "GeGeGe no Kitaro," "Akuma-kun," and "Kappa no Sanpei." Many of his manga are about yokai, which are featured heavily throughout the asadora. My favorite being "Betobeto-san." Other than that, the asadora is full of the usual things I love. The wonderful supporting cast, particularly the family members of Fumie and Shigeru, the cozy vibes, and a lovely theme song. There's also some pretty animation of characters from "Kitaro" and Mizuki's other works.

I'm cutting this review a bit short, mostly because I find it hard to describe dramas I love. Just know that I had a lot of fun with this asadora. My only complaint really is Shigeru's occasional tyrant behavior. I thought Fumie was a lovely heroine and I kind of love that she's a homemaker. Not every woman's dream is to have a career. And, above all, I truly believe Shigeru wouldn't have made it as far in his career had Fumie not been there to support him. So while not the most romantic couple, they are one of the sweetest I've seen in an asadora. (And, for once, I really loved their children and I didn't think they were annoying at all unlike most asadora children haha.)

My Asadora Ranking: https://mydramalist.com/list/LAlqpp21

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"Even if we are far apart, the bonds between our hearts will never break."

"Churasan 4" is the third sequel to the 2001 asadora "Churasan." As stated in my previous reviews, the amount of sequels is indicative to how popular this asadora was at the time. Of course, "Churasan 4" is only two episodes which tells you that this was very much the swan song of this series as a whole. Strangely enough, I preferred "Churasan 4" to both of the previous sequels. It was very much what I always wanted from "Churasan," but it was also a case of too little too late.

The plot of "Churasan 4" is relatively simple. Eri (Kuninaka Ryoko) and Fumiya (Kohashi Kenji) are finally back in Kohama permanently. Kazuya (Suzuki Shogo) is a little older now and acting very obstinately towards his mother, which is rather cute. The family spends the New Year with Eri's family and there's some shenanigans with her father Keibun (Sakai Masaaki). The second plot follows Yoko (Yo Kimiko) who decides that she wants to move her family to Kohama. Shibata (Murata Takehiro) agrees and they arrive with their daughter to their new home, which they plan to turn into a lodging house. Eri and Yoko also reaffirm their sisterly relationship with Mariya (Kanno Miho), reminding her that they will always be connected despite the distance between them.

The latter half of the original "Churasan" and the two sequels always seemed afraid to make huge changes, instead opting to have everyone be the same place (i.e. that stupid boardinghouse!!). This final sequel evidently realized it was the FINAL and finally made some decisions and stuck by them. As I said before, this is everything I had wanted before. I just wish I hadn't had to sit through 30+ episodes of the original and eleven episodes of the sequels to get here...

While I prefer "Churasan 4" to the previous sequels, it would've been better had it been extended to four episodes in total. There's also some missing fan favorite characters like Keitatsu and Haruka. Poor Keitatsu couldn't even be redeemed from his treatment in "Churasan 3." So, in conclusion, I can't really recommend any of these sequels unless you're just "Churasan"'s biggest fan. I'm happy the series ended on a high note, but it honestly should've just been left with the original "Churasan."

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"Being alive is so much fun."

"Churasan 2" is the sequel to the 2001 asadora "Churasan." It's rare for an asadora to receive a sequel, especially a multi-episode sequel and it's even rarer for the sequel to be subbed by fansubbers. This sequel and the fact that there are two other installments attest to "Churasan"'s popularity at the time. Unfortunately, in my experience, asadora sequels/specials are either not good or just disappointing. "Churasan 2" did not prove me wrong.

The sequel is set a year after the original "Churasan" ended. Eri (played by Kuninaka Ryoko) and Fumiya (Kohashi Kenji) have been living in Kohama for a year with their son while running a clinic. The couple decide to move back to Tokyo in order to study medicine more to continue helping the island residents in the future. Eri becomes a travelling nurse under her former colleague Nanako (Sato Aiko), whom married her brother Keisho (Gori) though they live separately most of the time.

"Churasan 2" has many of the same problems I complained about in my review for the first "Churasan." First, Eri leaves Okinawa just to go back to that boardinghouse again!! I get it. They wanted a centralized location for a bunch of the characters to gather, but more and more people come to live there like it's prime real estate. It's just unrealistic that that many people would want to live there without any problems. And, from a story perspective, it shows that these people have not grown. I really just wanted to see more of Okinawa!

Second, the humor and gags were in overdrive. Obviously, a lot of the gags really worked with the original audience because they overused the same jokes several times. Of course, I'm not Japanese and it's not 2003 anymore so the jokes only made me laugh half of the time. The rest of my time I was rolling my eyes because I've heard that joke fifty times already! For me, this really took me out of the story but it's not the worst element of "Churasan 2."

Third, random storylines and character changes/regression. Despite being a six episode miniseries, the writer's still structured it like a fifteen minute per episode asadora. There were just random storylines that come out of nowhere in the middle of an episode like revealing Keisho's birth father. Why? I don't care about either of these men, especially since Keisho repeats the same mistake he made at the beginning of the original "Churasan." I really don't understand what was going on with Keisho and his "wife" Nanako, though I guess it was kinda cute? Then there's the character assassination of Haruka (Konishi Manami). She's originally a very cool character that can come off as somewhat cold, but in "Churasan 2" they make her some lovesick, manic girl who forcibly comes to live at the boardinghouse. And they try to pair her with Tencho (Fujiki Hayato) for a second and if that had happened I would've rioted. My last character complaint is that Yoko (Yo Kimiko) and Shibata (Murata Takehiro) find out that they're having a baby at the end. I wish this would've happened between the series' actually. I hated how the boardinghouse residents just didn't change at all before "Churasan 2."

Now for some actual bright spots in the drama. Eri is still an airhead, but it's toned down some. Thankfully, she grows as character through her interactions with a patient, which is something I wish they had done more of in the original "Churasan" (not just that one time). Keitatsu's (Yamada Takayuki) struggle to enter the music industry wasn't perfect, but it was something interesting to do with his character. Mariya (Kanno Miho) is once again the stand-out character. Her monologue about her previous love story was very moving, though I wish they had done something further with it.

In conclusion, "Churasan 2" is kind of boring and kind of frustrating. It has some good parts that I enjoyed, but if you're not absolutely in love with "Churasan 1" I cannot recommend it The characters are mostly stagnant because there's nothing really more to tell about them. Unless you just want to see their bright happy faces again, just leave it with the original series.

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To connect…?

"Welkame" is the 31st asadora that I've watched. I decided to watch it right after the other 2009 asadora "Tsubasa" to gauge why they're both so unpopular. With "Tsubasa," I came to the conclusion that it was more of a matter of taste, though some of the criticism is warranted. With "Welkame," I'm sad to say that all of the criticism is fair.

First, the premise of "Welkame" is not necessarily bad and could've been good with some MAJOR tweaks. But... I confess that I feel a bit catfished. The drama is called "Wel-KAME" (meaning turtle) and there are turtles everywhere. However, neither the heroine nor her love interest becomes a marine biologist or turtle researcher or something. Being a writer, specifically a magazine writer, is not a bad choice for the heroine but it's just not as interesting as a marine biologist could've been. Besides the turtles being a metaphor for going out into the world... why are there so many turtles everywhere if the heroine's given profession isn't something explicitly ocean related? Instead the heroine becomes a writer with some vague notion to "connect" the world. I see where they were going here, but it wasn't as deep or profound as they thought.

Kurashina Kana as the heroine, Nami, is fine but she's really not given much to work with. Nami is characterized as clueless, naive, and happy. Yes, she has her lows but we're mostly treated to her sometimes annoying clueless-ness. Her love interest, Katsunoshin, has one of the strangest personalities I've seen in any drama let alone an asadora but is always pointing out how strange she is [which is actually kinda funny]. I felt only a slight interest in their romance and once they married I felt myself start to completely check out of the drama. Not that I liked it much before.

The side characters are either annoying or are not given the chance to shine. I really liked Nami's friends Aya (Tanaka Konatsu) and Kaho (Iwasa Mayuko). All three being at different points in their adult lives is great, though it's not explored as fully as it could be. Nami's grandfather Taizo (Ashiya Kogan) has a cute storyline about his first love, but it's quickly dropped. Nami's mother Kayo (Hada Michiko) could've been showed as so much more than the long suffering wife. Yuka (Matsuo Reiko), a somewhat eccentric turtle researcher, is ruined by throwing her into a weird love triangle [unbeknownst to her as well]. You see what I mean by these examples?

Instead of any of the aforementioned characters, more and more time is devoted to two of the most annoying characters I've seen in an asadora (or any drama really). That being Nami's father Tetsuya (Ishiguro Ken) and her childhood friend Ippei (Takeda Kouhei). Tetsuya is one of those useless dads in asadoras that we're still supposed to like for some reason. He essentially abandons his wife and child to go surfing around the world until he can't anymore. The drama does try to explore the guilt he feels about this for a little bit, but quickly reverts to him being a useless, dream chaser. I will say that his character is not egregiously horrible. His personality just rubs me the wrong way so I can't help being harsh towards him. I cannot say the same for Ippei [the second Ippei I've completely hated in an asadora btw].

Ippei having an unrequited crush on Nami is not terrible, but his attitude is. He acts all arrogant like he's the only one who can make her happy, despite her rejecting him and never showing even a slight interest in him. There's a similar dynamic between Ichiko and Yoichiro in the asadora "Mare," which was slightly annoying. But, you feel bad for Yoichiro because he knows it's hopeless. Ippei, however, only makes me want to beat him with a stick, because of his arrogance. He never stops pursuing Nami until she literally has to reject him a second time when he should've understood the first time! The writer really thought they had a winning character here, because they even try to match him with Kaho later. I'm sorry but no. A hardworking doctor like Kaho would never be interested in that loser with one brain cell!!

Other annoying characters include Nami's brother Wataru (Morinaga Yuki). I was so sad when they aged him up to a teenager because he immediately starts crushing on Yuka who's at least fifteen or more years older than him. I probably could've tolerated this plot if it had not gone on so long. Then there's also Katsunoshin's cousin Maya (Yamashita Rio), who has got to be the devil in disguise. What the f*** is wrong with this girl? She interferes in Nami's and Katsunoshin's relationship when they are first starting to date. Why? I don't know. I thought she was in love with him, but the drama never elaborates further. [Maybe she's just evil?] Her extremely hurtful antics are actually chalked up to her "teasing" the two, which I just don't buy. As for the other characters, there are several sweet and nice characters, including Nami's coworkers. However, I just felt that they didn't leave much of an impression on me by the end, especially being so overshadowed by the bad characters.

Finishing this review and I went on a little rant. Well, I'll just say that this drama had some potential but not enough to even leave me angry-frustrated like "Hitomi" or "Dandan." Instead this drama left me bored-frustrated, which is a new low. I'm giving this asadora a 6.5. As an easy-to-please person, I just can't rate it lower. I did watch all 150 episodes of it after all and I feel some attachment to it at the end of the day. One thing I will miss is the lovely theme song "Ano Ko no Yume" (あの子の夢) by Aiko. Though the opening notes have the potential to be grating, the song is really too good for this drama. I will also miss the cute turtle that appears during the opening. According to J-Wikipedia, his name is Kametta (かめっ太). Too cute!

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"Dance is life."

"Hitomi" is the 28th asadora that I've completed. I'm being generous with my rating because this is an asadora and I spent 156 episodes with it. However, like the comments below, I also thought "Hitomi" was boring....

My main problem with "Hitomi" is its obvious identity crisis. Does it want to be a story about hip hop dancing? Or does it want to be a story about being a foster parent in a sort-of old fashioned town? I would've been fine with either premise, but "Hitomi" tries to do both and doesn't succeed at doing either well. I believe that the asadora was hesitant to commit to hip hop because the target audience is usually middle-aged or older women. I personally think if it had really committed to hip hop it could've at least developed a cult audience like "Chiritotechin," but instead has become a somewhat forgettable asadora.

Eikura Nana is fine as the title character Hitomi. I particularly liked her delivery of "Shut up" in English [lol]. Sadly though, Hitomi's personality is not able to really shine in this asadora. At the end, I came away feeling that I only understood Hitomi maybe 50%. I wish the asadora had devoted more time to developing Hitomi as a character instead of focusing on random side stories. Also, this is the only asadora I've watched where the heroine doesn't have a love interest but I think this is also the one time that it would've actually benefited the story from her having one. It's not like she had a career or anything! She didn't really even know until near the end what she wanted to do with her passion for dancing. So, if she had a love interest, there would've been something else to invest in as an audience.

The supporting and side characters are also just fine. To be honest, no one really sticks out to me as being particularly great. There were a couple that annoyed me more often than not, such as Yuzo (played by Yasuda Ken). Hitomi's grandfather Katsutaro (Nishida Toshiyuki) was too stubborn at times. I was able to understand his emotions, but part of me still thought 'It's been like 18 years, get over it!' And worse, his arc with Hitomi's parents isn't even resolved until the very end. I also wasn't much of a fan of Hitomi's friends Yuka (Tano Asami) and Junko (Mitsushima Hikari). They're always fighting and take forever to commit to do anything. I honestly didn't think it was fair that they got to debut as dancers with their bad personalities, though it was realistic that Hitomi didn't make it. I really liked the foster children at first, but the asadora gradually focuses on them less and they just become generic good-tempered children.

So why watch "Hitomi?" At the end of the day, I really liked the atmosphere of this asadora. From the opening theme, it really gives off a relaxing vibe. It's a "modern" asadora (taking place in the period in which it aired) and only covers about two years of Hitomi's life, giving it more of a slice-of-life feeling than other asadoras. And, at the end of the day, Hitomi is still a likeable heroine. Watching her did not make me miserable for a second, which I can't say for a certain other asadoras... So, I still liked "Hitomi" even for all of its boring-ness and problems, which is also why gave it a generous rating of 8. However, because of the aforementioned reasons, I can't really recommend this asadora unless you really like Eikura Nana.

My Asadora Ranking: https://mydramalist.com/list/LAlqpp21

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I liked it but...

This is the third asadora spin-off/special episode that I've watched after the ones for "Natsuzora" and "Mare." I'm grateful that fansubbers have translated these specials, but I can't say that any of these specials have been "must-sees." This "Massan" spin-off is probably feels the most skippable in my opinion. The "Natsuzora" was just pure fun and the "Mare" one wrapped up some storylines for major characters (though I didn't like it that much). This one, however, deals with some minor supporting characters but doesn't really do anything really...

The first episode focuses on Sumire (Hayami Akari), Massan's little sister. I was really looking forward to this actually, because I always felt that Sumire could've been a bigger character than she was. Sumire runs away to Osaka, but it takes too long for them to reveal why. It also tries too hard to avoid putting Massan and Ellie in too much of the story. Lastly, it ends with Sumire going home to become a teacher. Something we already know! I don't know. The story was nice, but ultimately does nothing for the bigger picture of the asadora.

The second episode focuses on Yoshiko (Eguchi Noriko), for some reason? You remember Massan's co-worker from the beginning part of the story, right?? Yoshiko and Ikeda elope to Hokkaido [This story is set in 1938 btw]. Massan and Ellie quickly exit the story, and it only gets worse from there. Yoshiko is married remember? So she's committing adultery. Honestly, couldn't get pass this part of the story. Hana's and Chie's husbands also use this opportunity to act like complete misogynists to their wives. This one I really don't know the point of it. The main character is a questionable choice and the messaging is just completely wrong [even if she does go back to her husband in the end].

I'd probably give Sumire's story at 7/10, and Yoshiko's a 4/10. This is yet another skippable asadora special. At the end of the day, I guess "Massan" really didn't need a "spin-off" since it's mostly perfect by itself anyway.

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Skip it.

This is only the second asadora special that I've seen after "Natsuzora"'s special. While that one was at least fun, this was borderline boring and useless. I do appreciate fansubbers subbing these specials since that's actually pretty rare, but I'm starting to think that the specials should mostly be skipped lol.

If you're interested in watching this, I'd recommend watching the first episode which is about Takashi and Minami. I thought this episode was mostly cute even if it's strange to choose a character that doesn't talk [much] as the main character. I do think the conclusion of the episode was rushed, but it at least resulted in something that I had hoped would happen since the main series.

The second episode is a waste of time. It's about Yoichiro's attempt to get over again Ichiko [yet again]. In my review for "Mare," I said that I really disliked Ichiko so you can guess how much I liked this episode. It felt like an exercise in futility watching Yoichiro, whom the writers seem to hate. [Just let him be happy.] The plot ended up being so convoluted that I didn't care who Yoichiro ended up with. Anyway, complete waste of time.

The 7 I'm giving this is for Takashi's story only by the way.

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"I'm back."

"Okaeri Mone" is the 13th asadora I've watched. I had this one downloaded on my computer for a while, but I wanted to watch some older ones before watching the [currently] latest completely subbed asadora. An interesting note: "Okaeri Mone" is 120 episodes which, yeah is long, but feels short since asadoras used to be 150-156 episodes. I feel like this asadora would've benefited from being maybe two weeks longer (10 episodes). I have some issues with the pacing and making it slightly longer might've helped.

Let's start with a rapid fire of the things I liked. 1) Mone (played by Kiyohara Kaya) is a great heroine. I love her. She's breaks the typical mold of an asadora heroine since she has more of a moody air to her. Her character development is slow, but ultimately very satisfying. 2) The way 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami was shown through flashbacks was a brilliant move on the writer's part. It doesn't dwell on the horror of the event, but instead focuses on the way everyone was affected afterwards. 3) Mone's love interest Suganami Sensei (Sakaguchi Kentaro) was *chef's kiss.* They are very much a slow burn romance. I love how they are not depended on each other and are even just content to support each other from afar. Mone says to him "To us, distance and time doesn't matter." Awwww. 4) The supporting cast as per usual with asadora was great. My personal favorite being Imada Mio as Riko-chan.

Now on to my very few problems with this asadora. I really (regrettably) disliked Mone's sister Michi (Makita Aju). It's not the actress's fault. The blame lies squarely with the writing. She acts out in very small ways, but I honestly thought she was just being a brat lol. The reasoning behind her character is not revealed to the very last week of episodes. And really, the third act is the weakest and is completely dominated by Michi's character. I would've preferred the reveal be more towards the middle of asadora. That way, I could've been more invested in Michi and her romance with Ryo (Nagase Ren). But because I already disliked her, I couldn't give a crap for the couple at all. Besides Michi, the third act is also unsuccessful with Mone. She never does quite find her new place in her hometown as a weather forecaster and it's just kind of shrugged off.

Despite the lackluster pacing of the third act, I would still recommend "Okaeri Mone." The first two acts in Tome and Tokyo are amazing. I loved learning about forestry and weather forecasting. The earthquake storyline is handled with care and grace. The finale is satisfying as Mone realizes that she has "come back" as a stronger person. Her friends then say "Welcome back, Mone" (Okaeri Mone) and she answers "I'm back." *Cue tears.* Honestly, this whole asadora is bit of a tear-jerker lol. "Okaeri Mone" was well worth watching even if it's not my favorite asadora.

My Asadora Ranking: https://mydramalist.com/list/LAlqpp21

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Kind-of boring

Every once in a while I come across a "classic" that I just can't bring myself to like. "In the Realm of the Senses" comes to mind since it's also a classic Japanese film. However, while that one made me very uncomfortable, "Woman in the Dunes" just kinda bored me. I can appreciate the story, the acting, the message, etc. But, at the end of the day, it put me to sleep literally.

"Woman in the Dunes" follows Niki Junpei (played by Okada Eiji), a substitute teacher and bug enthusiast, who comes to a remote village surrounded by sand. The villagers trap Junpei with a recently widowed woman (Kishida Kyoko). Every night, the woman shovels sand and the villagers take it away. Junpei tries in vain to escape the sand pit throughout the movie. An obvious allegory to Sisyphus.

Like I said, I can appreciate this plot. I felt that it did its job as it made me feel anxious and claustrophobic. But still, I fell asleep and I practically couldn't wait for it to end. To conclude, I didn't like it but I see it's artistic merit.

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An easy but forgettable watch

I recently finished "Rich Man, Poor Woman" in order to watch this drama, but honestly the two dramas are so different... It's hard to even think of "Faceless Love" as a remake of RMPW if we're being honest.

First, the story is fine. It's a really easy watch, so I was able to finish it within a couple days which is sometimes hard for me to do, personally. However, I also get the feeling that I will probably forget within a few months. Second, the actors all do a fine job as well but no one really stands out in my mind. Dew is a little wooden and Luke is overacting a tad during his angry scenes. They're both super good-looking though so I didn't really mind that much. Kao is a good actress but can't really rise above the kind-of meh script.

Now let's address the changes from the source material I liked and disliked as well as just some general likes and dislikes:
Likes: The series is more of a straight-up romance compared to the original, which desperately needed more romance scenes (Thank God for the follow-up movie); The motivations of Luke's character make more sense than in the original; The family scenes with the FL and later the ML's family were very heartwarming.
Dislikes: Dew's character isn't presented as a "genius like in the original, which makes him seem like just a spoiled brat. Like, why is even the CEO of the company in the first place; June's mean girl is entertaining but her motivations are weak; Kao's character doesn't become her own person like the original.

On a side note, I feel like this series misrepresents prosopagnosia (face blindness) and Alzheimer's (dementia) in some ways. However, since I'm not well versed in either illness, I will make no further comment. It just bothered me a bit.

If you like any of these actors, I would recommend the series. If you're a fan of the original drama, I probably would not recommend because it's too different.

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I swear they turned Sarah into Jesus....

I first came to know about this film around 2016/17 when I first read the novel "A Little Princess." Like other classics ("Pride and Prejudice," "Wuthering Heights," "Anne of Green Gables," etc.), I like watching all the different adaptations to see how the story can be interpreted differently. For "A Little Princess," I watched the 1917 silent film, the 1939 Shirley Temple movie, the 1985 anime, the 1986 British miniseries (the most faithful), the 1995 American film (my personal favorite), and the J-drama "Shokojo Seira" (interesting and I would recommend it). Yes, there's a lot. The Filipino version alluded me. I was unable to find anywhere, let alone with subtitles. Well, I finally found it but....

Unfortunately, I feel like I set up this movie to fail. I had built it up in my mind over the last several years. I believe I would've had the same complaints, but it feels like I was let down personally... Anyway, with that out of the way, let's get on to the issues.

The movie is set in 1890 England with the school being a castle in the countryside instead of a modest home on the streets of London. It being a Filipino movie, this seems strange at first but you get used to it quickly. The first forty minutes is dedicated to Sarah's school life, which I feel takes too long and focuses too much on her schoolmates. Besides Sarah, the other child actors aren't very good and it's sometimes painful to watch. The movie picks up slightly with Sarah's fall from grace, but soon becomes crazy with the last twenty or so minutes.

My main issue with the movie is Miss Minchin. Not the acting, but the writing. She has no proper motivations for hating Sarah at all, which would be fine if she doesn't have a "redemption" at the end. I mean redemption very loosely because all she does is thank Sarah for not sending her to jail... And this is what I mean by them turning Sarah into Jesus. The movie has a distinct religious undertone. I believe Filipinos are very heavily Catholic so this makes sense. However, the religion becomes a problem at the end of the film. Sarah grants forgiveness to those who wronged her without anyone receiving punishment. It's fine to teach children to forgive like Jesus, but that should come hand-in-hand with justice (if possible).

The movie makes several other changes to the source material. It takes inspiration from the anime (which was very popular in the Philippines). If you've seen the anime, you'll be able to spot the references in the movie. These changes and other small cultural changes didn't bother me as adaptations need changes. To conclude, I mostly enjoyed this movie until the end. The ending just annoyed me too much!

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"Death is a sad thing."

"Why didn't I tell you a million times?" has a great cast who bring their best performances. The premise is familiar (and kind-of a retread of the movie "Ghost"). Despite that, I enjoyed the drama for the emotional performances of the cast of the mystery aspect of the main character's death. I will say that 10 episodes feels a bit too long. They could've shortened it to 6-8 episodes. I do appreciate that the mystery wraps up in the ninth episode and the final is dedicated to finishing up the character's storylines.

I recommend the drama for those who like emotional stories and are ready to cry. It is a bit slow going so keep that in mind.

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An average rom-com but nice for one viewing

I was looking forward to "Mr. Lipstick" since Aom starred in it and I loved her in "Girl2K" (which you should definitely watch). The first few episodes were really nice and fluffy, but as a fellow reviewer said the plot went "all over the place" from there. It seems the writers weren't really sure who they wanted to be the villain and the supporting cast motivations were just inconsistent. That being said, I still liked all the characters though probably because there were a lot of familiar faces (Aom, Fiat, Nicky, Vince, Jan, June).

The drama's greatest strength was the main couple, Mod and Kao. They were so adorably innocent together. Their wasn't much skinship so I wouldn't recommend to those who liked more "mature" dramas. I also enjoyed the secondary couples Muek&Pipi, Than&Dao, and Tul&Wi. I wish their was more plot dedicated to them, especially Muek and Pipi. Their interactions were so funny! Now onto the villains, Wi and Kaew. I thought Kaew was written slightly better, though her motivations for disliking Mod were stupid. As for Wi, her storyline towards the end was ridiculous and her motivations flimsy.

Overall, I recommend to those who enjoy a light, fluffy rom-com. I really felt relaxed while watching, even with all the drama and the shenanigans of Mod's brothers lol. I'm not sure I'll rewatch but I'm happy I watched it once. Also, I loved the theme song. It's "Love Score" by Sizzy and Nanon; definitely check out the video on YouTube.

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Personal favorite of this series

I have yet to watch "Boys Paradise" (I may update this after I watch it), but "Don't" is definitely my favorite of the "Ugly Duckling" series. I think seven episodes was the perfect amount for this series, while "Perfect Match" (9) was too long and "Pity Girl" (5) too short. The plot for "Don't" is strangely the most reasonable of the aforementioned series'. Yes, it's kind of extreme for Maewnam (Mild) to wear a box on head after being called ugly once. But, I think a lot of people can relate to wanting to shut themselves away from the world.

On to the love interests, I liked both Zero (Mek) and Minton (Victor). I think they both suited Maewnam, though I'm happy my favorite was picked in the end ;) I thought Mek played Zero well, making him a bad boy with morals whose also willing to change. Victor's Minton is funny and sweet as well as ready to protect those he loves. I also loved Maewnam's brother and father. They provided great comedy relief and I loved how supporting they were of Maewnam.

Lastly, I would like to add a trigger warning to those who have been bullied. Though I never have been bullied, the scene where Vivien and her friends nearly drown Maewnam was quite intense. Overall, I really liked this series. The plot is probably the most relatable to me personally as I've often shut myself off from others. As Maewnam learns, the outside world is both scary and wonderful and I would like to thank this drama for reminding me of this.

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