Macy
~meteor dreamland~
The strongest story in the film I felt was "Self Immolator". It had moving characters and was the most informative, discussing several points in Hong Kong's recent history. "Extras" and "Dialect" were also food-for-thought, both dealing with political themes. "Season of the End" was probably the weakest as I'm still not quite sure what it was about. The final story "Local Egg" was a good closer, giving the viewers hope for the future.
According to Wikipedia, any reports of Ten Years was censored by China and the Hong Kong Film Awards was barred because the film was nominated for Best Picture (and won). Ten Years was also a surprising box office success, which I think tells you a lot about Hongkongers feel right now.
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"Meteor Shower" takes places at a college (like MG), where Yunhai (Dao Ming Si) and Yuxun (Shan Cai) have a fateful encounter. Hans Zhang and Zheng Shuang's chemistry is hands down the best part of the show. I was bored during scenes without them, though their romance did drag a bit towards the end. Unlike previous versions, MS has several romance side plots for the supporting characters, including Lei and Yu Xin (Jing), Shangguan (Xi Men) and Xiao You, and a love triangle between Ye Shuo (Mei Zuo), Yunduo (Yunhai's sister), and her ex-boyfriend. Interesting at first, these side plots eventually became played out and only served to fill out the series' thirty-six episodes.
Overall, MS was fun to watch, despite being draggy at times and the last three episodes were almost agonizing. You'll probably enjoy this series as long as you don't expect too much from it.
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Overall, the film follows the book very well. It even covers the second half of the book, which I've noticed many "Wuthering Heights" adaptations skip. However, I thought it was just a little too long and it was startlingly dark at times.
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Mei Zuo's episode: takes place during "Meteor Garden", after Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai break up. I've always had a soft spot for Mei Zuo (Vanness Wu), so I loved seeing him as the focal point. In the episode, he meets a Japanese girl searching for her grandmother. He helps her search and gradually finds himself attracted to her. The story was very cute and my heart melted at the last scene.
Xi Men's episode: anyone who has watched "Hana Yori Dango 2" will remember Sojiro's storyline, this episode also covers that topic. Unfortunately, the second half of that story had not been written yet in the manga, leaving a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion in "Meteor Rain". In this episode, Xiao You (Rainie Yang) returns from Canada to see Xi Men. After he tells her about his first love, she decides to help ease his regret.
Dao Ming Si's episode: Si's story, which is sometimes split into two episodes, may be the most unnecessary of them all. My main problem with it is that it causes continuity problems. It is set before "Meteor Garden", but Si's hair is straight and he is not a complete a**. In the story, Si is on the run from the police, when he is found by a young girl. He stays with her and her father and forms a close bond. The series cannot be forgiven for the horrible ending to this story, but I'll leave that for you to watch yourself.
Overall, I think the series can only be appealing to die hard "Meteor Garden" fans. If this does not describe you, I would probably avoid it. I'd like to give a special mention to the music. The songs were all taken from F4's debut album and are still very catchy, despite being over fifteen years old.
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The Bend in the Road
I first heard about "Hanako to Anne" several years ago. As an avid "Anne of Green Gables" fan, I'm always keeping my eyes out for anything even remotely Anne-related. However, since it has 156 episodes, "Hanako to Anne" got pushed further and further down on my priority list. That is until last December when I discovered the book on which the series is based. It was published in English as "Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka." I highly recommend it if you're interested in knowing more about Hanako. After reading it, I finally sat down to watch "Hanako to Anne." Now my only regret is that I didn't watch it sooner!Watching an asadora is an experience like no other form of media I've experienced so far. The closest I can compare it to is a really long novel, which is likely why they're called 連続テレビ小説 ("serial TV novel"). If you're hesitating to watch any asadora, I recommend watching the first six episodes (i.e. the first week). Before I knew it, I was hooked and watching up 12-20 episodes a day.
The main character, Hanako, is my favorite character since I couldn't help feeling more attached to her after reading a whole book about her. She is somewhat upstaged by her best friend, Renko, who at times feels like her co-lead. The rest of the cast also gets the time to shine, which is what I think is the part of watching an asadora. By the end of the series, everyone feels like they could be your friend or family. Extensive character development is given to nearly every single person. It's amazing to watch it play out.
Anne references are sprinkled throughout the series, which are fun to see even if they're not exactly true to life. Many of the characters are based on real-life people Hanako knew, though their names have been changed along with some artistic license. I was surprised that the drama covered some very tragic moments in Hanako's life since it originally aired early in the morning. However, no punches were pulled so expect to be crying at some point.
Now to close out this review. I've given it a very generous rating of 10. Honestly, everything was great about it from the acting, the music, the writing, etc. I loved it every bit of it. Even when the story dragged a little bit, it's easy to forget since the episodes before and after the draggy part are so great. I'm so surprised no one has written a review for this amazing drama yet. I sincerely hope if you're reading this that you'll check it out!
ごきげんよう。さよなら。(Gokigenyo. Sayonara.)
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Charming and sweet romance
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil are a charming pair. The pair perform better here than their slightly problematic "Just the Way You Are" though they're still relatively green here. However, they easily coast through the movie on their undeniable chemistry. It's no surprise that these two are a couple in real life. Gerald Anderson has a stand-out performance, despite being in a coma for the majority of the movie.The story and characterization feel weak at times in the movie. We're told a lot of details about the characters but not shown. Enrique's character in particular is not fully fleshed out. I think the film shined in its portrayal of Audrey's (Soberano) and Tristan's (Anderson) relationship. Some of their scenes towards the latter half were definite stand-outs.
Overall, this film was not my favorite from the Liza-Enrique pair. However, it's still worth a watch for fans as are all of their films. Their performances in "My Ex and Whys" were quite good, though the story was a bit iffy for me. "Alone Together" is their best film to date and would recommend it to anyone.
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This Is Arashi
In October 2019, Arashi opened a YouTube account. Earlier that year, the band announced their intentions to go on hiatus after December 31, 2020. Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention to the announcement. I'm only a casual Arashi fan because of MatsuJun being in 'Hana Yori Dango.' However, a Johnny's band opening a YouTube account was unprecedented. I HAD to pay attention and discovered some new songs in the process. The following month, they made another surprise move by creating several social media accounts, including Instagram where I followed them voraciously.Next, came this documentary. When I watched the first episode, I thought it was going to be a one-off thing really. I'm surprised that I kept watching something I started on December 31, 2019! Throughout the series, I was most struck by Arashi's dedication to the fans and how they genuinely seem to care about them. These moments touched me so much that I cried. The episodes where Arashi is trying to break in to the US market are particularly poignant to me. It makes me wonder about so many things that would've gone different if coronavirus hadn't happen. I'm sure Arashi's planned concert here would've been amazing.
I recommend watching the first episode, and their respective "diary" episodes the most. I wasn't so interested in some of the behind the scenes stuff, though it's interesting to see just how much MatsuJun was involved with the concerts. Now after twenty-four episodes, I can say I'm a fan of Arashi and all five of its members. I never would've thought I'd connect with Ohno the most tbh. Now that they're on hiatus, I hope they enjoy themselves but I also hope that they remain close friends and will eventually come back to us as Arashi.
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Short and enjoyable
I enjoyed this so much. It was light and fluffy, making me smile the whole time. I picked up this series since I'm becoming more interested in GMMTV and its actors (I really liked Jan. I'll probably look for more of her). Since it's a web series, "Youniverse" I felt had a very different look from the ones they broadcast on TV. It felt more raw and the actors seemed as if they were really just regular high school students. As for the story, it was really simple but enjoyable. I liked watching the two couples form. The ending had a bit of twist, but I'm still hopeful.Anyway, this is a short review since I just wanted to put a few thoughts on it out there. I would recommend this series to anyway who has forty minutes to spare. Trust me, you'll enjoy it!
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A meh adaptation.
Since I'm watching all the Itazura na Kiss adaptations, I guess I'll review them all as well. Note: I've read part of the manga and seen the anime, so they are the only thing I can compare this drama too. Another note: my favorite part of this drama was probably the ending theme, which paid homage to the manga (so adorable!).I didn't hate this drama, only it left me disappointed at certain points that I felt the manga/anime did better. For some reason, Kotoko never annoyed me as in the manga/anime as much as she did in this drama. No offense to Sato Aiko, who was a bit screechy at times. I think it was mostly a writing issue. There is never a moment when Kotoko becomes just fed up with Naoki (God, I really wanted this moment). It's incredibly frustrating. On the other hand, I rather liked Kashiwabara Takashi as Naoki. I felt more sympathetic to him than Kotoko tbh. She really seemed like an "ordeal" to him and I kept telepathically telling him to run away.
As for the rest of the cast, I thought Asada Miyoko and Akashi Ryotaro were perfect as Naoki's mom and Yuki. I really enjoyed his voice-overs in the episodes. The majority of the other characters were good/okay but no stand-outs. I was disappointed in Kinnosuke's character. Though Aoki Shinsuke resembles him really well, they reduced his character to pure comic relief and he becomes a lot more annoying because of it. And lastly, I thoroughly disliked Ozawa Maju as Reiko (Yuko in the manga/anime). She was portrayed so evil in this drama with absolutely no sympathy at all. Ugh I really hated it.
The ending of this drama left me with mixed feelings, which I still cannot put my finger on. I've given it a rating of 7, only because I didn't absolutely hate it. If I was a professional reviewer, I would likely give it a 5 or 6. I think only die-hard fans should watch this (and even then y'all might not like it). Casual fans should beware, unless you're the type to skip scenes (alas, I'm not). Well, on from this meh adaptation to the next.
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Now on to the story! The movie covers the first seven volumes (Fun fact: only nine volumes of the series had been released at the time). Unfortunately, this also means it covers some of least favorite parts of the manga, the Shizuka Arc and Rui Tries to Steal Domyoji's Girl Arc. I can forgive it though since they only had so much material to work with. My biggest complaint about the story is the rearranging of events (maybe only manga fans will notice), it makes some things not make any sense. And Tsukasa nearly assaults Tsukushi and it's all hunky dory, let's go to the beach time now?! (Atleast in the manga she is noticeably scared to be alone with Tsukasa for some time) That part really should have been left out, instead of Tsukushi and Tsukasa's first 'date'.
I'm not going to comment much on the acting. They were all newcomers at the time with many making their film debut in it. Honestly, the over-the-top acting kind of suits the manga vibes. On another note, the actors playing Akira and Sojiro aren't given hardly any lines! So sad. If you're interested check out the late Koichi Hashizume in Picnic (1996), he really shows off his acting chops in it. And did anyone else notice Shizuka's accent?
Lastly, my personal feelings on this movie. I waited a long time to watch it. It wasn't available online for years. Now it's conveniently located on YouTube. Since then, I've seen it atleast three or four times. I just never get tired of the wacky story and acting or the soundtrack, "Baby's Growing Up," or laughing at Tsukasa's missing shirt. Not the best version of Hana Yori Dango by far, but still entertaining. I recommend to veteran fans of the manga or the other adaptations.
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This version probably has the most care put into it. Angie Chai, who also produced the original 'Meteor Garden', was very careful about adapting it to a millennial audience while staying true to the manga. It shows. 'Meteor Garden' (2018) by far covers the manga's plot better than all of the others. This is both a good and bad thing. It allows the character's to fully develop, but feels kinda draggy towards the end (the manga has the same effect). It is 49 episodes long after all.
I loved the chemistry between the leads, Dylan Wang and Shen Yue. All of the supporting characters were enjoyable, though some were better than others (>_< ugh Caina). Like the other adaptations before it, this version has its good points and bad points. It's inevitable that 'Meteor Garden' (2018) will be ruthlessly compared to the other versions. I suggest to all fans to check it out since you'll probably like it if you give it a shot.
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Run-of-the-mill horror flick
I enjoyed this movie primarily for Kathniel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla). As a couple, they are to die for and I will watch any movie with them in it. I believe fans of these two will also enjoy this movie. Otherwise, it is just a typical ghost kills everyone one-by-one movie that every has seen at least once.The one thing that was interesting about it was learning Filipino superstitions regarding wakes, such as not going home directly after a wake. I've never been to one so I don't if there are any such traditions in the US. The story became slightly more interesting after learning the ghost's motivations wasn't just because said teenagers violated a bunch of superstitions.
Was it scary? Eh, no. Lol but I don't believe in ghosts or spirits so these kind of movies rarely scare me. To conclude, horror fans will find this movie basic or forgettable but Kathniel fans like me will be happy to see their favorite pair in something different from their usual rom-coms.
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A place to go back home to
"Dondo Hare" is the seventh asadora that I've completed. I first chose it at random since it was one of several asadoras I currently have downloaded on my computer. I was also curious about watching a "modern" asadora (i.e. one taking place around the year it aired). I then noticed that the lead actress appears in "Natsuzora," which is the 100th asadora and references older asadoras. That's when I really committed to watching it (I'll be watching "Dandan," "Chiritotechin," and "Manpuku" next for the same reasons). "Dondo Hare" was a surprisingly easy watch, excepting a couple of the storylines. I was really able to just breeze through it.The drama follows Natsumi (played by Higa Manami) as she trains to become a proprietress for a traditional Japanese inn, called Kagamiya, which her fiancé Masaki (Uchida Asahi) decides to take over. Masaki's aunt Tamaki (Miyamoto Nobuko) is the current proprietress and wants her son Shinichi (Azuma Mikihisa) to take over. However, the head proprietress Katsuno (Kusabue Mitsuko) wants Masaki instead. This family conflict pushes the plot forward for the majority of the drama.
The first two weeks of "Dondo Hare" set up the drama well. I really liked the weeks that follow since it had a slice of life vibe as every week had different guest for Natsumi to help. The tone shifts, however, when Natsumi's meddling causes her to quit her training. Of course, she goes back but the tone returns to what it was. From then, there seems to be a series of neverending problems for Natsumi or the inn. At one point, the poor girl has two "rivals" to contend with. The drama's best feature is its sense of family and I wish it had focused on that instead of just throwing one problem after another at them.
Natsumi is a good heroine and her characterization helps the drama when the writing gets weaker. Her naivete may be a tad annoying at sometimes, but (like the drama says) her ability to "believe" in people is also her strong point. She seems like the typical hard-working, bright smile heroine at first. Natsumi, however, is not just that and shows a wide-range of genuine emotion. Her and Masaki's relationship could've been stronger. Since they were engaged before the story starts, it feels that the writers phoned them in just a bit. Instead Natsumi's relationships with Katsuno and Tamaki are much more interesting and nuanced. I also just want to add that I liked all of the supporting characters. Everyone at the inn felt like a family.
Now in conclusion, I recommend "Dondo Hare." It's not the best asadora, of course. But it's a fun, easy watch. I got tired of the constant troubles, but Natsumi makes these times easier to get through. The final week of episodes could've had more happiness, instead of hastily trying to wrap up the final conflict. The very final episode, however, was worth it. I definitely cried T_T At the end, I felt just as attached to Kagamiya as all of the characters. It felt like (as the drama says) a place to go home to.
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"A mother's worries are never over."
"Oshin" is the sixth asadora that I've watched. Like "Ohisama" and "Hanako to Anne," it has been on my radar for a long time. It's considered a classic after all. But, like most people, I thought the 297 episode count was daunting. However, after I decided to go all in with asadora dramas, I knew I wanted to watch "Oshin" early on in this journey. How I approached "Oshin" was that I watched in sets of 2 to 3 weeks at time and then switched to watching "Ohisama" for 2 to 3 weeks. I obviously finished "Ohisama" first with this method. I think this helped "Oshin" feel less daunting at times and helped keep my interest up, instead of giving me burn-out.The structure of "Oshin"'s story is similar to "Ohisama," being presented as older Oshin (Nobuko Otowa) telling her life story to her grandson Kei (Goro Ohashi). There is an extra layer of mystery as we as an audience are unaware of why she has suddenly left home for her nostalgia trip. The reason is not actually revealed until the final two weeks of episodes.
The first few weeks of "Oshin" covers Oshin's tough childhood during the Meiji period. She is played by an unforgettable young actress Ayako Kobayashi. Many of the lessons she learns during her childhood will be brought up continuously throughout the rest to the drama. Personally, these episodes are kind-of hard to watch. Oshin is the daughter of a sharecropper and sent out to work at only seven-years-old. After several bumps in the road, she finds employment at Kaga-ya. Here we finally meet some supportive adults and Oshin makes a lifelong friend in Kayo (Terumi Azuma). The story then skips to when Oshin (now played by Yuko Tanaka) is sixteen and meets her first love Kota (Tsunehiko Watase), an advocate for the farm labor movement who is constantly hounded by the police. These are the three most important characters of the story.
It will take too long to summarize the rest of the story so I'll just talk about some of the characters. Oshin's husband, Ryuzo (Shiro Namiki), is one of the most frustrating characters I've encountered in fiction. But this series has a lot of similarly frustrating characters: Oshin's father, her son Hitoshi, her mother-in-law Kiyo, her daughter-in-law Michiko, her brother Shoji, and her sister-in-law Tora. The writer, however, does something really interesting with all of these characters. She makes you dislike them so much that you're just wishing that they worse will befall them, but then she'll find a way for you to sympathize with them. These characters also make it easy to appreciate the nice people like the people of Kaga-ya, Oshin's hairdressing teacher, the yakuza member Ken, Ryuzo's servant Geneimon, and Kota's aunt Hisa. I love all of these people.
A little less than half-way through the drama, Oshin was at her in-laws in Saga. This storyline went on for a long time and is hands down the hardest part to get through. I took several breaks during this time and I recommend doing the same. This part sets a lot of context for when Oshin herself becomes a mother-in-law and adds a great bit of irony.
The latter half of the drama (when Oshin is played by Nobuko Otowa) is probably my favorite. I was finally able to relax and just watch Oshin set up her supermarket business. Her son Hitoshi was admittedly annoying, but he's surprisingly layered as a character. Her other children were great for the most part. I will say that the constant changing of actors as these characters aged was a bit confusing. They should've stuck with the old age make-up and grey hair. Kota's actor is never changed by the way; he just gets a mustache that turns greyer with time lol.
I had a great time watching this, even with all of the hard-to-watch parts. Asadora dramas are a truly a unique viewing experience. I've never quite felt like I knew characters so well. The story starts when Oshin is seven and then ends when she is 83 with very few time skips. An amazing epic drama. I see why it's considered a classic, especially within the context of the 1980s. For modern viewers, I encourage to exercise caution unless you're interested in different cultures and time periods. This is not like asadora dramas of today and may have a lot of things you don't like. Compared to something like "Hanako to Anne" (same time period), "Oshin" is a harsh watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
"All women are like the sun."
"Ohisama" is the fifth asadora that I have completed. The drama has been on my radar for a long time since it stars Mao Inoue, whom I love from the "Hana Yori Dango" series. However, I was always scared of the length of asadora series. Thankfully, I have gotten over that and quickly put "Ohisama" on my plan to watch list. I was actually surprised by how much I liked "Ohisama." It even rose to become my favorite asadora, beating out my beloved "Hanako to Anne" by a slight margin.The drama uses an interesting framing device similar to "Oshin" (which I was watching concurrently). It opens with a modern-day (2011) housewife, Fusako (Yuki Saito), meeting an elderly woman, Yoko (Ayako Wakao), who asks if she wants to hear her story. The story then frequently returns to present-day Yoko and Fusako as the drama unfolds. Ayako Wakao also provides the narration. I think both devices combined enhanced the story-telling experience, especially for a drama set during World War II. Subtle hints of the fate of characters were given either through the narration or a mention/appearance in the modern day. This helped keep the sometimes sad tone of the series down in my opinion.
Yoko's story starts in 1932 when her family moves to Azumino, a village in Nagano Prefecture. Her mother, Hiroko (Tomoyo Harada; whom I loved in "Hanbun Aoi") has long been sick and has chosen this place to die essentially. [Only the first week and I'm sobbing.] Yoko losing her mother at the young age of ten shapes the entire rest of the story, even to the final seconds. Her mother gives her advice to be "like the sun" (her name uses the character for the word for sun). Yoko from on frequently tries to be the sun for those around her. Older Yoko uses the quote "All women are like the sun" to Fusako much later in the drama and I just thought was such a beautiful thought.
The story then shifts to Yoko's high school days with her best friends, Machiko (Maiko) and Ikuko (Hikari Mitsushima). These two are some of the most important people in her life besides her father, elder brothers, and later on her husband, daughter, and in-laws. Yoko becomes a teacher after graduating (This will be her main ambition for the majority of the series). Unfortunately, it is now 1941, the year Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. If you're familiar with the Japanese retelling of the war, you'll see the typical "Japan cannot lose" rhetoric the common people were fed at the time. Yoko, unlike in the previous asadoras I've seen ("Hanako to Anne" and "Junjo Kirari"), is not even slightly politically inclined one way or the other. She is a little bit disturbed by teaching the children military tactics, but does as she is ordered essentially. Perhaps paradoxically, I found the war easier to watch because of this. I would've been harder to watch Yoko fighting against the tide, really. Yoko represents the common people whom were simply there.
Now addressing Yoko's husband, Kazunari (Kengo Kora). Their relationship is probably my favorite of the asadoras I've seen so far. These two are so sweet together and seeing them smiling at each other makes me want to smile. Their relationship starts from an "omiai" (arranged marriage meeting), but they feel totally natural with each other. The chemistry was so good. After he comes back from the war, I loved seeing them grow and learn together. Even up to the next to last week, they are becoming better at communicating with each other. I love to see such a healthy relationship in drama land. The way they tease each other is so cute too.
"Ohisama" has a lot of great supporting characters. I honestly loved them all and I can't even single one of them out because then I'll just start listing them all. Yoko's best friends are obvious contenders. The writers kept their lives consistently surprising. I wish Hikari Mitsushima had been given her own asadora; she was so good as Ikuko. Yoko's mother and father-in-law are like real parents to her and I love their constant banter. Likewise, Yoko's banter with her brother Shigeki (Kento Nagayama) never falls to entertain. His relationship with Ikuko was a surprise, but in hindsight, I should've seen it coming. They're perfect for each other. Then there's Yoko's father, brother Haruki, grandmother, Natsuko-sensei, Kayo-san and her husband, and all of her wonderful students. Haha I did just end up listing them lol. On a side note, "Ohisama" also features two future asadora heroines Tao Tsuchiya ("Mare"; also supporting in "Hanako to Anne") and Sakura Ando ("Manpuku").
The ending of "Ohisama" was bittersweet but not because anyone died. It's because I didn't want it to end. I've loved plenty of shows and books before, but there's very few I wish could go on forever. This one I would pick to watch on-and-on until the end of time. The finale, however, was still perfect so if it had to end, I'm happy it ended this way.
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