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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A Bit Disappointing

While "Boys Over Flowers" will always be considered Yoko Kamio's signature work, I think "Cat Street" is her masterpiece. Strong words, but that's really how strong I feel about the series. Now it's not perfect and I could nitpick it, but we're here to nitpick the drama not the manga.

First, "Cat Street" is entirely too short at 6 episodes. If they only would've increased it to 10 or 11 episodes, I think they could've told a story closer to the original "Cat Street." They could've included Rei instead of mashing him with Koichi (which totally doesn't work), but maybe not make him a love interest for Keito to allow for time. And there would've been more time for the main couple to develop. Their relationship (though expected by me) felt like it came out of nowhere.

The cast was at least well casted. Mitsuki Tanimura and Tomoka Kurokawa have a great dynamic and portray their characters well. I only wish that Mitsuki's hair and clothing had been styled better. Ryo Kimura as a new character Gota was cute. Ryo Katsuji as Koichi fits the part physically but the writing kind of ruins him. Taiyo's (Hideo Ishiguro) arc with Keito is cut short and is not as satisfying. And also, I liked that the headmaster and Keito's parents are shown more than in the manga.

My final complaint is that they included the worst, most ridiculous arc of the manga, in which Keito gets kidnapped. However, here they make the perpetrator Nako (Ai Takabe) instead of the admittedly more random character in the manga. In the process, it ruins Nako's and Masanobu's (Kei Tanaka) characters. It just completely rubs me the wrong way.

I don't picture "Cat Street" getting another adaptation (all of the love goes to "Boys Over Flowers"), but I hope it gets a proper adaptation someday.

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Absolutely loved it!

To preface, I'm a fan of the original Cold Case. I watched it when it was airing with my mom. So I have lots of special memories of it. When I learned there was a Japanese version, I was curious but also hesitant to start it. I was so scared I was going to hate it. Thankfully, I was completely wrong!

The drama completely captures the vibe of the original from the music to the casting. Yoh Yoshida is particularly great as Yuri Ishikawa (Lilly Rush in the original). I liked that this first season we see glimpses of the personal lives of the main team. Hopefully, they will reveal more in the upcoming seasons. Much like in the original, I liked the dynamic between the main team. One thing I disliked was Yuri's sister, who I also didn't like in the original. I would've been fine if they cut her out.

There's a slight drawback that all of the episodes are based on episodes from seasons 1 to 2 of the original. I would've liked a few new cases. But I still felt engaged during nearly every episode. I will say that I didn't enjoy episodes 4 and the finale that much. This was one of my least favorite storylines from the original. My favorite part of Cold Case is the set-up and pay-off. These two episodes are the only ones where you don't get the usual pay-off.

If you're curious about which episodes correspond with which from the original, I'm including it here. I'll also my thoughts on the Japanese episodes:
Episode 1 = Season 2, Episode 11 - a great episode for the J-drama to start with. Heartbreaking and "Don't Look Back in Anger" has been stuck in my head for several days.
Episode 2 = Season 1, Episode 8 - another gutwrenching episode. I liked that they showed some social issues (such as Japanese Brazilians living in Japan) that you won't see in other dramas.
Episode 3 = Season 2, Episode 10 - we're at a 3 for 3 for great episodes in a row! Keep your tissues handy.
Episode 4 = Season 2, Episode 9 - one of my least favorites tbh, but still a good one. This is one of Cold Case's more memorable original episodes so they sort of had to cover it.
Episode 5 = Season 1, Episode 22 - I cried like a little baby so a good episode. However, it was a little too word-for-word of the original.
Episode 6 = Season 1, Episode 13 - the one instance I think they improved on the original. It covers another social issue (Koreans in Japan) and just feels more impactful than the original. This was the episode I remembered that Japan had a statue of limitations on murder! It was only changed recently and still only cases from after 1994 can be charged.
Episode 7 = Season 2, Episode 6 - like ep 5, this one is very close to the original. That didn't stop me from crying though T_T
Episode 8 = Season 1, Episode 18 - this one was definitely less impactful than the original. I can't really pinpoint what I didn't liked about it.
Episode 9 = Season 1, Episode 14 - another classic, heartbreaking episode. This one was based on the famous "Boy in the Box" case. He was finally identified last year!
Episode 10 = Season 2, Episode 23 - a follow-up to episode 4 that I knew was coming. The ending scene was great, but still one of my least favorites.

Anyway, that's the end of my ramblings! I'm looking forward to watching the next season.

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A true classic

I've finally finished "It Started with a Kiss." I found it hard to binge because of the pretty low quality version I was watching. Luckily, GTV uploaded it with subs on YouTube so I was able to watch it without frustration lol. Note: I've read part of the manga, seen the anime and the 1996 drama, so these are what I'll compare ISWAK to.

I absolutely loved "It Started with a Kiss." From the beginning, you can sense the care the production took to be faithful to the manga while still localizing it to Taiwan. My one complaint would be that the drama is quite long at twenty episode with a running time of one hour and ten minutes. I feel the story could've been trimmed down a bit. The last three episodes before the finale I found to be quite draggy too. In terms of writing, "It Started with a Kiss" still manages to beat out 1996 Itazura na Kiss by several leagues and is on par with the anime.

Ariel Lin and Joseph Cheng are perfect as Xiang Qin (Kotoko) and Zhi Shu (Naoki). Their acting was absolutely superb. Ariel managed to be clumsy, dumb, and at times annoying without me absolutely hating her. I could actually relate to her since I sometimes feel useless too. Joseph was able to use facial expressions and certain movements to make his character more likeable while still staying true to the manga. Zhi Shu's and Xiang Qin's families were really on the nose; they all suited their characters perfectly. Watching the family together was my favorite part of the drama. There were some really funny moments.

I wasn't particularly charmed by Ah Jin aka Kinnosuke (played by the good-looking Jiro Wang); I'm afraid I'll find him exhausting in every version. Tiffany Hsu was great playing Zi Yu (Yuko), adding quite a bit of dimension to the character. She had a lot of especially funny moments with Xiang Qin and wasn't just some evil rival. Hao Qian (Sudou) was fun to watch, though his hair was a bit ridiculous. Also, out of the short side stories, I enjoyed Zi Qi's and Wu Ren's parts the most.

Some special notes I want to mention are: I loved that they changed the characters style and hair cuts over time since the drama takes place over five years or so. I guess the only discrepancy is that Yu Shu stays a child the whole time XD. It was a nice touch in the finale to bring back some characters from earlier on, such as Xiang Qin's teacher and Ah Jin's friends. Lastly, the OST of this drama is one of my faves. "Say That U Love" is super catchy and the opening sequence is perfect. Now on to the honeymoon in "They Kiss Again."

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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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Heartfelt movie with solid acting

I really love Sugisaki Hana. She never disappoints me with her projects. Her acting is always nuanced and she seems to inhabit her characters. This movie was particularly interesting for me since she's not really the "main" you know. Nevertheless, Hana was able to show off some really nice acting during her scenes. The film is told through Tabata's point-of-view. He is played by Yoshizawa Ryo who I've only seen in the live-action Bleach movie (which Hana was also in lol). Of course, I was better able to see Ryo's acting ability in this film and I'll definitely keep my eye out now.

Basically, the film follows Tabata (Ryo) who formed a club with the idealistic Akiyoshi (Hana) three years prior. He now feels that the club has strayed from its 'save the world' ambitions and aims to take it down. Tabata can be classified as an unreliable narrator as the way he views events aren't really how they played out and he embellishes other things. Despite this, I really related to Tabata. He was an outsider who avoided people so he wouldn't get hurt, only realizing later that that is impossible.

Ultimately, the movie is about change: "becoming the person you want to be." Akiyoshi goes towards this goal by striving to make the world a better place. Supporting character Mizuki (Mori Nana) must leave the safety of the free school she attends to enter the real world. Tabata must truly open himself to people and emotions. Overall, the movie had a lot of touching moments. It might come off a bit preachy at time, but not much.

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Messy and forgettable, but not exactly horrible

This drama took me foreverrr to finish, despite being only five episodes. It just wasn't as enjoyable as "Perfect Match." I kind of dreaded watching the final two episodes and eventually just had to bite the bullet. I think it boils down to two factors: story and acting. First of all, the premise is ridiculous and tedious at times. I think GMMTV was overreaching with this amnesia wannabe Groundhog Day plot. While somewhat interesting, the writing and acting was just not there.

I genuinely liked all of the actors, Neen, Mouse, Nicky. They're all adorable. But... Neen was obviously too young for this role. Her acting was so cringey at times, though she had a few shining moments. Nicky and Mouse weren't horrible, but not exactly stand-outs. I wasn't too impressed with the supporting cast either. Though it was nice to see baby New! But not baby Off, I was so sad that his character was so creepy T_T

To conclude, this drama was pretty forgettable and probably not worth your time if you're a seasoned drama watcher. Now, if you're new or just wanna watch the whole Ugly Duckling series, I don't think it's too bad. There were a lot of moments I liked. The ending here was also better than "Perfect Match," though somewhat cobbled together.

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Fun drama but muddled at some points

First of all, the plot. "Perfect Match" is a pretty straightforward story, though its weakest points are episode 1 and the 7-8. The catalyst for Junior's (Mook) transformation is kind of... dumb. Plastic surgery on your cheeks, who does that? Anyway, Junior has a reaction from the chemicals uses and develops pimples all over her face. I like that Junior's transformation, both physical and mental, is slowly played out during the series.

Now on to Suea (Push), Junior's love interest. Honestly, Push is irresistible. I love his confidence and playfulness. His interactions with Bie are simply adorable. Around episodes 7-8, I was confused by some of his behavior. I guess he was just supposed to be jealous, but some of the things he said just came off as mean. He, thankfully, goes back to being nice in the final episode and his behavior is explained somewhat. P.S. I was not really a fan of the big reveal at the end.

All in all, after watching "Girl Next Room," I'm loving these anthology dramas. They're short, usually below ten episodes. And they're all connected in some way, but not enough that it'll be a problem if you skip one. After finishing "Ugly Duckling," I'm planning to watch the "U-Prince" series and "Senior Secret Love."

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Just okay

This drama started off strong for me. Of course, the plot isn't something revolutionary or anything. But, it was a really cute story of two sisters returning to their hometown and falling in love there. I really liked all the flashbacks of Bebe (Mook) and Mint (Krist), which were just adorable. The story lost me around episodes 8 and 9. Everything just became so over-the-top, especially with the SFL. I didn't even hate her until episode 9. At that point, she was just insufferable.

My main issue with the drama remains Mook's character. She's shallow and materialistic, but I actually didn't start to hate her because of this. Her character actually goes through some good character development. However, she clearly cheats on her boyfriend and this is never addressed. I know he turned out to be jerk, but we're just okay with cheating now??? I'm sorry but they really failed her character in this one.

Lastly, the final episode was good atleast. I appreciate a nice happy ending, even if it was a major "Pair the Spares" moment. Look that up on TVTropes if you don't know what I'm talking about. I probably won't ever watch this again, but atleast it introduced me to Krist. I'm definitely going to check out some of his other stuff.

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