Zulu-Niner

Finally a show that can restore my faith in Japanese horror. This one is well-produced and acted (would say the best-acted among the entire Ju-on franchise). They really don't hold themselves back in disturbing scenes. Another positive point is that the storytelling, they cram several plots over different time frames (and the ghosts indeed transcend into time and space) without leaving too many significant plot holes. I believe some of them could be resolved in another sequel, if any. Props to the screenwriter for conceptualizing and eventually pulling a concept of ghosts that can transcend and even transferring tangible things across multiple timelines as if they have Doraemon's time machine.

In the end, I really, really want to give 9.0/10 rating to this series but I can't, due to several plot conveniences (i.e. why does the husband in 1997 suddenly got vaporized out of the blue? Can't they think any better way to end that arc?).

Her cheeks are so cute

JIN KAZAMA Tekken lolololol

Sorry for the super late reply. I revisited this article and felt an urge to reply. I think the best works of young actors in Japan tend to be in non-mainstream, low key, indie projects. Some unassuming youngsters in mainstream doramas/movies could (and do) turn out to be really good. And to join that indie shows, one just needs to be competent enough and it's less of agency power. These kinds of project often come very surprising, it seems there's always high potential youngsters out there waiting to be discovered.

Japan's answer to Sean Bean (IYKWIM)

He is a model? More like he is a gender swap role specialist lol.

Kotaki Kyodai

And 2 of my favorite actresses as well

Anti-hero Ono Machiko and lil Mone with hot scenes. Just MINDBLOWING

EDIT:
For those saying Mone should stick only to bubbly rom-com shows, you have to watch to see this short miniseries. She's so much more than what you imagine.

I'd say a very complete talent like Kaya happens to appear once every 25-30 years. Within that period one could have 40-50 'average' great actresses appearing here and there in high-profile projects (think someone like Yoshitaka Yuriko/Toda Erika/Ishibashi Shizuka/Suzu etc), 5-6 elite talents on world-class or near-world class level (Kuroki Haru, Mitsushima Hikari, Mayu), and only one like Kaya.

To think that not even young/teenage Hikari was ever that good. She is so far ahead of the curves compared to others in the same age group (or even above that such as 97-00 liners). The problem is that if you think Suzu's near-complete monopoly on good roles is crazy enough, I bet it will even more pronounced among the sub-2000 liners. If I were a talented actress in that age group, I'd rather learn foreign language ASAP (English, Korean, or Mandarin) because I know there would be too few good roles left to contest and obtain in Japan.

Haven't seen enough of Nana's acting so far (just in 3A and Eerie) to evaluate her ceiling potentials, but who knows she might be indeed super good. Based on my tier of likeability, Nana stands pretty high my list (oh yeah you know what I mean lol). But so far based on performance shown on screen, I think Nana and Hiyori could be even. Actually Hiyori as child actress was clearly talented btw.

Somewhere below lil Anna and above Aisa.

You forgot Sakurada Hiyori bro

Spoller alert (again)

Can't agree more. It's the most underrated WOWOW dorama and Sakamoto Yuji's writing ever. I can say it deserves to belong to top 5 best scripts ever written by him.

Please add Mosaic Japan
https://mydramalist.com/10374-mosaic-japan

I concur with the last point. The best way to end it with Satomi is to make her gradually more independent, thanks to the bitter experience with Mikami and the influence of her best friend Tokiko (gosh, her role in the new series is so underrated af). I'm not saying she will turn into another Rika, this is out-right impossible lol. More like 'normies' with common sense like Tokiko.

EDIT: After watching ep.9-10 I'm convinced Satomi will never end up with Mikami, which is good. Glad the writers went an extra mile by making Kanchi-new Rika romantic relation a prolonged distanced relationship to really justify the ending like in the original material. Now I don't really mind whomever Kanchi will end up with, it's down to the last episode.

Combine that with that acting IQ, you've got a really formidable actress. On the flipside though, this is perhaps the reason why she took such a long time to be noticed by the elites. They want someone with very strong and imposing screen presence and a very (or more fittingly, OVERLY) specific style of acting, like for example Hashimoto Ai, Komatsu Nana, Suzu, Kiyohara Kaya and to some extent Sugisaki Hana and Kadowaki Mugi. Mayu on the other hand might have convinced them the more tortuos and hard way than any other elite actresses at her or below her age group did/does.

Regarding the casting policy, I think they are in dire need of change (although I reckon it would be VERY unpopular opinion among the stakeholders except for perhaps the likes of Miike Takashi lol). The pool of talent of bests of Japanese cinema lack diversity in this regard and they must stop wasting real talents that are now regarded 'unfit' just because they have 'unwanted' vibe or acting style, despite possessing great potentials and skills.

Paraphrasing @realdeal's comment in twitter, this version is more like 'reimagine' than a remake. Think the same characters in the manga version, but were born 25-30 years later than in the original material, thus they grow up in a vastly different condition. And at last, put them in a situation in 2020 that is comparable to the original (i.e. characters from Shikoku one by one relocating to Tokyo). That's how the characters in this version end up.

Up until episode 6, I can see there is a pattern that might be not everyone's cup of coffee. For example, they repeat the breakup cycle twice (Rika and Kanchi enjoy good time together --> the other two have trouble --> Satomi trying to find refuge in Kanchi --> Rika and Kanchi break up --> they forgive each other --> the cycle continues). In this version, it seems Satomi is constantly looking for someone who treats her as something special and this is the source of troubles mentioned earlier (which is also kinda similar to that of both 1991 and manga versions). I hope in the last 3-4 episodes they make her realize that she needs to get her act together and take somewhat bolder action, which might be another novelty of this series compared to the previous versions. After all, one of the main points of the show is how values and definition of romantic relationship, as well as women empowerment in Japan have been shifting in recent times. Stagnating her character development similar to the previous versions could water down and even derail the message in the end.

A pretty good watch to pass the time. Surprisingly Ryota's acting here isn't as cringe as what he usually displays and his chemistry with Kurumi is at least decent.