pash
Italy
Wow, seriously, I've watched it a coupla weeks ago and I'm still getting goosebumps just by thinking about it, so good it was!
The script is absolutely P-E-R-F-E-C-T, it works like the finest of Swiss clockworks and *every single scene* is a total delight to watch. Even the most minor of side characters feels tridimensional, and the scenes involving them are fabulously deep and brilliant (take for instance the beautiful subplot involving the "haafu" and his mother! Or the fantastically bittersweet one with the old couple!).
The acting is top-notch, as one would expect from such a *stellar* cast!!!
The production value / "packaging" literally reaches Himalayan heights too.
This goes directly in my personal top10 of all times!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
I feel like I need to make a short premise: in my humble opinion, if you have a certain amount of interest in the idols phenomenon (you don't have to be a die-hard "wota", just not someone who can't stand it, LOL), then you're most probably gonna appreciate this "Idol Shikkaku" more than otherwise - just like humble me appreciated it.I really liked the production value / "packaging" and the script (with the sole, partial exception of the ending; more on that in a jiff). Oh, BTW, in case you don't know, the story is based on a novel written by an active member of NMB48 (hence a colleague of the four girls acting as members of the fictitious group "Tetra").
The acting was good as a whole, with some doing better than others as it is to be expected.
And now on to the ending and why I didn't like it too much (spoilers ahead, so stop reading if you don't want them!!!):
I honestly found it way too unresolved, on the one hand realistic, ok, but on the other hand a bit bland/bitter and uninspiring. It would have sufficed to have the ML's phone ring in the last scene where he's looking at the sun to make it right, imho!!!
Still, a totally solid 8/10 in my book.
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That is not to say that it's absolutely perfect, alas. Indeed, the script had its moments but also a coupla sloppy passages (like for example the übertrite subplot involving the ML's ex). The cast did well as a whole, but we're honestly not talking of award-granting performances. As for the production value / "packaging", the level was completely fine, but at the same time nothing worth calling home about it.
A decent 8/10 in my book!
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This review may contain spoilers
Very delicate and nicely original take on the old trope "high school student + teacher love", this "Sensei Sayonara" positively surprised me for its beautiful script, the good to great acting performance by the main cast, and a totally decent production value / "packaging" (direction, photography, music commentary etc.).Hard to explain the originality of this little drama (and most of all, why you might wanna give it a chance even though you might be turned off by the premise) without spoilers, so here we go, consider yourselves warned and if you don't wanna get any of those, stop reading now!
The afore-mentioned originality lies in the fact that the drama constantly juggles two different storylines: on the one hand, in the past, we get to see the beautiful-yet-tragic love between the ML (then a high schooler himself) and his homeroom teacher (played by Kita Kana who's nothing short of brilliant here, her last scene literally gave me goosebumps!); on the other hand, in the present, we see the sweet (and rest assured, completely chaste) love between the FL and the ML, who's now become a homeroom teacher (and a widow). In both cases it's the student who initiates everything, and it both cases the relationships are portrayed in an absolutely pure, not-in-the-least naughty way.
So why don't I give this a perfect 10? Well, honestly, Kita Kana and Watanabe Shota both did really well, whereas the rest of the cast (even more so in comparison to the Himalayan heights reached by those two) was good but nothing more (most, like Hayashi Meari, are pretty young so there's still a lot of room for improvement of course, ganbatte kudasai!)
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This review may contain spoilers
I must confess I started this "Miwa-san Narisumasu" without really having high expectations about it. On the one hand, it's a "yorudora" (similarly to the "asadora", many short episodes of 15' each, credits included) which made me wary it could've been aimed (as somehow more typical of the yorudora, in fact) at a much younger audience than poor old me; on the other hand, as you might already know if you've read my other reviews, romance ain't really my favorite genre.I'm happy to be able to say that this drama totally exceeded my expectations!
First of all, romance isn't really such a big part of it, but rather a side ingredient (just like the pinch of sugar we Italians like to add to our tomato-based pasta sauces, if you get what I mean, LOL). Secondly, it felt more mature and a little deeper than the usual yorudora, which was also a very nice surprise. Last but certainly not least, the whole cast did really well and contributed highly to the viewing pleasure.
So did the pretty high production value and the generally very nice script, although this latter wasn't absolutely perfect imho. In all fairness, I felt a few parts here and there were a bit weak, and most of all, the ending was way too rushed and left some things way too open (but then again, I've watched this RAW so chances are some details, and even more than that, escaped me...?)
I can still wholeheartedly recommend it though. 9/10
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I'm really happy I finally decided to pick it up, as it really exceeded my expectations!!!
If you, like me, appreciate when writers manage to accomplish a well-done character development, then chances are you'll like this series too!
The leads slowly-but-surely develop, in fact, from the almost unbearable characters they are at the beginning (LOL, you'll need some patience, believe me!) to the more open, warmer, kinder and more humane persons they'll get to be in the end, all thanks to the help from those sorrounding them and to the fact that, as imperfect as they are, they can still become a little less imperfect just by staying together - and to this humble reviewer, that alone is a gazillion times more romantic than the usual "Cold male CEO x buck-eyed, eyelashes-batting Cinderella"!
(Too bad they kinda ruined it with the useless SP episode...but that's another story...)
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Although the genre (high school romance) isn't really my favorite (on the one hand, I'm probably too old for it, LOL; and on the other hand, my favorite genres are rather comedy, iyashikei, horror, mystery, etc.), nevertheless I actually liked this lil' movie that definitely managed to exceed my expectations: the story is clean, straight-forward and nice, the leads are both very good and so is the "packaging" (directing, editing, photography, music,...).
Totally solid 8/10!
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Both works, in fact, share the same fascination with time loops and the technical prowess required to portray them through sequence shots. And of course they are from the same director and share a relevant part of the cast.
I personally think that the story here is just a lil' bit weaker, and the setting a lot less fascinating (let's be honest: beautiful ryokan in the hills around Kyoto beats small family restaurant/café in an anonymous city side street any day of the week!!! ^_^;;;....), hence my grade.
It's still another wonderful movie I can wholeheartedly recommend, though! 9/10
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I liked this so much, I'd want to give it more than "just" 10/10!!!
Seriously, there are times when you watch something so tremendously satisfying, that you kinda feel bad for not being able to rate it more than "just" the top grade, and it is precisely the case with this fabulous "River, Nagarenaide yo"!Hard to explain why it hit me so much without giving anything away (and that'd be a pity 'cause it would deprive you of the pleasure of finding out by yourselves!), I'll just say this: the premise is as interesting as they come; the way they actually made it work was nothing short of a serious stroke of genius; the technical difficulties I can only imagine but must have been something indeed, chapeau for the way they brilliantly overcame them; the cast did *marvelously*, with a special mention for the amazing, lovely, gorgeous (I could go on and on!) Fujitani Riko; the setting is simply F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S; the "packaging" absolutely top-notch (I normally am not really a fan of hand-held cameras, but there was no other way to make this work!).
What are you waiting for? Go watch this *now*! You'll thank me later! ^____-
10/10 and instant top10 of all times, as far as I'm concerned!
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The premise was nicely developed, the setting very nice, and the production value pretty high.
The whole cast did a marvelous job, seriously. My hat goes off to all of them! Honorable mentions for Sun Qian, for Luo Yu Tong (who grew on me so much that by the end of the drama I was liking her even more than the FL - and that's saying quite a lot!!!) and for Tao Hai.
The script was very good and I particularly appreciated how well they accomplished character development and how nicely they managed to convey a wonderfully positive, ethical message.
The only reasons I'm not giving this a perfect 10 are, on the one hand, that I really didn't like how they set things up for a potential second season (I'm talking about the very last scene with the never seen before character - totally unrelated to the rest of the series), and on the other hand, that I found a coupla scenes a bit weak/forced. But then again, perhaps the machine-translated subs (that at times one had to *interpret*, rather than simply *read*) are to blame for that? Whatever, beggars can't be choosers and machine-translated subs are still a whole lot better than no subs at all, of course. 9/10
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So much more than just a food drama!
This "Atari no Kitchen!" captured me right away with that lovely, uplifting, terribly catchy opening credits song, then kept wooing me, episode after episode, with the sheer quality of its script - and let's be honest, also with the sheer (both inner and outer) beauty of the eponimous main character, whom I fell desperately in love with - Gods, please give me a time machine so I can go back to my youth, and let me meet someone like her, LOL! ^_^;Jokes aside, this is really a wonderful series, and so much more than just the Nth food drama! Sure, food has a relevant part in the story, but rather as *soul* food: the FL uses it to bring joy to those lucky enough to taste it, and to us viewers too in the process. Delicate and deep at the same time, chapeau to the writers!
And then a virtual standing ovation to the adorable - and tremendously talented - Sakurada Hiyori! Perfect 10!
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A real M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E!!!
Over the last few years, with alas increasingly common recurrence, I end up being in such despair ("à la" Zetsubou-sensei, I mean, LOL) due to the Nth "westernized" J-drama ("made in Hollywood", as I put it), that for a brief moment I find myself entertaining the idea of dropping Japanese dramas altogether.../.____.\Luckily, though, every now and then good old Japan still manages to come up with the Nth masterpiece, so that I'm happily made to abandon that idea completely and my love for J-dramas is once again maintained and reinforced.
It was precisely the case of this "Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru".
A real M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E. There's no other way to correctly describe it.
The script? PERFECT. You cry, you laugh, you think....the whole nine yards, really.
The acting? MARVELOUS. Hard to name only three members of this *great* cast, but traditions must be respected, so I'll go with Tsutsumi-san, Kamiki-kun and most of all the adorable - and amazingly talented - Maida Nono (seriously, to be able to act that well at her age is kinda scary! Can't wait to see her in more dramas!!!)
The "packaging", as I put it (directing, editing, photography, music, etc.)? TOP-NOTCH.
The message? W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!!
'Nuff said, go watch it *now*, you'll thank me later! ^_______-
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Back in the Golden Age of J-dramas it was possible to make a drama with such a politically incorrect title (it roughly translates as "Badmouthing the Wives" - but don't get it wrong, at least 80% of the times - if not more - the badmouthing husbands aren't portrayed as being right at all in doing so!) and with such tridimensional characters, so full of faults and yet - or rather, precisely because of that! - so tremendously humane.
The script doesn't take sides "a priori" (OK, today it's Latin Day, bear with me, please), but rather shows two main characters who are right or wrong depending on the situation. They argue, they fight, they yell, but at the end of the day - and that's the lovely message conveyed by this old comedy - both are made better people by being together and learning from each other and from their mistakes, day in and day out. There are no *perfect* couples, but rather *functioning* ones, that are so exactly because they know that they're not perfect and *accept* it! (compare that with the current trend of demanding nothing short of *perfection* from your partner, and any failure to comply to that impossibly unrealistic demand leading to a divorce...>_____<).
Back to the drama: the script is wonderful, managing to be at the same time hilarious and thought-provoking. The acting is top-notch, with virtual standing ovations for both leads. The "packaging" might feel dated to younger viewers, but those who appreciate "oldiesbutgoldies" won't have any problem with that.
No surprise it was so successful it got a second season (alas, not yet subbed, if I'm not mistaken...?), not really a common occurrence for comedies.
Oh, a last side-note for my countrymates - who'll get the reference: this is basically the Japanese version of "Casa Vianello", LOL! ^_^;;;
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"Supokon" at its best!!!
As I've already confessed in a previous review, my favorite sport is baseball.Of all different sorts of baseball, Japanese "yakyuu" is my favorite (in a nutshell: no doping - or at least much much less than in the MLB; less muscles and more brains; nobody munching tobacco and spitting it on the field, etc. etc.).
And of all different types of Japanese "yakyuu", my favorite is precisely high school baseball.
Why? Because it's poetic, pure, epic...it's Sport with a capital "s", sport as it *should* be.
Now, the Japanese have a whole genre dedicated to sports-related stories, called "supokon", and since baseball is (one of) the national sport(s), you can guess that the vast majority of "supokon" are about baseball, and particularly about high school baseball, 'cause Japanese *love* it and the Koushien's final game is basically the Japanese equivalent of the Superbowl in the States!
So does all that mean that there's nothing really new in this story? Could be, yeah.
Does that make it any less fabulous? Hell no!
A good recipe doesn't necessarily need any fancy ingredients to make for a delicious dish; more often than not, it's precisely the simple, good old ones that are the best of the lot!
As is the case with this "Gekokujo Kyuji": all the tropes of the genre are there, but still, you can't help but enjoying *every single minute* of it! Marvelously written, acted, directed. Production value reached Himalayan heights. The message conveyed was simply beautiful.
Jeez, I finished watching it before Christmas, but I'm still getting goosebumps thinking about it now, so good it was!!! ^______^;;;
Highly and wholeheartedly recommended! Perfect 10 all the way!!!
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Anyway, I'm happy to say that this drama has surprised me very positively; it reminded me a lot of "Tokyo Sentimental" and of the various "...no Satsukyu" dramas. It's part slice-of-life, part "iyashikei", part food drama, with a pinch of comedy and a healthy dose of "mono no aware".
The acting is top-notch, the production value very high, the music superb.
The only reason I'm not giving this a "perfect 10" is that, as it's to be expected with most dramas having an episodic formula, a coupla episodes were a bit weaker, imho. Still, it got very close! 9/10
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