I finally got around to watching "Your Lie in April." It's been on my list since the middle of last summer (which is saying something since I only joined MDL in May 2020). I've never read the manga or watched the anime, so I went in blind, although I will be reading the manga sometime in the next month or so. But I like it if I can watch a live-action manga adaptation first and then read the original manga. I like the movies a lot better if I do it that way than read the manga first.

While this movie is not earth-shatteringly different, and I didn't cry which surprised me, I do love that Kaori is a strong female lead who knows her own mind and does what she wants to do no matter what anyone else might think. She's attractive that way, sort of sparkling, and so I can see why Kousei fell for her. Kento has a tendency to be so marvelously emotive so I was pleased with his performance. I love it when he smiles, so it was nice to see lots and lots of smiles here, along with the tears. But in the end, Taishi sort of stole the show a bit as the best friend, Watari. He's just so ridiculously delightful.

It's a beautiful film, very moving, but not as deep as I was expecting. It didn't gut me like "He Won't Kill, She Won't Die" or "Sky of Love." But it was still a lovely film that fits several of the tags that I find appealing.

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I don't actually have enough words to describe how much I love this drama. Issei Takahashi is absolutely my hero by playing Aikawa Sensei. I love that he can become any character and make that character so utterly unique from anything he has played before. He's remarkable.

This was such a peaceful, heartwarming drama to watch. It's now in my top 10 dramas of all time, and while I admit my drama list isn't very long yet, I don't imagine anything can bump it from its standing. I feel more whole as a person than I did before I watched "Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru" which might not make a lot of sense, but is absolutely how I feel.

The only thing I would have changed is casting Honoka Yahagi. Her lip pursing drove me crazy in "Itazura na Kiss" and 5 years later she still had the same annoying habit. Anyone else would have been a better choice, but that is just my preference. Every other actor was spot-on.

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Loved this! Is it the best movie ever? Absolutely not, but it definitely adds to the genre of slightly campy spy movies. It just looked like the leads had fun.

Kamenashi got to show off some of his mad athletic skills and speak some English (something I've never really heard him speak before other than a few words, never whole sentences), and he got to spend a little bit of time making out with Kyoko Fukada. I wonder which was made first, "Joker Game" or "Second Love?" I hope it was fun for them to work on two different projects together.

The costume designer for Kamenashi was brilliant. I can now die a happy woman after seeing him in 1940s suits and fedoras. Such a handsome man anyway, made even more so in classic Hollywood clothing.

The overall story is extremely simple. A black notebook with schematics for a bomb has gone missing and Kamenashi, as a spy for Japan, has been tasked to find it and beat out everybody else, including the Americans and the British. It's not a difficult plot to follow which isn't always the case with spy stories. I've never read the comic that this is based on so I have no idea how accurate it is, but I do know that the larger-than-life escapades and action scenes were definitely filmed anime style, which was fine. Not to the point of distraction, but the anime-inspired style is definitely there.

"Joker Game" is just a fun romp. It doesn't take itself too seriously, like, at all, and is super pretty to watch. Having been a long-standing fan of "Mission Impossible" and some "James Bond," this one was right up my alley. I just wish they'd made more. It would have been the perfect venue for Kamenashi to do a film trilogy!

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I totally get why dramas like "The Brightest Star in the Sky" have to be 44 episodes long. There's enough going on to warrant that, and most of it is actually good, fun, fluffy stuff. Unfortunately, "Sunshine of My Life" has barely enough plot to fill 24 episodes so to stretch it to 45 is just ridiculous. It's marketed as somewhat cute and fluffy. It is not that. There is nothing cute apart from maybe 10 minutes per episode because of all the nasty, bitchy, manipulative people surrounding the main couple. When they snatch time alone, then they're cute, but that doesn't happen nearly enough.

I skimmed episodes 17-44 because I just couldn't take it anymore. Bad news bears, the annoying second FL who wants the ML is in the show all the way up until the end. She's got some nasty talons and he should have given her her walking papers long ago. The annoying and stalkerish second ML also puts in a regular appearance, although halfway through the series he's distracted with family matters and that whole dramatic side plot that nobody needed. To say nothing of the FL's bitchy rival who just WILL NOT STOP. Oh, and his mother and her archaic ideas. God, I hated her. My constant reaction to her was "Lady, just shut up." I did like his dad, though, since he's played by Wang Jin Song and I also know him as Z. Tao's dad in "The Brightest Star in the Sky." This role is much nicer than in TBSITK.

All this show taught me is that nasty people are everywhere and they constantly keep turning up like bad pennies.

If the series had just focused on the FL/ML relationship, dealt with the jealous rivals quickly, and maybe done more with his cousin and her brother, then I would have probably loved it. As it is, skimming gave me just enough information to let me know what was going on and to keep me from screaming at the screen. In the end, my favorite character ended up being the chauffeur played by Li Xin Zhe. You know it's bad when that happens. I don't know what the creators were thinking.

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What a hopeless story. Lots of dysfunctional family dynamics; it's no wonder Tooma is so messed up. The old adage of nature vs. nurture runs true here. If he'd been properly cared for growing up by an actual family that understood children are to be sheltered and not exposed to cruelty and sexual violence then maybe he would have grown up fine. The character started messed up and ends messed up. I don't see much progression at all.

I'm not sure the hype about Suda's performance is deserved. He feels impassive to me, unapproachable and distant. There isn't much to work with. He had more life in "Drowning Love," to be honest, and is far more engaging in "Todome no Kiss" or "My Little Monster." The praise for him in "The Backwater" is probably more due to the depressing nature of the film itself, the fact that he was willing to go naked (although they're still careful about his nudity), and that he was so young to take on such a mature role. He didn't really have to do much acting, just curl up into a depressed ball, run through the streets in the rain, and strip naked when called upon.

On the flipside, Suda's love of independent films clearly started here. Do with that what you will, good, bad, or indifferent.

"The Backwater" isn't a film I would never watch again, like his "Love at Least," but I don't regret watching it once. I just came out of it with a somewhat numb sensation. Never before has such a sexually explicit film been so very ugly.

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a lovely Lakorn

Everything made sense to me, start to finish. Rarin realized she needed to discover who she was before she could give her all in a relationship. She'd spent so much time relying on the voice that she didn't even really know herself or how to take steps without Tan there. So the last two episodes made 100% perfect sense to me, regardless of the viewers who didn't like the last 2 episodes. I wouldn't have changed a thing. It still has a happy ending, the voice comes back, Mind and Porsche end up together, Rung wakes up, Kan gets his comeuppance although I felt sorry for him a little bit, and all is well that ends well. Tan and Rin are a lovely couple, ideally matched, they just had to grow apart for a season. It's a beautiful Thai Lakorn, a new favorite, and it deserves more acclaim and a much higher rating than it has.

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has some great messages

I did it! I finished!

This one has a lot of positive messages about loving yourself, striving for your dreams, but also being happy with who you are right now.

The only reason I'm knocking off a star is because if they were going to make me love Sora this much, then they shouldn't have put him in the drama. I get it, I know why Manaha chose Keigo. He's right for her .But I will ALWAYS love Sora more. Someone like him is right for me. So while the entire show is about being captivated by Keigo, I spent it being captivated by Sora. So sad!

Anyway, a terrific show, silly at times like the slow-motion running, but overall a great message. Manaha gets support and positive advice from both guys in her life, which is awesome, and I ended up not hating Yuri which was a shocker. So good times all around. It did take me almost 10 months to move from episode 4 to 5 and I blame that entirely on my SLS. But I'm thrilled I finished it and I will undoubtedly watch it again and be even more in love with Sora the second time around. Ahhhhhhhh.

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a kinda cute hot mess

Yuu's father deserves a sound thrashing. The entire craziness that is this movie is because of him. If he hadn't told Yuu that nice boys are actually bad choices for her then maybe she would have had more self-confidence. And if Rin hadn't taken daddio's word as gospel, well, maybe he would have the flirtatious and teasing kind of cute instead of the bullying and master manipulator that he spent 90% of the movie being.

Loved Sho Hirano as Rin (even when I wanted to throttle him) and Kentaro Ito as Saeki. I had SML syndrome for awhile, but I think in the end that Saeki and Yuu's best friend might actually be a good match. They were kinda cute.

In the end, I don't really know what I think. But when two people are messed up, well, what are you going to do about it? I didn't hate it, and the end had me smiling, but it was a long journey of annoyance, frustration, and pent-up anger. And because I hate being manipulated, I really hate girls who allow boys to manipulate them. I spent almost 20 years being manipulated by my former best friend, and yeah, it's not a fun feeling. Since Rin actually doesn't seem to be that person at heart, I hated that he ended up acting the bully for what I think is no good reason.

It just occurred to me where I've seen this done better. "Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge" has the message of self-improvement down pat, has a heroine that actually can stand on her own two feet, a boy who bullies but only goes so far, and a happy ending that makes sense based on their individual personalities. Plus the ML isn't the one who conditioned the FL in this drama. She was a serious mess before he ever met her, and because they met, he actually helps to develop her confidence rather than shrink it. Does the girl really need to change? At the end of the day, not really, the important thing is that she learns to love herself and the ML learns to love her the way she is too. It's fun without being abusive. Oh my gosh, I forgot how much I love Sunako-chan and Kyohei-kun!

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I'm proud of myself. I finished the movie trilogy, and while "The Proposal" wasn't my favorite, I enjoyed the last hour more than the first hour. So it got better. The story still isn't entirely to my liking, though. Naoki causes a lot of headaches and emotional turmoil so I can't really like him, but I still like how Kanta Sato plays him. He's a little more relatable, but the character and the story still drive me crazy. I can tell this is where the idiot girl and the tsundere boy trope sprang from (the manga, not the movies) and I can't help rolling my eyes. Still hoping that someday Asia will have moved on from this particular trope!

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I liked this special so much more than I thought I would, which is ridiculous because I actually love psychological stories so I should have known I would love it. I'm not sure what I was expecting.

The plot doesn't go in the direction you originally think it will, although I'm naturally suspicious so I was already wondering if my suspicions were right, and they were. But it's not an obvious plot twist, so it will probably catch most folks off guard.

Despite being a huge Yamapi fan there are still so many of his dramas I haven't seen yet, so I'd never seen him play opposite a child actor before where they both have leading roles. Their chemistry was spot on! This little girl was absolutely remarkable, and she and Yamapi connected strongly in their characters, making the relationship of psychologist and patient very real and empathetic. It was never creepy, just always in a protective, parental type of way, which is what I was hoping for, and what it gave me.

Psychology, the study of the human mind and its motivations, always intrigues me. So for me, this special is a solid 8 because of the story it told and because of the solid performances by all the actors, every last one, not just Yamapi.

On a totally random note, Yamapi wasn't as bulked up here as I've gotten used to seeing him. So that was kinda nice. Not that I don't love him muscled and everything, but he was definitely slimmer here.

It might not have a high rewatch value for most folks, but I've rewatched "Criminal Minds" countless times, so I know that I'll rewatch this. It's just the way my brain works. I wish I could get my hands on a subbed copy of the parent story! I've got the raw downloaded, but no subtitles anywhere. I dread the thought of doing it myself, but we'll see.

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I appreciate the glimpse into the working habits and styles of the Japanese. How they can and do overwork themselves because they feel that it's a requirement. I love that Yui stood against that flow, but at the same time, also had to yield to pressure at the end because of decisions made outside her control. Watching the work ebb and flow and see her have to compromise when she didn't want to was very true to real life. Yoshitaka Yuriko did a terrific job as Yui and is one of my favorite Japanese female leads to date.

Now to what I didn't care for, the romantic manipulations that were thrown in just for "drama." I mean, yes, we're watching dramas, but that was unnecessary. I liked Takumi. A lot. He was a lovely man with a generous and giving nature, so I can't picture him cheating on Yui and I can't picture their lives falling apart like that. He would have been the type to understand and be supportive of her while her work life is crazy busy, not cheat on her. But, Yui's and Takumi's relationship needed to fracture in order for her to be with Kotaro. It was really just a manipulative ploy that I didn't care for because while the rest of the drama felt almost true to life, that part was very contrived. It didn't matter to me that Yui and Kotaro had been together before. She was good with Takumi so I resent that the writers felt the need to reunite her with Kotaro. It was unnecessary and made me knock a couple of points off an otherwise excellent drama.

I'm a KAT-TUN fan so it was fun seeing my first drama with Nakamaru Yuichi. Even though he ended up on the losing side. Mukai Osamu was likable as Kotaro. And I truly loved the rest of the cast, particularly Shishido Kavka as Mitani-san. She is AMAZING and I have to watch more of her dramas. This is the first time since "Good Morning Call" that I've liked Sakurada Dori. He surprised me since I've disliked the last 3 dramas I either watched or skimmed through with him in them. I didn't think I could like him in a role anymore, but I think I liked Shu apart from him if that makes sense. Sakurada Dori usually plays skeezes now and that is not Shu's character. Dori didn't do the role a disservice so I was able to accept him as the emotionally damaged and distraught younger brother.

The drama is super clean, no skinship whatsoever really unless Takumi and Yui are teasing are each other when they're still engaged which is awfully cute. They were comfortable together so they poke and touch each other a little bit and it worked for the characters as a couple.

It's a drama about many important and touchy subjects in Japan, like women working after they become mothers, like feeling obligated to work overtime, like not being able to voice concerns to upper management and actually have them listen to you, etc. For all of these reasons, I feel it's important to watch. Even though I didn't agree with the romantic ploys, it was still an excellent drama.

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Sports dramas/films are always fun for me, but that first kiss in this movie caught me completely off guard. And then I remembered he's the dude from "Kakafukaka" and everything fell in place. Of course, he knows how to kiss. I'm actually pretty torn about this one. Parts of the story I really enjoyed, particularly the archery bits. That was just interesting to me. But it was hard to connect with the ML and so I could never determine what was in character or out of character for him, was he serious or not serious? They could have fleshed him out a bit more, but that's nothing against Masaki Nakao's performance. He's a decent enough actor and he fit the role pretty well. I just wish they'd given him more to work with. I feel the same way about Elaiza Ikeda as the FL. This is the first time I've seen her as a FL, she's always been in a supporting role when I encounter her. She was acceptable as the lead, and I felt quite a bit of emotion coming from her. Her character also had a serious melancholy about her that never got fully explained. So yes, we've got some steamy kissing scenes and there's a spark of connection between the leads, but I found myself asking why. And that's never good. Also, I have a problem in Asian entertainment when the guy pretty much threatens sexual abuse if the girl doesn't go along with what he's asking. Say what now? That sort of things happens here ('if you don't agree with me, I don't know what I might do to you"), so I was iffy about the ML from the get-go. But I still enjoyed the movie. It's filmed very nicely and by the end, I was supporting their relationship. I just wish we'd gotten to know them more. Once again I'm reminded that dramas are usually better than movies when adapting manga because it allows more of the story to be told. Although who knows, maybe the manga didn't give any more details either. But Viki has great subs and it was a beautiful film to stream.

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Surprisingly cute.

I already liked Taishi Nakagawa so I knew what to expect from him and he's super darling here. His character is cold at first and then warms up fast which is much more Nakagawa's speed. We get a really great sense of connection between Minami and Chiyomi which is crazy since they're not actually in scenes together unless someone was off to the side during filming.

The story is strange, but not necessarily unusual. I'm a Thumbelina fan from way back, so this fits in with that aesthetic. There is the overuse of a couple of tropes like the other girl chasing Minami (although that was pretty much played for laughs with the dramatic, sexy music and his dreams).

There are some good messages about family relationships. I like how Chiyomi helps heal a rift in her family and Minami finally lets himself start healing after his Dad's abandonment.

Overall it's just a really sweet drama. It makes me realize that more manga need to be made into dramas and not movies. The movies move too quickly for the story to be told well. Dramas usually have just about enough time.

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