3
6
minarii
bulgaria but mentally lost
''The story of a father who was called ''kite'', and a son who was called ''hawk''.
It's hard for me to review this drama, because the feelings I have for it are very personal. That's why I will keep the review very short. It's insane how close ''Tonbi'' felt to me and how attached I am to it now. I've never ever believed that a drama will make me feel this way, but well, it happened. ''Tonbi'' doesn't sound like the most exciting drama and I admit that I started watching it mainly because of Sato Takeru. I had no expectations whatsoever but unexpectedly, I fell in love with it in the first episode. Now, letting it go feels like saying goodbye to something very precious to me.''Tonbi'' is a heart-warming story about the relationship of a father and his son and it represents the importance of family. Every dialogue in the drama is written so well, every word has its meaning and depth. There are no useless scenes, no pointless drama, everything in this show is so well-thought and I want to thank the writer for that. I love how the story never got too dramatic and depressing, it remained beautiful and touching till the very end. The atmosphere was very realistic as well as the story itself. Of course, there was some exaggeration and some unbelievable things here and there, but they just helped the drama to be even more impactful.
The characters, despite being flawed, are wonderful. Their flaws are what makes the drama so natural and realistic. Ichikawa Yasuo was perhaps the most flawed, but also the most intriguing character I've ever come across. He wasn't the perfect father -- but to be frank, I don't think a thing like ''perfect parent'' exists. He was great father to his son, he raised him well and even though they faced a lot of obstacles, the connection between them remained very strong.
The acting was brilliant. Uchino Seiyou's acting was absolutely wonderful and it was obvious that he acted with his heart and did his best. Very emotional and passionate performance. Sato Takeru was amazing as Ichikawa Akira - he acted very naturally and there were times I even forgot that he was acting.
Overall, I recommend ''Tonbi'' to everybody. However, I can't promise that everyone would enjoy this as much as I did because, as I said, my feelings for it are very personal. It's an excellent drama, with breathtaking cinematography, brilliant acting, incredible characters and very important messages. Even though the story might look simple, trust me, it has more depth than a lot of dramas. So yeah, I hope more people will it a try, but don't forget to bring some tissues.
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The acting was quite decent and natural and the main leads did have a chemistry which we could see even when the movie is this short. The directing was also very good, I especially loved the last scene!~
''My Pistachio'' is the perfect short movie to lift your mood, especially for BL dramas enthusiasts. We need more sweet movies like this, honestly!
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The drama follows Saku's journey from being ''stupid'' and ''not equal'' to becoming smart, ''equal'' and unfortunately, very lonely. The drama shows that to be smart and to have knowledge is one thing, but being happy and making the people you love happy is much more important. I feel like this is something we, people, often forget. Even if you are genius, if you're unhappy, then your existence won't have any meaning or purpose. People should learn to accept others as they are - with their positive and negative sides. I believe humans are perfectly imperfect and trying to change yourself completely to fit this shitty world and society is needless and wrong. Everyone has their own flaws and that's what makes us humans. Having emotions makes us humans. The drama delivers this message excellently.
The characters were all very well-written. My personal favourite character is Hiyama - as soon as I saw this man, I fell in love with him. Yanagawa Ryuuichi is an interesting character indeed. He was horrible at times, some of his words were very painful and inconsiderate. His behaviour was extremely annoying at some scenes. However, no matter how flawed he was, he grew on me a lot.
Haruka, however, was very unlikable character. I could accept her behaviour and I tried my best to understand her, but at the end, she was a character that I didn't care about at all. Which leads me to the romance between her and Saku which I didn't like. I don't think this drama needs any romance between these two. I do understand the writer's idea, but I'm still not a fan of it. The other couple though - Rio and Hiyama were very adorable!
Yamashita Tomohisa is excellent as Shiratori Sakuto, one of the best performances I've ever seen. Kubota Masataka was a show stealer though or maybe I'm too biased. The other performances were good, too.
So overall, I recommend ''Algernon Ni Hanataba O'' to everyone. It's very well-written drama and even with its negative sides, I enjoyed watching it a lot.
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WASFIL had a strong start and I loved the introduction to the characters. The first case was also interesting, but it was honestly too long. Yeah, the writer connected the things very well, but it took so many episodes that it became tiring. I just wish they had more cases, because the writer knows how to show more interesting and shocking cases. Of course this has to do with the drama length. It was too short but still, they dragged some things too much. I wanted more cases because I loved how they handled them.
I also wanted more romance! Like, c'moon, the romantic scenes between Ji Bai and XuXu were l i f e! Why wait 15 episodes to show some progress with their relationship? I wanted more touches, more kisses, more hugs, more everything. Their romance wasn't one of those annoying and unnecessary romances which we often see in these type of shows. Moreover, it was one of the drama's biggest charms. The second couple was also so freaking cute!
I loved all the characters! I've read some negative comments about Xu Xu but in my opinion, she was a lovable female lead. Very charming, smart and undeniably strong. Yeah, some conclusions she made were quite obvious, but honestly, not everyone would pay to all these details.
I find the acting very good, especially Wang Kai. Oh my god, this man... I could watch him just breathing for 20 hours straight and I would still be glued to the screen completely. Such an attractive man. :')
Overall, ''When a Snail Falls in Love'' is a nice show which lacks some things, but still it's worth seeing and I do recommend it.
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This review may contain spoilers
WARNING: THE REVIEW CONTAINS SOME MAJOR SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.Oh, this drama. I do feel kind of sad now that I have finished it, because I got attached to some of the characters and I will, for sure, dearly miss them. However, I can't lie that I got a little bit tired towards the end and I was waiting with a slight excitement to finish the show.
I think the best thing about The Unfamiliar Family is its amazing characters. During these 16 episodes, you grow to love the characters, to understand them and to accept them and their flaws. And that's not all about it, the characters also did grow to understand each other and accept their different point of views. And it was so important because they had to face so many difficult situations. Eun Joo, for example, my poor girl. She seemed like a strong woman at the beginning with her cold stare and poker face, but when her life crumbled, we all saw how weak and lonely she is. She had to divorce her husband because he came out as gay and found out she had been lied to for all these years by the person she actually truly loved. And on top of that, she found out that her father is not her biological father. She had it really hard and my heart ached for her. Her character development was such a pleasure to watch though and Choo Ja Hyun was brilliant at playing her complex character.
The thing I don't like about this drama... At some point it became so dramatic, so makjang-ish. So many sh*t happened at once and I just couldn't get emotionally attached because everything was served at once and it was lowkey laughable. There are so many plot twists in this show, a secret hides behing every angle. I do understand that what happened had to happen because after that, we could see the so many heart-warming scenes between the family. But still, the pace in the middle was not that good. The overall pace of the story, though, was actually nice and it was typical for this type of show.
The acting was good overall, Han Ye Ri's and Choo Ja Hyun's perfeormances are my favourite, the girls did an amazing job. It's a well-chosen cast for sure. I don't quite know why the drama doesn't have romance as one of the genres when there's, in fact, a very beautiful romantic stories in the show. They are not the main plot, but they are quite there.
Overall, a good family drama with well-written characters. I love how they didn't make it a long family drama and drag things out, it's nice as it is.
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Maybe my expectations for Tree With Deep Roots were way too high. It's the first korean sageuk I watched after I completed its prequel - Six Flying Dragons, which became my all-time favourite drama. You can probably guess how much I wanted to like TWDR. However, even though it was quite a decent show, it fell short compared to SFD and couldn't live to its potential.
Tree With Deep Roots made me curious about how Korea would have looked if King Sejong hadn't created Hangul. Him creating letters was the main topic in the drama and I found it extremely interesting. The drama shows that knowledge is the greatest power. To be able to talk, read, write gives you power. Sejong is called ''the Great'' with a reason. I've never seen a king like him in the other historical dramas and movies I've seen. He has an unique personality, very strong will, he cares for his people and he is quite witty. His character is one of the best written characters I've ever seen. I could watch him and listen to him all day.
So let's leave King Sejong and his letters aside. Even though how and why Hangul was created was the main and most important topic, these 24 episodes don't show only this. Quite unfortunately, if you ask me. I don't think the drama should have been that long at all. 20 would do, but 24... Not really. The first four episodes aka the introduction was great and the start was very intriguing. The first half overall was very good. The second half though... It has too many filler scenes. I'm not a fan of fillers at all. Some scenes were extremely boring and the drama could have done without them. Some problems could have been fixed so much easily. Why did we have to wait so much for Kang Chae Yoon to finally understand Yi Do? Their scenes were one of my favourite so why didn't we have more of them? Why focus on useless characters and scenes that have almost no connection to the actual plot? It's beyond me.
The thing I didn't like the most was Mil Bon. Would Sambong really be against the kind? I doubt it. I didn't understand what was the purpose of the organisation at all. Very weak and unnecessary villains. Although Bon Won - their leader, was quite an interesting character. Yoon Pyung too, my baby. :c
The drama has its great moments though. I loved the interactions between the characters, especially between Moo Hyul and the king! Kang Chae Yoon also had his amazing scenes and he and Se Jong made me cry. I also loved So Yi who was a strong female lead without a doubt. The ending was also very well-thought.
Han Seok Kyu was brilliant as King Sejong and his performance was very outstanding. Jang Hyuk was decent, I think these type of roles really suit him. Shin Se Kyung was also quite decent here. Other remarkable performances are Jo Jin Woong's who played Moo Hyul and Yoon Jae Moon's who played Bon Won.
So overall, Tree With Deep Roots is a nice historical drama and I recommend it especially to people who love this genre. Even though it has some flaws, it was entertaining enough for me to give it 8.5 out of 10.
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Who wouldn't love a dimple couple?
I loved Hometown Cha Cha Cha. You know the feeling when you got home from work, tired as hell, take a hot shower and go to bed then do absolutely nothing. It's just that feeling of comfort that this drama gives. Well, at least most of the time. In the drama, nothing really happens, you just follow the characters chaotic daily lives and that's pretty much it. Some romance here and there, some past traumas, some heartwarming moments and life lessons.I can see why a lot of people have problems with the show because it is actually quite problematic, but it all depends on how you look at it. Let's start with the female lead; I guess you can say that if you meet a person like her in real life, you'd try to avoid her because she just doesn't have good friend vibes. Why would you want to be a friend with someone who talk behind other people's back? Or a friend who don't know their own emotions and act childishly because they are immature and can't take responsibility for their own actions? Yoon Hye Jin is not a good character in everyone's eyes, but it's okay, because I loved her. Somehow, she felt like a real person. We're all used to main lead either being strong and independant, or exaclty the opposite, weak and relying on someone else. She's somewhere inbetween. Her character is hard to digest, but once you get past and accept her for what she is, you'll be able to enjoy the drama.
Hong Doo Shik is exactly her opposite. Too good to be true. Maybe that's why they look so good together, opposites attract is the best thing you can say here. They have a nice chemistry, it's easy to look forward to their scenes and they make your heart flutter.
I think we are all already used to kdramas and the tropes the screenwriters use. You saw them in the previous drama you've watched, you see them here and you'll see them in the next one, too. That's just how it works. The point is how these tropes are used in the plot and how they connect the overall storyline and in Hometown, I think they aren't much of a burden.
The side characters take a good part of the screen time so your skip button might be useful. I loved some of them, some of them I couldn't care less about. The performances of all actors are great but Kim Seon Ho is the star in my opinion. He was the best Hong Doo Shik you can ever dream of. Overall, a well-chosen cast with great chemistry between every actor.
Overall, Hometown Cha Cha Cha is a good show, but not for everyone. It depends on your mood, it depends on what you're looking for. It depends on what kind of characters you like, it depends on how much of a patient viewer you are. The show delivers the messages pretty straight-forward, it's not that complicated, you shouldn't expect much of it. But it's worth giving it a try.
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Fun chaotic experience... except I'm a virgo and chaos is not my thing.
Jokes aside, Twinkling Watermelon deserves all the hype. I can't lie that this colourful poster and the confusing synopsis are a bit of a turn-off, and usually time-travel concepts can go wrong so eaisly. Thanfully, this drama never went wrong... somehow, it worked.Behind its popularity hides the fact that TW is somewhat different than a lot of popular dramas. The concept itself is quite unique. And poeple love unique stuff. I remember when we were all watching Extraordinary You three years ago, we've all enjoyed it because it was different and it quickly became really popular... somehow it reminded me of it.
The drama gives you a warm feeling. It makes you feel young again. It makes you regret that you're not a teenager anymore. It makes you dream and it gives you motivation to achieve these dreams. It tells you that you should be grateful to your parents and that they had life before you that you don't know and never will. It can make you cry, either out of happiness or pain. It's thought-provoking and it stays with you for a bit even after finishing it. Supported with cute characters, excellend acting and some good music, it's the perfect drama if you want to watch something to keep you warm on cold days or to distract you when you need it.
However, it is indeed very chaotic which leads to probles with the pacing and it made me skip a bit. Like, close to the end, I just wanted to fast-forward to the ending episode because I just wanted to see how it ends. The second half gets a bit too draggy, I feel like if it was shorter it'd have been better. Started off stong and ended strong, but somewhere in the middle it losts the charm.
But it's still worth it. There are way better dramas out there but there are also way worse.
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It is such a beautiful movie. The directing is top-notch, the acting is brilliant (Ikuta Toma!!!), the chemistry between the leads is amazing, they made me feel butterlies in my stomach because they were this adorable. The pacing of the movie is good, you don't get bored and you don't want to skip forward. You just want to savour it all. It's the perfect combination of solid writing, brilliant directing and well-chosen cast.
Now, there's something I didn't really like. It was strange that three friends were in love with their teachers. Like, what are the odds of this actually happening? I think they wanted to show that we can't control our feelings and we don't choose who to love and with this in mind, being in love with your teacher is not abnormal and it can happen. But, damn, it was pointless here.
Anyways though, it is a good movie and I'd recommend it to everyone honestly. Well, unless you don't feel comfortable watching this type of romantic storylines.
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The movie did an amazing job showing the viewers the same innocent, beautiful story of Sawako and Shouta. And that's because they kept the characters the same. Sawako is such a sweet, kind girl, if more people were like her, the world would be a better place. She is selfless, lacks self-confidence which leads her to be insecure and have a hard time expressing her opinion. She is this type of person who cares more about others than herself. Basically the sweetest person ever. She, of course, has an amazing character development; she finds good friends who help her gain self-confidence and make her life more colourful and better. Our main lead is also one of the reasons for Sawako's development. Shouta is, first of all, boyfriend material. He's caring, he is kind-hearted, he is careful and at the same time, he is cheerful and always wears this beautiful smile on his face.
The truth is, the movie mainly focuses on Sawako's growth as a person and not her romantic relationship with Shouta. I guess that a lot of people wanted more romance between them and felt disappointed when that didn't happen. But, the thing is, before loving someone else, you should be able to love yourself and before accepting someone else's feelings, you have to accept yourself. And we could see that well in the anime, but here, we only have 2 hours because it's a movie. If they wanted to show more of their romance, things would have been way too rushed and would have felt unnatural and awkward.
Of course, some things felt a bit too rushed, e.g Sawako and her relationship with Yoshida and Ayane. But that's unavoidable in this situation. The acting was amazing. Tabe Mikako did a good job playing our sweet Sawako. Miura Haruma was perfect as Kazehaya Shouta, but seeing this smile on his face was painful.
Overall, an incredible movie which I would definitely recommend to pretty much everyone. But you should not expect to see romance only.
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Saka no Tochu no Ie is an absolute masterpiece. It's perfect from every angle. The directing, the editing, the acting, the characters, the story and ESPECIALLY the writing. Every scene in this drama is so well-thought and so well-written. It makes you think about so many things. It makes you feel so many emotions. It makes you empathize with the characters because 1) they are brilliantly written and 2) the actors do an amazing job portraying every single emotions of their characters. Every actor, not just the female lead, was amazing.
The drama tackles a very sensitive topic and does it in the best way possible, like Japanese dramas usually do. They are not afraid to show the real world, no matter how cruel and frustrating it can be. They know how to make psychological dramas and they know how to connect with the viewer. They know how to make an emotional rollercoaster and know how to leave the viewers speechless.
Overall, a must-watch. I don't see a single reason why anyone would dislike this.. Well, maybe if you want to avoid dramas that expolers social issues and bring awarness to mental health issues (in this case - PPD), then don't watch this because it is a heavy watch. But still, it's worth it. It needs to be appreciated. 10/10!
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Before anything, Pride deserved a better ending. Don't get me wrong, the final scene was absolutely beautiful and touching, I even rewatched it twice. But I really don't like how they wrapped up the story, the drama has 11 episode, yet they somehow made it draggy. I don't mind cliches, plus we're talking about a drama from 2004, but I still feel like they could have done a better job without using these tropes. It was just frustrating to watch the last few episodes.
Whatever. I admit that the final episodes affected my overall rating, but Pride is overall a very enjoyable show. The story is very well-presented, not too slow-paced, but not too fast either. The development of the plot is also nice, except the last few episodes as I already mentioned.
The characters are all very intriguing and impressive. And they also felt quite realistic. The romance between Halu and Aki is absolutely beautiful and it felt very sincere. What did Halu's mum said, ''Every man needs a woman''? And Halu definitely needs Aki, as much as Aki needs Halu. He is a lonely man who couldn't open up to anyone because of his so-called pride, while she is a woman who hides her feelings, deeply affected by a man who threw her feelings away and abandoned her. Aki (Autumn) and Halu (Spring) were simply perfect for each other. I wish they talked to each other more though. The side couples are also nice, even though I still cared mostly about the main one.
I'm not a person who is interested in ice hockey, but I enjoyed watching the games. They don't really focus on them though, but I loved the dynamics between the team!
Kimura Takuya is simply brilliant as Satonaka Halu. This is my second time seeing him and I'm really impressed by how natural he is while he acts. The same goes for Takeuchi Yuko, she is just adorable.
Overall, Pride is an amazing drama that just needed a better ending. But it's still worth watching and I recommend it to everyone.
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The story was simple - an ambitious woman falls in love with with a poor man who has no goals for the future. But even though it was simple, it has some depth. The drama shows that we should follow our dreams and we should never give up because anything is possible if you work hard enough. But at the same time, we shouldn't forget that there are more important things in life and we should never forget about them while chasing our future goals.
Wakaba was quite an amazing character. She was annoying at times but she developed a lot. Actually, I saw myslef in her so many times, it felt uncomfortable at some point haha. I think she was a realistic character who I really loved. Sota was also a good character, he was too naive sometimes though. But a husband material for sure.
The romance between them was cute, BUT the drama became too draggy because of them. Like, c'mon, how many times did Wakaba decide to confess her feelings and how many times did something happened to prevent her from doing it? It became annoying. And even though I liked the ending, it felt a bit too rushed.
The acting was decent. I love both Nishikido Ryo and Aragaki Yui and I think their chemistry was nice.
Overall, ''Zenkai Girl'' is a very nice drama and I recommend it if you are in the mood for slow romance. If you're into fast paced dramas, though, maybe this one won't be for you.
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Even though the plot is very predictable and sometimes not so logical, the drama is overall very enjoyable and honestly, there wasn't a boring or filler scene. The pace is very good, I love how they focused not only on the two main leads, but on the supporting characters, too, they definitely deserved more attention since they were amazing! Each episode has a different case -- of course the cases weren't very thriller-ish, they were with quite obvious outcome but that's the point of the show. It focuses more on the father-son relationship, the interactions between the team and the comedy aspect. And a very slight romance which was barely there.
Of course the best thing about this show are Sahara and Shimao (Junior & Gentle)! I LOVED every single scene with them and I want a second season because I couldn't get enough of their moments! Gentle has to be one of the most unique characters I've ever seen! I absolutely loved his slightly eccentric personality and his behaviour towards his adorable son. As I said I'm glad that they focused on the supporting characters too, but I kind of wish that we had more scenes between Gentle and Junior. I want to see a bigger development of their relationship, even though I was pretty satisfied with the ending.
There are two things that I didn't like that much - the villian and Hitomi. The main villian was way too weak for me to believe that he is a threat to the main leads. I mean, the drama is not supposed to have a very scary and cruel villian, but villians like the one in the show better be non-existing. Hitomi was kinda... useless? She was not a bad character, but the drama could have been the same without her. Well, the writer really wanted to show some romance I guess, but it was not needed. Also I think some things weren't explained well but well, anyways.
Sato Takeru's and Watabe Atsuro's performances were absolutely mind-blowing! They were very natural and they had a very nice chemistry. I'd watch them together again in anything. The rest of the cast also did a good job.
Overall, ''Bitter Blood'' is an excellent action-comedy drama which I highly recommend to everyone. I feel like a second season is not possible, but still, I'm not ready to say goodbye to this amazing show yet and I want more of it!
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The movie is very fast paced, it gets straight to the point and it never gets boring. I was glued to the screen the whole time and never felt the urge to skip any scenes. It was very well-directed and it has an unique storyline. I didn't expect to almost cry because of a movie called ''How to Steal a Dog''. The emotions were done right and I absolutely loved the mother and her two kids.
The acting is what made the movie such a nice experience. Lee Re is extremely talented and I can see her having a successful career in the future. The same goes for Lee Ji Won and my baby Hong Eun Taek who's my favourite child actor ever! Kang Hye Jung was also amazing.
Overall, a very enjoyable movie! I'm usually into thrillers when it comes to movies, but once in a while I decide to watch something more light and ''How to Steal a Dog'' was a very good pick and I recommend it to everyone.
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