walendria
This review may contain spoilers
Extremely triggering and disgusting
Found this reality show thanks to Terrace House but my god, I could barely even finish it. The hosts, especially the male host, is despicable. He literally slutshames every woman ont he show, tries to portray them as selfish and horrible individuals and even bully one of them until she starts crying and then blame her for it. Also constant sexist and transphobic jokes, mocking abuse survivors, etc.The only thing I enjoyed watching it was because it truly shows how conservative and backward certain aspects of Japanese culture still is. And as a fellow Asian, I truly think it's important for people to remember, especially as Westerners are quick to romanticise and glorify Japanese culture. People rarely want to discuss Japans issues with sexual harassment, porn, pedophilia and incest, both in real life as well as in anime, idols/junior idol culture, child model culture etc. The fact that Japanese women are incredibly fetishised by men all over the world due to hentai and an idea of Japanese women being submissive, kinky and too "polite" to report, does not help.
In this reality show you will see for yourself how victims of rape and abuse, divorcees and female porn stars are blamed and shamed. It's extremely unpleasant to watch, but a nice reality check I guess.
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Adorable, realistic and relatable! Must watch!
My very first review!I was recommended this short drama as I was looking for something quick and lighthearted. What I thought would be a sweet and lighthearted rom-com actually turned out to be both educating and highly emotional. I even shed some tears. It was interesting to follow each of the the characters and their issues from their point of view, all having something to do with love or relationships. Their conflicts and the way they handled them were highly realistic as well. It gave me some understanding as I could relate to many of the characters and reflect their lives and emotions to my own lived experiences.
In summary, I very much enjoyed this short drama! Cute and humorous but also holding a deeper meaning. I liked the setting and the coulors as well as the suitable music, really setting the atmosphere. I absolutely think this drama is worth watching no matter age, gender or genre preference. You might learn a thing or two!
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This review may contain spoilers
Started out interesting, but disappointing execution
As mentioned in the headline, Switched really grasped my interest the first episodes. I was taken by the realistic acting and more than excited to see how things would develop!Unfortunately it did not reach my standards, but 3-4 episodes in and it certainly started to crumble. What I thought would be valid criticism against society and an opportunity to bring up many important topics and life lessons, just ended up generic and actually rather problematic as well.
They really did not do Umine's character justice as she remained the ugly and bitter person within. This could have been a chance for Japan to discuss more sensitive issues such as bullying, mental health and suicide, yet the message given is peak toxic positivity and could basically be summarised as: "Don't be ungrateful and jealous, be happy and everything will be okay. If you're sad, it's your own fault for not trying hard enough". They could've at very least referred Umine to a therapist considering she tried to end her own life several times, but I guess her abusive mom making her an onigiri once was enough to magically cure her depression.
Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean to be pessimistic, I'm just sort of disappointed as I know how stigmatised mental illness is in our Asian community. Still impressed by the great acting though.
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Simple, feel-good generic university love
I watched this in a few days as background while studying and I enjoyed it because for most of the time it's pretty simple so you don't have to stay 100% concentrated at all times.Plot is rather simple and typical. I'm not going to lie, it was a bit slow in the beginning as expected and the conflicts were the same over and over again until episode 30 I would say. Got a bit tiring after a while, but it slowly got better and the characters started to grow on me too, although I originally really found Si rather despicable. I did however fully enjoy the small side plots and the backstories of Lei, Meizuo and Ximen. Xiaoyou is the sweetest character too! Really like Jing and Xiaogeng as well!
Not the best, and you could definitely skip it, but it's still rather sweet and feel-good. I do not regret finishing this show and it truly made me miss Shanghai a lot.
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