Reviews

Kudos to the child actress

I picked this without much thought at first because usually I like to watch Japanese slice-of-life dramas with some supernatural or fantasy elements in them, but didn’t expect to like this as much as I did and am surprised that there are so few reviews written about it.

What I liked about this drama:

Firstly, yes, the Japanese are good at making slice-of-life dramas. I believe this genre is their FORTE. They are able to make ordinary, everyday happenings interesting and very ordinary conversations touching.

Secondly, this drama touches my heart. It shows a family being torn apart by death of a family member, one who is always full of life, of good cheer, keeps the entire house proper, does the housework for the family 365 days a year, cooks all meals for the family, yes, sounds all mundane stuff, but the reality is that when this person is no longer around, the whole family simply collapses. The entire world becomes gloomy and dark for the remaining family members who simply live their lives like zombies day in, day out, year after year. And then, out of a sudden, one day, when they are given a second chance, that is, when the supposedly dead family member comes back (in the body of an elementary school kid), the family gains newfound cherish and happiness….but alas…this second chance is taken away again…..

This drama executed all the above very well. The emotions of the main leads were just right, the words said were appropriate and simply able to strike a chord.

Thirdly, the female lead. The elementary school kid who acted as the wife whose spirit had gone into this school kid’s body. This drama’s title is ‘my wife became an elementary school kid’, so obviously they had to find an elementary school girl to act as the wife and wow, I think they found a really suitable child actress. I am not familiar with Japanese child actresses, but this particular actress really acted convincingly as a 40-plus year-old woman, although she was merely a 10-year-old girl in real. It is not easy for a girl as young as her to act like a mature adult woman, but her mannerisms, body language, vibe, right down to her facial expressions and speaking, were all convincing enough in this drama. Kudos to this actress! I think her exceptional acting was the key to the success of this drama because 98% of everything in the drama was about her and her family.

Overall, the pacing was good, neither too fast nor too slow, there was never a dull moment I could remember, even when what they were doing or talking about were just ordinary everyday stuff.

I have to specially mention the OST. The drama was not filmed in the 80s or 90s, but somehow, there was a nostalgic feel to the music which was soothing to the ears.

As with most Japanese dramas I have watched, loose ends were tied properly at the end, closures were properly made, goodbyes and words of gratitude were properly said, leaving no regrets and nothing hanging in mid-air or unsettled. The ending gave a sense of satisfaction and positivity towards the future.

It reminded us that even if our loved ones were to leave us one day, we should still face life positively and live it to its fullest.

Negative comments? I did think hard, if I really have to comment, it will be that the stories of side characters were not developed much, BUT they were not irritating and did not at all worsen the main storyline. This is perhaps the characteristic of most Japanese dramas, short and focused (on only the main story and the main leads), but really, other than that, I cannot find anything negative worth commenting because EVEN IF there are, the positive ones above far surpass any negative ones.

I highly recommend this drama if you like heart-warming Japanese slice-of-life, family dramas with a supernatural element, but I have to mention that the supernatural element in this drama is not the focus and does not play a huge part at all.

There are numerous such Japanese dramas out there, but this is definitely one of them I did not regret watching.

Leia Mais

Worth every second.

Though Japanese BLs (and J-Dramas in general) tend to be on the shorter end watch-time wise, this drama is a great example as to why that is. You don't need that much time or endless drama and build-up to tell a good story.

Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai managed to deliver something that felt real. It managed to deliver a story that you could easily see in your daily life, yet still keep your attention. It has lovable characters all around (especially the teacher side couple), and delivers a sense of nostalgia and optimism that hits at all the right spots in the brain.

Give it a try. Unless you desire in-your-face romance, this drama should not disappoint.

Leia Mais

BEST SHIT EVER 100/10 Better than anything

From start to end it was perfect. Never got bored, amazing OST and characters. These charectars are more intresting than my entire exitence. Amazing plot and the whole twin shit is so cool. Love it so much. The acting ooooooo don't get me started. Especially Seok Jaebum his acting is unbelivable.

This show got me in my feels and ahh just picasso. Never disapointed and the amount of times my jaw hit the ground. This story and crime oml. As always the students are way ahead of the cops. My brain still can't wrap around the crimes and everything. The ending tho- Nothing can top that. The ending was picasso and i just love the high shcool theme and everything.

Story:
There is our male lead, Ji sooheon. He is living on his own, poor, has a sick mum and has his own brain tumor. Amazing fighter and works part-time at a bowling alley. Our female lead Ok Chanmi is an orphan. She has a twin brother who was adopted at 6-8yrs old. They were orphans from the start, and he moved from Busan(where the orphanage is) to Seoul. He has rich adoptive parents who are not kind. His name is Park Wonseok or his birthname Ok Chankyu.

One day on call with her twin brother, her brother got interupted, dropped his phone and cut the call. He fell out of the science lab window of his school. Ok Chanmi didn't know this though. No one knew they were twins, everyone at Park Wonseok's school thought he was an only child. Couple days later, he wasn't picking up no calls so Ok Chanmi goes to his school. She asks around and finds out he died. Labeled as suicide. She screamed to the cops that it was a murder. She moved all the way to seoul to find out who killed her brother. Ji sooheon is her partner in crime and they solve this mystery working hand in hand aswell as with many others. This isnt a smooth story many other major incidents occur on their journy. Who? What? When? Where? Why? You will never know..
just art, or a ticking time bomb untill everything gets revealed...

Leia Mais

Well, I actually came across this show after a close friend recommended it to me. At first glance, it was like this show would be just like other generic school-theme dramas, so I didn't have any expectations at all.

After I finish watching this drama, I'd dare to say it is THE BEST school drama ever made in Japan, if not the best ever made by ANY country. Only one show is good enough to be apple-to-apple comparison with it, namely Kinpachi-sensei (though I just watch one season, the 6th). Both are equally excellent, but for those cannot stand very numerous episode you will most likely end up not liking Kinpachi (it has 23 episodes@ 1 hour!)

OK, let go to the review. It tackles current issues of middle school students in Japan (as well as in my country, actually), including free (minor) sex, freedom of speech, mental age, and even at one episode it involves bullying. Seems unremarkable, isn't it? Unlike many others that trying so hard to agitate audiences' feelings by bombarding them with cliches, Suzuki Sensei comes out naturally. Everything in this drama looks so naturally, from the ambient, dialogues, responses, and even every students...everyone of them looks just come out of reality. Just like what your middle school classmates do in real life, if you had experienced one.

Everything in this drama is also in gray zone, not in black neither white zone of morality, which I really like. Perhaps the most ground-breaking feature of the drama is its way to deliver its message to the masses. Like I mentioned before, this drama does not rely on overused cliches- something like the teacher saying moral message very straightly and everyone cries all the sudden. Middle school kids need logical explanations, and this drama provides and delivers it in good manners. You might be offended by opinions by characters (usually by Mr. Suzuki himself) in this drama, but that's what this drama made for. You will see, the students are becoming more and more open-minded to criticism and others' opinion, and eventually gradually become better person.

Technical-wise, this drama also triumphantly awesome. Hasegawa portrays Mr. Suzuki, the imperfect but smart teacher very well. In fact, this is his best performance so far. The kids are also very well picked. It's not surprising many of the Suzuki alumni become involved in many good coming-of-age shows like this. I'm hoping the kids get their well-deserved breaks, since they are really good. I also enjoy the opening, as well as its soundtrack. They really represent what this drama is all about.

If you identify yourself as a J-drama enthusiast, I urge you to watch this drama. Finally, all of those explanation enough to warrant this show a must watch.

Leia Mais

While the first part focused on the set up, characters and politics; the second part went straight to the battle itself. This film is made as a package so you simply can’t watch one and ignore the other. They’re strongly attached in a way that makes them feel inseparable.

I will skip the history in this review, I wrote about it in the first part and any extra historical information that I give in this film would be considered a spoiler for those who aren’t familiar with history. But let me just make something clear, John Woo didn’t exactly follow history. He changed many events for the favor of his storytelling, so the outcome and some facts can be misleading for those who want to take this as an accurate “historical reference”.

Red Cliff 2 is all about war and everyone knows that everything is allowed in war; whether be it contaminating the enemy’s camp with deadly contagious diseases, using the enemy’s spies against them or burning down the Navy. That’s war, it’s ugly and everyone loses at the end, the deadly battles and the horrible truth are definitely there. However, that’s not all what war in John Woo’s film is all about. There’s more to tell through the splendid battle scenes.

The heart and soul of this film is the epic battle of the Red Cliff that marks one of the greatest wars in Asian history whether because of the number of soldiers involved or the smart distinguished generals who were leading armies. It’s 800,000 against 50,000; the first is led by the outrageous yet politically clever Cao Cao and the other is headed by the combination of Sun Quan and Liu Bei with the magnificent aid of the intelligent Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu. The battle was all about tactics and strategists where the two advisors play an important role at confronting a huge army. The famous 36 Stratagems and 'Borrowing the arrows using the scarecrows' are one of the greatest psychological war techniques I ever read about in history and John Woo did an superb job by making them come to life.

The amazing strategies aren’t the only thing that clicked about this film; there’s also the astonishing portrayal of battles scenes, the blood spilling, the wonderfully made fire scenes and most of all the emotions and the reactions of characters’ involvements.

In this part, there’s no further explanation of actors; I already made everything clear about their amazing job in the first part. As for characters, I still insist on the over-use of the female characters, they weren’t only all over the place but they also were historically wrong.
The other characters’ developments were well-noticed between the first and the second part. We get to see more impressive sides of historical heroes especially Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.

This film’s cinematography was stunning. The visuals, colors and the sceneries were well-fitting for an remarkable piece of Chinese war epic.

Now, if I speak about the film as a whole; I would say it’s one of the best war strategy films ever made and absolutely one of John Woo’s better works. This is not a sequel; it’s a second half of the same film so you should understand that this is supposed to be watched as a whole. Do not see the American or the European cut versions; you should search for the original release of the two films or you won’t be able to feel the whole magic.

Watch this if:
-You saw the first Red Cliff because they’re inseparable.
-You like war films or John Woo’s HK works.
-You like strategy films.

Do not watch if:
-You’re expecting a historical documentary where everything is accurate.
-You do not like war films.

Red Cliff 2 is the second part of an amazing Chinese film that deals with the famous “Three Kingdoms” epic displaying the Red Cliff battle with all of its spectacular strategies and tactics.
Red Cliff as a whole is one of the better films’ that successfully demonstrated the art of war.

Leia Mais

"Always the bridesmaid, never the bride"... Is often the term used to a person who never ended in the first place, a consistent runner-up. And life is like a wheel, not always that we will be on the top. Is the previous No. 1 is now the 2nd? A second placer that have a of catching up to do.

Rarely a BL series will have a sequel, and when they have, there is a handful that is equally good or better as the prequel. Most, fell short. I guess given that there is a "blueprint" in the form of the prequel, one will have a hard time not to expect especially when it ended like with this sequel's prequel.

This one of the very few that figured out how to make a successful sequel. Why so? It is a direct continuation for the prequel, coupled with growing and maturing of all the characters. Making the main couple's world bigger with the sense of responsibility with real-life consequences. Introduction of the side couples didn't interfere nor takes away time from the main couple. And that's where a lot of sequels failed to do that after watching one you will ask yourself, is the sequel a way to introduce a side couple to be the main? "What the Duck: Final Call" is one of the classic example how to ruin a good enough prequel with a side couple that didn't interact with the main one. Hence, the main couple had lesser scenes.

Same how the prequel, this season has a special episode as well.

STORY
===========================================
Personally, when a relationship falls apart, there is one who is at fault and the other had/have shortcoming(s).

Equally, communication is what keep relationship healthy and can make it stronger, open communication that is. Once it lacks, doubts seeps in then and cracks develop. Little by little, cracks grew bigger until it breaks it apart.

The question becomes, after it is broken into pieces, thus one of the parties ready to endure the pain in picking up the pieces, putting it back together for the love to be whole again?

After the "surprise" episode of "We Best Love: No. 1 For You", a follower of the series will definitely have a conflict for this sequel set in mind. Questions like "What stop Shi De?", "Why Shu Yi didn't confront?", to name a few. It turns out more than a lack of communication.

Can things go back like they were used before when maturing happened, when there are new factors to consider. Will perseverance can make the person trust you again? Flirting perhaps? She Di and Shu Yi world got bigger, way bigger and it no longer involves the two of them as others may be largely affected with the decision that they will make. After all isn't that what adulting is about? More responsiblities and consequences.

When you get to choose between options, you also need to consider others' welfare and not only of yourself. Or are you willing to be selfish in dispense of others just to win someone's love, again? Can you charm back your way to your ex-partner's heart? Are you ready to endure the pain just for the person's heart to be put back together and make it whole again?

Those are dominant conflicts of having a partner when you were a student, lost it and only to meet again in the future. Carefree versus responsibilities.

How can you expect forgiveness if you haven't apologize or say sorry? "I am sorry" goes a long way.

In any kind of relationship to last, it needs open communication, and I for one couldn't stress it much more.

Those are just some of the take away a viewer can have.

Obsession. How bad can it be? If you are following, okay let's settle for stalking, someone, it is actually bad? Or what is more important is the action that can happen after? However, one can never tell what in a mind of a person obsessing over someone. Is this a case of mental health concern?

The very last scene though, the very last scene.

ACTING
================
YU as SHU YI - one can feel that the tenacity turns into angst, despise. Both emotions suits YU's facial features as he barely needs to act to expression those emotions with those sharp looks. With his snappy moves, glares and stares. Shu Yi tsundere is back and it is all over the place! Can it be tamed once again?

SAM LIN as SHI DE - the ever low-key and waiting for the right moment to hit. He is not the "strike the iron while it's hot" type of guy, a very calculated guy which he was able to carry from season 1 up to now. Noticeably, he lost weight. Nice touch to indicate that years indeed passed by. However, one of the most difficult to act out is being drunk, Sam is no exception but still like his overall acting. And he is a cute drunk. >:)

As for the rejected guys, will they be more involved for the two to get back together or drive a wedge to make sure that won't be reunited?

Also, one can clearly see how the boys now turn into men. You can clearly see how they matured in their actions and demeanor.



MUSIC
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Episode 6 is when the songs were masterfully woven into the scenes. It gives more depth and meaning but kinda hard to be "in the moment" while reading the lyrics. Nonetheless, watch out for the scene where someone is returning things.

REWATCH VALUE
================
Like all of my reviews, not even one I have rewatch and this will not be an exception. The magic won't be there anymore.

Leia Mais

Best start to the year 2024!

Probably the best modern c-drama of January 2024! Do give it a try for the main leads chemistry!

It is a wholesome mixture of funny, fluffy, cute, funny and romantic at the same time. It is not overly cringe at all. The female lead is smart, cute and kind, and most importantly she is NOT a Love Brainer... she knows how to separate her relationship with her work, which makes it stand out from others. She doesn't need her man to protect her always.

Male lead on the other hand is rude and unsympathetic at the beginning but as the story progress he turns out to be the most caring and kind boyfriend who would do anything to protect her girl.

Oh and how can I forget the people who make this drama so damn funny, Wu Jun (ML's friend) and ML's mum had me every time it was their scene. Plus ML's mum is the best Mother-in-law out of all c-dramas, she is the cutest lol!

Edited- This drama had so much potential till episode 30 but lost all its momentum after that. My expectations were not met by the ending... to much happened that too in a short span of time. The writers did an amazing job till ep 30 but after that it got bad and worse! Overall it is still a good drama for light watch

Overall a very good drama to watch if you are looking for something light and cute but not cringe... It's a Must Watch!

Leia Mais

I completed this drama with Chinese subs. I will give my general sentiments before providing a summary of the whole plot.

Overall, the plot was tame; nothing too extraordinary, exciting or surprising. It had a happy ending though. While I do not regret watching this, I believe that those who are unable to watch this because of incomplete subs are not missing out either. I am also not someone who typically rewatches dramas, hence the rating of 5.

Now, for the summary of the drama. If you dont want spoilers then stop right here.

Maejima has a secret affair with Takuma. One day, Shinonome, who transfers from the company's New York branch to Japan's branch, catches Maejima and Takuma acting intimately secretly in the company's library. Shinonome then begins to persuade Maejima to break up with Takuma, because he believes that she is worth so much more than being bound to a married man. Convinced she should not limit herself and can find a better love, along with her blossoming feelings for Shinonome, Maejima breaks it off with Takuma. Later, her colleague, Ono, and Takuma warn her to stay away from Shinonome. Knowing full well herself that she is already in too deep, she ignores their warnings.

Maejima and Shinonome grow closer, and they go out on a date. Unfortunately, they spot Takuma and his wife having a great time. Shinonome stares in a dejected? Defeated? Longing? manner at the two. This is when Maejima recalls the warnings from Ono and Takuma, and correctly guesses that Shinonome had been in love with Takuma's wife all along. She guesses that Shinonome only got close to her so that she would break up with Takuma, so that Takuma would go back to being a faithful husband. She runs off and their relationship halts.

The drama then rewinds to tell Shinonome's backstory, about how he fell in love with Takuma's wife. He loved her and had a relationship with her before finding out she loved Takuma all along. Being unable to have the woman he loves, Shinonome decides to at least make sure she is happy. Thus his plot of flying to the Japan branch and seducing Maejima and making her break up with Takuma.

The drama replays several of the interactions between Maejima and Shinonome, but this time in Shinonome's POV. At first, he thinks of Maejima as despicable and sought to make her pay. Over time, as they interact more, he begins to empathise and fall in love with her.

Fast forward to present time, where Maejima's and Shinonome's relationship is still estranged. Maejima decides not to pursue this relationship because she believes Shinonome still loves Takuma's wife, and hates her for making the woman he loves suffer. On the other hand, Shinonome has already fallen in love with Maejima, but decides not to pursue her because he has hurt her and believes he has no qualifications to get her back.

A bunch of work stuff happen and Shinonome tells Maejima that Ono (who has a crush on Maejima) is the man who can give her happiness before flying back to New York. Eventually, Maejima realises that Shinonome had loved her all along and flies to New York to look for him. The two meet and reconcile, and the drama ends.

Hope this summary was useful :)

Leia Mais

a unique masterpiece - brace for emotional damage

Overall: a vibrant glimpse into the ups and downs of teen love. 7 episodes about 55 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/kknyn3lik4?lang=en_us&sh_pltf=4

Content Warnings: dub con kissing, non con video posting

What I Liked
- how a character's house looked like a typical house inside, and outside felt realistic
- being aware of a crush but not directly acting on it, the push and pull dynamic
- appreciated that instead of an exposition dump, the writer/s found a natural way to tell us what grade a main character was in
- the nail art was a clever way to show time passing (nail art growing out)
- the shifting viewpoints (some episodes were told from different characters' perspectives but they didn't re-hash plot that we've seen)
- good kissing
- happy that Bua decided to not change his looks for another person
- production value (cinematography, music)

Room For Improvement
- the very beginning made me think that it was filmed during lockdowns
- that bathroom shot in ep 1 was a choice
- though being on phones/social media a ton was realistic, I needed more face to face conversations in some of the episodes, it also dragged the plot at times
- did not feel as if 2 years had passed
- I wish it had been a bit more clear with two characters at the end

Leia Mais

ITS JUST A GAY BUSINESS

This is a trap - a Business Gay Performance, and im a sucker cause I fell for it.

As a KPOP fan, i loved the concept. Also, as a KPOP fan, i felt disrespected.

Like some of the other Korean BLs out there, i dont know why they couldn't just add maybe 5 or 10 more minutes in each episode to make the story a little bit more cohesive and enjoyable. Its such a waste cause there are so many hints that this could be a good show.

Its the story of an idol Eden, being selected and paired with Jihoon to be in a duo, What 's unique is that they are marketing the group as a gay lover - supposed to be just a business concept, only for the pair to really fall for each other.

There are too many characters and too many subplots but everything felt rushed. They spent so much time with the antagonist, when they could have used that time to build up the chemistry between the main leads and show us when or how the two exactly fell for each other. In episode 7 and 8, i kept checking the runtime cause it feels like the show is just rushing to go to the end and yet I still havent seen what I wanted to see between the 2 leads. Unfortunately as i feared, the show ended too soon without giving any satisying ending. This is a problem with translating a 40-chapter webtoon into an eight 15-minute drama.

It is such a shame really cause the leads are very charming - and Nine kept reminding me of a young Seo Kang Joon. They were both amatuer-ish but they both did enough to be likeable. a few times I was on the verge of really caring about their characters but the show just didnt show enough to make me really reach that level.

I wont forget that cringy scene in the plane where they were both holding hands and sleeping head to head with a smile on their faces looking so uncomfortable when they both could very well be sleeping comfortably in that cushy business class seats even if they were holding hands.

From the onset it felt like a small project conjured up to promote the idol group. The "Business Gay Performance" using homosexuality as a concept was a little bit offensive if you think about it and at first i was thinking they were trying to mock and expose it, but by the end I felt even more ashamed of myself for being a fool and falling for it, even though they were clearly saying FROM THE BEGINNING that this is a Business Gay show and nothing more.

Leia Mais

This drama has been adapted from the shoujo manga of the same name, so it does have a very shoujoish atmosphere around it. It's like watching a manga instead of reading it. The circumstances are all same. The drama is like the main ambassador representing most of the shoujo manga ever written. Its highly cliched, hilarious and although we all know what is going to happen, we still read it up. Admit it or not, everyone sometime or the other likes a little dose of cliche,ain't we?
STORY:
The story is same. THE INNOCENT DULL UNPOPULAR GIRL + THE HIGHLY DESIRABLE, INTELLIGENT AND 'most important, should be there traits' POPULAR AND CONCEITED GUY( type of guy which makes a girl squeal and fall head over heals for him) reminds you of something, eh?
The drama is full of cliches but it is still enjoyable and hilarious, the type of drama you don't need to think hard, you just watch it. actually if you think and question the stuff, you will never gonna enjoy the drama. Just sit, watch, enjoy its hilarity, cliches and bubbly and light atmosphere and relieve your stress.
Its boring sometimes though and one thing is missing here. a little bit of skinship and real kisses( c'mon who doesn't love real kisses,the barely-touching-lips IS NOT KISSING)!
ACTING; I loved the girl. She is sweet, bubbly cute with her manga like reactions and over the top imaginations. i had a problem with the main lead. HE LOOKED SO INDIFFERENT, i know you are supposed to be cold but atleast show some emotions, a little bit of jealousy(we understand you are jealous but we can't feel it). the second lead actors were better. Issei was cool and i felt so bad for daichi. He is too hot to be made the second lead. In my opinion this actor should be given the role of the main lead.
Music; nothing i can remember. Though it gave a happy vibe
Rewatch: I don't rewatch dramas unless i super like it, so no no for me.
So, you can watch it as a filler show. Or as a break after super intense stuff or drama. Cause this is perfect for easy watch. DON'T WATCH IT ID YOU ARE A FAN OR INTENSE INTERESTING INNOVATIVE DRAMA, cause this is definitely not one.
p.s THIS SO REMINDS OF ITAZURA NA KISS AND L.DK

Leia Mais