What I liked was the honesty in the characters. As a true dramanista, I am always looking for the scheming friend, the evil mother, the rat in the group but there was none of that. The characters literally said out loud exactly what they felt, and it was refreshing. Narimiya Hiroki is an awesome actor! This type of character for him is not new (Yankee-kun to Megane-chan) but he is so believable even if you do see his wrinkles. He really brought the main character to life. Although the other supporting characters were to be stereotypical, they played their parts very well and I forgot i was watching actors at times. I must admit that started this because I love Mizushima Hiro. As much as I loved to watch him in this movie, his character fell flat. It could be the fault of the writers, but his character seemed under developed or maybe the character was supposed to be vicious/crazy but Hiro couldn’t commit to it. IDK. I may blame the writers because they introduced a lot of characters that have no development, no story line and then randomly appeared/ disappeared.
The main question on my mind while watching, “Why are they using fully grown men to play middle schoolers?” I know some of those dudes are in their 30’s! I mean these dudes had full facial hair but playing 15-17 year olds??!! I also couldn’t understand how some characters were not getting physically stronger with all the fights, like how are you remaining so weak but you can still run your mouth? Not to mention how cool the parents were with all of this, your son wants to become a delinquent and you say “ok!”?. To top it all off, there is a sudden sorrowful scene out of nowhere that causes major changes. (I had the stupid face on because I didn’t really see it coming).
There were certainly loose ends, unraveled strings, and frayed stitches, but it wasn’t boring. For a story that seems meant to tell young boys “life is short don’t waste it” I think it does a pretty decent job. However it gets a fat F for encouraging ruthless violence for younger ages. I, however am not in that demographic and anything that gives me a little eye candy while entertaining me, I say “bring it on!”. I do recommend the movie for a break from the complex story lines, the plotting and the scheming found in many of the dramas we see. Overall: Lots of cool real fights, loads of excitement.
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The first thing you need to know about this drama (you're reading this probably because you haven't watched it, right?) is that it's very fresh, and different from any other kdrama.
For me the most awesome thing about this drama, and the reason why I'm giving it a 10 it's the story. The writing is superb. Each character exists completely, and it's really human. You can feel all they're feeling.
The story doesn't have any cliché and unlike other "musical" dramas (coughheartstringscough)the musical part is really there. Musical is part of the character's lives so it becomes another character in the drama, making it more beautiful and allowing us to feel.
The acting is quite amazing. The performances that, for me, need to be like high lighted were Oh Man Suk's and Im Joo Eun's. They truly stole the show, and their characters were the best.
The music was for a musical but it had different genre and I must say that the vocal part of the songs were great. I hadn't realized Daesung had such an extraordinary voice until this.
I don't think I'll watch this again because this is the kind of drama that you must watch once to be amazed by it and discovering each character little by little, so I don't think I'll feel as deeply as I feel now about it if I watch it again.
This drama left me with a feeling of change, like I was a different person just by watching it, as if by watching it I was somehow becoming part of the story, so I'm happy to say that this is a drama that I won't forget soon, because it taught me a lot, and it definitely has a special corner in my heart, so I hope that by reading this, you'll also want to have that experience! Go watch it! Oh Man Suk rocks! =)
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The story, is as it says it is in most story summaries you read.. but what those summaries fail to mention is that it is spectacularly written, its also about human relationships. And the story had, not necessarily side stories/plots, but background and reasoning, that made you go "Oh so that's why" in a few places, loved that..
Each of the "main" characters, are well thought out, including development. The acting is stellar. Straight up, even the character's you don't like, are so well thought out, that you can't be mad at the writers for making them that way. Every character in this drama has his or her place, take one away, and the drama wouldn't be the same. I was really impressed by the acting. I know most people, would start to watch this for Daesung, but don't. That's all I can say, do NOT start watching this for Daesung, I did, and not that I was disappointed with his acting, I wasn't, I just didn't like his character.
Music, well it is about musicals, so of course the music has to be good, and not only was it good, I was very impressed by how good it was in places.
I will re-watch at some point or other... The reason I didn't give this a perfect 10, but a 9 instead was because, all the way up until the ending the writing and so forth or stellar, but the last episode was just so sub-par to me that I couldn't bring myself to give it a perfect 10.
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I'm not a great fan of this type of movie, but I enjoyed the battles and the comic side of the story.
i really liked the cast,cuz,of course i'm a fan of Shun. I have to say, in this movie he displayed fantastic acting skills.One of his best movie in my opinion. I really loved Yamada Takayuki's acting in this one too. made me wanna see other movies whit him. The music was a plus of adrenalin and I think that there is no one that can complain about this. yes there war some slow dialogues but after all the "movement" I think they ware necessary to digest and even to understand the story.
A great movie, definitely rewatch this.
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Unless if the story is completely changed. In this case, it wasn't. Fortunately, they kept the story and retained its value.
As for the the actual filmography, it is good. They picked the perfect settings and style. The music is great, as it is in the book, but obviously appreciated better in the film. Really good music. Bit iffy on the scene changes but that's barely anything.
No complaints with the cast either. Their acting is well-done and gave justice to the characters, especially the main ones. The 1960's setting did not get in their way at all. I did kind of imagined Reiko differently though, and Storm Trooper was not given much attention. But that's okay. I was also a bit uncomfortable with Watanabe in the film at first. I felt that he was different but now I don't think so. Kenichi Matsuyama's neutral expressions were perfectly splendid. Rinko's acting also made me realize how much more heavy Naoko's life was.
There are scenes that I thought should've been done differently but that does not make this film a failure at any cost. This is how the director imagined the novel and I am happily content with it. I'd recommend the novel not because I think it's better but because it shows much more than 2 hours can give.
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We can learn a lot of things here..
This drama tells us a lot about the different of Japanese culture and South Korea culture..
It is easy for Tomoko for going to South Korea, because the price in Korea is cheaper than Japan (based on Japanese point of view).
Otherwise, when Ji Hoon wants to meet Tomoko in Japan, he must work hard to earn money to go there.
This drama tells us how both of the main role try to adjust their culture (Tomoko is Japanese, while Ji Hoon is Korean) and to adapt with each mate's culture..
The conflict be more peaked when Ji Hoon parents know that their son has a Japanese girlfriend. Based on the drama, In Japan, maybe it is a common condition when Japanese has a foreign mate. But in Korea, it'll be a big problem.
When i watched this drama, I cried like a baby at the scene where Tomoko and Ji Hoon had to be parted.
But, in the end the can back together and overcome all the problem, especially the problem about different culture..
Honestly, this drama is one of my most favorite Drama.. :D
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Now let me continue by saying that if this drama went for, say, 3 episodes, it might score about a 7. But it didn't go for three episodes, it went for 16. So for 16 episodes I had to watch the leads alternately act like idiots, sometimes act like idiots together (those episodes were REALLY special), and do a lot of...cleaning? and cooking?
One of the secondary leads was boring and one was just really easy to dislike. By the end of it I was rooting for the friends, because all the other characters irritated me so much that I no longer cared that they were horrible and shameless, I was just happy that the main characters were getting some sort of payback for their over the top and constant stupidity, even if it was from their horrible vulture friends.
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The drama cannot say the same. It's not that I expected a lot from the drama, and it also isn't that it was awful. It was pretty, systematic and easy to follow. The production was of a good quality and some of the scenes featured some seriously nice use of eye-candy.
My problem with this comes primarily from the fact that it was not at all memorable. It didn't make me think, but more than that, it didn't make me feel. I never felt the relationship between the leads (although occasionally the other boys had bonding type moments).
This was the first anime with Kazuya Kamenashi in it, and I have to say, every other drama of his I have ever seen has been better than this, at least for his part. I felt his portrayal of the lead character was more wooden than a tree, which led me to believe he could not act. I have since watched other things that lead me to believe this is not the case, which makes me wonder if a poor script/storyboard was to blame.
Anyway, as mentioned, I don't dislike this drama, it's just that I got nothing from it aside from an awesomely hilarious opening song and prettiness. And honestly, what's not to love about a bit of prettiness?
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Firstly, there are some elements of this which are nice. The cast are attractive and the female lead, Oh Ha Ni has a somewhat sute manner that is engaging.
The problems I have with this drama are the following:
1) Kim Hyun Joong. Attractive as hell? Yes. Fantastic actor? No. I believe Kim Hyun Joong improves on his previous efforst in this drama but the combination of him having a limited acting repertiore combined with a terrible script makes his character hard to love. And by hard to love, I mean vomit-worthy.
2) The plot. If I want to spend a girl waste YEARS of her life chasing after a bastard, I'll pay attention to the love lives of those random people I knew in high school that I am now Facebook friends with. This story goes absolutely nowhere. NOWHERE.
3) The message. This show is basically about a girl who is not very smart, being ridiculed when she confesses her love by a smart guy who is a real *insert expletive here*. She chases after him, he shuts her down, she keeps chasing, he leads her on, repeat. Yes girls, it doesn't matter if there is nothing good about him and he treats you horribly, keep going back for more. He's attractive, so it's worth it. She then continues to build her WHOLE LIFE around him. Enough said.
4) The ending. I guess I watched this through to the finish in the hope that the ending would feature a whole heap of Kim Hyun Joong being like "I'm sooo sorry, I thought I was so great, but really, I'm lucky you put up with me..."
This did not happen. I'm sure many people were like "Yay! Dating and marriage!" However, even after they became a couple, he was still a %$#@*& and she became ridiculously neurotic (partially thanks to KHJ again, but still). Even when he does nice things, he does them so that WE, the AUDIENCE, know, but she HIS GF/WIFE never does. What a great guy.
I couldn't feel any connection with the characters from this as I find one lead to be a bully, and the other to be a chronic victim. I feel that if there had been a little bit of equality in their relationship I may have found this passable, I think it would have been watchable, if a bit boring. As it was, I felt a little ashamed that this story has an audience, because it is not a type of relationship I can ever understand.
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There were some parts in the plot that were over the top or unnecessary, but these were balanced out by the charming interaction of the side characters. Whilst I found the main pairing at times a little infuriating, though often adorable, the characters of the flower boys (in particular, Crazy Rooster and Pillar) were enough to keep everyone hooked. I even loved Crazy Rooster's love interest, as she was a great foil to the old fashioned female lead.
Overall, I expected eye-candy and I expected stupidity and I expected angst. While all three of these did occur, the eye-candy was worth it, the stupidity cute and the angst infrequent and meaningful. This is not the most original or poetic drama that you will ever watch, but the antics of the characters from episode to episode will leave you with a smile on your face.
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For me, this drama breaks the mould. Firstly, it is a real comedy, where the comedy really does seem to have more emphasis than the romance. The lead pair have great comedic as well as romantic chemistry, which is probably beaten only by the chemistry of the two secondary leads. Furthermore, the rapport between the female leads was heart-warming and fun, whilst the relationship between the two male leads was convincing and clever.
The cast of this drama is the highlight, as even the side characters such as the various parents and the grandmother are all played to perfection, aided by well-written comedic scripts. Furthermore, the drama gently parodies the things that we can both love and hate about dramas, with their crazy plot twists and stupid character motivations.
The core of this drama is that it does not revolve around pretty faces and angsty love, but rather, it is a family drama at heart. It is a celebration of platonic bonds of friendship, family and humanity in general and it has a sense of humour and fun that is contagious.
When I say this drama is about family, I know lot of people will turn away, but this drama is beautiful in its comedic simplicity. It strips away all of the ridiculous motives that are found in dramas and brings everything back to the idea that people are just people, filled with weaknesses yes, but also with real morals and real identities.
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First of all the cast: okay, at first I was a little bit disappointed by Ashiya's obvious fail at acting like a guy. (Really.. come on that voice! o_O) but then you get gradually used to it so it sinks back into the background and well she's a girl so I suppose that's fine ^-^
then, I guess a lot of people criticized Miura Shohei's Nakatsu..? Well, I loooved him! Damn, that boy is good at acting! and he played Nakatsu's part so well! I know it should be damn hard to beat Ikuta Toma to his work, but Miura was just different and did an awesome job.
Then, Nakamura Aoi didn't quite fit Sano's character as well as I wanted it to be but that was mainly because of my biased opinion after seeing him in Beck, it just mixed up the characters for me and I kind of got lost *-*
Supporting roles were awesome too. Especially Kiriyama Renn as Nanba Minami (oh so handsome~), Saito Takumi as the school doctor (*-*), and
Tokuyama Hidenori as Oscar.
The music: I don't especially remember all of the music, but I was kind of surprised to hear pieces of the Spirited Away OST (if I am not mistaken...), it fitted in really well and I loved it :D
The rewatch value: to be honest I'm not really a person who rewatches dramas but here I'll certainly watch a random episode of this drama once in a while, just to get that atmosphere back, to see those characters again,... I think it's an excellent drama if you feel down and need to be cheered up :D
So, I would just say: Don't be too prejudiced, forget a little about the previous version(s) you know and just watch & enjoy this amazing drama!
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The director worked closely with the writer of the book and the victims. According to one article I read, he was too soft in the movie and that the reality was MUCH worse. He was doing his best to keep a balance between watchable and the truth.
What was shown was enough to make me physically ill. To give you an idea of my maturity? I am 22 going on 80 depending on who you talk to. This stuff normally does not phase me. I would never let my little 18 year old brother watch this. BEWARE.
Also, there are some things changed in the movie to make the teacher look a bit better than he was, please look in the discussion thread for some corrections to the movie. The only criticism I have of the movie was making the teacher look better than he was.
This movie will make you examine exactly how human you are. Victims from this case were extras in the movie. The actors were amazing and they were so good it made it hurt all the more. This is a movie to be watched with your friends: Ben, Jerry, and another human. You will not get through it otherwise. Also, Pepto might be useful.
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It tells about 3 students who eventually manage to improve the moral of the teacher.
I love how Yamada Ryosuke acts here.. He acts as the boss of the three moving student. Well, his acting here is almost great as his acting on Hidarime Tantei Eye.
The part that i like the most is when the three of them (Chinen Yuri, Yamada Ryosuke, and Arioka Daiki) solved the problem (it is a little bit exaggerate, but it's OK).
The story gives us a lot of advice.. It taught us that friendship is important, and because of that we have to be selective to find a real friend.
Overall, the story slightly reminds me of the dorama The Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO), the different here is in GTO, Onizuka (as the teacher) takes the most part.. whether in Scrap Teacher, the students here take most part to make their teachers recognize the fundamental principle of teaching.
The OST is being sung by Hey! Say! JUMP! And indeed, some of the member of Hey! Say! JUMP! acts as the main role here.
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