This was one of the dramas of 2017 I wanted to see the most and it didn't disappoint. It isn't perfect, but it's very enjoyable and it has some great actors who I love seeing in general, even more if they're together.
Right from the get-go, if you're watching this to see Kimura Takuya and Takeuchi Yuko together...it's really not the focus of it. They have an interesting sort of relationship (that could have been developed better, to be honest) and they still have that chemistry on screen, but this drama is less focused on the romance and more on the individual emotions of the characters through different situations.
The plot moves like all those job-focused dramas that have a specific job in the center and where each individual case serves for a character to develop, and most times Kimutaku's character is involved in that development, because he plays pretty much one of the seemingly few honest doctors left in this hospital. So there's nothing new there. The thing is that, differently from other job-focused dramas, this one has an underlying situation that is running through the course of the series, which makes things personal for the characters, making most cases a lot more emotional than the mere "today we learned not to be terrible to patients" at the end of each episode. The strong emotional plot underneath carries it more smoothly than other dramas of the genre, making it more engaging to me.
One of the best performances to me was Kimura Fumino, which honestly, 2017 was pretty much her year. And then there was Matsuyama Kenichi, who I didn't expect to like as much in this, but he was really good.
My biggest issue is that this drama is victim of a recurring writing issue I'm seeing in jdramas as of late, which is confusing redemption and pity. I really dislike when instead of making a character go through a redemption arc with personal growth and development, it just throws karma at it so we all go "oh, poor thing, they deserve to be forgiven" and they have to do nothing to earn said forgiveness. This drama has that with a character, which made the last few episodes a bit difficult for me to enjoy, and which is why I can't go higher with the score. I know some people will probably be disappointed by the ending, maybe they make another season, it'd be a good way to fix it.
All in all, this is a good medical drama with a great cast, it has issues and it isn't perfect but I liked watching it and, honestly, Kimura Takuya still has that aura of lead that we all recognize, which I had been missing to see.
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1) If you're watching this on Netflix, you're covered, because it lists this special as a 13th episode, so it won't play before the drama; but if you're following the descriptions on various sites calling this special a "prequel" and think you should watch it before the drama: DON'T. This is a prequel, of sorts, but it's meant to go AFTER you've seen the drama, otherwise you'll get massively spoiled.
2) If you think this will shed any light on the events of the main drama...yeah, no. It does tie some things together and sets the tone for some things the drama only describes, since it's set before the main conflicts leading to the drama take place, but it's not going to answer your questions, maybe generate more.
That being said, I don't think this special was really necessary, in the grand scheme of things, so I'm giving it a lower score than the drama, but if you have it available and saw the drama, give it a go anyway.
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That being said, I don't think it was that bad. It isn't the most groundbraking suspense drama you'll find, it isn't the best written thing you'll see, but for the lack of experience these girls seem to have, the fact that it's "one of those idol dramas", the budget and the amount of episodes, I've seen much worse. To be honest, it's a very binge-watchable drama and it keeps the tension more or less throughout, so I don't regret watching it.
The plot starts in medias res, which I really appreciate in a suspense story, and I wish it had kept the focus it had on the beginning throughout the entire thing because, as the episodes advance, it gets unecessarily complicated for a story that didn't need so many unconnected twists and turns. And, for what I've seen in some comment threads, I'm not the only one left with more questions than answers when it's all said and done. I wish there had been one big focus instead of small things that have a common thread, kind of, if you squint.
Still, for all its complicated messes with the plot and its unanswered questions, it did leave me wanting to discuss it to try figuring out what just happened, and I consider that a good thing; I had left complicated dramas wanting to never look back in the past, but this is not one of those, at least. It's a mess but it's an interesting mess. And hey, I commend these girls for starting out with a suspense/horror/mystery drama rather than a typical school drama which would have probably hidden their inexperience a lot better but it would have been a lot less interesting to watch.
If you're looking for suspense with minimum to no gore, a sort of idol version of SAW, which will keep you wanting to know more, even if it's to try figuring out what on earth you just watched, and don't mind very inexperienced performances and some clear fanservice-y moments attempted to be disguised as representation (that's the idol industry for you, though, it's a general recurring problem), give this one a shot. And then DM me and tell me what you think just happened.
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I don't understand how anyone can start it thinking it's going to be a heavy, drama-filled series, which requires an important emotional involvement from the viewer. It's not; if that isn't clear by the plot summary, then it should be by the end of the first episode.
This show is full of imperfections that make it perfect. In fact, I completely disregarded those multiple small flaws because they naturally flowed with the story. There were no "wait - what ?" moments. Unlike many viewers, I never thought of banging my head on my keyboard because of incomprehension. I think those people think too much. There are dramas that simply don't require you to think about anything while watching them. "Master Devil Do Not Kiss Me" is one of those dramas.
It IS cliché-filled, but you can get that from the summary. Basically yet another Itazura na Kiss x Boys over Flowers adaptation.
The mood here however is different. First, because it's Chinese: it's a whole other culture. Second, because the episodes are short. A lot of things are bound to happen in a short span of time; we might leave an episode with X event and resume with an event Y, while only just lightly bushing the precedent subject.
Some cuts are really unprofessional and too obvious. But it takes nothing from the enjoyment away. The female lead is super cute, and, believe it or not, refreshing. She's not easily swayed by her lovers or feelings, she's cute without being over the top or too girly, and stands up for her values.
As for the so-called "chauvinism" and "sexism" in this drama.. I don't know what the people who said that are doing on this site ?? Violent hand grabbing, "you're mine" lines and such are an entire aspect of most Korean dramas and many other asian dramas. There IS a traditional conservative view of women. It's China after all. Personally, I've been more shocked throughout my life here in the West with the treatment of women, who are constantly over-sexualized in the media and society, than in China (from my limited view in dramas) At least they don't resort to stripping down a woman to get high audience rates ;-))
To conclude, an excellent (and by excellent, again, I don't mean it's perfect or flawless, just really good for what it is -) light drama, that I will most likely rewatch because it's fun and not too complicated to help with my learning and understanding of Chinese, along with the likes of dramas like Shopping King Louis or Sassy Go Go.
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The drama shows 2 couples, one year couple and 7 year couple. They face many problems such as Jealousy, shame, envy, their dreams, friends and society.
They talk a lot about marriage. A couple which are already living together, we'll think about marriage naturally. So the problematic on the drama : Is the marriage something about how long have you been dating your partner ?
I thought the concept interesting , Playlist Global proves once again their evolution, they are trying many differents style.
By the way let's talk about Actors. "Omg" they are very good, handsome / beautiful BUT despite that, we can notice that it's not about physical , so you feel no complex XDDD I mean, they didn't put an accent on beauty, but on humans values, problems, happiness , on the human, so we can easily identify on all the character, Indeed sometime we are too greedy, sometime we want to be the worse one by wanting someone else boyfriend, sometime we give up on something for someone and sometimes we have to do choices.
All the songs were very good ! *-* Kwon Jin Ah ost *-* ... hahem..
The drama was well done for me, the scenes, acting, light, music. And the number of episode help a lot. That's why I like Playlist Global, stories may be basic, but they go straight on point, and you can finish one drama while waiting somewhere, practical !
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