I realize that many rom-com dramas have kinda the same plot, which is: marriage. Dramas that I loved, like Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu (Married as a Job) or Kazoku no Katachi, or the classic Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. But this one was so exhausting! The girls think and talk about men only, and they have the worst taste in them. Not only one of them, Kaori (Eikura Nana) is the Other Woman of her ex-boyfriend (who proclaims he loves both of them) but also Koyuki (Oshima Yuko) is the mistress of a married man. I thought Koyuki would have been the most sensible one in the trio, but this tells you that you can judge by the cover.
The most bearable one of the trio was Rinko, played by Yoshitaka Yuriko. At least she has different boyfriends to find out what she really wants. But the final episode made me hate her, grrrr. What a stupid girl, but I guess this kind of decision is expected in a tv show. Good, goofy guys never win in cinema/tv :((
I liked Sakaguchi Kento (KEY-san or Kinpatsu), but unfortunately, in this drama, his character was insufferable. Why did he have to be so meddlesome? Why did he have to be patronizing the girls, who just wanted to have fun? Why was he always judging the girls? He was also a "what-if" guy, and I didn't care about his past and his wife, he was the worst and I hated him. And his stupid hair.
I can't believe that with such a colorful cast, the drama was so mediocre. The girls were likable as friends (as women, they were the worst, and the most childish. Make up your mind, girls! And stop acting so immaturely!). There was a good chemistry between them. I liked Oshima Yuko, first time I see her acting. Eikura Nana was ok, I guess, always dull, poor girl. She is so pretty though, and after reading she was pregnant in real life, I couldn't help noticing her bump (and in the final episodes, she has the habit to touch her belly). Yoshitaka... i never liked her, to be honest. As an actress, she is ok, but in real life she is insufferable, thinking she is sooo open-minded and fun. BLEH.
The guys, though... Why in the world Suzuki Ryohei and Sakaguchi Kento were in this messy drama! Although it was cute to see them reunited, after "Ore Monogatari" (My Love Story!)... but that's another story... How in the world Tanaka Kei agreed to played the role of a married man who has an affair!
The final episode... omg, so bad. Awful. Kaori didn't learn her lesson, and Rinko makes the stupidest decision ever. I think the first part was a bit good, since any 30-year-old single woman can relate to the girls (being invited to weddings and still being single, etc). Oh, and another con: at first it was cute, but then it got on my nerves: the stupids talking-vegetable. So lame!
What redeems this crappy show? The setting: beautiful, gorgeous Tokyo. The clothes: very Japanese-like. The fashion: I paid extra attention to the nails (and currently, I am painting my own nails more or less like Kaori and Rinko did). The ending song: a catchy song by Perfume. The opening song: cute and fun.
All the other: terrible. I don't have any doubt to remove this file from my computer, for good!
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This drama looked SO promising but in the end it didn't fulfill my expectations at all and I have to admit that I was bored most of the time - and that's saying something considering that the series has only 10 episodes.
STORY 4/10
What story? From 5 to 9 is many things, but plot-driven is not one of them. First couple of episodes is spent on Hoshikawa being a total creep and when you think you're finally getting to something interesting, all you get is one pathetic grandmother who is being a bully and a younger brother with an "evil" smile and childhood complexes that are never explored in a satisfactory way (btw it's also never explained how he could think he could do what he wanted with the temple since he had no money and no rights over it...).
Both the temple and the school could provide an unlimited number of great side stories, but the writers never even try to do anything interesting with the settings.
CAST AND CHARACTERS 7.5/10
Both Ishihara Satomi and Yamashita Tomohisa probably do their best but their options are limited due to the bad, unimaginative writing. Hoshikawa-san is creepy and cold for most of his screentime and Junko lacks agency - she doesn't really move the plot forward and I felt really sorry for her most of the time (I was like "Show some backbone and tell them to go f*ck themselves!" most of the time). Furukawa Yuki's character, Mishima, is kind of ambiguous, especially at the beginning, it was like the writers didn't really know what to do with him. My favorite characters were probably Arthur, Momoe and Masako (she was cute). I was very sorry that potentionally interesting characters like Kaori and Amane ended up being very two dimensional.
Kaga Mariko probably enjoyed playing the evil grandmother character but again, unlike a similar character she famously portrayed in Hana Yori Dango, her character here lacked depth.
MUSIC 6.5/10
Catchy main tune and main song! Otherwise from that, it was only okay.
REWATCH VALUE 3/10
For me personally, extremely low, since this drama bored me to tears and I couldn't connect with the main characters.
REDEEMING FACTORS
There were some funny moments! Not many of them but they were there! I liked the scenes with Hoshikawa that took place in the classroom and his rivalry with Mishima during the English lessons were truly hilarious. Aside from that, I liked ArthurXMomoe scenes.
OVERALL 5.5/10 (and I am being generous here)
All in all, in spite of the high rating here, this drama has many issues concerning romanticised stalking and abuse, several sexual assaults (I am speaking about Junko and Kaori both here), misrepresented LGBT character etc. - all of these together with the lack of plot and character depth make From 5 to 9 barely watchable.
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For anyone that wants to know my thoughts on the tv show I also have a review for it but moving on!
STORY: This story was much longer since it is a movie, but it is a continuation of the show. The show had a vague but somewhat satisfying ending - if you're not allergic to cliffhangers. This movie offers a more solid conclusion and just enough rivalry between cast members to get you excited. if you love the show you will love the movie. It has many of the same components of the tv show, love, friendship, family but it also offers more of a backstory for the characters that you did not get to see in the show.
CAST: Once again, the cast was simply perfect.The main cast was a part of this film, no one was replaced or anything which is a big pet peeve of mine. I did not have to worry with this. I was not a huge fan of Michelle but she was not a bad actress by any means, just the character was a little too flat until almost the end.
MUSIC: The music and sound effects were great and once again production did a very cool job with blending anime-like quality and tones with live-action and digital capabilities.
REWATCH: This is not quite as rewatchable as the show with shorter episodes that have self-contained stories but this would be good to watch again every once in a while. I highly enjoyed it. If you watch to see the club get into more situations, be their cute selves, and have a more definite ending concerning the romance you should definitely watch this.
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CAST: The cast fit their roles so well, it was incredible. Yamamoto Yusuke did an amazing job as Tamaki, I was so surprised by just how extra he could be. Daito Shunsuke caught me off guard as Kyoya as well, pulling off the cool and collected character perfectly, but leaving just enough to make you swoon. And the twins were perfect, devilish but adorable. I was happy with how their characters seemed more complex, not happy go lucky blank slates. I found the main cast gave a lot to their roles, to show growth and keep the interest of the viewer. Everyone worked very well together. Kawaguchi Haruna was wonderful of course.
MUSIC: The music and sound effects for this show were very good, however, "friday ma magic" did get slightly old as the theme song. While I absolutely love the song, I wish there had been maybe one more but there is a charm to a limited soundtrack at the same time.
REWATCH VALUE: This show has a very high rewatch value for me simply because it is hilarious, also every episode has a different story, and the cast is so good. Even is you do not think it will be as good as the anime I highly suggest trying at least one or two episodes. Especially since it does not have 20 or more episodes. There are only 11 (plus a movie but it's not NECESSARY to watch that.)
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1 I love Nam Joon Hyun, he is a really good actor and played in many hit dramas of 2016, like Scarlet heart and Cheese in the trap
2 My favourite theme is school life But, part from those two, this drama has one thing that many others lack; a strong couple. The chemistry between them was amazingly powerful, even though their romance didn't start till probably the tenth episode. But even so, the dynamics were great! Cute and romantic, they were the it couple!! The story is nice too. The performances were nice and the soundtrack was great. One thing that maybe wasn't that good, was that the leading lady supposed to be overweight, or at least not skinny to be able to do weightlifting, but the drama only had her wearing buggy clothes and she not even looked strong enough. But other than that it was a quite enjoyable drama.
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Drama Special Season 7: The Legendary Lackey
6 people found this review helpful
ACTING/CAST: The actors did a great job, particularly Lee Ji Hoon. He is quite a capable actor and can wear many expressions on his face.
MUSIC: Nothing special.
REWATCH VALUE: I'll watch it again for sure.
OVERALL: Again, hate bullying. That aside, it was a funny show.
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Life Back Then is a good-to-watch movie because it resonates with people's grief, recovery, and courage experiences.
The characters are well played and the sad atmosphere of the film is balanced by the joy in the acting, photos taken as they work in the empty houses of deceased clients.
Isn't it great to see the resilience that tragedy generates in people because life is always open to choices and possibilities? Highly recommend this movie to those needing a pick-me-up and to those who appreciate all that life has to offer!
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Overall, good acting by entire cast, I love the girl from bride of the century, i was searching for her drama, but overall good drama, Minoz can watch it many times since its full of our handsome boy...
Recommend to all try it....
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