Reviews

I wanted to drop this dorama several times. But I persisted. Besides the cast, the other reason was because I like "Kuragehime" which is a manga written by the same author from this drama. Alas, this one is sooo frustrating.

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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I pretty much agree with everything Luly wrote in her review but just to add my two cents here:

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 CONFUSED THIS MOVIE IS A CONTINUATION OF THE TV SHOW, NOT A REMAKE.
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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Ugh, missing nine! This was a really good drama, until the ending ruined it. That and some other little parts. The story is pretty good, as it wasn't the typical romantic comedy. It was rather thrilling to watch how the story developed till the final episode. However, in the end, many things were left unanswered. Like, the romance never got to be "finalized" and left you thinking if they were actually attracted to each other or not. Or the murderer case, as everyone seemed fine with it. I mean, they were kind of all calm about the whole situation even from the island, where none panicked over the fact that a serial killer was among them. And there is the whole Yeol case. I'm not a fan of the idol, but I did wait to see if they found him or not. At least, it would have been nice if there was some closure to that one. But those were the actual negatives of this drama. On the other hand, it was very intense watching it. The performances were great and you could sympathise with the victims or feel rage with the villains. So, solemnly because the ending left many questions unanswered, I'm rating this drama 7 out of 10.

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STORY: The story was not the best, nothing super original, it was a live-action version of the anime and manga. There were many of the same shenanigans, but it was a very interesting live version. The creators of this show even managed to create similar effects. I will not lie, at first it was cringe-worthy and many fans of the anime say they do not like this show, but it grows on you. The actors are such a large part of this that it is hard to stop watching. I honestly loved this show and how they blended what has been seen before in other versions with new things they create to fuel the story. I expected it to be nothing but romance and be horrible but the humor, family, friends, and love were all so well balanced that I found myself binge-watching.

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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An unexpected drama that lives up to it's expectations. No wonder why it is still on the "hot to watch" lists even though it ended months ago! All in all, I really loved the girl's story, though I did find some disadvantages. First of all, the coming "back" from the future didn't really work, though it was forgotten after the second episode and it was only revisited in the last episode. Also, the comic acts were not that good, and they made the drama a little silly. Plus, the romance was strong, but I felt that the chemistry was lucking, though I did like the fact that she didn't develop feelings for the prince from the start, as it would have made the drama dull (twenty episodes long already it would have been tiring to watch if the romance had started from episode four!). Another thing that is only my personal opinion is that the male lead didn't work for me. As I'm not his biggest fan, I didn't quite identify with the romance, as he looked rather cruel at times and like a child in others, not to mention the "You are only mine" possessiveness didn't work for me at all! However, I did enjoy this drama. The performances were okay (the first episodes were a little awkward though), the costumes and the settings were breathtaking and the action and royal twists were enough to keep the interest high till the very end. Another plus was that the lead lady's character was well developed, as you could she her growing up from a bold girl to a respected head court lady. So, 8 out of 10.

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Honestly, the title is a bit odd and rather than creating interest, it might stop you from watching this drama. Which would be a mistake. Sure, the story is very simple and maybe I'm giving it 8 out of 10 because:
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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It's the catchy story that will make you watch this drama. However, there is more to this drama than the twin sister story. Sure, it's interesting to see if she will get caught and how she manages to survive in a world that's far from the one she grew up into. But the main interest is the bulling. In this drama, it is handled carefully. showing all the forms that is can take and all its results. And for me, that was the best part of the drama. The love story, actually the love triangle that it develops between the girl, her sister's best friend, and the outcast of her high school, is really good, but it fails to be completed, as the final episode leaves you a little confused. Also, the production didn't handle well the presense of the two girl simultaneously in the same place. But, other than that, it's a good drama, with quick pace and interesting theme.

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STORY: This is also known as The Legendary Lackey. A lackey in this context is a bullied kid that acts as a servant/slave for the bully. I hate bullying. But what makes this story good is that it's how the lackey rises to the top. There's a lot of funny scenes and a few cringe-worthy ones too.

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, in general, is hard; more so when marked by loss of family and friends. It is even more difficult when these challenges happen at a young age.
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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Where ever Min ho, I love it..!! His performance is superb and he has proved he is one awesome actor, I believe he actually still didn't get dramas up to his talent, and hope he will get after 2 years military enlistment, Hope he will get another drama similar and even more better than City Hunter, coz this type of drama reveals his talent.

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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Researching Sorimachi's films, I found Fulltime Killer and started watching it. Immediately I realized it was the fantastic movie I had watched years ago. At the time I was not familiar with Andy Lau and Sorimachi Takeski, but I was glued to my seat. This is one of the best action films out there. And it's not just the action that is riveting: the suspense builds to a big, hot boil! You will not be able to guess how this one will all turn out. It was a surprise to me and I'm so glad I found this one again. It's one of those movies that you can rewatch and it will be just as enjoyable the second time around.

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