Completed
Once Upon a Drama
3 people found this review helpful
Dec 26, 2022
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

When a drama is so good and beautiful that it makes you not only smile but also cry

When a drama is so good and beautiful that it makes you not only smile but also cry… not of sadness, but because it is a uniquely poetic and outstanding gem, positive throughout, with great and genuinely kind characters, an awesome production and an extremely well written and mature storyline … (and I have seen hundreds of dramas) all about love, with actors who are all shining bright :)
Ps. Be aware that this slow-burn romance drama has a clear indie vibe, far from the usual romance dramas…
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Completed
Shiro
3 people found this review helpful
Apr 14, 2024
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

“Flowers make no sound, yet they contain words that can convey many feelings”


I started watching this drama and before I knew it, it was already over, as it mangaged to captivate me from the start and just kept a hold of me with interesting characters, connections, fears and dare I say one of few dramas with a whole lot of helaing elements that do not make me want to fast forward or throw a shoe at the screen.

The characters are human, real humans with real emotions struggling with love, life and dealing with the world around them all in their own way. Lovable most of time but in need of a lesson or ten in making their own decisions instead of making decisions for others.

I am not sure if I love teh main couple, the siblings or or the best friend, female leads mom or the sign language teacher the most as they are all so different yet so lovable.

I love the dialog, the symbols, gazes, the way they do show a bunch of issues without becoming preachy or pitiful, even the tears in this are well done. And while there are a bunch of stuff I admit could be done better the overall feel of this drama is positive making me overlook the less great parts and giving this a well deserved 9.


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Completed
Wishstar
3 people found this review helpful
Dec 26, 2022
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.5

Review in one sentence

This is my first jdrama and it is the best jdrama of the year. Acting of all the actors were perfect. There are some people who didn't like Minato and Nana, but I like them both. All the characters are kind hearted peoples. Loved it so much. I love the piano bgm and the ost , both matches with this drama perfectly. If you wanna try a jdrama I will definitely recommend this. Don't miss this gem. I'm a person who doesn't cry on watching sad drama, what I meant is, I will be sad for sure but my tears won't come out but this is one of the few dramas which made my tears came out rolling again and again. So thank you, I enjoyed that emotional part very much too. Thank you to all the actors and staff for your hard work.




Thank you for reading:)

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Completed
hanven
3 people found this review helpful
Nov 27, 2023
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

SO GOOD!!

BEST DRAMA IVE WATCHED IN A WHILE!!!! i’m going to protect sou and tsumigi with my life 😭😭😭😭😭 this drama made me cry and smile so much throughout. i finished it in literally 2 days, that’s how much i enjoyed it. i wish i could rewatch it again :(((( HIGHLY RECOMMEND.








































































































































































































































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Completed
cryswash
3 people found this review helpful
Dec 21, 2024
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.5

A beautiful story…

I loved this drama! It was so beautifully written and did an amazing job at delving into the relationships of a man who lost his hearing in adulthood. It had a great takeaway that everyone processes change differently. I’d highly recommend a watch.

The Good

The acting was done wonderfully from all of the cast, especially since it focuses on the hearing impaired with cast members who aren’t hearing impaired. The story was well written and I appreciated the details the director included like the sound cuts that gave us a take on the sudden silence that comes with losing one’s hearing. I also loved the portrayal of the different relationships and connections surrounding the change in the main ML. With a shorter amount of episodes at a standard runtime, this was definitely a slow burn but executed very well. This drama gave us a real take on relationships without the cliche or forced romance. Really loved the OST.

The Bad

Though not really a bad thing, this was less of a romance and more of a melodrama as there were no kissing scenes. It didn’t really bother me but some may not appreciate it. The only other bad thing was sometimes the flashbacks were sudden and took a minute to realize it was a flashback as there were no real distinctive markers from present to past scenes.

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Completed
_erina
3 people found this review helpful
Jan 11, 2024
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

there's not enough words to describe this drama

i have never cried this much in every episode on any drama. everything about this drama is perfect. if someone ever think that the plot are dragged too long i dont think that they get the meaning of accepting a grief.
the story writting is excellent. there's nothing to complain about. the story is very much a simple sad love story it dont need any uneccesary plot twist so it's perfect.
the acting!!!!!! ren meguro definitely the star of the show. he take down the role very smoothly. my heart is aching everytime a sad scene is on. he dont need word to make me believe that he's sad. by only looking at his eyes i can feel every emotion he's trying to potray.

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Completed
Smiley face
3 people found this review helpful
Oct 29, 2024
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10

Give hope in your life if you loss it somehow

During watching this drama I cried a lot it'so emotional and touch the core of your heart
This drama make me realised that we are perfect in our lives still we unsatisfied in our lives we have perfect body till we find ourselves lost and depressed over small things
Watching ml overcoming from what he lost I feel relieved and heald from my traumas
This drama is beautiful, inspiring, I just loved it
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Completed
Rumi
2 people found this review helpful
Feb 2, 2024
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

this Dorama suits my crying agenda

First time I’m writing review here just because I really love this Dorama so much. It’s been a while since I watched Japanese filmography and because of Haruna, I decided to watch this drama.

The skill to deliver each other's characters emotions are really great. I might be biased since Haruna is my favorite actress but I think her acting skill is so good to portray Tsumugi. Meguro Ren also took the role so good ;----; I cried since 1st ep, or maybe I was crying in every eps lel.

Long short story this dorama has good ost, the cinematography is really calm for me, also the "silent" space is really comforting for me. I speedrunning this dorama for two days and after finished it I was feeling blue for another new dorama in the end I rewatched it for nth times (laughs)

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Completed
scenophile
2 people found this review helpful
Feb 22, 2023
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 8.0

Beautiful and intelligent

I was really worried about this drama being frustrating seeing as the premise itself is about one character keeping a secret and initiating a break-up, followed by years of no contact — but that wasn't the case at all. The plot was realistic, the characters so mature and complex, and the script was surprisingly intelligent and beautiful because of it; there were a lot of places where annoying tropes could've come into play but the drama subverted it every time and instead the characters worked things out with communication and emotional connection.

This was just a beautiful drama to watch and it's so comforting from beginning to end. There are no villains, every side character is multi-faceted, and it was a beautiful story about people reconnecting and not only bridging the language gap, but also learning to accept each other and the passage of time. 11 episodes was perfect for the pace of the plot but I also wish I got so much of them.

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Completed
mmrr
2 people found this review helpful
Oct 6, 2023
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Well thought-through drama, maturing is realizing your own mistakes and owe up to them.

A drama to never forget. The low rewatch value is not something to be negative about as its an unique drama! Its definitely engraved in my mind as these sort of disabilities dramas are rare and creating awareness through this type of content is definitely appreciated

Although the storyline aligned with my predictions, it was still a pleasure to watch how the relationships between characters developed; and as it’s a Japanese dramas, everything is dealt with maturity.

The title Silent fits this drama perfectly; the director(s) somehow managed to ‘’fill’’ the screen with sound although its supposed to be silent in a real life scenario.

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Completed
Zogitt
2 people found this review helpful
Dec 29, 2022
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

A healing drama is just like a donkey . . . I mean onion

On the surface it is a short, slow burn romance with low angst. We need to peel back some layers to find the deeper meanings.
The ML is a tortured soul whose near perfect world collapsed in short order due to his gradual loss of hearing. He doesn’t know how to deal with it, so he became withdrawn and pushed everyone away. He tried to join the deaf community but finds that he is still on the outer because he was not born deaf. He came to the sad conclusion that EVERYONE sees him as being different and there is nowhere he truly belongs.

I believe that one of the motifs of the Show is how society divide people based on many assumed and perceived criteria into different groupings. Both real and invisible barriers are here to segregate and isolate them into smaller cliques.

Our need to belong creates pressure points in our social interactions. It can be exhausting and debasing when we run into unyielding barriers. How horrible it is when you are yanked from a comfortable reality into a new one where you are confused and lost.

It was fortuitous that the ML met a kind deaf girl. She befriended him and helped him to learn the sign language. It is not acceptance but at least he can function again. Their relationship is ambiguous. The girl is clearly interested in him, but he is afraid of commitment and shows no inclination to take their relationship to the next level. The girl is happy to stay in the friend zone as she has him all to herself. However, all that changed when the ML's ex-girlfriend ran into him by accident and started a chain reaction that changes several lives.

For me, the Show is a beautifully crafted story about rediscovering love, friendship, sacrifice and the need to compromise. I don’t want to give away the plots regarding the SML and SFL but let's just say that I'm getting serious second leads syndromes by the end of the Show.

From my perspective, the first half of the Show is very well done. There are lots of backstories, raw emotions and misunderstanding before the fateful reunion. The show took its time to explore all this. It was never going to be a joyride but the writer-san skilfully weave the story back and fore along the timeline so that we know how each character arrives at their current circumstances. There were plenty of broken psyche that needs healing. They get patched up enough to keep functioning but not completely healed. The amount of baggage carried by the ensemble cast will keep a caravan of camels fully loaded.

Unfortunately, while the Show start to untie the knots and salve the troubled souls in the second half, it is a slow process. The pacing of the show becomes almost meditative.

The healing and exploring requires a lot of dialogues between the OTP and sometimes side characters. I think the writer-san wants to show how difficult communication can be even though it is based on a common language. We ended up with a mix of sign language, written words, phone apps and normal conversations. It can be slow going as the ML has to keep the signing slow and simple so that the FL can keep up. It is like watching two primary school kids trying to communicate. They do resort to writing sentences on paper when it got too complicated.

In the end, the bulk of the breakthrough came in the last episode. All the affirmations and compromises are nutted out then. Some of the best scenes are also found there.

The FL worked hard to live in his world and she cajoled the ML into compromising his unyielding stand. It is a fragile middle ground but one they can call their own.

The acting is great with a lot of depth. Without spoken words, they need to emote with their facial expression, posture and their eyes. That requires real skills.

The loveline of the OTP is sweet-bitter-sweet. It is ashame that there is almost no skinship.

I can recommend this show but you have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it.

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Completed
esmeraldaa
2 people found this review helpful
Oct 14, 2023
11 of 11 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Loudest Silence

What is this? Who cuts onion here? Why did my eyes puff like hell after finished watching this? It's not even a melodrama with a tearjerker or dying character.
I like how the production team makes its total silence when it's Sakura's POV. It makes me feel like I'm taking a peek at his life without any sounds. I can only depend on the provided subtitles to understand what they're talking about. Maybe it's because ads break when airing on TV, but the randomly-ended backsound doesn't sound comfortable in the ears.

STORY - They brought me into a sea filled with each of the character's stories. It's a whole package of love, best friend, and family. Dealing with knowing you are losing something you take for granted while considering important people around you. There goes your butterfly effect which spans 8 years.
I also like how the writer makes Sakura being careful before confirming his relationship. He looks up various references related to their future before taking one last step. On the other hand, Aoba one sidely proposes to give up everything without asking Sakura what he actually wants makes me lower story rates to 8.0. Is she really ready to welcome their future together? If it takes another route of compromise, I can easily give it a solid 9.0.
ACTING - Standing applause to actors and actresses who have to learn and memorize sign language for this drama. All actors handled their character very well. Sakura's outburst, Aoba's despair, Togawa's dillema, Kaho's dwelling with prejudice, Sakura's family, Aoba's brother, Haruo Sensei, Toga Sensei and other actors are all well received.
MUSIC - I know "Subtitle" by Official Hige Dandism and have been loving it long before watching this drama. This drama makes the OST hits different and deeper than ever. The lyrics reflect the character's feelings well and convey them in a beautiful melody. Every time this song played in the background, it made me more immersed in the scene.

I much enjoyed this drama. Many of the problem's climaxes happened at unexpected times. That made me sit on the edge, anticipating what would unfold later.

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Silent (2022) poster

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