MidnightReader

The only thing I liked more in this adaptation was that the family played a much smaller role, since they annoyed me most in the Thai version. I also liked that, for once in a Japanese drama, things weren't exaggerated. This was one of the things I was most worried about because in the Thai version it's so over the top.

I don't think this show needed to be longer episode-wise; maybe 10 minutes longer per episode & cut out most of the flashbacks. With that and the family taking up less screen time, they could have actually done something with the side couples. Don't introduce them if you aren't going to do anything with them! Giving the side couples an actual plot may have helped with the overall pacing, since after episode 2 it started to drag. I'm starting to wonder if the book even does anything with them. I'm curious, but not enough to subject myself to consuming this story in another form.

I don't have any complaints about the acting, but the fights looked really fake, and while the kisses were better than most Japanese series, the chemistry just wasn't there.

I still ended up watching the Thai and Japanese versions at X2 speed when my attention started to drift, so I can't say that I recommend either unless you've just started watching asian dramas.