BrightestStar

This drama is all about the setting and the characters. My issue is that it took me a long while to warm up to the characters though by the end of the drama I really loved all of them, with their flaws and annoyance.

Another issue was the English used by Yoko. The problem isn’t about being good or bad, it’s about mimicking an American accent that makes it difficult to understand. Also, Netflix doesn’t sub for English speaking characters which is annoying. My solution was to switch to French subtitles to understand what she’s saying. Otherwise Yoko’s character is very endearing.

The drama displays how unfair life can be. It doesn’t really provide a solution to it because there isn’t any but it does show the small effort each of us can do to have a positive change. It also reminds us not to get lost in hero-complex because it’s not about you (Mai) but about those you help. Honestly I always felt Toru being more genuine in his entitlement (as in easily brought back down) than Mai and I like how it was addressed even if subtly.

Anyways highly recommended ;)

The problem isn’t how bad, it’s the mimicking of “fluent”American English that’s the issue

I had a very hard time understanding her English not because of any accent but because of the pretend American accent especially the stereotypical propagadised type of accent lol. I would switch to french subtitles every time she’s on screen 😂I love the actress and enjoyed Yoko’s character here I just couldn’t understand lol

This is a weird watch for me. My first impression is: how are these teens not traumatized from the amount of dead bodies they’ve seen and start the next day as if nothing happened? After a bit of research I quickly realized that’s the style of the source material.

Things I liked: the cast, the acting, the fun vibe, the opening song and style.

Things I disliked: how the cases went, the flimsy proof AND (except for the last case) the reasoning of the criminals.

Overall fun if not taken seriously. I might check the older versions later on.

This is the first version I watched so… seriously it can get worse than the explanation here? 🤣 I enjoyed it but did find the explanation too long winded for my taste haha

3 episodes in and the most annoying part is the music. It’s too loud, too dramatic to come at every other scene. It’s like the characters barely talk because the music is staging an otherwise dull scene that could have been interesting if the characters actually had a conversation instead of staring for 15 minutes. first episode made me feel the drama had potential but once they got to current times it just got dull.

midnight diner comes to mind. it’s pretty popular it got a couple of seasons and a movie maybe?

This drama, like how the protagonist likes things to be, is neither too exciting nor too boring. It feels just right as you’re watching but not in a hurry to watch what’s next.

So I started this drama a couple of years ago but a painful event in the drama made it difficult for me to continue watching. Well now that it’s getting removed from netflix it gave me good motivation to pick it up again and oh man what was I about to miss out!

I usually avoid melo dramas but this is the good kind! Maybe it’s because tragedy is what brings the characters together, balanced with other sides of life, that it never felt forced? At the end of the day this story is about moving forward and eventually moving on so despite the sadness it has a lot of lightheartedness and sweatness along the way.

My 1 criticism though I did find the main evil guy, while contained acting-wise, was stupidly evil. Wouldn’t it be smarter to minimize the body count as one is trying to reach their goal?

Finally the reveal in the last episode, was it a surprise for anyone? I was like 90% sure of who it would turn out to be the moment we had a clear picture of the story and characters (maybe around episode 4) but the drama isn’t really about surprises and reveals and kinda foreshadowed it by episode 9-10.

Anyways great drama, great watch! I wanna start season 2 like NOW but it’s too addictive and I don’t have the time

i find Kagawa Teruyuki gets over the top but in a more controlled way depending on the scenario. The villain’s mood here just didn’t fit the mood of the drama and the rest of the characters.

I didn’t know about the scandal I had to look it up

yeah his reaction with the ex-girlfriend is the most appropriate and respectful to his current relationship which was his only redeeming quality 😜

I meant the only ones that hurt him and deserved forgiveness. Only 1 person went to jail no? Not that I think the rest deserved to go to jail just that I wouldn’t trust to have them around, not rehire them! The guy who took the offer to go to another company was fine, he never did anything illicite, but the one that stole the text book material? the vp that was bent on destroying him without ever asking him why. His sister did something wrong regardless of for whom she did it to so the fact he never tried to investigate? Don’t get me started with the ex-gf she’s nuts. The guy who he used to work for suddenly became his saviour after betraying him dozens of times!

Also in my comment I only referred to the ex secreteries because they get revealed early on I didn’t mention who his enemies were.

I have been watching this drama randomly and slowly for the past couple of months. It has some refreshing aspects but there were a lot of inconsistencies regarding character growth and development.

Pros:
-No misunderstanding. The leads knew the worst of each other before getting together.
-Male lead's bad deeds are revisited and had to be accountable *for some*
-Despite the appearance of the ex-gf, there is no love triangle.

Cons:
-I feel the characters had more switches between on and off rather than development. Most characters kept being terrible people only to make up excuses for their misdeeds. None of the Male Lead's enemies were ever held accountable for their actions, just forgiven because it was the end of the drama. They just made up an unimportant evil character to take all the blame and the rest just pretend they never did anything terrible.

The ex-secretaries had really good reasons to hate the male lead and I think they had the most consistent growth. He was a terrible boss and toxic to be around.

The writing is overall shallow but it's enjoyable if you like the leads.

The beginning of the drama gave off a completely different vibe as of half way through. I did prefer the vibe from the beginning but not the morality of it, I wasn’t rooting for the leads at that point. However when the goal was revealed, every thing became very tame. I like the acting for most of that cast, I love Hasegawa Hiroki’s performance as always. BUT the main antagonist who was just too cartoonish. His downfall was more for his stupidity than anything. So yea, last episode wasn’t impressive.

For me the main problem is that they stopped the competition within the agency making the interaction between characters pretty dull. It was interesting how they competed in the first season within the constraints of the law. The added Kamiki character was plainly cheating and being unlawful, hardly a competition. The growth of his coworker (forgot her name but she was there in the first season) was interesting for me and the exploration of her way of thinking. She was attentive in a different way.

Their customers also became less and less… realistic maybe? For me the best thing about season 1 were their customers being average everyday people people needing a fitting home, which is very relatable.

The timing I understand but you make a good point on how it was done. With that I agree with you. I just won’t discard the whole character for it but I agree it could have been done in a much better more MATURE way.

and I don’t fault Dean Fujioka’s performance I actually liked it, but the writing of his character and backstory was weak and change wasn’t due to growth.

exactly taking care of the house is A LOT of responsibility, one that is under appreciated until having to do it. The daughter was always playing boss because that’s how she feels she control the situation but wasn’t appreciating the help she’s getting. She was the one that was over spoiling her brother when the mom wanted the brother to learn to take care of himself. Her mom never stopped working and was always sharing the burden. Yes she has her flaws which she has realized throughout the drama, but her overprotectiveness that seems to stop her daughter from dating has made her realize she needs to take a step back.

She did that biggest part of finding her daughter the place, paying key money and moving her things, getting her all that she needed. I went through moving out recently and let me tell you: It’s hard as hell.

So no the mom was being thoughtful at that moment and deserves to be recognized.

And for Mi Rae her point of growth was when she asked her dad to take care of her brother because
1. she realized she can’t control him
2. she can’t do everything and needs to learn to delegate.

Anyways I think each character in the family is well thought out without being overly serious, overbearing or cartoonish. And the same can be said about all the characters overall.

That’s just my opinion based on what I viewed and I guess my life experience. You probably see it from a different side and I can see how the mom can look, I feel like I understand the mom feels more even if it might not be the best decision to do. I mean surprising someone like that is mean actually. But because the daughter is who she is, I get why it had to be done this way

Really? Why? She’s my favourite!

So happy to move a drama from my plan to watch to complete. This drama has been on PTW for probably a decade and a half. Its cast is something I'd have watched years ago, I'm not sure why I never did, maybe because the poster looks depressing. But being on Netflix made it easy to watch.

Anyway for a revenge drama, it's pretty wacky and silly in a fun way. I had no idea it was a Kudo Kankuro drama until I watched the first episode and realized (before even checking lol).

Story-wise, the way the story went required some suspension of disbelief, all the way to the end. Overall it's entertaining, with a sweet happy ending.