TimiZero

Simple story yet entertaining. Very well done cinematography and interesting philosophy in the writing.

Thanks for reading my short review. If you like Taiga you may want to check "Hatsukoi no Akuma" and "Kisetsu no nai Machi". His older drama "Yutori desu ga" was also good and fast pace, but he played the intentionally annoying support role...lol. The drama was interesting and funny though.

If you want friendship drama with multiple main characters:
Anone
Saikou no Rikon
Quartet 2017 (not my favorite but it received lots of love from other fans)
Kazoku Boshu Shimasu (Taiga played main role but I think the drama was just okay...you may or not like it though)
Kangoku no Ohimesama
Kisarazu's Cats Eye (old drama though)

Dramas that I watched this year that I think is good but did not share the same theme as Konto ga Hajimaru:
Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san (very pure slice of life but very captivating)
Brush-up life (smart writing and attention to details)
0.5 no Otoko

Edward Wong

Will wait for Beat Takeshi's take on Nobunaga and the gang. The trailer looks interesting.

1. Not so effective Nobunaga-Nohime characters writing. The "female domineering" felt unnatural and forced. The writer could've at least learned from Toshiie and Matsu if that is the kind of relationship he wanted.
2. Their attempt to focus on romance seemed like not so successful. I guess the one in Nobunaga Concerto was more sweet and cheer-able if you want a fictional relationship between the two.
3. Because the focus was on the romance, they cut-shorted on the other part of the story, like Nobunaga's retainer/vassal affair, Nobunaga's revolutionary but controversy ideas (with the help of his vassals), and other popular/unpopular decisions that lead to the events they have in the movie.
4. Akechi's character felt weird as an opportunist.

The good:
1. Very high production value
2. Good acting performance, good directing
3. Nice scenery, architecture and costumes
4. The time jump was made clear so the transition didn't feel weird unlike other J-movie with time/event jumps...lol

The bad: (in spoiler below)

It's amazing they can retain most of the actors as well as retaining the overall feeling of the original series. I mean the last season was in 2006. Some people might do remake with different actors already. Because of that I rated this 9/10.

Thanks for letting us know. The subtitle was okay despite being half machine translated...i mean half QC-ed...so the names would change here and there and even mistranslated as Chinese word...but the main part of the story is still comprehensible

Haha it was the western half of the real-life Mongolia...LMAO

Very slice-of-life-y with short movie style of plot. Interesting filming location in Fukushima. If you wonder how's Osawa Kana doing in this, imagine Amiko but slightly behaved version of her...LoL

Fun facts:
Nogon Beki is such a good Japanese teacher. All the locals under him can speak fluently perfect Japanese.

They created a fictional country but at the same time retaining the names of its neighbors, i.e. Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

Last 2 episodes were okay but they felt a bit slow compared to the previous episodes due to lack of action scenes in them.

Very high budgeted drama with numbers of top actors line up. There were some ridiculous-ness, illogical situations and exaggeration in the drama, but they were all compensated by the action scenes and the unpredictable twists. Very entertaining and enjoyable!

For some reason they played "Indonesian dangdut" songs as the background in the office of Kojima Sensei....LoL

I liked how this is almost like a documentary of Japanese work culture, society and families. Felt very realistic without much dramatic turns of event despite being the 90's drama. The characters are very human. Funny at times.

Yeah loved the opening song too...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGpQuqw7vR4

You might be right for Sara's conversation with Rikito, but then again Chiho already know who is Rikito way before they were dating. Remember when she met him the first time at the Shrine and Rikito was covering his face. I'm sure Rikito wouldn't have problem if Chiho actually came to see him at home. Unless all the while when they were dating Rikito was lying about himself....which is not.

I see it more of the writer wanted to trick viewer in the beginning, but in the end they failed to make it 100% made sense. This is murder mystery drama not philosophical drama that you need to read behind the lines. The plot felt a bit inconsistent to me and forceful to return back to that scene before the murder. This is often happening to many mystery dramas not only on this particular one. Oh...and this inconsistency only appeared during the last episode that's why I said in my comment earlier the drama was good for the first 3 episodes.

It was on par with the previous season but it felt a bit awkward with different Kosode. I guess Shioli was better in fighting scene.

"I don't think Chiho agreed to come over on the premise that Rikito couldn't get out of the house because he was a hikikomori. Rather, he was supposedly recovering from a suicide attempt, so Chiho believed he was bedridden and injured. "

Hi, you actually misunderstood my comment here. I was not talking about Chiho....whatever the reason for Chiho to follow/believe Sara doesn't matter. But the chronology in the writing is.

And actually Rikito has no reason for suicide before Chiho's accident. In fact he never attempted suicide.

He even worked well according to people at his old workplace...remember when Kaori interviewed the workplace (factory) and someone told her Rikito was a good employee but suddenly quit without reason?

"Even before he became a "hikikomori," Rikito was unemployed and antisocial. He rarely left the house and preferred the company of cats to that of humans. He briefly opened up while he was with Chiho—which Sara couldn't stand and sought to ruin—but fundamentally he was a quiet, timid guy who stayed at home a lot and was supported (and also abused) by his family."

I think you got it wrong. He was working at the factory until the accident happened as what I wrote above. He only quit after that accident according to the chronology in the drama.

To make things easier I will list down the sequence from what I understand:
1. Chiho and Rikito are seeing each other for quite sometime
2. The sister, Sara read their letters
3. Sara personally meet Chiho when they are in high school to start intimidate her
4. Rikito sensed danger so he and Chiho bury all the letters
5. Rikito and Chiho decided for a breakup
6. Around the same time Rikito promised to work hard while waiting for Chiho finishes college.
7. Sara failed the audition.
8. Sara lies to Chiho and accident happens.
9. Rikito felt depressed after reading the newspaper (remember this is the key prop in the drama) and quit his Job and become hikikomori
10. Sara finally spills the tea by telling Rikito she was behind Chiho's accident. It's not clear how long from the accident that this is taking place but the newspaper is still white and on Rikito's table.
11. Now after knowing the fact Rikito is triggered to kill Sara
12. The candles from the Christmas cake burn the house with their parents still sleeping downstairs. Rikito didn't know about this.

Last episode was kind of less impactful after strong 3 episodes. The mystery isn't resolved until then but somehow it felt like you don't care anymore because you already can guess how it will end...I mean not the "technicality of the mystery" but the direction it was heading. The scene in the visiting room was a bit cringey IMO.

Speaking of mystery there's minor inconsistency in the writing.

Firstly, Sara failed the audition so she wanted to prank Chiho by lying about Rikito wants to kill himself. Therefore, the accident happened and Chiho died.

Rikito learned about it from newspaper and quit his job and become hikikomori.

But when Sara quarreled with Rikito, she said she wanted to bring Chiho to see him as though Rikito was already a hikikomori at the time.

Sara also mentioned (lie) she was rejected by Idol Agency due to her brother's social problem, but again she already failed before Chiho's accident..which is before Rikito become hikikomori.

It was also unclear how long Rikito was in that state before the murder happened. It felt like it happened few days after Chiho's death but again how long a person would be considered a hikikomori? I don't even think few months time is justified duration to call a person hikikomori.

This is a good drama. Compact and binge-able. Good production value. Good acting. I did not recognize Yoshioka if I haven't checked the drama page, which is a good thing. The mystery is fresh and unpredictable.

However there are few downside in spoiler below

With my JP reading ability it's hard to keep up with the JP caption...lol...let alone those text on the manga. I usually depend on the audio but the version available online was too inaudible for some of the important part. I guess I should download the RAW somewhere and watch it all over again.