amours

Tokyo Swindlers

I'm not a regular viewer of Japanese films and series. However, I ended up watching the first episode, because I couldn’t grasp what Tokyo Swindlers was about based on the name and the summary. After that, I could not stop watching. I honestly don’t understand why the ratings are this low, because, as someone said, the series “kept the viewers hooked from start to finish”.

The plot itself was engaging and fairly easy to follow, but I turned on the subtitles in my mother tongue instead of English because of some technical terminology. There were both big and small surprises which were paced so that I was never bored. I have to admit that I did not expect to see a sex scene between Tsujimoto Takumi and Kawai Natsumi nor Kaede to die so violently. Other aspects of the storyline were perhaps more expected, such as Takeshita’s life going downhill and Reiko becoming ”property owner” instead of Taniguchi Yoshie. They already looked like twins! If the message of the series was to spread awareness of the destruction and hurt that real estate scammers cause with their actions, I feel like it could have been delivered better if the whole crew had been caught by the police in the end. That was what I was expecting, at least, but I am not complaining about the actual ending.

All actors were great in their roles, but Ayano Go played a large part in why I enjoyed Tokyo Swindlers as much as I did. I was reminded of his character in Yakuza and the Family (2021). Both characters rarely expressed their emotions very visibly, but you could still read them in their eyes. The pain and the betrayal was evident on Takumi’s face when he heard that Harrison was basically the reason why he lost everything important to him. I just wanted to hold that poor baby and never let go.

The strongest aspects of the series were definitely the story and the casting. Because of them, I could have watched way more than seven episodes. I would have liked to see the crew spend more time together, Kuramochi and Tatsu’s relationship develop and perhaps even see flashbacks of the early days of Takumi and Harrison. Now, I feel like a lot of the characters were fantastic on their own thanks to the talented actors who played them, but the series lacked proper interactions between the characters. Nevertheless, Tokyo Swinders was worth watching and deserves four out of five stars from me.

Read More

The Winning Try

I was intrigued to watch The Winning Try after seeing it climb up in reviews, and I honestly was not disappointed. The series was entertaining from the beginning to the end. While it necessarily didn’t exceed my expectations, it met the criteria of a well-thought-out and well-produced series. 

The plot was engaging and easy to follow. When it comes to political dramas, I sometimes have to go back and rewatch some parts because they went over my head the first time. This was not the case with The Winning Try. Even though I know nothing about sports, like rugby, shooting or aerobics, the technicalities were explained well to the viewer. I even learned something new! The pacing was just right and every episode left me counting days until the next would come out. Because the series followed both younger and older characters, it naturally explored all kinds of different themes from classical friendship and love to the anxiety that the uncertainty about their future caused to many of the characters, including I-ji, Seong-jun, Yeong-gwang, Tae-pung and U-jin.

I was overall very satisfied with the acting. Yoon Kye-sang's overly dramatic body language was perfect for the comedic scenes, but he knew how to tone it down for the emotional parts. With the older actors, I expected good results anyway, but I was positively surprised by the younger actors, too. They made me truly empathise with their characters. I just wanted to hug the whole rugby team and pinch their cheeks. They were so adorable, not to mention that Hwang Sung-bin even looked like a real rugby player.

One of the strongest aspects of the series was the understanding that people stress about their future in all stages of their lives and that it is completely fine. It was also pleasant to watch healthy, supportive relationships between the students and the coaches. Every child deserves adults as dedicated to them as Ju Ga-ram, I-ji and Heung-nam. When the rugby team celebrated their victory over Daesang in the end, I grinned like a fool for a good minute or so.

This is for you, if you want to watch a sweet, feel-good series without too much drama or plotting. There is romance, but it’s not the main point which is something that some people prefer. I probably wouldn’t watch this again, but I could have watched a few more episodes. Overall, I’ll give The Winning Try four stars out of five for a better-than-average watching experience.

Read More