A show full of interesting and complex characters and relationship dynamic that somehow falls flat at the end. We have MC's struggling with his own personal demon and he's stuck in this mysterious situation, and while both conflicts are interesting on their own, the resolution to the mystery aspect is far too removed (both literally and thematically) from the resolution to MC's personal struggle that I find the whole show lacking in sense of purpose. Especially when MC's character development is too subtle that I feel like his problems just got solved on their own and he got a chance to move on with his life in the end without him actually doing anything.
I like how they weave Rich Akira and Poor Akira's past, draw a connection between them and show how their past shaped them as individuals, but overall the show is flawed. The theme of conflict that Poor Akira faced is ideals vs obligation, but it's not dealt satisfyingly as we don't get to weigh the outcome of his decision. Everything turns out a little too well for him in the end almost miraculously. The show goes lengths to show that he is 'right' in his decision and it diminishes any thought-provoking dilemma from his conflict. Theme of Rich Akira's conflict which is 'living your destiny' is handled better, with internal and external factor driving him away from said destiny, while at the same time he keeps getting involved in the life he's supposed to have abandoned, till thanks to series of well-crafted turn of events he couldn't escape from it anymore. It's more fun to watch because the stake is higher, and he has this interesting moment near the end where he becomes the 'demon' that he needs to be. Unfortunately though, the actor lacks charisma to sell his character. In the end, both Akira feel bland as characters and this results in the show feels lukewarm as a whole with few genuinely good moments.
It had potential to be a mix of 'Snow White Murder Case' and 'I Just Didn't Do it' with its court drama and the mysterious did-she-do-it-or-not MC, along with commentary about the harm of irresponsible information spread by media and improper police work, but it fails to excel on those fronts because first, I can't buy the reasoning of protagonist' behavior that placed her in this situation. Most of the show focused on MC's character exploration that just didn't pay off as I don't think anything shown there justified why she behaved like she did. Then the show went easy and put the blame on the "bad apples" of news industry and police force instead of presenting them as regular people doing their work but got sidetracked due to the pressure of their job, and as a result the show's conclusion lacks real weight or impact.
All of that said, this is still a WOWOW show so both acting and atmosphere-building are leagues above others, and I like how they slowly peel the mysterious protagonist' layers till we finally see her core.
First the show said that because Nobunaga is a woman, she can put an end to the warring era, since men who run the country are creatures who are driven by their ego, battle crazy, power hungry, etc. But then she actively does nothing to aim for peace beyond lamenting on rainy days and spiting on men, yet also very eager to put her lover(s) as the next ruler to replace her once peace has been achieved. On the contrary her behavior invites infinite conflict as she turns to be someone whose decision to have war or not, what strategy to use, her way of using her power, etc are also driven by her ego instead of peace as the end result in mind. This would be an intriguing case if the show actually intended to make a point on how women, put in the same situation as men, would make the same mistake because the flaw is in the human nature regardless gender. But the lack of build-up make it seems like things happen just because the plot said so, while Nobunaga's constantly changing motivations and contradictory actions make her characterization a mess. Seriously the only thing I got from this show is how hot Amami Yuki is in men clothing.
Part history and part folktale (there are ghosts and psychics and flying spirit horses here), but the folktale elements add charm to the show imo. The first half is great; it tells both Heike clan's downfall and the rise of almost-annihilated Genji clan simultaneously. The nuanced characterization allows Heike to be sympathetic and tragic without glossing over their wrongdoings, while Genji is portrayed dynamically with its own civil war and the complex Yoritomo as its head. Characters are on different sides because of differences in their ideal and purpose and upbringing, not because one is ~evil~ while the other is ~good~. The middle part is a bit tedious. Things develop too slowly and characters become static. Heike gradually loses their screentime and the show becomes less vibrant. The only fun part here is the battles, but they're portrayed with too little details. Only brief mention on how political/social/geological condition raise or reduce one's winning chances. The titular character is billed as a master of winning impossible battles, but they only ever show him brooding and somehow experiencing epiphany of how to win the battle in unorthodox way. But the last quarter is pretty good. It's bleak and sentimental as we witness the fallout between Yoshitsune and his brother as well as Yoshitsune's eventual downfall. There's also some details about how Genji slowly build the shogunate system, which is actually the continuation of what Heike failed to do.
Takizawa Hideaki's acting is monotonous as always, but at least he seemed to understand the depth of his character and tried to convey it as much as he could. Yoshitsune is not an interesting character by himself, but his conflicts with his surroundings are, and the show is benefited from not stubbornly focusing on his story alone. He's an idealist like every modern taiga MC is, but at least here his idealism isn't glorified, as whenever he spouts idealistic nonsense other wiser and more experience characters will always put him on his place. Overall, not the most epic or exciting taiga, but looking at how it tries to understand the point of view of every party involved in the war, and minimum simplification of history and political tension of its time, I think it's a thoughtfully written one.
I enjoy both, tho I personally find Nigeru to be more compelling than This Life. First, Jiho comes off more like a victim of external factors (crappy family, crappy job environment) than of her own flaws and limitation, which Mikuri is. Same with Sehee, as reserved as he is, at least seems genuinely content with his current lifestyle and able to react properly in situations that demand certain level of social skill where Tsuzaki couldn't, and the latter 'contentment' is pretty much the result of him giving up on himself. In Nigeru it's more than just characters' 'quirks', but actual flaws that cripple them from living a more functional life, and I looked forward to how they'd overcome these flaws by staying together and managing their relationship. Where in This Life, the only thing to look forward to is how the two leads will fall for each other.
So yeah, This Life would probably satisfy you more if you're looking for some 'aspirational' romantic relationship, while Nigeru couldn't and never strive to. It's pretty clear in how Sehee is a much more desirable romantic partner than Tsuzaki will ever be, while Jiho is a more comfortable vessel of self-insert than Mikuri. That being said, I don't find the portrayal of romantic relationship in Nigeru to be all realistic either, rather it's something exclusive to people with extreme characteristic like Tsuzaki and Mikuri, though this enables the show to provide a contrast and work as a commentary on modern relationship maneuvering. In the end, while I find Nigeru to challenge one's perspective on relationship, This Life is the same indulging take on romance as many other romcoms are. Still, in no way This Life is a bad show, in fact it's one of the better k-romcom I've seen in light years, and I do agree with OP opinion of the show as a stand-alone work but not a relative to Nigeru.
The idea is pretty interesting. The movie even goes further than the manga in showing how a drastic decrease of men population could effect gender role in social structure and even male psychological nature to some extent. But this just seems too extreme, considering the incident happened rather recently before the movie takes place. Also, much of the idea is only 'shown' or 'mentioned' but not 'explored', therefore lacks validity. The movie revolves around MC as one of male concubines and his life in the harem (ooku). Thing is while ooku is supposed to be a dark and grim place, MC's too much of an easy-going guy that his struggle to survive there doesn't feel compelling. His rise from a mere page boy to high-ranking concubine is rushed and the lack of details regarding how the ooku works beyond the superficial bureaucracy left me unsure of what actually instigates his promotion. The biggest conflict in the movie happened between MC and one other concubine, whom we know so little about to care about whatever becomes of him, or to even draw a satisfying conclusion from the conflict. All in all, rushed and undeveloped, entertaining but with half-baked world-building and lack of purpose, the only thing that put this movie above mediocrity is its unique idea. (5.5/10)
This show lacks presence of recognizable human being. Among prominent characters we have one boring nice female teacher, while the rest are either devil incarnations, or mentally disabled characters which portrayal feels really artificial both in how they're written and acted. The antagonists are either inhumanely evil or mindless cardboard extra characters and this detracts any realism from the issues presented in this show and makes them come off as cartoony instead. All in all, too shallow to serve as a relevant social commentary or even a satisfying character's journey and just ended up being a huge pity party.
A classy timeless romcom. Love how the romance between the lead couple developed gradually and naturally, and most importantly filled with easy yet strong chemistry. I think it's all about how their personality seamlessly bouncing off each other and the strong acting from the two leads. The soundtracks are sooo catchy, I've been humming to La La La Love Song and Silent Emotion for a whole week. It considerably has less substance than the recent popular j-romcom like We Married as A Job, but I wonder if in 20 years from now the latter will be as fun to watch as this show is.
Starts as a fun gritty romance, but it only gets deeper and more crazy yet humane as the show goes on. The story is intricate but it gets bogged down by a bit too many plot contrivances that it comes across as lazy writing. However the powerful characters' journey not just from the two leads but also those whose life affected by the leads' choices makes up for it. The female lead is an amazingly complex character that unfortunately Ayase Haruka didn't quite capture, and I can't help but thinking how amazing Aoi Yu would've been in this role.
The show tried to present both leads as similarly 'pure' (probably to smooth the student x teacher's edge) but instead they come across as two kids playing adult especially when they keep making impulsive and irresponsible decisions. I understand that their life is awful but the way they deal with their problems is just stupid and childishly naive. Rather than rooting for the couple I feel like they of all people need to grow up and come to their senses and deal with their relationship with each other and other people more maturely. Weirdly till the end there's no notable character dev from both leads in this aspect and their 'forbidden romance' is accepted because anyone who was against it is somehow 'softened' and give their blessing to the two. However at this point there's so much damage occurred to the leads' life thanks to their 'rebellion' that it's almost as if the others are guilt tripped to accept the leads' relationship, while from the way I see it the leads are as much as responsible as them. Dumb.
It's a surprisingly down-to-earth show despite the pretty dramatic storyline (e.g the cheating plot, the turn-to-be-fugitive plot, obsessive husband, hero's tragic past, the unusual love triangle between mother-daughter and the hero). Show allows its characters to have normal routine and behave like normal people amidst them struggling with their pain, and this makes them feel more real and rounder. As usual with thoughtful jdramas, none are shoehorned to represent a specific 'good' or 'bad' ideals. Even the cheated husband albeit too extreme at times, can be genuinely sympathetic. I actually appreciate how his character enhance the notion that the protagonists' happiness is forbidden, selfish, and fleeting, no matter how real it is to them.
The haunting scores and magical scenery also help to convey the understated emotions within the characters. But what really elevates this show to almost masterpiece status is the last 4 eps. A tragic turn of event happened followed by time skip, and it's where the lingering and transient sadness, result of the broken promises and unfinished journey in the first 7 eps, is emerging. What prevent this show from achieving it is the actress playing adolescent Shiori. Acting-wise, she just felt off. Etsushi has more chemistry with the child Shiori played by Suzuki Ann than with her. Though appearance-wise she's a perfect fit; an incarnation of her mother with the same enticing beauty with hidden suffering and raw innocence.
All of that said, this is still a WOWOW show so both acting and atmosphere-building are leagues above others, and I like how they slowly peel the mysterious protagonist' layers till we finally see her core.
It's the ones with '元禄繚乱' on its title. Other alternative you can download them on avistaz.
Takizawa Hideaki's acting is monotonous as always, but at least he seemed to understand the depth of his character and tried to convey it as much as he could. Yoshitsune is not an interesting character by himself, but his conflicts with his surroundings are, and the show is benefited from not stubbornly focusing on his story alone. He's an idealist like every modern taiga MC is, but at least here his idealism isn't glorified, as whenever he spouts idealistic nonsense other wiser and more experience characters will always put him on his place. Overall, not the most epic or exciting taiga, but looking at how it tries to understand the point of view of every party involved in the war, and minimum simplification of history and political tension of its time, I think it's a thoughtfully written one.
The video and audio quality aren't very good tho, since it's a VHSrip
http://hanzaishokogun.com/topics/18_guest02.html
It's in Japanese but you can just google translate the whole page.
So yeah, This Life would probably satisfy you more if you're looking for some 'aspirational' romantic relationship, while Nigeru couldn't and never strive to. It's pretty clear in how Sehee is a much more desirable romantic partner than Tsuzaki will ever be, while Jiho is a more comfortable vessel of self-insert than Mikuri. That being said, I don't find the portrayal of romantic relationship in Nigeru to be all realistic either, rather it's something exclusive to people with extreme characteristic like Tsuzaki and Mikuri, though this enables the show to provide a contrast and work as a commentary on modern relationship maneuvering. In the end, while I find Nigeru to challenge one's perspective on relationship, This Life is the same indulging take on romance as many other romcoms are. Still, in no way This Life is a bad show, in fact it's one of the better k-romcom I've seen in light years, and I do agree with OP opinion of the show as a stand-alone work but not a relative to Nigeru.
The movie revolves around MC as one of male concubines and his life in the harem (ooku). Thing is while ooku is supposed to be a dark and grim place, MC's too much of an easy-going guy that his struggle to survive there doesn't feel compelling. His rise from a mere page boy to high-ranking concubine is rushed and the lack of details regarding how the ooku works beyond the superficial bureaucracy left me unsure of what actually instigates his promotion. The biggest conflict in the movie happened between MC and one other concubine, whom we know so little about to care about whatever becomes of him, or to even draw a satisfying conclusion from the conflict.
All in all, rushed and undeveloped, entertaining but with half-baked world-building and lack of purpose, the only thing that put this movie above mediocrity is its unique idea. (5.5/10)
The haunting scores and magical scenery also help to convey the understated emotions within the characters. But what really elevates this show to almost masterpiece status is the last 4 eps. A tragic turn of event happened followed by time skip, and it's where the lingering and transient sadness, result of the broken promises and unfinished journey in the first 7 eps, is emerging. What prevent this show from achieving it is the actress playing adolescent Shiori. Acting-wise, she just felt off. Etsushi has more chemistry with the child Shiori played by Suzuki Ann than with her. Though appearance-wise she's a perfect fit; an incarnation of her mother with the same enticing beauty with hidden suffering and raw innocence.