This is the kind of movie only Japanese could pull off. Honestly I prefer this one to Suicide Club, maybe because the latter was more like the 'opening arc' while this one the 'closing arc' which meant, you know, you got answers.
It was only 3 eps but I couldn't wait for it to end, especially near the end; because by that time I just had to accept that no, the show wouldn't get better. Oh, the cinematography was awesome though
I didn't do any research but I noticed that Goda Yuichiro was the main character in both Marks no Yama and Lady Joker, so I take it that the novels were made by the same author. As a drama, while both are excelled in writing directing and acting, I'd say Lady Joker was a better one simply because of the characters and more gripping (arguable) and unpredictable plot. In MnY, no one was likable, interesting, or sympathetic enough except for Hiroyuki, but everyone was understandable. What MnY did better than LJ was the ending, or maybe because LJ's was more advanced timeline-wise, I managed to find out what happen to several characters so I don't think there're many loose ends as in LJ
Simply brilliant. If only every loose ends were tied and the last main villain was given enough exposure, I would give this one a ten. But I've got to mention this show tackled a lot in just 7 eps with sophistication, only jdramas can do that.
To be honest I like Ishikawa more than any main character of the procedural shows I've watched (am watching SPEC and familiar with HERO but not following it), mostly because he was an interesting character with a realistic manner.
I don't think it's a depressing drama even though the setting was, since the characters were constantly trying to make amends from the tragedy and to find a way to live a better life in a situation where it seemed like there's no way out.
C'mon, it totally needs a second season. The show was a success and Japan isn't foreign with second season so I'm optimistic. Just for the curious ones, it's not like the show ends with a cliffhanger or something, more like things are going to be some notches more interesting from now on, and we WANT to see it.
I think it would be better if JoonSoo was the real killer. His journey throughout the show would've had more weight and meaning that way. Not to mention in the end everyone's accepted that fact anyway, so basically everything ended well with JoonSoo as the murderer. In fact the arc where the truth was revealed made the show to be kinda draggy. I know it couldn't be avoided, after all this show couldn't possibly end without dealing with that issues. So as a conclusion, I think that particular plot's point wasn't needed in the first place.
Overall it was good, nothing impressive but it knows which cards to play. Perhaps I would appreciate it more if it used a more realistic approach toward the issues it addressed.
The moral was good, the storyline was heartwarming and precious. Unfortunately the script knows no subtlety, the characters were caricaturish, the actors tended to overact,
and the directing was mediocre at best. A naive human drama where everyone is nice and innocent and happy whatever the circumstances.
I came to this drama with low expectation. I thought it would be a sappy, supermelo with forced romance drama, because honestly what kind of plot could be realistic enough to bring these two people together? And I couldn't believe how doramas that exist in a universe where problems are solved by shouting 'never give up!' could treat the issues this drama handled with enough sensitivity and sense of reality. But I was proven to be wrong. This drama is a real masterpiece.
Huh? Honestly I think Joon Soo's character development was written quite successfully and it wouldn't work that well if the number of episodes were cut too much. I admit though, I skipped quite a lot here and there and just watched the main couple's scenes and scenes that had any relevancy with the murder plot.
About Im Joo Hwan's acting, don't know why folks here don't talk about it, but his acting deserved to be mentioned too. Especially when he cried, he really, really looked like he was in pain. And despite there's a bunch of cutie flower boys in this drama he was the only one who can act.
Kang Sora has killer legs and she's rubbing it at our face for the first half of the show, lol. And she couldn't run, err, prettily? Don't mean anything bad about it, but she always looked like she was doing some exercise even when the scene didn't ask for it.
And the main couple hands down is one of the strongest couple with the most beautiful harmony I've ever seen in dramas in any language. Seriously they made my heart warm and gave me butterflies in the stomach. And I usually don't exaggerate.
Takumi is so freaking cool lol. This little show is funny, heartwarming, smart, and full of excitement. Didn't feel manufactured at all, which is rare in a show where kids are the lead characters. The ending's arc, though, didn't feel as genuine as the rest of the show and overall the show never venture as deep as I wish it would. But, well, that's not what this drama is about. Anyway, recommended!
The first episodes are quite good, but don't really grab me and are rather directionless. So this guy would be a gangster and that guy would be a prosecutor, and then what? But things are good since each of them is given layered background and motivation. If the show was all about the journey then I could appreciate that too.
I think it fell apart at Gwangju's storyline. Sure, it was built from many different perspective, but each of them didn't deliver. What's with a Seoul's gangster coincidentally and quite unmotivatedly join a demonstration at Gwangju? And the peak of Gwangju's arc was supposed to be Gwangju's massacre yet I failed to see what drove the tragic event to happen; another thing happen and suddenly the shooting started. Lastly I never managed to sympathy with the whole democracy over dictatorship either, mostly because I didn't get where Hye-rin, the show's representative of the theme, came from. What injustice had she witnessed/experienced because of dictatorship? What was her motivation to join student movements?
Well, I haven't watched the whole show yet and Gwangju's arc has finished at where I am. The show is now back to the mobs dynamic at Seoul, which it does much better. Bring me the masterpiece!
Started subbing the vesion from AsiaTorrents. Only two eps as of now. My Japanese is not that good though, so…
Thank you very very very much for subbing this~ I'm sorry but I know zilch of Japanese... if there's anything else, just tell, I'll try my best to help.
The moral was good, the storyline was heartwarming and precious. Unfortunately the script knows no subtlety, the characters were caricaturish, the actors tended to overact,
and the directing was mediocre at best. A naive human drama where everyone is nice and innocent and happy whatever the circumstances.
About Im Joo Hwan's acting, don't know why folks here don't talk about it, but his acting deserved to be mentioned too. Especially when he cried, he really, really looked like he was in pain. And despite there's a bunch of cutie flower boys in this drama he was the only one who can act.
Kang Sora has killer legs and she's rubbing it at our face for the first half of the show, lol. And she couldn't run, err, prettily? Don't mean anything bad about it, but she always looked like she was doing some exercise even when the scene didn't ask for it.
And the main couple hands down is one of the strongest couple with the most beautiful harmony I've ever seen in dramas in any language. Seriously they made my heart warm and gave me butterflies in the stomach. And I usually don't exaggerate.
I think it fell apart at Gwangju's storyline. Sure, it was built from many different perspective, but each of them didn't deliver. What's with a Seoul's gangster coincidentally and quite unmotivatedly join a demonstration at Gwangju? And the peak of Gwangju's arc was supposed to be Gwangju's massacre yet I failed to see what drove the tragic event to happen; another thing happen and suddenly the shooting started. Lastly I never managed to sympathy with the whole democracy over dictatorship either, mostly because I didn't get where Hye-rin, the show's representative of the theme, came from. What injustice had she witnessed/experienced because of dictatorship? What was her motivation to join student movements?
Well, I haven't watched the whole show yet and Gwangju's arc has finished at where I am. The show is now back to the mobs dynamic at Seoul, which it does much better. Bring me the masterpiece!