Fell in love with him in SFD, amazing acting *and* singing talent!!! And he plays sweet-yet-mischievous very well too. I really really hope he gets more complex roles, especially in dramas such as Incomplete Life, or sageuks (please)! He has too much potential and talent for just romcoms and the like.
I came for Kang So Ra, but she seems to be just a support character to the male lead despite being a lawyer herself. I'm halfway through and it's showing no sign of getting better, which is so disappointing because I know her to have great potential for much better roles. The show itself is a bit exasperating in its lack of realism, especially when it comes to Mr Jo's methods, not to mention a little too much silliness and overacting to take seriously.
Still in two minds about finishing it...
I'm glad most people seem to have really liked the movie, it was wonderful to revisit one of my absolute favourite animanga. But I can't honestly say it was done as well as it could be, especially when it came to character development and Mizusawa's team bonding. I understand the limitations of a movie runtime, but even so it often felt like a lot of the important moments were picked out of the anime and just randomly placed throughout the movie, regardless of the actual timeline of the story. Not to mention Arata's personal timeline has been completely messed up, which I'm particularly upset about since it had such a big impact on the plot and characters. And, although visually impressive, I found the karuta games to be lacking - both in the tension that's present in the anime/manga and the fact that we were never shown a single full game.
Nevertheless, some of the card-taking moves were great and the casting was pretty good too. And I got to see real hakama! So I'd say it's fairly enjoyable as a 'live-action special' rather than a standalone adaptation of Chihayafuru - I think that's best left for the beautifully made anime.
Such a wonderful actor! His portrayal of Sado really impressed me so I looked him up, and didn't take much more than My Paparotti for me to completely fall in love!
I hope someone writes one of those 'stalker's guide' articles on him, to shed some more insight on his different works. It's interesting how so many of his roles are related to crime, and he pulls them off too - no matter which side of the law he's on! ;>
Still in two minds about finishing it...
Nevertheless, some of the card-taking moves were great and the casting was pretty good too. And I got to see real hakama! So I'd say it's fairly enjoyable as a 'live-action special' rather than a standalone adaptation of Chihayafuru - I think that's best left for the beautifully made anime.
I hope someone writes one of those 'stalker's guide' articles on him, to shed some more insight on his different works. It's interesting how so many of his roles are related to crime, and he pulls them off too - no matter which side of the law he's on! ;>