kitty10

I'm sure you contributed your fair share! Always glad to see more people writing about Japanese films and dramas :)

Yes, many thanks to Joe Shiren for contributing! Looking forward to more articles from both of you! :)

I just knew this article was by Ebisuno! Thanks for another insightful article into Japanese cinema. I love Waterboys and Swing Girls, they were so much fun!

In history, Xiao Yanyan was not like that. She was smart, ambitious, ruthless and knew how to climb to the top. She was such a key figure (along with Han Derang) in Liao history and politics at the time, it's a shame to see this drama not do justice to her character and this era of history.

Actually, it was a misreading of the kanji characters in her name 七桜 (なお) - he read 桜 as "さくら", which is not wrong, but in her name that character was pronounced "お".

LOL, maybe it was the seedless variety.

Yes, you're right, he did really well in Asa ga Kita.

Very good review, objective, measured and well-written. Your review pointed out the flaws that marred the drama's potential, and they were well observed. I like the fact that you didn't blindly give the drama a high score just because the leads got a happy ending, but carefully considered why the drama didn't work in several aspects. Astute observation on the use of (or rather, lack of) music, which should have been integral to the plot and characterisation, but got shafted in favour of unnecessary melodrama.

Thanks for the article! I enjoyed Little Forest (Japanese film adaptation) and the slice of life feel. The cinematography was excellent and I love the Tohoku region of Japan. I do agree there could be a little more to the mother-daughter relationship, and Ichiko's problems (which seemed to get resolved a bit too quickly and neatly), but actually rather liked Yuto and Kikko together, so their ending was cute.

Haha, well, 14 years have passed since then.

I recommend watching him in Nodame Cantabile too!

There were quite a few twists and some logic bloopers, but I thought overall things were wrapped up well.

It was the will that grandpa made.

I like that it's a common practice! Pretty curious now as to how the mangaka will end this, since there is probably quite a bit of story to go for the manga.

I'm so pleased that NTV consulted the mangaka on how to end the drama, since the manga is still ongoing. I like that NTV respected the mangaka and her work - from what I can tell, this is a pretty close adaptation - and the result is pretty satisfying. The leads did well and looked fantastic in kimono. All the wagashi featured looked gorgeous and delicious, and I'm happy they filmed in Kanazawa, it's such a beautiful city.

Yes, the finale will be 2 hours long.

Nah, he's not unemotional. He is actually quite expressive of how he feels, once he realises he loves her.

You never know, honestly. People who didn't like classical music grew to appreciate it through Nodame Cantabile, and many have said the drama made classical music accessible. But outside of classical music, you can just regard it as a drama about personal and professional growth, friendship and doing the things one loves.

Of course if you really don't like it after you've tried, that can't be helped. :)

Oops, didn't see your reply earlier. I think Yeji does like Hwan, but doesn't want to confront it. Every time Jin asks her anything remotely about Hwan, she freezes up and can't give a straight answer. And she's always saying "Hwan this, Hwan that", it's like a habit for her. Not to mention the mixed signals. Amber's return makes Yeji uncomfortable, so she's all false cheer about him finally dating and having a girlfriend. For now, I don't think she'll get with Hwan unless Jin makes a clean break with her (aka, be the asshole and divorce her etc).

I agree with your other points.

I had the same thought, but lots of people love Hwan and I can see why. But it is true he hasn't thought about how all this comes back to hurt Yeji, and also Jin now that he has returned.

I suspect in the end, Jin will realise Yeji and Hwan like each other, and let her go. Or he'll get conveniently bumped off somewhere, somehow.

I liked the Jin and Yeji scenes in ep 9, especially when they blew up at each other. I thought they needed that release cuz they'd both been holding it in for so long.