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Plasticky...watch it only for the cast (they did a good job!)
Were I to use only one word to describe this "Please Classmate", that word would be "plasticky".Fake and shallow as a tv commercial. But at least, those last 30", tops. This, instead, 24 looong episodes.
But, first things first - what I DID like, i.e.:
The Cast
True, a coupla actors were below par imho, but overall, the whole cast did a good job (heck, in some cases even a very good job, given the material they had to work with!). I have watched this for Dai Lu Wa and she didn't let me down. Honorable mentions also for Siwaige and Gao Xuan Ming.
The Music
Not really my cup of tea, but I'll admit it's mostly catchy, and it goes well with the genre, so all in all it gets the passing grade.
And now on to what I did NOT like:
The Story
Sorry to sound so harsh, but to me the writer didn't do a decent job, like, *at all*. It felt like an Asian-drama version of the meta-soap from the movie "Pleasantville". Take all the clichés of the genre, mix them together, and what you get is a cheesy, obnoxiously unoriginal, indeed plasticky yawnfest.
The "Packaging"
Photography, editing etc. contributed highly to that "tv commercial" feeling. The always tremendously fake lighting most of all!
In all fairness, though, even without the packaging, it would have given the same fake vibes, due to the script's faults. Again, if you've watched "Pleasantville", this is really like that "meta-soap": everything feels fake, whatever problems the characters face, they're not realistic at all. A coupla examples? (spoilers ahead, consider yourselves warned and jump to the conclusion if you want to avoid those)
In this drama the characters have to face the Gaokao, but it's all done in a few minutes with a few scenes edited together, and boom! they all got good grades apparently, like that, magically.
The FL thinks she might be suffering from leukemia, like her late father? Don't worry, it's just anemia.
The ML bombs the race upon which lies his future? Don't worry, someone retires last minute and he'll get another chance.
The SML misses his programming contest, gets found out, and is set to change schools? Don't worry, everything sorts out, his father does a U-turn and becomes suddenly reasonable, and a "flash-mob" by his school-mates will convince his icy mom too.
The love triangle isn't enough to run for 24 episodes? Don't worry, the lousy scriptwriter will add a third male lead who's a long-lost childhood friend of the FL and a teen idol on top of that.
Seriously, 24 episodes of this. It took me *ages* to finish it. I should've dropped it and forget all about it (matter of fact, that's precisely what I've done with many dramas; my "Dropped" list containing but a tiny minority of the dramas I actually dropped - normally, those that I felt were so bad that they deserved a mention for future reference) but I kept hoping it would get better at some point. It didn't.
Conclusion
I noticed that my opinion differs from that of basically everyone else here, so take it for what it is: my humble opinion an nothing more. Perhaps I'm too old for this kind of things (if the world doesn't end in the the next coupla years, I might even turn 50, LOL). Or maybe it's just that I really dislike dramas giving these überfake, plasticky vibes (hence my lack of interest for K-dramas, for example: I tried watching a few, they all gave me that feeling, I dropped them all and didn't even include them in my list - sorry K-fans, that's my personal experience and opinion - although I might not be absolutely alone there, as I've read several comments of people who've abandoned K-dramas and moved on to C- and J-dramas, apparently for precisely that reason - but anyway, as I said, only my humble .02, which might not mean much - if anything at all! - to most of the rest, so take no offense, peace! ^___-)
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Nao deserves a standing ovation, WOW!
First things first: Nao alone would've deserved a "perfect 10" with a standing ovation on top.I'm impressed, seriously. I had already appreciated her talent and beauty in the movie "Mio's Cookbook", but getting the leading role here really allowed her to shine; such a magnificent actress!
Unfortunately, there were a coupla details about this drama that I personally found a bit "meh", which explains why I'm not giving this the afore-mentioned "perfect 10"; it's still a pretty solid 8, though! ^___-
Considering the similar premise (a group of weird avengers à la "Leverage") and the identical last name of both FLs (Honda Tsubasa there, Honda Nao here - although she goes by first name), it was pretty obvious for me to compare this with "Cheat", and I'd sum it up as "this is, like, the more adult version of that one".
And here comes indeed my main problem with "Enjiya": I think the serious parts were by far the best ones (for example, the second story - episodes 3 and 4 - and its terrible, yet so powerful, ending), whereas the "comic relief" was at times excessive and felt out of place here and there (I hope Kasahara Shinji's fans won't resent me for this, but I really think the drama would've worked better without him, sorry...).
The other thing that disturbed me was the CEO's character; I didn't pay him too much attention the first time he appeared, as it was part of the whole "let's start with a BANG!" strategy, and I honestly couldn't say that it didn't work (quite the opposite!), so I was more than willing to overlook the (imho) disturbing detail. But since they chose to have him back for the finale, I couldn't overlook it anymore; even more so as the series had shown, as I mentioned above, to really shine at being more serious, adult and mature (both in the plots and in the delicate topics touched); given all that, I couldn't help but think that the guy shouldn't be indulged, but rather put away: sorry for not being a fan of the whole "he's loaded, so he can afford to hire people to enact his homicidal fantasies without actually hurting anybody". What will happen when he runs out of money? Or if the urge strikes him while he's thousands of miles away? Or when the act won't satisfy him anymore?
Sorry, but that guy's a ticking bomb and, as far as I'm concerned, he belong to an asylum.
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Weren't it for a coupla things, it would've been a real gem
I have somehow mixed feelings about this "Don't Leave After School", as there were things I really, really liked about it but unfortunately also a coupla things I really disliked...What I liked:
1) Li Ting Ting: in my 15+ years of honorable Asian-dramophilia, you can guess I've watched my fair share of high-school themed dramas, and seen many actresses playing the role of a high school girl; well, never have I found a performance more convincing, more strikingly natural, more beautifully "realistic", than the one delivered here by Li Ting Ting! She almost made me believe for a while that I was actually watching a real high school girl, with all the quirky details of a not yet fully matured individual, the weird faces here and there, the goofiness etc.; my virtual standing ovation to an actress who doesn't care about "not looking good" all the time, if that's what it takes to fully portray a character! BTW, the fact that some people here criticized her precisely for that, while other people (or maybe the same people, I'm too lazy to check that detail now, LOL) went so far as to actually praise Tan Song Yun's "performance" in "Dear Mayang Street" (which I, on the contrary, just couldn't stand: that one didn't convince me in the least and, as far as I'm concerned, should be a perfect example of how NOT TO portray a high school girl, what with the annoyingly constant Mona Lisa faint smile and the clear "let's give the cameras my best profile all the time" attitude) is just another proof of how true Clint Eastwood's überfamous quote about opinions is, LOL
2) The subplot with Stephanie Xu's and Li Jun Ting's characters (together with Li Ting Ting's and Xiao Yang's, they were my absolute favorite characters, all beautifully written and masterfully portrayed, BTW), which actually got me more emotionally involved that the main plot regarding the leads, honestly;
3) The OST: not only are the credits songs beautiful (particularly "It's Nice That The Wind Blows" by SIS), but the score is top-notch throughout the entire drama, and adds a lot of value to the whole thing imho!
4) Some of the very creative intro scenes were little masterpieces, really! ^_______^
Were it only for these points, I would've given this a perfect 10, seriously!
Alas, the drama also had a coupla thing I disliked, as previously mentioned, and namely:
1) Not all the characters were so well written, quite a few of the rest (like Fiona, Da Meng, Qiao Mai, Li Da Lai, and the blackmailing creep >___<) were actually basically bidimensional, and that actually pissed me off greatly 'cause it showed some lazy writing in what would've been, otherwise, a real gem.../.__.\
2) The constant use of hand-held cameras; I understand it was meant to kind of "bring the watcher inside the action", but it mostly gave me motion sickness...O___o
All in all, the good points beat the bad ones, so I'm giving this a well-deserved 8...and I'm surely gonna watch more of Li Ting Ting's works in the future! ^___-
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Loved the first episodes, hated the second half
I have mixed feelings regarding this "Edo-moiselle". I loved some things, and hated others, to be honest. Okay, let's start with the things I liked: I found the first episodes really, really good; I loved the FL's character (masterfully portrayed by Okada Yui, who's BTW secured herself a place in my personal top5 ^_^), who acted in my eyes as the perfect representation of the things I like about Japan (a sometimes chaotic mix of tradition and modernity, but with the head firmly set in the past - the Edo hairstyle! ^__^ - and with a simple yet refined philosophy that can still be very useful even nowadays - just like how Senka would at first solve Reiwa people's problems or dilemmas with her Edo wisdom!). And I really liked also the CEO's character (which is something I wouldn't have expected, given how classist I am, LOL), thanks to the brilliant performance by Maeda Goki. Lastly, another character I liked (although horribly underdeveloped!) was the one played by Yamaguchi Mayu, whom I had already appreciated for her beauty and talent in "Mango no Ki no Shita de" (I wish she'll get to lead in a dorama soon, not only in movies or SP!).After the first 3 or 4 episodes, I really thought I was gonna give this a full "10".
But then came the second half, and with it so many thinks I didn't like: first and foremost, how the focus suddenly shifted from "Edo character teaching precious life lessons to Reiwa people" to the Nth, stale, unbearable (all imho of course!) love triangle/square that I honestly could very well do without! I also really hated how the spotlight shifted to the ML (I totally disliked that character, his undecisiveness, his fashion sense - or rather lack thereof!...painful to look at, seriously!).
The ending too (no spoilers, I promise!) felt way too forced to me. This is a perfect example of "lazy writing", as far as I'm concerned.
Too bad, it could've been waaaaay better than this.../.___.\
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A bunch of tremendously immature adults who keep acting in a tremendously immature way 99% of the time for what is supposed to be "comedic effect" but instead ends up being just embarassangly annoying - as I always put it in such cases: ridiculous rather than hilarious.
The other 1% of the time, the script pretends to go deeper but again fails miserably, resulting instead in an awful "going through the motions of getting deeper, all while remaining as shallow as your regular poodle instead".
The acting also suffered from the terribly poor script, and even actors I like (as Okada and Endou) got negatively affected - and as for the rest of the cast, sorry but they were mostly abysmal imho.
The music is the only very good thing in this drama, but that ain't of course enough to grant it a passing grade, alas.
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This review may contain spoilers
I couldn't help comparing this "Itoshi no Nina" with "Kakafukaka", given how both dramas belong to the "romance" genre and (sort of) deal with the (very difficult) topic of sexual assaults; whereas "Kakafukaka" (which I tend to call "Kakà, fa kakà" in my head - Italians will get the pun better, it roughly translates as "It Sucks") did the most idiotic thing possible, that is, glamourized the whole thing, at least "Itoshi no Nina" attempted to face the topic more seriously, and managed to be a lot deeper - not such a feat per se, as the other one had been the paragon of shallowness!Unfortunately, the result is still a bit half-baked, imho mostly due to the fact that it's not so easy to treat such a topic, within such a genre, in such a short series. And indeed, the characters' development often felt way too fast and abrupt; had the writer had more room to work with, she might have accomplished it better. As is, we have a very solidly written ML and a mostly well written FL, with the other characters being only roughly sketched and therefore often behaving inconsistently. Thusly, the story barely manages to get the passing grade, imho.
The cast did very well though, particularly the two leads, Hotta Mayu and Okada Kenshi, both delivering a very good and touching performance! Standing ovation for both!
A pretty high production value and a very nice and catchy song complete the package.
p.s.
Sorry for the following rant, but I just HAVE TO add this (WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD): I've noticed comments describing the ML as "one of the perpetrators", much to my astonishment! >____<
The guy had NO FOREKNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER of the kidnapping, and when he found out he took action and set the girl free, fleeing with her and bringing her to safety. Considering him "a perpetrator" means either NOT HAVING WATCHED THE DRAMA AT ALL or else BEING A SEXIST WHO THINKS HE'S GUILTY BY DEFINITION BECAUSE HE'S A MALE. Whichever is UTTERLY WRONG imho.
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I liked all but the last episode
Given how I am quite a fan of the genre (meaning, Japanese horror), I just *had to* watch this "Kotodamasou".And upon completion, I'm happy to announce it was quite a satisfying watch, except for the very last episode, which left me with a bitter aftertaste - more on that later).
First things first, what I liked:
1) The script (again, apart from the 10th ep.) was of pretty high quality; no cheap tricks, intriguing and subtly scary without being obnoxiously trying too much (if you're reading this while being in California and you hear a giant sneeze, well, it's because I'm thinking about Hollywood right now, LOL)
2) The cast: in all fairness, I bet most of the male audience would move to that residence right away, regardless of the fact that's haunted; I mean, Nishino Nanase, Hotta Mayu, Miyoshi Ayaka, Ishii Anna, Uchida Rio, Nakamura Yurika and Morita Misato all under the same roof? Count me in! Right? ^__^;;;
Honorable mention also for Eita's younger brother, here blissful among women...^_^
3) The production value: definitely pretty high! Directing, editing, photography, music...all very nice!
So, back to what I *didn't* like - namely, the last episode:
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(WARNING: huge spoilers ahead, ignore what follows if you don't wanna see them! ^___-)
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I know it's so common in horror stories, but the last twist, used to give that last cheap scare (and possibly *cough! cough!* to leave the door open for a second season?), was imvho not only unnecessary but also detrimental to the story itself, as was part of the explanation and of the solution of the haunting (I didn't like how the owner was portrayed - a ridiculous villain - nor how Sugai-san's deeds were so easily forgiven at the end - I could sum up the whole episode saying that it seemed written in Hollywood, indeed, as it had all the typical faults of a Western production - lousy wrap-up, morally questionable message, etc.)
Here's how *I* would've written the last episode:
a) I would've removed the owner's role altogether;
b) I would've had Sugai-san commit suicide right after Mitsuba-san's death (perhaps by jumping off a cliff or something, anything that might have explained how her body hadn't been found immediately - it could've been found later on, not recognized, and therefore she would've been considered to be still at large);
c) Sugai-san'd deeds shouldn't have been so easily pardoned in the end; she had still killed three people, hardly a behavior deserving of "and they lived happily ever after in the afterlife"!!!
d) instead of Ayaka-san coming back as a new evil spirit, I'd have written the last scene like this: the car stops at the seaside, the FL turns and sees Ayaka-san's ghost in the backseat, smiling and pointing towards a small house on a cliff; while the ML's busy with the engine, the FL leaves the car, follows Ayaka-san's hint and checks the house, which ends up being for sale/rent. The FL decides to take it and they move in; a few quickly edited scenes then show glimpses of the future, with the leads having a daughter and calling it Ayaka.
And THEY lived happily ever after, 'cause THEY deserved it.
Not the dangerous psychopath.
All imvho. Peace! ^___-
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The story was a clean, nice, delicate one - precisely the one you'd expect from an NHK production - and that was comforting in itself. Nevertheless - and without any spoilers, I promise - the conclusion felt a bit rushed to me, so as far as I'm concerned it wouldn't have hurt to have even just one more episode so as to be able to develop it a bit more smoothly. But it's a minor detail, really - and I know I tend to be pretty picky when it comes to scripts, so take it with a grain of salt.
The cast - I'm sorry to confess, totally unknown to me - did very well, and I particularly appreciated that the dreary but alas (stereo)typical portrayal of foreigners as funny weirdos, so common in J-dramas, was mostly absent from this series. Nice one, guys! (BTW, having a burmese-born ML portraying a burmese character was also a nice touch! I wish Hollywood learned to do the same - but then again, who cares, right? I would be none the wiser even if they did, given how I'm completely detoxed from their productions anyway, LOL).
Music and production value might not be top-notch, I'll admit, and that's why I'm not rating this as a perfect 10. But it got really close, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it! ^___-
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True, the premise is as weird as they come, let's face it; but they managed to develop it in a quirky-but-funny way (LOL, those *literally* steamy scenes! ^__^;;;...), and apart from that, the story itself is a lot more wholesome than one would expect at first (heck, it's a lot more wholesome than 90% of other romance dramas, as far as I'm concerned! >__<).
Two nice characters that it's impossible not to root for, in a sweet, healthy relationship (yep, they share a...ehm...unusual fetish which I honestly would've done better without...but hey, they're consenting adults and nobody gets hurt in the process, so, like, why not...?) that advances through mutual selflessness, love, respect and honest communication.
The leads both delivered very convincing performances (besides, Ohara Yuno here is the very definition of a perfect GF! - and I suppose Sato Kanta will have the same effect on the female audience), the music is nice too, and so is the production value.
It gets a lot better after a few episodes, so my suggestion is, if you feel like giving it a try, don't stop at the first episode(s) but watch a few more! ^___-
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What a lovely gem!!!
Right from the first few seconds of this "Nihon Boro Yado Kido", I was captured by the tremendously interesting concept: enough with the Tokyoite settings, filled with skyscrapers and modernity, let's show instead a much lesser known Japan, one more true to itself, with all its small towns and its "shabby hotels/pensions" filled with memories of the past and personality!What followed was a delightfully written, masterfully acted, and very aptly directed little masterpiece!
The music added some more value to the enchantingly catchy atmosphere, and I'm not referring exclusively to the wonderful enka song "Traveler", but to the whole musical score that so nicely accompanied the entire watching experience.
I think even Fellini would've been totally satisfied by the profound humaneness that oozes from every scene!
A particular praise to the leads: Takahashi Kazuya reminded me a lot of a young(er) Takenaka Naoto, so good and funny he was! And as for Fukagawa Mai, well, what can I say? I desperately fell in love with her already at the first episode! Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, but she possesses such a great acting talent!!!
The only thing I'm unhappy about? LOL, that's that I wish I could give this more than 10, seriously! ^__^;
Instant top10 of all time, as far as I'm concerned!!!
Arigatou, Nihon! ^_____^
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Zetsumeshi Forever! ^____^
I've found out about this dorama by chance (I loved "Bank Over!" so much that I thoroughly searched the - pretty vast! - filmography by the screenwriter, Mori Hayashi, and this title was the one that first caught my eye) and I'm sooo glad I did! ^___^It's at the same time pretty addictive and quite relaxing, to follow the adventures of this funny salaryman, who roams the roads of Japan aboard his minivan in search for "endangered meals" (that is, delicious meals in old, inexpensive restaurants that risk disappearing in the future).
The dorama shines, needless to say it, thanks to a very nice and original script, to a convincing performance by the whole cast (Hamatsu Takayuki and Yamamoto Koji - who wouldn't want a friend like him, right? - really steal the show here) and last but certainly not least to a beautiful soundtrack (both the ending credits song and the various pieces accompanying the whole series are extremely good indeed).
But the real cherry on top, imho, is the photo, shown at the end of every episode, portraying the real people who run those "endangered restaurants" next to the actor/s who impersonated them. That small detail gives so much more depth to the whole thing, as it makes the viewers fully understand and appreciate the beautiful humaneness behind the ML's (at first glance, a bit weird) hobby. Thanks to that, this isn't the Nth shallow food-drama about a glutton stuffing his or her face day in and day out, but rather a bittersweet and oh-so-Japanese tale of the real people behind those dishes, their stories and dreams, hopes and difficulties.
Very, very nice indeed!
The only reason I don't give this a "perfect 10" is that a coupla questions are left unanswered: did Kaburagi eventually reconcile with his wife? Did he meet again with the ML and maybe with his daughter too? And then again, did the ML's wife finally see the beauty of her husband's hobby - just like their daughter had done? It could be that all those questions - and yet some - get answered in the SP, but since I couldn't find it anywhere, I have no way to know for sure.../.___.\
But hey, there's always hope that they'll come up with a second season, right? If that's the case, here's one who's totally looking forward to that! ^___-
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Solid 80s' mystery
If you're a "Shōwa person" like me (and that could mean either that you were born in the Shōwa era, or that you feel a particular affinity to it - or both, as is my case, LOL), there's a high chance you too will like this "Kekkon Annai Mystery".Right from the first minutes of it, thanks to the music, the clothes, and most of all to that dark computer screen with the bright green text (which all help bring us older viewers back to the '80s quicker than Doc Brown's DeLorean would ^_^), you get that unmistakeable "end of Shōwa" flavor, and that's already half of the movie's charm.
The rest is done by the exquisite directing (I guess the director had studied proficiently the Italian Golden Age Thriller Masters, like Lucio Fulci and the first Dario Argento - and indeed, the first scene reminds a bit the beginning of "Profondo Rosso", while several others will make the more knowledgeable among you reminisce about movies like "Sette Note in Nero"...and why not, some takes were done in the style of Hitchcock's classics too!), by the score, the editing, and by the general, intriguing atmosphere. The cast did well, with a particular praise to Nagayama Aiko who really stole the show here!
The fact that, being only 90' long, the movie felt a bit rushed, and that the mystery's solution imho felt a bit bland, prevented me from giving this a "perfect 10". It's still a solid "9" for this lovely "oldie but goldie" though! ^___-
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