Daisuke

bad Guys＝good guys

This drama I like because it is a real action drama but with interesting idea and characters you want to see how they develop and also there is no romance diverting from the story・ the woman detective is treated equally and she plays an interesting contribution to the story〜I was puzzled by Jun Moon [Park Haee Jin] role in this drama as he is supposed to be this great genius but what was he contributing？ but suddenly I see in episode 8 what his role is in this drama〜still I am disappointed he did not contribute more to this drama but I definitely felt the most for him〜still it is a great Korean drama of this type and the plot of the story is so well put together ・ the fights were in the great tradition of totally unreal odds with the heroes winning・ the trust in each other came out in episode 10 and 11 in a very dramatic turn of the story〜I was never bored during this drama and finished it very quickly〜 what a great action drama！and would join one of few I could watch again in future

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So is that it？ unfortunately another drama promising more than it delivers、the subversion of school rules is really very mild、at times I think the drama tries to be all serious and show how the school can be seen as a small version of the world outside and how rules can be broken there also as a protest against authority to help people keep sanity and self respect〜　well this is my interpretation〜otherwise I can not see how some parts fit in： see for exameple episode 5、 but the rap and the singing work men in that episode really I found just boring〜 seems this drama can not decide if this is school drama or about wider world so ends up neither。 For me other devices in the drama like the discussions between the lead characaters that comment at start of and during the episodes also become rather boring as too the computer games. sorry this is downbeat review but the whole drama I feel is average。

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This started out as a very good movie with a very interesting premiss. Although everything was neatly rounded off at the end, I thought it lost its way and the development of the story became increasingly unconvincing, unrealistic and "off the wall". It also had a big "moral" lesson about the dangers of the ruthless pursuit of excellence, in this case the battle to get into Toudai University and how the system advantages the already privileged. No doubt true, but it's a bit too obvious. So mostly enjoyable, especially due to the attraction of Miura Haruma. Very different story pairing him with Shirota Yu than Samurai High School, though.
P.S. The "hugging" cover photo is very misleading!

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Don't look for clarity in this unravelling Chinese historical tapestry

Final view yes this was very enjoyable action drama if you do not try to work out intricacies of plot、 politics and so on and just appreciate the action and characters・
maybe there was some very deep coordinated plan to bring together all the pieces of the puzzle in the finale.............if so it eluded this viewer・
the political plot supposedly behind everything had no resolution at all 〜like the emperor hidden behind the veil、it vanished into thin air・
I liked most of the characters very much even with their defects [except maybe the real Li Dongfang] and this kept me watching、 though if the resolution of their complex relationships in the final few episodes followed a carefully worked out plan again it rather eluded me how they overcame so many negative disjunctions to find themselves where they finally were
（ I do understand why Li Wu deliberately alienated Lu Zheng over the ”killing two fathers" matter and his hope or expectation Lu Zheng would despite the overwhelming provocation keep to the trust of their "one horse ridden by both" oath）・
good therefore but、 for me this started very promisingly but the script spun so many threads that it gradually unravelled and I could only enjoy it by following the flow and using imagination to fill iin the gaps、it really did not manage very well the resolution of all the themes and sub plots it started and I can see why many viewers felt confused・
this goes especially for the final resolution of the relations between the main characters and the romantic interludes in the middle of the drama were not very convincing if you consider what the characters involved were supposed to be！
Spoiler alert by incurable romantic : Li Wu and Lu Zheng a censorship free happy ending
conclusion about the final relationship between Li Wu and Lu Zheng [as Shu Tang sails conveniently into the distance] is that the jealous Lu Zheng finally got ........his man❤️🌈

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Unconvincing attempt to combine dark crime and supernatural mystery with fluffy romance

On the positive side the mystery and action were involving in the first 6 or 7 episodes and the drama managed to inject a lot of amusement even against a background of graphic violence without becoming tasteless and the characters and their interactions were fun to watch、 then for me it sagged in the middle due to over emphasis on romance and the plot lines flashbacks and characters from the past became so complicated I had to constantly re-wind to figure them out and I noticed the drama had to periodically stop while characters gave us a summary of who was related to who and how this was related to that and from there it just went downhill and the denouement was really too silly for words。most important of all the rationale for everything that happened、 on which the whole drama was predicated 、was completely undercut [spoiler comment: the whole drama devolves round Seong Mo's attempt for he and his mother to escape from his monster father and protect his mother but it ends with him confessing and getting a long prison sentence leaving his mother literally abandoned on her own in his flat with An unkindly packing his bags and leaving to follow the rainbow of romance （I mean doesn't this guy feel any sense of obligation to the man who saved him and brought him up and that man's mother？？）]. some allowance I can make for the supernatural element in the story to excuse plot holes and coincidences but、 the use of the psychometric element was not well handled it、 was never convincing as a real part of An's character、 just something convenient to push the story forward and cover up for the usual police incompetence 。 to integrate such an ability and lead anything like a normal life would be far more difficult than shown in this drama if not impossible and the drama completely ignored that issue。 it seems to me they apparently wanted to combine a hard crime and supernatural drama with fluffy romance and soap opera elements and it just does not work 。if I read correctly the two stars here are k pop idols branching into drama and maybe this is why it was written in this way？ the epilogue was too long and too syrupy。 not a re-watch for me I'm afraid。

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mixed feelings

mixed feelings about this sweet in parts but an elliptical and flawed storyline
SPOILER FROM HERE：
first： storylines using the one year later type formula for me are really a failure of writer's imagination and weak device to skip over plot continuity ；second ：the harsh terms of rejection at start of episode 7 really make the longing and regret one year later （and 2 minutes in the drama）not credible 。 maybe this is a function of limitations of time but these are fundamental flaws in the drama that good imaginative writing could overcome、apart from this the characters and actors themselves are sweet

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Fine but flawed Taiwanese bl

mixed feeling about this one。 this is a fine bl drama with a nice balance between seriousness and feel good I have found with most Taiwanese dramas compared with j drama and good character development。 for me it seemed to lose momentum toward the end though it is true Taiwanese dramas allow more space, time for story to develop。for me the ending was unsatisfactory [see under spoiler comment]。 I found OST rather intrusive especially in last episode and some producers should remember OST is no substitute for script and acting or indeed sometimes silence is better than noise 。

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Fantastic!

Fantastic in almost every way 〜starts as investigative mystery and soon combined into high action drama。why have I waited so long to watch ？48 episodes is not a huge mountain at all it was climbed in record time⭐️

the strangest thing maybe was how this started out as investigation with Li Bi as central character and he faded out in last episodes while a side character suddenly becomes the genius to unravel the links of the plot but then himself goes unrecognized and unrewarded ；second how this drama ends on such a muted note、 no great unmasking of villains and rewards and punishments but then maybe this is in keeping with the arch of the drama； much is left not stated （maybe too much ）and must be understood ；the climax was amazing but the working out in the final episodes quite good also、 but for me　if there is a failing it is in the somewhat rushed ending and because the fate of various characters is left in the dark〜

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dull grey box

I can find so little empathy with any of the main characters here and the two twisted ones and twisted psychological plot complications become almost hilarious。 I assume the metaphorical grey box refers to the emotions swirling inside them and the apartment box in which they all live and breaking out of it、 however for me the ending is hardly credible。 as for the misleadingly tagged LGBT theme I was looking for、 it was so minuscule it almost escaped my attention〜 if you are looking for a dorama with this as a meaningful element don't waste your time。a dull grey box indeed〜

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No courage

this began quite well and promised positive development then after half way and the focus on the divorce settlement went completely down hill ruined by Nagisa's character： maybe the intention was to show his magnanimous character so everyone would live happily ever after、 actually for me it showed his real character as completely selfish and self indulgent not to say narcissistic、 that is if we look at the history of the story： first he abandons Shun then appears from the blue and with the child of his marriage ! expecting to be taken back years later〜this may just be credible if we assume Shun could not surrender his love but it says nothing good about Nagisa's character but、 then having settled Sora in a happy household we have the unbelievable denouement in the divorce court： the mother cannot give up her career gets drunk and Sora is picked up on a busy road maybe just avoiding accident it is exposed in the court but then Nagisa who all the first part of the movie shows as a deeply caring father apparently has a dramatic attack of remorse towards his wife based on having taken care of Sora without giving her a fair share in Sora's upbringing！ this is literally incredible nonsense of a story 、of course the reason for that situation was not his selfishness but hers wanting to pursue a career、 so his ：magnanimous： gesture giving up Sora is both stupid and selfish because he is not thinking of the vulnerable child but the ineffectual wife and maybe it's also self-hating if ーwhich the arguments in the court case heavily portrayed ーhe accepts the homophobic premise that a gay family is weird unconventional and will make it difficult for Sora to grow up。 sorry but if this was part of his motivation ー which I think if we think deeply about it the denouement　implies ーit is just an exercise in reinforcing discrimination when the movie could have shown a positive outcome of a happy family based on a gay relationship。 I cannot avoid the suspicion also that it suits Nagisa's selfish character very well to be relieved of the burden of looking after his child to indulge in a "straight gay" relationship [if I may underline with oxymoron]。as noted above the denouement is also based on the completely ridiculous idea his wife would undergo a transformation into a loving and caring mother when she realises Sora is doing badly in her first weeks back with her： completely unrealistic we are not told what happened about the career demands they have magically disappeared it seems with no idea how she will now support herself and her child、 this just does not happen in real life only saints undergo overnight character and personality changes。 in short the whole movie falls apart in a confusion of contradictions and unrealistic impossibilities when it had the chance to make a real contribution to showing a positive picture of a gay family overcoming social discrimination〜 why show acceptance of the relationship by the very conservative village people and then having their support break up the family?? it does not make sense unless lacking the courage to live and work out a happy life as a gay family as part of the society ー courage lacked by Nagisa because I note it was Shun having the courage to declare his love before the villagers but Nagisa who ultimately broke up their family。of course a more positive outcome does not mean taking Sora completely away from her mother but giving her the happiest safest background to grow up in、 but then given the selfish character of Nagisa as ultimately confirmed by the outcome perhaps he could not after all have done that、 but the turnaround completely contradicted the more positive first two thirds of the movie。 I do not know if the writer thought this was some clever artistic twist in the story but it was a complete failure of artistic touch as well as a sell-out reinforcing the homophobia LGBTQ people must still continue to fight against even in western society and still more in Japanese。

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