zombiehero

I kind of think that the quality of the drama is because of its shortness. Like, the standard for each case/episode is high, because it needs to be more concise and brief (so many longer dramas/series that have filler-y stuff, or that lag in the middle). (Although a second season would be great!)

Late respons, but my definition of "life" as a genre in dramas are what kura2ninja was going for - social issues being discussed, like bullying, mental illness, poverty, etc. Whereas slice of life can have elements of "life" it's more the attitude I personally consider "slice of life" - that being, a quiet and realistic style of story telling (and mostly the stories are more down to earth too, like it's the everyday life that's the focus) and generally a "wabi sabi" attitude. Movies like "Rent a cat" is what I would consider slice of life. Haha, sorry for going on about it but slice of life is one of my all-time favourite genres and it's definitely harder to find in jdramas (in comparison to anime where this genre is more popular it seems?).

I can't even remember how many times I've watched this, definitely one of my all-time favourites if not the favourite. It's not that it's perfect though (some awkward acting from time to time, some plots that's just ARGH) but it's just so comforting and nice.

I'm surprised people found this so boring/bad - I very seldom laugh out loud but I did so several times watching this drama. I don't usually like Ayase Haruka but I thought she did a pretty good job portraying Hanae-san. Yes, the drama has its over the top moments (like the sudden crying, or just overall overly swift emotional changes/plot points) and I would certainly have liked to see it be longer (like Ooshiro getting more airtime, especially to see how he acts outside of the company employees group) but overall I found this to be highly enjoyable and would recommend especially to fans of life/romance type genre since this is pretty.. chill? I don't feel like it takes itself to seriously if that makes sense.

Wow, that ending was so open ended - so many threads that had no resolution so I'm really hoping there'll be a second season or at least a SP. Otherwise I think the math part of the story is unusual and fun, the cases in themselves or the police force (the characters) are to me pretty average but what really sets this apart I think is the main character, Kurumi. For once, a genius who's kind of just funny, clutzy, quirky, alive? I feel like the tendency for math experts (or geniuses in general) to be nerds, unsocial and cold and all that is so common that it was really refreshing with a more colorful character of the sort. Also liked the interaction between Kurumi and Tomoda!

I agree with others that the end left some things to desire, I basically wanted more - further development especially for the many interesting side characters (the coroner, the hacker duo, the yakuza boss, the "benriya" type man) and further show of Ishikawa's character and how he changes. This really needs a second season!

I actually really enjoyed this for the most part up until the end - seriously? The entire Wataru plotline was unnecessary for that ending, and instead of wasting so much time on him they could've focused more on the group and each characters development. And for me it was a bit absurd with Rinka's motivation - sure she could've gotten mad and killed her but it wasn't an accident - she actively threw her down so couldn't they have built up some sort of psychological dysfunction in her character rather than wrap it up as a passion crime? The last episode really was a huge disappointment.

Too bad Tegoshi's acting is so bad, and the drama is so short. I really think this could've been rather good had there been more time for development, Zeebra as Umekawa could make me watch this for another 6 episodes at least.

I feel like the main reason for the child actors were to play on the emotions of the viewers of the show - especially Kii. Kind of a shame some scenes and plot lines were so "directed" (like you really get that the director wants you to feel a certain way), it really distracted from my enjoyment. It's not bad, just not really standing out for me.

Pretty much enjoyed this all the way until the finale episode, and then I enjoyed the last 10 or so minutes of the last episode. Why does every drama finale need to be overly sentimental and flashback heavy?

I wonder why you would think the crossdressers were a problem. The point (at least for me) was that the fathers had their own secrets, just like the mothers had theirs. And Kana and Shota had theirs. Basically each character in the drama had things they wanted to hide, they each had a history and a life outside of their families.

This was a lot better than I had expected! Personally I felt like this got even better after the halfway mark, with a few serious moments mixed into the otherwise funny stories. Such a great set of characters.

Omg, I can't wait to see how Secret Message works out! I love both of them, and I'm really curious to see how they act together. There's a lot of dramas here that looks interesting, really curious about Prison School and Moon River especially.

My thoughts exactly!

I think many of these points could be said for non-drama watchers as well. When I tell people I watch jdrama/kdrama/twdrama, at least in the past, there's always responses like all asians look the same, or the language sounds weird - "but you don't understand anything?". Actually this could be said for non-asian music listeners too, haha. Anyway, good points!

I feel like some parts were poorly executed, like the "scary" parts didn't feel very genuine although the creepy mood was good throughout the movie. It's a bit predictable in some aspects, but it's enjoyable if you're into this type of genre (and also like the cast), at least that's my thoughts.

Thanks for hosting this giveaway! I didn't know about Tuttle Publishing before this so I'm thankful for that alone. The book I am interested in receiving is "I am a cat" by Natsume Soseki (ISBN: 9780804832656).

I actually really liked the first part of this movie, but then I couldn't follow the story at all. I didn't dislike the latter part, I just didn't understand what was going on. Maybe that's part of the idea? Not sure.

Thanks for the friend request! ^-^

Oh, my goodness. I never realized he was the guy in Snakes and Earrings!! Wow, he looks so different I never made the connection when I watched Rich Man, Poor Woman. I like what I've seen from him so far, so I definitely will check out some of his other work, especially interested in Ping Pong.