This review may contain spoilers
A FAIRLY DECENT ADAPTATION!
[THIS REVIEW WILL DRAW COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE SOURCE MATERIAL AND THIS ADAPTATION]
#WhatWasGood
==> Acting: Yamada Ryosuke's portrayal of Urashima Eiji was phenomenal to say the least. The ability of being able to portray two characters of such polarizing personalities shows his extraordinary capabilities as an actor. His transition from Urashima Eiji to B1 was simply flawless.
==> Foreshadowing: Since I had already read the manga before watching the drama, and was fairly familiar with the whole storyline and the plot twists it involved. I was able to see the brilliant foreshadowing that was done during the whole drama and was able to appreciate the story much more than before.
==> Urashima Oto's Motives: This was one of the things that, in my opinion, was not handled well in the manga and didn't provide a sufficient answer to the motivation for the character's actions. However, that was not the case for this drama adaptation as it takes the motivation found in the original source material and expands on it to provide a satisfactory answer for the audience.
#WhatWasMid
==> Music: The songs chosen for this drama adaptation were actually fairly decent, and the lyrics matched the main story ongoing in the drama, too. The problem was that they played it at pretty random places, which sometimes worked, and other times it was meh.
#WhatWasTerrible
==> Unanswered Questions: I came across two unanswered questions that were never explained in neither the manga nor this drama adaptation:
1). What happened to Kashiwagi, and why did his behaviour toward Urashima Eiji change so drastically?
2). Why did Yukimura Kyoka's mother abuse her during her childhood?
#ChangesFromTheSourceMaterial
==> Removal of the Character of Shinmyouji Rei: For those who don't know, there is a character by the name of Shinmyouji Rei who helps the main character throughout the story. Nami was only a minor character who appeared for a few chapters. The problem with this substitution is that what was supposed to be done by Shinmyouji Rei is mostly done by the main character himself and there doesn't seem to be any need for the character of Nami.
#Verdict
==> For Fans of the Manga: In my opinion, this is somewhat of a decent adaptation and is fairly enjoyable if you liked the source material.
==> For those who aren't Familiar with the Manga: If you can, I would recommend you to go and read the manga first since that is, in my opinion, far superior to this drama. But if you can't, then this is a good enough place to start. You can go and watch this drama.
#WhatWasGood
==> Acting: Yamada Ryosuke's portrayal of Urashima Eiji was phenomenal to say the least. The ability of being able to portray two characters of such polarizing personalities shows his extraordinary capabilities as an actor. His transition from Urashima Eiji to B1 was simply flawless.
==> Foreshadowing: Since I had already read the manga before watching the drama, and was fairly familiar with the whole storyline and the plot twists it involved. I was able to see the brilliant foreshadowing that was done during the whole drama and was able to appreciate the story much more than before.
==> Urashima Oto's Motives: This was one of the things that, in my opinion, was not handled well in the manga and didn't provide a sufficient answer to the motivation for the character's actions. However, that was not the case for this drama adaptation as it takes the motivation found in the original source material and expands on it to provide a satisfactory answer for the audience.
#WhatWasMid
==> Music: The songs chosen for this drama adaptation were actually fairly decent, and the lyrics matched the main story ongoing in the drama, too. The problem was that they played it at pretty random places, which sometimes worked, and other times it was meh.
#WhatWasTerrible
==> Unanswered Questions: I came across two unanswered questions that were never explained in neither the manga nor this drama adaptation:
1). What happened to Kashiwagi, and why did his behaviour toward Urashima Eiji change so drastically?
2). Why did Yukimura Kyoka's mother abuse her during her childhood?
#ChangesFromTheSourceMaterial
==> Removal of the Character of Shinmyouji Rei: For those who don't know, there is a character by the name of Shinmyouji Rei who helps the main character throughout the story. Nami was only a minor character who appeared for a few chapters. The problem with this substitution is that what was supposed to be done by Shinmyouji Rei is mostly done by the main character himself and there doesn't seem to be any need for the character of Nami.
#Verdict
==> For Fans of the Manga: In my opinion, this is somewhat of a decent adaptation and is fairly enjoyable if you liked the source material.
==> For those who aren't Familiar with the Manga: If you can, I would recommend you to go and read the manga first since that is, in my opinion, far superior to this drama. But if you can't, then this is a good enough place to start. You can go and watch this drama.
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