Reviews

When I heard about the casting of Kazoku Game before the season started, I hesitated because I never really heard about Sakurai Sho being a good actor. Although I've seen Kamiki Ryuunosuke before on Tantei Gakuen Q as a budding actor, I wasn't really curious about this recent drama of his when it started.

Then a recommendation came from a friend and the intense need to watch it, and... the rest is history.

Now, for my review:

Story: No one could contest that this was a beautifully written drama. I appreciate that they modified the themes to suit that of the modern generation, having bullying as the universal issue these days. I'm sure that at some point of the story we were able to relate to the characters' plights and mirror ourselves to them. I personally did.

Acting/Cast: This department was almost perfect, except for some side characters that felt stiff at some scenes, but the main characters, especially Shinichi and Yoshimoto-sensei, were practically having an acting talent showdown. Everyone in the family were superbly cast.

Music: I'm not a fan of somewhat cheerful music, but I like the satire in every note of the music to the scenes in this drama, thus still the high score. Endless Game's catchy tune got into me after a few episodes, and it was basically Yoshimoto-sensei's character song.

Rewatch Value: Since this is mystery, the enjoyment value goes down since you already know what happens after you've finished watching it for the first time. But watching it with friends, it was very fun observing how they react at the scenes in the drama (and being blown away with it).

Overall: This is a drama that will be etched to my memory for a very long time, and unless I encounter another drama as intense as this (or more than that), this will stay at my favorite drama list's top 1 spot for a while.

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I fell in love with a show on the very first episode. Followed the love throughout the series only to be crushed by the final episode. I understand not all stories have happy endings, but this ending was completely unnecessary, and the episode itself had a completely different and confusing feeling than the rest like it wasn’t supposed to be part of the story. I will likely watch this again with the exception of the final episode, I don’t think that my heart could take it again. Overall, the actors were amazing and I hope to see them all go on to more wonderful projects.

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Everything About My Relationship...the title literally describes the drama ^.^ it's it's pure romance mixed with humor & lots of cuteness...

The acting is more than good with great chemistry from the whole cast...

The music was OK fitting but not much to make me excited...
I'll sure watch this when I need some laughs mixed with lots of cuteness :D

I loved this drama...I know the plot was simple but that gives it more points for me...no stupid drama staffed in the plot & unjustified misunderstandings...
They broke up & get back together in 2 min.s...because they love each other...
This is how characters should be...there wasn't any annoying characters & amazing finale...this how a drama should be...relaxing & yet not boring at all...
I had a good time & I couldn't get mad at my couple because together they were so good.

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Refreshing modern female oriented drama

When casting is top notch & the story is not filled with over toxic characters, it's enjoyable to watch.

The story starts off with everyone captivated by Rose's beauty. Beauty is not just standard Chinese beauty but also the energy, 气质 she exhibits. Picking Cristal Liu is perfect for the role. She has that artsy, sophisticated 气质 and she looks young enough to play college age to 30's mom age.
She comes from a healthy family with loving parents with an overprotective brother. There isn't the idea of girls are any less valuable than boys hence she grew up free pursuing what she wants rather than what her parents want for her. She's smart, sassy, confident but also with many imperfections. She's not afraid to take chances on love and in life.

Ep 1-12 1st love. She's impulsive and the relationship progressed fast without deeper understanding. Break ups, fights, yelling feeling semi toxic as they find out more about each other. Very relatable to many people's 1st relationships.
Ep 13-28 Mr. Wrong Husband. She wanted someone stable and settled with the obvious wrong choice, but the series got draggy that I almost dropped the series. The best part was the divorce where she wrote to her daughter: "Divorce in my view only represent an end in a relationship and not a life failure."
Ep 28-35 Mr. Soulmate. At this point she regained her career and she's on a happier path. They have undeniable chemistry and connect on that artistic level.
Ep 36-38 Younger crush, not enough to make an impact.

What's enjoyable:
1. Good female supporting characters small or big parts. Even in the beginning a woman blaming her breakup on Rose, acting all crazy, Rose said "You are smart and beautiful, why waste more time on an underserving guy?" There was no female bashing over love interest like in other dramas.
2. Rose's Loving parents. Positive supportive parenting & nonjudgmental. "Life is only few decades long. If Happier times > sad times, then life is worth it."
3. Modern topics: Career women/Married, unmarried, divorced/Single parenting/Multiple loves, realistic that love moves on (None of that drama love trope of 30-year-old never been kissed, waiting to be reunited from their 1st unrequited love from 10 years ago because they met at 5 or something)

What could've been better:
1. WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY less episodes on boring husband choice
2. Use those extra episodes on Soulmate

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So basically the movie is about humanity, just like the main character didn’t lost his humanity during that situation he fall in, he still help this other girl even narrowing his chance of surviving this hell, and just like how the government authority took advantage of the situation even though they are partly to be blamed as to the fall of the tunnel. The movie will also give you this question “will you choose the life of one person above the lives of other people affected by the situation?".

This is an intensely claustrophobic experience and I am not even a claustrophobic person. They really capture the emotion during the situation, the camera angle, the sounds from falling rocks and the dust particles are what makes it possible. I like the way they insert comedic moments in the situation, it’s hilarious but makes sense, they played it brilliantly. Aside from suspense, the drama is pretty heavy here as the dilemma falls to the people involved like the rescue leader and his wife, you will feel sympathy for them.

The CGI is brilliant, realistic, Hollywood level. The soundtrack will creep you as it brilliantly conveys that situation, lack of sound at some parts that suddenly broken by falling rocks or footsteps is brilliant, it added up to the horror element in the movie. Cinematography is insanely beautiful just made the acting better at some part.

Solid performance from the cast like Ha Jeong Woo, Oh Dal Su and Donna bae they are exceptionally brilliant but we need to commend Nam Ji Hyun for what she has done here because it’s her character that added up layer to the movie and she nailed it brilliantly.


That joke at the end is so good that it adds .5 to my score.


Check my Blog for other reviews & other JDramas stuffs. (｡◕‿‿◕｡)
https://thatjapanesedramaguy.blogspot.com/

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Plot set-piece driven rather than character-driven

Any story needs to be about characters, and the plot driven by the characters. What I mean by that is that a characters' nature or past trauma, etc. needs to drive how they behave and and react to things. For example, if a character was bitten by a dog as a child, he may have an irrational fear of dogs - and maybe falls in love with a vet. That's organic drama rather than artificial external crises or relying on very implausible misunderstandings, which is one of the laziest sins in writing.

The way characters behave in this series make no emotional sense, because the author wants to get from point A to point B, and so that determines how the characters behave. Points A & B were almost always just tired cliches that were not integrated into the plot and did nothing to advance it but were rather just there to be there. A couple of examples:

- The Past Connection. This appears to be irresistable to BL writers (actually a lot of Asian drama genres) - a past connection between Souta and Mahiro serves no plot purpose - it's just there to be there, and as a result it leads to Souta implausibly not remembering Mahiro, because if he did remember him, that would complicate the plot. And so he doesn't.

- The Restraining Hug Fom Behind. Mahiro thinks Souta is leaving, but it turns out that instead he's staying forever. Does that make him happy? No, he gets upset and tries to leave. Why? Why would that upset him? It wouldn't. But then Souta wouldn't need to grab him from behind to prevent him from leaving.

- The Implausible Misunderstanding. Souta drives four hours from Tokyo and arrives at just the precise moment - it couldn't be one second earlier or one second later or the misunderstanding wouldn't have happened - to see Souta hug his boss, who Souta assumes is Mahiro's boyfriend, despite the fact that he knows them both, the boss has actively encouraged Souta to be with Mahiro, there is zero evidence that they're dating, and it was clear Mahiro was upset, so it is clearly a comforting hug, not a romantic one. But the writer needed to insert the next cliche, and so Souta has to misunderstand, and for no apparent reason decides to become the boyfriend of...

- The Interfering Woman. Ugh. I don't even want to dwell on this, but it chews up an enormous amount of runtime.

The end result is two unrelatable and unpleasant characters who behave inconsistently and are annoying.

The acting is OK. The Souta actor is pretty good, Yutaro is one-note and has no presence or charisma. There is almost no chemistry whatsoever. Mahiro behaves like the wife of an alcoholic in an abusive relationship - he actually recoils from Souta every time they're near each other, and he just looks afraid all the time. Souta manages to express some repressed longing, but it's still not convincing. There is no romantic chemistry between them, and certainly no romance. They barely even touch each other, at least not on purpose.

A positive is it's well-filmed and the setting in the countryside is lovely. Well, Souta gets naked sometimes, and he has a nice body, so there's that, I guess.

Another positive is the Taiwanese store owner, who is an appealing character and causes a plausible (!) misunderstanding when he reads a note that contains kanji characters that mean "former coworker" in Japanese, but mean "ex-lover" in Mandarin, which leads to the series' best comic moment.

Overall this was a total waste of time, and a disappointing squandering of an interesting premise and a strong start. But it goes nowhere, is frustrating to watch, and is way too long for the amount of "plot" in it. I would skip it.

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I came expecting nothing. Being not a fan of romance, I was at first kinda skeptical because there's a girl on the cover (oh man, I know, I judge books by their cover so much my bad). But I'm certainly surprised, and pleasantly so, as I dived into the story.
I'm aware that it's probably cliche at this point to have romance-driven revenge and undercover Chinese shows are certainly not new. However, I can say that there's 0 romance in terms of development. The show is as simple as it comes (drugs, boss, undercover agent, police, gangs) but it is also neither black nor white in its portrayal of the main characters. You'll fall in love with some you shouldn't be and you'll hate some that you shouldn't be. Personally, I'm very attached to the characters, and knowing them, I fear the ending as soon as I grew attached.
The most important aspect of this show, to me, is the relationship between the two male leads. There're lies, truths, deceptions, covers, and twist and turns that you might never see coming. But through it all, it only melds the two together. Their relationship is more or less build on lies, as expected between a drug leader and an undercover police officer, but it's exactly that that makes the whole story satisfying yet difficult to watch at times.

So if you're looking for some thriller/crime/action without it being entirely romance-driven, or having the main character be pulled astray by a female character, or losing excitement, or lacking 'human' characters, then this show is definitely perfect to add to your watched show collection.

also the male lead is perfectly competent without being naive like some random rookie officers. (MILD SPOILER) Honestly, gwad, no wonder all the drug dealers want him to work for them.

Edit: While the ending does fall a little flat, I'm still very pleased by the drama and the whole ride it took me on. It's not a bad ending, don't get me wrong, it just is flat compared to how amazing the other episodes were.

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I watched this drama not expecting anything because as far as my experience modern cdramas turned underwhelming in its later part. BUT i watched this and as i progress i never realized i was already at its last 5 episodes. Its light fun drama that makes you smile. Although Wei Qing was such a jerk in the first parts, he make it up in the later parts. He supports and understands Zhou Shi although his ways are kind of cunning, he wished nothing but the best for Zhou Shi. Also the second fave couple and character is the Genius jiejie she's not like those smart boring genius type. She cares for her friends without losing that genius image. So all in all i very love this drama! :)

Definitely will watch this again again. I hope more modern cdramas are this great and fun. ♥

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It’s one of those very bittersweet films that you’d cry with and yet say… “Damn, that was such a beautiful film.” I said that and will say it again.

Love Letter was a beautiful film in a wonderful setting and great plot lines. Though it was confusing at first, it still gives you a slight thinking that it has a reason for being like that. Then once you get to understand what in the world is happening, you’ll get to unfold what it was all about and why.

The film was very simple, not too dramatic or mind boggling. It didn’t even have any CG effects in it but it will show you extremely good actors, great story in the back ground and a really nice soundtrack to come along with everything. It also has this softness that has melancholy written all over the story but the sweetness seeps in with everything until it’s late to realize that you’re caught up with the story and would want more.

This left me weeping at the end but made me feel good at the same time. It surely made me want to recommend it everyone.

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Hard Romanticker is set in a hard and unforgiving urban underground world. Every character is a thug. This includes the lead protagonist Gu played very convincingly by Matsuda Shota. The word 'romanticker' suggests the literal version of the word because this film is anything but romantic.

There really is no true plot to this movie. It takes place in the span of a few weeks and encapsulates a time period in this man's life. Unabashed and raw; showing all the nonsensical violence of the world he lives in whether it be by himself, those he keeps company with, his enemies and just about everyone in his sphere.

When I was finished watching the movie it took me some moments to think of what to say here in this review. This is a violent and dark movie and I came away from it having almost no sympathy for any of the characters save one. And it wasn't Gu. I suppose I had a sliver of sympathy for him in certain moments because Shota has impressive acting skill but ultimately the character was undeserving of very much. That said; overall, the acting in this was really great and as unsettling as the film is, the story is well told. They certainly were convincing but it is more than disturbing to think that this kind of world actually exists. Most of the characters showed almost no caring or sympathy toward one another. So harsh.

There are some movies out there where you can watch, appreciate the quality of writing and acting but yet have no desire to ever watch that film again. Hard Romanticker is one of those movies for me.

I gave the re-watch value a 'fair' (6) because even though I might not watch this again for the subject matter I don't want to lower the score unfairly and have people mistake it for bad quality.

The music was fitting. I am not sure what to say about it other than I don't believe this movie is the kind you walk away from even wanting or needing an OST. But the score was right for the film; sometimes comical and sometimes dark.

If you appreciate darker (and I DO mean darker) fare and don't mind intense subject matter than this is the film for you. But you have been cautioned here...it is graphic. And fangirl moment...even at his darkest, Shota impresses me with his ability to absorb into a character for good or ill.

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First, if you are under the age of 16, do NOT watch this movie. Due to numerous shocking scenes, this is not a movie that should be seen by a younger audience. I know that a lot of you might want to watch this movie because you really liked Gong Yoo's acting in previous dramas, but if you are 15 or younger, this movie might have a greater impact on you than you might think.
You've been warned.

Such a movie is impossible to rate. It's really hard to make the difference between the true story that captivates and shocks us, and the form, the way it is told, the movie. Personnally, on my MDL list, it is still rated N/A.

Story...well there is no story, those are facts. Those facts are, of course, adapted and the way this movie deliver that adaptation to us is outstanding. The dark atmosphere, the suspens that keeps us on edge, and the flashbacks system that makes things so vivid, everything is done to captivate the audience.

Thanks to all the members of the cast (who did an amazing job portraying their characters, especially the children and Gong Yoo...well Gong Yoo was simply exceptional) you will be trapped into this movie from its very first minute to the last. You will feel horror and despair as well little pieces of moved joy as you see the events happening as if you were there.

The music isn't a beautiful melody designed to make you cry every times you hear it, but it will make you feel calm, tense, or angry. It's really a part of the movie.

Rewatch value...honestly, it would be torture to me to rewatch this, but I'll still do it, because this movie is amazing and the acting astonishing. But I won't say it was beautiful. Although this movie is a piece of art, I'd feel sick to call it beautiful.

Since he got the main part, let's talk about Gong Yoo in this movie. His Kang In Ho is true, sincere, so kind and pure in front of all the horror happening before his eyes that it is impossible not to be moved by him. Gong Woo is definitly a top actor and I can't wait to see what he will do next.

But there is something bothering me about this movie, like all movies involving young actors.Even though this is all acting, I wonder how those children felt, when they were shooting some scenes...sometimes, I felt this movie was going too far...but this is only my point of view...

I know that my review is a little dark, but I just saw Crucible, and this movie is dark.

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First of all, right now my "sain" half and the cinéphile in me are fighting over this movie, so I have to write both point of views.

Cinéphile:

Firstly, it's a "silent" movie, so they never talk to each other, you only hear their sounds or the noise of the surrounding. Just this fact alone makes it thrilling and entertaining to watch.

Secondly the acting was splendid. Seriously. Since the movie is a "silent" movie, you can only focus on their faces, sounds and body language. And they really can pull it off. There are so many moments you wish you could find a bit of akwardness, a hint that reminds you that they are only acting, which would make it so much easier to watch the movie. But even in the most dreadful moments they will go all out.

Thirdly: The whole storyline and the metaphors. If you like cryptic movies that give you a lot to think about and to deciffer, this one is perfect. There are so many hidden symbols, repitions and insinuations, that you have to watch it at least two times to grasp it all. The storyline my not be new but it's a the hell of tragic comedy. One second you stare at the screen in disbelief and disgust and the other one you start to laugh insainly, astonished that you are even able to laugh in this situation.

Fourth the movie lives from it's great shots, those pictures from which you can't look away, the colours and the composing of every scene. You may not like the picture but it comes with a pretty picture frame.

The "sain" me:

The first time I watched it I was hiding behind a chair, plugging my ears not being able to watch some of the scenes. It was the first time in my life that I nearly threw up because of a scene in a movie. And I had a glass of soju after watching it.

So yes, it is an heavy one. If you can't stand violance or drastic pictures or even just a hint of it, you really shouldn't watch it. But, from an artistic point of view it's a fantastic movie. All those pictures say more then any word could ever say.

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Intense build-up, decent wrap-up

The first half of this movie was absolutely flawless — I was terrified (in a good way) by all the jumpscares, the mystery was extremely intriguing and I was trying desperately to figure it out myself, and the soundtrack and interactions between the characters all added to the dark vibe of the movie.

I still think the second half, after everything was revealed, was a decent watch, but I did think that it took away a lot of the things that I loved in the first half. Of course, a mystery can't go on forever, but I definitely felt like the story didn't feel as dark as it did before and there was no more anxiety-inducing tension, more just running around and fights. Those were still fun and exciting and I really enjoyed how the story was revealed, intertwining different characters, but the first half still felt more captivating to me.

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