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The acting was great. Sawajiri Erika, the 'mother', the 'father', the siblings, Nishikido Ryo were great.I actually started to like Nishikido Ryo as an actor because of the way he gave life to Asou Haruto, although, from what I know Haruto was actually an imaginary friend of Aya (the real Aya).
The music is PERFECT! It fist perfectly with the story. Even now, if I listen just the first seconds of 'Only Human' by K, I would start to tear up.
All in all, if a friend of mind who didn't watched even one drama in her/his life I would definitely say "Watch 1 Litre of tears!'.
"1 Litre of Tears' is drama worth of your time! You won't regret watching it.
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Sports here is used as a way to connect people. The outcome of every episode is predictable, but the last bowl always manages to have enough stake to capture your attention. I like that each episode introduces a split, that is generally related to our bowlers' lives, and the way to beat it. The last episode's bowl was the one time I thought, - nah, this time there won't be too much pressure whether the hero wins the match - until they put all the stakes of the world on it, captivating me and having pray with all the rest of the character that he wins.
As for the romance, it started pretty subtly. The leads had this frank beautiful friendship. They bicker a lot, and they don't shy from mentioning the other's fear, forcing each other to not run away and face their problems. Their conversations, especially those they have during the game are most entertaining and engaging. As things started getting more intense later, that friendship, and those frank conversations continue throughout the drama. Those two were people where the presence of one of them makes the other one a better person. As for the affaires here, the drama neither ignores how wrong it is, nor paints those engaged in those relationships are completely bad or evil. I liked the way it is approached.
I have to say what made this drama more enjoyable is the number of different characters making part of the whole bowling center and those visiting on a daily basis. The prostitute and the bar tender had a sweet side story that you can't help route for. The workers grew on me, and the perverted owner was most entertaining. I think my favourite though is Yakuza who challenges them every week. Not only does he help bringing everyone together (against him) but the way he present himself each episode, with a new song sung by him and his lackeys, is exceptional.
All this wouldn't have been that great if we didn't have such an amazing cast. Leading here is the reason behind me watching this drama, Kaneshiro Takeshi. He's so charming here, and beautiful. Every word he utters sends me dancing with excitement. Especially when says french and english words - Oui, Madame - Oh yeah! - Yea baby - Jesus - I melt! As for the female lead, Kuroki Hitomi is 13 years his senior!! She was already 42 when the dorama first aired. However her character was so cute, fun, full of life, and badass when he plays bowling. The chemistry between the two was nothing short of phenomenal. I haven't seen that often in japanese dramas in recent years so I miss it. The rest of the cast were fun and on spot, at worst they were serviceable.
The theme song used is very dramatic but somehow blends well with the drama.
This drama is a must watch for anyone who wants to watch a drama that has engaging characters, sizzling chemistry, fun and smartly written script, directing that merges all the themes seamlessly and Kaneshiro Takeshi fans. I think this type of drama can be entertaining for the majority of people if given the chance.
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comedy is comedying
i went into watching this with no high expectations, but...- comedy bits weren't over the top
- full of action
- great cinematography
- easy to follow storytelling
- too predictable antagonist, but i can let that one slide
- happy ending
i would call it a great film for movie night.
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1A half truth is a whole lie.
风中的火焰 or Flames in the Wind is a slow paced, Northeastern suspense thriller in a similar vein as 2023's hit The Long Season. It is set in a a desolate mining town in Ningxia where time moves slowly and the future looks bleak. After graduating from high school in 1994, three childhood friends are chomping at the bit to escape from their dead-end town. Both Liu Bai and his girl Mei Wei are university bound, if they can somehow find the funds to make it work. The less academically inclined Lei Fugui means to work his way up in the world. One night, they find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and become entangled in a secret that changes their lives and sends them down divergent paths.Ten years later, as the town is being relocated, fate draws the three friends back to the town they had tried so hard to leave behind. A burnt corpse is dumped outside the police station. It reminds veteran cop Chu Zhi Qiang of a cold case that shook the town a decade ago. He must convince Zhang Tao, his new captain to relook at the case with new eyes. Their investigation reopens old questions about what exactly happened that one night so long ago. Nobody really knows the full story; everyone's account is some combination of their own version of the truth and speculation. But a half truth is a whole lie and thus narrative skilfully builds a compelling case against each of the suspects based on their half-lies.
While the narrative builds tension masterfully, this is one of those suspense thrillers where there is no criminal mastermind or genius crime busting cop; it is just about bad luck, worse decisions and human tragedy. What makes it superb is the acting; it is so authentic and raw that I deeply empathised with the characters' struggles, motivations and imperfections. Jiang Qiming never disappoints and his portrayal of Liu Bai as an enigmatic, still waters run deep kind of character anchors the narrative. Underneath the surface lurks so many complex emotions; guilt, anger, duplicity, desperation, love-hate, regret; all conveyed with nuance and micro-expressions. I was surprised by Yang Caiyu's Mei Wei. I thought she was just a pretty face playing a pretty face and I disliked Mei Wei's selfishness and sense of self preservation from the get go. But as she reveals her vulnerabilities, I felt terribly sorry for this coal miner's daughter who was born in the wrong town and her thirst for a better life. I also could see why the equally mercenary Fugui preferred a much simpler woman to such a complicated one.
Where this drama stumbles is in the pacing, the overall plot logic and the ending. The storytelling is well paced and riveting until the final 4-6 episodes, where the final denouement is delayed to linger too long on Zhang Tao's boring marital and personal issues. Plot logic is an issue from the start as this drama is helmed by a Taiwanese director that is clearly unfamiliar with China's legal framework. Some of the issues Chinese netizens highlight is that in that kind of town, a security guard is effectively deputised as a policeman when it comes to enforcing the law on premises. The legal framework is also depicted as a very harsh one that doesn't take into account mitigating circumstances including self-defense and hands out inequitable sentences that don't distinguish between murder and manslaughter. After the fillers, the ending felt anti-climatic, incredibly sad and unnecessarily cruel. On some level it doesn't matter because this is really a character story that delivers in spades. On some other level, it left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied because there was no justice or closure, just a legal process. I do highly recommend it for the acting but I cannot rate this better than 8/10 because the plot is unworthy of this cast.
P.S. Leslie Cheung's iconic 1990s Cantopop hit The Wind Blows On 风继续吹 perfectly captures the ethos of this story.
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I'll start by saying that the synopsis for this drama does not do it justice. It makes it sound very formulaic and typical, two things it very much is not. No discrediting the synopsis writer, however, because the first few episodes of the drama presents this view of itself as well. To anyone discouraged by this, watch through it and it'll become clear that this is more a guise than anything else. It sets the drama up so you think you know for sure where it's going, like it's something you've seen a hundred times before. That way, you get the full impact when it completely tears this all down and beats out its own track in very unexpected directions.
In terms of the general mood of the drama, for the most part it's light-hearted fun. It has a kind of whimsical silliness (sometimes bordering on that anime-type humour I mentioned earlier, but never crossing the line to where it gets too much) that's really endearing and feel-good. However, that is only part of the story. It has an unexpected, heavier storyline waiting in the wings, one that had me in tears on more than one occasion (though I AM a little sappy...). I loved how this storyline was interwined with the other threads of the drama, as well as the impact it was shown to have on pushing the characters involved into growing as people. It was this, for me, that elevates this drama from simply teen-romcom-romp into something more memorable and adult.
In an attempt at balance, as I'm clearly more than a little biased towards this drama, I will talk about aspects that I found weaker. There is shaky acting from some of the secondary characters. I didn't feel this really impacted the drama too heavily, since the main cast were very impressive (I found Ivy Chen especially captivating and convincing), but I appreciate it can still be a little annoying when secondary characters are over-the-top or wooden. There were also a couple of plot strands that I don't really feel went anywhere or were not developed as far as they could have been. This could have been because the drama's span was too short for all that was packed into it, so some aspects just got lost by the wayside. This is a matter of personal preference whether you will mind this or not. It's more true to life that not everything sees a firm resolution, but I personally like clear endings in dramas, something which IWTBAHP lacked in some regards.
Overall, however, the small minuses are outweighed by a whole bucketful of pluses. I know for me, as soon as I finished the series I was tempted to go right back to episode one and watch it all through again. I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for something fresh, entertaining yet meaningful that will stay with them for a very long time.
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A different drama, not everyone's cup of tea I guess
I'm writing a review because I really believe the average score is too low - this drama doesn't deserve such a low score, is not fair. I do understand is not everyone's cup of tea, however, it's refreshing and nice to see a different "not so typical" plot. But OMG, what I honestly really loved about this drama is the evolution of each single character. I like the fact that each character, even the supporting ones, have been developed - you will eventually see the reason behind their behaving. In dramas I've barely seen the behind of the characters. If you enjoy (psychological?) dramas where there's a clear evolution of the characters, in which you can actually see and understand why they do certain things, this is definitely THE DRAMA for you.This drama's real plot is not the storyline, but the characters of the drama (the way the behave and the reason behind it - they are human. I really felt a connection with every single character due to their development during the drama (maybe I'm too empathic?). In fact, I would even say that in the end, there are no "evil" characters at all - just people with their own issues, and way of perceiving the world because of their personal circumstances. You will notice that some of them are sociopath or actually have a mental disorder, it's important to address these things as they are, not just as "crazy evil characters". Each of them will have their flawless like all human beings (the ML and FL as well - he does many wrong things but she does as well during their relationship, however they are much more "subtle").
I want to start saying that I didn't give a 10 score because of the last episode. The ending could have been better in many ways - the overall plot is fine, but the ending of the drama... It's too rushed, to abrupt. There are too many things left in the air or that could have been developed more. You can see that during the whole drama they really worked hard on each episode, and suddenly because the n.16 marked the end, they tried to wrap everything up as quick as possible and they rushed all without too much explanations just because it had to end there. I appreciate the fact that there's no "big crazy drama". And if you do see anything over-exaggerated, don't worry, you will have the explanation of such dramatic/exaggerated situation eventually, and everything will make sense (unless you are already in the episode n. 15 or 16 lol).
The acting and cast amazing - I really like the FL, she's very natural. The ML at first I wasn't sure, but he did a great job and to be honest, now I don't picture anyone else playing Jung. Maybe the only bit is that he looked too old for a university student? But to be honest, I couldn't care less! The support actors were amazing as well, specially Inho and Inha and the FL's friends.
The music is fantastic, really cute and easygoing, it goes with the uni environment of the drama.
I would probably rewatch this if bored, and as it's the second time watching it, it would be like an easy thing to watch, just to relax, enjoy and have fun.
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An Emotionally Profound Seesaw of Aro/Ace Reality and Dreams
Despite what the previews for each episode tries to tell you, this drama was consistently a low-angst but emotionally profound story. And I'm unbelievably happy about the attention it's gotten since its release. Kodama and Takahashi are such well-written and well-performed examples of aroace individuals.It was a bit odd though. Because it was a tenuous seesaw between the reality of being aro/ace in a society that doesn't understand how that could possibly exist, and the optimistic dream of all aro/ace individuals of being surrounded by people who seek to understand and will accept you even if they can't. And in the effort to create this aro/ace dream from the reflections of reality, some actions were unreasonably forgotten as the story went on. And it left me, as a viewer, feeling guilty for not being able to move past these small offenses and worrisome transgressions as easily as our leads did.
But at the end of the day, all these encounters served as meaningful lessons in what aro/ace individuals are expected/asked of daily and how those expectations weigh us down and creates an unintentional force that alienates us and invalidates our feelings. And their resolutions speak to what family is supposed to be about, and the different ways familial and other societal bonds manifest.
And I absolutely love how well everything was communicated between the characters. On the surface, Kodama (a highly sociable and energetic extrovert) and Takahashi (a guarded and reserved introvert who's only really enthusiastic about food and plants) shouldn't get along. Especially by allo standards of lacking sexual and romantic attraction. But yet they do. Bonded by their shared experiences as alloace adults and resultant loneliness, they create such an adorable platonic family. It was quite awkward and rocky for quite a while as it formed, as it naturally would, but left me gushing over their small but meaningful moments of comradery. It leaves me hopeful.
I love how this drama progressed from Kodama just looking for answers online to an overall story about being aroace as working and independent adults. And how being aroace doesn't mean you don't want to have a life with someone. And the way that this drama addresses that being aro/ace is a spectrum with a lot of things to consider was just so fantastically done.
The writing, performances, and representation had me on the verge of tears on more than a handful of occassions.
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Interesting fact-ion sageuk
"The Night Owl" is one of the best fact-ion (facts+fiction) sageuk I have seen so far. Using In Jo's infamous reign and Crown Prince So Hyeon's death as part of the plot, it develops an original story around an atypical character.I like historical movies that stick to the facts as much as possible very much, but I also like a well made fiction based on historical events when it is cleverly made, just like this movie. I don't think it's a thriller though, only a good sageuk with some thrills. I'm not usually keen for humour in sageuk, but the few little scenes in this movie were actually good and well made.
The cast is very good and all the actors are really good in their respective roles. Actors like Yoo Hae Jin, Jo Sung Ha and Choi Moo Sung, as usual, never disappoint, and Ryu Joon Yeol is excellent as Kyung Soo, and special mention for Kim Sung Cheol too that is really good in this role too.
The music isn't very special or grandiose, but it's good, and the aesthetic of the movie quite beautiful with an overall production very well made so I give it a pretty high ratings.
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What's up is one of this drama that makes me think : "So, I remember now why I keep losing myself in dramaland".
This is not funny, nor this is sad. It's a little bit of everything. It's just about life, and people who struggles to find themselves. This is about learning how to live with each others, how to use your passion to overcome your fears.
I especially cherish this drama, because it made me discover an artist that I now really appreciate, Kang Daesung. Unlike most of the people, I didn't know him before, and it honestly was a huge shock when I heard his voice during the first episode, singing "This is the moment". It made me thirsty for more.
Jo Jung Suk also impressed me a lot. His voice is awesome, and his acting is no joke.
The story and the characters are the strenghts of this drama. For my part, I liked every one of them. They all touched me in different ways. Nobody's completely nice, nor totally bad. They're young adults, and I loved them through this story.
If you're looking for something different, this is for you. Don't give up this drama. Maybe you'll end up loving it like me.
Excuse my english, and don't hesitate anymore : What's up is good. Very good.
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Short and thrilling competition for creative logical and number puzzles lovers
I enjoyed the logic and number puzzles here as it was interesting to see how they made simple concepts/ games into a complicated one (e.g. a rock scissors paper game into a game about memorization and object permance). The most interesting part for me was when the participants talk about their approaches, shortcut methods and tricks which makes me gasped at how their brain words like GENIUSES!! And also so that I can use these methods next time if I ever come across puzzles like this LOL (which is probably never). I also appreciated that theres NO games where they had the participants scheming against one another, like a mafia game, or alliances (where the weak participants team up to eliminate the smart ones that we want to see early in the game). As much as how the participants were geniuses, I must commend on how the writer is a genius for creating such creative games (but no surprise because the writer was The Genius's writer).I am also glad to see how well different teams work together, considering the fact that most of them met each other only through the show. I absolutely loved the dynamic of Team KU and SNU and felt that they have great teamwork.
Overall, I highly recommend this short and binge-able 8 episodes intelligence competition with geniuses competing with one another if you love puzzles and this type of reality shows!
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Things are missing....
Ignoring the acting, seeing as I only enjoyed the writers actor, and considering that this wasnt the worst thing I've ever seen by FAR! I still can't help but notice so many things that left me a bit "??". By that I mean the plotholes, or stuff that seems to be missing and it doesn't just happen once.Firstly, the plot seems to be all over the place... Like the cops appear there but then because they know each other they just go away ???? Hello ??? He was literally camping in a place the OWNER said not to like.. the writer told him multiple times to leave... But alas, that's just the beginning.
Let's talk about the hoodie. They focus a big part of why the writer left as to the hoodie, which was like a "heartbreak" impact sort of thing, but then they never told us what happened to it ? Did i miss something? Did someone stole it? And THEN when they're drinking outside the writer's house the director not even ONCE mentions that the writer was wearing the hoodie like........... ?
Another thing is that the director guessed the the house code, guessed the computer password and when the writer arrived he didn't even questioned him about it... Does that many ANY sense? Did he just think that was nornal? They haven't talked to eachother for YEARS and he just ignored that? Alright then...
It wasn't absolutely horrible seeing as I did finish it which never happens if I dislike something, but it was indeed lacking in several aspects that just make it all feel very incomplete.
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Now i remembered it and finally saw it. I really like revenge storys, so it was really exciting to see what will happen next.
A second aspect i like is, that you won´t hate charas only. You will love and hate charas at the same time as well as love and cry with them. The acting was great.
I didn´t like a few decisions from the charas, but it don´t interfere much with the overall result.
With 40 Episodes its a bit to long, but every minute its worth it.
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I love the idea of a game, where the whole MIT is involved, and they have to face up to their past. I did guess who was the ultimate mastermind behind the game, but some of the plot twists really surprised me. Guigui's character surprised me too.
I watched the show when it was airing in Taiwan at the same time, so it killed me everytime one episode ended! It's terrible when the case drags to the next episode because the wait, and even if the case has ended, the preview of the next case always left me cursing at the monitor.
Okay, I may be slightly biased, because I'm a fan of Aaron, but this is definitely my favourite Aaron-role:) I have a soft spot for cold characters with sad pasts, and Aaron looks really cute here. Plus, I love the Guilun chemistry, offscreen and onscreen. Cuteness overload! Alien Huang's role as 747 had me burst into laughter- he says the most retarded but cute things. Lu Ting Wei's 187 is a playboy that always leaves a smile on my face. And Guigui is just too cute:) She needs to brush up on her acting though.
The music really built up the tension, especially the last episode! The music was so apt! Not your usual soundtrack, of course, but appropriate for the show.
I've rewatched the show at least 5 times, and a particular episode 10 times because of the Guilun romance;)
Definitely worth watching.
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