Reviews

A Japanese take on "Sex and the City" - if Carrie was a good friend

Four friends at the age of 29 all have their worries that in a way all come down to "crap, I have to do this and/or that before I turn 30". Get married, have a kid, answer to society's often unrealistic expectations. Haruka hasn't had sex with her boyfriend in what feels like ages, and her desire to have sex again results in her sleeping with an old-turned-new co-worker and subsequently ruining her relationship with her fiancé when he inevitably finds out. While Uta is out to her mother who approves and is very supportive of Uta, reality is very different for her girlfriend, Makoto, who struggles to live true to herself and her identity as gay in a still relatively conservative society. Kyouko discovers something about herself that forces her to really think about her desire to have a child as a single person, and how to go about it. Kanon desperately wants to get married, and often turns to luck to try and score that perfect man to marry before she turns 30.

All four women go through their struggles- but not alone. At times, they try to shoulder it on their own as to not worry their friends, but in the end, they all have each other's backs. And that's one of the beautiful things I will remember about this series. The way they portrayed adult friendships between women in this stage in life, was excellent and I could recognise myself in it almost all throughout. Another highlight for me was the portrayal of LGBTQIA+ relationships in a still somewhat conservative society like that of Japan, where you have a few but not many privileges as a non-straight person and couple. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up several times when they focused on Uta and Makoto, and after the gay couple came into the series near the end who not only helped Uta and Makoto get themselves an apartment in a LGBT-friendly building after a lot of struggle, they're also strongly implied to have helped Kyouko in her dreams of becoming a mother via surrogacy.

I adore this series for not being ashamed of discussing certain topics like being non-straight in Japan, mental health, sex, marriage in the sense of "is this right for me" and not just "when do I get married". I love series where we get to see women in higher positions, like being a CEO, and these women aren't just plot devices but have their own stories and are written excellently. Not only that, but the actresses played their parts very well, too. I'm not gonna lie, I went into this series because I saw that Shuntaro Yanagi was in it, and while I was initially disappointed that he ended up being a plot device, I stayed for the women in the series and am endlessly glad that I did. It's a very 'brutally' honest, realistic, and sometimes not very happy portrayal of what it's like to live in the shoes of any of these women. But that's why I really loved it, because it was so, so real and relatable.

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My heart wanted to burst

My heart wanted to burst just within minutes of watching this movie! Although it may have been very successful as a drama (with these actors, etc.) the simplistic nature of this movie hit all the feels. It was pure and straight to the point. It wonderfully covered topics on youth, coming-of-age, love, family, and friendship within just a span of two hours.

This story is about a girl named Geng Geng who becomes deskmates with a boy named Yu Huai after they meet on the first day. It started with Yu Huai pointing out that his name (on the bulletin board) was next to someone called Geng Geng and together their name makes "Geng Geng Yu Huai," meaning to "take to heart." Turns out it was her that he was talking about. After becoming deskmates, they become friends and they even began taking interest in each other. Nearing graduation however, unexpected news leaves them parting ways. The story mainly follows their youth almost acting as flashbacks from present time but eventually comes full circle with them meeting once again after seven years.

Definitely recommend! In terms of the selection of actors and their acting skills, this movie was very well paired. Again, there were so many moments my heart wanted to just burst because of how cute and pure the interactions were.

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A fabulous melodrama

By the end of the first episode a premise is established, and you might wonder why one would want to watch this show if they are going to stick to this premise to the bitter end. Well, they do stick to the premise all the way, but manage to stick the landing about as well as one could hope. Along the way there are a couple of surprises that are also quite moving, and there are good, uplifting themes that provide warmth and light in what otherwise would make for a pretty dire story arc.

It is the story of a boy named Sun (Taiyo) and a girl named Rain (Ame) who fall in love in high school and promise to meet again once they achieve their respective dreams. Eight years later Ame returns to town and neither of their aspirations have been fulfilled. It is a story of sacrifice and love for the pair at the center of the story and for their families. Over the course of the series they have to face an unquestionably terrible fate in their near future mediated by two mysterious supernatural beings who have been chosen by the heavens to witness the story as it unfolds.

It does end up being a bit of a crying contest between Yamada Yuki (Taiyo) and Nagano Mei (Ame). I prefer Nagano as a comedian, but she can cry on cue apparently effortlessly, and so she often gets booked for these kind of roles. Here she manages to bring her bright personality and charm to the character which goes a long way to preventing this series from being the emotional slogfest that you might expect it to be given the premise. Yamada has the more stoic role to fulfill, and he does match Nagano tear for tear in the scenes that call for it. The pair have a solid chemistry together, and they have a nice romantic arc, but that romance pretty much has to be sexless because of the set up.

It bears mentioning that the series is beautifully shot with consistently excellent blocking and composition. They have chosen a color grading that makes almost all of the daytime shots feel like golden hour which also helps to keep the series from feeling dire and grey.

If you like melodramas, and want a good cry, then this series is probably exactly what you're looking for. I tend to avoid melodramas as a genre and tend to think that they can be emotionally manipulative for little payoff other than the tears. And so I was pleasantly surprised that this series had a bit more depth than merely saying "life sucks and then you die". And so I'd say the series is also well worth the watch for anyone looking for a nice little fable about love and pinky-swears.

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One of the best shows I've ever watched!

Where should I even start? This show is phenomenal from every point of view. From the engaging plotline to the comical aspects of the show, from the great acting to the amazingly written characters. It's a 10/10 all round if you're an action/thriller/mystery lover like myself. Bad and Crazy had me laughing one minute and then crying the next. The first episode put me off initially but trust me, it's 100% worth watching once you get into it! I recently finished rewatching it because it was just that good, I HAD to watch it again. The show also covered some unsettling but vitally important topics that aren't spoken about enough such as split personality disorder, mental health issues, child abuse, gaslighting and manipulation. Overall, this show is a must watch for any K-drama fan and it's one of the most enjoyable shows I've ever watched :).

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Not Worth The Hype

Before watching this drama, I had heard so much hype about it. Everyone on Tiktok and Twitter were losing their minds over it. So, I decided it must be really good if everyone talked about it so much.
But honestly, it really just felt like it was trying too hard to appeal to an audience who was looking for a more "mature" drama. The main reason I even watch dramas is because I love watching the pure build up to a relationship. And I think that many shows have done that very well.

This drama was a rare case where I loved everyone but the main characters by the end of it. The female lead is exhausting to follow, the male lead is just a walking red flag (as dubbed by viewers on social media) and the conclusion is frustrating at best.
The only good part of this show was the soundtrack. I added well over half of the OST to my playlists because they're just so good.

In closing, watch this drama if you want to understand the hype. However, just be prepared to be annoyed for most of the 10 episodes.

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Can anything be messy like this? Um..... NO

It's the perfect example when someone tries to put romance, mystery, comedy, and little fantasy together but in the end, nothing makes any sense other than turning into a perfect disaster.. sounds like a big word right but it was all messy and till the end, we get nothing more than. Why I watch this?

I guess it's becoming a trend these days for authors to become part of their own novel. So it started with all confusion having no idea where's the story going or why many things are happening at the first place. The story was just okay okay but it was bad in the execution and I didn't felt the chemistry between leads that much, yeah there were some sweet moments but more cringy. The side couples um I'll say fine. But honestly, the most boring part was the mystery thing. I mean when you have mystery as the main genre, it expected to be the core of story but it wasn't a mystery at all for me coz my all guesses were right in the end.

Well if you have a lot of free time then you can give it try but it's not worth it... just average drama which even isn't average. Not recommend watching, still if you are insisting you can give it try to the first few episodes, and then decide.

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If you want a romantic movie this is not it

After reading the plot I thought it was very weird and interesting. Because it is a movie and not a whole drama, I thought I should give it a try. I read the comments, so I was a little prepared.
First of all, it was a little weird and awkward movie indeed. I mean, a stranger comes to your grandma's house and claims to be her student, but he also has a key from the house and you take him in although he is just a stanger to you? Many things could go wrong starting this way. Fortunately, they didn't. He wasn't a pervert or murderer.
Also, right from the start, he stayed in a different part of the house which was good and safer for the female lead, but he was behaving like the man of the house. They ate together the food she cooked, he gave her his laundry and he asked her to do things for him like a husband would do. He also stated many times that he would marry her, without her permission or acceptance. I don't find it very romantic...
Their relationship was nonexistant from the start to almost the end. Emotions were not expressed through words from the start to almost the end. If you have imagination you could guess that some actions in the second half of the movie were because of affection or love or just care. For the most part they were not even talking to each other.
This was such a quiet movie, filled with silence, which didn't help me understand what was happening. If I use my imagination I can understand that this was a quiet love, but I think it was almost mute. They didn't properly show affection to each other. The age gap between them was huge, but I wouldn't mind it so much if I saw the romance between them. It was like he came to the house and became possesive. Suddenly he wants to marry her and the viewer doesn't know how or why.In the end the care or romance between them starts to show a little.
I would say that this movie is about a love story from the past, when love was not expressed very much. It was a very introverted love. I still am not sure about female lead's feelings. I felt that she was just lonely and disappointed from love, but although she waited for male lead to come back at the end, I am not sure if it was because of her love for him or because she was left alone.
I don't think the movie is bad, but I definitely think that I don't like so slow and silent romantic movies that barely have any romantic gestures and by the end of it I am not sure if I saw a romantic movie. I don't like the very romantic, cheesy and unrealistic ones either but this was not even enough.

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Must Watch - Indiana Jones meets Game of Thrones in Republican Era China

I was told The Lost Caverns is an archaeological drama, and after doing some research Candle In the Tomb : The Wrath of Time is the first in the series, chronologically, so I started watching it with zero expectations, and was instantly hooked. I was surprised at how good the sets, scenery, production, action and acting were. The sets and scenery, in particular, are breath-taking. The death toll has to be seen to be believed.

This show pretty much has everything entertainment wise:-
* History of 4 "Tomb Robbing" Clans in the Opening Credits
* Each clan's specialty - geomancy, traps, lock picking, animal affinity
* Super Expensive Sets for the Tombs. They look realistic!
* Traps. Lots of Traps! All Kinds! Poor Stunt Guys must have worked HARD.
* Dangerous bug critters. Numerous small ones and one Giant One. * Special "mythical" animals including "Super Chicken Phoenix" and Dig Dug Pangolins
* Zombies and a Zombie King
* Excessive dynamite use, including in "suicide vests" (not in a terrorist way).
* Michael Bay level of indiscriminate blowing up stuff before using brains and considering maybe don't blow up stuff before getting your own people out first?
* Brotherhood, followed by Game of Thrones level Betrayals, Backstabbing and lots of Death ... and viewers rooting for some people to die because we're bloodthirsty by nature, we hate them and we want them dead like mob spectators.

What I learned from the characters:-
* Handsome ML (*swoon* Vengo as Zhe Gu Shao) with skills and a tragic backstory, will eventually, slowly and surely, win over Xin Zhi Lei (Hua Ling) who is supposed to be the fierce man hater.
* Chen Yu Lou (Pan Yue Ming) acted brilliantly as the Xieling Sect leader who's trying to do the best he can for his men and his "people", yet nothing is good enough for his daddy until loads of blood has been shed.
* Luo Lao Wai (Cao Wei Yu) wow I HATED his character and was actively hoping this paragon of creating a hostile work environment and #1 sexual harasser would die so I could stop hearing his "laugh acting". Except, when he did ... I felt kind of sad.
* I won't name the other characters because it was like Game of Thrones, as SOON as I got attached to them, BAM out of nowhere, they die!! If this were a Korean drama they might have mysteriously survived but no, those types of wounds should be fatal, and the realism is appreciated.

Moral of the story: Tomb raiding is lucrative, BUT dangerous as all heck. Over 200 people must have died to the traps, the critters, the wildlife, the curse(s), the undead and the backstabbing humans infected by the deadly selfishness "treasure fever" who lose all sense of conscience and think killing other humans means a bigger share. Personally I don't think it's worth it, and maybe the high risk is WHY those tomb robbing clans are going extinct.

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perfect execution

As much as the story isn't anything new, the way it is acted and presented stands out. Drama is short, cute and fluffy, but also has steamy moments when you feel like a peeping tom.
Female lead is supposed to be cute and honestly the actresses nailed it. Her portrayal of a sweet cunning lady is very likeable and natural. Male lead is also good at his part, and makes it work. They both have good chemistry and are pleasure to watch.
I liked the slice of life feel this drama has, and the pace was very good too. It's just 7 episodes with smaller arcs in each one. Shorter episodes but they are all packed with plot developements and don't have much filler.
This drama is a very good example of how you can tell a stale cliched sorry in a way it still feels fresh like a can of sparking water.

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Story: Taking into account the fact that this was made in 2004, I give the story a 7.
Even though it was made almost 9 years ago, I had to take off some points for some serious loopholes in the story. It seemed like, after the first 30-40 minutes, the story was just dropped. They had went from not liking each other to suddenly using cute nicknames so fast that you could get whiplash. There was never a hint of them liking each other, so it just felt off. Once I got over it though, it wasn't too bad.
The first half hour or so was definitely the best part of this movie though. I had to keep pausing because I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even hear what they were saying.

Acting/Cast: I'm already a big fan of both Kim Jae Won and Ha Ji Won, and while this didn't really make me feel better or worse about my like of Kim Jae Won (although seeing that body was a nice surprise), my love for Ha Ji Won definitely grew.

Even though Ha Ji Won was 25/26 when she filmed this (which I still can't believe while watching the movie), she pulled off her role as a teenager flawlessly.

Kim Jae Won was amazing in his role of self-absorbed rich boy.

I personally think they meshed well when on screen. The love-hate relationship they had going on was believable.

Music: I enjoyed the music throughout the movie.

Rewatch Value: Like I said, there were some things that just didn't make sense to me throughout the movie, so it's not something I'd want to give another try. At least not for a while.

Overall: It had its ups and it had its down. The chemistry between the leads made up for a lot of the downs. The beginning and ending also made up for the downs.

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Fluff and slice of life in one series

I watched this after I read the reviews. Quick watch for a chinese drama. 16 episodes and each episode was good the story was well put together. Besides, I was looking for something to watch while waiting for new episodes of the heiress and dance of the phoenix.

5 childhood friends live together in a compound share the joy and pain of growing up. I like how the story focused on family and friendship and how the show developed each character.

Tan Song & Cheng Zi
The typical frenemies, you could tell they would eventually end up together. I like how Cheng Zi is not a weak and simple minded girl. She's a typical teenage girl who fangirls, has a crush here and there but has never been in love.
Tan Song is the boy next door that annoys her yet protects her for his own good. Lol. He does not admit thaf he likes her but if still shows.

The gradual development of their relationship from friends to being in a relationship was realistically written.

Chen Zui & Jin Xiao
The overacheiving friends in their group. What I like about this two is how their personality is a contrast of one another. Chen Zui is a boy whose sensitive and mindful of the emotuons of people he care about and Jin Xiao is a clueless girl except in her academics. This is like the opposite of a typical drama

I like and hate how their relationship was left open ended but I understand why. He understood that the girl he likes has dreams she wants to pursue and love is not on the top of her priority list. She's insensitive but not mean. She cares for her friend but it looked like she was not gonna fall for him anytime soon.

There are snippets in the last two episodes which I am not sure if the girl was hinting at him about her feelings but she asks a question like in a situational sense but dropped the topic eventually. He confessed but was not taken seriously because they were role playing at that couple gameshow. I teared up a little when the voice over at the last episode made me realize he wouldn't say his feelings for her but have done much for her without her knowing.

It made me realize something at one point we may all have had the unrequited love. You give it your best shot not expecting anything in return. It's sad. Heartbreaking even but you will never show that pain to anyone else.

Jin Zhao & Ouyang
I like these two a lot. Although they don't know want in life they are happy to live the lifw they have.

Ouyang is that guy everyone has a crush on because he's a gentleman and a manly man. Girls can't help but fall for the guy who seemed to have it.

Jin Zhao knows himself well enough to stop hoping for a college life he knows he's not good academically and he bravely faced life head on starting at telling his mom to let him be. I like how he and his sister Jin Xiao showed a typical sibling relationship.

I like also how each househould is different from the others
Yet since they have been neighbors far too long they seem like one big happy family. I must say it was short, sweet, and makes me want for more but I kinda think they concluded it well. No messy third parties and no second lead syndrome. I definitely would watch this again.

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Life is Baseball

As the proverbial phrase goes, when life gives you lemons you make lemonade out of them. Or in baseball terminology, when life throws a curveball at you, hit it right out of the park.

Hachigatsu wa Yoru no Batting Center de revolves around a mysterious ex-pro baseball player, Ito Tomohiro, who hangs out at a local batting centre helping a variety of female customers deal with their life problems using what he calls Baseball Theory. He is able to discern their predicaments by observing the way they bat and has an uncanny ability of psychologically projecting their psyche into an utterly immersive fantasy world - a baseball stadium where he draws upon his experience in baseball competitions and strategies to deal with their respective problems.

Central to this premise is 17-year old Natsuha Mai, a part-timer at the batting centre and who happens to have her own troubled past. Joining Tomohiro’s efforts in helping these customers enables her to eventually exorcise her own demons.

Running at 30 minutes each, this 9-episode medium-budget production features slice-of-life themes presented in an episodic format that involve the workplace, family and relationship dynamics. Although the themes are not explored with profound depth, as expected of a short series, the storytelling of each story arc is rather engaging and still manages to tug at the heartstrings, particularly in the final episode.

The leads are decently portrayed by Sekimizu Nagisa and Nakamura Toru, as Mai and Tomohiro respectively. A Japanese baseball legend makes a cameo appearance during each episode, along with the multitude of guest stars. The catchy and upbeat J-rock intro and outro themes are performed by CreepHyp, namely Shoumona and Konnani Kanashiinoni Hara ga Naru.

All in all, Hachigatsu wa Yoru no Batting Center de is a well-produced quality short format series which I would categorise as a lighthearted healing drama. The baseball terminology isn’t too challenging to comprehend, provided you have good quality subs, while the life lessons conveyed are contemplative rather than outright didactic. A wholesome viewing experience indeed.

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Corporation lab rats

The synopsis is too simple, the drama isn't complicated or nitty gritty as I initially thought. After watching squid game and alice in borederland, the fight for money seems like a fantasy death match

But in reality we all live in a twisted trap, work.
This drama used their metaphors and connected 5 different people in a really well thought out web of connections.
Character A has an intersection with Character B, Character C has an intersection with Character B, but he also meets A, D and E..
It seems complex but it was so smooth. Also it's so short yet so full of content, honestly one of the best scripts of 2022

The metaphor does revolve around money. People need it, people get inslaved by it, people hate it but people need it



As an interior designer actually it's literally like 1ep, we draw, delete, draw, calculate, delete, given weird tasks like break tiles, glue fabric, and 90% of the time it's the mood of the team leader

I wanted to be a designer cuz I love creating, I love art and I didn't want to be stuck in a cubicle. But in the end we're all lab rats of corporation.

The 2nd ep uses the metaphor of games, does life give you a 2nd chance?


I also adored the little fashion queens♡ ep5 didn't feel connected until you get to ep6 and it becomes the bow that wrapped the story together perfectly
The revelations of the last ep were my favorite, it was shocking, it made sense, it was sad and it was really well acted

Tbh I wished for more, most of the stories felt uncompeleted and eventhough the stories were like a spark of the real meaning I became attached to the characters

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Extraordinary You/ Tiger and Rose vibes

There are a lot of dramas out there that are jumping on the "person falls into a novel" idea that Tiger and Rose did so well, sadly a LOT of them fail to live up to their hype and the story ends up not making any sense. This one though I think really did a great job of coming up with a unique take on it. The episodes are a little less than 30 minutes, and topping out at at 20 ep total it's a pretty quick watch. I recommend putting this on your watchlist asap.

It's a high school romance drama set inside a novel but it deals with a lot of real world topics in a realistic way including bullying, eating disorders, escapism, and personal growth. Will those issue really resolve themselves the way they do in the drama if we act in the same way as they did? Probably not, but how do we know if we don't try? I liked the overall message that was delivered and thought it was done well, entertaining, engaging ,and still gave us the lesson.

There's a bit of existential crisis/edge to the final third of the series but I like how it was addressed and wrapped up in the final episode.

Final Grades:
Story was pretty good, had one or two things that could have been tweaked a little so I gave it 9.0
Actors did a great job, I never fell out of any scene. 10
Music was enjoyable but forgettable, I don't remember any songs and I'm not humming it after it's over. 6.0
Rewatch, definitely. It's a short and cute series and I'll watch it again someday soon. 10.

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