Fallen Angel (2012)

This is a drama I recommend to all those in search of a decent psychological/suspense drama with an air of mystery. It was strange and confusing to me at first, but that only made me want to continue. It's a short watch, so it's something you can complete in a day. I wouldn't say its easy or relaxing, but it sucks you into the story with various unanswered questions through each passing episode that will urge you on to the next one.

That aside, I didn't feel like this was complete by the end. I think the drama was too short for its story, which by itself was very good, but it needed much more time to achieve its potential. Because the story is neither plain nor simple, it needed room to grow and flesh out all of its intricacies that were there originally, but never really expanded upon.

The casting was perfect. I felt every actor lived up to their characters, however again going back to the time constraint I don't feel like I really got as attached and invested in them as I should have. I feel this way especially with Kuma-chan, who was such a fantastic character (superbly represented by Chiba Yudai, who really showed off his acting skill here), but got barely any screen time. The moments we got with him were some of the best, however.

The music sometimes felt like it ebbed into spots awkwardly, and sometimes it felt like it was missing. To be honest, the only time I really paid any attention to it was when one of the characters were singing, because it was a part of them and their dialogue.

I did enjoy this, however. Someday I may rewatch it, because it really was very interesting and I loved all of the characters, but it won't be for quite a while I think. Knowing all of the twists takes something out of the viewing experience. If you have some time, I recommend giving it a try.

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0_0 Love, Love, Love, Love, Love.

Similaresque to RH+, this is primarily a bromance drama, centered entirely on boys. In fact, the only women in the story at all are their mother and two spooky twin girls who come bearing deadly jellybeans (yes, you heard that right). While I love a good romance, bromances have always had a special place in my heart and they are shockingly hard to come by. This one is perfect, beautiful, sweet, and with all the touching "group hug"/"protective!older brother scenes a girl could hope for. Seriously, this is maybe even better than RH+ for brotherly scenes, and I thought RH+ was awesome.

The basic plot itself is a bit trite, carrying on the overdone theme of bad guys think Japan is overrun with worthless losers. Consequently they have decided that the world should be remade in their image. The story throws in a neat little twist though with how the bad guys decide to RESOLVE their little problem. Instead of killing off the losers, they are killing off the ones they want to save. Let's just say you'll have to see it to get the idea -- telling any more would blow the story. There are a few plot holes left unresolved at the end (such as who the two little girls were and how Yuuki was chosen for the program), but it more or less was finished at the end. I would have watched a lot more had they chosen to develop it, but I wasn't left feeling completely unsatisfied.

The acting is pretty good, and certainly on the medium to good end of Japanese stories. This surprised me a bit because I thought the story was probably low-budget. Not because of its quality but because these kinds of stories aren't usually the movie-of-the-year ones. But they managed to pull off pretty good technical settings and hired semi-good actors. In fact, the main characters were excellent, it was just the 2ndary people that sometimes dropped the ball. All in all, I was happy with the casting and filming.

Definitely a re-watch (I've already done so twice with my favorite parts). It's a little more thought-provoking than RH+, but still a pretty fast watch. All together the show is only about 4.5 hours, and that moves pretty quickly. Honestly, it ends at horrible cliff hangers usually, which kept me coming back for more so I watched it straight through. This isn't light and fluffy, but it has it's moments. Kind of a show for a dark rainy night when you are by yourself and just want something a little scary and a little warm and snuggly all at the same time.

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