This review may contain spoilers
Fantastics - A fake documentary
In this fake documentary we follow the lives of Fantastic's members, and we mainly follow their activities inside their dorms which take place prior and after their work schedule.STORY
Honestly, there is not a lot of story in this documentary, it is fiction and reality at the same time. There are some made up scenes/stories in the documentary that we follow. 6 members of the group are living together (Sota, Natsu, Natsuki, Keito, Yusei, Leiya) while Sekai and Taiki visit them frequently. Sota and Hori Natsuki share a room, and Leiya and Yusei also share a room and we see them grow together and spend their time together.
In this fake documentary we can see some of the struggles that the members come across trying to maintain their private life. For example, Hori Natsuki and Leiya are in a relationship and we follow them as we see them face different problems. While, Sawamoto Natsuki with the help of Sota and Keito are trying to develop the most cost-effective recipes with the existing ingredients. Lastly, we also see the close relationship of Yusei and Leiya (wink wink).
If you already know the group and know their story then this is a good show to watch with them. You will have fun. If you don't know a lot about the group (more of that in the MY OPINION section), you might get confused of what is happening and where reality ends and where fiction begins. But in overall, it is a good show to watch if you need more material with the group :) I hope that we will get a second season, as I want to see more of Sawamoto Natsuki with his assistants trying new recipes and then eating together.
MY OPINION
I know that it would be in vain to express my opinion but I need to know if other people think that same as me. Firstly, I would like to share a thought about Fantastic's activities in general. I don't know who is responsible for handling the schedule of the group or who decides in which shows the group would appear or who creates a new show for the group; but they are not that good with their job. I do realise that the main fanclub of the group is in Japan and they are highly promoting their activities in the country (honestly, not only Fantastics but I have this issue with every Exile subgroup), however they cannot belittle International fans.
It was extremely difficult to find this show online and even when I found where I could watch it, there were no Eng subs. I am not referring to official English subtitles; I couldn't find the episodes even with fanmade english subtitles. Instead, I found the episodes online with Chinese subtitles, I downloaded the chinese subtitles and with an online tool I translated them to English, and then I uploaded them on the video. Sure, there are some sections that don't make sense but that was the only way to understand the episodes. In general, I know that it is difficult to easily find a japanese show in the existing sites where we watch Asian Dramas and Movies but this is ridiculous. Due to this inaccessibility of different shows with the group and the lack of English subbed content the group cannot grow their fandom internationally and become more popular.
I find it sad that we will never get english subbed content and shows accessed in common platforms for international fans (e.g. youtube), as I really believe in the groups potentials. The group has all the talent to succeed, not only in the music industry but also entertainment industry, but they don't have the right substructures to help them grow. You have the older member/leader that provides wise advises in the group (Sekai), three sunshines (Sota, Taiki, Keito), the "mother" that takes care of the group members behind the scenes (Natsuki Sawamoto), and lastly you have the seemingly closed people (Yusei and Leiya) that when you get to know you understand how warm they are. The dynamics of the group have great potentials if they were used efficiently.
I think of myself a rookie fan of the group. It has been only a month or so that I follow the group's music and activities. I knew about the group (since I am a huge Generations fan), but I never followed Fantastics; however, after My Beautiful Man, I found myself searching for more shows with them to watch. During an episode Sekai refers to the relationship between Taiki and Yusei, which Taiki said that in the past he had publicly said some bad things for Yusei and that he didn't like him (at least that's what I understood with my broken Japanese and the online translation). When I tried to look for this incident, I couldn't find any video or comment regarding this issue. That holds me back from knowing more about them and it would always give Japanese fans or fans that have ease access to the group's content an advantage and a gap between us (international fans) and them (national fans) would always exist.
What do you think? Am I over dramatic and I exaggerate too much?
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A Fake-Documentary that was really nice to watch - if you know the Band
First and foremost, this is probably mostly a series for people to watch who already know the Band "Fantastics from Exile Tribe", because their members are the actors here.As it is a fake documentary, they play themselves, but act out things that never happened like this (and most likely never will). You get a glimpse into their supposed characters, what they do in their free time (there's really little to see about Band activities) and how they handle everyday life.
Sadly there's no English subs yet, so people like me have to rely on the baby Japanese they know (and throw the subtitles into deepL) to understand what goes on.
I liked it, because it's about Fantastics who I really got to like through Yusei (who played Kiyoi in Utsukare). It was nice to see what could be parts of their life, not knowing what was staged and what was real (besides the very obvious storyline with Yusei, where I am 100% sure it's fake lol).
I just feel sad that we didn't get to enjoy more of what was hinted in the last seconds of the last episode, haha. Therefore I am REALLY hoping for a second season to see the storyline develop further. Also I would be interested in the others storylines as well, seeing how it goes for them.
I had a really good time watching it and they got quite an amount of emotions out of me :D
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Jenga
Firstly I want to thank the 'fext subs' person in the comments to link this with english subtitles!!This was a really sweet and casual show looking into the lives of these idols. The pacing was nice, it was almost cathartic in its chill atmosphere in a way I don't usually see. I like the authentic-y look into their lives - also just into a part of japan I might not see. It's not often I see stuff that's not really scripted, and it allowed me to learn more Japanese. As in My Beautiful Man, Yusei was really nice to watch; I'm always loving the subtleties of expressions that play on his face. Him and Leiya were great to watch together (also, both so very beautiufl!)
Also, sombody mentioned it didn't really have a plot (besides the flirting between those two). I would say the plot is: Jenga ✨
xD that song was a BANGER, not gonna lie xD
Great overall show, a pleasure to watch. Arigato gozaimasu!
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