The story starts with a bunch of students that couldn't be any more normal who greet a mysterious transfer student. Afterwards, bit by bit things start getting weirder with people who associated with him. One thing we know, this tenkousei (transfer student) is on a mission. Things get a bit complicated, but the style the direction used made it easier to absorb throughout each episode. There were many interesting characters which could've been nice to explore more. Some of them were pushed to the side to give screen time to additional characters, which was unfortunate but understandable given the time constraint. I love science fiction when sets it's own rules and logic, and operate within those guidelines which was what I found in this drama.
What I liked most in here was the directing. It managed to bring in all those elements that I enjoy watching in my shows and placed them together in such a fitting smooth laid-back manner that made such a complex story easy to digest. I also love the way they filmed the whole show, as if it was back in the 70s which brought this nostalgic feeling to it. Other than the use of cellphones, this dorama could've easily been mistaken for a sci-fi from that time. Whether it's a good or a bad thing is subjective. For me it felt like it came perfectly with the other elements of the show.
As for the acting and performances, there were countless really good ones but of course the one that stood out, and was the heart and soul of the dorama was Hongo Kanata. I cannot begin to describe how awesome he is here. Keeps you puzzled such a long time wondering if he's a human, an alien, a cyborg or some other sort of being. His gestures were flawless and the emotions he releases through his face were heart-rending. Other than him, the ever glowing Sugisaki Hana has been growing on me in every role I see her. She's particularly endearing here, her character being a bit different from previous role I've seen her in. Even with those two performances, Nakamura Aoi wasn't over shadowed for me. The reason isn't because of a bias but more since his character is one I connected the most with. I liked his laid back lazy, sometimes awkward personality. He was a natural in it. I felt Sakurai Minami was the most overshadowed since neither her character nor her performance stood out in any at all. There were many other great performances but it'll be too long to talk about it ;)
The ending they chose wasn't the best in my view but it doesn't bother me either. I think this dorama could've been perfect if given more time (more episodes or even seasons) to be fully explored, but the story needed to come to an end
As for the music it was great. The opening song and the video with it were awesome. I love the ending song. It really is uplifting and cheerful. Even if you don't watch the show, believe me it's worth checking out the song ;)
So to conclude and summarize the whole thing, if you like a laid-back drama who contains interesting elements such as coming of age with sci-fi twist, then that's exactly what you need to watch. If you're a fan of Hongo Kanata, it's also woth checking out ;)
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Acting/Cast: Acting is good but not amazing. What sets this drama apart from others is the style of filming. The drama has a rather realistic and rustic feel to it. I must admit to frowning a lot in the first episode because I was not used to the way how the scenes 'move' a lot - like how you are watching a semi-professional home-made video. Eventually, however, I got used to this style of filming. There was none of the polished feel of the bigger budget 'mainstream' dramas. Even the special effects were minimal and low budgeted (mostly just light play). Yet, despite all of these, the story was good enough to make you want to click for the next episode (out of curiosity). It also helped that each episode runs for only 30 mins - kept things tight and concise without the audience losing interest in the story.
Music: Music was mediocre.
Rewatch value: This is a drama that you should watch at one go but once you know the story and its plots, you may not want to revisit it anytime soon.
Overall: If you have 6 hours to burn and do not have any excellent dramas you have not watched, this is a good alternative. Takes a while to get used to the different filming style, especially if you'd gone from the highly polished Korean dramas to this one. This drama is neither bad nor excellent. It sits somewhere in between as a fair entertainment.
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This review may contain spoilers
MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS!!!Story: 6/10
Honestly, I came into this drama expecting something completely different! I was thinking this was going to be sort of a romantic comedy, or something more centered towards the growth of Yamazawa Norio and his time on earth, his growing appreciation for earthly things.. but it wasn't. It was more serious than that. It was about people/aliens coming from different dimensions and curing royalty... and then that's what I got. It got very technical towards the end. I don't know if the subs available weren't translated as well as they should be, or if the terms are just that confusing. The storyline was pretty original as far as I could tell. But then again, I don't watch sci-fi stuff so I guess I don't have much say on that.
I thought some things were left resolved too quickly (or not resolved at all). The biggest thing that jumped out at my brain was the mysterious enemy.. and then either subs failed me or it was just bad writing.
I think this drama was trying to do too much, then it forgot some things that it originally started out with. For instance, it was really funny the first few episodes, then it got super serious. Love was also put on a back burner. The flow or mood of the drama really changed, and I didn't like that so much.
Visual effects were poor. But, it didn't detract too much from the story so I can't really complain.
I liked the ending. I got my pairing, but only sort of. But knowing the future helps. I wasn't convinced that Midori will like xxx, but I'll give it a pass as I think time will help them.
Acting/Cast: 7/10
I liked the cast a lot. I think what eventually got me to watch this drama was because Nakamura Aoi was in it. Everyone played their roles nicely. It did bother me a little bit when some characters disappeared for a while, like Kagawa Midori. She disappeared for a while from the story when the drama got all deep into the sci-fi stuff.
The only thing that still bothers me is how Yamazawa Norio took advantage of the old guy who has dementia... and then kept mind-controlling him. But I'm glad they gave Ebara a happy ending.
Music: 9/10
I pretty much liked all of the music in this drama. I watched this drama all in one go, so I can't remember every piece, but the music was beautiful. I especially loved the piano pieces, which really brought out the sweetness and innocence of the scene. The ending was an amazing song called Dream by Shimizu Shota. That was actually how I found this drama. I was listening to random jpop songs that would interest me, and the song was so amazing that I decided to watch the drama (after finding out from the comments that it was the ending for Nazo no Tenkousei). The opening was equally amazing, and it was actually sung by Sakurai Minami (who played Kagawa Midori, lead female role). The song was good, but I loved the opening video MUCH, MUCH MORE!! It was just AMAZING!! Paired with the music, it was just so creative and beautiful and a great work of art!!
Rewatch: 6/10
Because my brain can't be fully comprehend all of the sci-fi terms in this drama, I just end up getting confused and checking out. For that reason, I gave it a 6/10. I may want to watch it again in the future now that I know what it's like, just to see the things that I missed.
Overall: 7/10
It was overall a decent drama, just not my cup of tea. I wished I came in knowing what I was in for. Maybe then, I would've enjoyed it more. But oh well, I got my dose of Nakamura Aoi and I'm happy.
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