A sea of subplots

If this drama is a plate of food, it had the best ingredients and beef but the chef is panicking so he added all the spices available in the kitchen, then overcooked it because he's afraid the meat will be rare. Because they have to make a 16 episode drama, they give you a lot of side stories forcefully crammed in the storyline. To be fair, sometimes I complained because the supporting characters are not given enough story depth, but 18 Again was too much in doing that. Most of the latter half of the drama is filled with all these stories and they successfully reduced my interest. I also admit that I loved the comedic parts of these stories but no, we don't need the stalker, we don't need Ye Ji Hoon's brother and his story, probably Choi Il-gwon is not necessary too. There are already enough flashbacks and more important side stories to focus on.

The casts are doing good job in their roles, especially Lee Do Hyun who successfully portrayed the 18-year old and 37-year old parts. There is no awkwardness when he is in romantic scenes with Kim Ha Neul. Yoon Sang Hyun on the other hand also managed to express frustrations and regrets to the viewers very well.

Music is generally nice, but not that super memorable. Why? Blame "Hello" for that. The song is a bit overused and in the end your mind just randomly playing "hello... hello...". So yes it managed to stick on me, but as a nuisance.

Overall this drama is quite enjoyable because the story is actually nice and full of life lessons, just skip the unfunny side stories.

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First I have to say that the title and synopsis misled my expectations to the drama, I was thinking it will be about a doctor who perform miracles in the middle of dire situations. The drama is more about slice of life type, where you'll see many people who have their own struggles but every one seems to perceive he/she negatively without completely understanding him/her. The pace is incredibly slow, but as a compensation you can see nice views in the background. The key is to survive Episode 1, as in the next one you will start to know why it has quite a good rating. There are some nice surprises in this seemingly calm drama, but as we go to the end the story somewhat failed to impress me in term of the emotional aspect.

Talking about the casts, Fukushi Sota really managed to impress me in his role as Ichito, I can feel the sincerity he tried to portray. Nana Seino as Haruna also did a solid job as an understanding wife. I also liked Dr. Naito and the director of the hospital (and the running gag with them too). Overall, the drama is a good watch and it managed to give lessons to the viewers without being so idealistic. I'd recommend it if you are a patient watcher and love emotional stories.

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A police-themed comedy drama is not easy to make, sometimes they just go full blown comedy while sacrificing the depth of the story/characters. Dorokei is not that type of drama, because it managed to find the balance between the comedic part and the serious part. The character growth is good, you can watch how Madarame mostly goofing around here and there before growing to be more mature as he and his peers in Section 13 started to appreciate the work. However, the storyline is slightly inconsistent - it jumps back and forth from being predictable or not (but thankfully there are more 'unpredictable' ones).

Kenty as Madarame did very well, I felt that his acting was very natural and when he is doing the comedic parts it was just like watching him during variety shows. Kenichi Endo is brilliant as usual, when Kemurigarasu is in 'ruthless mode' I think it was very cool. I can't help thinking about Bisho Tantei Goro Akechi when seeing Tomoya Nakamura in this drama, basically it it just Goro with some changes to create Ojiyama (yeah, I watched that drama first - please understand that).

I loved the OST, it really suits the theme of the drama for me. The sound effects were good as well, but at times they spoiled the story and make parts of the story became less surprising.

So despite the minor flaws, I overall enjoyed this drama. It is a good choice to give you some entertainment.

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Better than the first

For me, the first season wasn't as good as the rating said. But I still watch this because I'm curious about Miyama's father. They have changed a few aspects and I have to say it worked. The focus of the story switched from the first season, more personal issues and the main enemy tends to be the judicial system itself. The jokes are also upgraded (especially that parody of the main title) and more refreshing. The role of Maiko Ozaki by Fumino Kimura was a good one - I felt that female lead had more chemistry than the first season. I also loved Nakatsuka, the new paralegal, because she brought more to the investigation.

However, the story still ran out of gas towards the end like the first season. Although it did not bore me, the story in the last episode is not as interesting as the other episodes of the drama. I think they have to find a way to keep me always interested until the last part!

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Simple yet amusing

As this is a comedy manga adaptation, I'm all prepared to face the cringiness. Turns out there's not much of those, although I still hated how they used floating heads to express the characters' inner thoughts (I googled for a few pages of the manga and didn't see that being featured actually). The story isn't complicated, one cases per episode to be solved and flows nicely. Probably my complaint would be about the ending, where they should ended it earlier instead of stretching it. I found this drama to be a good watch if you're tired from work/school and just want some light and amusing story to keep your mood positive. Some people might think the drama is boring, but I think the key is after the first three episodes you'll able to enjoy it.

The main staff members portrayed the struggle under an unpredictable boss very well and so does Satomi Ishihara as the owner. Credit also go to Jun Shison where he managed to portray a Yume-chan like character without overly doing it.

Watch if you: want some light drama

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The drama started with interesting cases but as the story progressed the cases became less creative. The parts towards the ending did not really focus on main character, which I found a bit wasteful since we have gone through Shinjuro's perspective of Meiji Restoration and it would be nice if they showed us a final deep thought or reflection. What I found funny is that when Shinjuro said an English phrase, most of the times no one seems really to question. That being said, the characters are presented quite well: Yuki Shinjuro the one who always thinks and hide many mysteries, Toranosuke who progressed from noisy acquaintance to a trusted buddy of Shinjuro, Miss Kano who hates Shinjuro at first but later starts to like him. If you want a Japanese drama with historical context but not solely about the war - this might worth a try.

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The drama has a interesting starting plot, however nearing the end it just wandering without clear direction. The last episode had one last chance to bring a big shock, but did not do that - it just ended like what you might already thinking in the first episode. I will also never understand will Hoshio has to fly with that weird pose lol. Regarding the characters, Sawa probably is not what people nowadays want to see - she's egoist and somewhat manipulative but always get away from it. I love the story of Shigeta's family, it adds more to the story. For the funny part, they rely on repeated comedy skits which actually worked with me.

The casts are doing a solid job with their acts, some might think Ryoko Hirosue and Sota lacked chemistry but I feel that it was meant to be like that - Sawa is desperate and in need of a partner while Hoshio is just loving without really understanding it. I also liked Ryusei Onishi as a tough on the outside but softhearted Dai.

Loved the main theme (I was very happy when it was finally on Spotify) - it suits the drama and it came out at the right timing, but that's about it.

Nevertheless, it is still fun to watch for those who want just have a light entertaining drama to fill the day.

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It's very niche

I think it's a bit difficult to enjoy this drama if you are not familiar with the science-based jokes and figures which are the "comedy source" of this drama. Some of the jokes might cause cringe instead of actually making you laugh, even though I know what are they joking about. The casts are okay and so does the storyline. Nothing really stood out but it somehow made you keep continuing to watch. Music is almost non-existent, just the childish "na na na boo boo" in it.

If you are a big fan of Kotaki Nozomu, this drama is basically a fan service with all the zooming in to Kakeda when he's thinking or re-enacting a historical scene about science. The drama did teach me a few stuff I haven't known before and some of the relatable jokes made it enjoyable. But I believe not many viewers can 'click' to this drama - it will be a hit or miss.

Watch if you: still remember the science stuff from school, big fan of Kotaki Nozomu, or just want to see the live action version of the manga

And that's my first review in MDL. Thank you for reading.

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Despite only having 6 episodes, I think the plot progressed well and I don't feel rushed when watching this drama. The balance between the comedic and serious parts are very nice. However if you have watched many police/detective themed drama, the cases might not be as complicated as the others (not much guessing game in it). I also did not really like the way how they 'stop' the culprit, for me it was less realistic (in real life the situation you won't do that).

In term of acting, you got a strong chemistry between Kei Tanaka and Ryosuke Yamada. Kei Tanaka is superb in his role, the 'big brother' vibe by him is very strong here. Yamada did very well in his face expressions, no stiffness when he changed from funny to sad to serious expressions. Sekimizu also did well in her role, I can feel that she cares about the two male leads and not just a random help to bait the criminals. I also liked Eriko Noguchi and Jesse in the drama, maybe I'll consider to watch the spinoff.

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First of all, this is not your usual drama but rather a 10-episode sitcom/comedy skit. So if you do not enjoy such things and not a fan of the two main leads, you might not have a reason to watch.

The story is just OK for me, you got moments where you laughed out loud and also moments where you just smirked at the jokes. I felt that the story is a bit scattered - a few aspects were just thrown and fitted in to the episode since they only have 3 rooms in the "setting". I would not comment on each of the cast's acting but the casts as a whole has a very good balance. Despite Shin and Ume are portrayed by idol group members, they bond quite well with the other casts who are mostly comedians (you don't see someone dominating the others).

I love the opening animation and also the main theme (Otori no Yu theme). I can't get that song out of my head since I watched this drama. Recommended if you just want to watch something light after a tiring day at work.

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"Ii ne~~"

My first assumption on this drama is the funky private tutor will help a dysfunctional family by solving case by case every episode. I'm glad I am proven wrong on that lol. This drama really highlighted the reality of 'some' modern family, not just in Japan (with that honne-tatemae concept) but also in other parts of the world too. When the tutor said "this kind of family is just like a room-sharing friends", it felt really deep in the heart. Also, the struggle to keep family together after you realized the mistakes was very relatable, because in this fast-paced modern life many things are taken for granted - including family.

Sho Sakurai as the tutor did an amazing job here. The grin, the gaze, the drastic threatening action and the "ii nee~~" really left a good impression with me. The Numata family members also did well, but my particular highlight is Kamiki Ryunosuke. His face expressions in the role were very natural and not overdoing it. The main theme in this drama is very nice, I love the melody and it really brought the "game" mood to the drama.

I have to say this is the best drama I watched for some months, I did not skip the story since I am so hooked to it, probably my only complaint is that the later episodes used too many flashbacks but it is still quite bearable. I'll definitely recommend this for anyone interested in J-Dramas!

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Find something behind the spiciness - but it wasn't spicy....

The storyline was not what I expected from a supposedly comedy drama, the actual comedy is only in Episode 7 for me. Labelling this as "Slice of Life" or "Motivational Drama" is more suitable than comedy, since the Chief and his Gekikaradou philosophy was meant to motivate workers who were struggling at work to look from another perspective to tackle their own problem. You can enjoy the growth of Sarukawa from a newly transferred guy to a inseparable part of his current department. But other workers except Ryosuke did not really grow. Like Sarukawa who had to dig deeper from extremely spicy food that he's not good at, viewers were asked to look deeper in the story and find the work life tips. The problem is, it really lacks "spice" and the story is flat most of the times.

In term of the acting, there is not much too say. Everyone did a good job but no one really stood out. I usually did not really like a happy-go-lucky character like Ryosuke, but his appearance brightens this drama and I think it helped me to continue this drama. The sound effects are standard, but I really loved the OST - especially when I realized this is a motivational series for office workers.

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Before I begin reviewing, I just want to say that watching Episode 1 in this pandemic era made me smile (I was thinking: "S***, they predicted this").

The cases in the drama are mostly well-thought and well-executed, maybe with exception of the few cases related to the main plot which was a bit draggy. They did not just solve cases related to unnatural deaths but also gave a soft criticism to the certain aspects of Japanese society.

I love all the characters in the UDI, they are all unique and the supporting characters aren't just there to support. Perhaps I liked Mikoto less than the others because the character is an idealistic type who believe that we can talk everything out, but it is forgiven because she is played by Satomi Ishihara. Masataka Kubota did a decent job as usual and I am impressed with Arata Iura's acting in here. The music, well.. maybe we don't have to talk too much about it. The OST is a big hit and you will see why it fits this drama.

So, what are you waiting for? Just watch it if you haven't!

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In term of story, the drama probably is not the most original but the problems faced by the students are quite relatable to what is happening now in real life. As what we might expect, Shimada will be the hero in every situation but I think there are times that Shimada's preparedness is too exaggerated and unrealistic. Fujiwara Tatsuya played Shimada really well, his delivery of Shimada's no-nonsense approach and harsh comments is my main highlight of this drama. Maki Youko as Ms. Asamura unfortunately had her role diminished in the later half of the drama and you don't get much impression on her as we move towards the ending, overshadowed by Katsumi Takahashi who plays the headmaster.

In general, the drama is quite interesting especially when the main plot starts to be unveiled, but it could better if the "weekly cases" is more complicated. Also, I think there is one certain episode that can be omitted where there is no case at all and we ended up with a weak story about parenting issue. If you decide to watch, be ready to enjoy Shimada's antics and by the end of the drama maybe you will also start to question "Do we really need the school police?"

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