If you need an outlet to cry, this is the one

A good sad movie is one that made me cry really hard and this is one of them. From the get-go, I already knew the two leads are highly going to die but even with this knowledge, I am still not mentally prepared for all the emotional scenes. Those really hit very hard especially when it’s about coming to terms to one’s demise which personally once thought I was going too. The movie has also had many warm moments that melts my hard. I really like how the leads find strength from one another to continue living. How I wish I can find one too… Even though the movie is 2hrs, I never thought there was any wasted moments which Japanese movies tend to veer towards too. All the performers acted brilliantly and the music really supports well with the scenes. I would totally watch this again if I want to cry.

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Ambitious in its intent but fell flat in the writing

To be honestly, when I first saw this drama I had high hopes because I really like deep slice of life and the premise sounds intriguing too. When I saw that the drama was made by the same person who did Silent, I realised I had to lower my expectations because I didn’t really enjoy the latter. First episode was not great as it was unnecessarily slow and draggy, a problem that plagued Silent. It picks up afterward when it goes deep into issues like death, grieve, abortion, parenting responsibilities. But the series just went absolute downhill after the episode where Natsu met his father. Every episode seems like it’s about how much they can make Natsu suffer when he is the most patient and kind character I’ve seen. Realistically, if I were in his shoe, I would have flip.

While the intention of the drama is admirable because it really tries hard to go into the aforementioned issues, its writing did not deliver. The biggest problem is Mizuki as a character. The entire series revolve around her and how because she died, her words become a life manual to everyone on how they should live. She is written as someone who believes in having options to live your life, but her words are dictating and influencing how everyone should live. And that’s problematic, because while her option to keep her child and not tell Natsu is celebrated as pro choice, it also portrays her as selfish because she is thinking about what makes her happy for her or what is right for her but without thinking the impact on others. To me, being pro-choice is a good thing, but it’s not a one-sided thing that it’s always good as there is the selfish element that the drama did not address. So, I feel that there is a propagandistic narrative (being pushy about this concept of pro choice) that the drama is trying to convey without the needed nuance to the conversation.

In the end when the writer tries to salvage Mizuki’s selfish actions by showing her letter to Natsu just isn’t convincing to me because her actions are clearly selfish but they make it sounds like she has Natsu’s intention at heart. No, she is imposing what she hopes Natsu would be and not actually giving him much choices which she claims she is. To me, her character is written as a master gaslighter especially to viewers.

Besides the flawed writing, everyone’s performance were great. Ren’s acting have surely improved but he still needs help in emotional scenes, a similar problem I had when he acted in Silent. I wasn’t convinced of his breakup scene because it felt forced. But I heard from social media that he really had trouble getting into the emotions for this and felt bad for him. I guess it’s still good that he is aware and can’t wait for his next show which hopefully, he would be better. Music is the best element in the show, love the melancholic soundtrack and also the back number song is a bop, which I don’t usually say it in my reviews.

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Heavy, but thought provoking and brilliant acting

I was really excited about seeing Ariel Lin on Taiwanese drama again after so many years and this did not disappoint. As always, Ariel Lin never fails to delivery, this time as a lonely and repressed housewife. But the other casts were also brilliant like Ann Hsu, who I felt so much pity for her character that she is portraying. Mike He and Kai Ko were brilliant too.

The next part is a spoiler:

I know there are some people who hate the ending, saying why the writer/director has to kill Ann Hsu’s character with cancer when she is already so pitiful as she lose her bf to a third party and being lonely for much of her age until she seemingly found a guy that loves her but lost again due to her illness. I feel like this cruelty is in line with the tone of the drama which is for audience to reflect on their life. I have read so many young adults, at their prime, and career-headed but in the end neglected health or hit by cancer suddenly. I think Rebecca’s death is a good reminder for us to reflect our relationship with work.

Next, there are people who hate Ariel Lin’s character because she is so annoying and she is finding trouble for herself by always being jealous to Rebecca. But to be fair, her character is really not likable but there are also people who are like her as she has really bad imposter syndrome. I have some myself and I find myself so annoying when the syndrome hits. But I think it’s refreshing that a writer is daring enough to write such a not likable character as the FL.

The music is amazing in this show. The soundtrack is fully created by award winning songwriter Tanya Chua and the way she wrote the soundtrack was so different. She had four different songs in the soundtrack that she wrote for the four leads and she described them as writing from the perspective of God where the songs serves as a form of good wishes for the characters like Love you for you is a song that hopes Rebecca can love herself more while Equatorial is a song for Jian Qingfen that wishes she can find that inner equilibrium. And the background music are all offshoot from the six songs with lyrics, making this soundtrack very interesting and refreshing for a drama.

I think the only problem I have with the show is while the script is really good, I think the writer has struggles making certain directorial choices. While the drama is mostly realist in nature, it tries to incorporate surrealist moments like the reconciliation between the two FL in the end felt more like a surrealist dream where both find ways to cure their inner demons. But realistically, it’s hard to imagine two enemies able to spend so much vulnerable time like this. The surrealist tone felt very off from the realism it tries to go for as a whole. And also, the first time the FLs meet after so long felt like a theatrical speech rather than drama. It’s so unnatural and again not consistent with the overall realism.

Overall, there’s so many thought provoking and reflective moments. But it can be preachy for some and it’s better to watch this when you are not busy because I would imagine a stressful person would want something lighter to watch. But I think it’s a really good show as a whole!

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Warm and fuzzy with good mix of comedy and emotional moments

This was one of my favourite Jdrama so far. I did not watch the manga and anime, so I don't have a point of reference to compare. But this drama was really good in making me laugh a lot with the comedic and cute moments. This is really difficult considering I am not a big fan of comedy as a lot of time, they aren't done properly. Besides the comedic moments, there's also the part where it will make you tear a lot. I think the background music also adds a lot to the atmosphere of the drama and acts as a good supporting role especially for the emotional moments.

I really like the themes explored in the show such as adulting anxiety as it's really relatable to me since I am also at the stage of an early young adult navigating what I am going to be doing in the future. And Yosuke Sugino nailed the role as an unconfident and awkward but talented calligrapher. This was coming from the point where I have watched his earlier works and I can definitely attest to how much he have grown as an actor. Risa also nailed her role as Naru as she had many scenes that required her to cry on the spot and as a young actress, that was really commendable! And her chemistry with Sugino in a sensei-disciple relationship is really in another level. The other young actors and actresses were really good too! Especially for Hiroshi, whom I can totally feel his dilemma and hesitation of deciding if he wants to pursue a career in culinary.

Another highlight was the episode when granny Yasu passed away, it was done so beautifully and realistically and a much reminder of how we eventually have to face our certain future of dying. There were so many amazing stories in this drama and totally worth to rewatch especially if you are feeling down.

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A nostalgic story about youth and rememberance.

One thing for sure, this movie does makes me want to travel solo around Japan and Tainan as the music and cinematography are top tier level. But the story is kind of cliche because it's about a ML who lost his purpose in life and he went to a trip to find back that passion while also attempting to rectify a regret, which is to find his romantic love in his youth. The ending is also kind of predictable as I already foresee that the FL has passed on, which is a typical kind of Japanese movie. But the chemistry between ML and FL is really good. I would have love Mr. Children's theme song to be incorporated into the movie especially the part where they listen through the same earpiece together, which gives more vibes to the movie. And also, the movie tend to be on the draggy side which is common in Japanese movie, but its not that draggy that it makes the movie bad. The emotional parts definitely made me cry especially when I am movies that deals with grieve. But all in all, its a good watch.

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Unexpectedly getting better as the series progresses

I am probably the anomaly here thinking that the series gets better as it progresses. I understand some of the reviewers criticisms that it gets more boring and predictable at the end as the dramaturgical structure becomes repetitive in every episode. It first begins with the challenge and Haru and Gaku miraculously overcome the challenges in the end. But I personally feel that the later half of the series gets more exciting because the stakes get higher and it helps that they added the future scenes so that I am interested in how they eventually lead to the future.

In the beginning, I almost dropped the series because I feel Meguro's acting was pushing it unnaturally. But I was captivated by his charisma as he started to show his bad side. The side characters were adequately shown and Gaku did well as a timid character who can also overcome his challenges on his own without the help of Haru. The only character that I felt is a bit of a waste in terms of development is Rinrin, which I felt like she is a wallflower without a purpose in the drama.

The music was quite lacklustre. If there is better OST and background music, I think it would make the drama better.

Overall, I think it is surprisingly a good watch and good rewatch value.

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Hopeful startup drama with some ambiguous romance

I am unsure why the hate for this drama. In my opinion, it was a pretty good drama that focus primarily on a start-up and slowly expanding and growing. But I guess even though there are some challenges that the startup faces that was depicted in the show, it's mostly a smooth journey, which you might need to take a pinch of salt, if you are watching this drama with a focus on the business side of the story. I think it's definitely way harder to build a startup than what is portrayed in the drama. But I guess the drama wants to give off that hopeful vibe that if you have a dream, you work hard and you can attain it eventually. I am not complaining though as Iife is already hard and this kind of feel good drama definitely makes life better.

There are also the focus on the romantic life of the FL, who is a career woman. There were moments that they kept emphasizing on her attraction with Kotori but I don't see that they are romantically attracted to one other as it felt to me that Kotori was more of a fatherly figure to her than a partner and this makes a lot of sense because she don't have a father. But the script was written in an ambiguous fashion about their relationship (most likely on purpose to keep audience suspense to their relationship) and I thought that the two characters pull off the ambiguity quite well. Suzaki's role is more like a silent supporter for the FL but I do feel that he is rather out of place in the show as he don't have a lot of scenes and sometimes I am not even convinced he is one of the ML. But I am happy that they got together eventually even though the pact they had for not loving each other is kind of cliche. It was a wasted opportunity that they did not manage to build up the storylines of side characters especially for Jiro and Megumi. Would love to hear more about their backstories. I feel like they are just there for the sake of being there.

Music was great but forgettable. But it fits the vibe of the show.

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Did justice to representing certain people on a spectrum

This was an unusual show as usually, dramas won't centre on a ML that is high functioning on a spectrum. I feel that a lot of dramas likes to portray autistic characters as vulnerable or a disability that needs help but this was very different with the ML as it was an unique charm of his. Issei did an amazing job portraying the complex character as I used to have a classmate who was really like his character. I also appreciated how the drama did not focus on love relationship as that is not the point of the show. Rather, its about showing that these seemingly 'different' characters can also contribute well to the society with understanding and compassion from the rest.

However, I wasn't really bought into the open ending at the end as it just feel very far-stretch and not realistic. I just feel that the writer is trying to push the out of ordinary theme to the max. And I would have love if they developed more on the students' back stories but I guess its difficult since Jdrama are very short. Otherwise, I think the drama was really good and did a good job in depicting the lives of people who are high functioning and on a spectrum. The music plays a good supportive role to the plot but nothing out of the extraordinary.

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The show that made me love Lee Jong Suk

This was the show that really made me a Lee Jong Suk stan and watch almost all of his shows after. His acting was so good even though he was relatively new here. And the female lead, top notch, totally worthy of getting Daesang that year. She was just so refreshing to watch with her sassiness. Another great acting was the villain, he really made me very scared of him when I watched him when I was 16.

Story wise, I think it was a really great plot with good balance between romance and thrills. Perhaps, the only complain I had was how it tends to make the villain invincible and unbeatable as if there were no cops at all. I guess it was to make the story more dramatic and tragic but the heightened tension tends to skew towards the slightly unbelievable. But I realized it might be something that Kdrama would do.

As a whole, I think this was a show not to miss.

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Modern day relationship woes transposed into historical settings

Personally, once in a while, I do like to watch sad endings because in reality, not everything is rainbows. What I really like here is Ruyi is the embodiment of a modern woman, someone who knows what she wants and will ruthlessly protect her sense of self and worth even if it means to cut off from her one true love who have turned toxic with the environment he is in. The star here is definitely Zhou Xun where even her gaze or eye movement can mean certain things.

While the ending might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I feel that it does represents the many issues that couples faced in modern relationship. The only difference is that because this is set in a historical setting, she can only choose isolation and death as a way of freedom which shows how oppressive women faced especially in the royal harem of ancient China. But I don’t think the ending is completely sad as I see Ruyi’s fate as her road to freedom while her lover suffers in eternal agony for the things she did to her. Overall, this was a really good historical show to watch.

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An intriguing drama about the life of proofreading

When I first started this series, I was kind of skeptical because how will a drama be exciting if it’s just about proofreading but I was proven wrong as the drama did make it interesting to watch even though the profession might be dry to some. But I think a Japanese person would appreciate this more because they tend to explain some technical proofreading stuff related to the Japanese language and while it’s intriguing to learn, I might not comprehend its nuances entirely.

In terms of acting, I think the FL was amazing here. Her expressions and flair for comedy is really good. She is indeed the life of the show. But I was a bit let down by Suda because I felt his character is more of a side character here rather than a ML. However I think it’s more of the script rather than the actor’s fault.

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All is good until episode 7

Well, I really enjoy the show until episode 7 when the main leads held hand at twilight. But everything fell apart afterwards as it seems that the writer just want to make the plot draggy by putting a lot of obstacles between the main couple that prevented them from really becoming together. And I hated how they had to villianize the lesbian SFL by making her jealous and plotting against the main couple. Do we really have to do this?? But Ren Nagase was really bf material and totally green flag. I love his chemistry with Sodamame. The FL also did a good job acting her character and totally convinced me that she is a true country bumpkin. But, I am not very convince with the plot how Sodamame career was quite smooth sailing and the boss returning her ideas after he stole from her is really unrealistic imo. The stealer of the show was the OST and the background soundtrack. I think its really good compared to other Jdramas I watched. Personally, I would only rewatch till episode 7 if I had to, to save myself from being frustrated with the plot.

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Warm family drama but ML can be rather insufferable

A pretty solid slice-of-life family drama that showcases the many conflicts that could happen in a family. The conflicts happen episodically so, don't expect a big conflict that ties the whole series together. The characters' interactions were fun to watch but the ML can be really insufferable because of his personality. This can be good and bad. It shows how the Ikuta Toma was really good in his performance and convinced me of the depiction of his character. But it also means that I wouldn't want to rewatch the show as watching his character argue his flaws away was really painful to watch. But he does have his cute sides especially when he helped to resolve some of the problems his niece is facing.

Besides this, I wasn't very convinced with his love with the rich woman, it felt very rush and I am not sure if it's really needed for the plot. Otherwise, the music is fine and supports the vibe of the show well.

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An unflinching portrayal of the horrors and resiliences in war

This was a really good watch imo as it shows the other side of World War 2 from the Japanese perspective. Of course, its not to excuse the atrocities that the Japanese empire has done, but Japanese citizens also suffer its consequences too especially with the Hiroshima nuclear bombing. I was really impressed with the depiction of nuclear bombing victims as they really showed the charred appearance unflinchingly, which shows how cruel the use of nuclear weapons can be.

The romance was really cute too as the main couple were very reserved but they are good folks who are trying to make do with the trying situation. The acting for Suzu (FL) was spot on, I really felt the pain when she lost her arm while also blaming herself for causing the death of her cute niece. And it was especially heartbreaking to watch how she also lost a part of her identity when she lost her right arm since she likes to draw a lot. But I would have like to watch more from the ML since he didn't has a lot of scenes. That's why I feel that his acting was ok at best as he don't have the chance to show his acting chopes, This was a shame as I really like the actor's works.

I think the only problem I have is how the first misunderstanding between the main couple was resolved quite quickly and I personally don't see a point to have the current scenes added. Felt more gimmickly than adding any value to the plot. Some commenters were saying how they don't like how the main couple didn't address their issue with Rin but I feel that it was very Japanese to do that as they were known to do these kind of ambiguous storytelling, which I am fine with it. The music was good but unmemorable imo. Overall, I think this was a really good show and worth rewatching it again.

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If you need a drama to cry, this is the one

This is the drama if you really need a good release of tears. I was crying almost every episodes. The story was not the most original since there are dramas that already portray lead characters with life threatening illnesses. But what I really appreciate is the tenacity of the ML to live with the disease despite the sufferings he has to face. Plus Haruma Miura was so good in this! It was quite rare for me to fully care about a fictional character and how his future will pan out because he was so convincing as an ALS patient. He is the soul for this drama, every expressions he does makes me want to hug him so much. Its such a shame that he was not with us anymore.

I also love how the story addresses the issues that Takuto has with his family. It felt so real and I could totally feel his pain for being the unloved child in the family and how he got the courage to voice it out to his mum after he got ALS. The brother's growth was also endearing.

But the only thing that I hate about this drama was the writing for Shigeyuki. They really did him dirty. He is more like a character to add more spice to the drama. I think the love triangle was unnecessary but I guess they want to emphasise how unwavering the ML and FL love is.

I am also not a fan of the FL, but she did grow on me in the end. I just felt confused with her portrayal in the beginning.

The music is really good. Everytime I hear Harukaze by Rihwa, the sadness just kicks on me.

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