Good Morning Call (2016)

This is not good

Holy shit, this is not good, it fails in almost every single aspect what the hell. Trust me in this one: If you're really interested in this just read the damn manga, this drama is NOT worth it.

First, what bothers me the most, is the acting.

The female lead does a horrible job in acting, she tries so hard to copy the aspects of how the female lead acts in the manga that she forgets that this is not a manga, it's a television show and she's a human, not a cartoon character. The same can be said for the other actors, most of them fall for this trap to try and act like their manga counterparts and end up making of the silliest and most awkward acting I've seen in a while. They tried making as faithful as possible to the manga not remembering that there are things that ONLY WORK IN THEIR RESPECTIVE MEDIAS.

The romance is quite rushed with stupid silly plotlines (TOO SILLY EVEN), you can't take the "villains" seriously 'cause is just too silly, maybe this is a country aspect but I just could NOT take those girls seriously at all. They're fighting this one Sasuke-inspired kid and keep saying that "he's for everyone" as if he was an object, and trying to ruin some girl's life because she apparently is his friend, like??????

This show was filmed in 2017, a time when we already had plenty of very beautiful dramas and movies with smaller budgets even, this show looks like it was filmed in the early 2000s. It looks like someone took their mother's camera and everything she had was this one that she gained on her birthday in the '80s and they were like "sure ok no one's gonna notice" GUESS WHAT, I NOTICED.

It has this VERY desaturated filter throughout the whole thing, quite yellowish too (I watched it on Netflix), really ugly.

In short: Read the manga, don't waste your time with this piece of crap

Leia Mais

-This was my first Japanese drama, and it is THE PERFECT PICK FOR NEWBIES
-Amazing friendships (seriously the best part-even if you're not into friendship dramas) - There is no shortage of dynamic, complex characters that make you fall in love with each and every one of them (I personally love shows with a lot of characters-especially agreeable, lovable, complex ones) and when you're finished your heart just feels so full
-ISSEI IS MY FAVORITE HUMAN BEING
-Amazing romance (another one that will make your heart feel all the feelings and go on a romance roller coaster- After I finished, I felt like I went on an adventure and grew alongside the characters because there is SOO much development in this)
-Just in general a fantastic story... Good Morning Call takes you on this group of students contemporary adventures and travels, trials and heartbreaks and it's adorablelelelelelele
-SOOOOO CUTTTEEEE ANDD FUNNNYY
-The cast to suuper good, like I said before, they really make you feel all the feels (happy, sad/heartbreak-y, angry [in a good way], second-hand cringe, hysterical, proud of your little grown up fetuses, jealous, and any other emotion you could ever think of)
-Lots of giggly moments
-Low key might be re-watching it while writing this review right now (speaking of which, if anyone knows where I can find/buy a hard copy of this (DVD), please let me know!)
-9.5 RECOMMEND to anyone, EsPeCiAlLy noobs, and lovers of romance and friendship dramas, and people who enjoy following many characters

Leia Mais

Oh my gosh!!! This series is the best japanese series so far... I watched several japanese movies and yet I realy like the manga series... you see I have compared asian series and I really like the japanese version... because the pacing of their speech made me understand more while reading the subtitles. ..
Anyway, I have seen the season 1&2 and it was AMAZING... I see myself in the girl's character , the submissive one. And the boy is so much of my husband... you see i really believe that serious man are more affectionate in the sense that they are not showy to girls but deep in their heart they are the emotional one.. they are more sensisitive and easily get jealous though they just said that they arent but they do... hahahaha.... I love the characters they are so pretty and handsome... good job ..oh wel they need to cast these kids because it is a NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES...my gosh this is BIG TIME... hahaha... anyway COONGRATS!!!

Leia Mais

Before I start my review, I'd like to mention that this is one of the first foreign television shows that I've watched. Alongside that, I haven't read any of the shojo manga that this was based on, so I cannot pull any similarities between the two for comparison. That being said, let's start my review.

Good Morning Call has a somewhat overused story line. Timid girl meets boy and, by some odd happenstance, both are forced to spend excessive amounts of time together to hide their deepest secret: living together while attending school.

Now, tropes are not inherently awful and having a classic story-line like this certainly doesn't sully the show itself. Admittedly, they did a pretty good job at filling in that trope with meaningful characters, story progression, and evolving relationships. However, it still leaves a lot to be desired and that's why my score is average.

My first gripe has to be with the acting chops on most of these characters. Nao Yoshikawa does a tremendous job working through the serious parts in the show. The emotions seem sincere and don't feel awkward when watching, but some of the more lovable and goofy moments appear forced and almost annoying.

I found that some moments seem to drag on far too long, making it uncomfortable to watch. Many of her goofy scenes - mostly the ones that require her to hide that she has any feelings for a certain someone - seem very over-acted and drawn out. Sometimes forcing me to fast-forward through some bits just so I can catch my breath.

Uehara is a more frustrating character. He's a very brooding and bleak character (understandably so, after you learn more about his past), but hoping for any sort of character evolution seemed like a lost cause. Even though you knew his underlying feelings and that he was hiding his affection for Nao most of the show, he never once outwardly showed that side of him, which was unfortunate to say the least.

All of the other characters seemed really well acted. I enjoyed the relationships with Marina and was visibly excited every-time she came onto the screen. Her story with Mitsuishi is almost better than the main story and I was really glad that she appeared frequently throughout the entire show.

My second gripe has to be with fillers. Some episodes seemed to persist longer than I would have liked and didn't really add to the story all that much. While there weren't very many that I could find, I did sometimes find myself wanting to fast forward to some of the better bits. Which, to give the show credit, it did have plenty of those 'better bits' between those fillers.

Lastly, my praise for the show.

I think it did a lot of things right. It took an overused trope and placed it into a good story. It was inevitable that something like this would have a couple of hurdles to jump over, but it really was an entertaining and engaging story that fell just short only a couple times - which is more than I can say for most American shows!

If you're considering watching this, I would absolutely recommend it. Also, if you're not a complete stickler for story like I am, then you'll probably disregard most of the complaints that I had with the show. Many users praise this show and I can see why, so go ahead and watch it!

Leia Mais

Overall I think that if you have free time and like to see a storyline that was meant for a female audience, watch it. I, as a male, enjoyed it and will be watching the second season.

Story:
The drama had a good story overall. I really liked that the main conflict of the drama from early on was resolved around halfway and by the middle of the story, there were new conflicts to deal with. One of the final conflicts felt completely random thought as it just happened Monday and there wasn't even much explanation; still enjoyable though.

Acting/Cast
Personally, I really liked the cast. I had already seen the leads in other works and that's what motivated me to watch it. The acting was done in a way to show the shoujo side of the manga, and it felt at times that I was watching a manga, so that was good.

Music
I think the music was played in good places and the music flowed well the scenes. I really enjoyed the ending theme song by Caspa

Leia Mais

I watched Good Morning Call kind of on a whim as I haven’t really been that into Japanese dramas lately and I’m really glad I did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still all the things that irk me about j-doramas: cliché, silly, over-the-top, over-acted and unrealistic at times. However, it manages to be so stinking cute I just can’t help but love it. Also, it feels somewhat reminisce of Itazura na Kiss so I have those good nostalgia feels. As the characters become familiar and the story settles down, everything smooths out and it was really fun to watch. While Season 1 is quite long (compared to other Japanese dramas) it still breezes by.

Leia Mais

Another mindless heroine

This is one of those series that you know will degrade your brain cells but watch for romance anyway.

The story is a store-bought story where heroine was not so smart but warm hearted and who by drama fate can't help but fall in love or have a relationship with the manly but have a lot of issues hero.

Nao was a typical Candy who, once she decided she likes the hero, can't seem to remove her blinkers to see that he was actually bad for her. Meanwhile, Uehara is a typical hero who is popular and don't seem to care for other people but actually have a heart of gold. His 'fans' bully Nao and he saves her by announcing that she is his girlfriend, yes that trope from the OG 'Boys over flowers' which can never happen in real life. This cycle of bullying goes on and on whenever there are rumors that they are breaking up, until the leaders of the fans finally woke up in the last episode to realize they had no chance with Uehara.

There are only two saving graces of this show. One is Daichi, Nao's childhood friend, the kind older brother type second lead who only wants Nao to be happy. Another is Issei, the son of the owner in a ramen restaurant where Nao works part time. A gruff-talker with a secret crush type second lead who kept helping Nao after Daichi graduated from high school.

Truthfully, I felt that Nao had the best chemistry with Daichi, then with Issei, then with Uehara. Maybe its just the gentle way that Sakurada Dori stares, at Nao particularly, but it gives you that melty, fluttery feeling that makes you want to be loved and hugged by this guy *puddles*.

My main problem in the drama is the inequality in the relationship of Nao and Uehara. That Nao was way below Uehara in the relationship scale. I feel like Nao just keeps on waiting and waiting until Uehara says that he likes her, and when he does finally, it was like forced from him by Yuri. And there wasn't even anything that special about him, other guys who likes Nao have better specs, face, and personality. When asked why she is choosing Uehara, Nao's reasons were that he treats her well by bringing her a cake when she was sick and being with her during a blackout, I wanted to shake her and say that it was Daichi who originally went and bought that cake while Uehara was being his petty self and not even checking up on her until Daichi told him that she was sick, Daichi was already there during the blackout before Uehara but kept from going inside because he knows that he was not who Nao was waiting for. I admit that I really can't get on board on this OTP ship but have SLS instead. Have noticed that there is a season 2. I hope that it will be better than this one or at least it will give me an acceptable reason for why Nao must choose Uehara.

Leia Mais

I can't say I'd rewatch this drama purely because watching it once already felt like watching it a thousand times. It's cute, it's simple, girl moves in with a guy on accident and falls for him, yeah, but the plot is way too repetitive.
Every time we're about to get Uehara being nice to Nao, he backs out like a coward and keeps up his cold front. The only time he gets protective is when there's another dude around, how healthy!

Nao's only strength seems to be cooking, anything else she tries, she's pretty bad at which upsets me. I wish there was more to her character but there's like 3 personality traits per person in this show. Hers? Airhead, chef, and totally googly-eyed over her roomie.

If you are thinking of watching this, I'm going to assume you either A: Enjoy roommates/enemies to lovers or B: Need something to put on in the background while you cook food. Or both, I don't judge.

Leia Mais

Good Morning Call serves its title as the representative of nearly every shoujo manga ever. It presents itself with a very cute and fresh ambience, an example of what a shoujo manga would be like and how it would be received if turned into a live action (as the show itself is based off of a shoujo).

STORY:
Many reviews have pointed out the lack of originality in the general plot. And I agree, at first, it's predictability generally pissed me off a little and made me a bit hesitant to continue watching. As someone who has read shoujo ever since their elementary school years, the story is a textbook stereotype and so were all the twists and turns and arcs. The only thing missing was the beach arc.

However, this does not formulate into a god awful show, as everyone loves a good cliché. Although it does not bring anything new and refreshing to the table, it was quite a nostalgic watch for me, and garnered several comments as I went through the episodes as if I was seeing these clichés for the very first time. It's a simple and sweet story that caters to the exact audience it's made for, and for that I give props. I do wish Netflix adapted a more original shoujo, however. This show is literally L-DK except their apartment is bigger.

CAST/ACTING:
Acting, at most, was slightly above mediocre for me. I'm used to the way Japanese actors act in these romance dramas, but how they presented their characters — especially Uehara — gave a very poor performance of making us like them in general. Marina seemed rather annoying, and Uehara's expressions never seemed to soften even when he laughed or supposedly softens up in front of Nao.
Nao's actress definitely pursued that awkward, shy, idiotic and pouty atmosphere I believe the character is supposed to have, which was a good performance on her part.

However, their characters are not supposed to be dramatically realistic anyway as the drama itself is rather comedic. As per usual, I rooted for the second male leads throughout the entire thing, and by far the most likable character to me was Kitaura for some reason.

MUSIC:
Nothing I can remember from the top of my head, so easily forgettable. It could be rather cheery and matches with the mood.

REWATCH VALUE:
Not very high. Perhaps I should head over to reading the manga instead, as people say Uehara is much nicer in the original adaption and shows more genuine emotion. I may also watch the second season to pass the time, as I wasn't exactly very obsessed with the show to begin with.

OVERALL:
A sweet, simple and predictable romance drama which is ideal to pass the time. Although I am a lover of clichés and did find myself liking this drama somewhere in between, it really is about time they start changing it up a bit before the audience really does get bored of it. I would definitely recommend if you love shoujo manga and all its cute little stereotypes, but not if you're looking for something different.

Leia Mais

'You live here too?!'

It's so stupid but I do like this drama. It's very reminiscent of Playful Kiss but with that comedic Japanese element. It's got every trope in the book, orphans, sharing a room, love triangles, love quadrilterals, strict parents, meddling second leads, mean girls, sick days from rainy dates etc... This show is well aware that it is corny and it runs with it! It's made to be silly, and it's corniness not just an unfortunate side effect, but a deliberate move on the directors part and I love it!

Nao is very annoying but loveable and it's fun watching her grow and mature. I love that she wears her heart on her sleeve and is always honest about her feelings. Her level of immaturity at the start of her first relationship is perfect and sets the stage for some growing up later on in the show.

Hisashi again, manages to grow as a person and becomes more accommodating and kinder as the show goes on. Too often do I see in dramas, a cold, mean male lead that never grows and is never held accountable for his actions yet still gets the girl at the end. It's refreshing to see that in a corny drama the cold male lead does become a better person.

It's pretty predictable and nothing amazing or revolutionary in the way of plot but cleans up nicely and is a wonderful addition to cute teen romance dramas everywhere.

Watch this for a adorable little drama, that is very easy to watch or even binge.

Leia Mais