I cried by the end, realizing that this was the final, nothing would follow and they have wrapped up everything and gave closure to the main characters. (Well, aside from Yuki and Soujiro.)

Setting that aside, I had fun watching it... everything was just perfect for an ending of Hana Yori Dango. The scenery was magnificent, the prestige and money that they were trying to show was very extravagant, as if money was always out of the question. (Sometimes I do get to day dream of living life in luxury like the Doumyouji's) The music was in time with every scene and fits it very well. I could still remember the tones in my head even up to this day.

The actors all seemed natural except for "Kaede's" smile during the wedding ceremony which kind of gave me an eerie feeling. *scratches head*

Story wise, it was sub par. Very fan-fic like and a total spin off from the series... but since I am a biased viewer and a Fan I would have to rate it in a bias of an 8. I loved the twist at the end though, so that makes up for everything. The cast-away feel in the whole movie was a plus point and redeeming factor as well.

Leia Mais

Choon Hyang is the modern version of a folk tale in korea. I have no idea what that story was about, what I know is that this version is one heck of a rom-com Kdrama. It reminds me of that Taiwanese drama entitled It Started with a Kiss. Two very different story lines, but the acting concept is so much alike it makes me laugh my ass out thinking about it.

The drama starts light and really wacky during the first half of the drama. During those episodes, the two protagonists clashes so much they get into multiple trouble with each other. There were so many misunderstanding that it was hard not to laugh with the absurdity of it all and because of those misconceptions, the two protagonists end up getting married. This was not because of love but it’s due to an incident which could ruin both of their family’s reputation. As they both struggle to live harmoniously with each other amid the forced marriage, both eventually realize that they liked each other but was denying it too much. That’s it for the first half, for latter half of the show, it goes much more mature since the main characters grow up as adults with remnants of conflicts which set them apart for some time.

With this story line, it was fun and entertaining. Gave me little room to be bored since the drama would serve the right amount of serious moments then revert to it's old theme. In additional, the actor's are really cute! Given that their age are a bit mature to be seen as high school students, still, the way they acted was really fun to watch.

Leia Mais

Kurosagi is a film about deception. The movie didn't appeal to me as much as I thought it would. I think this is the result of watching too much Leverage. Another American series that I got myself hooked up with. For me that series had more substance than this film. There were so many empty plots on how he was able to trick a trickster. The only reason why I gave this a try is to see if Yamapi would stand to the name that people has given him. He is so far one of the youngest sought out actor in Japan, so I wanted to give this movie a try.

So far, it gave me a huge disappointment. Not even Yamapi nor Horikita Maki could make me raise this this to 10.

Leia Mais

Slow paced, more on the visual side and not much on the talking.

What piqued my interest is how they showcased a weird story line, (aside that I also checked this movie because of Aoi Miyazaki) It may sound a bit sci-fi-ish but there were no aliens involved only the made-up disease as the main problem. The film may seem to have no direction at first and I was also getting too frustrated with all the silence and sullen looks until I realized how important those actions were for this film. Those scenes with the focus on seemingly random things were actually vital in these movie so as to make sense of everything in the end. Cinematography was grainy, maybe because it was an old film? But still... it gave a rather bland feeling to a supposedly modern and colorful world.

The actors did somehow try their best to portray a depressive state, not just in actions but in the mind as well. However, the acting didn't really feel all that satisfying because I felt like something was still missing. It was trying to give a message about human connections and empathy but it's hard to internalize that sort of meaning because of the lack conversation between the characters.

Setting those complains aside, I was still able to enjoy something really weird. It's not refreshing, but it's something new to watch. It's not everyday I pick a movie genre like this, so basically it gave me a wider perspective on indie kind of films. Music wise, it was eerie and yet it was another key point for the whole thing, without it, there would be no story at all. The tones are really out of this world and completely weird, so don't expect something melodious, because it's not.

Surely this film is not for everyone. If you're the type who likes to sit down and analyze what is happening in an almost silent film for the whole 60+ minutes... this was made for you.

Leia Mais

Ouroboros may sound like a simple story about 2 boys who met in the orphanage and set off to get revenge when their foster mother was killed right in front of them, however don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the summary because there’s more that this drama could offer. It has a dark humor hovering around the dialogues, violence, secrets within a secret and the never ending conspiracies from one another. It’s a twisty piece of work that would keep you on your toes, even though at times it is easy to guess who the culprit is, it still does not deter the mysterious death of some characters due to an underlying circumstances in every episode.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I started this drama and yet I still watched it until the very end. Though there were a lot of things in this series which I didn't like, there were MORE things which I found likable that it made up for the lack luster of what I was expecting. Another thing about the story line is the ending, it was great that the writers were not afraid to go into that kind of direction for the finale episode. It made me smile and cry at the same time.

The bonus point for me in this drama is the fact that Ikuta Toma and Oguri Shun are my Japanese Actor biases. Then add up Ueno Juri into the tandem, that makes it a perfect cast for me. They are a bunch of veterans and I felt the vibe of the whole drama along with the cast's chemistry. It was really something that these actors can pull off. One minute they are being all funny, then the next they're mad and then all of the sudden they're crying. It's like watching a whirl wind of emotions set to trap me in all those feels.

There were times though when they are set up in a ridiculous situation and have to give an over the top acting style (which is sometimes annoying) but they eventually redeem themselves with the dialogues and the funny inserts. But mostly, this drama is full of seriousness and has a heavy feel. It shows that every action has consequences and choices made whether it's right or wrong has its own ramifications. In the end Karma wins everything. I love how they explained what Ouroborus meant, it is actually an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The name originates from within Greek language; (oura) meaning "tail" and (boros) meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail" (excerpted from Crystalinks), in the drama they explained that it also meant life and death, the cycle of humans who lived then died and lived again.

Music wise, this OST really caught my attention. Hearing the sound track felt really familiar, it was as if I heard them before on several dramas. When I researched, Arashi's name came out. That' when I realized the music score felt like listening to Maou's OST which was also sang by Arashi. It was a really good music score which was attractive enough to fit the drama's tone.

Another thing that made this enjoyable was the political battles inside the police government and each department. It's fun seeing who's side would win and who along the way would be affected. Usually though due to these political strife the innocent becomes not so innocent due to grudges held. I want to say more but I'm holding myself off since I don't want to give spoiler alerts to anyone.

Last note: this drama has a minimal or almost none-existent romance along the story line so I would suggest for people to check out this drama if they are in the mood for the things I have mentioned above except for the romance part.

Leia Mais

After finishing all 12 episodes, I now understand how they could wrap everything up in such a short span of time. I liked the fact that they didn't put in fillers and add 4 more episodes to make the drama longer, hence it would have dragged on.

The story line was quite simple - a girl who loved dancing and is trying to live her life in a school with high standards but meets a lot of trials along the way. The plot is not really my cup of tea, but knowing that Jung Eun Ji is the main actress, I decided to watch it despite the bland summary. When I watched the pilot episode, it still wasn't enough to make me excited about the following episodes so I've put the drama on my least of priority to watch however after the 3rd and 4th episodes, the drama started to pick up its phase and finally became interesting for me. Then when the love triangle was finally revealed through the later part of the drama, I was wrenched into a second lead syndrome again. Arrrgh! *slaps face to go back to reality* I knew what I was setting myself up to a complete heart break again... or so I thought. The drama's ending was really constructed well and it left no room for any loop holes to think about. Even the love triangle was resolved in a simple yet satisfying way. It was heartfelt with a breath of fresh air compared to those high school themed melodramas I've been watching lately.

What makes this drama endearing for me is how the story did not focus on the dancing and cheering side going to the ultimate goal of participating in the Cheering Squad for specs purposes but instead, they focused on the characters themselves. The story revolved on the conflicts with family, school, friends and even romantic aspect in life. A plus factor that made this drama appealing was how they dealt into the issue of teenage suicide. It may be rampant in Asian countries these days as most of the culture is about persevering and keeping problems to themselves until they actually break and decide to end their lives. This drama shows the importance of having support systems like family, friends or even teachers being around to help suicidal kids deal with their inner turmoil.

My favorite character would be Kang Yeon Doo, despite being aggravated by Kwon Soo Ah, I can't really fathom how much she could still be nice and forgiving. Although it's not realistic anymore in this day and age, it made me trace myself back to my own goodness. It made me wonder how far I would go to tolerate such b*tchiness from anyone. If it was me, I might have walked out that door or would have probably cared less whatever happens to my nemesis. But that's part of the spark of this whole drama... Yeon Doo keeps everyone together including the boys she's very much close with. Another character I love is Seo Ha Joon, acted by Ji Soo. I love watching him interact with the main lead and how they had that great chemistry together. This is my first time seeing him in a drama and he totally gives me that whole Woo Bin aura while he was with Park Shin Hye in "Heirs". Ji Soo had that same feels around him and I think this guy may have a great potential as an actor. I really wish he can chose his roles wisely in the near future. I would like to insert Kim Yeol portrayed by Lee Won Gun, he may be cute and kissable but man, his chemistry with Eun Ji is sub par to Ji Soo's.

Oh let's not forget the other side characters that I am much in favor of:
Teacher Yang Tae Beom played by Kim Ji Suk, it amazes me how much a teacher roles suits him well. It's nice to watch him again in the same role after seeing him in School 2015. Then there's the coach acted by Lee Mi Do, notably she looked like Sandra Oh. I loved Sandra Oh in Grey's Anatomy, so seeing her look alike here in this drama brings nostalgia, but Mi Do is great in her acting. I loved her strong character and the way she prances around to cover for the students and fights her way so as not to be bullied by other teachers. Then lastly, there's Yeon Doo's mom played by Kim Yeo Jin, I personally think this woman is lovely. I've seen her in several dramas and enjoy looking at her. I think her beauty is one that will not easily fade as she ages.

Music wise, it wasn't something that was able to stick with me but I enjoyed listening to it while the characters were in their own moments.

Overall I would recommend this series to people who are in the mood to watch a high school drama about friendship, first love and a feel good after taste full of drama goodness.

Leia Mais

The drama started off rather bland for my usual KDrama taste. There was nothing catchy for its pilot episode and it basically dragged about up to the 3rd episode but after sticking up with this drama, things started to get more interesting. The story line has picked up to a much better pace. There were more interaction between the characters and everything started to finally make sense.

I was already having fun watching it for all the humor and what-not’s until episode 12 came about. That’s when the story line drastically changed, it began to spin around senselessly aiming nowhere and it was plainly a disaster. I realized that the writers never really thought of giving proper closure to each of the character's problem, specially on the main ones due to the cut episodes. This drama was supposed to air 16 episodes, instead they decided to make do with 14, ending up with a rubbish ending.

Episode 13-14 was produced in a haste. Maybe its the production management but I have a hunch they couldn’t extend the drama up to 16 episodes due to the bad ratings. The story, the characters and the over all production had so much potential if only they have been developed properly.

Yes, everything has been all fun and cute in the middle of the series but the ending plainly sucked. There was a lot of loopholes and never ending problems. Episode 14 had this sort of time snap where everything was cut and then here comes out the protagonist saying “everything is going to be okay” just to resolve the very main conflict in the story which is: The female protagonist pretending to be a boy in an all male K-pop idol group.

How the heck do you resolve that in one freaking episode?

Episode 14 was clearly telling the audience that the conflict was resolved, but in reality… they just don’t have the time to resolve it. Period.

There… I finally got that out of my system. I don’t even like K-pop music, or am I a fan of K-pop Idols in general. I only wanted to watch this because of the story line: A girl pretending to be a boy for some important self-inflicted reason.

Sigh.

I need a better drama to watch or a movie. Rating this drama 5/10 for the sole reason that I enjoyed the middle part of the series but at the same time want to forget that I even dared watching it.

Leia Mais

I watched this not knowing much about the main actors, believe it or not, I did not even know who Jang Geun Suk was - he wasn't that popular yet back in 2008. What made me pick this film, was the story line. It sounded all so interesting in it's synopsis. The acting was good too, for someone I wasn't really familiar with.

As for my verdict after finishing the movie, the first part was pretty much shady to watch and I noticed that some scenes were even rushed. The situations weren't explained well enough to understand what really happened in the past, up until everything was revealed at the latter part which is kind of awkward because it felt like there was an information overload when the movie could have explained it in the first hour or so to build up the story much better.

What exactly made me like this movie? It was actually near the ending part when everything FINALLY made sense, which by the way, I still felt that it was rushed. Setting that aside, I like the ending because it made me cry a bit. I liked the thought that they made this into a melodramatic movie with very touching scenes full of serendipity moments. Add up the back drop music, it could have been almost good enough to re-watch, if not for the story line.

Leia Mais

This!

This drama left me thinking about it even after 49 days of finishing the whole series. I was pretty much fine and even laughing with the main character’s silly antics until I came up to episode 8, then the bucket of tears slowly started. I don’t know why but the concept of death and dying was all over the place with this one. How hard was it to find real tears of someone who really really cared about you? In this drama, it was dead hard.

I love the three main characters namely Shin Ji-Hyun (Nam Gyu Ri), Han Kang (Jo Hyun Jae) and Song Yi Kyung (Lee Yo Won). Their lives are intricately woven with each other and progress will be shown in every episode. The story line is very interesting because it still gives you a bit a humor even in the face of death and grave choices in life. Oh, and there’s this other character to whom I was really taken in with… the Scheduler/Song Yi Soo (Jung Il Woo). His character is more complex than what it seems to be.

Loving this drama in every little bit along with the music.

Leia Mais

Crazy, noisy, garbled music… Pure PUNK ROCK middle age. It was a funny movie nonetheless. Aoi Miyazaki's acting was over the top and it was my first time to see her like that. I have always imagined her as a melodramatic person even in other movies.

The movie moved back and forth from the bands past, namely the Bras Knuckle Kids. It showed how the band members evolved to the kind of person they are today. Watching this film made me think what punk really is about. Like in Sex Pistols' era along with their bassist Sid Vicious who are known as the Punk rock gods during the 80's, I feel that their music are cleaner and more turbulent than what we have of punk today. Today's punk is more on what most people call emo side. Songs made out of love and heartbreak instead of about controversies, internal affairs and other issues of real life.

Back to the movie… it also had its broken plots and what nots in between when Kana's character goes out of hand but the ending surely got me smiling then staring blankly after. Music wise… as I have already mentioned above it was terribly noisy. Horrible if they include the shouting, I am not a fan of too much violence. So for a supposedly music endowed comedy movie with lots of sub plots, this almost made me stop watching. Still, it was an OKAY film at the end.

Leia Mais

The casting was great, however story wise... it was so-so.

The actors played their characters well, it was surprising to find Kim Soo Hyun going back to his character as a dorky love stricken guy. Then there is IU, who I may say I have taken a keen interest with and a biased liking due to her "Dream High" character. As for Gong Hyo-Jin and Cha Tae-Hyun... these guys are veterans. What more can I say about them except that they have superb skills in acting? All these combined, I was still left hanging all throughout the drama. I have this nagging thought, "This is it? After all those 12 episodes, this is it? Where are the accomplishments?", I was left unsatisfied and that was a bit sad. It was rather short, they could have added at least 4 or 5 more episodes to give fulfillment to each of the main characters, to their career and over all life.

Setting the above mentioned aside - I did liked the ending, although it felt a bit rushed, at least there was closure for the characters, but then again I still wish there were more episodes to elaborate on what happened after. I seriously wanted to see snippets of "2 days and 1 night" but sadly they didn't show us anything more than what they wanted to.

However, over all it was a fun series, nothing dramatic or too funny. It's all light and entertaining, though it's not something that would entirely leave a mark for your drama watching career. I would recommend it to pass the time but if you are a fan of any of the main characters, then I highly suggest this - to indulge.

Leia Mais

What made me watch this in the first place was Eun Hye then came in Kang Ji-hwan in the picture then everything turned out to be a hilarious chaos. Two good actors in a very funny story line = awesome result.

Though the ratings do not agree with my opinion, I’m still giving it my two thumbs up and recommending it.

It’s silly how much I miss a full blown romantic comedy in a skin-deep-only sense, but I like the drama because it doesn’t make me think too much. There was this certain flow of easiness and lightness within the story line, though not without bits of draggy parts but the good line delivery by the main characters made up for that loss. The story line was simple, there wasn’t much twist and turns that would make you pull out your hair in frustration and because of that simplicity, it became a wonderful drama.

The sound track was cute, I now have it as my ringtone and is also part of my play list. Heh.

Leia Mais

Initially, this movie starts off with a slow melancholic vibe. I sort of wanted to stop watching at around its 10 minutes run, but after that the story would pick up and things would make sense. I was in denial the whole time though, feeling that it was all unreal, but the fact that this is about life and death… I swallowed that bitter taste at the back of my tongue and bravely watched on despite knowing that I’d end up in heart break and tears.

What I liked about the movie is that it showed how significant a simple thing can be. Like phones, or movies… even cats. Have you ever imagined not having cats around? That being asked, this movie has a statement. It could be an eye opener or a sleep inducing kind of show. Depends on how you would perceive it as you watch. The story line is really heartfelt and yes, sad. I would have to say it hence I put your hopes up that this is going to be a happy movie, because come on and let’s face reality! Not everything has a happy ending. However, along the journey we get bits and pieces of lessons learned and lifelong good memories.

The sub-characters are a plus point for me here even though I find the main character lacking. I have nothing against Sato Takeru as the main lead, but I find his character a bit of a pacifist. For someone who is about to die, I feel that he’s not much determined to live even at the beginning. Anyway, putting my thoughts aside, my favorite character would be the best friend. Hamada Gaku known as Tatsuya the nerdy looking guy who manages a movie rental store. I for one would love to have friend like that, someone who would think that their friendship is a never ending cycle because of a certain connection that they have. Other characters worth mentioning are: Aoi Miyazaki and Harada Mieko. I honestly watched this film because of Aoi and as usual, she never fails to trigger my heart strings whenever I see her on screen. I think her character as the girlfriend has more debt than Takeru’s. Harada on the other hand who acted as the mother portrayed a woman who cared and loved his son as much as she could.

Music wise, it was a beautiful accompaniment to the film’s sad undertone. The mood was perfectly set because of the melody and if the movie ran without the music, it would have been boring and pointless. Cinematography was also amazing, the aerial capture and the video angles gave this vibe that there is more to life than it seems. It had vibrant colors and then dull ones, which seemed to let the viewers feel what the characters on screen are actually feeling.

I rated this movie 7.5/10 due to the main character's flaw and the melancholy feeling the film gave me all throughout. I'm a rom-com kind of girl and being unhappy isn't my forte. All in all, I would still recommend this show even if it’s not a feel good one, but for the lessons we could learn and for the things we take for granted. It has a statement and a very lovely one at that.

Leia Mais

I'm so happy that I was finally able to watch this film. I've been waiting for ages to have a copy of it with subs. My wait was not in vain!

Over all it was such a wonderful film. The fact that this was based in real life, that information made it more interesting to watch and it added a spark to the story line. It also made me curious as to what really happened behind the scenes during the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba. The way the script writers and producers set motion to the whole thought of uniting two conflicting countries in this movie for a game of ping-pong was simply incredible. They were able to put emphasis on the hardships of each character, their triumphs on over coming differences and going beyond their own boundaries.

It is given that Ha Jiwon and Bae Doo Na are expected to have a great on screen chemistry as veteran actresses, but then add up the rest of the supporting actors into the mix, it certainly became a superb performance. The whole thing made me laugh, cry and laugh again. It was such an entertaining piece of work. Although the music wasn't that memorable, the story and acting made up for everything else that was missed out.

What I loved most about this movie is the warm moments shown throughout the entire duration of the film. The fact that this moments happened in real life is a plus point too! Another thing is that they added clips of the real people to show that this indeed happened in real life, that was such a nice touch to a very well done movie.

I am highly recommending this to those people who are into watching sports and real life themed movies. I'm sure it won't disappoint.

Leia Mais

This movie is heartwarming.

It shows how a person can change from a simpleton to someone who is respectable. Though the initial pacing of the movie was slow, Ryuhei Matsuda portrayed his character as Mitsuya Majime very well and made the movie enjoyable. I’m also very happy to see Aoi Miyazaki as a supporting actress in this film along with Joe Odagiri. I didn’t even recognize the guy until I looked up the main actors profiles. Despite being a supporting character, Odagiri had a vital role in the whole film and I liked how he was able to add a happy tone to the whole movie.

As for the story, being in a corporate setting and in a world where money runs, I love the concept that the main characters strive hard despite the fact that they are doing something which needs maximum effort but minimal financial back up and takes a LOT of time… more like at least 15 years to be exact. Adding to it is that the start of the movie setting was in the 90’s wherein computers were still deemed as a simple tool for typing and storing devices. These were the setbacks the characters had to go through, but they were people who were looking for modern words and gave meaning to them.

Overall this movie was enjoyable because of the character development and setting. It has its own humor which catches me off guard most of the time because the movie runs in seriousness.

Leia Mais