Utsukushii Rinjin (2011)

I hadn't watched a J-Drama since a long time as I was into K-Dramas lately. So, I picked up 'Utsukushii Rinjin' randomly when I was going through the Drama database of MDL. I read the plot and it seemed to be kind of... interesting. As I was only watching romantic stuffs and stories about the young generation, I decided to give this one a go as the story was different. And I am so glad that I picked it for watching.

You should definitely watch this drama if you are a fan of the suspense genre. The story is UNIQUE and UNPREDICTABLE, and it kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

The cast is awesome. Nakama Yukie and Dan Rei have done great acting there. The supporting characters are also pretty good. Nakama Yukie, especially, impressed me. She literally gave me the creeps!

The music is decent and suits with the drama. The occasional 'tik-tok' of the clock gave it a 'horror movie' feel as if at the strike of 12, a ghost would pop out of somewhere!

The reason why I gave this story a 9 is because I was not quite satisfied with the ending. I won't say I was disappointed but it's just that several questions that I had in my mind were remain unanswered. Also, I gave rewatch value a 4 because although this is a good drama, you probably won't feel like watching it again as you will already know what's going to happen next, and it is no fun that way as the suspense won't be there.

Overall the drama is a good watch. The story doesn't drag and it keeps you hooked.

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I'm used to Nakama Yukie's more energetic and happy roles but her version of an obsessed mother and deceiving woman is spin-chilling. She's brilliant!



Unlike most Japanese drama, the acting is not over done and sets a more serious and believable tone to the series. The music gets a little repetitive, having the same theme played during the episode and then the same song at the end.



It tugs at the heart strings, has you gasping at the disloyalty and questioning who to believe. Utsukushii Rinjin is a brilliant introduction into thriller drama and one worth sinking your teeth into.

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Nakama Yukie is my favorite actor. She is most famous for her roles in Gokusen (1,2 and 3) and Trick (1, 2 and 3 and movies and specials...) But she has done equally fine work in serious dramas like Utsukushii Rinjin and Arifureta Kiseki (which I have also reviewed).

Utsukushii Rinjin is about two women. Yano Erika, played by Rei Dan, has a happy family life briefly marred by an incident in which she thinks her young son may have drowned. Her life subtly but inexorably changes after Meyer Saki, played by Nakama Yukie, moves in next door.

Rei Dan portrays a devoted wife and mother who is stretched to her emotional limits as her life is gradually pulled out from under her by the mysterious and beautiful neighbor whom she has come to consider a friend. Nakama plays the scheming Meyer Saki in such a way that we are seduced by her beauty at the same time that we are appalled by her actions.

Sometime near the beginning of the two women's friendship, Saki says to Erika something like this: 'If I ever lie to you, you can kill me.' Erika doesn't understand why Saki could say something like that. But those words and Erika's inability to hear their importance, express the underlying conflict between the two women. At the same time it is the closest thing to a plea for help that Saki can make.

The central mystery of the drama is 'What is the bond that both draws these two women together and also pits them against each other?' Are they headed for tragedy or can they save what is most important in their lives?

It is refreshing to see two women play opposite each other as 'protagonist' and 'antagonist.' Both give wonderful performances. Anyone who has seen Nakama only in comedies or light dramas will be astonished at her performance here. Utsukushii Rinjin is a terrific drama -- not exactly enjoyable, more fascinating. And for me it was oddly uplifting.

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I just finished watching this about ten minutes ago and I have to say... wow. Why haven't I watched this drama before? It's amazing and I adored every minute of the suspense. It takes a lot to get me into a drama and its atmosphere, but Utsukushii Rinjin did it quite well. It's also rare for me to actually cry while watching a j-drama but I cried! I actually cried three times during this one and I couldn't stop watching it episode after episode. Nakama Yukie is eerie in this one, definitely a lot different from the silly teacher I'd seen in Gokusen. It shows a completely other side of her acting. A nice surprise to me was the music they used for this, which is TVXQ's Keep Your Head Down. It's one of my favorite Korean songs and I squealed in happiness whenever I heard it. It's actually a very good songs for the intense situations this drama is full of. A hidden gem, indeed, I definitely recommend this one if you like suspense and real drama!

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I accidentally found this movie 6 months ago when I was learning about the Saki movie (as far as I know it was a prequel), to say the first time after watching this movie, it was really a bit. pale, if not to say that there is nothing to see, but when I watched the recent film, I have to say is great, the details, the acting, the logic in each line makes me admire the The actors and writers wrote the story, but what I didn't like was in the first few episodes when things were happening quite slowly, like time stretching. Even as far as I know, this story was based on the 1992 movie The Hand that Rock the Cradle and it was an hour and a half long film. But overall, it can be said that this movie has done very well, elaborately and elaborately to every small detail, to add it is quite difficult to understand the whole movie.

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