Renseignements

  • Dernière connexion: il y a 56 minutes
  • Genre: Homme
  • Lieu: California
  • Contribution Points: 74 LV2
  • Anniversaire: January 01
  • Rôles:
  • Date d'inscription: décembre 7, 2018

Terry Tsurugi

California

Terry Tsurugi

California
Abandonné 9/12
Castaway Diva
1 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
Il y a 28 jours
9 épisodes vus sur 12
Abandonné 0
Globalement 5.0
Histoire 3.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musique 5.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 3.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

The bad outweighed the good

I made it through 9 episodes, but I couldn't stand it any more. There were some good things about the show that kept me watching, but episodes 8 and 9 really went downhill so much that it wasn't worth it for me to invest any more time in it.

The main thing that drove me crazy was Ki-ho and his family, especially his mom, just allowing his psychotic murderer of a dad to commit violent assaults again and again with no consequence. Is Korean law enforcement and legal system so corrupt that a man can beat a child almost to death, giving him brain damage and putting him into a coma, and get off scot free? We're talking about a poor working class guy, not some chaebol heir who can pay off everyone. So I blame Ki-ho and his mom for not going to the cops and putting this psycho killer behind bars. The poor classmate who died in the car crash with the hornets would be alive if it weren't for them, and he wouldn't have left a widow and child behind.

And if they were serious about living in hiding, why would they have the most famous castaway debut pop star living in their house when they know that their dad is on her trail and that social media is tracking her every move?

And this whole lip-syncing thing rubbed me the wrong way. So these characters who are supposed to be sympathetic are lying to the public and faking their singing? Why didn't Ran-joo just act like a reasonable person years ago and just announce to the public that she has vocal nodules and so must take a break from singing for a while? I can't relate to any of these main characters because they're all such dishonest liars.

I have to admit, I wasn't a huge Eun-bin fan until I saw Woo, which completely changed my opinion, since that was one of the best acting performances in a K-drama that I had ever seen. But then this castaway role reminded me of the annoying overacting that I remembered from Age of Youth. I preferred the young actress who played her as a teen. Same with the Ki-ho character. By the way, what happened to Mok-ha's female best friend from school? Does her adult self appear in the last 3 episodes or did she just disappear?

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Confessions
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
août 9, 2024
Complété 0
Globalement 10
Histoire 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 10
Degrés de Re-visionnage 10

A masterpiece

I usually don’t like overly stylish movies that look like a perfume commercial or music video, but when it’s so incredibly well done like this one, I make an exception. Everything was top-notch: the directing, photography, editing, music, writing, and acting. I was especially impressed that the actors playing the students were actual teens, and they did an amazing job. And I need to give a shout out to Masaki for totally nailing his role as the inspiring young teacher from the typical J drama or movie, but this time subverted as a clueless laughing stock. He was absolutely perfect for the part.

Out of all the Japanese movies I’ve seen from this millennium, Confessions, along with Love Exposure and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, were the greatest.

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Shogun
3 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
mai 15, 2024
10 épisodes vus sur 10
Complété 0
Globalement 6.0
Histoire 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musique 6.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 5.0

A little disappointed

For all of the effort and money that went into this, the results were meh. Maybe the complicated plot went over my head, but to me, you could remove Anjin from the story and it basically wouldn't change anything. He really didn't do anything. And when the main protagonist isn't really important to the storyline, it feels unsatisfying.

But the episodes moved along OK and were watchable, so I never felt tempted to drop the show. It's been a very very long time since I saw the old Richard Chamberlain version, but I remember being much more emotionally engaged in that one.

Also, even though the production went for Japanese authenticity, I thought the acting, directing, and editing had a very western feel. But the acting overall was very good, although some of the actors I felt had a strong contemporary vibe, such as Hira Takehiro, Asano, and especially Anna Sawai, who not only seemed to me like someone from today, but I thought she had a very Nikkei aura.

In contrast, I thought Hoshi Moeka did a fantastic job as Fuji, and I really believed she was a woman from that setting. In fact, she was by far my favorite thing about the whole production.

One last observation is that the opening credits sequence was clearly copying Game of Thrones, and I didn't like that.

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Tora-san 7: The Good Samaritan
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
déc. 25, 2023
Complété 0
Globalement 8.0
Histoire 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 8.0

Best out of the first seven movies in the series

I'm slowly making my way through this series, and I feel that "Good Samaritan" was a big step up in quality from the previous movies. For instance, little touches in some of the train and bus scenes had a documentary feel that reminded me of Yamada's masterpieces "Where Spring Comes Late" and "Home From the Sea." And the relationship between Tora and his sister Sakura, especially in the latter half of the movie, reached a deeper level of emotional realism than ever before. Also, it's always a pleasure to see one of my favorite actors, Tanaka Kunie, grace the screen with his brilliantly earthy, twitchy, expressive acting, brief though his part may be.

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Love After Divorce Season 4
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
déc. 20, 2023
14 épisodes vus sur 14
Complété 0
Globalement 6.0
Histoire 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Musique 6.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 2.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

An entertaining watch with decent cast, but editing was horrible and commentary could be better

To me, an interesting and engaging cast of members is the most important aspect to a reality dating show, and this show was better than average in this regard. But the production/editing/pacing is almost as important, and in this area, I thought the show was average or worse. It really pandered to a low-brow audience with the manipulative pacing and storytelling, incredibly annoying repetition of scenes, and artificial melodrama. I much prefer a more natural and relaxed style of editing and pacing that feels more realistic. And the commentators were OK but could have been better. I know I'm a horrible and prejudiced person for mentioning this, but there were way too many close-ups of Lee Hye-young's unpleasantly artificial face (bless her soul though, and please forgive me Hye-young-ssi), and it almost seemed like a metaphor for how fake much of the show felt. But I'm glad that there were at least two relationships in the show that appear to be genuine and potentially long-lasting. As for the relationship that was the show's main focus, Ha-rim and Ricky, I never believed in it. Right when Ha-rim abruptly and rudely said "OK gotta go" in the middle of their first conversation, I knew that they were incompatible. Ricky seems like a very nice but uptight and boring guy who would probably provide a lot of stability and reliability to a woman who valued those qualities above all else. Ha-rim, however, is obviously more of an impulsive, emotionally unstable girl who needs constant stimulation and chaos. The fact that they chose each other and devoted so much time and energy pursuing a hopeless relationship gives me a clue as to why they're divorced in the first place (but much of that effort was probably for the sake of the show). Incidentally, as someone who lives in Irvine, it was interesting to me how 3 of the cast members either worked or lived in Irvine, and it was funny seeing all these familiar streets and sights in and around Orange County. And now here's my last mean and grumpy comment--watching this show is an incredibly effective form of birth control, and makes it very understandable why birthrates are falling like crazy in Korea and just about every other developed country.

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Welcome 2 Life
2 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 23, 2023
32 épisodes vus sur 32
Complété 0
Globalement 6.5
Histoire 3.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Musique 4.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 6.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Bingeable show with great acting and likable characters but horrible writing

By the end of ep2, I was really sucked into the story and interested in what would happen next. The show was a very easy watch, and always kept me engaged.

One of the main reasons why is because the acting was so excellent almost across the board. The ML gave an excellent performance, although he had to deal with a poorly written character, but he made the best of it. I had never seen him act before, and I actually didn't realize it was Rain until I finished watching. There are times when the character does really horrible things, and that's where some of the bad writing comes in, but you still end up liking him and rooting for him.

But I think the writer could have done a much better job of showing how he changed from this amoral, greedy defense lawyer into a caring family man. I think that change was made too late in the story. It was really hard to believe how so late into the middle of the show, he was still yelling and complaining to Shi-on how much he hated the shabbiness of their middle-class domestic life and how he was dying to join the evil big law firm and get back to his lonely, rich life in the other world. I think it's totally unbelievable for this character--who's demonstrated at this point that he's a decent and rational person--after living a few days with this beautiful wife and daughter, would think that his previous life as a lonely bachelor drinking expensive wine and defending murderous, evil rich people (one of whom tried to kill him) was preferable to this loving family life of middle class comfort. No way.

Also, I was really impressed with Im Ji-yeon. She only came on my radar very recently when I watched The Glory. She did such an incredible job playing a despicable villain there, that the evil character and the actress merged in my mind, and I almost felt hatred for her as a person. So it was really refreshing to see her play a good person, and play that part just as well as the villain. The Shi-on character was just as sassy and energetic as her character in The Glory, but she was so loveable and charming. I'm really happy that she's getting so much acclaim and winning awards recently.

If you haven't watched Crash Course in Romance yet, skip this paragraph, but does Shin Jae-ha have a clause in his contract that states that he must always play a serial killer with mommy issues who favors steel industrial tools, black clothes with either a black cap or hoodie covering his face, killing people who get in the way of some father-figure that he admires, and trying to commit suicide by falling backwards from the top of a building right in front of his antagonists?

Also, even though I sometimes like to watch sick and violent horror and serial killer movies, I thought that the amount of blood and violence against children was a little too much for a drama, so I wish they had cut back on those scenes a little. I would have also cut out all the fart jokes.

Going back to the script problems--what happened to the bitchy chaebol mother in the first world who ordered a hit on Jae-sang? After he woke up from his coma back in the first world, this villain seems to have completely disappeared, like the writer forgot about her, maybe mistakenly thinking that since she was arrested in the second world, that was it for her in the entire multiverse. And several main characters were targets for killing at one point or another, and there were very easy opportunities for this, but the killers never took advantage of the easy opportunity but always waited until they could be prevented. For instance, towards the end of the show, why didn't the serial killer just kill Shi-on at her house, instead of dragging her to the top of the building at the hospital where he could be stopped? I'm glad he didn't do the easy thing there, but it doesn't make any sense if you think about it clearly. And there are many other examples like that.

Also, what eventually happened in the second world? The last scene implies that Shi-on didn't die but was hospitalized and recovered from getting bonked on the back of the head with a hammer. And it also implies that Jae-song was unharmed. But the evil bastard pharmaceutical executive serial killer had both of them tied up, but he just let Jae-song go instead of bonking him on the head next? So if Jae-song wasn't killed or knocked unconscious in that world, why did he end up jumping back to the first world?

Also, La Strada is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I resented how they referenced that classic masterpiece in such a cheap way, and kept repeating that great Nino Rota melody over and over. I thought that this reference was totally unnecessary and inappropriate, and didn't add anything at all to the show. If shows want to allude to things like movies and books and other things from the culture, they should choose them carefully to make sure that there's a relevant and insightful connection that enriches the story, instead of being a random reference just to show off the writer's sophistication.

Despite all these flaws, I still enjoyed the show, and found it be bingeable entertainment.

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Good Doctor
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
mai 31, 2023
20 épisodes vus sur 20
Complété 3
Globalement 8.0
Histoire 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 8.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Emotionally satisfying

I'm surprised that this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable K-dramas I've ever watched. I haven't had much luck with medical dramas in the past, and I've dropped way more of them than I've finished. Usually, their repetitive medical emergencies and life-or-death surgeries in which doctors miraculously save patients from the brink of disaster happening every episode again and again just bores me and strains my credulity. That was even true to a certain extent with this show, but I felt like there were fewer sensationalized medical emergencies than in most such shows. It had a little slower pace that let you get to know the patients and other characters better and become emotionally invested with them. And the medical situations seemed slightly more realistic than in most medical dramas.

Another good thing about this show is that Joo Won's acting got me interested in the character right from the beginning and involved me deeply in the story. Unfortunately, you have to put up with lots of painful scenes in the early episodes of horrible abuse and discrimination towards the Shi-on character from most of the people around him. Even several of the characters who end up redeeming themselves later in the show start out treating Shi-on terribly. Do-han was one of the worst offenders in the beginning. So much so that I almost can't forgive him even after he changes his attitude. Thankfully, all these hardships made Shi-on's triumphs later on in the show more satisfying. It was truly moving to see this good-hearted, talented guy finally get the rewards that he deserves.

Chae-won was really great too, playing one of the few characters who was on Shi-on's side from the beginning. The show did a nice job portraying their realistically sibling-like relationship, but then when their relationship suddenly shifted into the next gear, it didn't feel quite as believable. That part could have been handled a little more skillfully, but it was still satisfying to see the romance actually develop, because I wasn't sure this was going to happen.

I wish they had skipped all the tiresome and familiar hospital politics stuff, which contributed nothing to the show. I don't understand why just about every show that focuses on a workplace has to waste so much time on corrupt politics and power struggles. Does anyone enjoy watching that stuff? Fortunately, that made up a smaller part of the plot, so it didn't detract from the overall experience too much. I would have also cut out the equally cliched dad from hell stuff, which I thought was not only unpleasant to watch but unsatisfyingly resolved.

Finally, I can't help but compare this show to Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which I saw before I watched Good Doctor. Woo was more skillfully made in just about every way, and the legal cases in that show were more interesting than the medical cases in Good Doctor. Woo also clearly had a bigger budget and a more recent sensibility that made the earlier show really feel like it was 10 years older. And even though Joo Won did a great acting job, Eun-bin was even better. However, Good Doctor, despite its flaws and lower budget and more old-fashioned sensibility, was a little more emotionally involving and addictive than Woo. Woo is like an elegant sushi dinner, whereas Good Doctor is like a hearty Korean meal. So even though Woo is one of my favorite all-time K-dramas, Good Doctor is up there alongside it for me.

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The Glory Season 2
7 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
mars 27, 2023
8 épisodes vus sur 8
Complété 0
Globalement 6.0
Histoire 7.0
Acting/Cast 5.5
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 6.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Well-made, bingeable cheese

Something that frustrates me about a lot of K-dramas is when they create over-the-top, detestable, evil villains that you love to hate, and in the end, they barely get any punishment. Worst of all, the protagonist actually ends up forgiving them in the end.

Well, you don't have to worry about that here. The show gives you lots of real hateful villains, and thankfully they pretty much all get their just deserts in the end.

Another good thing about this show is that it's really addictive and bingeable. It moves along and keeps you watching.

Now for the bad. The characters and situations are very cartoonish. The villains don't seem very human, and you can't relate to them at all, because there seems to be no motivation for all their psychotic sadism.

And at the center of it all, Song Hye-kyo makes for a pretty weak main actress. She was a cold fish. I never felt any anger or intensity from her at all. Even those PTSD scenes I thought were kind of awkward and not well done. I wasn't too impressed with Lee Do-hyun either. Both of these leads were pretty bland.

Also, there were long stretches when not much happened. They could have shortened the series by maybe 4 episodes, and it would have fit the plot much more economically.

Overall, it was fairly entertaining, but I'm not going to remember much about it in a month or 2.

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Change Days
2 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
oct. 10, 2022
17 épisodes vus sur 17
Complété 0
Globalement 6.5
Histoire 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musique 6.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 5.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Watchable but could have been better

Comparing this to the most similar show I've seen, Exchange/Transit Love, I thought Exchange was better in just about every respect--the production quality, the set-ups, the cast, the emotional investment, the commentators, etc. However, Change Days S1 was still very watchable and entertaining.

But the fact that the couples appeared so dysfunctional, but in the end, every single one of them decided to keep the status quo, makes me wonder how accurately the show depicted the relationships. I especially thought for sure that Min-sun was going to dump her angry, incommunicative, macho asshole of a boyfriend, and also that Sang-mi had so much resentment towards Sung-ho that they were doomed as well. But it turns out that both couples are still together to this day, and Sang-mi and Sung-ho are actually married now. So clearly, there was a lot of stuff between them that the show failed to convey.

Also, even though the commentators were very likable, their reactions and comments were so banal and repetitive, it got really annoying. I don't automatically assume that this is mainly their fault, because it could be primarily the fault of the showrunner/director/editor or other staff that mostly influences the creative direction of the show.

Lastly, I noticed that in pretty much every Korean dating show I've seen, most of the participants speak with a provincial accent, even though they may currently live in Seoul. For example, 3 of the participants were originally from Busan. Even the way they act and eat, etc., makes me think of people who are from outside Seoul. Do native Seoul people not like to go on dating shows or something?

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Sandglass
1 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
sept. 29, 2022
24 épisodes vus sur 24
Complété 1
Globalement 7.0
Histoire 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 7.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Grim, downbeat, but compelling old classic

This is the oldest Kdrama I've ever watched, but it's surprisingly well-made, and the subject matter, violence, and gritty realism are actually more mature than most recent Kdramas I've seen. I can understand why it was such a sensation back in the day, because it's always watchable and engrossing.

However, it's relentlessly violent and depressing, with lots of scenes of massacres and atrocities, torture, beatings, and cynical corruption. It's really eye-opening to see how brutal and corrupt the Korean government, military, and law enforcement were just a couple of decades ago. A country that today is known for its high standard of living and quality entertainment and products that are popular around the world used to be a repressive banana republic that put a low priority on human rights. These are important topics, but just be prepared for some depressing material.

Also, I have a major problem with the character of Hye-rin. Basically, she's responsible for the death of the 2 men who loved her most. Of course, she sheds some tears, but I feel like she still doesn't realize at the end just how much she's responsible for these needless deaths. And I still don't understand why she made the idiotic decision to walk right into Jang-do and Do-shik's trap, dragging Jae-hee and Tae-soo down with her. Was she intentionally trying to basically go on a suicide mission by insisting on going alone, and if so, why the hell would she do that? But no, she seemed really surprised when all those men attacked her, so I guess she was just naive and idiotic. And that's just the worst of her many bad decisions and stupid misunderstandings.

Also, the Jae-hee character is so pathetic. He's just a chump for Hye-rin, and he has no personality or life of his own aside from his devotion to her. How sad. At least he made up for it many years later by winning the squid game.

It's ironic that, out of the 3 main characters, Woo-suk is the one who's guilty of the worst crimes. Tae-soo might have been a thuggish gangster, but he only murdered someone who deserved it, and he could have made a good argument that it was self-defense. But Woo-suk participated in the slaughter of totally innocent people, a true atrocity. Of course, he was just a lowly soldier following orders, and he would have probably been shot for insubordination if he had tried to resist, but you can say the same thing about lots of soldiers throughout history who participated in horrible war crimes. But the person who received the death penalty was the noble gangster, Tae-soo.

So this drama riled me up in many ways, but I was never bored. I'm really glad that I finally had the privilege of watching this important and historic Kdrama.

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Extraordinary Attorney Woo
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
août 28, 2022
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 9.0
Histoire 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Musique 7.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 9.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Lived up to the hype

Usually, I'm disappointed when I watch super popular shows (like Squid Game, Crash Landing on You, It's Okay Not to Be Okay, etc.) because I can't understand why everyone loves them so much. However, Woo is an exception. I loved it just as much as anybody else, and more than many

The best thing for me was the fantastic performance by Park Eun-bin. She wasn't high on my radar because I've only seen her as the lead in a couple of shows, Age of Youth 1 & 2 and Hot Stove League. In the former, she played a character that got on my nerves, although in the latter she was fine, though not particularly memorable. So I wasn't sure what to expect from her when I started Woo. But she hooked me right from the beginning. I'm not going to get into any debates about how realistic her performance was and whether it's some kind of neurotypical appropriation, etc., because I know nothing about all that. All I know is that she flat out beat Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance. Hoffman to me was artificial and hard to relate to, whereas Park did a great job drawing you into her character and getting you to empathize with her, even while at the same time credibly performing some of the behaviors that I in my ignorance associate with autistic people I've encountered in my life.

The second best thing for me was the directing, editing, etc. I think the overall production was better than average, but not overly flashy. They kept everything going at a nice clip, with never a single boring moment, and kept you entertained all the way. I wasn't a huge fan of the whale CGI stuff, but it wasn't bad either. I could take it or leave it.

The third best thing was the writing. Most of the legal stuff was interesting and intelligently written. Of course, it had lots of flaws, including the idea that this same group of attorneys at a prestigious law firm would take on such a huge variety of cases rather than specializing in a narrow range of corporate law, and the unrealistic way some of the cases played out. But I'm not going to nitpick, because, compared to almost every other depiction of the legal profession I've seen in Kdramas, Woo was like a documentary. The only other example that was at this level of realism in my experience was Diary of a Prosecutor. However, I must say, the final 2 cases were the weakest, so that took a little bit away from the overall impact of the show.

The plotting of the other stuff, like the Jun-ho romance, Tae Su-mi, Min-wu's treachery and redemption, were okay, although they were rushed and superficial. They should have cut out some of the sub-plots and romances so they could delve more deeply into fewer sub-plots. Speaking of romance, if by season 2, Gu-rami and the hairy boss aren't a couple yet, I'll be very surprised. And aside from Min-wu's split personality and the head attorney Jang's implausible incompetence and groveling, almost all the supporting characters were really likable.

So right now, this is the main gateway show I'm recommending to my friends who aren't into Kdrama.

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Kita no Kuni Kara: '98 Jidai
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
août 15, 2022
2 épisodes vus sur 2
Complété 0
Globalement 8.0
Histoire 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 7.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 8.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

Back on track

It's been quite a journey for me watching this series over the last 10 days, and I still have one last 2-part special left to go. For me, Jidai was by far the best of the specials so far. The original 1981 series blew me away, but the specials that followed disappointed me. They dwelled too much on tragedy, bad decisions, separation, and disappointments.

I mean, poor Goro, the log cabin that he builds himself and with the help of his friends is burned down by his own son, then the old house he moves back into collapses from the snow, and worst of all, he has to sell off all the lumber he bought for his new log cabin to make amends for his son's dishonorable behavior with the poor girl Tamoko. With that kind of record, I was worried about his stone house, but thankfully it's still standing by the end of this special.

What's even worse than the setbacks faced by poor Goro is the cowardly, creepy, disgusting behavior of Jun throughout these specials. Not only does he burn down his father's precious house, but he lies and blames it on his best friend, then he rapes at least 2 of the sweetest, nicest girls you can ever imagine, impregnating one of them and forcing her into a painful abortion and causing his father to be absolutely humiliated in front of his old yakuza nemesis Hirono Shozo. Then he treats his second rape victim like absolute shit, tormenting her for a past mistake in the most hypocritical way, even though he's made way worse mistakes in his past. (Interesting how the plot is making reference to the huge controversy stirred up by the real-life actress Miyazawa Rie's notorious nude photo book, an unexpectedly meta, breaking-the-third-wall gesture in an otherwise very old-fashioned series.)

I'm so thankful that Jun acts like a decent human being for a change through most of Jidai, with the exception of still being too cold and proud towards Shu. Come on man, he should be treating her like a queen and begging her to marry him. But he's at least matured to some extent.

Actually, over the last few specials, his sister Hotaru overtook him in bad behavior. Her idiotic, family-destroying affairs with married men and her coldness towards her dad and refusal to see him are not only sad to witness, but as far as I can tell, have no motivation or explanation whatsoever. Why the hell did she act like this? So I'm really glad that during Jidai, Hotaru comes back to the fold, ends up with the good guy Shokichi (who, unlike Jun and Hotaru, became a better person when he grew up), moves back to Furano, and warms up to her dad and family again.

Also, it's nice to see Yukiko back. She was always one of my favorite characters, even though I feel the story often neglects her. It's a shame about Sota though.

But the anchor throughout this entire epic series is Tanaka Kunie and his amazing acting. The scene at the end of part 1 when Hotaru and Shokichi tell him that they're getting married and Hotaru is pregnant is one that I want to watch again and again. The emotions that wash over Tanaka's face are just incredible. This is a true master class in acting by this veteran actor. What an incredibly moving scene delivered by one of Japan's greatest actors, may he RIP.

I really hope that the last special matches the quality of this one and ends the series on a positive note.

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Kita no Kuni Kara
0 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
août 9, 2022
24 épisodes vus sur 24
Complété 0
Globalement 9.0
Histoire 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 8.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 9.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

One of the best TV series I've ever seen

This is not only one of the best J dramas, but one of the best TV series period that I've ever seen. It's so classy, humane, unsentimental, and absorbing. The child actors are so important to the show, and they're excellent. Hotaru is such a lovable and perfect daughter. Jun, on the other hand, has his weaknesses and flaws, and often annoyed me, but he's very relatable, and a more realistic character than Hotaru. But Tanaka Kunie's performance as the dad stood out among an outstanding cast. And the writing was excellent. For example, Jun's voiceover narration to Keiko was just perfectly written and was a nice touch. And the dialog and plot developments all felt natural and realistic - something that's very difficult to pull off.

The only minor flaws in my opinion were the bizarre UFO subplot, the death of Shokichi's grandfather after selling his horse (which I thought was a little too much), and the unsatisfying last episode (which is hopefully compensated for by the specials that follow). I also wasn't a huge fan of Sota and Yukiko's relationship because I thought both of them were being really irresponsible, but it was a realistic situation. Lastly, even though Tanaka Kunie had the perfect look and feel of this man who's rough around the edges but has a good heart, but I thought that it was unrealistic that he would be surrounded by so many beautiful women like his ex-wife, Yukiko, Kogomi, and Ryoko. It might have been a little more realistic to cast more normal-looking actresses in those roles. But they all did a great job acting.

I was so surprised that a drama from 1981 could be so high-quality, comparable to the best Japanese movies of that time.

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Yurucamp
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juil. 23, 2022
12 épisodes vus sur 12
Complété 0
Globalement 7.0
Histoire 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Musique 5.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 5.5

Cute but not as good as the anime

I approached this drama as a pleasant diversion when I had a few minutes to kill. That’s why it took me a month to finish, even though I watched it at 2x speed. It was easy to consume in that way because there was no plot to keep track of, and barely anything to remember for you to appreciate it. It was just a series of pleasant moments. I think all the actresses did a good job, especially Haruka, who really captured Rin’s reserved personality, even though that went against the grain of her usually bubbly roles.

However, this failed to capture the magic and special mood of the anime. It partially compensated by offering lots of mouth-watering food porn, as well as a little extra hint of yuri romance between Rin and Nadeshiko than the anime provided.

If I were forced to watch this at normal speed and several episodes in a row like I normally do with TV shows, the lack of plot and sameness of everything, minus the special magic of the anime, would have been a problem.

One last thing - living in the US, it’s unthinkable to me that a high school girl would stay all by herself at a campsite late at night with no worries, except for ghosts. What a novelty.

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Triangle
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juil. 21, 2022
26 épisodes vus sur 26
Complété 0
Globalement 7.0
Histoire 4.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Musique 6.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 6.0
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Great drama for most of its length but stumbles towards the end

This is yet another revenge story about brothers separated as children who end up by coincidence being closely mixed up in each others’ lives as adults, even though they’re unaware that they’re brothers. I was turned off by Young-dal’s thuggishness and stupidity in the first couple of episodes, but fortunately, he gradually improved, and Kim Jae-joong’s fine acting performance made him a character you end up really rooting for. And Lee Bum-soo’s intensity and utterly Korean sentimentality was always fun to watch. Baek Jin-hee was a total charmer too. Unfortunately, Im Si-wan couldn’t keep up with those superior actors. Also, his character made no sense to me.

The story was gripping and bingeable up until the last quarter or third of the season, where it became really repetitive, with one side attacking the other and the other side responding, and continuing like that over and over. And the plot became more and more ridiculous and difficult to believe. And I got tired of characters who knew they were sitting duck targets just casually going about their lives with no protection or precautions. If this were real life, all of the main characters would have been murder victims like halfway through the drama.

Still, it’s an addictive watch most of the time. Just be ready to increase the playback speed or fast forward a lot during the latter part of the series.

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