WhiteLilly
Germany
This drama set out to be goofy and funny and crazy and just the literal translation screen-for-screen of a manga. And it achieved this goal.
Sure, there are many scenes where I couldn't decide whether to laugh or facepalm myself, but it was entertaining either way. And it took the crazy as far as J-drama go. I really liked it because it was a very nice funny and romantic snack in-between - and not pretending to be taken seriously.
The acting is insane if you consider the crazy scenes they had to act... The male lead is hot, no denying that, and he seriously manages to keep a straight face throughout all the lunatic expressions of the female lead.
Take episode 6, when the whole bunch went to this crazy SM-meets-maid-cafe restaurant. You could actually see every single shot taken from a manga drawing. It was HILARIOUS.
I will rewatch it, because I need some stills for the pure enjoyment of the faces. XD
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And I have to say - it was beautiful.
No Japanese goofyness, no exaggerated clichés that are played out. Just a story about friendship, love, emotions, suffering and happiness.
Sure, it is not a 100% real-life depiction, and of course the timidness of the main female character is difficult to understand for us Westerners, but this doesn't hinder us to feel the amazing sincere vibe that is portrayed here.
This really does not require any more elaborated words or descriptions - it is a movie that is an enrichment. Just go and watch it and feel the warmth of it in your heart.
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(Truthfully speaking, lately folks on MDL just throw around the 10s, it is totally misleading.)
The best about this drama, is by a long shot, the ACTING. Superb. The male lead and the second female lead were the outstanding stars for me - you could feel their sorrow and mood and they did not overact. And the male lead had a tough part to act, because...
...the freakin' age gap! It made me cringe sometimes. I just couldn't overlook it, no matter how hard I tried. Sure, 19 and around 39 (or: 939) is not a total disaster, but it does come close to being inappropriate, especially since the female lead is written to be extremely teenagery, showing lots of little-girl-aspects.
Although the kissing scenes were really great and believable in themselves, the issue with the age just made it awkward to watch.
Anyways. The plot, not to forget, was okay, sometimes even really nice. The ending is really emotional and I liked it, because I did not expect it. (It squeezed even two tears out of me, and I am one of those viewers that never cry). The issue here is, that there were sometimes weird jumps between very, very serious topics and total slapstick. It was rather unusual and it made it sometimes difficult to follow the mood. The other thing was that in each episode there were several times that I was outright bored.
If you look at it from afar, there was not much plot going on besides the two lead couples circling around each other.
Is it a good drama? Yes. Is it a great drama? No.
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HOWEVER, all of this is depicted in quite a new way: the love rival is actually a nice person and isn't bitchy at all, the rich guy is not THAT rich - just normal - and his anti-social behaviour is totally believable and not over the top. The chaebol-mom isn't really one, but tries to be.
And there are many other aspects, that felt fresh: The main woman's parents, esp. the mom, were no minor roles and showed some hair-wrenching parts of family life. The horny attorny (yeah, you read that right) with the older sister and their wonderfull outlandishly behaviour.
The female and male leads were totally believable imo - I know the actors from interviews and I couldn't see them past their roles. I believed all of it, and even the falling-in-love happened so gradually, esp. for the man, that for once it was real.
The mystery of his visions was really interesting and they even tried to explain it.
The humour - oh, this was awesome. It was a really new kind of humour that I haven't encountered like this in any drama before. It was at the same time crazy but realistic.
The only time I was a bit unnerved was when the back-and-forth between the couple got a little bit too frequently. It was still believable, not artificially emotional as in many other dramas, but still. Thank God, that resolved rather quickly when the guy decided to do what has to be done.
I really think, that I will rewatch it, especially for the humour and this one freakishly awesome kiss-scene.... ^^
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And I really loved this drama. I wonder what person wouldn't appreciate such a sad but beautiful story, especially knowing, that it is based on a real person. I didn't cry at all (maybe because of my experience), but I was really moved, especially at the end of each episode where we are shown pictures of the real Aya and excerpts from her diary - these sentences are so real, so important, so dramatic, so beautiful - it really is, what you feel and think when you are in such a situation, and thus Aya helped even me just by watching this.
About the story: Well, you know she will get sick, it will get worse and eventully she will die. So what is there to gain from this story? First, the setting: You have a quite realistic take on how the patient and her family and friends react. The actors did a great job here. Nothing was over the top (proving that J-drama can be "normal", too). The story progresses steadily and surprisingly with a good pace, that does never bore you, nor does it dive into huge melodrama. Aya's courage and her relationships carry this beautifully.
And about the love story: Other than the real Aya, drama-Aya was so fortunate to have this amazing class-mate, who knows what loyalty is. The male lead was my favourite actor, I just loved his performance.
Of course, drama Aya was depicted in a more collected and beautiful way than it happened in real life. When this desease progresses, your face becomes distorted, too and nothing is as "sleeping beauty" like as it was shown here at the end. However, it is okay, since this is a blurred improved version of sickness, that protects viewers.
What can I say at the end? I am glad I watched this. Throughout this drama I will remeber the real Aya and when I think about my own sickness, I will remember her couragious way of living.
Thank you, Aya.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama actually manages to capture you until the very end, which is about 50 episodes later, no small feat.I love history, I love historical politics, I love martial arts and sword fights, I love clever, tactical plot twists and to that, a tiny bit of romance. I got served so well....
And I started watching this before knowing that it depicted real-life events and persons, that, of course, made it even better for me.
It is rare to see a true-to-history-drama successfully deliver a good portion of tension and other emotions throughout the whole series, and they managed to do this here. Because of the length and real-time that passes, you grow attached to the characters, and thus when some of them start to change and/or meet their fate, you are right in the middle of it, or at least it feels that way.
Who are the good guys and who the bad, becomes an increasingly blurred line here, and it throws ethical questions right back at you.
I never even once got bored by this drama and never skipped scenes.
And: This drama produced one of my favourite female supporting characters of all time - master of swords, beautiful face (perfect choice of actress), humble demeanor, tragic story.... sigh (more would spoiler it).
If you love historical-political-action - you GOTTA watch this.
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I am really disappointed seeing the great cast and potential, but already at episode 8 or so I was tempted to drop it.
There are some nice, funny and romantic scenes, but overall it was a feeling of lacking a stringent plot development and of course, the whole "I won't tell anyone that I am about to die" thing dragged unbelievably until almost the last episode - which concluded almost hastily. (Couldn't they show a tiny bit more of the aftermath?)
I really like the main actor, but unfortunately I felt that this was not the best role for him. I applaude him for his ability to let himself cry, because this is difficult to do, but it just didn't fit him.
Somehow, I feel like this drama managed to get all the K-drama clichés together, but in a weird, unsatisfying way.
My rating is still generous considering that I wouldn't advise watching this unless you are a fan of the actors or don't have anything else to watch. But in singular scenes it was good, putting it altogether though, failed.
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Truth be told, I am not the biggest fan of pure romance, but here it got me. I will probably rewatch this many times.
Do you know the meme-face, which pukes a rainbow? Well, imagine it with puking a stream of pink hearts - that would be me watching this drama. It's embarassing, but I will admit to it.
I give this drama a 10, because it deserves this in terms of romance. You can scratch the whole side-plots (of which aren't too many around) and still have an awesome couple.
What this drama has NOT and I didn't miss either:
1) Misunderstandings between the couple
2) Second-lead-syndrome
3) Evil mother-in-law or alike
4) over-the-top dramatic circumstances like amnesia, murder, sickness etc.
What this drama has:
1) A handsome, cool, intelligent, competent, polite male lead, who does - let's face it - all the right things which no man in reality can live up to
2) A female lead, that manages to be clever, polite, witty, modest but self-assured and lacks the typical submissive side, which I so often dislike in Asian dramas
3) Some cool and funny supporting characters, that have genuine connections between each other
4) Minor tensions that are resolved easily and in a superior way by the main couple
5) All the bullies get their mouths stuffed right away, which is just SO satisfying
6) Some ear-reddening kiss-scenes...
This truelly is a drama to romantically relax. It doesn't have the nerve-wrecking plot-twists that we all know and just want to get over with. Instead, we see a believable and perfect love-story and since it doesn't aspire to be more than this, it hits the mark.
The only thing I missed from about episode 20 onwards were the scenes from the game, but since they moved the relationship to real life, it happens fluently.
I have to admit, I fast-forwarded some of the side-story, just because I couldn't wait for main stuff happening, but I see this as a plus.
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It's a slife-of-life story about five female roommates between 20 and 28,, and every one of them has a singular character and background story. We see them struggle with romance, money, fate and life in general. Oh, and there is the "ghost", of course...
While especially in the first half of the drama I cannot deny some dragging moments, it was still entertainning because of the very unique and quirky humour. Talk about sex and armpit hair shouldn't ruffle your feathers. There are dark plot aspects regarding the girls' pasts, but it stays mostly light and you don't have to be afraid of the ending.
I'd say the rewatch value is really high, because all these small moments are so entertaining, that it doesn't matter whether you know how the drama ended.
Yeah, definitely a breath of fresh, pink air :)
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And it is really good in its own way, because it depicts things waaaaaaayyyy more realistic than N.C. which was as much over the top as Japanese dramas get.
Plot: A very talented pianist wants to be a conductor and leave for Europe, but he can't because of a childhood trauma. He meets his neighbour, who's a pianist at this school and the exact opposit of him - childish, comical, messy, non-ambitious - and now she's following him like a puppy. There are several characters that come together in an unusual orchestra which was build by the visiting and widely known and excentric maestro Stresemann, who shakes everything up a bit. We see how characters strife for their goals and how even the childish girl has something hidden...
The Japanese version is a living manga, you could say, and is foremost freakily funny.
The Korean version somehow manages to be just as entertaining (for me) without leaving the realm of realistic settings and possibilities. Tomorrow's C. is also longer, because it added some plotlines, that weren't in the original version: The love rival, who's a nice guy and has a secret; some drama in the mangament and storyboard section (you know, the evil chaebol-mom is represented here); some minor events like the expedition to the swimming-pool. And let's face it - T.C. just serves a love story that can be taken seriously at some point :)
While the female lead character remains almost exactly as crazy as her Japanese counterpart, the rest are the water-downed versions, which is NOT a bad thing. As funny as they were in the original, I appreciated a more realistic take on them, as well. From hairstyle to behaviour, I really like this version. Especially Rak, the violinst, is a superb supporting role. The only let-down was the actor who played Stresemann. If you compare Japanese and Korean Stresemanns, they are like black and white. And this wouldn't be bad, if the Korean one was at least good. But seriously - this man NEVER changes his expression, it is SO not fitting the character! But okay, he's a supporting role and has not much screen-time.
I don't get the low score, because this drama really deserves at least an 8.0 and you should try it definitely when you want to see sth endearing and funny.
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I have never read the manga-version, but you can literally see in each scene the angle and direction of comedy manga-drawins, it is SO MUCH over the top.
Naturally, this is a very light-hearted drama, although it touches here and there some serious intentions of the characters.
The female lead Nodame is this quirky, non-ambitious, a little bit crazy and childish girl, who in fact, is as good a musician as it gets - and this was plotwise the most interesting part for me, seeing her try (for some time at least). The protagonist Chiaki is the typical high-quality musician, who suffers from PTSD and dares not to board a plane or ship to go abroad for studying.
One day Franz Stresemann (oh my God, the Japanese version of this German or Austrian dude, is just....lol), a widely known conductor (and pervert), comes to the school and shakes everything a bit up and Chiaki never gets rid of Nodame again...
There is SOME sort of love story, but not really what you are used to, so don't expect too much in this aspect.
The best part for me was to see the ambitions of most of the orchestra members rise and them trying to reach their goals, whilst listening to some fine music.
If you're looking for some really goofy entertainment right straight out of a manga, then you should give this a try.
(If you want to see the more realistic and longer version, then go to Korea's version - Tomorrow's Cantabile, which I found to be just as entertaining in its own way.)
PS: The thing I loved most about this drama... was hands down the fart-song and how Harisen danced to it. It was DIVINE :D
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I am old enough that I had the joy to watch this movie shortly after its release, so I didn't have to compare it to nowaday standards. Back then, it was top nodge and of course, the story and setting were something totally new to me as a Westerner.
You gotta be warned, if you didn't know this beforehand, but this is not a happy story. Set in a futuristic alternative Japan, each year a class is selected to be sent on an island where the pupils have to battle each other until only one stays alive. Of course, this is a rather radical setting, and one has just to accept it, because the interesting thing is what happens psychologically later. As the fighting continues, many emotional developments occur, as is epected when humans are pushed to their limits. And as a viewer one keeps asking oneself "What would I have done?" It is not a flamboyant fantasy story like Hunger Games (which I always saw as rip-off of this idea here), it is not Hollywood, it is a stab in your heart and your brain, and either are you a viewer who enjoys this ... or not.
Other than other reviewers, I give this a very high rewatch value (I have seen it about 6 times myself), because each time you get the occasion to focuse more on the psychological aspects rather than the slaughter itself. It's just one of those movies, which can offer deep insight if you give it some time.
To those who liked it a lot, I recommend the book, it gives a deeper inside into the persons' feelings and thoughts and enriches the experience by this.
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The whole series is focused on the REAL historical and political story of more than a decade - the Meji revolution and restoration. You HAVE to be interested in history, otherwise you will not enjoy this.
There is no romance or drama or villains in the sense we drama-lovers are used to. You will get no romantic scenes or unrealistic depictions of anything. Even when the heroine marries, you will not see her kiss or ever know whether they"consumed" the marriage or whatever.
You can call this a very dry story, because it lacks the "extra fantastic spice", but because of this, it is very pure, too. The story blossoms like a flower and you get attached to its characters very slowly, but on a deep level, it's like you share their experiences with them, because you take part in so much and for such a long time. And believe me, when you enter the mid-20th episodes, it will be gutt-wrenching what you witness and what you know were real life events... (Byakkotai, Saigo Tanomo's female family, etc.). This drama is by no means something for the faint hearted - it shows what the Boshin war was like, without any gruesome scenes, but perfectly portraying the events of such.
I love history and although I knew already some background facts about the end of the Bakumatsu period, I have never seen anything where the historical and political development of the 1860s is presented in such a detailed way. I learned so much about the clan wars of those times. You can watch and at the same time google the characters (the names are displayed) - they're are real. Also, at the end of every episode there are a few minutes of documentation about historical sites that are connected to these events! What a bonus! The documentary character is emphasized by the voice of a woman, who in each episode will resume some events or political settings, thus giving us a better overview.
It is quite outstanding to see the plot from Aizu's perspective (because Yae is Aizu), because they were the ones protecting the Shogunate in the end. (For those who don't know how history went, I don't want to spoil what's going to happen, so I won't say more on the content). As many others I had the opinion that they were just conservative and against change, but this drama showed me that in fact, they were victims to overall circumstances, too.
The directing and scenery are top-nodge, it is as realistic as it can get. Like a veeery long historical movie. I am happy with the actors, with the exception of (sadly) the main actress! I find her acting too obvious and she depicts Yae in a naive, plain way that I don't like or see fitting. In the opening of each episode (which is by the way maybe the most beautiful I have ever seen, beating even that of Nirvana on Fire), Yae is clearly stated as the heroine in such an dramatic and elegant way, that it just doesn't fit her display in the episodes itself. But oh well, that's a comparatively minor letdown.
So, for you out there, who love history and are interested in the end of the Samurai-period, this is maybe the rarest drama-jewel out there. Let me know what you think.
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1) This drama will give you more characters to passionately hate than any other. It is like school-bullying with adults in an office. PREPARE FOR IT. You will want to punch someone whilst watching this. I had to laugh at some point, because it reminded me of animes like One Piece or DragonBall, where just after you finish one villain, the next, more powerful one, comes along and you fight again...
One part, that kept me watching, was the hope that all the bad guys, who persistently made life for some of the office newbies difficult, would get what they deserve in the end (who wouldn't want that to see?). However, I was utterly dissappointed, that just one had a bit of pay-up time, the rest just went into the wind, as if months and months of harrassment never happened.
2) I have to admit, that besides the awesome Mr. Oh at some point every character just got onto my nerves. But I suspect this is because of this ridiculous hierarchy that is played out here and that I, as a European, cannot comprehend. THEY ARE ALL PUSH-OVERS AND I HATE IT. Especially the sexual discrimination was hard to watch, and how Young Yi just suffered it, like a good little girl.
One might argue that this is what work-life is, but nope - this is what work-life SHOULDN'T be.
3) This might be the worst OST I have ever heard. Not that it is bad by itself, but it is just so melancholic and depressing... every time the title got played in "Misaeng" (sound in the background) I felt a little bit more depressed. Seriously, this drama is listed under "comedy", but it was only about 15% comedy at the most, it's definitely 80% slife-of-life, at least, and nothing else.
4) This didn't bother me too much, but you should know, that the whole thing plays out 99,9% in the office (a tiny part of it is during after-work drinking, too). You get amost zero private life etc. This revolves around the work, and as Mr. Oh said "Work is our life", this drama is about work. (And it showed me once again, why I would never want to work in such a company...)
5) The ending, as I mentioned, is like: WHAT? Then you remember somewhere in the past that at the beginning of the first episode was this one scene.... and then it was all about the office. And now, 20 episodes later, they continue with this beginning. And you realize, that it's the weirdest ending ever. It does not give you any answers - I would have loved to see where ALL the newbies were heading to or ended up. But nope, instead they gave us a crazy mixture of James Bond and Indiana Jones scene. I really asked myself whether GurRae didn't just die and this was his dream of heaven or whatever...
Ok. I gotta admit, this was some kind of rant.
I still liked the drama and watched it, because
1) it was well made. The athmosphere, the direction, the cuts were great.
2) I kept waiting for the newbies to pull through.
3) I really liked Mr. Oh and his father attitude towards his subordinates.
I guess, this is a drama, that is better to watch one or two episodes at a time, not all at once.
Well, this is off my chest. You gotta see, whether you like it. Maybe bully-haven is just the thing for you ;)
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I was promised something else here... but it was practically the same good old memory loss, just that it took over 20 (!!) episodes to solve it (and we all know that Mr. Memoryloss gets always back together with his first lover, don't we). (Btw. this drama is 34 episodes long, I don't know why MDL shows just 21...)
So you have the original rich but unhappy douchebag (and wow, this one's as douchebaggy as it gets for the first two episodes) and the unlucky, but beautiful and good-hearted female protagonist. From here everything develos exactly as you are used to: The rich, awful tiger-mom, the ever-unlucky second-lead-guy etc. However, Until about episode 10 (don't remember the exact number) the whole plot is practically resolved. The douche turns into a protective prince, the girl gets away from her awful family, they love each other and... then cancer hits. Duh. From then the get-the-memory-back-whilst-loving-the-wrong-woman continues for over 20 episodes. Yeah. Not a fan of that.
Let me narrow it down:
What I liked:
The drama touches three difficult issues: 1) Abuse of women, even by their family members and 2) women, who raise children by themselves - always a touchy subject in Asia and 3) sicknesses like Diabetes. That's some serious stuff right there.
This drama showed one of the most touching and maybe the most BELIEVABLE LOVESCENE I have EVER seen in dramaland. It was cliché, in the shadow of the sickness, with rain and tears... but holly molly - the actors actually acted like real lovers! Unlike other dramas, especially Japanese and Korean, where I cringe everytime when the couple FINALLY kiss in what is supposed to be a passionate scene, solving it all... but you can just tell how awkward the actor/actress feel, their bodies often even not touching whilst kissing, totally stiff... HERE you actually believe it. The kisses are natural, the touches, too. And the first night is not just excluded from the whole plot, like - Sex, no, no, we Asians don't do that (in dramas). So Kudos for maybe the best and most endearing love-scene you will encounter in Asian dramas. (Of course, I haven't seen all, so there maybe better out there)
What I did not like:
Although the emotional settings are nice and believable, which makes it a good drama, the outer settings are... bordering on fairy-tale. Like, it's as if police doesn't exist in Taiwan, because obviously, no one ever called the police: Kidnapping, gangsters, attempted rape, violence, you name it. Everything is tried to be sorted out by the characters themselves... which often leads to unbelievable situations (The courtroom in the beginning, seriously? You got attempted rape and more on the table and they solve it at a SCHOOL court setting??? What the...) This made me sometimes feel like watching a drama for teens, because the reality level was just too low.
Then there is the female protagonist. Her actions post memory loss are often very... frustrating. Not unsimilar to the girl from The Heirs, the character here decides often to just do nothing or be silent or not search help - just not to do what most other people would do at given situation. They explain it with her selfless behaviour, but it's to a degree that can be called medical - lol.
And then there is the last 5 episodes... The way the memory loss problem was solved was really quite exhausting to call the least. I don't want to spoil it, thus I can say not much about it, but the last episodes just dragged and the ultimate conclusion was relatively flat. There is OF COURSE a happy ending, as every memory loss plot requires, but how the couple get back together and finally make up just felt hastened in the last episode and well... not as important anymore.
All in all it was a good drama, certainly worth watching, and I am sure I will revisit at least until the infamous lovescene :) But it could have been shorter by about 10 episodes, if you ask me.
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