SuperShark
Sweden
I stumbled across this drama by accident when I wanted to watch more shows with Kudo Ayano. I read the synopsis for this and it looked like it was going to be another decently entertaining but cliché school drama. So I started it. After about three episodes in I realized that what I had thought to be a rock was in fact a sparkling diamond. This show is a masterpiece.
Since seeing my last favorite drama which was awhile ago I've felt that I wouldn't really have an easy time finding another drama I'd love enough to rate it 10/10. Well, I finally did. The thing is the grade for this show is different even. Most of the dramas I rate ten is because I think they are amazing shows and pretty much appeal to my own special taste. This one is different in that I think any fan of asian dramas could love this. It's hard to explain why this is a special case but after I'm done mabye I've made myself clear enough. In my eyes it should belong with one of the classics, but I know why it won't at the moment. Anyways, forgive me for being long-winded but I've got alot to tell you about this drama and it's going to take some time to describe why it's so great.
Many dramas have this episodic layout which I'm not a big fan of. They have an ensemble cast and in episodes they single out one person at a time to work on his/her problem and in the next they pick another one. All this while keeping an overarching storyline that they focus on in the first episode and then abit later towards the end. The problem with this for me is I have a hard time connecting with the characters and getting invested in the bigger storyline because all the small different stories that happen in each episode take away time from a coherent narrative. Suzuki Sensei looks like one of these shows at first, only it isn't. They do indeed take up a few persons problem each episode, but everything is connected pretty much. Everything is relevant to the overarching story and important things happen all the time and not just in the end. The characters doesn't just have their scenario told and then their done, not at all. They continue to develop and their stories are brought up and not just forgotten plus relevant to where the story eventually ends up going.
This show is very radical. In terms of theme and opinions. It is alot about minor sexuality. It's amazing how well written and real it feels and the problems they take up are very important things that doesn't get talked about because people might feel they are taboo. Well, someone has to talk about them and bring them up. This leads into what might be the best thing about this show. The radical opinions and behavior of Suzuki sensei himself. He presents opinions and views on things that surprised me alot, in fact sometimes I didn't agree but that's the beauty of it. Even though you might not agree with him, in fact you might very well dislike him but what he is saying isn't wrong, it just different from what we are normally told to be the right thing while still being very rational and good opinions.
I have to warn you though, this show isn't very flashy or cartoony like Gokusen or GTO and the likes. It focuses alot on discussion but it's done in a very intense way still due to what must be some of the best writing I've seen in any tv-show. I was never bored.
I recommend this show to anyone who claims to love asian drama. To me this is how a show is done right. I actually learned something from watching this, something important. I won't tell you outright what it is, you are just going to have to watch it for yourself. Actually I think what you and me get out of this might even be different depending on your own view on things.
The cast is amazing, especially considering alot of them are very young. The music captures the mood of the show incredibly well.
I do have one complaint against this show and without spoiling anything it has to do with something that kinda sticks out in a drama that is so down-to-earth as this is. It's a minor thing, you might not even notice and in the long run it didn't matter. But I rather wish it wasn't there at all. Anyways, I'm going to wrap up this review, I feel I could go on for ages about small things that makes this show the masterpiece it is but then I'd be here all night.
I recommend it, it's a definite 10/10. It's not very flashy or "over the top", it's pretty radical and you might even get offended by some of it. Frankly, having your opinions and beliefs questioned is something good because at the end of the day you can chose what to think yourself anyways but you'll get a broader view of the subject by hearing other sides. I'm sad to see so few people having actually seen this here, it's got about 8 rating votes.
Also I recommend you to go into this with an open mind and pay attention to the details, some smaller things might not be spelled out for you. I hope you didn't get bored with my wall of text and I hope you like this show alright at least if you decide to watch it.
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This is the kind of drama that is going to be hard ro review for me. The reason for that is this show had very very good moments but at the same time alot of stuff were a little bit dragged out and unrelated to the actual storyline.But let me tell you what the best part of this drama is, it's the character Shizuka played by Kaho. I might have to think about it abit deeper, but just at the top of my head she is one of the most interesting and mysterious characters I've seen in a good long while. Even after finishing this show I want to know more about her.
So, the storyline is pretty interesting at it's core but some moments are dragged out. I don't mind sitting through slow dramas as long as the good parts are good enough and I felt that about this show. The good parts were worth the wait. If you can't stand slow dramas you might want to avoid this or at least expect to not like it as much as I did.
The acting is pretty much flawless, that's what I've come to expect from WOWOW shows at this point. Kaho, like I said, is amazing as Shizuka and the various police officers, private investigators and other supporting roles are great. I have to admit, in the first episode I kinda felt Kaho was miscast as the main character but it changed the second she appeared in the second.
The music was very good and I still remember the "main score" of the show which I really liked.
Ultimately the reasons I can't rate this show higher are these. The first episode is really slow until you get into to the actual plot. Also I didn't really love the ending, I won't go into that cause of spoilers. And last, I wanted to know more about Shizuka.
But I recommend this drama, IF you think you can manage the slow pace.
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The thing with this movie is, it has a very interesting story at it's core, but this is a very rough movie in terms of almost everything except perhaps music. In addition to that it feels like the focus of the story is pretty divided.
Let me say this much, this movie had the potential to be very, very amazing. As it is now, it's a good movie but pretty slow and the focus is put on the wrong things according to my personal opinion. I say the stuff that takes place at the start of the last third part of the movie should have taken up alot more time of the movie to build up the ending even more. The pacing is kinda slow too which doesn't help. Those complaints aside, this movie is very sad and touching, almost a little to much, but the good parts are all towards the end. It's safe to say you shouldn't watch this movie if you're depressed, but perhaps you gathered that from the title of it.
The cast is solid, but the one who stands out the most is Mizusawa, and I can't wait to see her in more roles. I'm not sure who directed this, but some parts were very beautiful while sometimes it was pretty bad.
Music captures the moments, but it isn't anything you will remember.
To sum things up, this is a pretty interesting movie, but it could have been alot better had they focused the story more. It's very dark, slow, sad and depressing, but also very beautiful. I honestly can't say if I recommend it or not. If you think it looks interesting and are comfortable sitting through slow and depressing movies, you might be able to get a very touching story out of this movie.
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I went into this show with a bit too high expectations from reading on what it was about. When I actually watched it I thought everything was pretty slow. There wasn't enough explanations and description of the characters and plot and it made me abit confused. Not because I didn't get what was going on, but it felt like there was so much more to this setting that they didn't tell us about.
After about half of this show though I thought it really picked up. The storyline got alot more focused and characters got way more interesting, I just simply couldn't put this drama down once I reached that point.
Now on a personal leval I'm rating this show an 8, but I can't recommend it that highly to people that have a different taste than me and aren't willing to overlook some things. Because this show had it's problems. Some cliché characters and some things like plotpoints, motivations that when you break them down doesn't make much sense.
I didn't have a problem looking past it since I was enjoying most of the characters, most of the action and the setting. Kawashima Umika as our lead Ai did an amazing job in this. I think it's the first I've seen of her, but I'm looking forward to more. She's great. Ayano Go as Shion needs a mention as what must be the most awesome character I've seen in awhile. He's terrifying.
I'll round this up now by saying if you want a Sci-Fi/Post Apocalyptic (sort of) show you'll most likely enjoy this. As long as you don't nitpick it to death and give it some time to develop.
For me it's an 8/10 because I loved the cast alot (Ayano Go, Kawashima Umika and my personal crush Taketomi Seika among others) aswell as decided not to nitpick it. For someone that might not enjoy the cast as much as me or perhaps you aren't able to look past some things I'd say it's a weak 7/10, so that's what I'm giving it in this review.
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It's split up in 17 short episodes following different girls in the class with an hour conclusive episode.
So, should you watch this drama?
For me the first few episodes I found the characters to be pretty unlikeable but getting further in I uderstood that it was the whole point. They grow more and more with each episode.
I guess this is an AKB drama for AKB fans, and it works best if you know these girls beforehand. I think though that you can come into this without knowing anything about them beforehand and still enjoy yourself.
I would recommend it for a decent school drama with a sad and inspirationl touch. It's powered up by having pre-knowledge of AKB, but can still be enjoyed.
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And in the first few episodes I was pretty confused as to what I thought about this show, but when it got further in I actually started to find the humor to be funny at times. Not the over the top way that Saburo transforms into his powerful form nor the ongoing joke with the naked girls but rather the way the characters treated each other and just didn't listen to what Saburo tried to tell them, stuff like that.
I was pleasently surprised, but it was far from a masterpiece.
The cast was pretty funny, especially Kurashina Kana as the sweet innocent girl that sometimes just freaked out.
Hashimoto Jun and the relatively unknown actor Itakura Toshiyuki as Saburo's sidekicks are also very funny to watch once you warm up to them abit.
The music is decent, nothing groundbreaking.
All in all, this was a solid comedy show that had some funny moments and some moments that fell flat. It won't win awards for being great, but I enjoyed it for what it was most of the time. That is why I give it a 7.
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Many people consider the first Majisuka Gakuen (first season) to be better. I don't for many reasons, even though I loved the first one loads too.
Let's start of by saying you shouldn't jump into this unless you've seen season 1. You could I guess, but alot would be lost on you in terms of relationships/characters and events.
Why is this better then? Let me tell you what I think. The fighting is improved to start things off. Honestly not a major point for me, it was fine enough the first time around. As for the storyline, I felt that season 1 was basically a "Crows Zero" but with girls. It had alot of the same plot points. Majisuka 2 also had elements of Crows Zero 2, with schools fighting each other. But there was alot more to it than that. We get alot more character development from people like Gekikara and Nezumi (the two that lack it the most in season 1). They become real people instead of the over the top versions. And without spoiling anything I can say the school itself get's more internal trouble when the seniors from season 1 graduated.
The focus is better for someting with such a large cast since instead of following a set main character, it switches alot more between different persons and that gives more understanding of the various people too.
We get to understand the struggle of both the bad guys and the good guys and at the end of the day, everyone is likable in their own way.
I can't really get in more on why I found Majisuka Gakuen 2 better than it's predecessor (and ultimately one of my favorite shows) without spoiling plot points and events.
I can say however that it improved on nearly every aspect. As long as you don't go into it expecting it to be the same as season 1.
Oh, and did I mention there is no Daruma? That alone earns it an extra point.
Sidenote: You don't have to know anything about AKB48 going into this series. I didn't, and love it!
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First off, this show is very episodic and I'm not a huge fan of that type.
The story is in it's core pretty fun and interesting, but the whole thing lacks any feeling of importance. Everything the main character does he does for the sole motivation of getting into the 1st Investigation Divison when it seems he is pretty close to getting in there anyways if he just endures it with his current job for awhile. I know it's partly a comedy but still. Another problem is it feels they are not doing much with the time travel aspect which I partly blame on the episodic nature of the show.
The cast is pretty much why I watched this in the first place, Kiritani Mirei, Yokoyama Yu, Mitsuishi Ken, Kudo Ayano and so on builds a very good supporting cast and the main character which I hadn't seen in anything before (Matsuoka Masahiro) was very likeable. They all did for the most part a very good job in this. Unfortunetly not enough to salvage the messy plot.
I don't remember any score from this shows music so I can't say it was great.
So overall, the story lacks any feeling of importance, the cast is pretty good and the music is forgettable. But I must add, the story is sometimes enjoyable and this drama definetly has it's moments. It's not a bad show, it's just not great.
I would give it a weak 7/10 and say that if you like the actors and actresses in this it might be worth to check out, don't watch it for the plot alone.
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We have the plot, which is about a dragon being seen in modern day Japan. Right there this series had my attention but oh boy, does it not deliver on that. The dragon just sits on top of Tokyo Tower and does nothing. What's more dissapointing is the reaction people have to it. They would show more reaction if they discovered a wild bear running around in the city. And yeah, I realize it's a comedy, but it needs some kind of logical structure to build the jokes on. I won't spoil anything in particular but alot of the situations regarding the crystals and the "heroes" just makes you go "Like they didn't notice that before!!!". Again, yeah it's a comdey and some of these are meant as jokes but it's just to stupid.
The cast was just kinda there, I didn't love or hate anyone in particular. I think this is the first time I'm seeing alot of these people except Endo Kaname.
As for the comedy, I did laugh at a few things since I am an old rpg videogame player. This show makes fun of those alot. But most of the time it was just painful.
All in all, I'd say avoid this show. Especially if you haven't played rpgs like the older Final Fantasy games with crystals and whatnot. I'm most likely kind to this show by even giving it a 6/10 but it was short and I enjoyed some parts, mostly from the earlier episodes.
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The episodes are short and focuses on different SKE members with Matsui Rena and Matsui Jurina as the two main characters.
I didn't know much about SKE48 when I went into this, and basically just watched it because of the two leads that are also in the Majisuka Gakuen series.
It had it's funny moments but I think they will be lost on people that doesn't have a connection to these actors. Acting wise it's alright, but stiff at times. Story is decent enough but it feels like there is alot of filler to fit in more camoes of SKE members.
All in all, I enjoyed it mainly due to Matsui Jurinas character because I know who they are and like them before this. Unless you are the same I suggest you avoid this unfortunatly.
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The story had potential from the start, but sometimes it suffered from being just to hard to believe. It got better as it all went along and more stuff was explained to you. Ultimately, I didn't really love the ending, it was okay, but it seemed a little like they added more drama for the sake of drama.
The cast is the reason I picked it up in the first place, and I'm glad I did since I would have enjoyed it anyways. Kutsuna Shiori was great as the (I guess?) youngest member of the anti-terrorist group and love seeing Ito Ayumi in a bigger supporting role, she was the best! The rest of the cast was decent but I didn't care much for Maruyama Ryuhei as the main character. He was pretty stiff and wooden throughout.
The music was decent, but pretty generic and I don't remember them now after watching it at all.
As for rewatch value, I will most likely give most shows low raring since I'd rather watch something new. Unless it's something I regard as a favorite.
My overall rating is a weak 8/10. Had it not had Ito Ayumi, it would have gotten a strong 7/10 but I'm biased since I think she is awesome. Even though you might think "7 out of 10 doesn't sound to great" I have to say I recommend this. The reason I can't rate it higher is some dodgy effects, stiff acting from the main character and some hard to believe plot points, but the overall spectacale of the story was very entertaining throughout and I enjoyed it regardless of it's flaws.
If you think the plot sounds appealing at all, I recommend watching it.
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First off you don't need to have seen the other seasons to watch this. But you might aswell since they are alot better.
Anyways I found Majisuka Gakuen 3 to really be a mixed bag. The acting isn't great for most of these people, especially Shimazaki Haruka. But some of them are really good and the cast improves alot as you go along with it.
The story was initially pretty decent but they introduce new plotlines halfway and stuff gets really out of focus. The pacing on some episodes is pretty horrible too.
The music is great though, really love it. They manage to capture the grim and dirty prison situation really good.
The reason I had a hard time rating this is for a few reasons. First off at the time when I watched Majisuka Gakuen 1 and 2 I didn't know much about AKB but through those shows I actually became a fan. So now that I know who these people are, I become pretty biased and whatever was wrong with the episode I still enjoyed.
Something else that makes it hard was when I look at this thing objectively the show is pretty slow and dragging. But on the other hand the last couple of episode are amazing.
In the end I have to give this an overall 7/10 for the sake of this review. Even though I personally rate it slightly higher personally since I loved the ending so much. It's a show that has it's moments while still suffering from some poor acting, slow pace and other various problems.
If you're an AKB fan, I got this to say. There isn't alot of senbatsu members in this but the girls that are here are ultimately doing a great job and you should definetly watch it to see more of the "younger generation".
To everyone else, I also actually recommend it. It's some (mostly) mindless campy fun that has some great moments but you should also go into it knowing there are problems.
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Anyways, I'm sad to say I didn't really enjoy this movie experience as much as I thought I would. First of, this movie is way to long. 2 hours and 15 minutes could have been cut down to about 90 minutes with this plot. As a result of that this movie has got a very bad pacing.
The plot eventually turns out to be a crime solving mystery with very stupid motives. Again I don't know if this is true to the games, but I had expected more lawyer/court room stuff. There is some of that, and it is easily the best parts of the movie but they eventually fall really flat due to the writing which makes me these prosecutors look freaking horrible. They make such obvious lies and then when they get called out on it they claim "Well, yes I lied in court for the tenth time, that doesn't prove anything".
This movie had some good parts though, and that was the costumes and the acting. Narimiya Hiroki was good as Naruhodo and Kiritani Mirei which is one of my favorite actresses was fine, even though her character felt completely useless (but yes I know she is in the games).
This is also a very good looking movie from the sets and costumes to the visuals.
Anyways I wouldn't recommend this movie at least if you hadn't seen the games. If I didn't watch this movie with some friends I wouldn't have been able to finish it in one sitting due to the insanely slow pace. Perhaps if you've played the games you would pick up on characters, references, in-jokes or other stuff from the games to keep you more interested. Unfortunetly, if this movie had such things they were lost on me.
Some scenes were interesting, but it wasn't worth the 2h 15 minutes you could spend on something better.
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