el
Hungary
Imawa no Kuni no Arisu Season 1
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The game will now begin...
If you're still contemplating whether to watch Alice in Borderland: watch it!I've been waiting for so long to see a high budget Japanese show, and this really is what I've been looking for. So, thanks Netflix, I guess? The camera work, the acting and special effects are all top-notch, hands down. I just wish they went further with the soundtrack, it would have been nice to have a more distinguished background music for the series. (Although I think we can agree that “Good Times” is the bop of the year.)
The plot is very intriguing. The moment I saw that the base plot revolves around Tokyo where people go missing... I was sold already. But it actually managed to keep my attention all the way through thanks to the plot twists and great characters!
I believed prior to watching that the story will be continuously action-packed, but I was relieved to see that they put quite a lot of emphasis on building characters, which made the pacing a little slower at times, but gave a nice chance to get emotionally attached to all the characters.
There are some things in the plot that I will never forgive the writer(s)! But I won’t go into that since that would be a spoiler. (And I have many many other thoughts but all spoilery.)
I really hope many-many people will watch and support this show because
1, I really want to get a second season
2, I'm begging Netflix to pick up more Japanese productions.
P.S.: I can’t believe I didn’t realise it sooner that the name “Arisu” sounds exactly the same as “Alice” in Japanese.
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Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo
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This is the definition of fluff.
I… loved this so much?I didn’t know anything about this drama beside its basic plot and the score it has on MDL (which is pretty good). I picked it up in the end because of Sato Takeru if I’m being honest, since I liked all of his movies that I have seen so far.
The plot is really simple, works with a lot of clichés that typically appear in romantic comedies that revolve around unrequited love. However, it felt fresh and a bit of a different take from the usual (or maybe it’s been just too long since I last saw something similar). I also liked the way they didn’t stretch out the story, everything evolved in a reasonable pace, these 10 episodes were the perfect amount to present us with the complete tale. The thing I probably like the most is that there was just enough drama and hardship to make things a little more intricate, but they didn’t go overboard, and we got a lot of lovey-dovey moments too that melted my heart multiple times. This is what I really want from a drama like this!
I already mentioned that I like Sato Takeru, tho now I’m going to admit, this wasn’t my favourite work of his, but I guess he had to exaggerate certain things to deliver his character as wanted. Kamishiraishi Mone was the perfect choice for the main character’s role, her smile is so contagious that I found myself grinning sometimes only by looking at her. Side note: I really liked all of the side characters too which is not often the case and their own storylines were just the perfect amount, as well, I never felt like I didn’t care about them.
The music is pretty average, but I’m well aware that dramas like this don’t tend to have the most HQ soundtracks. It was good for setting the mood and fit well enough with the genre of the drama.
I genuinely think that I might give this another go in a few years, especially in the winter or spring (don’t ask me, my drama watching mood depends a lot on the current season).
A bonus point is that I binged it in 3 days.
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In general, I can't say that the story is unique or very well interpreted (though I haven't read the original manga so I can't compare the two). But it's just fine as it is. It's a high school romance story without huge drama or unexpected twists, it simply focuses on the struggles of teenage love and friendship. I have to admit that it is kind of slow sometimes but it didn't ruin the drama for me at all. The episodes are only 20 minutes long which is perfectly enough for these kind of stories.
The acting is lacking a lot, especially Jesse Lewis has a looot to learn, his character seemed unnaturally stiff which put me off completely sometimes. If I put that aside all of them looked like potential amateurs which didn't bother me that much, maybe because the awkward acting fitted well with the awkward teenager characters.
Now comes one of my most favourite things about the drama: the music. I didn't know Grouplove before watching Sprout but I totally fell in love with the band. Even though only 3 of their songs are featured in the drama, they enhanced the atmosphere a lot for me.
And finally, what made me love Sprout so much that I decided to watch it again: the atmosphere. The whole drama is like the epitome of the perfectly calm and hot Japanese summertime. The sound of cicadas, the scorching sun, cold ice tea and watermelon, added to the pure and light-hearted storyline... It made me forget (and forgive) every lacking part of the drama. Anytime I want to relax or when I miss summer occasionally, I wouldn't hesitate to watch a few episodes of Sprout just for the feeling.
I recommend watching Sprout (especially in the summer) for anyone who likes high school romance dramas without heavy plots. Don't have high expectations, just enjoy the simple story with loveable characters.
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I've been watching dramas for quite a long time now but strangely I never came across N no Tame ni for some reason. When I saw that it has 8.6 as an average rating and the plot seems quite intriguing I decided to give it a go.
And I haven't regretted. Although it didn't become a favourite of mine either.
The story was the strongest part of the drama. I don't think good mystery is easy to write and they managed to interpret the whole story in a way that I was sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for what will come next. Even when I thought I had most things figured out, the drama came up with more plot twists that I didn't expect. Also, the story dealt with quite a few sensitive topics which made me feel so sorry for the characters, and also making the whole thing painfully real in a way. I would also point out that it was very interesting to follow the psychological motives and acts of the characters.
Another thing that I really liked about the "mystery features" of the drama was how they decided to jump between time lines and give us small glimpses about the mystery.
I must admit that I was surprised about how much time was given to almost every character's background story, but it was a very good choice because it made the characters very complex and I could understand the motives behind their actions. Some dramas tend to disregard this aspect but in this case it was very great, and luckily it didn't slow down the plot for me either since all of their stories were quite interesting.
Lastly, what made me like the story the most was how they managed to put friendship and romance in the spot despite the dark (supposedly) main storyline. It made the whole thing very approachable and loveable, and again very complex with how the relationship between certain characters turned out.
I could go on about the story even more but I think that's enough to see what were my most favourite things about it.
Moving onto the cast, I think it was really great, I don't think I had a problem with anyone or anything. The main actors did a very great job, especially Eikura Nana. I was blown away by how well she played a young struggling high school student and then a strong, independent adolescent. Maybe sometimes the Noguchi couple was a little off for me, I really don't know why though that might be simply because of their characters.
I enjoyed the music because it fit very well with the atmosphere. Sometimes it felt a bit repetitive but that's my own reoccuring problem with drama OSTs. It was very decent all in all.
I don't think I would watch it again, knowing the ending now. Also, even though as I said I was quite excited and interested in what will happen in the end, I wasn't THAT thrilled. Maybe the strongest point for me was the weakest as well, since I knew there will be some sort of disaster coming and in the beginning it became clear that the whole story is quite tragic, I think I was a bit too prepared already.
Just one last additional thing. I mentioned the complexity of the characters as a great point (which it is) but it also left me so uncertain about how I feel about some of them. None of them was black and white and I absolutely loved that, it made me think, yet it left me in doubt about my own thoughts on them. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing after all, it's rather smart and proves great character development.
I recommend N no Tame ni for anyone who wants to see a great drama with an intricate plot and good characterisation. But prepare yourself for some heavy topics. It is a bittersweet story and you can only enjoy it fully if you're in the appropriate mood for that.
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