Completed
bennyost
22 people found this review helpful
Jan 13, 2012
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
The first season of The Quiz Show is often underestimated. Maybe it is connected to the relativly nameless star Katagiri Jin?

The story is really exciting and highly psychological. The chasing for dreams forces the candidates to open their mind reflecting about all their mistakes in life. This is often highly thrilling.
Meanwhile the main story develops and is solved in a fantastic final with a not forseeable conclusion.
Katagiri Jin does a great job because you allways feel that there is something hidden deep inside his character which will hurt everybody.
I am a rock fan so I was really surprised by the opening song which can be categorized as metal which is not typical for dorama is think!

The episodes are round about 20-25 minutes long so you can finish the whole dorama in a short time. This is also an argument for my high rewatching score!

Finally I can only say that it is not fair if you skip this season just watching the second with Sakurai Sho, because it is really good and it creates the base for the continuation.

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Completed
MissBuyNLarge
8 people found this review helpful
Jun 28, 2013
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
This show fascinated me. I have something of a love for psychological stories and movies/dramas that involve diving into the psyche. Thus this show is to date one of my favorite dramas I've ever seen.
The acting is amazing. There's nothing else to say. Katagiri Jin does a wonderful job as the main lead Tazaki Toru. It honestly feels like he is becoming the character right before your eyes at certain points in the drama. The other characters are also done exceptionally well. The "evil" mastermind behind the whole thing is played wonderfully, and when it's revealed at the end what and who he really is, Totsugi Shigeyuki does a fantastic job of conveying the overwhelming emotions that the character is going through. The contestants are all quite well-cast as well. The character arcs they go through in such a short amount of time are often quite complex.
As to the actual story, everything was so well-written I almost wonder if whoever wrote this had some psychological issues to work out at the time this was being written. The way the drama uses flashbacks to reveal pieces of the mystery is spot on. The way all of the characters figure into the story is quite intriguing as well. There were a couple of points where it did feel just the slightest bit contrived, but I suppose that's bound to happen.
The concept for this drama is also quite unique. The idea of using a gameshow setting to force people to reveal their deepest darkest secrets is almost...creepy. It can get quite intense as well.
Overall, I just have to say this: this is one of the most fascinating psychological thriller/mysteries I've ever seen. Go watch this drama.

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Completed
AmandaMarta
8 people found this review helpful
May 9, 2013
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
Keep Calm and Hang On....This isn't your ordinary game show within this drama. I'm going to alter this review a little differently than I normally do since this is a part of my Psychological Challenge requirements. Check it out.

How is this plot differs from other psychological dramas?

This plot involves a setting of a Giga Television produced show named 'The Quiz Show'. The show offers an alternate approach where a new contestant appears on the show each show along with the wacky host. The contestant must answer a series of questions in order to make it to the 'Dream Chance', however little as they know, the questions later involve their deepest darkest secrets where each contestant highlights one of the Seven Deadly sins. The question is 'Will one admit one's own deadly sin or will one be unable to admit it?'

First Thing I Notice About This Drama:

The opening theme song consists of Metal and Screamo Japanese music with English lyrics surprisingly. My keyword: Unique is what I'm calling this opening since many openings are bright, vibrant, and not as an attention-grabbing as this one.

Is the acting any good?

When I hear this type of question, I automatically think of the main characters within the drama. The wacky host, MC Tazaki portrays two sides of his character-the side of him who is ill-mannered, locked up, lonely, and loss of memory, and the 'host' side of him who is outrageous, abnormal, crazy, and energetic. His acting is done phenomenally which I mainly watch this show solely based on his outstanding acting.
The show's producer, Yamanobe Kengo is a dark character where he portrays a sadistic, evil side as well as an insecure, jealous man. His body in one of the episode blow me away! On the other hand, his acting is brilliant. No doubt, both of the main characters portrayed their roles well.

Are there any twists within the drama? Is it bloody or gruesome?

There is barely any scenes with blood involved. Most of it is well hidden and shows some blood in a scene or two. Nothing is too major. In most psychological dramas that I've watched, there are always twists presented. To answer this, yes, there is a twist. Unluckily, I was not able to solve the story itself before the drama started unraveling the story. I did pick up a clues here and there. Not enough for me to figure the ending.

Overall, I recommend this drama to anyone who is a fan of game shows, psychological, suspense, and adores 'twist' types of dramas. I had tremendous amounts of fun figuring out each contestant's darkest secret and whether they will win the prize or not.

Have fun and keep on guessing!

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The Quiz Show (2008) poster

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  • Score: 7.5 (scored by 563 users)
  • Ranked: #5995
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