This review may contain spoilers
A solid 9! It's been so long since I've actually watched a Japanese drama that managed to deliver on multiple fronts. Netflix's last originals in this genre left much to be desired but I saw this one randomly appear a couple nights ago. 12 Episodes, 24 minutes a piece - I figured I could get through a few to start it off and see if it'll be watchable... Then holy crap, I become enthralled with it. I haven't binged through an entire drama with that much ferocity in quite some time!Each episode unravels more of the mystery that is Hyakumanen no Onnatachi. I found myself thoroughly immersed in the narrative dialogue that Noda's character goes into regularly throughout the show. It was SO EASY to get lost in his performance. There were a few scenes I was bawling my eyes out and I wasn't exactly sure why. The cast around him is solid and each of the characters has a well fit piece in the story. Noda's character is complex and easily lovable, but it takes a while to get used to his melancholy down tempo demeanor. I'd love to break it down more, but no spoilers! It's best to unwrap this gem for yourself.
I was a bit worried that a 12 episode, 24 minute format was going to be too short for the story. Kdrama is usually 55 minute episodes~, jdrama usually 45-ish. Mostly 12,16-24 episodes a piece. But often times these formats require far too much filler and much of a drama's 'tempo' is lost, this drama sets a fairly good pace without really feeling rushed.
No doubt people will disagree with this review, it's got a very unique vibe to it that may not be universally appreciated. I'd say it's worth a shot, you'll know in the first few eps whether or not it'll click for you. :)
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Even through its dark and moody tone, the drama is surprisingly melancholy and understated. It strikingly fits the persona of the lead protagonist Michima Shin, a struggling novelist played by Noda Yojiro.
The characters are deep, and their character arcs are well developed considering that this drama is only 12, 25 minute episodes. Due to the run time, the story is very tightly written. Each episode beautifully plays into unraveling more of the mystery.
Million Yen Women has a bit of an off tempo. It is leisurely paced over 12 short episodes. I would highly recommend giving this drama a chance. I found that I was quickly pulled into the storyline. I will restrain myself from saying more so I won’t give too much away.
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Story: The story is certainly different and will keep you guessing throughout. The story captivated me with the mystery behind why these women were invited to this man's house and who was the mastermind. You will have a nice surprise in the end.
Acting/Cast: The actors in the drama did such a good job. They all really got into their characters. I especially liked the main actor. He did a good job potraying his character with all his strengths and faults.
Music: The music is okay, it fits the drama.
Rewatch Value: I could definitely rewatch this one with a family member or friend to see their reaction but for me the mystery is already solved. Still I wouldn't mind rewatching.
Last Thoughts: I would recommend you watch this drama. It's short and quick and it's absolutely worth the watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Million Yen Women is the drama that completely ate me up which resulted in binge watching it in one day. Here's why:The story which revolves around Shin, an underrated novelist, who finds himself living with 5 estranged women that all pay him a million yen for rent each month. Each woman was offered a vague invitation and now find themselves living under specific rules with each other. On the surface, Million Yen Women never really appealed to me. I was never the type to go for this kind of drama you could say so when I started watching it for fun, it became obvious that I couldn't finish watching it until I knew the ending to their story. Million Yen Women may be different to what you would watch, or maybe it's right up your alley. Either way, it's a story that dives deeper than what I could possibly imagine, ever. The intricacy of each character's story and how it all becomes part of this big cohesive one is addicting. At first, I didn't think much of this drama. However, by the time I was finished, it opened up so many emotions that I couldn't believe that I didn't watch it sooner. It's not a story that ends at one point, but continues on. Shin, Hitomi, Minami, Yuki, Nanaka and Midori all leave this impact on you as a viewer that you just can't shake off no matter what. Each one of them have their own ideals and personalities that just add to your addiction for this drama. So therefore I must say that Million Yen Women is not easily a story that can be summarized without spoilers. Hence, I wholeheartedly recommend this drama to you.
Now, the acting in this drama has been one of my favorites for a while. Each actor/actress is able to take control of their respective characters so easily and compellingly. Their overall performance completely blew me away. I'm sure it's not as easy as it seems to play some of the characters, such as Minami or Yuki. That being said, I really enjoyed the tone they were able to set throughout this drama. Some pretty dang good acting? Present for Million Yen Women.
I never really thought about the music but it really does paint the backdrop for the drama itself. The certain songs and background music really added the suspense and emotion to the drama. It's some pretty good music in my opinion, nothing that'll make you want to rip your ears off (or so I hope).
Of course, I will be rewatching Million Yen Women in the future. After the initial viewing has saturated into me, I'm more than likely to watch it again to re-live everything I experienced the first time. Of course it'll be different which can either be good or bad depending on how you see it as, but I like to think that now that I know the ending and how the story plays out, it'll add a different experience.
I can't say much more about this drama without giving away spoilers in my opinion. The complexity and rawness of the story can only be truly known if you watch it, which you should. From a drama lover to review reader, take my word on this one.
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The best part about this drama is definitely its villain - who took me by surprise with its psycho cruelty and really scared me. Other characters are also likeable - Shin, the shy and introverted wannabe author is surrounded by all these mysterious but hot women and is the epitome of a typical awkward manga character. The women might appear as stereotypical female characters but are still intriguing enough.
Another great thing about this drama is how it explores the industry of book selling in Japan - very often it is not the quality that is sold but the name.
What I disliked is the harem aspect, which is not really surprising since this is after all a manga adaptation; however the fandom element was a bit too obvious. On the other hand, I didn't really understand the reason why these women would accept such a proposal (which was, after all, the main plot of the drama). It was explained how they agreed to it but not really why they would accept it.
All in all, I would recommend this drama to those who are looking for a short but intense and dark watch. Each episode lasts for 25 minutes only but it is enough to hook you on it.
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Compelling, But Ultimately Disjointed...
’Million Yen Women” was undeniably a captivating show with an intriguing premise, characters and pacing, however, a noticeable problem with the show came within trying to piece together parts of storyline which often felt confusing and disjointed.This drama starts off with an intriguing concept from its eponymous manga : five women are clandestinely given invitations to live at the house of Shin Michima ( Yojiro Noda) a thirty-something struggling novelist. In exchange, they are required to pay one million yen each month to cover living expenses, though this should be far more than is actually required for his apartment. The women have been instructed that they must not answer any questions about themselves, keeping Shin just as much in the dark as viewers about what is going on .
At the heart of this uncertainty lingers the ultimate questions behind the identity of its mysterious tenants - a high-school girl (Rena Takeda) with a mysterious past, a charmer who turns out to be a famous recluse (Yuko Araki) , a polite yet socially awkward young woman ( Miwako Wagatsuma), an amiable bookworm ( Rena Matsui) and a confidant exhibitionist (Rila Fukushima) as well as our main protagonist Shin; the most mysterious of them all.
When Shin is introduced, there is the typical cliche setup inferred towards the protagonist as the ‘’ mundane, yet suffering’’ writer. It would seem apparent in this stereotypical cliche of Shin and his setup of living with his fellow female tenants, to be the ‘ awkward antisocial NEET’ trope- struggling to interact with the opposite sex either due to an ‘excessive trauma’, or a ‘ bad relationship’ which is ‘’suddenly resolved’’ in the following episode.
However, Shin’s backstory provided both to defy this cliche honey trap for writers by inducing a surprisingly well-written and profound backstory .Yet whilst Shin undeniably had the most intriguing backstory of the series, his development as a character was arguably a lot less impactful. There is of course the reasonable argument appointed towards the male’s lead often dull personality being a result of severe depression from his traumatic experiences.
On the other hand, it also seems apparent that depression or trauma can often be provide an asset within characterisation or seeing a character develop over the course of a show- notably, something which Shin was never truly given the chance towards being more ‘’fleshed-out’’ as an individual, rather than just a plot device.
It is wrong, however, not to bring into the discussion the argument upon the importance of our female tenants in ‘ Million Yen Women’. Against all odds, ‘ Million Yen Women’ subverted the cliche expectations of the female characters . Each of the five female tenants in the series represents a stereotype associated with the “ modern Japanese woman”: the insecure student, the demure housewife, the bookworm, the glamorous beauty and the promiscuous young woman, however, as the mystery within the show heighten , the women begin to reveal that their true natures are nothing like their labels.
Yet whilst it is hard to truly fault the talents of our female tenants in the shoe with fairly well-scripted, nuanced and original performances, the backstories behind the characters were arguably less impactful. This is not to say that the backstories for the female characters weren’t interesting, per say, but there was little time to actual contemplate upon each character as an individual through her experiences. As a consequence, the sudden transition of backstories felt half-baked and oddly mismatched in the overarching storyline.
The additional introduction of notable characters and minor antagonists such as the Chairman of the Literary Committee and the literary critic who hated Shin’s guts, served the only purpose of being red herrings. Although they were still interesting characters in their own right , they felt a little useless in the grand scheme of the storyline with posing little actual threat or a cause of concern for the male lead. Other antagonists such as Shin’s, rival author Yuzu and his manager Ryuichi Moriguchi, were ultimately cliche and lacked great depth as worthy or intriguing villains.
Although ‘’Million Yen Women’’ undeniably has some captivating, aesthetic cinematography(like one beautiful scene where light is shown projecting beautifully through a window) and a fairly decent OST, the
was often flouted by quality and precision. This undeniably did offer the drama ‘’ grittier realism’’ ,however, ultimately in more dramatic and emphatic scenes, the tension was often taken away by the low-budget and nuanced filming techniques, making the show feel often disconnected for viewers.
So, was ‘’ Million Yen Women’’ a subtle masterpiece or a waste of time for viewers? It’s fair to say that ‘’ Million Yen Women’’ had an undeniably good cast and an intriguing concept for mystery lovers, however, the show’s ending felt both disjointed and incomplete. Although it did heighten the uncertainty and vagueness of the overarching storyline by leaving it upon a high cliffhanger, it is hard for those familiar with the genre to keep up with pacing and storyline. The show attempts to cram in a lot of storyline in a short period of time, resulting in various parts of the story feeling often lacklustre and confusing for viewers to comprehend. Ultimately, it depends what you’re looking for in this show - a quick, binge-watch to pass the time? Definitely. A memorable storyline which feels well-written and coherent ? Then, probably not.
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To start off with, the show is rather slow to build up. It carefully develops a tone and atmosphere that matches in with the mood and character of the main protagonist; it is melancholy, understated, and almost detached. However, as the story rolls forward, this restrained tone becomes intense, and despite the short amount of time the drama has to play with, we truly get a picture of each of the women living in the house. I found I had to take a break about midway through, because I was almost overwhelmed by the intensity - a first, for me. However, despite this pick up in pace, the show never felt rushed.
To me, this was an absolutely solid drama, with a great cast and set of characters. This is listed as 18+/R on here, but on Netflix it is a 15. I imagine this is more to do with one particular scene than anything much else, but there is nothing overly graphic shown on screen for those of you that might be put off by that.
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This was recommended to me through my friend who's Mom enjoyed the series and binged it very quickly. I honestly did not know much about it before I began the series and ended up pleasantly surprised by the ending. I managed to watch this in less than a week(?) as I had been watching multiple series at the time of this -- but it could be completed in a day if someone wanted to.
It can be a little dark for those who might not be searching for something like that, I thought I would point it out in case you are wondering exactly 'how' dark. Though I never found myself thinking the 'dark' bits were horrifying or gross (for those wondering how dark or what my threshold is pertaining to 'dark material' this is coming from someone who cannot handle watching many horror films or watching anything very gory).
You probably will be surprised by the end and want to do a rewatch as soon as possible. Every character is surprising and even enjoyable in all of their glory. They are well written and well portrayed. You actually feel SO MUCH for them not even half way through that you just want all of them to be okay in the end.
I know it seems like a short drama so it might make you hesitant but trust me; even though it moves quicker than some, the emotions you have regarding it once it's over is very real and not at all any less due to the short-ness of the series as a whole.
Trust me and give at least the first 4 episodes a chance before passing up on this one. (It had me hooked by episode 2!)
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The acting was great.
The story was unexpected and nonusual and funny and strange and romantic sometimes and dramatic.
It wasn't easy to watch it because it contains many deep thoughts so it's requires a high concentration watching it.
I highly recommend to everyone that wants to think and wants to sit in front of pc or laptop or tv unmoved for the entire drama.
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An ideal drama for mature content lovers
Let's start with my boring history. I will be honest here. This is the second japanese drama aka dorama I have watched. The last time I watched drama was back in 2013 when I was 10 year old. They were in my country's local language. Of course, they were shitty so I came to hate dramas in general. I came here looking to explore some dorama because I was tired of watching same, typical shitty anime. It's been so long since I've watched a good anime that could move me from the core. I usually watch fantasy genre anime. But I like to watch something serious too. I found this gem while looking for some good mature dorama online. There were not many suggestions and I picked the most appealing by looking at the plot.It has 12 Episodes, each being 24 minutes, I thought I could watch some episodes first to see if it is watchable. Episode length didn't seem short to me at first, because being an anime fan, you usually get to see 22-25 minute episodes. Then I researched a bit and realised that a dorama usually have 45-50 minutes episodes.
What attracted me the most by reading the very short and unclear Wikipedia article of this dorama, was the fact that Yujiro Noda, the main vocalist of my favourite J-rock band, RADWIMPS, is acting as the main character of this drama series. I loved his songs such as Zenzenzense, Nandemonaiya, Is there anything love can do, etc. Actually, I didn't even know that Mr. Noda was an actor so I was very surprised.
The drama was becoming more and more interesting as I continued watching each episodes. The mystery was slowly being unraveled. Frankly, at first, I was a bit disappointed seeing Yujiro Noda's acting as the main character. It took me while to get used to seeing Noda as Michi and how he was acting. But as I kept watching the series, I realised how good his performance was as the actor of a complex and unsuccessful character such as the MC. The rest of the casts' acting was flawless, simply. I personally liked the editor. I wish I could have a good friend like him.
The music and score in the dorama was not perfect but better than average. I was expecting a better song as the ending theme. Of course, I am not a japanese speaker, so I can't comment on the song much.
Don't take my word, just go for it and experience this yourself.
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