That being said, I don't think it was that bad. It isn't the most groundbraking suspense drama you'll find, it isn't the best written thing you'll see, but for the lack of experience these girls seem to have, the fact that it's "one of those idol dramas", the budget and the amount of episodes, I've seen much worse. To be honest, it's a very binge-watchable drama and it keeps the tension more or less throughout, so I don't regret watching it.
The plot starts in medias res, which I really appreciate in a suspense story, and I wish it had kept the focus it had on the beginning throughout the entire thing because, as the episodes advance, it gets unecessarily complicated for a story that didn't need so many unconnected twists and turns. And, for what I've seen in some comment threads, I'm not the only one left with more questions than answers when it's all said and done. I wish there had been one big focus instead of small things that have a common thread, kind of, if you squint.
Still, for all its complicated messes with the plot and its unanswered questions, it did leave me wanting to discuss it to try figuring out what just happened, and I consider that a good thing; I had left complicated dramas wanting to never look back in the past, but this is not one of those, at least. It's a mess but it's an interesting mess. And hey, I commend these girls for starting out with a suspense/horror/mystery drama rather than a typical school drama which would have probably hidden their inexperience a lot better but it would have been a lot less interesting to watch.
If you're looking for suspense with minimum to no gore, a sort of idol version of SAW, which will keep you wanting to know more, even if it's to try figuring out what on earth you just watched, and don't mind very inexperienced performances and some clear fanservice-y moments attempted to be disguised as representation (that's the idol industry for you, though, it's a general recurring problem), give this one a shot. And then DM me and tell me what you think just happened.
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The setting makes it interesting, yes people locked in a room and they don't know why. The characters are wondering why and so are the viewers but that's all it was. Perhaps the first 3 - 4 episodes were okay. We had questions and we got some answers but further on in the show you just kept getting questions and the answers seemed to be just more questions. This is what happens with thrillers / suspense though. Something with single room / locked room settings requires more psychological torture. I wanted more chaos.
The acting was not too great. Some had potential and the rest... :S Sometimes music came on and you could feel that they were forcing on a scene. It did not feel natural. They dragged out moments with repetition and bad acting and then when emotional scenes came up, it just felt out of place because they either needed to explain why it should be upsetting or the music felt extremly forced. I'm sure with decent acting, even in silence you could understand whether a scene should be sad or not.
I would not rewatch this. I completed it because I wanted answers and I regret I even watched it because I feel like I wasted my time. I could see where they wanted to go with this but it could've been better. I was frustrated and felt like 12 episodes could've been cut to 8.
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It's ok
STORY 9/10I love mystery, thriller, and suspense so I very much enjoy the plot given, it gets interesting after a few episodes and the more we unravel their secrets the more shocking and interesting it gets. and I personally love revenge and school-related dramas so this is so entertaining to me. and I get to make conspiracies on why they're there and what happened it's enjoyable
ACTING 6/10
first of all, they're not bad actors, they're idols. I'll let that information slide
the acting is average, its not really wow but if you enjoy acting more than the plot this drama might not be that entertaining for you
but in a way, their actions may look a lot more realistic if this was in a real-life scene, it looks natural in my opinion
MUSIC 7/10
honestly, i don't pay attention to the music/soundtrack/ost
i personally don't like the ost, but the music they used in the drama really helps with the ambiance and situation they're in
PRODUCTION 8/10
I do think they put a lot of budget into this, I love the details on what's in the room and everything. they paid a lot of attention to it and I like it very much
the camerawork is ok, sometimes they put too many pauses and it makes it kind of boring so I had to skip some parts just to see more pauses
REWATCH VALUE 4/10
It's a good drama, but it's forgettable at some point.
won't be rewatching this any time sooner tho
OVERALL 6.5/10
I enjoyed it
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Story - 7.0
I enjoyed the murder mystery type of feel. It was interesting, and it made me keep wondering how they got there. I was disappointed with the many plot holes throughout but I still kept watching. I think it’s worth a watch at least for the story wise if you are wondering what watch. Maybe you’ll also be trying to figure out why the girls were forced there.
Acting/cast - 6.0
The casting in the beginning was questionable. The only one demeaning to be decent was who they chose to be left at the end, except for the one, who I won’t mention for spoiler reasons. Some actions that they were told to take, were questionable, and you could tell the girls didn’t really know much about acting. They did manage to give of the sort of theme, but I found the casting choices were questionable at some points. But it did manage to show off the band if that’s what they were trying to achieve.
Music - 5.0
The music was a little light and a little off putting to me, at some points. I found the theme song didn’t really necessary go with the overall dark tone theme, but that could also just be personal taste. I understand that this was to showcase the group now, but at the time of watching, some of the music background I wish was a little darker. Also I’m not really a music person, so this section is always a slight mystery to me.
Rewatch - 1.0
I enjoyed watching the film towards the end due to the plotline and I honestly just wanted to know why, so with that knowledge, I don’t believe I would ever venture to rewatch it.
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Just a heads up
I never write reviews, but this is sooo bad that I have to warn you about it. I only finished it (while cringing every second) because I was intrigued by the storyline, which in the end was only 'meh'. I didn't know the cast, didn't know they're some group of idols, nor would I recommend to watch something with only idols in it... their acting were just. so. horrible... just stick to what you do best, whatever that is but for them it's definitely not acting. The music was fine, a lot better than the senseless, cringy screaming throughout the series. Overall, I wasted my time watching this, just because the story seemed good...Was this review helpful to you?
Not Worth It
I'm into mystery, which is what I thought this was. However, despite the reviews I saw on the internet saying this was a great mystery drama, I strongly beg to differ. Once you set yourself up for the terrible acting you are going to have to endure after just a few minutes into the first episode, things do seem a bit intriguing. But by the 3rd episode it starts to become clear that this is a "mystery" as much as finding out to who farted in an elevator is a mystery. There's no real complexity and/or cleverness involved here. The culprit reveal definitely was surprising, but it was as if they just picked a name out of a hat of possibilities. The reasoning behind it was very weak. If that was the way there were going to go, they could have made it work for anyone one whose name was mentioned in the series to be the culprit [insert eye roll]. The ending was lackluster and kind of ridiculous. To have endured the bad acting of these girls in this same room for 11 episodes only to get that stupid ending was incredibly disappointing. I promise, you will have missed nothing but time in your life if you watch this.Was this review helpful to you?
basically exposition – the series
i just watched a group of girls sit in a room and talk for 12 episodes. it was honestly quite boring, they really could’ve spiced it up a little… story was fine i guess, nothing special about it though. idk if it was because of budget reasons or smth but i really didn’t like how the whole show basically took place in that one room. it got really boring to look at, after a while. anyways, ayaka & kyoko were the best part. my loves <3Was this review helpful to you?
For me, personally, it was a bit hard to get into, but still enjoyable enough to watch. It, however, wasn't binge-watch material, as the acting was a bit too off-putting for me to want to watch all of it in one go. It therefore took me about a month to finish it.
The strongest point of this drama in my opinion was the story and its development. In the first episode, you are just dropped into the main setting, without knowing much, though this could also be due to the lack of knowledge of the show I had beforehand. Throughout the story we see flashbacks enlightening you on what has happened, and we see development in the characters, some with very interesting aspects. Especially the reoccuring things were intriguing. However, the ending for me was very disappointing. It was quite confusing, and it, to me, was not very clear what happened.
Then the acting. Like I mentioned earlier, the acting was a bit too off-putting for my liking. Especially in the first few episodes I just found the actresses to be screaming a lot, which in my opinion was quite annoying. However, over the episodes, it gradually got better. Yet in the final episode I found the acting too extravagant again, which did not help the story. The acting and cast therefore were not the strongest point of the show.
As to the music, I can't say I really noticed it. This is, in a way good, as it means the music didn't fit into the drama either, but it also wasn't very spectacular.
Overall, this drama was decent, especially due to the story, but it definitely had some points that could have been improved had the drama been produced on a bigger budget.
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I got to say this is one of my favourite shows. It can be a bit dark and has suspense but it’s not too much. I also loved the mystery element to it as they try to figure out what’s going on. You would think a show filmed almost entirely in one room sitting at a table would be boring but they manage to keep the excitement up throughout the whole show. The characters all have interesting personalities and relationships. I think the dynamics between the characters is the most interesting as you can see how they all have individual relationships of different depths. This show is good if you like dark shows but are also easily scared like me. The show is shrouded in mystery and it left me asking lots of questions each episode, in a good way.
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not bad but not good
the plot of the drama is interesting, it makes you think; it makes you want to know who's behind everything and why. it makes you want to hear what the characters have done to be subjected to this torture but when it comes to the acting, it wasn't convincing. it was cringey at some point. there was no feelings/emotions for some of them (tbh all of them at the very start). the acting was even lower than bare minimum. it got a little bit better (i think lol or maybe i just got used to the actresses/characters) towards the end. well, i read that they're all in a girl group so basically they're idols and i think this is their first acting project so maybe they'll improve later on. If you're hesitant to watch this bcos scary dramas are not your cup of tea, i think you'll be fine. Its not scary, its just surprising sometimes.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Finish Falters
Strong opening and enough intriguing questions raised to hold you to what turns out to be an unsatisfying conclusion. The opening and first few episodes caught my curiosity, but I found myself sticking it out to the end just to find out how it would tie things up. But it didn't tie many important threads up and we don't learn what happened to the characters and in important cases the why behind their actions. I was waiting for a supernatural angle to appear given the physically impossible things occurring, but there isn't any. The makers just walk away from a reasonable finish. That last 'special' episode or epilogue was weird. The idea that a surgeon/doctor would pursue relationships with two or three high school girls was absurd and I suspect as illegal and socially unacceptable in Japan as it would be elsewhere in the world.Was this review helpful to you?
