Blood Thicker than Water
Genius screenwriter, impressive camerawork, stunning cinematography and remarkable acting 💯 💯It was well written crime plot.. This drama is mind blowing that makes every episode keeps you at the edge of the seat.. I got hooked after one episode.. Yakuza, Journalist, Police & Government.. Common connection but twist here and there that you won't expected.
The development from one episode to another episode perfectly ties together.. Sometimes all it takes one trivial matter to push someone.. Nowadays you never know what people are thinking, so watch out!! Huhu..
Other than that, it was packed with action and there's spine-tingling moments that makes your heart rate up ^_^ Also while there's serious moments, I love how they delivered humor here and there without trying hard xD
Mishima character being a timid, uncertainty without drastic change is perfection.. He's not to the point being annoying but realistic till the end.. Kihara, Nana and Kawamura also outstanding portrayed their roles.. I love how they showed strong relationships between them in this drama.. Their chemistry are great!!
Overall, it was intriguing and truly captivating drama.. I was really enjoyed watching it!! Highly recommended to watch ^_^
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Good, but *could have been* Amazing!
Why?What I liked:
- the characters - and the brotherly camaraderie
- the dynamics between the two male leads, Kihara & Mishima
- the action scenes
- Mishima's character development
- the plot twist
What was iffy:
- there weren't any scenes that were memorable
- storytelling was muggy at times - not clear what the nature of the corruption was all about
- not clear on the backstory of how and why the tabloid chief and the police captain were willing to collaborate with Kihara,
> someone who has close ties to the yakuza
> if found out, could consequently discredit them and put their work/reputations in jeopardy
> underdeveloped villains and antagonists
What I would have liked to see more of:
- the journalists working alongside Mishima
- especially the office assistant and the editor-in-chief, Nagasaki
> would balance out the currently disproportionate amount of characters involved with the yakuza world
> would make positive female characters
> (Nana the hostess doesn't count bec. she's directly involved with the yakuza)
> more of what a tabloid magazine worker deals with
For a film that claims that its premise is about a journalist and a former yakuza working together, it tends to focus too much on Kihara, and subsequently ends up glorifying the yakuza more than anything about the work of a journalist. Mishima's character becomes more of a sidekick rather than a formidable equal.
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Not all that glitters is gold...
...nor all that's brown and nicely confectioned is Swiss chocolate, if you know what I mean...^__^;;;In other words, looks can be deceiving, as is certainly the case with this J-drama.
Waitaminute!
This *looks* like a J-drama at first sight, what with the all-Japanese cast (a star-studded cast, BTW - what a waste of talent, seriously! T___T) acting in Japanese, and the Japanese setting.
But don't be fooled.
This is pure Hollywood.
The filming, editing, music commentary...but most of all, the extremely poor writing, the tremendously obnoxious "dialogues" where 90% of the time you'll have stupid, immature characters trying hard to be "cool" (gosh, I *hate* that word!), the confusing and completely implausible plot, the silly ending...and then again, the *abnormous* amount of mindless violence and morbid attention to the most disturbing details, and all in all the utterly luciferian taste - or rather lack thereof.
Not a single character passed the good ole "Meteorite Test" (for those who don't know this old scriptwriting inside joke, let's recite it once again: "If all the characters were to be assembled inside a building in the middle of the desert, and a meteorite were to suddenly fall upon said building, thusly killing them all, would you feel sad for any of them?").
The only thing that could've saved this would've been if they had added a sorta "episode 10.5" where a "Deus Ex Machina" armed with a sledgehammer (half The Mighty Thor, half Ramon Mercader, LOL) suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started bashing all characters' heads in. Then broke the "fourth wall" and went on to administer the very same treatment to the series' writers and producers.
When news of Netflix arrival in Japan broke out, I remember photoshopping myself an image signature (which I've used for a while on another site) with "Zetsubou Sensei" from the eponymous manga shouting, as per his usual: "Zetsuboushita! Netflix no dorama no sei de zetsuboushita!".
Seems the Sensei was right in despairing.
It has been mostly a disgrace, indeed.
p.s.
Of course plenty of viewers, who enjoy Hollywoodian productions, will love this.
To each his own. Peace!
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