I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. I started watching because it did sound interesting, about two people that can see ghosts helping shinigami with fulfilling the recently deceased's final wishes. I didn't have high hopes, though. The few supernatural J dramas I have seen have been underwhelming so you could say that I went in with this one with low expectations.
I wasn't impressed with the first couple of episodes, honestly. However, I could feel something was there. Though it seemed episodic, like most J dramas, there was always a continuous, underlying plot that was always there. The more it built, the better the drama became, until epsisode 8 which was wonderful! I was a little disappointed with the final episode and how things ended, which is why I docked .5 from my score, otherwise, it would have ended up being an 8.5.
The acting didn't wow me at first. This is the first drama I have seen with Fukushi Sota and at first I thought he was stiff and awkward. That impression totally changed as I continued to watch. What I had at first assumed was an awkward and stiff actor is actually the character of Madoka. In fact, I am pretty certain that the character has Asperger's Syndrome, for everything about his character traits points to it. It is never said in the drama, but as a parent of a child with Asperger's, I could recognize it. Even if the character isn't initially supposed to be that way, Fukushi does an absolute brilliant job in portraying him that way. I am being very serious here in my praise of him. I was deeply impressed.
I was impressed with all the actors except Tsuchiya Tao. I thought she acted like a cookie cutter type. I have seen dozens of J actresses that talk, walk, laugh and over act in the exact same fashion. She did not bring anything original to the drama acting wise though I didn't particularly dislike her character or anything like that. The character herself was ok, though I just could never see any romantic chemistry between her and Madoka at all. I could see they were friends and co workers, but I just never felt any real romance between them.
I recommend this to anyone looking for a cute and fun J drama to watch. It's also a drama that I could maybe see myself rewatching at some point, which is rare for me. (^_^)
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