jkdramaniac
You have different stories, but all of them are somehow connected. (It's sort of an anthology film.) Not only because of the topic, but some characters and scences are connected to each other.
Some of the parts are a little bit weird, but they make sense. You get the feeling, that the stories are REAL. And I mean REAL. Because I can read that in a lot of reviews for dramas, but I often don't agree, because they often are overly dramatic or at least at some points you can't feel it's real. In contrast, “Come, Closer” is real the whole time, not only because of the great acting, but because of the genuine stories. You feel like you’re sitting right next to the characters and listening to their conversations. 20 minutes in this movie equals 20 minutes in real time, so there’s not a lot of plot. The stories are sad, but it’s a special kind of sad. Not the one that makes you cry for hours, but the one that makes you think about what you saw and that leaves you melancholic, dull and chastened.
The way the movie is shot and the use of music emphasize the movie’s stifling atmosphere. The character’s conversations and feelings are on the spotlight. It’s tense and you don’t need the music to make it more dramatic, so they didn’t use any music in these situations. But if they used music, I really liked it itself. :)
I guess a lot of you won’t like the movie, because it’s lengthy and doesn’t have much of a plot, so it might be very boring for you. So, if you’re looking for something melodramatic and with a lot of plot twists that’ll surprise you – you better not watch “Come, Closer”.
You should watch “Come, Closer” if you want to see an authentic movie that takes you into real life, without a bunch of plot twists, but great acting. And if you want to see something different from the usual romantic and melodramatic movies/dramas we all know.
Please don’t stop during the first story, I think the better parts are the ones after the introduction. ^^ If you really can’t help it, skip the first ~10 minutes but give the other stories a chance. ;)
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Pro (+) & Con (-) Overview
+ short drama (8 ep, 26m each) -> no overly stretched plot
+ music, filmography, scenery, special effects
+ setting, costumes
+ Watanuki’s + Domeki’s bromance
+/- episodic story-telling but with golden thread
- not enough time to get to know the characters and their developement
The episodes are only 26 minutes each, but it never feels like there is something missing because of the lack of time and due to their shortness it is no overly stretched plot, a flaw that I experienced with a lot of dramas so far. The series is very episodic in a way that you have a new story every episode with a “problem” in the beginning and the “solution” at the end. However, Watanuki’s own personal and interesting story flows through the hole drama and gets to its peak at the end of the series. I prefer dramas with a thick golden thread but in xxxHolic episodic stories and a common theme balance each other, so I still enjoyed everything and the discrete storylines are far from being boring!
This Japanese drama is more “violent” and darker than typical Jdramas but it still has rare and short comedy parts. I wouldn’t classify it as thriller but it has it’s spooky scenes and gets creepier starting in episode 4. In general, it’s a welcome change from all the romance dramas.
I love the filmography, music and scenery! Everything underlines the mystery and blue feeling of this drama. Oh, and the customues + settings! Yuuko’s dresses and her shop are definitely worth a watch! They even use special effects which are not exaggerated and beautiful as well.
As for the actors and their acting, it can’t be faulted. You won’t have to face a lot of overacting as in most of Japanese dramas but it’s still present. There’s not enough time to get to know the characters very well, so you’re not sure if you truly grasped the character’s personality and you’re wondering that maybe you only know the shell but not the heart. (Himawari is very annoying in the beginning because she’s changing her mind all the time, but I came to like her more as the story progressed. Still, I’m not sure what to think about her…) Apart from that Watanuki’s and Domeki’s friendship and chemistry is awesome, hehe.
If you like suspense and dark stories, if you’re looking for a short drama and if you want to see great filmography and beautiful dresses, then xxxHolic is something for you. As I said already, I don’t know the manga or anime, but if you want to get to know more about the characters and their development I guess you’ll have to try the manga. So maybe the drama is a good way to figure out whether CLAMP’s manga or the xxxHolic anime adaption is worth a try. (Well, I’ll definitely gonna read the manga in the future. ^^)
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Firstly, I love the cast!!! I’m a fan of Meitantei Conan and as I know the manga version I can say that each of the main actors portray their characters very well. I especially like Takanori Jinnai as Kogoro Mori because this is how I’d imagine Kogoro Mori in real life. Viewers, who don’t know the manga or anime version, may think that the character is completely overacted but let me tell you, it’s not. Kogoro Mori is really like this in both the manga and anime version. Moreover, I came to like Matsuzaka Tori before watching the Meitantei Conan Jdrama, so I’m even happier that he’s acting as Heiji Hattori (btw my favorite character of the series), even though he only appears in one epsiode.
The drama is very episodic and we have a new case every episode. Every case is interesting in itself, but I think it loses some of it’s suspense, because of the same kind of “order” that repeats itself in every episode. At least you have a common thread that connects all the episodes and their cases: Ran, Shinichi and Kogori are trapped in a cube with several white rooms and they (or most of the time Shinichi) have to remember specific cases from the past to somewhow get out of the creepy prison (which reminds me of the movie “Cube” XD). I like how they build up the suspense through all the episodes for the final and it made me really curious as why they were imprisoned, but I think the closure is… a bit strange.
So watching might be a bit weird for people who don’t know the Meitantei Conan franchise at all. I’m used to the “style” in which the cases appear and are told, so I can’t tell how other people feel about it… But if you’re interested in mystery dramas and/or detective dramas, you definetly should give it a try! As for Conan fans, of course you have to watch this! ;) (I’m always excited for all kind of past cases where the “old” and “tall” Shinichi comes up, hehe!) And even if you don’t knows Conan at all and if you’re not interested in mystery, there is a chance that you’ll like this Jdrama. It’s a welcome change from all the romance dramas, it is easy and fast to watch, has a great cast and you don’t need any foreknowledge to understand what’s going on.
Pro (+) & Con (-) Overview
+ short drama (13 ep, 30m each) ? no overly stretched plot
+ great cast and acting
+ no Meitantei Conan foreknowledge needed
- maybe weird for people who don’t know the Meitantei Conan franchise at all
- the common thread that connects all the episodes is kinda odd
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Despite all the insanity that’s going on, it’s a good drama that I recommend. I’ve read the manga several years ago and I have to admit that the jdrama doesn’t live up to it. Still, it’s worth the watch for the story and the bullying issues. Despite some flaws (overdramatising, overacting and the repetitive music that just doesn’t fit at all at some scenes) it’s very emotional story makes up for it. At some points you think it can’t get worse, but sadly it does. I really liked some of the character’s developement, especially the female lead’s mother. Somehow I’m not satisfied with LIFE’s ending. I didn’t expect it to be a happy one but it still makes me feel a bit frustrated and depressed because it might be just like how bullying sadly is continuing and how it is handled in real life as well.
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I especially like the characters and their personal stories, even including their flaws and sometimes annoying behavior. It’s important for me to have interesting characters in such a drama, because you usually don’t have an attention-grabbing story for school dramas. I love that School 2013 doesn’t focus on romance so much, but rather the teacher-student-relationships and the student’s friendship is important. Of course, I have to admit that the bromance is one of the strengths of this drama but to see some womance as well is very enjoyable. You have female characters that don’t compete for their love interest and no one dimensional, evil second female leads that are sadly so common in dramaland.
School 2013 has it flaws as well, e.g. in the beginning, I was a bit confused because they switched between scenes so rapidly and then I didn’t know exactly if it was still the same day or not. But what bothers me the most is teacher Jung’s way to sometimes speak so overprotectively to her students. It just seems as if she’s talking to small babies and not high school students. If I was in that situation I would feel as if she’s making fun of me with her baby voice or doesn’t take me serious.
Despite that, it is still a very good drama! If you’re tired of romance dramas and if you want to watch something with a “normal” and not so action-packed story, you should watch School 2013. Especially if you’re into bromance ;)
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