I admit, I started watching this show because I'm a huge fan of Wu Chun. I liked the initial interaction between Di Ya Xin (Wu Chun) and Yang Guang (Rainie Yang). However, the set up in the first episode really does not give the viewer a fair assessment of where this crazy thing is going to go.

Parts of the story are realistic, and parts are unbelievable. I have never skipped a part in any drama (i must be a serious masochist), but I very nearly came close to skipping parts in this show. After about five episodes the story lags, and the drama and angst begins. When I got through episode 17, I seriously questioned why I was still watching. The answer is that after you've gone so far, you might as well stick around for the ending (which is worth it. Episode 21 is probably the best.)

The actors were great.
Rainie's acting has never disappointed in a role, and she's very cute in this. Cute, but the character was still one of those blithe, brainless roles that lead to snarky comments about her character. In fact, Yang Guang's character really made me want to hit something because her character was too naive, even though her parents are con-artists. (this would be a writer's flaw, not an acting flaw)

Wu Chun. Where to start? If you like him, this show is eye candy. His character is believable, and his performance is lovely.

Angela (Liu Zi Yan) and Geng Fei (Zhang Jun Ning) were delightfully despicable, so despicable that it's almost hard to pity them. Almost. Job well done.

The music fit the mood, as it typically does in drama. None of it really stuck in my head afterward. Possibly because the drama's angst was so high, I needed to just forget about the show for periods of time before I could go back to watching. I didn't like the theme song.

What it comes down to is how much you can stand the pain of the tragedy and hardships and the frustrations caused by some characters' dumb decisions.

If you love a good villain, you'll like this show. If you love Rainie and/or Wu Chun, you'll probably watch this show.
Don't expect a lot of fanservice, but the scenes you will see as the relationship develop are rather sweet.
(i really want to spoil part of the end, but i won't. if/when you get to ep 22.. just.. just don't be surprised. i literally facepalmed.)

Read More

In case you're not familiar with this summer special series, this is a special that comes out every summer to help you "get the chills" in the summer heat.

The 2011 special contains 5 stories, each in varying levels of scary. In between each story Goro-san and some elementary kids and a priestess comment on the stories, talk about ghosts and what to do about them. These in between segments are like a palette cleanser to help you calm down between frights.

I'll list the story names, in English because the description is missing #5, and put the main actor's name beside so that you can match them up with the description.

The story's names, in order of appearance are:
The Last Bus (Nakayama Yuma)
Alumni Association Notice (Takei Emi)
The 13 Day Nightmare (Mukai Osamu)
Lost Child's Abyss (Ashida Mana)
The Ruby's Anger (Katahira Nagisa)

Each story is believable and the acting sells each story.
The cast was picked well.

The effects are not cheesy. The ghosts are terribly, hideously frightening, as one would expect from a Japanese horror story.

The music suits the genre perfectly. The music alone gives you the chills.

These elements all come together to give you an overall satisfying scare.

This special may or may not have rewatchability for you.
If you rather like horror, you might find yourself coming back to revisit a story (I have rewatched The Last Bus a few times... it gets me every time!). If horror is not your thing, you may never watch this again.

Either way, this is a solidly made Japanese horror story special.

Read More