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So I'm going to review it from my point of view, but also my mom's because she's pretty new to Asian dramas and it's interesting to notice someone completely new to it slowly understanding and accepting all aspects of asian dramas as they come.
So story- Oh it was great! And I'm saying this not only because it has substance and material but because we(my mother and I) were completely immersed in the episodes, being vocal about our agreements and disagreements with the story and discussing things amongst ourselves as it progressed. I was really expecting a cliché story where Sakuto transforms into a super genius instantly after the surgery and everyone's shocked and in awe and he learns what it means to be 'human' in the following episode and ends on 'five years later' where we are shown Sakuto and the female lead married with a child on the way and Sakuto using his genius to cure cancer and all that jazz. However the story didn't do that in the traditional way, it progressed gradually giving us viewers explanations and reasons for everything that was going on, specially with Sakuto. I was thankful for the other characters and their side stories too, as much as I love yamapi I wouldn't want to just watch the main leads ALL the time in an episode so I felt like the side characters brought the much needed break I needed from time to time for the titular characters and all that science stuff!
I love stories like an 'alien visits earth', 'some kind of creature starts living among humans', 'robots living with humans' and what have you. It's fun to see a supposedly non-human entity conform to the lives of humans, feel feelings, learn about the depths of existence but I sometimes feel 'being human' is romanticised way too much in such films. Like all these non-humans are in awe of how humans feel and do stuff...and it's such a big deal when they cry for the first time and realise that life is bitter sweet. Ughh... Life ain't always pretty and being sad isn't fun when you're struggling day to day to work or study or just live a decent life, with a million emotions we humans have. So it was nice to see for a change how this character developed along the way. There weren't too many unnecessary tears or romantic, cringey dialogues about the pain and joy of being simply...."human".
Acting- Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Yampi. I've watched many of his dramas and I love his eyes, although some have called them dead fish eyes, which they kinda look like at times lol. Up until now his acting seemed passable... it wasn't anything extraordinary but I didn't find it monotonous either. But Yamashita as 'Sakuto' really impressed me. I 'believed' in his character. Before his transformation into a genius I couldn't stop talking about how cute he was, pure, like a child..like someone you wanted to protect from this big bad world. And after his transformation a genius, arrogant yet naive...just learning everything he's missed until now. Yampi did a really good job. The other characters were amazing as well. I must say though, the love story in this drama didn't really move me. I don't know if it was the circumstances surrounding these characters, or the chemistry(or lack thereof) amongst the actors or what. Everytime they appeared together on screen, I did feel like they cared for eachother, but it just seemed like friendly, platonic love and care and not romantic, genuine love. So the love story part of it had no effect on me. I really like how they dealt with the theme of friendship.
The music was okay I guess, nothing that stuck to my mind after I finished watching.
How could I forget Algernon, he was an adorable little mousey. Ofcourse he doesn't speak or anything but inspite of that Algernon's role in the plot is undeniably significant, as the very title of the drama suggests. Algernon was like an indication to everything that was happening or going to happen to the male lead and you could literally compare them and gain a better understanding of what was going on.
All in all, it was a great drama! The acting was good, the story engaging, did pull at my heartstrings a few times and turned my mom into a Yampi fan! I'd definitely recommend this drama.
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Won't deny I went into the drama reading the synopsis and it just sounded pure fun! Four guys find out that they're the only virgins left in their entire school, bound to be pure comedy right? But while it has a lot of funny moments, it does have it's fair share of teaching moments, sad moments, some frustrating moments and moments which give you joy.
The acting was pretty good in this. I knew three out of the four main actors in this production, having seen oguri shun in 'hana yori dango', yamapi in sensei(where he's much older than he was in this drama!") And knew Nino as the member of Arashi who was in the amazing movie "letters from Iwo Jima". I hadn't seen narimiya hiroki before but he's gorgeous (especially his smile) and I think he did a great job being the goofy guy. The actress, Suzuki Anne is adorable, and I heard some people say that her acting was boring and such, but I think she fit the role pretty well. The rest of the cast, specially the 'elders' did a great job and had me laughing always. Kenken's mom for president!!!! ????????????
The story is realllyyyy good. It's simple and yet gets the work done, in the sense that, it succeeds at telling a meaningful story. Never a dull moment, even if there were, the cast made up for it. I don't think I'll rewatch it immediately ,but for sure, I'll rewatch it some years later and it will be as good as ever! To think that this drama was out almost 15 years ago!!! It's great to see how far the cast members have come and developed as actors and entertainers.
Anyways I loved the drama and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone looking for a great funny, yet meaningful drama.
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It was a delight to watch the drama. Lotsa funny moments, hilarious cast. Also a lot of teachable moments. I was seriously thinking the three sons would be super loving like 'oh big brother, you must be tired after working hard. Here let me massage your shoulders' , like they'd be shown as a family who stick super duper, unnaturally close after the death of their father, and ideal family. In reality, they just crazy. Haha. Crazy and realistic, don't expect them to go around sacrificing themselevs for the sake of their family every chance they get. Like a very much real family, they fight, disagree, have problems, but they care for eachother and are there for eachother if the situation demands and their house is forever bustling.
All the characters grow throughout the drama and that was great to see. The mom is hilarious and I love her. I lost my father young as well and that's pretty close to how my family is too, we joke around alot and my mom treats us like her friends and we do the same, we also disagree and we're honest about things with eachother.
Anyways, it was a great drama. Has a bit of romance too. It's a great drama to watch for Jdrama enthusiasts. If you've come this far( checking out reviews) the just watch it, you'll like it.
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Where have jdrama's been all my life? Well, I know, so once upon a time I was a shallow girl who looked only for romantic comedies and romance movies, would watch them, sometimes be disappointed in it, specially some Japanese movies I watched where the acting seemed a little bland, the story lines clichéd and the romace not so believable, and had almost given up on Japanese entertainment. I was Ofcourse wrong to have judged the entire industry based on a few films 'I' didn't like. However, in came Kimura Takuya on a white horse and since, life hasn't been the same. (But that's another story)
Even then, the j dramas I watched were mostly romantic comedies and such.
While looking up Jdramas I just came across 'tumbling' and thought well,why not? I like sports, I love bromance and brotherhood, so why not? BEST DESICION. I absolutely adore this drama. It's just one of those things which leaves you feeling gooooood and inspired as heck. We can all do it!! We're all capable of achieving our goals and we'll almost always find friendship if we look, carefully.
What I loved about this drama is how not everything is magically solved at the end of the day as it happens in movies/dramas usually. The boys encounter one problem after another, but they get through together and that's really what matters. It also deals with a lot of different topics in a teenagers life. We're all misfits, doesn't mean we all have to be misfits alone.
The acting was great, the performances and everything ,amazing. It doesn't have 'romance' as such, and it doesn't even matter. I think it has changed my views on 'non-romance' dramas and encouraged me to go beyond just specific genres and explore. Also made me like the sports genre alot.
I would highly recommend this drama to people of all ages!
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