JustOneMoreEpisode
Kuwait/Lebanon
It follows the life of Bandou Sumire, through her young life, loss, war's hardships, family bonds in hard times and most importantly the role of women during those days. It's easily considered an inspirational and motivational drama.
Despite the drama taking every part of Sumire's life and the people around her, it never, for any second, felt slow or boring. Firstly, the transition from every stage of life was a success and secondly, you could clearly see how every character grows and develops.
Actors did a very good job. Many of whom I have seen in a show for the first time, so this was a really good first impression.
I can't ignore the OST, it was so fitting for every mood. I have to admit my current ringtone is the drama's main theme and I have been using it for a few months now. Not to forget Mr.Children performing the opening so extra marks for that as well!
If you are looking for a new asadora to pick up or are new to them, this is greatly recommended. Be warned though. It will be an emotional roller coaster and you will certainly face some withdrawal symptoms once you finish it. The risk is worth it!
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If I watch it once, I will watch it again! DOUBLE WATCH!!
First, apologies for the headline.Hanzawa Naoki, this is easily one of the best dramas I've seen in the past decade. Since watching it for the first time 7 years ago, I have enjoyed it immensely. Following its initial airing, we were always promised that "second" season. Our precious patience was finally rewarded this year. Due to this, I have picked it up for another watch last month, and guess what?? I enjoyed it even more!
To some, a banker's story filled with banking and financial jargon might sound like one boring plot. But with this show, it's not the case. This is especially true on my second watch, where it even made better sense having worked in the past 6 years. Not to forget mentioning, some technical terms get explained in the show with the help of charts and narration, so please don't let the story premise scare you as you won't be left out of the loop.
The story itself was nicely written and what makes it better is how every episode tackles a different challenge for Hanzawa Naoki, while having his main goal to fight corruption in mind. This makes every episode extremely enjoyable, without getting the urge to ever skip forward.
Acting was a strong point to most of the cast members. Along with our favourite: Hanzawa Naoki played by Sakai Masato, I can't ignore Kagawa Teruyuki's acting as Owada Akira . He's easily one of the best villains in Japanese drama. There was some extra yelling throughout the show but it wasn't really that bad. After all, the intense moments required some intense reactions.
All in all, it's a great business drama that shouldn't be ignored because of the setting or plot. It touches reality a lot that makes it more interesting and can even make you share the anger that Hanzawa Naoki feels. After all, real life is filled with such corrupt practices at corporates, that are greatly overlooked or swept under a carpet, just so that a few keep gaining money and power.
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It is violent, bloody and depressing. But with all that going on, something about it was really sweet.
The film had long periods of silence which was not a bad thing at all and Hisaishi Joe's music makes the whole experience complete.
With that title, I expected more fireworks. An amazing work overall and definitely a must watch.
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Despite every episode having it's own plot with a little connections formed with the main and recurring characters, there are a few things that kept getting repeated on and on that at one point it started to feel annoying. Specifically those included actions or quotes that some characters would say or do in every episode. Your mind will then be trained to predict when they are gonna happen.
Acting was nothing special but again the whole drama atmosphere made it possible to accept.
Being a law drama focusing mainly on prosecutors, it had a different feel to what other shows of the same genre I recently watched. Those usually take a more serious image and can make you both tense and excited, seigi no se on the other hand will keep you relaxed knowing everyone is surely getting a happy end.
Worth watching but don't expect much and you'll be ok.
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It was shot almost a year after the 2011 touhoku earthquake and tsunami that took place in Japan which has lead to the Fukushima daiichi power plant nuclear accident.
The place set in the story was fictional but it connects back to reality with all those affected by the 2011 disaster and keeps a reminder that this could happen again.
The film was very good despite the serious and sad premises it was set in, it was meant to touch with reality and in that it did a very good job.
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The film is based on a true story following the life of Mayumura Taku, an SF writer, who wrote a short story everyday throughout the course of his wife's sickness.
A very well made film that almost got me crying. Many parts in it will just keep you mesmerised. Turning the writer's imagination into scenes in the film was successful despite the use of computer graphics which can sometimes destroy a film.
I must say that I was mostly satisfied watching the close ups as the writer wrote on paper. It's a plain thing but it's one of my favourite things that was used.
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As it was originally broadcasted as a mobile drama and later released to DVD, I feel it didn't do a bad job at all but having to divide it into small bits of 24 episodes could have been hard to watch. I feel interest would have slowly gone down as it continues at that pace.
Silence takes a big part compared to the entire dialogue and this is actually one of the good points. The story and theme is filled with tension but you find yourself relaxed as you watch it.
If you're expecting a lot of action scenes, then no, you won't find it here. Most of them were short and quick but that's understandable seeing the small time frame of every episode.
Acting was good on the main roles' part but the same can't be said about everyone else. There are times when you can't take some of the appearances seriously.
If you're going to watch this now, then you will surely have a DVD release as the only choice and that's preferable knowing you can watch it in one sitting. Find yourself a free evening to watch it when you want to relax. Don't put high expectations and you will surely enjoy it without being disappointed.
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This one definitely didn't make it better. Vampire hunters disguised as cleaning agents, who went after hopping zombie like vampires, really didn't seem that exciting.
There were a few funny instances every now and then but wasn't really enough for a comedy title.
Good for a lazy day but nothing really special. At least I got the vampire film task out of the way.
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I do not know what is it, if it's my familiarity with the story, but I didn't cry at all. I swear I am not heartless and I am usually really moved by films like these but really it didn't happen this time.
It could be just me but I can see how the drama surpasses the film, both in production and acting. If you are to pick this title for the first time, I suggest the drama first.
All in all, it wasn't a waste of time, it just didn't live to my expectations.
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As a film it was good, at first I thought the film would involve lots of action and stuff but you can say it was kind of near to those pet films where the protagonist and his pet have a great owner-pet relation. This really puts you in a good mood while watching the film.
The actors were fine. Toda Erika wasn't annoying as expected from watching other works. So no much complaints in this regards.
The film's soundtrack was nice, it fits nicely and I really loved the ending song by Shikuramen (シクラメン).
Few things made me smile and it was their reference to a number of things from real life that I think were kind of unnecessary and could have been just passed through normally without making them stand out. One was referring to the computerised voice used by a wanted suspect to "Sorami Miku" (Hatsune Miku) and another was the awaited lecture by "Steve Jubs". Makes you feel those were all made on purpose to add some humour to the film.
The film wasn't a waste of time. Enjoyed the whole thing and didn't feel slightly bored. If you're looking for a little heart warming story with a little bit of seriousness from the crime genre then this one is a good choice.
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Live action remakes are successful when they take you back to the previous work. And this one failed miserably at doing that. Maybe if it was not a remake but some other fantasy witch adventure it could work.
As a whole, it was an average film. The acting wasn't bad and I loved some of the visuals but not the flying CGI which is clearly an important part of story.
Watchable but do not get your hopes up.
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