Drama and Movie Review!
I'm back with some more reviews! This time around I finally got to a couple that have been on my to-watch list for quite some time. Other people have known and seen these dramas several years ago, so I finally jumped on the bandwagon and I'm glad I did. Not only were these shows amazing enough on their own, but they balanced each other out in really good ways. One was dramatic and tragic, while the other one also dealt with the hardships of life, it had it's own comedy and spice of life as well. It's been a while that I would come home from work and enjoy my time off and look forward to watching these dramas after a long hard day. There was never a dull moment. I also have a movie review which I absolutely just HAD to include, which many of you I'm sure understand why.
This drama was one of the saddest and most compelling dramas I've seen. I think I may have cried a litre of tears myself just by watching it. What I appreciated the most is that none of the sad parts were overdone. They didn't try to shove it in your face and overdo it. The sad moments were real and I felt them to the depths of my soul.
The drama is based on the true story of Aya Kito who was diagnosed with spinrilla degeneration disease, or degenerative spine disease. It affects the body's balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function. Aya was 15 years old when she was diagnosed, and her mother started to notice that Aya was falling down a lot and running into things, or dropping things. At first she just came out to be clumsy since Aya was very active. Always running, jumping and she loved playing basketball at school. After a couple moments of Aya tripping over her own two feet, her mother began to take notice of her falls. After a some time, Aya was not catching herself anymore and she ended up falling on her face and scratching herself big time. She was taken to the hospital for stitches, but her mother was still very concerned about Aya's clumsiness and asked the doctor to do some tests on her. When they did, they discovered she had the disease. At first, her mother tried to keep it a secret from Aya, but soon Aya found out for herself. Little by little, the disease begins to take away her motor functions. She starts to lose the ability to walk, hold a pen and write, and soon begins to lose her voice. It eats away at her until she becomes bedridden at the hospital.
Not only was I extremely touched by this drama, I also learned a lot about the disease. At first I thought it was another name for ALS. Both affect the nerves in the same way and neither have any cures. I don't know if there is a cause for ALS, but there has been a discovery for the cause of NDD which wasn't covered in the drama, and that was genetics. This was not covered in the drama, partially because the disease was still rare and there wasn't enough research done at the time, or they were basing it off the real events of the drama, which took place during the 1980s. I wonder how much the drama would have changed if they knew the cause. I think the parents would be extra hard on themselves for passing the disease onto their daughter, and even onto the rest of their kids.
I probably would not watch this drama again because it was a bit heavy, but I would recommend it to those who love Asian dramas. This is definitely one to add to your list! I enjoyed seeing Nishikido Ryo in this drama. It was a big difference from his role in Last Friends where he played a girlfriend abuser.
I gave this drama a 10 out of 10! Definitely a must see.
This drama was so different from 1 Litre of Tears and yet it touched my heart in the same way. I'm so glad I was able to watch two dramas back to back that had such originality and beauty in their own way. These were so refreshing.
It focuses on these two high schoolers, Kiritani and Kusano, who try to make one gloomy and abused girl to be the popular girl in school. And...well that's the basic premises. That's all I have for the summary of this show. Just one sentence. However, this drama was so much more than that. With each episode, the character's begin to reveal their background more and more and the watcher starts to grow attached to them. You see that the popular guy is actually scared and lonely deep inside. The quirky, strange and clumsy fellow was very loyal and had a big heart for his friends. The dark and gloomy girl slowly began to open herself up to her friends and to those around her. Soon, the whole school wanted to be her friend.
Since the plot was so simple, it was not a slow drama. I was never bored watching this drama. I will say there was one thing about it that I predicted, and probably because this person showed up out of nowhere and tried to cause a ruckus. I won't give too much away other than to say to give this drama a watch! I loved watching Maki Morikita, Yamapi, and Kamenashi Kazuya play the delightful trio. The Golden Trio as I call them. Yamapi was so great in this drama. The first time I saw his character, I thought he was high. Seriously.
I gave this drama a 10 out of 10.
Someone else wrote a review for this movie, so I thought "eh, why not" and do the same. Mine probably won't be as detailed as theirs, though. I'll do my best. This movie is not for those just starting out in the drama world, or for those who may not understand Japanese culture and their movies. I had some trouble fully relating to this movie myself. Nino's character, Okino, is a prosecutor in Tokyo and he works under Mogami, whom he looks up to. A case shows up in which a money lender is killed, and one of the borrowers is a suspect. The borrower testified to killing a high school girl in the past and Mogami tries to have him sentenced and confess his murder in court. At the end of the complex story, no one is tried and Okino ends up finding out his role model is guilty of a crime and he now has to live knowing that.
The movie ends with no closure so it's difficult to see how the whole thing plays out. I'm starting to see a lot of movies nowadays take this role. Because in real life, nothing is resolved. This is hard to watch in movies sometimes because we want to see results. We want an ending. We want justice. Just like in the movie. Yet, things are so complicated, that it could probably take an entire lifetime to sort everything out.
My favorite scene was the interrogation scene. It's not the first time I've seen Nino "lose it", but I think he can push himself even more. I doubt we've seen his limit, and I actually want to see it. This movie was also one of those "maybe not for everyone" kind of style because there's a lot of subtext I feel. Some things were hard for me to catch on, and it wasn't the political side for once. There may or may not be a sequel, but I don't think there will be just how the movie was by itself.
I rated this movie a 9 out of 10.
I shall be back with more dramas soon. I haven't found one yet that didn't tickle my fancy like these two did. So I've got some hunting to do.
Until then, take care!
This drama was one of the saddest and most compelling dramas I've seen. I think I may have cried a litre of tears myself just by watching it. What I appreciated the most is that none of the sad parts were overdone. They didn't try to shove it in your face and overdo it. The sad moments were real and I felt them to the depths of my soul.
The drama is based on the true story of Aya Kito who was diagnosed with spinrilla degeneration disease, or degenerative spine disease. It affects the body's balance, movement, talking, breathing, and heart function. Aya was 15 years old when she was diagnosed, and her mother started to notice that Aya was falling down a lot and running into things, or dropping things. At first she just came out to be clumsy since Aya was very active. Always running, jumping and she loved playing basketball at school. After a couple moments of Aya tripping over her own two feet, her mother began to take notice of her falls. After a some time, Aya was not catching herself anymore and she ended up falling on her face and scratching herself big time. She was taken to the hospital for stitches, but her mother was still very concerned about Aya's clumsiness and asked the doctor to do some tests on her. When they did, they discovered she had the disease. At first, her mother tried to keep it a secret from Aya, but soon Aya found out for herself. Little by little, the disease begins to take away her motor functions. She starts to lose the ability to walk, hold a pen and write, and soon begins to lose her voice. It eats away at her until she becomes bedridden at the hospital.
Not only was I extremely touched by this drama, I also learned a lot about the disease. At first I thought it was another name for ALS. Both affect the nerves in the same way and neither have any cures. I don't know if there is a cause for ALS, but there has been a discovery for the cause of NDD which wasn't covered in the drama, and that was genetics. This was not covered in the drama, partially because the disease was still rare and there wasn't enough research done at the time, or they were basing it off the real events of the drama, which took place during the 1980s. I wonder how much the drama would have changed if they knew the cause. I think the parents would be extra hard on themselves for passing the disease onto their daughter, and even onto the rest of their kids.
I probably would not watch this drama again because it was a bit heavy, but I would recommend it to those who love Asian dramas. This is definitely one to add to your list! I enjoyed seeing Nishikido Ryo in this drama. It was a big difference from his role in Last Friends where he played a girlfriend abuser.
I gave this drama a 10 out of 10! Definitely a must see.
This drama was so different from 1 Litre of Tears and yet it touched my heart in the same way. I'm so glad I was able to watch two dramas back to back that had such originality and beauty in their own way. These were so refreshing.
It focuses on these two high schoolers, Kiritani and Kusano, who try to make one gloomy and abused girl to be the popular girl in school. And...well that's the basic premises. That's all I have for the summary of this show. Just one sentence. However, this drama was so much more than that. With each episode, the character's begin to reveal their background more and more and the watcher starts to grow attached to them. You see that the popular guy is actually scared and lonely deep inside. The quirky, strange and clumsy fellow was very loyal and had a big heart for his friends. The dark and gloomy girl slowly began to open herself up to her friends and to those around her. Soon, the whole school wanted to be her friend.
Since the plot was so simple, it was not a slow drama. I was never bored watching this drama. I will say there was one thing about it that I predicted, and probably because this person showed up out of nowhere and tried to cause a ruckus. I won't give too much away other than to say to give this drama a watch! I loved watching Maki Morikita, Yamapi, and Kamenashi Kazuya play the delightful trio. The Golden Trio as I call them. Yamapi was so great in this drama. The first time I saw his character, I thought he was high. Seriously.
I gave this drama a 10 out of 10.
Someone else wrote a review for this movie, so I thought "eh, why not" and do the same. Mine probably won't be as detailed as theirs, though. I'll do my best. This movie is not for those just starting out in the drama world, or for those who may not understand Japanese culture and their movies. I had some trouble fully relating to this movie myself. Nino's character, Okino, is a prosecutor in Tokyo and he works under Mogami, whom he looks up to. A case shows up in which a money lender is killed, and one of the borrowers is a suspect. The borrower testified to killing a high school girl in the past and Mogami tries to have him sentenced and confess his murder in court. At the end of the complex story, no one is tried and Okino ends up finding out his role model is guilty of a crime and he now has to live knowing that.
The movie ends with no closure so it's difficult to see how the whole thing plays out. I'm starting to see a lot of movies nowadays take this role. Because in real life, nothing is resolved. This is hard to watch in movies sometimes because we want to see results. We want an ending. We want justice. Just like in the movie. Yet, things are so complicated, that it could probably take an entire lifetime to sort everything out.
My favorite scene was the interrogation scene. It's not the first time I've seen Nino "lose it", but I think he can push himself even more. I doubt we've seen his limit, and I actually want to see it. This movie was also one of those "maybe not for everyone" kind of style because there's a lot of subtext I feel. Some things were hard for me to catch on, and it wasn't the political side for once. There may or may not be a sequel, but I don't think there will be just how the movie was by itself.
I rated this movie a 9 out of 10.
I shall be back with more dramas soon. I haven't found one yet that didn't tickle my fancy like these two did. So I've got some hunting to do.
Until then, take care!