Zíza

A very nice film. Gentle. And the characters in it don't act like they always do, but become people, real people. I was drawn into their midst. I didn't want to be a bystander. I wanted to walk around Tokyo. A city I long to visit. For all that, I'm simply forced to give it full stars. I just want to, and that's it. Because this film is first and foremost “human". All I can do is recommend it for viewing.

Such a pity. Such an absolute pity. I love it so much when two people get together under some sort of arrangement and pretend to be a couple. It's a bit of a fetish of mine, so I'll take any show or movie that has it, and I will usually like it just for that alone. Unfortunately in this case, not a chance. It feels incredibly cheesy; Yun Eun-hye seems to have forgotten how to act, and Cheon Jeong-myeong, aside from a few moments where he comes across as sweet and mischievous thanks to his smile, fails to save the show (most likely the lack of chemistry among the cast is to blame). To me the whole thing was bad. The script, the acting, the twists, the weird lies and pretenses... Yes, there are some moments that are ok, but they still don't make it a watchable series. Nor does making all the bad guys repentant and then changing their characters so you can end the show to satisfy your romantic fantasies. I spent a lot of time forcing myself to watch, and in the end I discovered that I was forcing myself for nothing. The series recycles other Korean works, but in a very bad way. Don’t waste your time. There are plenty of shows with scandals, arranged relationships, the rich and the poor, the good and the bad. Watch those.

I was hooked. I watched her mental anguish, her inability to cope with death, and she played it so convincingly it made me sad. I haven't seen Scott in a while so I'm glad I caught him here, he was great. I didn't see Phoebe in Lisa at all. I loved this human drama – the acting, the flow, the characters. The fact that it's sometimes very hard to forgive yourself. I liked Natalie several times more here than I did in Black Swan. A strong 4 stars.

A more challenging film, fairly well acted, about people where no one is normal. Basically, they're flawed in some way, almost as if to say that Japanese society is pathological. No one is likable. This also makes the film harder to watch. What’s more, it's not straightforward; there’s a lot it doesn't say. It's not romantic. It's cold, but it tries to be warming in the end.

Typical Japanese rabukome. That chibi was really kawaiii :-D Like I was cooing all over it until the noises I was making got a little gross X-D As an anime it must be a pretty good show, I just can't imagine it in 24 episodes... I wasn't bored at all, for which I thank you very much! It was nice, I enjoyed the time watching it. I even forgot that I had to learn 15 questions for English class, 2 for IT, and 1 for math, yeah yeah, finals :-))) It was cute. Except for those Japanese kisses, they’re always like that, I'd like to see some really passionate Japanese makeout one day too X-D You get it, right? With what I'm typing, it really made me all hot and bothered... And I liked Hiro too, nice in a supporting role and for a nerd, considering what he plays in his later years, this was a really great departure! :-) Yoroshiku Queen!

And I'll say up front that these are very, very good and a better 3 stars; I debated for a long time how much I'd give, but in the end it ended up how it ended up. And why? Okay, let's start with the flaws – I think the film crew didn't get the audio noises right at times, some of the shots were too long for a series like this, some scenes I would have skipped completely, and even though I was excited at the beginning, there are so many characters and you don’t realize how superficial they are until by the end I was just annoyed at what was going on with them, because after all, the main characters are the main characters, and they were the ones that interested me the most (the same thing happened in pale blue with Goong), and by the end it took on too much gravitas, and I mean a lot of it. I guess that covers the flaws. In the beginning I was fascinated by the dirtiness and the shabbiness of the sets/places where they filmed, I was totally caught off guard by it since I am used to the clean and tidy environments in a lot of similar series, the kind you just don't normally see much of, here it was really "common". Another thing I was excited about was the character of Mike – such a beautifully ordinary boy, with no superfluous airs, money, fame, or looks, who won't give any rest to a single student at his school alone with all the wet dreams he causes her... He was just so beautifully ordinary and normal that it almost made me cry :-D That alone makes it worth watching. And the rest of my comments got deleted, I felt light-headed, almost fainted because it was long and I didn't like it at all... Damn :-D well, maybe I'll finish the rest of it sometime... Now I remember I wrote something to the effect that this series is like a cruise. You're sailing your boat, only encountering waves along the way, now and then a bigger one, but nothing that could threaten your life, nothing that would rock your stomach to the heights of heaven. But then, just when you think you've seen the light of the lighthouse, the wind picks up, a storm comes up out of nowhere and hits – full force. And you just have to hope that you can make it go away. If I had the screenwriter on hand, I'd probably want to rip something off him (ideally his head) for those last two episodes. And then I'm sure I wrote something else, but what was it? ^^

It bothered me terribly what a conflicted vibe the series was throwing. Is it a crazy romantic comedy? Is it an ordinary romantic comedy of life? Is it a tragic romance? It was constantly mixing things up in a weird way, at times the characters seemed more like caricatures and at times they were absolutely great (then again, I did feel strongly from the beginning that Ayano Gô wasn't exactly the right fit for the character). I couldn't find my way through it and was constantly struggling to like anyone, no matter how well they acted. If it had found even a single way I would have been happy to watch it, because the plot was quite interesting and the cast was interesting too; but I just felt like I was floundering around like a fish out of water and it didn’t leave me very satisfied. Too bad.

Even though it's so long, it grabbed me from the beginning all the way to the sweet ending. Even though it intertwines all sorts of genres, it lands so beautifully, it's crazy, wacky, upbeat, sad, unbelievable, raw and tender. If I were at the cinema, it's possible I'd give it a full 5 stars. Maybe. Anyway, I'm glad I saw it. The main character is likable, his counterpart is also fine (you never get the feeling that it's time to shove her under a passing truck). The others were insane. But that was fine too. ^^ Got a long afternoon free? Go for it. I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and I'm kind of telling myself: "Why the hell not give it 5 stars? It was perfect!" So I'm changing the rating from 4 stars to 5. ^^

Surprisingly adult, with no unnecessary bickering or love triangles. I was also surprised by the relative openness regarding sex and "hair" – to shave or not to shave? That's what I liked about it, unfortunately the film was hampered by its frequent lack of seriousness. It's not exactly a comedy, nor an over-sweetened romance between two lovebirds. It's just an ordinary story of two grown-ups who've been through something and found love. I guess that's why the little gestures, the declarations of love, are so enjoyable to watch. Goo Joo-wol's story reminded me of Detective Lovesick at the end, only this time with a "happy ending".

An unpretentious romp with no comedy line. I'd read the source material, so I knew what to expect, and I was also curious to see what they'd cram in from the manga and how. Honestly they did it in a novel way. They gave space to the more important scenes and put the less important ones in the background in a "diary-like" manner. I liked the soundtrack. The acting wasn't bad either. They play high school kids, so you can't expect any miracles. Perfect for a date movie. The Japanese know how to make money. ;-)