I know that there are already a lot of reviews written to this drama.
Still, I thought I'll share my opinion about this as I have slightly different thoughts on it than the ones that already wrote a review.

Despite the quite bad reviews from most of the others, I really enjoyed watching this drama.
I have seen quite a lot of promotions for this drama in which Jun always said that this is a drama that will warm your heart and I cannot but agree with him on that.
It might be not such an inventive storyline, but how the problems of the main roles are written and portrayed makes it very believable to me.
You cannot but feel the grieve of Taiga, who struggles to become a successful actor as his father was. Also, he's so deeply in love with Shiori, the single mother, that is nearly breaks him every time she rejects him and you just want to comfort him.
However, Shiori's role of the single mother that tries to find a way of living with her daughter peacefully is portrayed very wonderful. Takeuchi shows us all the emotions a mother has when she falls in love with a "new" man after raising her death husband's child.
Also, the supporting characters were nicely written. Each of them had a little story around its own that were shown in the drama as well which made them not plain supporting roles, but gave all of them a feeling of authenticity.
The whole cast did an amazing job and it is a pleasure to watch them all.

The music fits nicely into the drama and I am still humming some melodies along with me and I will listen to the sountrack happily as soon as I get it.

I would wathc the drama again one day, just because the emotions were so nicely shown that I could feel them in my own heart. Also, Jun has a pretty cute role here, so if you fancy him, you might just fall in love deeper with him^^

I think that this is a really nice drama andI recommend it to those that like to watch romance and children as well as struggling with real life problems between two people that actually love each other but need time to finally find each other.

And to say it with Jun's words "This drama really warms your heart!"

Citeste mai mult

The main reason for me to watch it was Jun^^
So as soon as the subs were out, I watched it. Also, I was happy to see Eikura Nana and Jun acting together again.

The movie had a story that was easy to follow and was quite forseeable. However, it was still enjoyable and cute.
You shouldn't expect super dramatic twists or sudden changes, but if you are okay with a cute, heartwarming plot, that's something for you.

The cast was enjoyable. Everybody portrayed their roles nicely and believable. The relationship between Jun and Nana was great and felt absolutely natural. Also, the children's acting was sweet.

The basic theme of the movie is "furusato" (means homeland). The movie shows what it is and how people are connected to their hometown. Of course it's all a bit emotional, maybe a bit too much for some of you, but still nice.
The famous song "Furusato" is also included in the movie and if you're interested into Japanese culture you should at least listened to it once as it is a very important piece of music for all Japanese people.

There isn't much comedy included in the movie, but I think it wouldn't have been suited for it, so it's completely fine like that.

I recommend this movie to everybody who wants to watch something cute and heartwarming after a long, exhausting day and does not feel like watching action or something with a twisted plot. It's something to enjoy with a sweet story, a nice cast and wonderful music.

Citeste mai mult

I am wondering that nobody already wrote a review...

I really enjoyed this drama/movie. The three episods were all super long, about 2 and a half hour, but it did not feel that long. I was super shocked when I looked at the clock after finishing the first episode. I was too absorbed in the story to realize the time passing by.

So, it's kinda obvious that I like the storyline of the drama. It follows the life of a family in the post war times. The main character is the oldest sister who takes care of her parents and siblings while trying to manage her own life. Her story and the one from her siblings is interesting and believable but not necessarily predicatable. You are intrigued to know how they go on with their lives and if they can realize their dreams and find the love they wish for.

Also, the cast of the drama is amazing. Not just the main characters are the top of Japanese actors. There are lots of little roles which are acted by famous Japanese actors and you will keep pondering where you have seen them before.
It is wonderful to see how the main actors are acting out their roles. They are refreshing and emotional and wonderful. You will feel with them and laugh as well as cry with them.

I suggest you to watch this drama if you want to know more about Japanese history and if you like stories about one family that you accompany through their live.
(Also, Jun is very hot in there...sorry, Jun fangirl speaking here LOL)

Citeste mai mult

I started to watch the movie some months ago, but somehow didn't continue, because I thought it has a slow start. Today, I gave the movie a second chance and I watched it till the end.
If you're over the first 20 minutes, the movie gets a lot more interesting and you really feel this is what happens in real life.

The movie tells the story about the life of four woman. All are living very different lifestyles, but the main question is the same for all four. Am I still allowed to behave like a little girl even when I am over 30 years old? If yes, how much of a girl is allowed and how much of being a woman? What is the role of a woman in society anyways? Is it okay to put work over the family and be the one who earns the money or should you marry and give birth to children while your husband is in charge of earning the money?
All four main roles are struggling to find an answer to all these questins during the movie and in the end provide a quite acceptable one.

I think would recommend this movie to all the women (and men) who are around 25 years old, because I think these are the questions we are all struggling with by ourselves. Of course it's also possible to watch it when you're "only" 15, but you might have a different view on all the things that are showed what doesn't mean you won't like it.
However, the movie kept me thinking about my own life and it's true that women do not lead an easy life at all, but men neither...

The acting was nice, but not outstanding. All four main actresses were able to go with the flow of the story, but you won't be stunned about their performance. They're nice to watch an in my eyes this suits the movie!
I liked the music and I might look for the OST, because I think it's nice to listen to it again.

As I said, of you make it through the beginning, I'm sure you'll come to like the movie, so give it a try^^

Citeste mai mult

I just finished the drama and I thought I'll write down my thoughts about it.

When I started the drama and told my friends about it (the ones that watch JDrama too) they all said either that they dropped it or that they didn't like it very much, so I was anxious to find out if I like it or not.
Now that I finished it, I finally have my own opinion about the whole drama.

I'm honest here and tell you that the drama is far away from being one of my favourites!
The acting was nice, but not superb as well as the whole story in itself was not too exciting or surprising.
However, there are still a lot of things we fans can learn from the drama and there are one or two points that we should think about again.
Being an idol is definintely not easy, we all might know this already. Still watching what hardships they have to face every day and that they people rather believe in what the press is saying than trusting the idol itself if definintely not coming from the imagination of the script writer.
Also, the question, do you want your idol to marry and lead a happy life with the woman/man he/she loves or do you want your idol to stay single forever so you can go on dreaming about leading a life with him/her in your own fantasy...I guess its something that you will think about again after watching the drama and might change your opinion (or not).

The drama really makes you reconsider some of your ideas of being an idol and that's the appealing point of this drama, I think.
Also, as someone who likes Kanjani, I enjoyed the scenes with the other members and also the title song by Kanjani is nice to listen to.

You should give the drama a chance and if you do not expect stunning acting and an intruiging story, you might not even be too disappointed after finishing it...

Citeste mai mult

I just finished watching the SP and I thought that it might be of a help if I write down my thoughts about it.
As you can already see on my rating, I really liked it.
I already liked the drama, but in my eyes the SP is even better.

The SP goes on where the drama left us - with all 7 members of the detective agency, love-hating each other while doing their job as amazing detectives.
They began to work on a new case that turns out more complicated than what they had thought in the beginning.

Basically, I have to say it's a Jun-centered SP while the others support him. Still, they managed to find the right balance in showing a georgeously acting Jun and the good acting of his supporters.
Also, the mixture of fighting scenes and scenes that show the actors feelings is nicely balanced, so in the end the SP contains everything to the right extend.

The plot of this SP's case is nicely wrapped up and you (well, at least I) couldn't presdict the outcome...or more HOW they are going to solve everything nicely. This is what makes a good detective movie to me.

In conclusion I'd say you shouldn't waver to watch this SP, you should just watch it :)
Also, it's possible to watch the SP without having to watch the drama first as it's not a real continuation. The cast is the same, but the case is not connected to former cases from the drama.

So just enjoy an exciting detective movie with an adorable cast, nice lines and fitting music!!!

Citeste mai mult

So, let me state first of all that I HATE flying with planes. I'm scared and I'm so damn happy to have my feet on the ground again that I want to cry.
Why did I take up on this drama? Well, maybe to cure my fear...
Did it work? Hum...I cannot say that I am not scared of flying anymore, but I also have to admit that I'm not more scared after watching ;)

It was interesting to get to see how air traffic control works. I am sure that some of the things are not from the real world and the scenarios are thought of, but still, you get an idea about what those people in the Tower do the whole day...
Additionally, the plot seemed realistic to me. Maybe a real traffic controller would start to cry, but to me there weren't any storylines that I thought of as completely unrealistic. This made it fun to watch the drama.

Furthermore, I liked most of the supporting characters. Their relationships were nicely portrait. They had scenes were they were teasign each other, but in the end you saw that they all were a big family.
I am not so fond of Fukada Kyoko's acting as I have the feeling she was just added to look pretty or worried. For me, she didn't really give the impression of that dtermined woman she portrayed, but due to her great supporting actors, it was fine to have not such a dominating main character. Maybe this was even intended by the writers.

I also liked the teamwork that was showed throughout the whole drama. To ensure the safety of the airplanes and with that the safety og the passengers and the crew, a lot of people have to give their best each day. It was so nicely portrayed how they all supported each other and helped each other through hard times. That's what I liked about this drama the most.

In short: You won't make a mistake watching this drama and even if you're not a big fan of airports and airplanes, you shure find something enjoyable about this drama.

Citeste mai mult

I think this is a fairly unpopular movie and I admit that I only watched it because I like Aiba very much.
However, I do not regret watching it for several reasons.

The story is quite nice and I think a lot of married women (or women that are in a long term relationship) can relate to it. Basically this about the relationship between a wife and her mother in law. It shows their quarrels when they are forced to live together, their husbands who are both reluctant, not knowing what to do.
However, it is also shown that they need each other to bring happiness to their family and children and eventually can join forces to protect their loved ones, just to quarrel afterwards again.

In the beginning I thought that the acting was a bit too exaggerated, but the longer I watched it stopped bothering me and I found it rather amusing.
The main actresses are doing a nice job and also the supporting roles (Aiba!^^) are nice to watch.

Also, I like the name a lot. The house has three kitchen because there are three families living in it. The grandparents, the family of four (husband, wife, 2 children) and the newlywed couple, the sister of the husband. These different people all live together under a roof, trying to get along. A very amusing situation!

This movie is surely not the most amazing one you have ever seen. But as I said, it's nice to watch the developemnt of the characters and it's something you can probably relate to by yourself (or at least imagine it).
If you are in for a nice family movie with some humorous elements, I recommend you to go for it!
(and if you are an Aiba fan, I can recommend it too, he doesn't appear often, but it's cute!)^^

Citeste mai mult

I watched the drama when it was aired, but it took me ages to take a look at the Special.
I should have done so earlier!

I liked the drama and thought that it was a bit slw in progressing with the story, but since the drama only takes around 90 minutes, I didn't feel like that.
The story is more about the parents of Seiji and how they got together as well as Seiji's relationship with Chiba. In the end, both "problems" are solved, so you are not left with an open end. (and the end satisfied me a lot^^).
I didn't feel like the time passing while watching which is basically a good sign, right?!

Nino's acting is in my eyes outstanding. He is overly cute and lovable and portrays his sometimes quite shy and unsure character very convincing. I also liked the acting of the mother a lot, because she is still acting as someone who is suffering from depression and it's amazing how she portrays it. Also the other characters like the father and sister and Chiba are believable.

There are various topics touched in the Special. On one side it's about the relationshiip between a husband and a wife where the wife chose the marriage over her family. This is the main plot line and it shows how it can affect the family life and how it can be solved. Furthermore Seiji and Chiba are just starting their relationship and deepen them in the Special in a very cute way.
Seiji is basically the one helping all people around him to be happy what makes him very sympathetic to me.

If your are in the mood to watch a movie about family and relationships and you want to watch a good acting from Ninomiya Kazunari, you should give this a try.
I think it's not necessary to have watched the drama before...as I said, it took me 2 years to watch it and I forgot a lot about what had happened in the drama, but I could follow the storyline easily.

I hope you can enjoy the Special as much as I did!

Citeste mai mult

I wasn't so happy with the drama, so it took me some time to finally watch the special, but after a few minutes I knew that I should have done so earlier.

The story of the special is way better than any of the cases in the drama. The case is presented to the viewer in little pieces and just Kageyama is able to figure out how they are connected with each other.
I had no idea how to link all the little happenings (although I must say I am quite stupid when it comes to solving mystery^^°)

I absolutely LOVE the acting of the two main actors. Sho is wonderful in acting as a butler but also when he accuses his mistress for being stupid. Keiko acts wonderfully as the heir that has to take all of Kageyama's bratty remarks and I cracked up so much about her acting when she was being drunk.
Also, Kazamatsuri makes me laugh all the time. His acting his hilarious and he fits the role so wonderful!!!

It's a funny special with a detective story and the mix of humor and mystery is just right. It does not get boring and on the other hand there are lots of moments to make you laugh.
If you feel like watching a detective drama that isn't too serious, I suggest you give this one a chance! You won't regret it!

Citeste mai mult

I'm still missing the last ep of this drama, but it's not subbed yet and I thought it's better to write down my thoughts on this drama now...

It's a nice drama to watch. I always looked forward on watching the next episode.

The stories/cases are well established and also make sense. I was first a bit skeptical, because I made the experience that some Japanese detective dramas lack logical cases and solvings. However, here, you can think along and the conclusions always match the evidences.
Alongside those cases in every episode is a love story. Two men are opposing each other in order to win the main's heart, though she isn't interested into men at all. She's more into the cases. However, this gives the drama a funny side and you cannot help, but feel pityful for the two men that try their best for her sake :)

I liked the children's acting a lot. They had quite big roles and did a great job. Also, the two inspectors were very enjoyable as well as the mother of the main actress.
What I didn't like was the acting of the main actress. I have to say that I like Tabe and basically her way of acting, I just think she isn't made for the role of a very self-conscious teacher that gets mad easily. I couldn't really see her getting angry, you could just tell from the volume of her voice.
That's the only thing I'd mark as negative in this enjoyable drama.

So, if you're looking for a detective drama, involving a lot of kids, a teacher that is very forward, a funny team of an old and a young inspector, a very caring mom and some other nice and lovable characters, this one should be the right for you ;)

Citeste mai mult