The serie had potential, but where did it go wrong, is what I'm asking myself!? I'm quite hard to please especially when it involve any romance.

The guy playing the house designer character at Sakura Ai work place, is the actor who play Seiya in YAOH, and the hostess with short hair at the club, she is the main actress of SAPURI, and YAMA ONNA KABE ONNA. OK, I'm supposed to write a review, but I'm not so good with them, so...

As soon as I saw the so-called friend, recently widow Amachi Misao, I knew she was no good. The way she was looking kind of askance at Sakura Ai at the funeral, wasn't boding well at all. And the husband was clearly at fault in the beginning, because in episode one, he was really staring at Misao, even though he didn't think much of it at the time. You don't look so intensely at a widow, especially when you're already married, and worse is, with you wife standing so close to you.
The husband, already captivated after seeing Misao for the first time, turning around one last time to catch a glimpse before going, was certainly like a hint to the widow, no matter what.

Our couple of spouses seems to get along quite well, but, in fact to me, the wife tends to do more effort than the husband does. Of course, they can converse and go out, but it look like Eichirou is already at the stage of daily routine, and it's Ai again who has to initiate things, even when it comes to intimacy. Eichirou give the impression to go with the flow no more.
So when the friend widow Misao come to live next to our no so sweet loving couple. Mr Husband appear more than thrilled to meet her again, and he's clearly the one who makes the first move when he deliberately take a detour to visit her before going to work. You easily see how more enthusiastic he is around her, having no problem to initiate any sort of conversation whatsoever. And it's just the second episode.

The wife doesn't even see how Misao ogle at her husband, it's pitiful, because no matter how you trust your husband, that doesn't mean you can trust an old friend you haven't seen for 15 years. I really hate when the cuckold is the very last to know, when everybody around them obviously notice something strange, it's really distressing, generally speaking.

Old is gold they say, and the acting was great, natural, not stiff as in todays dramas. They were without a doubt comedians and not actors/actresses, because the performance they gave was real but moderated, not overacted.
I'm always amazed on how people could touch each other back then, without it being such a fuss, it's great to be able to see that. Men bonding, and even fighting. Women casualy patting men on their back or shoulders. I remember one scene at the Mama-san club, where Eichirou has his hand on Maezono Kosaku's knee (the novelist), I was a little surprised, because these days in jdramas, his hand would have been more around the shoulder, particularly cause they are barely acquainted at that time. They look so comfortable around each other, that if I was understanding japanese, I would say they were speaking informal speech. I even thought they were close friends in the beginning.
And, if I was crazy enough, I would say they were koreans, due to the tactilité. I really miss this type of acting, and if you're more into Kdramas, the old Jdramas (well maybe not too old) will appeal to you greater, because it feel more entertaining due to these facts I mentionned.

The ending was a little disappointing, but then again, it could have been worse.

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This is exactly the setting of drama I enjoyed the most, is to say work related fiction, if only they had keep it simple.
What I don't like in japanese comedy work series, is how when you have watch one, you have watch it all more or less. They kind of always use the same patterns, and I don't mind unoriginality as long as it entertains me, but sadly it didn't enough.

We have our heroine, typical over the top always in a good mood no matter what, she could have come straight from a shoujo manga, it would have made no difference...
Bref, despite an unfortunate childhood (her mother died while giving birth to her), she's always so jovial and cheerful, and friendly to anybody she just meet (really!!!). She's overzealous when it comes to her work, and helping all kind of passengers is truly what makes her happy.
I don't want to sound offensive, but that's exactly the kind of story that makes me want to puke, too cheesy for me.
I really dislike unhuman character, who like to put others before themselves, every single time, who have a solution for everything, and never seem to care for their own life.
If it was an anime, maybe I would be less harsh, but come on, this a serie with real people in it we're talking about, for crying out loud.
I should have known better, I'm not really into comedy after all!!

Now, because the serie was made in 2001, you clearly see that the characters seem more natural and touchy feely (en tout bien tout honneur, bien sûr) and less robotized than nowadays, that I really appreciated.
I also like the character of Hanamura Shouko, the lady boss, she's quite something in this drama, the scene when she arrive dressed in kimono style, Ouwaouh!!! That woman sure ages gracely. I saw her in “W no Higeki” before this drama.
But none of that was enough to keep me interested, what a pity!!

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Meilleur que prévu

Une série bien divertissante du début à la fin. La seule série médicale m'ayant autant plié de rire avant "GM Odore Doctor", c'est "Scrubs". Les personnages sont vraiment loufoques, on les croirait tout droit sortis d'un animanga, mais la comparaison s'arrête là. J'ai remis certains passages en boucle, tellement je me fendais la poire!!

Pour une fois dans un drama épisodique, il y a eu une réelle évolution des personnages. Chacun/e d'entre eux/elles a eu droit à son épisode. C'était hautement appréciable. Mes personnages préférés, ont été le doc à lunettes "otaku" avec sa cambrure, et l'interne Komukai, n'ayant pas sa langue dans sa poche. Elle est affublée de divers épithètes, notamment celui de "poupée nippone" (Nihon ningyo) par Docteur danseur, lui-même surnommée tantôt "Faya/Fire", tantôt "Feu" (Hi) par cette dernière.
De plus, les personnages secondaires bien qu'apparaissant comme caricaturaux au premier abord, ne servent pas uniquement de faire valoir au protagoniste. Ils ne sont pas de simples figurants, fait assez rare dans ce genre de format.
D'ailleurs, le personnage principal est sans doute celui qui est le moins développé, il ne vit que pour danser et revivre sa glorieuse jeunesse "d'idole". J'ai beaucoup aimé le voir danser, même si j'aurais apprécié davantage d'originalité dans ses chorégraphies, au lieu d'une énième copie de Michael Jackson.
Il a beau être plus calé que ses collègues rétrogradés dans un service médical paumé, parfois il se trompe dans ses diagnostics et il n'est pas présomptueux comme peut l'être le protagoniste de "Doctors Saikyou no mei".
Pour lui la médecine, c'est surtout en attendant de revivre son rêve de former un groupe de danse. D'ailleurs, il porte toujours des gants et n'est jamais pressé d'aller ausculter.

Je ne m'attendais à rien de spécial en choisissant de regarder ce dorama médical, sachant que c'est un genre que j'évite. Mais le fait qu'il s'agisse d'une comédie et qu'il y ait de la danse ont titillé ma curiosité et grand bien m'a pris de regarder celui-ci.

La seule chose qui m'a agacé dans le dorama, c'est l'annonce des sponsors: "ce programme vous est présenté par les partenaires suivants...". Au lieu de faire cela correctement, ils ont inséré ça n'importe comment et donc souvent à des passages importants. Faire du placement de marque, je peux concevoir, mais pas si ça vient gâcher mon plaisir visionnage. Surtout quand à la fin, on les voit tous danser et que justement à cause de la promotion des sponsors, bah on voit pas grand chose au final!? Et, c'est bien dommage...

Niveau musique, comme d'hab rien à signaler. De toute façon, c'est rare qu'une série nippone mette du bon son plaisant à mes oreilles, ce serait plutôt le contraire. À croire, qu'ils font exprès de toujours choisir les mêmes types de mélodies.

Même si j'ai bien aimé ce dorama, je ne le regarderai pas entièrement une seconde fois à cause du jargon médical entre autre. Les séries criminelles et médicales étant celles que j'affectionne le moins, ceci expliquant cela.
Par contre, il est certain que je revisionnerai certains passages comiques assez hilarants.

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It started so great, but 32 episodes is a bit too long between you and me.

The first 22 episodes were so intense, with Machiavellian conspiracy to remove well respected Wong Sifu and try to dirt his flawless reputation.
But there wasn't only that, there was also Kwai Lan day-to-day existence and worries with her immature brother Sam Sui who just loved to bet on clandestine fights, her uncle Ping, and Kwai Fa who become her friend. There was Lung and his paranoïd father who's been living in the past of his defeat against Wong Sifu 20 years ago.
There's also Wong son Hong Yip, who's an honest journalist that wish nothing more than to reveal the corruption of the high-ranking, especially the evil deeds of the mayor or I don't even know which position he occupy. And the right-hand man of the guy who's start to have enough of his boss egocentrism and neverending thirst for power...
All these people are more or less involved together with their life intertwined. There was almost no idle time, I even whished for longer episodes so that it could have been even more thrilling.

It was supposed to be martial arts genre, but the more you advanced in the episodes, the less fightings you'll see, because seeing Lung participating in these underground fights was not entertaining at all, it was just rough violence with throwing your fists everywhere. I would count 2 to 4 magnificent fights scenes and no more.
The second character I like the least was Lung's Father, Lui Gong. He gave me headache switching from bad to good, and he was also kind of dumb and excessively stubborn even when knowing he was wrong. Always wanting to relive the glorious days of his youth life, that had been wrongly stolen from him... Pfff!!
My number one hated character was Sam Sui, the way his personality goes from an about-turn with ridiculous reasons hidden behind his beahaviour are ludicrous.
My favourite character was Wong Sifu of course, how can you not like the guy, he's humble and despite his age he has the skills and agility that make many envious. His fights scenes were epic, despite being few.

It's a waste how the ten last episodes derive from the original plot, it's like it wasn't even the same drama, with useless fillers that were adding nothing and a tournament I couldn't care less about. And why did they have to kill all these interesting characters like if it was no big deal at all, shame on them. In the end, the title "Nui Kuen" is deceptive too because no real women fight was involved. I was so waiting for Kwai Lan to beat the crap of some big mouth, but it didn't happen like I wish it woud.

Now the music, my goodness!! When I first hear the opening song by Chan Git Líng "Dou Choeng Bat Jap", I thought it was really suiting the drama and that they couldn't have choosen best. I never thought that I would come to like this song that much, so it's a good surprise. The second ending song "Huí Jiàn" by Liú Xuán appears aroud episode 10 and whaouuh, I immediately fell in love with the simple melody that sounds melancholic and is perfect to close an episode.
It's not that often that I like songs in dramas, cause most of the time they are awful to hear, but not here for a change.

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I only watched it because of the martial arts genre, otherwise I wouldn't even have bothered. I wasn't expecting much and frankly speaking there wasn't really any plot, but the fights were some of the best I've come to see in such movies starring women. I think that Shihomi Etsuko is clearly one of the best woman fighter I've yet come to see. I even dare to say that I prefer her skills better than Mao Angela-Ying. Indeed Shihomi-san attacks were remarkably quick, powerful and flawless that when she was fighting I wasn't even thinking it was fake, nor that they had to adjust her scenes with the men opponents because she was a woman, on the contrary. I even put some of her scenes in slow motions in order to better capture her superbe techniques.

I must say that japanese fictions have my respect, because for a movie produced in the 70s, it show a certain amount of equality, with women training with men first. And second, we don't only see 1 woman but 3 women fighting, even if the others two were supporting roles. And last, but certainly not least, you also see other women battlers in some scenes. This movie almost made my day!! In other martial art fictions of that decade, you'll rarely see more that one woman fighting and be glad that there's even one. Writing like that, I sound like a real feminist, that's funny...

I also loved how rough she become when kicking butts, while looking so harmless and charming the rest of the time, that was a nice contrast. What I also like is that you see her sweating during the movie, which made the battles even more believable, whereas in other fictions even when the woman fight, her make-up and hairstyle remain almost flawless, that it's just ridiculous...
Now for Shiba Shin'ichi, it was my first time seeing him and I was thinking that he and our héroïne were forming a dynamic duo!! The man was truly amazing, he only has a minor role but his fights were spectacular. It's like the woman protagonist was the woman version of him in fighting skills.

Now the bad parts were some two scenes where you see women showing their breasts. Scantily dressed dolls are already bad enough for me, they don't need to push it further... Another scene where a girl is raped in front of... I won't spoiled who and of course they had to rip her shirt. Like it was the trend back in the day, to viciously tear the clothes and have the girl be raped by a group of wild beasts. I obviously fast forward that useless part, we all know how shameless and awful a rape is, no need to show us such nastiness.
And lastly, I didn't like how the fights tear the end became more and more like butchery killing, with blood spilling eveywhere like a mad leaky faucet and organs showing, it escalated to the bad side of gore for the faint-hearted me...
So as much as I enjoyed the fights, I wouldn't want to watch it again because of the bad parts.

To finish, I wonder what the heck they did choose such a wallpaper to advertise the movie!? Our protagonist wear trousers all through the movie, so she never shows her legs. But I notice that no matter the era, a woman who fights has to be represented sensual or sexy to balance, it is!? That's why I applaud chinese or HK actions movies starring women, because they tend to do it very little.

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Never ever have I rated a drama so high no matter what. My review is a little skewed cause when it comes to lawyers, prosecutors and business drama in general, it often manages to please me.
I put a high note because I was able to finish it all without skipping a single episode, there were even times I had to stop watching and go back to my real life, which include go to work!!
I litteraly devoured this serie in a week or less, and despite being 25 episodes, I was pleased with all of them which is quite rare. I find the drama satisfying from beginning to end.
What really made me love this drama, is that even small characters get their own little story and despite the priority focus in court cases, we see them outside trying to balance work with view in their personal life. It vaguely reminded me "Avocats & Associés" (aired on France Télévision from 1998 to 2010). So it was not really like Law & Order (which I also appreciate) where you know close to nothing about the characters personal life or feeling outside their jobs. So it made it even more human I would say.

It's really hard to write a review, cause there's so much I want to say. Anyway, each case last two to three episodes which allow to build tension, suspense and rise questions about one's guiltiness or not, with the final verdict not always revealing the sole truth. Indeed, the truth can be way more tricky than it appears to be. The first case was definitely the hardest to watch, cause the victim was a hell of a nasty man, the guy was so loathsome that it was beyond tolerable, he was wilder than the wildest animal and so heinous for no reason at all.

I start to feel more entertained by HK dramas than before since I began asian series in 2011, and I never thought that this day would come, but hey only fools never change their mind. I'm so in love with cantonese speech, especially their "Weeyy", that reminds me of my african compatriot at times...
I didn't watch that many HK series, but I have to applaude them for using europeans and other faces from west asia, it add versatility especially when the people they choose aren't use to discriminate on the contrary. Best example was the episode with the man born in HK with indian roots. Stereotypes are worlwide and people often stop at appearance to assume or make wrong judgements.

When I saw Lok Man/Alex, I was fearing for the worst since I hated him in Nui Kuen (Grace under fire). Thank goodness, his character was better in here, can't say more otherwise it'd a be spoiler.
Si Kit/Keith, my gosh this guy can act, he was the real boss there with his office partner Tsi Yan/Mavis, they were carrying the show like real pros. I also like Man Hon/James, he was more reliable and competent than he appears to be, he was just so nervous like a newbie that plaintiffs were doubting his ability and capacity. And Siu Him/Wallace, how I adore him in Nui Kuen (Grace under fire), I also love him in this drama. He showed that he's able to play totally different characters and still remain credible in both roles. Hau Yu/Cecilia, there's not much to say about her, I found her average. Last, but not least the woman inspector Miu Yee, that lady have all my respect, she could fight back like nobody and she wasn't even afraid when surrounded by three man. I knew who she would end with, their moment together were so cute and hilarious, they were already addicted one to another before realizing it.

The opening song which is also the ending song, even if I didn't quite like it to start, I really loved the music and that made me enjoy the song more in the end. It was a good choice, but it's a pity that there weren't other songs or real music during all the drama.

It's clear that I'll rewatch it someday, that's a definite yes!!

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