Torments of choice between so-so works again. Would not want to reccomend too short or too long formats, so between two Japanese titles I like Long Love Letter more
1. Toshiie and Matsu [利家とまつ〜加賀百万石物語〜] (Finished 49/49)  Tags: Historical, Drama, Political The 41st NHK Taiga Drama is Toshiie to Matsu. During the turbulent Warring States Era, one man's life and career intertwined with the three great generals of Japanese history-Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. With political savvy and the support of his fiercely loyal wife, Maeda Toshiie rose to second in power in the shogunate and built up a fiefdom that encompassed Echizen, Noto and Kaga. I'm not impressed with the story of yet another peasant who got promoted by Nobunaga and given fief. The beginning is especially slow, so Natsu played by gorgeous Matsushima may be the sole attraction. Not impressed with the ending, either. Since I don't recognize this work as special or must have for watching, can't give it a high score. Fine quality, boring content, only slightly better than Date Matsamune. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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 Tags: Romance Toko (Fukatsu Eri), decides after she turns 30 that she is all but ready to give up on any future career hopes or romance, so she turns to the bottle for comfort. She knows that this isn't the best thing, but can't find the strength right now to do anything except choose the easy way to do things. This causes her to start getting down on herself. Luckily though, she doesn't give up hope completely, and tries to take things as they come. Which proves to help to some degree. Suddenly one day, a guy by the name of Kotaro comes along. Like Toko, Kotaro hasn't had much luck at work either. Even so, this is still the same guy that Toko liked when she was younger. Naturally, Toko is thrilled to see Kotaro after such a long time, but eventually finds out that he is about as insensitive as you can get, and is self-centered to boot. This really gets to Toko. What's worse is that Toko ends up starting a small company with him, even though she had to leave her position at a large company because of trouble they were involved in together. Average and banal as everything seen with Fukatsu Eri so far. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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3. Long Love Letter [ロング・ラブレター〜漂流教室〜] (Finished 6/11)  Tags: Romance, Drama, Sci-Fi Yuka Misaki, whose parents run a flower shop, casually begins dating college student Akio Asami, and later falls for him. But due to some type of accident, the two lose contact with one another. One year after the accident, the two suddenly meet again. Yuka is still working at her father Shigeo's flower shop, and Akio is a teacher at a nearby high school. It's January 7, just right after the New Year begins. Makeup classes are being held for students that aren't keeping up with their daily studies. Taking the classes are the popular Tadashi Otomo, and the leader of the delinquent students, Sho Takamatsu. And giving the lecturers is Noriko Sekiya, a teacher that has taken out all kinds of loans to pay for the popular brand items that she buys. Yuka comes to the school to collect money from Noriko. While at the school, with thoughts of the past in the back of her mind, Yuka and Akio meet and get into a fight. Then all of a sudden, there is a small tremor, and after it subsides. Can spare a decent score only for theme rarity and efforts of Kubozuka Yosuke, but concept is horrible - just another self-governance in isolation experiment with typical unimaginitive moves. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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4. We Are Dating Now [지금은 연애중] (Finished 1/16)  Tags: Romance, Life, Drama Ho Jung is a cute, naive girl who often falls head over heals with the wrong guys. Both Ho Jung and Kyu In, her neighbor, are idealistic about love. They start off on the wrong foot and treats each other as if they were siblings, constantly fighting. Ho Jung's friend Cha Hee has a thing for Kyu In and Ho Jung later realizes that she too has feelings for him. Ho Jae, Ho Jung's brother, is a player, who has good physical features. Things start to get complicated for HonJae when he falls for Ho Jung's friend Soo Ji, who does not have a physical appeal but has a good personality and intelligence. It is seriously challenging... in primitiveness. Not seeing even glimpse of any seriousness - just emotions and reflexes. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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5. Winter Sonata [겨울연가] (Finished 3/20)  Tags: Romance, Drama, Melodrama Joon Sang moves to a new high school in search of his biological father. Yu Jin and Sang Hyuk are close childhood friends, although Sang Hyuk wants to be more than a friend, Yu Jin sees him as a brother. On a trip together with other high school mates, Oh Chelin, Jin Suk and Yong Kuk, Yu Jin is saved after an accident by Joon Sang. They become close and she opens up his cold heart. However, circumstances and fate dictate that their love will never be. He abruptly disappears from their lives. Ten years later, the old High School buddies gather to celebrate Yu Jin and Sang Hyuk's soon-to-be wedding. Yu Jin, who was deeply in love with Joon Sang, still has a fire in her heart for him. But at the party, Oh Chelin's new boyfriend arrives, who appears the same as Joon Sang. Sour melodrama, guess all four works in this cycle aren't great. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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6. Friends [フレンズ] (Finished 4/4)  Tags: Romance, Life, Drama Left alone on a trip to Hong Kong, Tomoko, a sales woman from Japan finds herself the victim of a purse-snatching. The police arrest the man she points out, but it turns out to be the wrong person: a young Korean man named Ji Hoon. Despite his anger and humiliation, he takes her out to dinner since she has lost all her money, and in return, she agrees to model for his amateur film. What follows is a magical and romantic two days. Upon returning to their respective countries, Tomoko must return to her nine-to-five job and Ji Hoon must resume studying to join the family business rather than pursuing his dream of becoming a film director. But soon the two begin to email each other and rekindle their relationship despite the distance and obstacles between them. Marking the very first time in television history that a drama has been co-produced between Japan and South Korea, the story shows us that love has no borders. Cheezy and sterile romance made for Christmas. Sterile because need to not aggravate both nations. Genius Fukada Kyoko did everything to save the day, but even she can't fix such a failure concept. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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7. Glass Slippers [유리구두] (Finished 6/40)  Tags: Romance, Melodrama This drama is about the lives of Tae Hee and Yun Hee, two sisters whose mother died while giving birth to Yun Hee. Their father, who loves them dearly, married their mother without their paternal grandfather's consent, and deprived of any familial support, the sisters and their father struggle to make ends meet even as their father faces a life-threatening illness. This drama follows Tae Hee and Yun Hee into adulthood as, separated by a cruel twist of fate, the girls come to lead very different lives, oblivious of one another. It must have won competition of the most misery filled scenario. I was thinking just a little more and there will be time skip to future... but the misery lasts for like 4 hours... and when time skip finally happens it becomes a pretty typical Korean melodrama, can't really point out something special, maybe slightly better actors play than usual early Kdrama. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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8. Love Scar [烈愛傷痕] (Finished 3/3)  Tags: Romance, Drama Based on the Japanese manga "Ai No Memai Ai No Kizu" (Love Scar) by Ichijo Yukari. Time to meet the family...but what happens when your brother-in-law turns out to be your ex? She met Zi Lin during a trip to Japan with her college friends 4 years ago. Love was unexpected, their age came between them. Giving into love, they remained together until his mother broke them up. She was Zi Lin first love, believing she played him he became a womanizer, taking revenge on all women yet never did she leave his heart. He was going to get her back no matter what. Even if it meant hurting his brother, especially after he found out the truth about his and Gen Sa's split. Zi Lian was heartbroken when he discovered that his brother was the one from her past. Consumed with guilt for causing the, Gen Sha leaves them both but the brothers are waiting for her to return when she is ready... Total disaster. Very vague and directionless work. Overall Rating: 5/10 |
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9. Peach Girl [蜜桃女孩] (Finished 2/13)  Tags: Romance, Youth Xiao Tao is a tall, shy, and athletic, young girl entering college. Things just don't seem to be going right for her. She falls at the beach and sprains her ankle. She unwittingly makes the university's reigning princess, Sha Hui, her enemy. Dong Si, her secret crush, doesn't seem to know of her feelings. But Ah Li, the school's most popular and troublesome playboy, is showering her with attention! This may be too much for Xiao Tao, until happiness suddenly comes her way. She and Dong Si begin dating! Her happiness is short-lived, however, as the calculating Sha Hui is determined to be the number one girl, even if it means destroying Xiao Tao in the process. Meanwhile, standing on the sidelines, is Ah Li, who has made it known that the only girl for him is Xiao Tao. Can Dong Si and Xiao Tao keep their relationship afloat? Will Sha Hui succeed in her devious plans? Or will Xiao Tao realize that Ah Li is really the one for her? It's fine and simple - still a lot better than pretty much all early Kdrama, above expectations for Taiwanese drama for sure, so want to show that in score. Too simple love square for me, though. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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10. Hito ni Yasashiku [人にやさしく] (Finished 3/11)  Tags: Comedy This is a story about 3 men who live together: Zen, Taro and Ken. One morning, they wake up to find out that they are now fathers, which helps them to grow right beneath their own eyes. Although different ages, all three were known as the toughest cats in Harajuku Middle School. Now, the 3 of them live together in a house they call "Peace". It may sound like a nice place to live, but in actuality, it is closer to poverty than you can imagine. But even so, they abide by their motto of "a cheerful, fun, and funky" life. Suddenly, one day, they find a first grader, Akira, on their doorstep. With Akira, they find a letter from his mother that reads, "Please take care of him for a little while." The bad part, which they soon find out, is that Akira isn't like them. He's been raised in a glass house and is "soft" and quiet, unlike the 3 of them, which proves to change their lives as they once knew it. Family comedies are usually good unless have irritating actors. This one is nice, but has nothing surprising or outstanding for me. Overall Rating: 6/10 |
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