Reviews

What Miss Ripley excels at is the build-up. Jang Miri escaping her life in Japan; her desperation palpable in her wild eyes as she tells the Lie; witnessing her descent as she steals (both diplomas and hearts), lies, schemes---the first half of the drama is absolutely gripping. Miri is the perfect anti-heroine, someone whose face you want to claw each time she tears down naive Hee Joo, while at the same time being someone you root for as she forges documents from Tokyo University and faxes them to her employer. The character of Jang Miri is a wonderful study of a delusional sense of entitlement, and Lee Da Hae did a decent job of portraying Miri's vulnerability and ambition (even if Da Hae tends to act by opening her eyes wide, gasping, and shuddering for every. single. emotion.).



Unfortunately, I felt that as Miri's tower of lies began to falter, so did the intensity of the show. (Perhaps the story was water-downed by Miri's incessant tears?) Characters who were posed to be major threats to Miri during the first half of the show suddenly became utterly ineffectual; no doubt in my mind this is attributed to the story's emphasis on romance toward the latter half. Supposedly, it's love that will redeem Miri in the end, but I found this to be unconvincing, sappy, and a bit incongruent for a show that began with such a dark tone. However, I can't deny the power of love in this drama---it compelled nearly every male character to run with hammer and nails in hand in order to nail themselves to Miri's cross on her behalf. Scratch that: I can't deny the power of a pretty face in this drama.



A special note has to be made of the music here. Which was AWFUL. Violins of Doom; Piano of Remorse; overuse of the opera Carmen (it wasn't particularly clever the first time); funeral march played during an engagement announcement (and many other...unique...music cues); music volume overpowering the drama. This was an almost constant distraction and source of much laughter.



Give Miss Ripley a try. If you make it through the absurd coincidences and soundtrack that mars the first two/three episodes, you'll find yourself ensnared by the labyrinthine psychology of Jang Miri, cheering for her, jeering her, distrusting her, pitying her. However, be prepared for the roar to end on a whimper.

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This drama is not your typical K drama. Each episode is devoted to making you laugh till you cry. Other than that, it doesn\''\''t offer much of anything. Yes there is a romance, but it is slowly (i mean slowly) weaved through the episodes. This is why after watching 10 episodes I decided to skip to the end. The last episode was amazing. Many things happen finally. It was exciting, funny, and also heartbreaking. But I mean to have to get through 19 episodes before the plot becomes relevant is torture to the audience. Oh yeah, the murder mystery is interesting, but I think even that is slowly weaved. This drama is for people who don\''\''t mind comedies that become repetitive. If you do end up watching, Id recommend watching maybe 2 eps a day definitely do not marathon cause you will get bored and probably feel like dropping. Shout out to the cast though cause they all filled their wacky but lovable roles perfectly!

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When there are two version of one great story a comparison can't be left out. I read the manga before watching both dramas. I loved both versions while they were going on and hated both their endings (even tough the manga ending wasnt very satisfying either)

What I really liked about the taiwan version was how they portrayed the relationship between the two main characters. You can really feel the love growing between them, the emotional struggles they go through to protect each other and what they have and all that in a still comical way. Yes, the japanese version is funny. No, wait. Hilarious. a lot more even than this version here but I feel that they kinda forgot about the romantic parts and chemistry and I am glad I found them in this version. The best of two worlds, or something like that... ^.^



As for the acting/cast. They were pretty all good, even the female lead, even tough I took me a while to get used to her. (But at least she looked like a boy =) ) the looks and chemistry were also pretty good (I especially thought the male lead was hot... ^.^)



The music was pretty catchy and earned me weird looks of my family while trying to sing the tunes at the dinner table. ^.^

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Hana Kimi Taiwan... Once someone say this title over to me, I feel like laughing. Reason is Ella And Jiro in one drama?! Two hilarious persons with great sense of humor makes a good combination. The one Lacking is the "Cliffhanger" ending. Like the students ignoring the issue... Kinda crazy.And Until now, I remember their quotes.





I liked this drama not because of I am a HUGE fan of Chun And Ella. It was because of their production. Hilarious, Then serious then back to hilarious afterwards. I watched this drama in two languages and yes, It never fails to make me laugh.





(please as respect for them, DON'T ever say mean words to them... Ella and the others might look bad for you people but please Don't be too mean.)





I Didn't compare this to the Japanese Version. As Much As I would like to Say Horikita's acting was bad, I didn't do it because it would hurt others.





I also found this version better than Japan it twists. But am waiting for Korea. I still want to know.





I admit that it wasn't that good in the ending part. It still needs a sequel.





Anyways, It's good and Hilarious. Gave me a lot of inspiration. So I think this drama deserves a 9.

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Forget what you know about old manga's/anime's being made into movies. We all know that nothing is quite as good, but this movie breaks the status quo. This movie is quickly paced, an 'easy watch' so to say, has sort of a "dark humor" vibe to it, but is definitely brain food. Leaves you questioning most of the time, and when you think you've got it figured out... I'll leave it to you. Another Gantz sums the end up better for viewers, but leaves out some of the most crucial parts of the story line. I suggest you watch this version of Gantz, then just watch the last 11 minutes of Another Gantz. Besides, Anything with Kazunari Ninomiya is worth your while.

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Unlike the previous reviewer, I didn't expect anything from this film. I didn't know anything about it. I disclose this because it may have influenced how I experienced the unfolding of the plot.





I enjoyed the story. It's a combination Liar Game (Japanese drama) and 1984 (George Orwell). A secret world unfolds as a people are pitted against one another. I didn't find the the story to be predictable, but there was a slow part in the middle that made me want to fast-forward.





Generally, the main actors all over acted with the exception of Yuki Amami. Lots of screaming, crying, banging of fists, etc. This was the major downfall of the film in my opinion. I debated giving it a 4 or 5. However, I decided on 5 because the overacting did not inhibit my ability to enjoy the film, and I generally think that Japanese actors tend to overact.





The music was nice. It fit the feel of the movie. There were definitely some songs I will look up.





Overall, it's an enjoyable movie, but not a "must see before you die" film. People who liked Liar Game or The Quiz Show will probably like this movie.

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Ok I like Kat-Tun so I thought why not watch Jin in a drama? I am glad I did because I certainly wasn't disappointed. Yukan Club is about a bunch of rich kids who like to solve crimes instead of going to class. Each one of them has a special talent or specialty that helps in solving the mysteries or problems of others. This is a feel good comedy with light romance and light mystery. The characters learn something new each episode but its nothing that is life -changing. Yukan Club isn't a drama that will make you watch it as a marathon, but is a good drama to watch after a drama with really heavy adult themes. Generally you can tell that everything is going to go well for the characters so it doesn't have much suspense, you can almost always tell how its going to end. As a light comedy its fun to watch and it doesn't take itself too seriously either.

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This drama is so under-rated, it's not even funny. I LOVE this drama! The actors do a fantastic job! Everything just feels so real. The romance is bitter-sweet and filled with innocence (hence the title.) I loved the song by Hikaru Utada "Eternally". It goes well with the drama. I also love the fact that the main girl is Christain. Not many Japanese are Christain, so it's nice to see it in dramas. This drama will make you cry, smile, laugh, and sad all at the same time. It is so simple yet so sweet. The two must overcome serious obsticles to be with each other, so much so that it would tear anyone apart. When this was airing, I would rewatch episodes while I waited for the next one to come out. The only thing I really didn't like was the end. I thought it was a bit off, but that's just me. I was still satisfied with it though. I would recommend this drama to anyone. Watch this!

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Yay! Another great Sakurai Sho drama. At first I thought since I had not seen the first "The Quiz Show," that I would be left behind. But there is no need to watch the first one. (Though I do believe there are some appearances by the first cast that would make more sense if you saw the first, but it does not affect the story.) Though it may seem like it's the same episode over and over, I feel that as the show went on, it became more interesting. Each character was different but each played an important role in the continuation of the story behind The Quiz Show. Sakurai and Yu did a great job with their acting! They never fail to impress me. And of course, the ending song was sung by Arashi, though I think it didnt really fit the drama til the end of the series. I'm not sure whether I would ever rewatch this, maybe just the last episode. There is no romance, but it would be rather weird if this drama did have it. If you like mystery and suspense, then I would recommend this drama.

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The thing about this drama, is that it had so much potential to be great, and didn't live up to it at all. The actors/actresses were great. Chemistry, talent, looks...it was all there, but the writing dragged it down too far to be redeemable. I was so excited for this show in the beginning, because I couldn't get over how. darn. cute. the leads were, and that holds true, they are adorable, but it wasn't enough to watch the whole 16 episodes on. I enjoyed the chemistry between the 3 leads, and I hope that one day someone else will write something worthy of their skills and they can have a 2nd chance to be adorable together on screen and actually successfully give us something really good to watch. There were some moments I really enjoyed still, and on the whole I think the reason why I consider this disappointing and give it a lower score is mostly because of what could have been.

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I feel like I'm being lenient with my rating because with only watching two episodes I'm already disappointed, I was cringing while watching it. Of course the story is amazing, but everything else is just..bleh. I've seen the original Japanese one and I absolutely loved it, but this remake is just... T_T *facepalm* smh. It's not even really a remake..it's practically the same, even the set is the same. Also, NO ONE can replace Ikuta Toma (played Nakatsu in the original Japanese Hana Kimi) and the girl playing Mizuki (Maeda Atsuko) just really annoys me for some reason, she has such a high pitch voice. *Sigh* If you haven't seen the original Japanese version then you'll probably think this remake is okay. As for me, since I have seen the original I can't help but compare the acting and stuff. But the one thing I do like is the ending song which is "Flying Get" (フライングゲット) by AKB48 and I don't even like J-pop.

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Well, Ha Ji Won is what drew me to watching this film and, uh, not one of her finer moments. She's definitely grown a lot in her acting skills over the years.



The story is ordinary and dull. The flow is awkward. The romance...I'm still not sure why either fell in love with the other since both characters were quite obnoxious. Maybe they deserved each other? For a 90 minute rom-com, I didn't expect much beyond some light entertainment. But I didn't get much enjoyment out of it. This movie seemed to be haphazardly thrown together and shoved out the door to make a few quick bucks.



I gave it a 4 because it's not completely horrid (the elevator scene even approached being hilarious) and it IS "watchable". Barely.

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