Reviews

I've just finished watching the final episode and am greatly moved so I will make use of the moment to write a review while the impression is still strong.

Kazoku Game (Family Game) as the title suggests is a family drama.
It's a genre I believe Japan is very good at, even more than Korean dramas, well at least in my own opinion.
Japanese dramas depicting family matters, are of course fiction, but you can say at the same time they are non-fiction. Meaning to say they express real social issues and problems that only the Japanese family suffers from, and at that it does it with absolutely no refrains. The Japanese society is one that has many major issues more than the quick eye can see, issues the real size of which can be so big even family dramas that discuss them can not accurately express.

Back to our drama, Kazoku Game:
Story: I find most dramas and movies that are based on popular novels/comics to have a comparatively firm story than other ones with original stories, it's a not a rule though and there are exceptions. In case of Kazoku Game, and owing to the fact that it's not the first drama adaptation of the famous bestseller, this drama had a lot to show to appeal to viewers who have previously watched the previous adaptations or read the novel. The story is a very interesting and juicy one, full of question marks that make you constantly go through the circle of guessing >> doubting what you guessed >> finally reaching what at first you'd think is the truth only to create doubt inside of you once more.

The Acting: the Actors did a very good job expressing their roles, and let me tell you how most of the characters in this story can be considered psychologically unstable, with warped personalities and unbalanced thinking, so it's not by any means an easy job. I found Sakurai Sho particularly to have done a marvelous job in this one, especially if compared to his previous roles, we can say he has definitely matured as an actor. In a drama with long scenes with no or almost no lines, the facial expressions were they key, and I found all of the cast to have done a fairly good job at that field, especially the mother.

The Music: the BGM was definitely impressive, you can't help but notice it, it played a role in putting the viewer in a certain emotional state where mixed feelings of doubt, vexation, despair, grief all with the help of the direction of the scenes and montage accumulated inside of you, especially the abrupt cutting of the scenes, and the long segments of silence, the silent quick scenes of flashbacks...The directing in a whole made me feel like I MYSELF was starting to become emotionally unstable like the characters :D

Review value: I gave it a ten because while I was watching I constantly felt like rewatching it, but owing to the fact it is a story with a mystery and many questions that are only revealed near the end, watching it a second time definitely won't have the same glamour like that of the first watch.

This a drama, that I can recommend to anyone, especially Japanese drama fans, who want to watch a serious drama for a change, won't recommend to fans who only prefer romance/comedy dramas since this one has nearly none of both aspects.
If you enjoyed dramas like "Kaseifu no Mita" or "Freeter Ie wo Kau", please do give this one a try, you will definitely love it!

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I don't usually do reviews, but this drama is too daebak too miss. I don't know why I put it on hold for so long.

The storyline is superb, but I won't be rewatching it (not for now). If you're watching it for the first time, it is really amazing. Unlike those other dramas where you can guess where the story is going after a few episodes, this one blew me, each of the episodes. Trust me, I am not the type of person whom is watching dramas without multitasking. But Faith really kept me glued on the screen, the first ever drama to did that to me.

And the great acting! You feel every emotion, they just did that with their eyes. The last part scene was extraordinary. It will come to you naturally why this drama was named 'Faith'. I watch the last 10 minutes for the tenth time and still shed tears.


I regret for not watching it earlier.

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At first i was definitely not interested in watching this drama because there's a total of 60 episodes but i was quite interested in the synopsis of the story. i feel that this drama seems a bit outdated but that is also better because there is no episode waiting. Some scenes were extremely funny and some were extremely sad where you have to force yourself to not cry because your eyes maybe popping out! Every episode was interesting/intriguing. but as you go on towards the ending your patience and curiosity might make you skim through some scenes. Overall i feel that this drama was extremely amazing compared to the present popular dramas i have watched.

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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!"

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I originally watched this because Kanata Hongo (Gantz) was in it. I thought that he was wonderful in Gantz/Prince of Tennis and wanted to see more of him. I had heard of this drama before but as I didn’t know anyone in it it was not high on my priority list. However, after watching it I am so glad that I did. The relationship between the four brothers is lovely and chaotic. The way they protect the youngest, Hinata, is really sweet- even if at times not necessary.
This show also stars Daito Shunsuke and Yamamoto Yusuke as minor roles but they light up every scene there in. They play well off the rest of the cast and though they don’t have scenes together its great to see them in the same drama.
The storyline is amusing and has twists (though not too surprising). The ending was lovely and leaves the watcher smiling...It's a feel-good drama with comedy and a dash of romance which doesn't try to take over the storyline.

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Firstly, I really love the story and the ideas put forth by the drama - time travel, whether one man or woman can change the whole course of history, the merits of ancient times and lack of technology as opposed to the merits of the modern world and our abundance, etc.

Initially, I was sceptical of the Kim Hee Sun-Lee Min Ho pairing - among the usual concerns are the age gap - but it grew on me and I like the mature way the romance was played out, probably helped by the writing (no unnecessary noble idiocy and a very forthright couple in this show). Thankfully the show isn't just driven by the KHS-LMH romance, but also by other relationships, which I particularly liked - the relationship between the king and queen, between the king and LMH's character, and the camaraderie & brotherhood amongst the Woodalchi.

There are moments of comedy in this show - the transition KHS's character makes from 2012 Seoul to 14th century Goryeo, and all the modern language and habits she brings with her. At times the villains are hilarious.

Several scenes were poorly executed - weird transitions from scene to scene, music not being used properly to add to the mood of a scene, not enough grandeur given to action scenes etc.

I felt that the story was only adequate for a 20 or 22 episode long drama - 24 episodes felt way too long and I gradually got bored towards the end because several conflicts and threats by the villains were recycled and I was just pleading with them to act on their threats so I could see some plot movement happening. Thankfully the ending was good, but it sure took the drama WAY too long to reach that point.

This had the potential to be a great show, but unfortunately it is just a good show.

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Hmmm... I honestly don't know how to start on my review XD

Good Points: 1) A very unique drama. Usually in these plots with chaebol sons and illegal doings it would seem like a melodrama. I love how everything was funny instead though! Once you get to like episode 14 there is a slight turn to where you actually worry but it turns funny again :)

2)In alot of dramas the second leads stories are boring. But i loved ice cream and miss wrestler in this, sometime more than the main leads!

3) The main leads a kick ass with a bad ass past! And I'm talking about the woman! Its nice seeing someone who's not a damsel in distress in a Korean drama for once!

Bad Points: 1) I have to admit, I was bored in alot of parts. I don't know what it was but i just felt like they should just get to the point on some things.

2) This could've been a 16 episode drama. I mean, i think if they did that, it wouldn't have bad point number one (and I'd give this a 10!) But still, any drama addict should have this on their list!

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To be a detective who not only solves cases but helps the victims and their families move on. This sums up the philosophy of the main character, Kaga, a new detective (shinzanmono) in the police department of a fictitious town.

Like most mystery story leads, Kaga is a genius who solves all mysteries that comes him way. However, what makes this drama unconventional is how each mystery and its characters are interwoven together to the main plot and how they all tie together into one long emotional journey that tugs at your heart. I enjoyed watching each episode for not only solving the mystery but also its believable characters who all have their own realistic reasons for their actions.

Another aspect I liked was how the drama plays with the setting which is something I rarely ever see in mystery dramas. Each mystery/episode was like a small trip down one of the streets of this fictitious town. Toward the last episode, I felt have explored the whole town with Kaga learning about the ordinary yet moving lives of its inhabitants living on each street.

While you don't learn much about the backstory of Kaga, I feel this doesn't take away from how great this drama was. This drama injects its own brand of quirkiness and creativity in its unique way of storytelling that is so different from the mystery dramas we are used to seeing today.

Overall, I would highly recommend this drama to anyone who is getting tired of watching mystery dramas with essentially the same set up and is looking to try something new.

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Shirato is really funny! Yudai Chiba is really cute acting, being a character I love even when is troubled. In other words, we like to see him suffering a bit... =^^= It's nice to see how he improves while the story goes on, it's pretty funny to see "Delusional Detective Osamu-chan" part in every episode: and I'm not talking just because of the "Thieving Bunny"! The show follow a routine sometimes, which is easily to figure out. But it's not boring at all. Not only because of the comedy... Somehow we can sympathize with Shirato. The entire show can be a little silly, but you'll love it quickly. The end is pretty amazing and closes the story in a really good way. We could even have a second season with the same routine, added to some new elements. They're good on what they propose: making us laugh.

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FACE MAKER is a great story.

The ability to change your own face sounds pretty surreal, but I thought that was worth a shot. Each episode features a different person, living under different circumstances. Dr. Shun offers them the chance to try again with another life.

Despite having one story for each episode, there's something important that conect all of those people. I can't say what is it since we all hate spoilers, but as far as the chapters go on, perharps you can understand what's covered.

The story may sound a little absurd the whole time, but the show is great when we talk about characters' thinking and behavior. The OST is far ahead the intensity of the story.

After watching it, I can affirm: it's worth to take a shot. According to your point of view, you can extract what the show has to give.

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I don't usually write reviews for dramas and this would be my first; but I just had a few things I wanted to point out to people who are thinking of watching it.
(Sorry it’s pretty long haha)

• This is INTENSE. Hah. I watched it not long after completing "Cheongdamdong Alice" which is a light hearted romantic comedy with the same lead actor (Park Si Hoo) and they couldn't be further far apart and in opposite spectrums! And while intense dramas are usually the genre I opt for and I sincerely wasn't expecting a drama so masterfully written that would blow out the waters.
• 'Star crossed lovers'/ 'Forbidden love' are these genres that you love to venture into? Well this is right up your street. Although you may be presumptuous into believing you are getting a very typical 'Romeo & Juliet' type story, it has a lot more depth than you could ever imagine. I hope you’ll bear with the slow start of this drama)
• I highly applaud the writer for not taking us down the standard K-drama cliché route. While it's so hard to maintain fresh ideas (with so many dramas around) and avoid the typical rules of K drama land, I am impressed at how the story was carried out with some pretty un-predictable revelations. While it was not faultless I can’t say it applied to everything but it was a pretty damn close to being as far away as possible from being stereotypical.
• Astounding OST I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for a good OST. And boy does this do it for me. Baek Ji Young is definitely the queen of OST’S and this is just an additional one added to her line of hauntingly beautiful soundtracks she has done. Her song ‘Again, today I love you’ will stick with you long after the drama ended, that said all the songs that represent the main characters (Particularly the lovers Seung Yoo and Se Ryung) each have their own songs which literally scream what you can hear blaring from their hearts.
• Wonderful chemistry between the two leads. Usually something that is overlooked, as sometimes while it can be fantastic to put two high profile actors together for a drama however It doesn’t beat two leads who share an amazing on screen chemistry. While I don’t mean the fire work/sparks flying of the screen type, but the type, where you genuinely believe that these are two people in love. (I’d say their phenomenal acting has a lot to do with this) But you can feel/breathe each characters feelings and when they are happy, you’re joyful but when their heart’s break, so does yours.
• It’s not perfect. No not nit-picking, I absolutely loved this drama, and while nothing is perfect and I have so much praise for it. I want to point out that it does have its flaws; some parts of the drama can feel slightly dragged out, and you may feel at times you don’t get indulged enough into seeing enough of the romance side and on some occasions in episodes there wasn’t enough screen time for the romance aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love the side stories and the political side was a great element of the story line as well as portraying why the two leads are the way they are; but at times I thought there was too much emphasis on the side stories and lack of concentration on the main protagonists. I think the long wait for these precious moments we all wait for did make it all so much sweeter when we finally got them and powerful scenes between Se-Ryung and Seung-Yoo were nothing short of spectacular.

Some moments I think I needed a fan/ Park Si Hoo sizzles and Moon Chae Won is unbelievably charming I am almost convinced this was not a drama and it all happened it real life.
I do hope you enjoy this hauntingly beautiful drama as much as I did, my heart gets a gut wrenching feeling when I hear the OST and although this is not my favourite drama nor will I be re watching it for a while (Too.Intense.man) need too cool off. Phew! I would watch it for just for the Seung Yoo/Se Ryung Moments (I do love this couple)
It’s not just another tragic love story drama, It’s set in a context where you can understand why the two leads would fall in love (‘stead of telling you that they had because it’s part of the plot), the development in each character is something you will see blossom and grow as you see how people lived/ and their values were at the time. It will make you reflect on what’s important and how it was never easy to live the way they wanted to back then as the complications of blood ties and where betraying your father was treason.

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First off, I'd like to just say that the summary does not do this drama justice. This isn't simply a cliché mystery drama the likes of all the rest. While the pacing is drawn out for the short 9 episodes, I never once felt like it was too slow or boring in any way.

Story:

I give the story a solid 8.5 or 9. It wasn't overly complex or mindblowing, however the writing was wonderful and full of emotion that most dramas neglect or don't bring out. I believe that the main focus in this show was to delve into the more psychological and highlight the relationships between people, and while yes there is some mystery, it wasn't very difficult to figure anything out. More important than solving the mystery was understanding why or what brought the people to this point. Especially important was the relationship between Sakaki and Torii--a friendship so beautiful I felt myself moved on several occasions, something very rare for me.

Acting:

The acting, in my opinion, was rather well done. While I've seen Inoue Masahiro before and therefore had a good idea of what to expect, I'd not had the experience of watching Akutsu Shintaro act before. I can definitely say I was impressed by how he portrayed Torii. The awkward movements, the interactions with Sakaki VS. everyone else, and his general appearance were all very believable and made me want to see even more from him.

Music:

It's difficult to say how good the music was based on the quality alone. However, it absolutely served its purpose. During the narrative scenes, it really increased the impact of the words and made me feel more strongly what was being said or spoken about. Instead of getting lost in the background or distracting from the beautiful script, it enhanced it. I really enjoyed it.

Rewatch:

Maybe in future I will rewatch this, though I don't think the impact will be as strong the second time around. However, simply to see Sakaki and Torii together again, I think I would definitely come back to this someday.


Overall I highly recommend this to most viewers. If you are a big mystery buff, I don't think this will be the best drama for you (the mysteries themselves aren't all that complex), but if you want to watch something quick and simple that isn't about all the usual drama tropes with a decent psychological theme, I would highly encourage all to give it a try.

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