Zíza

I kept thinking: "Why is she so mad? Why is she acting like that?"; now I get it. It's just that even though it's a beautiful human thing, it's mostly based on the piano, the music. I noticed – rather accidentally – who plays better, but I don't know why. I don't know in what. People who understand music, who have an ear for music, will enjoy this film more. I’m lacking both. But I liked the naturalness with which the film came across. Everyone has to appreciate that. Make an afternoon of it! Watch this movie – I mean that in a good way.

At the beginning, for the first six episodes or so, I was thinking how interesting the series was, suspenseful, the characters somewhat interesting, and the main character not particularly annoying. But that passed. Very soon. It was no longer a series where you needed to see the next episode, it was no longer a series where everyone was interesting, because they weren't going anywhere, nor was the main character. Throw in the same flashbacks over and over again and the series was killed. I even feel like it would have been more interesting without the main character. However, I don't think it's the actress's fault, but the script. It just killed it. The clichés that were all the rage a decade ago are flying here, they don't even have an interesting and modern denouement. Plus, it dragged. We basically knew everything in the first half of the show, but it had to be stretched out more and it became a terrible bore. I'm kind of surprised I finished watching it, but the truth is I was usually doing something in the meantime and, go figure, I didn't miss anything, I caught up every time. A series killed by bad scripting and editing. The only positive thing about it was that the actors made quite an effort, even though they didn't have much space to do so, as well as the classical music. But otherwise? A well-paced waste of time.

Basically a fairly hilarious slice of life tale that I devoured in one afternoon. This tale is also accompanied by a very good cast, so that alone makes it worth a watch. It's not too long; the ending may be a bit rushed, but what the heck, the flow was fine. Fine if you're in the mood for an unpretentious slice-of-life series with romance here and there, friendship, and a glimpse into the lives of single Japanese guys who aren't living their worst lives. An improved 3 stars.

I was curious about it, but in the end it didn't really appeal to me. Suda Masaki and Kiritani Mirei were great, but somehow I felt like Ohno Satoshi didn't put much into it. The stories tried to play to the viewer's sensibilities, and once you get sucked in, you can't claw your way out. The stories were mostly pretty two-dimensional, with some more interesting ones here and there – like the one where they’re locked in a hotel room and one of them has to die. I guess if you approach it as a morality tale for children, meant to show the quality of people's character and teach them a lesson, it's fine. A better 2 stars.

You’ve got a big decision ahead of you, because in terms of entertainment value, they're completely on the same level. I can give you a bit of a tip, though – this show is exactly the same as Asukō March!, except with more girls, more fights, and a shorter running time. So which one should you watch? All things being equal, this show offers the same amount of fun – almost none. But if you turn it off, you won't have a lot to ask... so you'll probably get to meet Japan's new acting stars. At least as far as the "leaders" go. Nice to meet you.

But yeah I was entertained, but yeah the story made sense, the dialogues too. Maybe a cliché here and there, but what the hell, it's good, it's just that the "awesome" ending buried it all... So the manga is still coming out, so it's possible that if a sequel came out, I'd raise my rating. Check it out, why not, but if you're wondering what's next, you'll have to open the manga at about that 67th episode or so. A better 3 stars and I’m praying for a sequel. A year after 1st viewing: I have to add that I've seen some episodes like 5 times because I really enjoy them, some parts (like when Kyoko hurts her leg and plays) are just great. And when you watch it with more people (after you've already seen it), it's even more fun (Sho's "sashiburi" in the first episode is just "our catchphrase" – guaranteed smile :D). So even though it's a shōjo, it’s entertaining and doesn’t make you shake your head at the heroine's dumbness (not that Kyoko isn't dumb at times, but she's not like other shōjo heroines who drive me nuts with their stupidity ;-)). A relaxing anime. And I read the manga, some parts of it several times too :-D So I raised my rating to 4 ;-)

It's been a while since I've seen the series, but I know one thing, every episode left a strong emotion in me. I haven't seen the movie, I'm not comparing. But I'm a little curious how it ran there. Faster? Here it was a beautiful smooth walk to its destination, which was obvious, yet I couldn't avoid tears, especially knowing it was based on a true story. It was really touching :-)

Even though it's been over a year and change since I saw the dorama, I've been subconsciously comparing and consciously have to admit that I liked it a bit more. I don't understand why I like a story like this stretched out into six episodes more than a two-hour movie. I simply liked the performances of the leads and Michi's dad more in the dorama. In general, I found everyone more likable in the dorama. Just like the dorama did, the film moves you. This story just does it too well. Even the ending of dorama I liked better. The other thing is that even though it's a movie, it took up a bigger span of time in their lives, and I didn't much care for that. On the other hand, here I liked their beginnings more – the phone calls (in the dorama it was more "action" like). And please, could someone explain to me why I found myself singing at the end: "It's a mystery to me, that even when life delivers blow after blow, I'm still an Optimist. An optimist who's not doing well right now."? Thanks, I'd really like to know...

You know they are guilty, and the right thing to do would be to trust the system – they need to go to jail for the crime they committed. But the system has failed. So many times. That's why you want the priest to lie, perhaps you want it with all your heart. And then it comes. The three ticket stubs. The farewell party. Such beautiful, intuitive, guileless cheerfulness. Don’t fall for it. As soon as the credits roll you will learn that two of them will never make it to 30. And you find out that the injustice and mistakes never end. That's why 5 stars. It's over two hours long and I still feel like not even twenty minutes have passed since I put it on. Yeah, today was made for this movie.

If only all comedies were like this... The world would be a better place... A.k.a. long live pigeons, incredible poodles, and an exercise book splattered with bread. This is not bad, if only the ending wasn't so typically typical... ;-))) I mean: "Give me your hand. Now take mine" :-D (why does it only revolve around weddings, loves? – not that I don't wish it on him, Truffaldino's one intelligent fool...). Just a great and intelligent production.