Zíza

It's clear how it's going to turn out pretty much from the first steps towards the village, because these movies can't possibly turn out any other way in Korea, so nothing happened that I didn't expect. Once the soldiers reach the village, the film becomes as carefree as the village itself. The film treats the soldiers like villagers themselves – it doesn't judge them, it doesn't say which side is better, it just accepts them. I found that pretty appealing. Towards the end, it reminded me of The Magnificent Seven. You laugh with the film, remembering scenes with wild boars you’ve seen elsewhere (though none as epic as the one here). Unfortunately, the running time was too long for my taste, so at times my attention wandered and I was overcome with the feeling that I just wanted to see "that" ending already. I had fun, I liked the village, the acting was decent. A weaker 4 stars.

It's all indeed terribly sweet and lovely, the acting, the twists, and all... I liked it, it's just that the ending was so completely "messed up" that unfortunately I can only give it 3 stars. But it's a decent 3 stars and I have no qualms about recommending it for viewing.

An average mystery with vengeance and an interesting cast. Unfortunately, even though it had a good cast, I wasn't all that impressed. I just took it as a nice diversion. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't think it was intended to be anything else. Unfortunately, towards the end, I was getting more and more sick of it; even as nothing more than a nice diversion or distraction, I still wanted to get it over with. It doesn't stand out among other series of this type. You forget it quickly.

A nice relaxing affair where the main character is a lovely little lamb, but not in the sense that you have the urge to slap her every time you see her. Tanihara Shōsuke does that for you in any case. It's a typical Japanese affair, with a comic element mixed in with the drama. The best part of the whole series were Momoko and Otomo's disguises.

An advertisement for all the clichés that can exist in a vampire romance. Nothing interesting, the guys aren't even good looking, the girl is annoying. The only interesting thing is that the vampires live in a painting. But otherwise it's all about nothing.

I've seen all kinds of videos where Won Joo acted like a badass (i.e. he played it great). It wasn't so hot in the end, but he definitely wasn't bad and I'm not surprised he got all kinds of awards for his performance. If the show had focused less on the love troubles (and politicking) and more on the medical issues, I would have been a lot happier. And if it had been a bit shorter; the ending was slightly over the line. There are positives, though: like the development of the main character (although that also really slowed down towards the end, if not stopped) and the handling of so many supporting characters. I really felt like they had a life of their own and weren't just figurines (well, except for the two little sisters). The wounds looked very real. Even those kids didn't annoy me. All in all an enjoyable show, and I liked it best when the kids injured in the car crash came in. I just love the action in the hospital when they have to quickly treat a lot of people at once. Too bad it didn't last a bit longer. I was also pleased with the cameos: Ryu Deok-Hwan in episode 10 (I had seen Faith before this, where he played the king, so I was really excited) and Seo Kang-Joon in episode 12 (he played the lovesick guy in Cunning Single Lady the following year and his indomitable rival was Joo Sang-Uk, also in this).

Dr. Ibuprofen has a big problem, since he doesn't know whether to be a medical drama, a political/spy drama, love from beyond the grave between two "friends" from North Korea, or a revenge drama. Since Ibuprofen can't make up his mind, he can't properly handle even a single on of these, and the show comes across as a genre mash-up despite all efforts to the contrary. Not to mention that I bitterly hated Hoon's love interest. I found her incredibly annoying and I spent every episode wishing she would die. It was basically the same role she had in The Bridal Mask and I didn't like her in that either. Now I don't know if it's the roles or the actress herself that I can’t stand. And the ending was like a mockery of everything that had happened thus far. The filmmakers would have done better to focus more on the operations and less on the dubious love story. It's watchable, of course, but I kind of don't know why I should recommend it. Maybe because of Kang So-ra, I didn't recognize her at all, she's grown up nicely since Dream High 2. :-) A better 2 stars.

Of the three stories, I liked the last one the most and the second one the least, though the first one had its bugs too, so I averaged it all out and came out with a pretty average show about the revolving problems in the schoolroom (and beyond). If you're interested in how education was put back on its feet after WWII, watch the first episode. If you're interested in what all was allowed during the 1980s as the principles of education slowly changed, watch the second episode. If you’re interested in what problems may be occurring today and how the current school system is handling them, watch the third episode. Of course, all the stories are portrayed rather naively, but it certainly conveys some of the more general information. Plus, there are so many stars in it that it's worth it for that alone.

I only started watching this because of Katori Shingo's curls, I had no expectations so it didn't disappoint. On the other hand, it unfortunately had so many things I dislike that I can't rate it any better. It's actually not a bad series, it’s average/here-and-there below average but it's too drawn out; eleven episodes is too much for something like this. And all it does is make you want to eat donuts. The cast is decent, it's a squadron of talented people, but the characters seemed flat to me; even though one of them swears towards the end that at least two people have changed – I didn't think so. I couldn't find anything interesting about this series apart from Katori, the poor guy has just had a bad hand lately and he keeps picking things with no audience, so I'm starting to worry about whether he will continue getting any roles... It was transparent, unnecessary moralizing, the aspect of “goodness" was the same for just about every character. It's a shame, it started out interesting, but after three episodes or so my enthusiasm waned, the resolution wasn't surprising, and overall it all kind of fizzled out. Still, it's watchable, it doesn't offend. I don't think anyone will stretch their brain much with it, but I think it's a good way to fall asleep.

I haven't seen a show this deranged in a long time. I sat there riveted and just stared. Sometimes I had to roll my eyes. Seriously, they all did a great job, but mostly the three guys – Sakurai Shō, Kamiki Ryūnosuke (he hasn't become one of my most frequently watched actors for nothing) and Uragami Seishū. Still, Sakurai Shō reigns supreme. It's pretty much changed my opinion of him and his acting abilities. It can give you chills, it can amuse you, and it can move you all at the same time. And yet it somehow manages to do so without clichés, everything is driven by violence, falsehood, and one nutcase. It's essentially a stark probe into contemporary Japanese society, and a very successful one at that. So much so that it hurts. The scene where all the pretense cracks is absolutely epic. The director reined in the actors and the writer also did a very good job. If you're in the mood for something grittier, but also very human, where one broken devilish man wants to fix the world... give it a try. It's the kind of work that keeps you thinking after you turn it off. A weaker 5 stars. SPOILER (There's also the teacher Tago, wasn't there a glimpse of his former self in the last episode? His last glimpse? Who was actually there all along? Yoshimoto, Tago? Or someone in between? Or both of them, both of them struggling against each other, with evil gaining the upper hand? When you think about it, it almost gives you chills. And that's awfully nice.)