There are some pacing issues in the beginning and middle of this show, but Maggie Gyllenhaal puts in such a stunning performance, you'll be willing to ignore it. Lubna Azabal is also incredible in this. Good spy thriller for those interested in learning about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
This is a great adaptation of Taiwan's In Time with You. The two leads - Rika Adachi and Jin Shirasu - have great chemistry together, and they're also talented in acting some of the more nuanced scenes between the two best friend characters, but this Japanese series lacks the magic that Taiwanese director Yu Ningchu brought to the original Taiwanese series that made the show a truly unforgettable small-screen experience.
It's been a while since I've seen the original Taiwanese series, but from what I can recall in comparison, this adaptation drags out the ex-boyfriend subplot far longer than the original show. He takes up 8 episodes of the full 16 episode series, whereas in the Taiwanese version, he is a less prominent character and the focus is shifted to Li Daren instead. By stretching out this subplot, I think it took away some of the sentiment the audience feels for the best friend relationship that's supposed to be in the spotlight instead.
I'm a bit disappointed that this show didn't meet up to my expectations as a ~perfect~ drama adaptation of In Time with You, but I also realize that the original Taiwanese version had just set my expectations far too high. Despite all of this, I would still recommend this Japanese adaptation to anyone who has seen the Taiwanese drama and wants "the feels" again. Jin Shirasu plays the "Li Daren" role to a tee.
I feel like they tried to work far too many plot points into this last episode. It goes from Yo breaking up her engagement with Ryusei to Yo and Ren moving out together -- all within 45 minutes. There's also a few awkward fade-to-black frames inserted in that felt really unnecessary. The two leads have great chemistry together, so I think they could have extended this one more episode. I mean, we spent eight or so episodes in "conflict mode" (with Ryusei as the perpetrator), so having just one episode as the "conflict resolution" makes the series finale feel really unsatisfying.
Maki making an appearance in Shanghai was really unnecessary. Her flying all the way to China added nothing to the overall story line.
The amount of time it took for Yo to teleport from Tokyo, Japan to Suzhou, China is worthy to be in the last two seasons of Game of Thrones.
Damn, they've really dialed up the love triangle in this episode. Those angsty looks from Ren...
I can't believe Maki is back in the picture again though. Ugh. When will she leave the main story line?! Also -- I've said this previously -- the actor for Ren is infinitely better looking with glasses on.
Maki's New York City cousin is hilarious omfg. The way he went out of his way to pronounce all the English terms in this clear American accent. "I SUE YOU!" What a joke, bwahahahah.
Ishida Ren needs more scenes where he's wearing eye glasses. He looks so much better with them on!
Man, this is such a slow-paced drama, especially for the mystery/crime genre. Not sure how much more I can sit through. The two leads have good chemistry, but it's not enough to sit through scenes that could be edited to be way shorter.
The two leads have great chemistry with each other! Similar to Ariel Lin and Bolin Chen in the original Taiwanese drama. My only complaint though is that I wish they styled Jin Shiarsu's when he's acting as an adult just so he would look a bit more mature. His high school appearance and his adult appearance are too similar.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that his best friend Fu Ziyu is actually the Flower Cannibal imposter.
The conclusion to the teenage boy murders was so unsatisfying. We spent over three episodes learning about these murders, yet we don't get any scenes of the criminal speaking to Simon at all. No verbal confrontation of why the criminal did what he did, so there's no real validation of Simon's theories. Instead, we jump pretty quickly to its aftermath - the end of Jenny's contract, and the next steps of these characters and their relationships. I guess this is just a new type of crime drama that I'm just not used to.
Slightly better than the first episode because they've finally finished setting up the characters - yes, it took them 1.5 episodes to introduce the characters and their relationships - and they're finally moving forward with solving mysteries and saving their community. Let's see how the rest of the show turns out.
My main complaint about this first episode is the way they've introduced the two leads together for the first time. Their first face-to-face interaction was addressing Jenny's Maslow's hierarchy of needs - survival during a thunderstorm, and then their second face-to-face interaction was about the flavour and quality of homemade fried fish. That's one hell of a jump. I get that the show implied that Jenny had been in the house for weeks before these interactions, but to the audience, she had only been in that house for a couple of days. Their interaction with each other about the homemade fish was far too casual and far too genial for a relationship that's had only a couple of face-to-face moments so far. It also really took away from the mysterious aura around Simon the first episode had been trying to suggest with the torture scene cuts.
Anyway, I think this show isn't doing a good job so far at balancing the "love cute" vibe of Chinese idol dramas with the mysterious crime drama vibe they're also trying to implement. I'll still continue watching for the time being just to see if this show turns around.
Really happy for Tony and Elaine! They're probably the most deserving of the four couples to win, because of how much friendly teamwork they put in into their relationship. Darron and Alex come a close second simply because of how much they've grown as father-and-son in the 50 days. All in all, I think all four couples are kind of deserving of their places. I'm also really glad that Natalie and Shameema helped Josh and Felix out too; that was a really kind moment.
Great season. If they have a second season, I hope they extend it to eight episodes; six episodes is a bit cramped in terms of content!
This is easily the best episode of the entire series – all the subplots finally converge to one. The protagonists, the antagonists, the detectives, and the supporting characters all react to one single event where they are all connected to in some way.
How does a body examiner miss the fact that a dead woman was six-weeks pregnant during an autopsy? That sounds unrealistic.
Not sure if I want a second season. The story is really cute, and the acting is pretty decent, but goddamn, the main female lead and her love interest have absolutely zero chemistry. There's not much going for the romantic interest (Jules) except for his dimples. His acting is flat and one-dimensional, but I also think the writing around his character also had something to do with it. He really didn't have much to work with in the first couple of episodes when Elsa's getting to know him. He's far too quiet, and his facial expressions aren't nuanced enough to portray the internal conflict he has while he falls in love with her.
This is a really cute show to binge watch, especially if you're a sucker for rom-com's like I am, but I wouldn't rewatch this again.
Seeing the hot Riverdale dads again and getting screen time for the two pet dogs, Hot Dog and Vegas, are easily, easily the top highlights of this season premiere.
Best episode of season two so far. Clay and Justin looking out for each other is the cutest thing ever. It's like a bright light in all these dark story lines. They couldn't be more different from each other, so the bromance is simply adorable.
Zach publicly confronting Bryce is the scene I've been waiting for.
Brandon Flynn showing off his acting chops as Justin again. My gosh, that kid has a natural talent. The emotional nuances in his acting are always so utterly on point in the character he built and the story he's in. Amazing.
Dylan Minnette (Clay), Brandon Flynn (Justin), and Alisha Boe (Jessica) are easily the best actors among the "teen" cast members.
I really didn't expect Masaki Okada to show up in this. I don't think I've ever seen him in a crazy villainous role like this show's Ito. He's very convincing though.
This episode was way too rushed. They should have made the previous episode, 2x21, the season finale instead. I hope the showrunners does a better job at planning the next season.
Satoko is 100% gay for Miki. Wish they had written that in instead of Satoko wanting to be Miki. It'd make a lot more sense.
The "Hot Riverdale Dads" walking into Pop's together is easily the highlight of this episode.
Whoa, I admit, I did not expect that ending at all. I always thought it would be Uehara proposing to break up rather than the other way around. Kudos to Nao; she's way smarter than she looks. She's finally starting to find her own two feet. Hope she pairs up with Natsume later in the future, he's a good influence on her.
OK, the relationships in this show are all wrong. They should go like this: Nanase x Natsume, Nao x Issei, Uehara x Saeko, and of course, Micchan x Marina. Daisuke can just die alone lol because he literally has zero facial expressions except for "pleasantly surprised" and "surprised".
Honestly, I feel like Justin is just misunderstood. You can tell from the 'present' scenes of him and his home situation that the stuff at home affects him deeply. That he's been acting stressed the past few episodes because he feels powerless to protect the women in his life (e.g. his mom, and now Jessica). This is probably why he just sat there on the couch at the party, because this has happened before, where other men have harmed the women he loves, but psychologically, I guess, out of habit, he didn't feel like he had the power to stop it. Then, maybe coincidentally, but after he visits the home of a "regular family" - that interaction between Alex's dad and Justin broke my heart; the way Justin's eyes literally warmed up and gave Alex's dad a big smile when he got offered leftovers from their dinner - it sort of becomes the tipping point of when he realizes that he does have power to change things.
I really love the entire character arc of Justin, to be honest. The writers did a fantastic job in crafting his story, and the actor did an equally fantastic job in portraying all of Justin's character nuances.
This was a great episode overall. I love the fact that we got glimpses of what the families are like for a couple of the minor characters: Alex, whose dad is strict/firm because he works as a cop, but loving too, as we can see by Alex describing how both his parents cook (e.g. his mom cooks, his dad grills); Zach, whose mother is the atypical overbearing Asian mother, but he has an adorable relationship with his sister (e.g. eating his sister's veggies for her when their mom isn't looking); Mr. Porter, who we slowly begin to find out that everything, at both work and at home, is taking a toll on him; and of course, we get more of the families behind Clay and Hannah.
10/10 to the writers, director, and actors. Stellar job all around.
