Being an oblivious fan of japanese anime and japanese drama shows, I don't know what I was expecting from a Netflix Original drama based on a high school romance 'Shoujo Manga' (teen girl comic) of the same name (from Yue Takasuka in 1997).
Considering the audience, it's an uplifting "nothing-happens" "will-they" "teen" romance, with Slice-Of-Life and comedy elements.
If you know the genre, you can watch this and enjoy the buffet of romance tropes and teenage drama.
Is it good ? average ? believable ? happy ? sad ? awful ? cliche'd ? idiotic ? ... yes, yes it is.
I liked it enough to keep watching, even though i have reservations.
TLDR at this point, if you're a fan, nothing i can say will change your mind. if you have no idea about the show... I really have nothing to compare this to, so giving it a score or a review is just difficult, so i'll point out the flaws in an attempt to showcase the best and worst aspects.
The quirky, indomitable, 15 year old (18 year old) Nao Yoshikawa (Haruka Fukuhara) is moving into an apartment (near the "soho" Meguro district in tokyo ?) for the first time by herself at the age of 15 (because her family has moved to the country farm to help her grandfather get better), only to find she's been duped into an illegal sublease with, (insert shock here), another male student of the same high school, Uehara Hisashi (Shun'ya Shiraishi), who just happens to be one of the "top 3 boys" of her high school (as voted by a committee of the popular/mean girl/harridans, who only ever show up on command to bully Nao).
And, of course, Boy #2 of the high school is her childhood friend, Shinozaki Daichi (Dori Sakurada) who patiently dotes over her, only to realise he has a crush on her (this isn't immediately obvious unless you're genre savvy, or a fan of the childhood friend/unrequited love triangle)
Plus, Nao also has a bevy of childhood friends, (and later, adults) who pep her up occasionally and will add drama into the plot when needed. Romance Tropes & Hijinks Ensue, and things are, so far, doing well up to episode 10 (I won't spoil the story or romance subplots since that's 70% of the series) . But, i can sort of tell where it's going, because they keep mentioning it like checkov's gun, and they playfully try to misdirect you into thinking it's going to last forever. cough.
Uehara (Hisashi) is the brooding, selfish, academically perfect, male fashion model-like heart throb student, with a 3 minute dramatic 'girls swooning entrance scene' MC, who's really an emotionally crippled loner. Who just happens to have the male fashion model esque hair/body/face, a vigilant female entourage "protecting him" from all of the other girls wanting to be his 'friend' (it's a vastly broken subplot, but it's HS). Uehara is the show lead, by way of being the main character Haruto/Kamen Rider in https://trakt.tv/shows/kamen-rider-wizard (another drama show i've not seen).
Nao's the Ditzy, Slow witted, Considerate, Home Cooking, Self-Absorbed, Way too fashionable, conservative, yet awkward Highschool girl that's "15" and "not that attractive". ie. pretty much classic girl wish fulfilment territory. It probably lines up with a lot of expectations of perfect wife material/ perfect girl material, idk. it can make her a bit generic, but in the setting, sure. remove personality, add confidence. I have the strangest feeling that Nao makes a whole lot more mistakes in the manga. There's just an anxiety about these "down" moments that is textbook high school girl drama, and not exploited for sympathy moments (though, they are many, varied, and per-episode sympathy moments to hook the addicts; check tumblr for the gifs after each new episode, there will be plenty.)
I don't know if this is a negative, because even as tragic and delightful as the romance angles work in the show, tropes don't seem bolted-on or forgotten by the next episode (except, in those cases where it is). So many tropes are just accepted and they never become critically examined by the MC's or the entourage of friends. i.e. Living with your girl/boyfriend while in high school / harem tropes, patient childhood friend romance, the long time male girlfriend (two girls and a guy) becomes boyfriend, because ? trope. (among many, many others that head into spoiler territory)
And to complete the triangle , the Second lead male, Daichi is perhaps more romantic/compassionate/responsible than the MC, due to the "damaged, defensive loner" Uehara being more high maintenance, aloof, and thus, "critically" more boyfriend material. But, since Nao and Uehara live together, Damaged Uehara is the 'fixer upper' boyfriend she's always/never wanted. From what i've seen on the fan community (because i just don't know if others like this), the series does lend into "Second Lead Syndrome" territory, with daichi doing more to 'coach' their relationship by his stalking /obsessing over her, or, conversely, being the romantic one and pushing Uehara into being more conscientious or considerate, sometimes by accident or jealous intent. However, Daichi is staged as to have no chance at all in this triangle/ 'fight' for Nao, even though he's doing all of the heavy lifting.
For sheer fun/watchability of each episode, i'd give it a 5, 6 or 7/10. And, it works as a TV show / Movie format because of the comic book's reliance on cutaways and high school problems making the premise, and their relationship questionably ... realistic ? cute ?
I kind of like the show, but i'm not a fan. Some of it is just way too sibilant and cliche, and it's bound to end in tears, but i'll still watch it because it is self-destructive, hoping that things get better as they approach the predictable staged emotional cliffhangers, and the story is... not important, because it is doomed, in a cheerful, positive way. I watch each show just checking off a long list of possible dramatic hijinks that count down towards the end of the season. Is this because I don't enjoy the show, and that i'm too jaded ? Definitely. Sometimes, i'd like to be surprised by a non-trope emotional hook, but it's rare. And yet, I keep wanting to watch what happens.
I can see Daichi is supposed to be the third wheel, because it's an analogue of Hisashi being the third wheel (spoilers) in the past. There's also some inevitable sinkholes for drama that i can guess show up, because, it's trope-driven romance.
The characters deserve a 9/10 for acting effort, sometimes they hit the mark, but it's enjoyable. It can feel like a bad stageplay at times, because of the way it's adapted from an anime/manga style, complete with missed lines, and off-time delivery, and cuts without much music or background to how or why we're going to a new scene.
Production wise, about a 6 to 8/10. As a show, it's really, really cheesy and cheap, but it's technically done well. The purple/green tinge of the camera can be notable on character closeups, but it's not always distractingly bad. Sets and locations look great, and they manage to do a lot of good work on a limited time/budget, especially given the editing process which is a bit rough around the edges with intentionally cheap/quirky transitions between scenes, and unintended cheap/flimsy filming/transitions.
The show looks great at times when it wants to, but also like anime, there's a lot of filler and lazy inserts to remind you where people are. Characters just show up at times with no sense of time of day, distance or travel, because it is anime and clocks are for other people to look at. It also just feels like real life, not a sitcom/romcom, and that makes the show more tangible and real, and somewhat more expensive. They made good choices early on with the characters, setting, and locations.
During what is a "live-action" anime, complete with comic trips and falls, sideways glances, etc. several minutes of each episode is taken up by emoting for its own sake, i.e. running along corridors/streets, waving of hands/body, visual sighing, brooding stares, and a few 5 second long double/triple/quadruple-takes at telegraphing shock/emotion/sarcasm/bewilderment/angst on the MC as "comedy" ...
I think one of the oddest things to "get on board with" is, yes, Uehara is 15/25 and Nao is 15/18, the actors are somehow bridging this gap, since Daichi is ... 16/24. In a real high school, filled with 18-25+ year old actors.
Nobody especially stands out as being 'bad' or a bad actor, perhaps Abe/Marina/Mitsuishi (or the other uehara's), because they often have nothing to do but hang around and 'not' look at the camera. Not being too literate to JP culture, everyone seems to be doing a great job. Despite some extras being coached a bit to 'act normal' in the background, it doesn't feel much like a soap opera (which it resembles). Is the age differential wish fulfilment ? probably yes. Is it palpably distracting ? kind of.
Despite how mary-sue the story is, it makes a good, solid 5/10, because it's drowning in male tsundere (jerk with a heart of gold) and a buffet of cheerfully used romance tropes. As an adaptation, the characters fit, but it's so independent of the manga from what i've seen in the ending scenes (EPs), and they make the transition work. Most of the time. I Guess.
If the romance had failed, the show would be awful, it really relies on Nao and Uehara having chemistry on screen, and ... the story dies a few times as a result of carrying so much on the shoulders of Nao. If Nao were actually 15, i'd believe a lot more of the romance and tension, but it's sort of muted in this, as she's far more mature than a teen girl who's seen the high school hunk naked, yet gets flustered when she talks to him as a person. Actually, this might be too much reality than stereotype, without heading into 'ecchi' or 'josei' (adult content / manservice) territory/subtext.
The source material manga art (which is featured in each episode's beginning, and pages of the 11-chapter novel are shown as a scene guide in some/most of the end credits) is kind of bereft of actual detailed character art, but it's complemented by the manga's chibi-nature (child-like, with enormous heads, larger eyes, small body characters), and visual style of drawing out moments for higher amounts of teen drama/angst, e.g. the equivalent of ? ... !! ... and !?..? >< >> << ... on various panels.
There's some pale 'tsuntsun' (arrogant/aloof) scenes where they have to be hostile to each other for the romance's sake, i.e. to keep the tsun in tsundere, but it's not outright hatred or "it's not like i ..." level of passive aggressive behavior. As the show goes on, it's more playful. i.e. the "be with the one you want to manipulate and change" / "only i can save him" / "jerk with a heart of gold" tsundere romance trope is half of the show's content. (along with some strange JP cultural fixation on breast size ranking and cooking food to appeal to Uehara's "better nature") Strange messaging, but who knows.
It feels like Nao's a fantasy version of the author, and Uehara's the perfect hunk/defensive loner, even when it's trying to avoid this for the 'dere' part of the scene. They don't feel in any way attracted or in love, which is what perhaps makes the show really work at it's best at being friends.
And ... not liking each other cements this ? The romance is slow and arc-like, because there's a season to fill, and, they're 15. not 25 (cough). Does the tsundere love story/love triangle make the series better ? not especially. It fits, because they're platonic roommates. Except, not. because romance (not sex) is on/under the table/heating up leftovers, etc. strangely, the lack of emotion (or my blindness to their unique /desireability / attractiveness / attraction ) makes the show work more. they don't really spark, or behave like people in love. and maybe that's perspective, but it makes the show more believable and watchable.
To see if that changes. week by week.
The most confusing/dissonant part to me, is really only when you see the manga art. It crosses the line of cute/alienating a few times, because the chibi like blond haired, triangular shaped 'couple' are non-expressive on the most part, and add nothing to the story except confusion. I mention it, because the show doesn't make sense when chibi nao/uehara pops into place; since the manga characters are blonde, doe-eyed teens, while the actors are regular japanese "high school students for TV" i.e. 23~28 year old japanese actors playing teenagers, nobody is dying their hair blonde or going wild with colored ribbons, etc.
It doesn't detract from the story, but it feels like the manga takes place on a different solar system of alien humanity, compared to the reality. (probably a gaijin/westerner thing, chibi art in a live action is akin to overdosing on wasabi. a little is okay. A lot is toxic. It comes up a lot more than i'm used to.)
Having never watched a 'Live action Anime' Drama, there's not much to tell, apart from it is saccharine TV. Characters are surprising though, because perhaps it's not manga-driven. If this was Anime, it would be sickly and sugary. As real characters, they have tangible personalities, real lives, they look (?) tired and cheerful at the same time.
It all works regardless.
It is, by the numbers forgettable. a modern tech version of frankenstein + a procedural show. a solid 5 out of 10 show, even with the decent actors and sets that look great. it's a boring show because it's another police procedural.
On Fox.. The home that has no "Second Chances" to give.
What limits the enjoyability is the procedural nature of the show. but, once that's removed, there's no tension. Adding a single sociopath as the "arc" has 'resurrected' a story, but it's inherently limited, and that's how the show will remain.
Without a greater arc or a wider threat, or a greater sense of connection between the 4 different worlds (home/work of Pritchards / Goodwins), it's mediocre at best, and highly derivative procedural content. The sheriff will win because he has to, and Otto/Arthur the AI will solve the crisis because he's supposed to. It's not enough to carry the show because there's nothing left for the show to do, unless the FBI's only job in a procedural is to hire/find/acquire specialists to solve crimes (Hannibal, Limitless, Second Chance, White Collar, Quantico, Mentalist, Fringe, Numb3rs, Perception, Bones, Blacklist, Blindspot, sic.) Those other shows have spent time making their protagonist affable, and their handler/CI relationship work.
I thought i'd give it some props as a sci-fi enthusiast (I will watch almost anything), but episode 11 (and 12) has flushed that down the proverbial by cutting all of the secondary and tertiary subplots, and given us a cliffhanger that doesn't really work. Because at the conclusion of the season, there's no reason to worry about the characters. Everyone could die, and the series doesn't seem to have enough impact that it matters at all. Mary and Otto don't have enough chemistry as family, the Pritchard's don't either. Mid-season, there's enough drama and tension to be compelled to watch. but the technology wanders over into disbelief and CSI "enhance that image" levels of super-competence for a procedural at times, and while it's forgivable early on, Arthur is a feint towards a real character at times.
And it's slightly dissonant when you realise, anyone + Arthur could solve these crimes, and it would be just as compelling to watch, since he/it shoulders the duty of being the one that cares and does the bulk of the work, or could. He's the KITT to Michael Knight of the series in a lot of ways, so I'd guess that's a possible red flag. Procedurals get into this quagmire all the time when there's nothing to resolve, since the characters alone aren't compelling enough to carry the show because they have no integral lives outside of the crime/monster of the week.
Unfortunately, the show needs a rewrite for a second season to create a better arc villain and a better set of situations to unravel. Again, this show is on Fox, so that won't happen.
It might just have been a budget problem, but they opened up a significant scope of ideas, and then limited each box so that nothing passes in between each sub-story. If they had hired experienced scifi or procedural writers (or copied better writers), they might have added some chemistry between the characters, or a better mid-season arc to want to watch the series.
But, It's on Fox.
I can see why they're pacing the series, why new characters are necessary, newer villains, etc. but it's not intriguing. it's lifeless. The show could have an episode dealing with paper cuts and having to find toilet paper over 35 minutes, fans would still watch it with anticipation.
I can see the writers and directors trying to replay /recycle new antiheroes and heroes learning the ropes, facing enemies, but it's just not fun to watch Noah Bennett run around doing his thing.
It should be, it fails to live up to the hype because they're afraid of delivering too much too early. When Noah isn't on screen, the show fails to be interesting.
There's no charismatic personalities other than maybe luke/zachary (unrecognisable as chuck, or johnny flame), and even more rarely miko/kiki (katana girl) is emotive or likeable beyond the wooden, stereotyped doll caricature. There's no tension or loss, no risk, no reward, and there's no confluence of ordinary characters with abilities. Hiro and Claire, and later, Sylar, were iconic because they were normal, with abilities. Not so much with the new class.
The show's desperately trying to get the audience to like ... someone, but there's too much mary sue, nobody has failed in a big way, and the season arc is disconnected from the plot in a massive way, there's no fatality or risk in the deus ex machina, already depicted in the poster (avoiding spoilers)
The ensemble cast are "good", but this would get better if it did not exist in the same story as Heroes, it's significantly weaker and less enjoyable as a result of being dragged around by the coattails of the original ensemble of Heroes, that haven't shown up but keep getting name-dropped every few minutes.
This could change, but the show should be so much better or even possibly darker than it is.
I don't quite know what to make of the series, given the "tween" stars that look to be about 29 years old, the fanfic quality of the source books (the mortal instruments) , and the forgettable movie adaptation of "City of Bones". Seems to have the stars of Maze Runner / Vampire Academy, so it might live up to the reputation of the fanfic based author, who coined the use of "draco in leather pants".
Watch any other movie to TV show remake (there's at least 5 so far) in 2016
It's got a terrible showname, it will be going up against the US survival show utopia 2014, but it is a pretty good political and government offices comedy, much like the games, set around the Sydney Olympics, and London's 2012. Starting with satire, it can only get better with time. For the Brits, it's familiar. For the US audience, some of the jokes will not be easy to follow, but you're going to pick them up really quickly.
It helps if you've seen the Australian version of Rake with Richard Roxburgh as Cleaver Greene to compare with.
There's just that process where US comedy syndication scours out the fun or comedy aspects. e.g. http://trakt.tv/show/rake and a clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izSGFju1TEk
If it is the lost island,
That's just a fantastic concept there.
and since shawn ryan's running the show, there's no "vague" episodic miasma, all the villains will take turns seeing who can take power/control first, and nobody will end up dying until the end of the season, musical chairs style.
it's far more compelling than it should be, the pilot really sets course for all the characters at the end too. though, i was thinking LOST just due to there being ~10-12 "named" crew on a nuclear sub.
would love to see more of "America: the bad guy" and "America: the good guy" played out of shadows and off the phone, much like XIII, it's better if everyone's assumed to be corrupt until proven good or bad.
Sorkin has choked almost any relatable or enjoyable character out of the series at this point by pigeonholing all the characters.
let's see, unnecessary relationship tension & love triangles, filibuster moments, hypermoralism and overt, unwanted speeches, and some of the most onerous speechifying, from perhaps the worst kind of characters, the mary-sue writer's version of a real person, with all the flaws airbrushed out, conversation cut down to phrases and adjectives, etc.
... Boston Legal had fun with this, but i don't think they have the characters for this, ranting really relies on a charismatic, self-aware person to convey a believable morality, the characters that need to be relative and flawed, are only shallow
Will is a charismatic idiot, an empty shell with zero foresight, a drama magnet, alternating between artificially deep and offensively shallow, an obvious mary-sue character that has no actual life.
This might just be the episode i saw, but there's no depth beyond his opinions or shame/guilt/guile on show, it makes his character deeply unlikeable once he starts to talk with aaron sorkin's words.
The show is just going to revolve around his regular inevitable colossal mistakes as he puts his foot in it + content of the week + akward social lives of the staff between content of the week.
So it's west wing + studio 60 + sports night. Instead of the scifi monster of the week, it's moral drama using current/pretend events, the "human monster" without the satire of CSI or boston legal.
Portraying TV news as moral observers, guardians of truth, can only be a trainwreck.
The West Wing can pull it off, as people want to believe the whitehouse is full of better people, who are at the apex of civilisation and power, and are better, wiser, more moral people, etc.
Maybe it'll last long enough make an excellent drinking game for west wing/law show fans.
ah cool, a british remake of "The Games", the Australian Olympics spoof series.
http://trakt.tv/show/the-games-australia
will be interesting to see if BBC 4 produces 26+ eps.
TRON legacy tied up some very dubious storyline points from the original into a really tight background for the story, even integrating the video-game tron 2.0. but the plotline died to a thousand cuts along the way and the storyline seemed jumpy and flawed.
taking a few notes from the matrix helped (shadowy enforcers, overtly "white" frenemies), but from the time the CGI stops being all out fantastic, the plot is compost.
As a movie, it's way too disney, adult concepts like genocide at a distance, strained father-son relationships, seem dull and absurd, casual deletion and gladiatorial combat were broadsides at despotism = perfection. etc. the music was great, redeeming. i think i saw daft punk in the DJ room as a caemo, which was nice.
would a TRON legacy/trilogy/game or series work if they 'invaded', terminator 3/transformers like ? actually, yeah. the plot is so weak that it could hide within TRON legacy pretty easily, i.e. CLU sending scouts, pages into the real world, etc.
