Tomodachi Game: Season 1, Season 2, & Movie Thoughts

I binge-watched Tomodachi Game, also known as Friends Game. It’s a Japanese drama based on a manga. There is an upcoming anime adaptation, and I’m pretty excited about it.

Plot: High schooler Katagiri Yuichi is knocked unconscious and wakes up in a mysterious room with four of his friends and a creepy mascot. One of them has an enormous debt and has paid the participation fee to enter the Friends Game. If this group of friends wins the games, the person will go debt-free. However, if they lose, all of them will have to take on a portion of the debt.

Season 1 Thoughts:

I love Katagiri Yuichi. This drama has a really good-looking cast. The games are quite simple, like the games in Squid Game or the beginning of Kaiji. No one is physically harmed or dies, and a big theme is their friendship. Yuichi wants to trust his friends but finds it increasingly challenging to…

The show is as long as a movie. I thought that Season 1 ended so quickly that I had to watch Season 2 right away. At this point, I couldn’t form too many thoughts because there were still too many questions left unanswered.

Who has the debt? Who is/are the traitor(s)? What’s Katagiri Yuichi’s backstory?

Season 2 Thoughts:

Season 2 is a continuation of Season 1. It is another game. Again, it’s a simple children’s game with a twist. I liked this season more than the first because a lot of secrets are revealed. The tricks are clever. It was a little predictable but I didn’t figure out everything, so that’s a plus.

Movie Thoughts:

The movie is a continuation of Season 2. It’s another game. I liked this one the least, partially because the tricks didn’t seem as clever. The climax fell short.

I still want to learn more about Yuichi’s story; I thought this part was rushed. It’s understandable because this is a movie, but I hope that the anime explains it more.

There were a lot of twists in the movie. It felt a little messy.

The ending was soooo cliche. It hurt a little to watch. I understand that they want to leave the doors open for more seasons or movies, but really, that approach? There’s no way an outcome like that would happen in real life, and I don’t think I’m being jaded about it.

Final thoughts as a whole:

The concept isn’t exactly new. You are brought to a foreign location with other people and have to win games to pay off your debt. Think Kaiji, Squid Game, and Liar Game. However, this is exactly the sort of series I’m a sucker for, so I will take anything!! Thank you!

If you like this kind of show (similar series and games include Kakegurui, Zero Escape, Danganronpa, Bloody Monday, Kurosagi, and Classroom of the Elite), then I recommend this series for you. One thing that sets this series apart is that they aren’t playing against strangers, but playing with their best friends.

It’s entertaining, and the cast is great. There are so many twists and turns. It’s kind of like being on a roller coaster.

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I haven’t read the manga yet, but I plan to! Let me know if you have any recommendations for anything similar. 🙂

[Review] Light on Series: The Long Night (2020)

Light on Series: The Long Night is a highly-rated, dark, and suspenseful crime thriller. I really enjoyed this Chinese series and finished in two or three days.

Synopsis: Zhang Chao creates a scene at a subway station, and the bomb squad is called. When they open Zhang Chao’s suitcase, they find that there’s no bomb, but a body inside. On the surface, there is overwhelming evidence that Zhang Chao murdered the victim, Jiang Yang. There is a problem: Zhang Chao was hours away from the time of Jiang Yang’s death. To make matters worse, an anonymous person is sending a piece of a photograph to the media every few days; a building will explode if the media refuses to print it. To unravel the cause of Jiang Yang’s death, Yan Liang is called to help the police force. He must learn everything about Jiang Yang before the complete photograph is released to the public.

The show alternates between three stories and time periods.

Story #1: In the modified reports, Hou Gui Ping raped a woman and killed himself out of guilt. This story tells what actually happened.

Story #2: Jiang Yang and Zhu Wei investigate the true cause of Hou Gui Ping’s death.

Story #3: Present day; Yan Liang and his team investigate Jiang Yang’s murder.

I’ve never seen a story told in this format. You get to know all three stories in-depth, and I felt attached to all the characters.

Bai Yu plays Jiang Yang. I’ve seen a few of his earlier dramas (Detective L, Guardian, Fairyland Lovers, Love O2O) and this drama is nothing like them. It’s serious, dark, and more realistic. His acting is brilliant in this one.

If you are like stories about a person dedicating their entire life to something, this show is for you. To clear Hou Gui Ping’s name, Jiang Yang pours his life into this case. He meets so much resistance and pushback from different parties. He is stubborn, so incredibly stubborn. He loses so much, yet he never gives up. There were many times when I wondered if it was even worth it. He wasn’t even close to Hou Gui Ping, but he believes in his work. He believes in justice.

This is not a “happy” show, but it’s still very suspenseful and entertaining to watch. The show is artful in how they split up the three stories. You don’t learn everything at once, as it switches back and forth between the stories. Like the photograph puzzle mystery, you don’t learn the complete story until the end of the series.

I absolutely recommend The Long Night.

Marry Me, or Not? (2015) – First Impressions

Marry Me, or Not? is a Taiwanese romance comedy drama. I am currently on episode 6.

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Synopsis

I haven’t read a synopsis that actually tells you about the plot so here’s what happens:

Cai Huan Zhen and Hao Sheng Nan’s rivalry dates back to 10 years ago. At a class reunion, Hao Sheng Nan tells everyone that a man named Justin is her boyfriend. Justin is actually her older brother.

When Hao Sheng Nan’s finds out that Cai Huan Zhen is about to marry her relative, she schemes to make her look bad at her wedding. To her surprise, Cai Huan Zhen calls off the weddings and vows to take revenge.

Not only does Cai Huan Zhen start working at Hao Sheng Nan’s workplace, she also plots to steal Justin, “Hao Sheng Nan’s boyfriend,” away from her. Justin has his own motives for “dating” Cai Huang Zhen…

Thoughts

These two women are so petty! All of the main characters are power-driven and Cai Huan Zhen admits to being a b*tch in the first episode. I’ve seen far too many dramas of an “evil” character scheming against the innocent and naive character. In this drama, both women are horrible. That’s what makes this drama so much fun to watch.

Although these characters have pretty bad personalities, you can’t help but love them. Justin is charming, Cai Huan Zhen is smart and knows what she wants, and Hao Sheng Nan is hard-working. I think that deep down, they have big hearts.

The scenes between Cai Huan Zhen and Justin are hilarious. They both have their reasons for dating each other, as they are both cunning people. I haven’t laughed this hard while watching a drama in a long time. They have amazing chemistry, though.

Episode 1 screencaps:

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Cai Huan Zhen and Justin’s first meeting as strangers and they are already arguing.

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Cai Huan Zhen and Hao Sheng Nan show up at the class reunion with the same outfit…

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Same outfit again.

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Episodes with English subtitles are on YouTube. I recommend it.

C-Drama Boyhood (2017): Mid-Series Impressions

Where is the baseball??

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Synopsis: Ban Xiao Song is passionate about baseball, but his school’s baseball team is terrible. They miserably lose against a rival school. To make matters worse, Ban Xiao Song’s baseball team gets disbanded due to a lack of funds. Wu Tong from the rival school transfers to Ban Xiao Song’s school and together, they try to start up the baseball team again. Along the way, they try to recruit Yin Ke and other classmates.

Episodes watched: 19/39

Thoughts: I started this series because of the cast. The baseball coach is played by Chinese singer Joker Xue and the three main characters (Ban Xiao Song, Wu Tong, and Yin Ke) are from the boy group, TFBoys. Joker Xue and TFBoys are incredibly famous in China. Danson Tang, another popular celebrity, plays one of the teachers.

There are two main storylines in this drama:

1. Ban Xiao Song recruits classmates to help him start the baseball team again. It focuses on his friendships with Wu Tong and Yin Ke.
2. Tao Xi (the baseball coach and gym teacher) and his rivalry against An Mi, the new staff member at school, who is also his next door neighbour. We also see his home life with Guo Guo, the child he takes care of.

I’m loving this series. However, I have one complaint and it’s a big one. Where is the baseball?? I’ve seen half of the series and the first episode showed us the most baseball. There hasn’t been any matches after that.

It made sense for the start of the series to focus on friendships. After all, the baseball team got disbanded and the friendships between the main characters were not formed yet. It also made sense for the characters to work through their issues first. However, I expected a focus on baseball once these things were all taken care of.

Instead, the story then focuses on a girl classmate (who is not on the baseball team) in love with a celebrity (also not on the baseball team). What does this have to do with baseball? This drama seems more like a teacher-student series like Great Teacher Onizuka, Gokusen, or Assassination Classroom instead of a sports series, except Tao Xi isn’t as involved in the students’ lives.

One thing I like about the Chinese drama, The King’s Avatar, is that there is a really good balance between friendships and gaming throughout the show. After all, the series is about a E-sport team. Since this drama is about a baseball team, it should have more baseball scenes, shouldn’t it?

I’m going to continue watching this drama because I’m still enjoying it regardless. Hopefully there will be more baseball.

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I’m watching this series on the official YouTube channel. Only the first two episodes have English subtitles.

Review: Someday or One Day (2019)

In my last post, I reviewed a drama and gave it a lower rating. I thought that I would review an amazing drama this time. Someday or One Day is a Taiwanese drama.

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Synopsis

Huang Yu Xuan is a 27-year-old woman who misses her boyfriend Wang Quan Sheng, who went missing two years ago. She is unable to accept that he is gone and is still searching for him. One day, she receives a walkman and cassette from a mysterious sender. As she listens to the music, she wakes up in the year 1998. She is now a 17-year-old girl named Chen Yun Ru, who looks exactly like her. In Chen Yun Ru’s body, she meets a schoolmate who looks exactly like her missing boyfriend, except… he’s not her boyfriend. His name is Li Zi Wei!

Huang Yu Xuan soon discovers that Chen Yun Ru will die in the year 1999. She needs to find a way to prevent Chen Yun Ru’s death before she dies in her body.

Thoughts

Three words: Just watch it.

For you anime fans out there, I know what you might be thinking. It’s kind of like Erased, right? Kind of! It’s different from Erased in some ways because Huang Yu Xuan goes into someone else’s body instead of her own. I think that this is really unique. There is also a heavy romance component in Someday or One Day, which is done extremely well.

You’ll most definitely like this series if you like the Taiwanese movies, Our Times and You Are the Apple of My Eye.

What I like about this drama is that it is not predictable. As someone who has watched a lot of anime and Asian dramas, I can practically guess how shows will end. This drama kept me on the edge of my seat.

When I watched the first episode, I felt like I was watching a movie. The cinematography is on-point, the music is memorable, and the acting is realistic. I felt very emotional and balled my eyes out… just by the first episode.

This drama covers mature themes so I wouldn’t recommend it to younger audiences. It covers topics that are taboo in Asian culture and you don’t see many dramas talk about these topics.

As mentioned earlier, the music is memorable. The songs are so good. A lot of the scenes are pleasing to the eyes and look really aesthetic.

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Final verdict: 9.5/10 This is hands-down one of the best Asian dramas I’ve seen.

Note: There is an extra scene on YouTube, which is meant to be watched once you have completed the series. Be sure to watch it after you’re done!

Review: My Fantastic Mrs Right: Season 1 (2020)

Episodes watched: 6/12

Synopsis: Mi Xiao Qi drops from the sky and lands in Bei Yue Kingdom of Kun Peng Continent. She’s a young woman, except she’s turned into a fat cat. When she transforms back into her human form, she must meet her fated lover and make him fall in love with her. Together with her fated one, they must find the four pieces of the magical jade. Otherwise, she will die!

Thoughts: This kind of drama seemed like my kind of show. I really enjoyed the historical comedy drama, The Eternal Love, so I thought that I would love this one too. The first couple of episodes were funny, but it became less funny later on.

My main problem with this drama is that there is no flow. The writing is all over the place. Things progress quite quickly and it seems so unrealistic. I feel like the characters do have good chemistry, but the drama does not do a very good job at portraying that. I understand that this drama is meant to be fun and silly, but the flaws take away from the enjoyment of the show.

On the flip side, I really like the characters. Xiao Qi in her cat form is adorable. The idea of the drama is hilarious, but the execution was poorly done.

Final verdict: 6.5/10 Dropped.

Thank you, The Untamed

I recently finished the Chinese drama, The Untamed. I’ve watched many Asian dramas. According to MyDramaList, I’ve watched over 1000 episodes. Most of the time when I finish a drama, I just move on and watch the next thing… but I have to write about The Untamed. The Untamed is an exceptional drama. I give it 10/10.

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Throughout my life, I’ve heard people talk about shows in a negative light.

“It’s just a show.”

“Everything is fake.”

“Watching TV is a waste of time.”

It’s really not just a show. I think that we all know that dramas are fictional. Is there anyone who doesn’t know this? I think that people who really appreciate dramas and anime are cognizant of the amount of time and the effort that went into making the show. Actors, directors, producers, scriptwriters, voice actors, camera crew, costume design team, those who work on the sets, those who work on the props, and subtitles, the editing team, the animation team, the list goes on… Pre-production of The Untamed took two and a half years. Saying that watching TV is a waste of time is almost disregarding all of these things.

The Untamed cast practiced posture, calligraphy, martial arts, musical instruments, and more. Since The Untamed takes place in ancient China, they went through training to learn these skills.

Several of the cast members sang their own character songs. They’re really talented.

• Wu Ji – sang by Xiao Zhan & Wang Yibo (Wei Wuxian & Lan Wangji)
• Wei Wuxian’s theme song – sang by Xiao Zhan (Wei Wuxian)
• Bu Wang (Lan Wangji’s theme song) – sang by Wang Yibo (Lan Wangji)
• Chi Zi (Wen Ning’s theme song) – sang by Yu Bin (Wen Ning)
• Hen Bie (Jiang Cheng’s theme song) – sang by Wang Zhuo Cheng (Jiang Cheng)
• Bu Wang (Lan Xichen’s theme song) – sang by Liu Haikuan (Lan Xichen)
• Gu Cheng (Yi City group’s theme song) – sang by Sun Bolun & Chen Zhuoxuan (A-Qing)

The youth group also sang their theme song. The rest of the character songs are also really nice. I think the songs really convey the characters’ feelings.

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This is not a goodbye post because there’s still the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, novel, and manhua. Maybe I’ll rewatch The Untamed one day. I think it will be interesting to compare the different versions. I think that The Untamed did an amazing job at portraying the relationships, given China’s heavy censorship. I think they made it obvious and clear.

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https://www.instagram.com/p/B8QDn_wggeY/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_1DtywAIjE/

Missing: Wei Wuxian nendoroid (It’s out of stock… I really wanted it…)

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Full episodes with English subtitles are on Netflix and YouTube.

The Eternal Love (2017) – Episodes 1-3 Impressions

Title: The Eternal Love/双世宠妃

Release year: 2017

Episode count: 24

I started a Chinese drama called The Eternal Love. It’s not to be confused with Eternal Love or Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, which is an entirely different Chinese drama (the latter is one of my favourite dramas, by the way – go check it out).

In The Eternal Love, Qu Xiaotan from the modern world is isekai’d into historical China. In other words, she time travels and occupies the body of Qu Tan’er, the second daughter of the Qu family. The catch is that whenever she tells a lie, the real Tan’er wakes up from the body. Xiaotan and Tan’er basically switch back and forth and do not retain memories of each other.

Now for the plot. Xiaotan/Tan’er is forced to marry Mo Liancheng, the eighth prince. Xiaotan does not like the idea of marrying a stranger, while Tan’er is in love with Liancheng’s brother, Mo Yihuai. However, she marries him with the intention of spying on Liancheng. Xiaotan is left in the dark about these schemes which is really confusing for Liancheng.

Tan’er is proper and follows the traditional norms of the time period. Xiaotan, on the other hand, is rebellious and unapologetic. She is infuriated that she experiences mistreatment from her father’s consort and that she was forced to marry a stranger. She makes several attempts to return to the modern world.

This drama is hilarious! Xiaotan cracks me up. Since she is a character from the modern world, only we can understand her references to certain things (i.e. the toothbrush, modern slang). Her and Liancheng have great chemistry. He always has her back, cares deeply for her, is good-looking…

I’m definitely going to keep watching because this drama is so funny and because I love both the main leads. A lot of historical dramas have a serious tone to them and they are quite long… Time passes so quickly when I’m watching this drama. For a romantic comedy historical drama, this one is done really well.

Animal World: Kaiji Film Adaptation Review

Animal World (2018) is a Chinese film based on the manga, Kaiji by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It is on the rock-paper-scissors arc of the manga. As a huge Kaiji fan, I had to watch this film.

Synopsis: Zheng Kaisi is tricked into shouldering on his friend’s debt. He enters a game that takes place on a ship. There, he sees players from all over the world with enormous debts. If he wins, he will be debt-free. However – if he loses, he will have to face a life worse than imaginable. The game is rock-paper-scissors but it has its own set of rules. Zheng Kaisi has to beat the other players in rock-paper-scissors. Sounds straight-forward, right?

Actually, it’s an extremely intense and interesting game. There are various psychological elements to consider, such as cheating, betrayal, working with comrades and greed. This psychological thriller/gambling film adapts the Kaiji manga very well. The gambling that happens in the film is identical to the manga, so you won’t be disappointed with the ending.

Something that was interesting was that the players were diverse and spoke different languages. Kaisi communicated with non-Chinese players by listening to an earpiece that translated the other player’s words into Chinese in real time. I thought this was realistic.

Kaiji is a great manga that tackles themes such as human nature and I think that ‘Animal World’ is a suitable name for the film because in an environment where there are not a lot of regulations, humans may succumb to “animal-like behaviours.” Kaisi is a great protagonist that refuses to degrade himself like that. In this game, he fights the resistance to betray others. He is a flawed protagonist that does not have a 100% chance of winning. That is what makes him such a relatable character.

I don’t think that Kaiji is a simple manga to adapt. Animal World did it well, because of a number of reasons. One, the cinematography is really well done. Nobuyuki Fukumoto does a lot of panels with metaphors, and Animal World has amazing graphics that showcases those metaphors. Metaphors help the audience understand the depths of what the character is feeling. I liked that the film remained close to the source material in this way.

The actor who plays Kaiji/Kaisi, Li Yifeng, is a great actor. He is famous in China and played the role really well. Kaisi is different from Kaiji in terms of his personality, family background, life situation and relationships, which gives Animal World its own sense of originality. Like Kaiji, Kaisi is a likable and strong protagonist.

The budget for this film and also the cinematography allowed the manga to come to life. Extra elements were added in the film but they were enjoyable to watch. Overall, I was really impressed with this adaptation and enjoyed it a lot. I recommend watching Animal World, even if you have never read or watched Kaiji. If you are a Kaiji fan, it doesn’t hurt to give this a try.

Animal World is available on Netflix.

Korean Film Recommendation: Always (2011)

I’m writing this immediately after I finished watching Always, because that’s how good it was. My nose is still stuffy and my eyes are still sore from crying so much. It’s also almost 1 AM.

Synopsis: During his shift at his job as a parking lot attendant, Cheol Min is visited by Jung Hwa, a woman who is blind. She was friends with the former parking lot attendant. Cheol Min and Jung Hwa develop a friendship, which turns into something more.

So much happens in this movie and I really cannot spoil too much. This is a romance movie and they do become a couple. That’s the focus of the first part of the film. They are in a serious relationship and they intend to have children together.

In the second half of the film, Cheol Min and Jung Hwa’s happy life together is disrupted. Sad events ensue, and that’s when the ugly crying happens. The film has a happy ending, which I had to make sure before I even watched it. I can’t spoil what happens, so you’ll just have to watch it.

I loved this film because one, it evoked such a strong reaction out of me. Two, because I really enjoyed watching the daily life of the two together, and the simplicity of it. Three, because of how strong their love is. I think it’s inspiring to watch a story of a couple that have such an unbreakable bond. The film was really good at producing motifs and stories that only the two of them would know.

The only major thing I would have liked to be different is that I wish they gave us some more scenes in the end. I know, I’m greedy.