miss_berlia Reviews

Love and Fortune (2018– )

The truth about society & cinema

[10/10 · 13 May 2024]

A woman in her 30s going through life and relationship troubles finds answers in the form of an underaged(15-16) boy. The portrayal of the story is simple. No big twists. It's like they filmed a small section of somebody's lives.

The series is top-notch in terms of acting, cinematography, background music, direction and overall social messages perspective.

Wako is shown depressed, selfish, loving, logical, torn, determined, passionate. The journey of her emotional growth is amazing! She navigates through her unhappy relationship, to falling for a 15-year old, then giving up for moral reasons. She comes back strong with a clear mind and direction to achieving everything she wants.

Iko's character is also well written. Its wonderful how they have captured little nuances of the age, the nature of their relationship.

Futa is the underrated character. His basic personality also hides details of reality. How if you do not believe you are part of the problem, you will never improve and go back to same patterns.

The underaged part is morally problematic, but that is the whole point of the series! Most people questioning the plot would be horrified if they find out how casually the same thing in happening around them, and the globe! And there are so many other takeaways from the series too.

Problems of women (especially in Japan/Asian countries) entering their 30s without a partner.

Impact of breaking trust- how all 3 of them were differently affected.

The dirty and the helpless side of Love.

What adolescence feels like: not an adult, not a kid.

How its never too late to make things right, and it only takes the courage to do it.

If anything, what I like most is how human the story is. At no point do I find this story non-fictional. Congrats to the team on the final product.

Orange Days (2004)

Orange Days is simply Golden!

[9/10 · 14 February 2024]

The drama is a journey of 5 friends. The female lead- a violinist going deaf and her male counter is a kind psychology major student. It deals with family, relationships, friendship, social-societal acceptance, all sorts of graduation feelings.

The characters are flawlessly written and well executed. A perfect blend of nice(Yuki), spice(Shouhei), extra(Keita), raw(Sae), normal(Akane). In each episode you can feel all the dilemmas, love, friendship, conflicts. The theme is consistent and never loses focus. The cinematography is just the cherry on top!

I feel the biggest winner is the subtlety of the highlights. How Shouhei is drawn to Akane, slowly, obviously but never loudly. The Maho-Sae initial interaction weighs so heavily on the issues of abled and challenged people. A sensitive topic portrayed without the extra-pity, nor is it borderline offensive.

11 1+ hour episodes to take us through their last year of uni yet never once you feel its dragged or too long.

Although, most j-dramas have this NEED to have someone move to another country and have the whole break-up--make-up back & forth, which is too much of a cliched climax. However, Orange days stands tall and proud with a sensible storyline &emotion to support it. It does not feel too forced for the sake of a emotional high.

The 1 star less comes from a rather trivial POV: they could have utilized Maho better. She literally goes to the same uni. A little screentime for her would have added more value and her entry towards the end would feel more natural. The other side character they could have utilized more was the Orange Days Notebook.

Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight (2022)

Tearjerker!

[8/10 · 27 November 2023]

The story is wonderful and the direction does justice its beauty. While the story is thoroughly dramatic, neither the characters nor the dialogues let you disengage because of it. The portrayal balances out the story perfectly. A very neat showcase indeed!

All characters are well-written, each with their stories, thoughts and purpose.

With so much to portray, the pace of the movie is just right. It allows the viewer to feel each emotion in depth and very stealthily transitions to the next one. The movie starts with empathy for all 3 characters in different ways, goes on to boost serotonin (with hints of despair) and then breaks everything down towards the end.

The only shortcoming of the movie is the very last scene: It almost felt like they did not know how to end it after all that emotional high. The final impact seemed to be lacking. They took the safe route of using the name of the movie as the ending dialogue and it felt lazy at best.

All in all, a movie to watch with a tissue box!

The Could've-Gone-All-the-Way Committee (2018)

A refreshing experiment!

[8/10 · 13 November 2023]

The show is about a 3 people committee that gives you closure on what could (or couldn't) have been. Focusing on the slight romantic encounters that circle our mind even 10-15 years later. The regrets, what ifs that we carry all our lives and live in the darkest corners of our hearts gets a safe place to be heard and concluded.

The situation in each episode is unique yet very relatable. None of it sounds too far from reality.

The thinking out loud during the process of decision making makes you feel like you are talking to all the overthinking voices in your head and have a 3rd person view to everything they unfold!

While the verdict is all but speculation of 3 individuals, the delivery of the verdict and the parting words after it are what seals the deal. The kind, warm words relieve the pressure from closure and encourages you to cherish the uncertainty and the fate you came across. Regardless of the verdict, it allows you to move on.

The 3 judges are well chosen, age group, profession and gender-wise, maximizing the coverage of all possible scenarios! The only drawback was, after 2-3 episodes, you get the pattern of the votes and are able to guess which judge will vote what. It kind of takes the fun away.

The winning points are: Unique concept, relatability, episode length, inclusivity, how close it is to reality, emotional takeaway from the series.

Losing points are: predictability, what more could have been achieved with this idea.