Zíza

An incredibly relaxing affair. It's like the manga just jumped out of the paper and played out in front of your eyes. We have a heroine who falls in love at first sight and this love leads her to choose what to do next, and she becomes a nurse. When she meets her prince again after school, he becomes a demonic doctor who makes the whole cardiology department tremble. Sort of. The series has one cliché after another, but they're so well done and don't go on overly long, so the viewer is entertained. Plus the main couple is incredibly cute, and from about the third episode onward things start to spark pleasantly between them. This is exactly the kind of show that falls into that teenage "kiyaa, kawaii" category. And then there's the fact that the Japanese can't do romance.

Sure, it's very nicely animated, opening beautiful, ending fine. The characters have some history, some traumas, some dreams, some they like and some they don't. Maybe they get along okay, but I didn't really get along with them. From about the fifth episode onward I didn't really care what happened next, apart from the wolf and his dog friend, I couldn't find a single character that I was more interested in, that I wanted to root for. I actually found the wolf interesting just because he was so calm, and his friend because he acted like a nice and genuine friend – that made him very likable to me. It's just that all of that together doesn't make for a good show. Since I didn't care what happened, since the whole world didn't fit, and since I found a lot of the characters unappealing, it wasn't a fun show for me at all. The casting of the rabbit reminded me a bit of Scum's Wish, an anime similarly hollowed out, even though it pretends that all the characters have depth. They don't. The society in the anime was so terribly oddly set up, with some suppressing their nature and others living in constant fear. The animal metaphor wasn't necessary, if they were normal people I probably would have rated it better – you don’t have to drag it out of me that these types of characters aren’t really my thing, which is probably why it couldn't evoke the right emotions in me at the right time. Who knows. One way or another, though you could think a lot more about what the poet was trying to say, I think it was just too much in some respects. Anyway. It didn't suit me, didn't entertain me, didn't charm me. In the end, it's just a high school anime with some of that social criticism and where sex isn't taboo – in fact, it's very sexually charged. Whoever finds the panda's eye wins!

I completely overlooked the series at first, I didn't find it interesting enough from the description (after all, Haru's previous heroine in Survival Wedding started out similarly), but then it was recommended to me and I picked it up. I don't regret it at all. It was a truly enjoyable and human experience. Three people in different life situations with different experiences meet for violin lessons and form a trio that is simply a joy to watch. They have interesting dialogues between them, the situation is never escalated to the point where you think it couldn't happen; at the same time, it's not boring, you just enjoy being with them. It's not just about them, of course; it's about their surroundings, which are smoldering. It's actually a cutout into several people's lives that drags beautifully and leaves a nice warm feeling. The acting and directing were very well done; the writer put meaningful lines in their mouths, it wasn't a complete rant about nothing. Looking for a relaxing experience? Check it out.

This series has beautiful moments, powerful moments, and there are times when it is terribly enjoyable to watch. The actors weren't bad at all, and while I'm not at all sure the director gets credit, their roles suited them. The series doesn't rush anywhere, but at the same time it's like the editor wanted to speed it up terribly and some of the transitions, scenes, don't build on each other, don't feel natural at all. The same goes for the way time passes in the series. It's so non-specific that you can't tell if it's been two days, three weeks, or six months. When you've got people dying, time is quite important, so their desire to live a day longer was pretty much drowned out in that. Plus a lot of the dying that the show focused on didn't really have that many complications, they were just suddenly dead. Despite some aspects I didn't like, the series was fun to watch, had strong moments, and was able to bring emotions out of the viewer, sometimes violently, sometimes very naturally. It's not a romance, it's more of a drama, and you’ll want to eat while you’re watching it. All the time. Watch out for that! A series that wants to convey something to the viewers, and that something was nicely said at the end by the bastard's brother – a wasted today is the tomorrow wanted by the one who died yesterday. 70%.

I finished watching it, even though the last four or so episodes really annoyed me, because it had some nice moments and because the main character wasn't totally useless. She wasn't a complete wretch, she wasn't an unappealing hen, that's what the other one was for, who made clothes for fun and clung to one of her cousins in a way that was truly unhealthy. Anyway, thanks to the fact that the main character was a nice lady who was pretty clear about how she wanted things in life, she basically didn't have that classic heroine goosebumpiness. Sure, again, she was terribly nice, but it was somehow kept within the bounds of what was tolerable. Plus she had good chemistry with all the guys, not necessarily in a romantic sense. But then there's the rest of it. For example, the aforementioned unappealing chick with no proper character who acted like the biggest loser and was rejected by one of her cousins because of... idiocy (after all, it was even shown what idiocy it was in the end). So we had those two there so the hen could suffer and Kang Hyun-min could pretend to be above it. That he's the world's biggest playboy (he was on a date with like 2-3 random chicks in the beginning and then his Don Juan quality was over), unfortunately with no development. It simply makes the jump at some point from playboy to man with a teeerribly guilty conscience. Then we have Kang Seo-woo, the singer, who is a nice character, but also a total blank, a nothing, and is actually there to make three cousins. And the fact that he's a popular singer doesn't actually make any – or almost any – sense in the whole story. The same could be said about the hen and her dress making... It's just there, because that's the way it’s supposed to be. And then there's Kang Ji Woon, the rebel of the family. Because he's a rebel, they dressed him up like that, gave him that passion for cars and stuff, but he didn't really come across as a rebel at all. He was just a schmuck who for some unknown reason was terribly attracted to the hen house, only to find out that he wasn't really attracted to her because he was more into Eun Ha Won. At times I was entertained, at times I had trouble just looking at the screen, it was so awful. Especially as one cliché after another started piling up towards the end, it really took me a few days to even talk myself into finishing it. Still, I totally get what people enjoy about it. It's lighthearted, you can switch off and let yourself ride the waves of Cinderella-ness. All things considered, the show makes it clear by its title that it is not something to be taken seriously. The problem is that the show itself sometimes takes itself seriously, and there it goes. A better 2 stars (I was thinking 3 stars despite all the half-baked stuff).

The story is based on the manga of the same name that was published in 1995-2000, so it does feel a bit like the source material is older, but honestly with a story like this it doesn't really matter. It's set in Kyoto, full of the delightful Kyoto dialect, and takes place in a family that has been running a wagashi, or traditional Japanese candy shop, for over 400 years. We have three daughters, and each is living out their romance in their own way. It's full of clichés, but it doesn't really matter because they’re not too distracting. It all moves along nicely, no one spends too long in the misunderstandings that occur. This is mostly due to the relatively straightforward nature of the second daughter and Kenji, a young employee who is about to join the family to help continue the family tradition. Each of the sisters has a different starting point, partner and age, so fans of love at first sight, relationships between friends since childhood, and relationships between school children will be in for a treat. Quirky, enjoyable, neither character needs to be beaten to death with a metal bar; throw in a beautiful set and you have a fine girl/woman series for an afternoon. A weaker 4 stars.

With this series, I'm really glad I can speak Japanese because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such stupid English subtitles. At the same time, this series is literally built on the conversations the characters have with each other, so if there's something in the subtitles that the characters aren't saying, or – and this happened a lot, too – the complete opposite meaning, you simply can't enjoy it. To be honest, it took me about two episodes to become friends with them, but I guess that's how it goes in real life, it just takes time. Still, after that I was just enjoying it and eager to see where their lives would go next. It was free of clichés (even the ending!), and while some of the characters were a bit too cartoonish, it was all within tolerable limits. A series for adults. This is simply what Nogi Akiko goes for, she knows how to create these characters, breathe life into them and make them likeable or unlikeable for a while; just human with everything. And it even went somewhere. Not to mention that it was brilliantly acted. Aragaki Yui may have been the weakest link in the main squadron, but she still played her part. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. The rest of the cast were brilliant. Especially Kuroki Haru. Again. I recommend it to those who understand at least something in Japanese, or to everyone if better subtitles are made.

Everyone seems to like submissive but cute airheads from the country. She's exactly the type I wouldn't even be friends with because I'd want to punch her every time she comes off as naive, pathetic, or both. A CEO and such a young man, and so capable. Intelligent. Manipulative. Beautiful. Perfect. Just delicious to look at. He kind of struck me as a fancy prostitute, paid by her parents so she could finally touch a man (and then he even proved he could be good at getting paid to woo women...). And there’s a lot of touch here – hugs and sex! And yet the scenes are cold, emotionless, it doesn't look like the airhead actually wants it. And did you notice the airhead's personality? I didn't either; maybe it was in there somewhere. Whoever finds it, let me know. Even a blow-up doll has more character. Anyway, it's kind of a classic. Prince falls in love with a damsel in distress, rescues her everywhere, "together" they overcome all the ridiculous obstacles keeping them apart so the ending is as sweet as a Starbucks coffee with three extra sugars. Terribly hard to watch, it's a total cringe. It’s only worth it if you want Japanese in the background. A weak 2 stars.

For me, it had a terribly dropping and rising quality. It took me about eight episodes to really get hooked, and then it was like on a swing, wondering what would happen to the characters and how they would solve their troubles, only to once again lose interest in the finale. Maybe it was too long and maybe it bothered me that when something was resolved, maybe even finished, it was forgotten? Whatever happened to the psychologist from the beginning who offered to help with counseling who was referred by the older priest? What about the girl in the hospital? The "strong" motive was there, but then it completely disappeared and no one remembered it anymore? After all, we know from the beginning that the older priest was murdered, but then somehow it gets forgotten, other things are dealt with, so that if it was remembered, it might upset and sadden a dozen people again? Sure, The Fiery Priest is funny; it's got all the cringe scenes, the fecal humor, and as far as funny scenes go, the actors are terrific together, they have good chemistry. As for the giant scandalous case that's going on the whole time, that's another story. I guess it also bothered me that there were moments of total amateurism interspersed with moments of brutality, where even a special unit of trained soldiers "intervened". Good as a comedy, good action scenes, the pattern was repetitive, but it was pretty brisk. But the rest of it dragged. I found that at times the blending of serious situations and comedy didn't work, while at times it once again worked very well. Add to that the familiar tunes (they played something that was heard in Naruto, for example, at least it was very very similar), and it managed to connect with the viewer even better. For me, just a terribly contradictory show, yet I would give it a positive rating. A strong 3 stars.

Nice conversation piece. It talks and talks and it kind of flows nicely. One suspects, perhaps hopes, how it will turn out. It's enjoyable, it flows nicely and it's believable, but it could use a little more tension. Or excitement. It just kind of “chugs" along. Maybe if had some it wouldn't be as believable. It's hard to say. Anyway, nice film, easy to follow. 60%.