Lucky Seven, Honjitsu wa Taian Nari & Strawberry Night

I decided to watch three Winter doramas this year. 

"Lucky Seven".

"Honjitsu wa Taian Nari".

"Strawberry Night".

Mystery/Thriller genre <3

Among these three, I probably enjoyed Honjitsu the most... Lucky Seven was..hmm.. I guess the plot didn't work so well with me. I do have a favourite character & it's not MatsuJun's character. (:P)..  I don't really like how he portray his character - was it trying too hard..? Or maybe I saw some gap in his character that doesn't complement each other...? It was somewhat a complete opposite to Eita's performance. Now I know why I wasn't Jun-baited during HanaDan days :P ... I actually loved Jun's Kindaichi (another mystery dorama) - it felt like he wasn't afraid to look dorky/uncool at that time.. now seems different.. *sigh*

I was surprisingly a bit disappointed with "Strawberry Night". It wasn't bad..but it wasn't exceptionally good either (at least to me, it felt that way). In general, there were some interesting cases (bizarre & gruesome) & superb acting from guest stars such as Sugimoto Tetta..  Ishiguro Ken was amazing in the last three episodes!... with some exception... Oomasa was predictably bad (somewhat unnatural expressions... I hope she doesn't appear much in Mikeneko).. Kimura Tae was fine but I find her voice annoying (happened out of blue! I was surprised too) during the scene in the interrogation room, I had to fastforward that scene (hopefully I didn't miss anything essential :P) so that I could finish that particular episode. The regular cast was good too.. though I was kinda annoyed with Gantetsu the whole time... sometimes with Reiko too.. After watching a full-length series, I realise that I don't really like Reiko.. I'm not convinced with this intuition thing (though I believe in intuitions) incorporated in her character. I enjoyed seeing her chemistry with Kikuta, but I wasn't expecting anything to develop between them... Takashima Masahiro & Endo Kenichi were unexpectedly charming in their characters. Watanabe Ikkei's character was annoying too.. actually I'm more annoyed at how Watanabe played his character..or maybe it is the character itself...??  I've always loved Namase's acting...even if it's only a minor role, he always nails the character down. His character in Strawberry Night included.. sometimes I wished he wasn't so clingy to Reiko.. XD


But I'm satisfied with both "Lucky Seven" & "Strawberry Night" endings... especially "Strawberry Night".. *still impressed by Ishiguro-san's performance*

Lucky Seven #9 & #10 [Final]

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 15.6% (#9), 16.9% (#10)
Average: 15.6%

My ratings: 

9  | 4.5/5

10 | 4.5/5
(Average:3.95)

I think I love this case best! :P ... was already enjoying them from the beginning. There were more action scenes in these two episodes.. even Toko-san performed the kick [that I assume] mentioned by Tsukushi-san before. Everyone showed their cool side again :D... 

Ohh.. I was surprised by Kaga Takeshi's appearance! What a presence to have in Lucky Seven! すごい。 ...& Nitta is back~!  So.. he was doing undercover work for all this while (supposedly :P.. I can never get over the fact Eita went missing in the middle because he's busy with another acting project)... The moment Nitta appeared, my attention was on him again lol.. The ending scene was funny too...it almost made me want a sequel...

...but I don't really want it, to be honest. 

I was expecting a better chemistry between the seven than what I'd seen... it was kind of vague..? Unstable? 微妙って感じ？Hmm. It wasn't as strong as what I experienced with other doramas (& this Lucky Seven detective agency has so much potential)... At times, someone will act quite unnatural... then another time, another person act the same... Of course, I have to admit it was better than the beginning... especially after Nitta left, but... that was it.

Maybe seven is too many?

p/s: Read some rumours about a movie sequel... 

Lucky Seven #7 & #8

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 13.6% (#7), 15.5% (#8)

My ratings: 

7 | 4.5/5 

8 | 3.5/5

I loved the grandma episode :) They showed a different side to Junpei's character - it was nice. I thought he has chemistry with the airport detective but seems like they broke off in the next episode :/  Felt that it was kind of random that Asuka was on the verge of getting married.. the change sounded so sudden to me. Are there going to be sparks between her & Shuntaro? The eighth episode seems to hint that.. hmmm. Anyway. There was one scene near the end where Asuka hit him (while they were hiding) for being so close(?) & Shuntaro hit a shelf nearby XD. I was so amused seeing DoS Jun treated that way (even though it was only acting)...

Nitta is mentioned again! What new story will his comeback bring??

Lucky Seven #6

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Rating (Kanto): 14.6%

My rating: 4/5

Surprisingly, my watching experience isn't affected much by Nitta's absence... I dare say  he shone the most in the first few episodes... now that the character is gone, everyone started being in the same light again... a blessing in disguise? :P

Almost everyone showed their cool side in this episode :) Shuntaro, Tsukushi-san, Junpei... it was a fun episode. Tanihara's character/story was also enjoyable.

Was the first case story explained fully? I'm still curious of why Tsukushi-san was stabbed & how Touko-san saved him (& kicked someone?)... I'm guessing it was similar to what happened in this episode..

I still feel weird about MatsuJun's portrayal of Shuntaro. Guess I'm not a fan enough to appreciate the performance huh. I like it when he showed Shuntaro's not-so-cool side... but is totally turned off by those cool expressions (I'm a totally strange Arashi fan XD)...

Lucky Seven #4 & #5

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 15.4% (#4), 15.2% (#5)

My ratings: 

4 | 3.5/5

5 | 3.5/5

Eita's character is gone :(

Anyway... well, I read that he has butai/stageplay so it's understandable for his character to be absent, I guess . But I don't know if I can say I like how they make his character very suspicious in the fourth episode... The change was so drastic. Ahh... just when his friendship with Shuntaro got better, he's leaving already...


Oh well.

There was one scene where Oizumi's character (Junpei) checked the lock of Nitta's apartment door for any signs of being broke into.. I totally thought of "Kagi no Kakatta Heya" the instance lock is mentioned... XD. I wonder if Ohno will make an appearance in the final episode..? It's okay if he doesn't.. I'm just hoping there'll be a glimpse of the next Mon9 in the end of the final episode <3

I saw Tanihara in the preview for next episode :P

Lucky Seven #3

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Rating (Kanto): 15.2%

My rating: 4/5

Ahh.. they have gotten comfortable with each other in this episode. 良かったね。

That side story  about Shuntaro as a suspected stalker was kind of funny... & the kid was so random.. Too random. I was annoyed at how casually she stole the dog away from Shuntaro. But this 10-year-old girl is very matured. I actually like the scene (I cried ..hehe) where she bowed down to apologize to the man her mum swindled earlier.

Preview for next episode: What is Nitta doing?

Lucky Seven #1 & #2

http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Lucky_Seven

Ratings (Kanto): 16.3% (#1), 16.9% (#2)

My ratings: 

1 | 3.5/5 (It was just "meh" for me)

2 | 4/5 (Loved the guest characters & that scene on bench at the end :'D)

Finally started watching this before the final episode air next week :P

This is going to be hard to review. I didn't have much expectations before watching. My expectations were pretty much at a neutral level. Something about Jun bugged me in the first episode. The character?...or his portrayal???  When I reached episode 2, I could see where they want this character to head to...but I'm not used to it yet.. maybe after a few more episodes. Maybe.

I have mixed feelings for the interaction between the Lucky Seven (L7) detectives. Excepting Shuntaro, everyone is supposed to be very familiar with each other. But sometimes it feels awkward when Oizumi & Naka's characters interact with other characters. Somewhat forced... & a bit unnatural? Eita & Matsushima fell right into their characters..though Matsushima didn't appear that much really. Her presence as their boss reminds me of her character in "Bijo ka Yajuu" (minus the aloofness). Eita portrays his character naturally. Nitta is my favourite character since the first episode.  

...and I'm skipping the synopses :P because my reviews usually are centered on my impression on that particular episode.