Re: Mind

I'll say this plainly, if you're an average American who watches mostly American/British television and movies don't watch this series. You won't like it, you won't get it. I'll quickly address the thing I've noticed several Americans complaining about. This show doesn't give a damn about the how any of this happened. How they disappear, how they were brought there. None of that matters, it's completely irrelevant in this kind of story. If you're expecting that kind of realism or explanation, you'll be disappointed. That's not what this show is about. The why is the only thing that matters.

For the actual show, it's surprisingly good for an idol work. The plot had substance, the acting wasn't utterly horrible, and the characters had some depth to them when you get to the later episodes. Since the culprit was rather obvious, I'm glad that they allowed the backstory to take precedence and hold the tension. It was definitely the right call and the story flowed properly without dragging at all. Even better, they kept the motive hidden for most of the show so I actually had something to try to figure out. That made it worth a rewatch. The ending also caught me by surprise, which is a nice change. The credits only made it more bittersweet and sad. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it does surprisingly well as a drama, despite its idol origins.

Honestly, main issue was the flashbacks. I really liked the idea of a show set in a single room and the flashbacks completely killed the effect and spoiled a lot of plot points early. If they were removed, I'd give this a 9 instead.

I'm a little surprised by all of the harsh reviews. When I saw it on Netflix, I kept thinking how dumb it sounded, but it kept pushing it and pushing it and finally I was hard up for something to watch and tried it and it wasn't bad. I watched it some more and it wound up really growing on me.

I thought that everyone gave a pretty solid performance and that the writing was solid. I was satisfied with the resolution of the mystery at the end (a few things are left unresolved, but most of it is fully explained) and liked the way the writing tied everything all together in the final two episodes.

I was awake tonight and wanted to see what's new and can catch my attention. Said and done. I happen to come across this tv series. Ok. I watch the trailer, seems okish cause I am an amateur when it comes to Japanese *horror* movies and I wanted to give it a shot. Ok. 12 episodes + 1 special, I can live with that, lol. Not too long to get overattached to the roles and not too short to make me wander "the duck am I watching". Of course I kept asking myself that question.

I was surprised to see that it captivated me the very second cause it is a genre of movies/tv shows/videos that I constantly watch so there's no surprise. The surprise came when I finished the series around 3:30 AM and I found myself asking again what have I just watched. I would not call it bad (except for the lack of noises and the absurd way they dissappear when it is clearly that they could not dissappear) bu I would not call it the best also cause it is not.

All in all, we can all agree that if you are an amateur, you can give it a try. After giving it a try, you can state if you enjoyed it or not, cause out there, there are haters that after 5 mins of watching, they say it is stupid.

(No spoilers for this paragraph)

12 high school girls are locked in a room and left to find out why and who locked them in. They decide to delve into their high school history and we learn about some dark secrets the students had which shed light into their capture.

My review in sum: this captured my attention enough to get me to finish it. But I regret that it did.

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(Mild spoilers ahead)

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I agree with some reviews that the pacing was sometimes good enough to keep me roped in. However, a lot of the time it was dragged out or very rushed. The plot had some very loose ends.

I won't nitpick at the "holes" some people have mentioned because that didn't bother me as much as the pacing and some of the writing - especially how the series ended. I was left disappointed and slightly empty by the ending. This point essentially means I wouldn't recommend this show to people.

I will nitpick something and say that I wish there wasn't as much screaming. Some of the girl's reactions to the horrors in the room were either over dramatic or very drawn out. It made for unnecessarily long and hard to watch scenes.

There were also a lot of padding. Some episodes could have been shorter. This damaged the quality of the narration in this story. We learn about the girl's live almost purely from dialogue as we don't get to actually watch how most stories played out with our eyes. This in itself isn't bad. It could have just been done better. The extended bickering and arguing made me zone out sometimes out of disinterest. And so, it was difficult for me to notice when the girl's went into the story again.

So yeah, this is essentially what I mean by good premise but bad execution. Wouldn't really recommend.

It took me a while to get through this show.

Very serious, pessimistic reflection of how even the best intentions go sour. Intriguing but it isn't really about the mystery or logistics, it's just a way of propping up a long Socratic dialogue on the subject of justice and sorority. In short: one very long conversation sort of like 12 angry men except it's 12 victims talking about 1 juror.

The episodes are pretty good at not over staying their welcome but you need to be in a robust mood to take them. You eventually get flashbacks but they're not what it's about.

It's hard to really say what this actually about. I suppose...grey morality? The way we betray each other? Sending up the myth of female solidarity?

One thing that struck me is the zeitgeist of female bonding in high school and how the seemingly idyllic masks jealousy and domination just below the surface. How even seemingly the most harmless of company the very darkest of human tendency can cost lives.

There's is a lot to follow and untangle and I won't say it sort of feels like a chore by the end and it really is the process more than the conclusions here.

I have no real idea if this is genius and I just didn't get it, or whether this is just pseudo-intellectual drivel to make adolescent K-pop fans think they're edgy and thoughtful. Or is this a J-pop group? What even is the difference?

There's basically four characters: the smart girl in the glasses, the angry girl with deep voice, the mysterious capture who you wonder about from episode one and everyone else.

Ultimately I am not going to say that this hit the jackpot but it's a lot more watchable than a lot of generic TV dramas out there. The limited settings actually made it kind of neat.'

The final episode is special and I quite admire but I shall say no more here.