celinka20

The set up was very well done. The creepiness was real, in both plot lines. When you start to expect the story to get more complicated and show you how clever the director is, that is when everything appears problematic.

Japanese films are usually brilliant because they are able to show the nuances of human behaviour, and that is what makes the stories and characters believable. This movie fails miserably.

The problem is that I wish I had known it would fail before I spent two hours watching it. I kept expecting one character to use their brain, or another character to do the right thing. Nope.

The motives of the characters is also something I have to guess at. So dumb.

Started off with a mystery and the premise makes the viewer root for certain characters. The unravelling of the mystery was entertaining to watch because of all the plot twists.

The social injustice narrative became a bit too heavy with the sadistic abuse of the servants, and there never seemed to be any way out. The social injustice narrative became a bit too heavy with the sadistic abuse of the servants, and the tiresome part of it is the fact that there never seemed to be any way out. They all had to endure it because of the poverty back at home, and the seemingly high wages that "compensated" for the "back-breaking labour." In spite of that explanation, it's hard to believe that money is enough to motivate someone stay at this job when some of the abuse could maim them for life, making it difficult for them to continue earning any income at all.

The acting was quite convincing for the most part, for both sides of villains and protagonists. Thanavate Siriwattanagul, who plays Mawin, stood out for me. The characterization of the servants was quite one-dimensional for all of them, so one cannot say that they had much acting to sell to begin with.

Ending was satisfying, although a bit too fantastical.

This drama reminded me of the soap operas produced by TVB in Hong Kong back in the 80's and 90's. A lot of these tropes were later adopted by Korean dramas in the 2000's to 2010's. This Japanese drama, even though it was released in 2008, was refreshing and entertaining. The reason? Because it did not use melodrama like the others to sustain the viewer's interest.

What I liked:

• the dynamics of the three siblings
• some of the realism experienced in male-female romances
• unconventional characters > love how each sibling had distinct personality traits
• the fact that the younger brother and sister played a big part in the solving of the mystery, and did not simply be relegated to sidekick status
• character development for the protagonists and antagonisists

> showed a subtle complexity rather than relying on stock characteristics

• the ending

What was iffy:

• could have paid more attention to the relationship dynamics between Koichi & Shizuna

> considering the fact that they were the major players in the scams and the investigation of the mystery.