Kaleidoscope Universe

Long time since I've seen Rain in any dramas so I forgot how charming and funny he could be. I certainly didn't expect to really love this drama which was basically a medical Rattatoulle drama with coma ghost instead of a rat.

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Found out about this drama by chance and really liking what I'm watching. Plus there's Kim Namgil as one of the main leads so that's one plus point. Plot reminds me of many anime series that involved demon slaying with people creating half-demon warriors in order to gain advantage over the enemy.

Overall, the plot is interesting and the pacing is okay. While I could see some argue that the pacing was slow, I didn't really have any trouble with that. The pacing right now was fine to allow people to know the basic setting and establishing the characters. That said, I do wish that this first part was a bit longer. While the plot between Van and Miho was so far pretty solid, I feel like the writer kinda neglecting Johan's character a bit. As in, a lot of time he was shown to be doing something in the background and we didn't really know anything about it until the last two episodes. And it felt that the involvement of the Vatican (?) exorcists was like a side plot to the main story since Van was the one mostly dealing with the lust demon while Johan not really functioning much aside from trying to oust Van from his protector role. While I do appreciate the occassional flashback to explain the origin on how Van end up being a half-demon, I do wish that there was a scene in the present where they address the issue. Especially when Van didn't become a half-demon by choice. And I wish the writers actually spend more time to explain to us what exactly is the lust demons and what it has to do with the opening line in the first episode.

Anyway, I like the casting. While Eunwoo was pretty cute as an exorcist priest, my attention was mostly on Kim Namgil as the emo half-demon Van. Gotta say that Van was giving off a bit of Bidam vibe that it felt somewhat nostalgic. Lee Dahee is pretty okay as Won Miho/Wonjeong. Since her character was a reincarnated person who was supposed to be a key person for fixing the barrier to seal the lust demons from running free, it was pretty understandable to see her in panic and in confusion when she end up being targeted by all these monsters. Frankly she's doing well playing a character who was suddenly thrust into an unbelievable situation. And boy, she's really good at running on high heels a lot ❤

Since I'm used to watching tokusatsu shows, I'm fine with seeing all the CGI at work in the drama. And the monster makeup were quite decently made. I have to praise the action coordination as it really pumps you up when watching the fight sequence. I like the ost track as well esp the main theme with the haunting and sorrowful vibe.

I usually tend to get distracted while watching dramas when a show try to info dump too much on the first episodes or drag the plot on unnecessary things but I didn't get sidetracked on other things while watching this drama. So I gotta say that so far the writer was doing a good job on keeping my attention on the show. I'll be looking forward to see the part 2 once it release next month.

After 9 years since Midsummer's Night, I was really delighted to see a new addition to the Detective Galileo series by Higashino Keigo-san. I really gonna start reading the novel once I get my hand on it.

What an enjoyable movie! I really missed seeing the trio together after so long and it was certainly a delight to find out that Higashino Keigo-san did release a new novel after Midsummer's equation. (Though I still wished publishers also pick up translating the other earlier novels, given how popular the series is)

So after so long we're getting a new Kindaichi drama with Michieda Shunsuke as the 5th gen Kindaichi. That means, I might as well made an additional post based on the comparison post that I used to make of the last 4 series of Kindaichi dramas. That said, I'm considering to revisit the older Kindaichi series just because. I'd make a proper review of Kindaichi 5 later once the last episode was released. 

So onwards to Micchi's review!

Kindaichi 5th Gen - Michieda Shunsuke 

Pros
- Cutest Kindaichi to date. Have to say that Micchi really won me over, enough for me to raise his ranking to my second fav live action Kindaichi. 
- Likewise, I love Moka's Miyuki as well. After Tomosaka Rie, Kamishiraishi Moka really did carry the character really well. 
- Since Season 5 did remake some of the cases that had appeared in Season 1, of course that meant that Itsuki-san made a comeback after so long!
- Kenmochi-ossan is so cool
- Saki got some upgrades in term of recording equipments
- OST by Kanematsu Shu & Saiki Tatsuhiko with special track by Mitake Akira (Mysterious Mallet 2022)

Cons
- No Akechi again. His part in Kindaichi the Killer case was transferred to Kenmochi-ossan. Drama do seem to hate on Akechi-san, isn't it? I really am thinking that there must be some kind of ban at place against having Akechi appear in the live action.

That said, my ranking on my fav casts playing the main characters slightly got changed. Basically, it can be summed up by this.

Hajime: Domoto Tsuyoshi > Michieda Shunsuke >Yamada Ryosuke > Matsumoto Jun > Kamenashi Kazuya  @ (1>5>4>2>3)

Miyuki: Tomosaka Rie > Kamishiraishi Moka > Kawaguchi Haruna > Anne Suzuki > Ueno Juri @ (1>5>4>2>3)

Kenmochi: Furuoya Masato > Sawamura Ikki > Naitou Takashi > Yamaguchi Tomomitsu > Kato Masaya @ (1>5>2>4>3)

Title: Too Harsh
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon, Jade Empress/Director, Gob-dan
Summary: For quite some time, he had been feeling bitter towards Gu Ryeon. While it might just be his pride, he wanted her to understand what he felt. But now, he wondered if he had been a bit too harsh on her...

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Title: Too Harsh
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon
Summary: For quite some time, he had been feeling bitter towards Gu Ryeon. While it might just be his pride, he wanted her to understand what he felt. But now, he wondered if he had been a bit too harsh on her...

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Title: Rouge
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon
Summary: Even as the thread of fate between them has been severed, there's still something that ties them together.

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Title: Complex
Series: 공부의 신 / Master of Study
Characters: Kang Seokho, Han Sujeong, Hwang Baekhyeon
Summary: His relationship with Hwang Baekhyeon had been complicated since the very beginning.

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Title: The Black Dragon
Series: 군주-가면의 주인 | Ruler - Master of the Mask
Chapter: Brother
Characters: Lee Seon, Lee Chungwoon
Summary: Snippets of the time period Lee Seon was living as a peddler

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