100 reviews · average 8.7 / 10
dirtypink · 16 Jul 2007
I love this story.it is so romantic and sweet.it captivates me.i love the pureness and innocence of their love-its just so touching.they managed to display such a controversial topic and make it good-real.i've got to say hideaki is super cute when he was young.lol.
xploring · 8 Jul 2007
For me, I like the first 2 episodes quite a lot, especially when it tackles society's expectations and the pressure Michi (or anyone of us) is under. Then, after Michi's courage rose to declare her love for Hikaru and they ran away together, I was a bit disappointed. Some of the minor characters' choices and actions just seemed too unbelieveable, the story seemed to meander without much focus, perhaps much like the characters themselves, and I couldn't really tell what they were thinking/going through. The best part of the story for me is at the end, where it rose above even the love story and really took some surprising directions to say things about how to live and carry on, and reasons to live. With this in mind, in hindsight, I think I missed quite a few things conveyed by the story and characters' transformation. I actually thought that Nanako's acting in some of early and middle parts was not that good, but now I think perhaps I really didn't understand what Michi was going through. Michi's transformation/growth throughout was really quite inspiring. I really like this jdorama a lot. I am going to rewatch this, probably another 2 or 3 times, to understand more about what the story and characters tries to convey.
For me: 9/10. at the moment, possibly more after rewatch
P.S. It didn't occur to me at all that the ending is up to intepretation. LOL
I thought Michi had really woken up. Still do actually.
Wynter · 22 Jun 2007
I try not to have any biases when I start a drama, but after I read a synopsis for this one I knew I wouldnft like it. Reasons? For starters, this drama stars Takizawa Hideaki. Ifve seen two of his dramas and Ifm convinced that hefs one of the most terrible actors Ifve come across. Watching his acting is like watching a dead fish pretend to be alive. Regardless, I figured that because the drama also stars Matsushima Nanako, then there could be a chance of survival. This leads to the second reason. I read the plot summary. As a teacher, I have no respect for stories where the sexual relationship between a teacher and student is glorified. Itfs disgusting and inappropriate and should NOT be made light of. With these two factors already affecting my opinion before even beginning the show, I knew it wouldnft have a chance.
To make matters worse, the first episode really upset me. Itfs clear that the writers/producers are aware that this topic is inappropriate, and so decided to manipulate the characters, and thereby the audience. They made the teacher appear really young (shefs 26 years old), and immature. She lives at home with her parents, who pamper and gbabyh her, and she has no responsibilities. This poor ickle teacher only got a full-time position because her father works in the field. The student (who is 17) bursts onto the scene on a motorcycle, which an average high school student couldnft possibly own. He comes off being really gmatureh for his age and responsible as an individual. Therefore the relationship can work, right? I mean, the child is really mature for his age, and therefs only a 9-year gapc not something outrageous like a 10-year gap.
O come on, now! Ifm a 25-year-old teacher with a 7-year gap between my 18-year-old students and myself. When I started teaching, I was 23 with only a 5-year gap. I have never once been attracted to any of my students for the simple reason that I just donft see them as possible mates. I see them, really, as children that I must nurture and aid in their growth as human beings. Ifm utterly disgusted and disappointed that in this show, they try to make the relationship gworkh by suggesting that, really, theyfre equals. This is morally wrong, and illegal. Completely disgusting.
As the show progressed, however, I began to sympathize with Hirose-sensei. Matsushima Nanako did an excellent job with the character and truly brought her to life. I could see the connection the sensei had with her student, and how age never matters when it comes to the bonding of souls. But why the SEXUAL relationship? The premise of the story, when you look at the message and meaning alone, is so strong that I think the story would have worked without the sex. This same story could have been portrayed through a FRIENDSHIP and would have worked equally as well.
The writing was good and the acting by Nanako was grand, I just wish the situations were altered.
There is a 9-year gap between the two. Ten years down the road this would have been fine. This choice was not made, and as a result, I couldnft appreciate this drama at all.
Shindou · 24 Jan 2007
There was very little on-screen chemistry between Nanako and Takki making the dorama feel a bit empty despite the controversial topic. Wooden is a good adjective to describe the overall atmosphere I felt while watching this; perhaps the slow pacing might have affected my viewing experience but regardless, this dorama isn't one that particularly stands out for me.
Bekkichan · 23 Jan 2007
It seems many people are getting so worked up over the teacher/student controversy in this series that they miss the big picture. This isn't real life; it's a *dramatization* of what can unfold when ANY two people fall into ANY kind of relationship that society labels as deviant. The reactions of those around the lead couple would've been essentially the same for any other taboo relationship; namely, a scant few have the wisdom and compassion to understand (Hikaru's uncle, Michi's mother, Kinoshita), but the vast majority are too selfish and close-minded to see that certain details - age, race, gender, anything - really aren't so big a deal when two people love each other. I think that's why it didn't focus much on story-specific issues like the legal age law - it was meant to be a representation of "deviant" relationships in general.
Really, Majo no Jouken has far more psychological depth than many give it credit for. It's not just a teacher and a student in love, nor is it just a pair of pretty faces to glee over. Aside from the obvious central issue, we also see an almost incestual obsessive mother, a short-tempered selfish father, power-hungry colleagues, possessive exes, child abuse, and still more, all serving to create as much unnecessary grief as possible for the lead couple. Of course, they also make several mistakes themselves throughout the series that only make things worse, but hey, it wouldn't be a "drama" if anyone was perfect.
Overall, while this won't go down as my favorite drama, I'm grateful to the makers for coming up with a series that can make people think about these prejudices and the unnecessary suffering they can cause. I just wish more people could see it that way. This is definitely a drama that should be viewed with an open mind.
Getting away from the psychological stuff... this is a decent drama, but not the best I've seen. The story is compelling, the characters are extremely well-designed... but the acting is just satisfactory. Matsushima's character especially felt a bit hollow to me. She had the least depth and personality of the entire cast, and it actually amused me that Takizawa's character was more mature than hers. Not sure if that was the writing or the acting, though.
I actually rated this a 6.5 simply because the last half was so frustrating and depressing, which sort of diminishes the re-watch value for me. But I rounded up because I'm willing to admit the story had me glued to the screen and rooting for the lead couple (but less willing to admit that Takizawa IS nice to look at *shame*).
adinda_indriaputri@yahoo · 25 Dec 2006
my fave jdorama . I liked the way nanako and hideaki showed their love to each others. it was really touching when i saw them together trying to find their freedom and cannot be parted . the ost is really sweet though really sad ..but the thing that makes it always remembered was the ending such a beautiful ending. i prefer happy ending because they had struggled for their love and just like hikaruLs uncle said NthereLs sadness and hardships but thereLs happiness and joy in the end..nanako played really brilliant i really could see her love to hikaru when they were looking each others.and for takizawa oh my god he was really cute+hot+charming in this drama...(wait a minute..he is always hot +charming+cute..isnt he?)
Hikaru-kun · 2 Nov 2006
I cried a lot with this fantastic drama...Hikaru and Michi makes me dream!!
PeaceUP · 17 Sep 2006
This drama is awesome, it was well made. The acting, soundtrack and everything all came together nicely.
It especially helps that Takki is just so damn hot.
This was my first j-drama I remember watching and it got me hooked.
mariecris · 27 Aug 2006
TAKIZAWA tha best...
meflanka · 15 Jul 2006
To sustain the balance in a society, laws are implemented. Taboos are ostracized by the people. Social issues greatly influence the people.
"Forbidden Love" is one of those series that breaks the wall of taboos... In our society, a teacher-student relationship is greatly prohibited. However, this series shows that when it comes to love, the status of a person doesn't matter. what matters is that you know how to love and you felt love.
The age gap of the two protagonist also contributes to the problem between the lovers. However, if u think about it, many men today have relationships with older women, and few people just give a damn about it. In this movie, it just happened that Michi is the teacher of Hikaru. But if u'l just focus on the love that they have, you can say that they deserve each other.
What i don't like about this drama is that they should have waited for one year to let other people accept their relationship. And Michi should have left her job as soon as she felt love for hikaru so that they won't face greater problems. they would have felt more freedom f they have think the consequences of their "forbidden love" to refrain the existence of heavy problems...
viet_la_amour · 7 Jun 2006
This is an extremely good Japanese drama. I must say it is the best drama I have watched so far, even better than the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden", in my opinion.
Anyone who says that this drama is disturbing/taboo must be a close-minded Christian conformist. It shouldn't really affect you that much, because after all it is just a story. And it will probably stay that way for a while, because society is afraid of changes. But when you watch drama series like these, you have to approach them with no prejudices and biases. And maybe put yourself in their place and just think about it for a little bit. Most people just look at it and just say "that's just wrong". But they never seek to understand before they judge. Like Michi says in the drama "he just happens to be 17".
Anyways, that was just for the disturb viewers.
This drama really made me cry. Such pure love and no one can understand. It's sad. My favorite and also my most hated scene is the beautiful ending... because there's two broad ways you can interpret the ending..
1.) Hiraku was just dreaming, and Michi never really did wake up.
or
2.) Hiraku wasn't dreaming, and Michi really DID wake up.
I kind of go towards him dreaming.. and Michi doesn't really wake up.. because of the song... it's so sad...
"You are always gonna be my love
Even if I fall in love with someone else once again
I'll remember to love, you taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Now it's still a sad love song
Until I'm able to sing a new song
Time stood still, but it's trying to move once more
Full of things I don't want to forget
I'll surely be crying tomorrow at this time
I'll be thinking of you
You will always be inside my heart
There's always a place just for you
I hope that I have a place in your heart, too
Now and forever you are still the one
Now it's still a sad love song
Until I'm able to sing a new song"
It's like Hikaru is singing the song to Michi.. depressing. haha.
alchocoholic · 30 Apr 2006
While I was a bit hesitant at the thought of watching a jdrama about a teacher falling in love with her student, I decided to give this a go and I'm so glad I did. It is by far one of the best and most romantic series I've ever seen!
I was unable to stop watching this, anxious to know what was going to happen in the next episode so I spent the whole weekend glued to my TV. The whole thing was perfect, until of course the ending. I wouldn't exactly call it an anti-climax but I will say that it was a bit strange. Before reading up on MNJ on the net, I honestly thought that Michi woke up, which is perhaps why I found Hikaru's expression weird coz I thought he would be a little bit more excited to see his true love awake at last.
Now that I've read some of the reviews and some say that it was a dream, I had to rewatch it and I honestly dont think it was a dream at all. Like I wrote earlier, I personally think that she really did wake up. How could they go through all the hardships and obstacles only for Michi to remain unconscious at the very end?? Furthermore, I think the final image of Hikaru and Michi minus the shackles also indicates that the 2 of them can finally be happy together after overcoming the final obstacle (Michi being unconscious) when she woke up.
Anyway, regardless of whether the ending is a dream or not, MNJ is a definite must-watch. Even though this is just a drama, watch it with an open mind and allow it to teach you one of the ultimate lessons in life - that true love can conquer age differences, disapproving parents and rules set by society and prevail in the end.
aznpride26 · 14 Apr 2006
yea so im just like all the other japanese chicks out their...i love takky! he is sooo incredibly cute, great, everything in this drama. him and matsushima nanako did an excellent job. i know that the drama is a little bit tiring but if you're a fan of takky's it's definitely worth it!
marsqurine · 17 Mar 2006
This is my favourite drama ever :) The cast really portrayed the emotions really well. Watch how the everlasting love between a unexperienced teacher and a high school student unfold before you :)
veno · 16 Feb 2006
Still downloading.... Watched ep 1-3.....
So far, I love this series.. Really want them (Michi and Hikaru) to be together...... seem from the review, the end is a bit confusing (not a happy one?) hic... hic....
Can't wait to watch them all......
yvonnescence88 · 9 Jan 2006
though, hideaki's acting could have been better... that aside, this drama is so touching! love the theme song first love. and the ending. overall, the best!
solemniterocker · 1 Oct 2005
This series made me realize that we should respect others. There's nothing we can do if we love.
johnjeon · 23 Sep 2005
As a romantic tale it completely fails but as a story of a deeply emotionally disturbed woman, it's fairly good. This woman has serious problems and I'm not talking about falling for an underaged guy. It's how she deals with it. She seems incapable of rational thought or having concern for anyone but herself. She had to know how her life and the lives of those around her would be impacted but instead of waiting a year for the boy to graduate and avoid all these problems she went ahead.
This is mostly just a criticism of the main characters actions and not so much against the drama. As a psychological portrait it was interesting, as a romance it was very lame.
It's about two immature people falling in "love" and making a series of really bad decisions.
Bodhi · 15 Sep 2005
The Ending!! Please do not read this if you have not finished watching the entire series! Spoilers directly ahead.
I am a big fan of ambiguous endings, films or TV shows that donft spell out exactly what has happened have more impact because Ifm thinking about what happened at the end and how Ifm supposed to interpret it. My first reaction to this ending was, what just happened! I expected that Michi played by Nanako Matsushima, was going to awaken from her coma and when she opened her eyes and ran her fingers through Hikarufs hair I had the happy ending that I fully expected, until Hikaru portrayed by Hideaki Takizawa, opened his eyes and then went back sleep. So her awaking from the coma was only a dream. Throughout the series the couple would talk about running away to somewhere that they could be together and free a happy land, the only happy land that the two of them could share together was a dream.
The drama at times I believe had the characters doing some very stupid things. I thought that Michi jumping right from her near marriage, to a love affair with a student rather too quick. Michi declaring her love in front of the assembly was a very bad idea, the only excuse I can conceive is that she was in shock from her fathers betrayal and decided to lash back but obliviously ruins Hikarufs chance for happiness at the school and thereby her own. The other motivation I question is that if Michi truly loved Hikaru couldnft she have waited until he finished school, he would be of age and also a much brighter future then the gas station attendant he eventually becomes. Why couldnft she wait or was her emotional state just so agitated that she couldnft.
The drama reminded me a lot of Aoi tori aka Bluebird which is about an illicit love affair between a station master and a married woman. In fact the protagonists of both dramas lose jobs they love and take employment as manual laborers at a fish market as they are forced to flee there homes under the pressure of society.
People speak of the disturbing factor of this drama as the student / teacher love affair but what I find more disturbing is Hikarufs mother played by Kuroki Hitomi. At times the jealously that motivated her appeared driven more by lust then by motherly concern. I would consider incest to be more taboo then a twenty six year old woman having an affair with a seventeen year old male.
Ifve had this drama for a while but finally watched it this past weekend as this ongoing case in Albany New York, sparked my interest and I wanted to see a different cultural perception on this issue.
This is from the Times Union Website
Former teacher pleads not guilty in rape case
Sandra Beth Geisel faces trial in Christian Brothers Academy case
By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer Albany Times Union
First published: Wednesday, September 14, 2005
ALBANY -- Sandra Beth Geisel cradled her head in shackled hands and cried Tuesday after she pleaded not guilty to raping a 16-year-old boy.
Geisel, 42, a former teacher at Christian Brothers Academy, was indicted Friday on charges that also include engaging in a criminal sexual act with her former student.
In New York, it is illegal to have sexual contact with anyone under 17.
The student was three months from his 17th birthday when the incidents allegedly occurred.
So in the circumstances presented by this drama it would not be illegal for Hikaru and Michi to have sex in my home state, I donft know what laws would be broken if they had runaway together as they did this drama.
My biggest objection with the situation as presented is the student/teacher relationship. Because Hikaru and Michi are so close in age and because Hikaru is so close to legal age, I do not have a strong objection to their relationship, quite the contrary I was rooting for them.
The other thing I question is if the roles had been reversed would my attitude be different. If it was a male teacher and a seventeen year old girl, or if the teacher had been older or the student younger; I would be more apt to be against it.
Society although touted as being free has many rules and customs that it imposes on individuals, rightfully so in many cases, no one condones murder or theft, but rules and customs do change over time, the hateful practice of slavery has been outlawed for a far shorter period of time less then a few hundred years. It was considered the norm in many societies for the prior four thousand years.
I enjoyed the drama very much it had a superior ending and gave me much to ponder. I would highly recommend it no matter what your feelings are on the subject matter itself. The acting was first rate from all of the principal actresses and actors.
I also posted this to my blog with working links
http://burndvdburn.blogspot.com/
Kitchen · 21 Aug 2005
This is the first dorama i've watched, I heard the main theme and just decided to check the series, best thing i've watched in years, with great characters and performances, touching music played in all the right places. Plenty of twists and turns and you really do feel the ups and downs of the characters, I shed so many tears watching this just glad no one else was about to see, but then again what's the point in watching stuff like this if you don't get anything from it, Im afraid to watch other stuff now as I fear it won't live up to this, excellent, the only word i can use over and over again to describe it. All other love stories after this will be pretty tame, watch at your own risk, and dont forget the hankies. I liked the ending, if you think about it for a minute and compare the last image of the opening credits with the end of the credits in the last ep you'll see what has happened, very sad ending just thinking about it makes my eyes fill up.