Hello
안녕하세요
(Annyeonghaseyo)
こんにちは
(Konnichiwa)
你好
(Ni Hao)
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I'm back again with another post featuring a Japanese drama, and this time I'm sharing with you Switched.
Switched is a Japanese Netflix original series, which is written by Shiki Kawabata and Michitaka Okada and directed by Hiroaki Matsuyama. The series is based on the manga series 'Sora Wo Kakeru Yodaka' by Shiki Kawabata. The series aired on the 1st of August 2018, through Netflix as a Netflix Original, the series contains 6 episodes, with each episode ranging from 30-45 minutes long.
Main Cast:
Daiki Shigeoka as Shunpei Kaga
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Tomohiro Kamiyama as Koshiro Mizumoto
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Kaya Kiyohara as Ayumi Kohinata
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Miu Tomita as Zenko Umine
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I found the opening theme for Switched rather odd, as it's themes are rather dark, with it also having warnings of bloody images and references to suicide, the opening theme is rather upbeat, if I had seen the theme song beforehand, I wouldn't have thought the series was dark at all.
Shunpei Kaga, Koshiro Mizumoto and Ayumi Kohinata have been close friends since they were children. Koshiro confesses his feelings to popular Ayumi and their relationship develops romantically. On the day of their 1st date, Ayumi and her unpopular classmate Zenko Umine switch bodies during a red moon. Ayumi is devastated and nobody believes her, except for her childhood friend Shunpei. Ayumi and Shunpei work together, to find a way for Ayumi to get her body back.
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I've had this drama on my Netflix to watch list since it was released, personally for me I think the series was too short, but I think that's because I thought it was amazing. Each member of the cast was amazing, but I have to say that Kaya Kiyohara did amazing portraying her brighter character as Ayumi Kohinata and darker and troubled character Zenko Umine. I always have to hand it to Tomohiro Kamiyama, I found myself at first really disliking his character, I was thinking that Ayumi and Shunpei were stupid to trust him, but that to me signals an awesome actor. If you didn't finish the series with a few tears in your eyes, I would be surprised. For me Switched has a bittersweet ending, you're happy with how it ends but you're also left feeling sad and sorry for one of the characters. I think Switched shines a bright light on many mental illness', especially depression and self-hate. We see that Zenko has serious hate for Ayumi because she seems to have everything that she craves, she also seems to think that everyone in her class has it out for her, even when Ayumi, Shunpei and Koshiro offer her a friendly and helping hand, thinking they are trying to trick her. I'm sure we've all been in that situation where you've been in a crowd of friends and still felt that you were on you're own. Also when you hate everything about yourself and have no confidence in how you look or who you are, you feel that everyone has the same feelings about you too. Personally I felt that I could relate to Zenko in that situation, but I'm glad the switch finally changes, which to me symbolises that no matter how alone you feel, there is always someone around you offering their hand and ear. I'd happily watch this series again, even when I know how it ends, I'd also highly recommend the series to others to watch. Even though the series is short, it wasn't short on suspense and you're left at the end of each episode to get the next one started.
Have you watched Switched?
Were you expecting how it ended?
Who was your favourite character?
Let me know in the comments below.
See you soon!
안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
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