Vivant

Not your typical JP drama - the characters, the settings and plot twists kept me on my toes every episode! Went in at episode 1 expecting some mediocre story line but man by end of the episode I was intrigued. Not to mention the all-star castings - the acting is guaranteed good and apparently the show was filed in Mongolia which really has an exotic feel compared to the typical JP/KR drama on Netflix. If you like spy movies with lots of twists and turns then this is a must watch. An interesting take and a real effort from JP producers. Highly recommended. I wish there are more episodes but the length is spot on (10 epi only).

The best Japanese series on Netflix. Magnificent landscapes in the desert and in Mongolia, a scenario full of twists and turns that are sometimes far-fetched but we get caught up in following the story. Very good actors. A production with nods to Kurosawa, Hiroshi Abe who plays Nozaki seems the reincarnation of Toshiro Mifune, Beki seems to be a character from Ran and the Japanese ambassador is filmed in a close-up at the end like a Kurosawa heroine. The other characters are just as interesting and even the love story between Yusuke and Kaoru seems a necessary part of Asian series. Despite the criticism, I find that the script holds up, the direction and the photography are excellent. When is season 2?

The nomad's desert scene is so beautiful and desperate, and Rachmaninov makes it even more stunning. This is a very streamlined work that many details or foreshadowing scene are just presented by some simple clips. Very clean but definitely clear enough for audience to understand. The first 4 episodes are a little flat, but it turned very captivating from episode 5 in my opinion. There were no nonsense plots from the beginning to the end. Haven't seen an impressed Japanese series for a while and the cast is no joke! All are performed so well. Love Doramu who always repeated the last words. So cute!

I just have finished only the first episode and wanted to write this appraisal for the Actors here. First of all, great job to the Mongolian actors, especially Chingis and Jamin. But the dialogue and language skills of the main actor and actress is remarkable. Of course they had accents, more noticeably in English, but who cares about that, it is a Foreign language after all. But their Mongolian was almost perfectly done. Especially the intonations, emotions and feelings. A bit more meaning and feeling missed but that is just nitpicking. As well, great job on the localization, changing the labels, uniforms, license plates and few other things and managed to turn locations in Mongolia feel somewhat culturally same but identically different. Kudos 😉💪.

Edit: Ohhhhhh my god, ohhhhhhh my god, the bloody Wooden Toilet scene! I grew up having a phobia on falling accidentally into a Wooden Toilet (Modon Jorlon in Mongolian) 🤢🤢🤢. Brilliantly done. "Yellow teethed homeless guy" should have his own series 😂.

Love it!

Give it a go! I absolutely adore how the author has written the storyline, a lot of the story scenes were unexpected in a good way. It's full with twist and mystery that just keep you going.

The first 5 episodes were a bit slower to build up the plot, once it hits episode 5 onwards, the story gets more and more captivating and interesting.

The acting was so good! The calibre of the actors is exceptional which helps to bring the TV show to life.

Unlike other Japanese dramas that can be over exaggerating at times, this movie is down to earth and the making of it is intelligent.

I hope there is a season 2!