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This is a uniquely Japanese take on the emotional evolution of a stepmom and daughter relationship. It is heartfelt and charming, albeit a bit frustrating at times. Mostly because Step-mom Aikiko is just so mired in self sacrifice and stuck in detached tearless grief. Thankfully we do watch her slowly transform, but I do mean SLOWLY. It's not that she is vulnerable and fragile, it's more like she is excruciatingly tough on herself and has a painfully stubborn streak. Luckily her daughter is played by a chill young actress who conveys stepdaughter teen angst with convincing subtlety. Things do get funnier and lighten up a bit when Takeru Satoh shows up as Mugita. He's her good looking baker boss, a hard working blue collar type guy played with a lot of heat (no pun intended). We kind of know right away that he's got eyes for Aikiko, but she never seems to notice his awkward glances. It's a total 180 degrees from Satoh's usual roles playing the aloof out-of-reach type. (Rorouni Kenshin- Samurai assassin anyone? LOL) All in all, if you view patience as a virtue, and can enjoy an offbeat take on a non-nuclear Japanese family story, my verdict is give it a watch. But in the end, I felt Aikiko left us all kind of hanging. But maybe that was the point? A woman of mystery for sure.

This series is only for people who know nothing about the actual ballet world. I know it's a storybook fantasy and all, but the lack of actual ballet dancer prowess of the star "ballerina" made it unwatchable for me. Who would pay a dime to watch a dancer performing at her level? Clearly nobody would except maybe fans of Hallmark holiday movies. I was expecting someone at the level of a Misty Copeland or a Sarah Meers, but instead they cast an over-nourished teen with no athleticism and marginal grace. Pretty and feminine sure (think high school cheerleader in a tu-tu)- but in no way channeling a Russian born prima ballerina. But OK, there have been few actresses who have transformed themselves to the level of genuine ballet star for ballerina roles; Natalie Portman in Black Swan is one of them. But this young actress is NO Natalie Portman. She over-acts and under-dances. If its target audience is girls age 14 and under, you can disregard my critique. As silly fluff goes, it's harmless.

Not since "Word of Honor" have I been so wowed by a historical C-drama. Beautiful sets, an exotic yet universal story of survival and best of all, some of the most spot-on casting I've ever seen. As many reviewers have described, all of the leads are excellent, from the lithe pearl diving slave DuanWu to the dandy of a schemer "Master" Yan Zijing. Plus the supporting characters, like DuWaan's "little brother" Shrimp and Yan's mysterious brooding first mate, are all perfect too. It helps that the subtitles for this series are never clumsy and like Word of Honor was, quite poetic sometimes. But Confucian moments aside, this is also a cool ACTION film. (That's clear as day by the time they hit "Despairing Cove".) So along with all the devious back-stabbing, cunning plots and Yan's seductive half-smiles, there's plenty of furious chase scenes and take-no-prisoners fight-to-the-deaths. At this point, I'm at Ep. 10 with 30 more to go. But no matter how it turns out in the end, I can already tell this Pearl Girl story is going to a magnificent ride. I'm taking one star off for making the otherwise clever DuanWu so clueless about wielding her sex appeal for some extra leverage against that Yan dude. Looking like an angel is nice, but mostly it gets boring after a while. Disclaimer: At this point I'm waiting for weekly episodes to drop and will edit my review if things go south.