D and I were talking about getting a Nintendo Switch recently, but I’m not sure if there’s enough nice games for us to want to actually get it. Further, with my experience getting a PS3 and 3DS and then selling them off in less than a year due to a lack of games, I really wonder if getting a Switch is the right thing to do. What more, we have Steam on our laptops and we hardly play them now. But the truth is, this post isn’t really about the Nintendo Switch.
A few days ago, D was browsing through Netflix and saw this Japanese Netflix original show Switched. She told me it looked interesting and I asked what it was about. She said it was about this unpopular high school girl, Zenko, who swapped bodies with her pretty classmate, Ayumi, and stole her boyfriend and her life. I thought, “another cliché show.”
So D decided to watch it herself. But as the show was playing on TV, I turned to catch a few glimpses of it and found it highly entertaining. It wasn’t exactly what I had thought it to be and before I knew it, I was eagerly waiting to catch the next episode and the next and the next. The show conveys a meaningful message but if you’re interested to catch it, I suggest you not read the spoilers part coming up. To skip, read the part after “END OF SPOILERS.”
WARNING: START OF SPOILERS
Despite having swapped bodies with her less popular classmate, Ayumi gradually grew popular among her peers which made Zenko still very resentful. In one scene, Ayumi told Zenko that she will show the latter that she can still lead a happy life regardless of how she looks.
And truth is, more and more of their schoolmates who used to not even notice Zenko’s existence, began to like her after Ayumi took over her body. It goes to show that (while I still agree looks do give people certain advantage in life), at the end of the day, it’s your personality that really matters. Because despite having stolen Ayumi’s good looks and loving family, her personality still gradually made people drift away from her. To the contrary, Ayumi who is now in Zenko’s body, lived with the latter’s estranged mother but somehow manages to slowly repair their relationship.
The only bone I have to pick about it is the part where a professor once swapped bodies with a parrot. Sure, the parrot now speaks like a human because it’s the professor that’s in the body, but what about the professor’s original body that the parrot took over? Does it just start chirping for the rest of its life? Did people who find him in that state send him to the mental hospital? All these, while supposedly not important to the storyline, haven’t been addressed and it’s annoying like the pea in Princess and the Pea.
END OF SPOILERS
I was very surprised at the quality of the cast. While the actors aren’t such big names, they were very good at what they do. You know how when an actor is so good, you end up hating that face because it’s associated with an unpleasant behavior? But I find that a very difficult thing to do in this show because while Ayumi’s face is the one doing all the shit, you know the evil one is really Zenko, so it doesn’t make sense to register Ayumi’s face as the antagonist. But if you think about disliking Zenko, Zenko’s face is the one doing the nice things, so it’s hard to associate Zenko’s face as the evil one.
The show is only 6 episodes long, but it does feel apt as I find it a drag if they made it even longer. Nevertheless, it’s still a pity such a great show is so short. Netflix does have very good writers and this has gotten me interested in catching more Netflix originals.
If you get the opportunity, do give Switched a watch and let me know what you think.
See trailers here.
Switching body is not a new plot line for storytelling. However, what if u could own two bodies- one extremely good-looking and one extremely ugly?With the soul essentially the same, how will one be treated by others based on purely looks only?
This is the base plot for a webtoon that I’m recently reading called “Lookism” (看臉時代).
In this day and age where appearance is a priority (rise of ig influencers), the story discuss the importance of good looks and how the lack of it affect one’s life. Since it’s a webtoon, for storytelling effect, may exaggerate at some points, but, to its credit, it did relate to reality at some points too.
If u are interested and can read traditional Chinese, here’s the link: https://m.webtoons.com/zh-hant/drama/kanlianshidai/list?title_no=546
Yea, it’s nothing new. I was a little disappointed with the last episode of Switched to be honest because the happy ending made it a little too cliche. Lookism does sound interesting but when I saw “[第195話]” I lost all motivation to start reading from Chapter 1 -_-“
I can totally understand- i’m too lazy for drama nowadays- it’s lucky tt the plot is strong enough to keep me going. Now tt it’s fully completed- hopefully it will b made into a movie soon. (There’s quite a few webtoon-based movie / drama, like “Cheese in the trap” (both movie n drama) and “my id is Gangnam beauty “(a degrading term for plastic beauty) (made into a drama).
Oh, I see you like Korean drama. “My ID Is Gangnam Beauty” sounds interesting though. Google describes “Cheese in the Trap” with “A college student balances her studies and a part-time job with a relationship.” Err…
I just finished 2 eps! The kissing scene is damn disappointing can, worse then our mediacorp channel 8, the camera shift here shift there, i don’t even see them pressing lips Z_Z
But the story is quite interesting haha, i like all this body switching shows because i like to see what people do when they become other people haha!
There is this older Jdrama パパとムスメの7日間 which is about a daughter and father changing bodies for 7 days, quite heartwarming too haha!
On a side note, Netflix SG seems to have very little Japanese content 🙁 quite disappointing. Netflix.JP got more selection i hope?? :S
Ah, I think the kissing scene is not shown is likely because Koshiro is Johnny’s member. I find it interesting how Japanese dramas don’t make idols kiss on-screen while Korean idols even do deep kisses. I guess it’s because fans of Japanese idols view them as dream lovers while fans of Korean idols admire and adore them because they’re good at singing and dancing?
I’m not sure about the number of Japanese content on NetFlix JP although I believe there’s more Japanese content. Dirty Shoes might want to take this one as she’s the one with the Netflix account.
I think it depends on whether the actors are real actors or idols? But for kdrama, idol actors- if they are casted, they are seldom leads, or even if they are, the drama almost always focus on group acting (like family drama / student life).
Group acting seldom focus a lot on love lines, thus, won’t have emotional scenes tt require deep kisses…
Japanese actors- a lot of male idols are leads, especially for drama. But films, not the spinoff kind, should b better in emotional charged scenes?
Definitely more japanaese content on Japan’s netflix than in Singapore’s! But then again, I dont have netflix in singapore, lol. but i’m pretty sure japan’s netflix will have more.
Haha anymore nice Japanese Drama on Netflix to intro?
hahaa not at the moment. there’re two called Hibana Spark and Jimmy, both about the life of comedians (Jimmy is a true story) because comedians are a big thing in Japan but I doubt they’re on Netflix SG? You can try. GJH is quite interested in those 2 and I think it’s a pretty interesting insight into the lives of comedians in Japan on how they become famous and the pain they have to go through to succeed.
ah i see, i heard like some idols also can’t have relationship? what a sad industry 🙁
Hmm no leh, i totally give up on local dramas le, indeed RIP mediacorpse hahaha. Recently picked up netflix because i hope to learn Japanese from it (can toggle Japanese subtitles!)
@GJH, The ending of switched, as a translator yourself, do you think the English Sub is a bit off? Kaga was saying to Koshiro about their experiences and the subtitles go like this (JP sub: 俺があゆみの体入ってもよかったんちゃうん?// Eng Sub: It was a good thing I was in Ayumi’s Body) _<
Hmm, is that the part where Koshiro and Kaga are in the girls’ bodies watching them jump? I think throughout the show there are bits here and there which I find not very well translated. But it’s easy as a viewer to spot. Having to do entire shows is pretty exhausting I would imagine.
Nope, it’s the part where after the credits, Kaga was joking with Koshiro about the whole switching event and they were discussing about having pancakes (Koshiro’s treat ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), relying on just the Eng sub made me almost missed the joke lol
Can you explain the joke? I was really confused at the end haha
*Spoiler Alert turn away if you have not watch*
Haha it was confusing because the Eng subs went haywire. If you change to the Chinese Dub, it will be clearer (Kaga was telling Koshiro that during the time of the shuffle, he wished he switched with Ayumi’s original body instead, where Koshiro gave him the cheeky look and said as “if i would allow that”. Kaga then reacted with the shock “you couldn’t have! Man you always get the good stuff”. Here it can be implied that Koshiro, “explored the female body” (i mean if you watch other body switching shows like Kimi no nawa, Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo etc, what do guys do when they enter a female body? lol) With that revelation, Kaga got Koshiro to treat desserts to the group in exchange for his silence.
Now, my comments about this show. *SPOILERS ALERT*
At first, it was really good. I really like how fast pace it was (sasuga Jdorama!) and how it was bringing across the message that your choices make you and that looks isn’t everything.
Additionally, it also added that dimension of helplessness of being shaped and moulded to be a certain way due to prolonged period of desperation that drives one to be unable to respond ‘correctly’ to help themself. After all, the only reason why the ayumi-in-umine was able to ‘save’ herself was because she grew up in such a nice and perfect environment, she developed the right cognitive and socioemotional coping mechanisms to respond well. I really like this because it reflects how higher socio-economic status really gives people a head start in life.
My beef with this drama is that it went WAY too fast paced when suddenly, that koshiro dude suddenly became an angel (wth). It was too poorly executed (insufficient build up leading to the twist).
And I’d seriously prefer it if it focused on showing how Ayumi turned her life around in Umine’s body despite the change in physical appearance. Like she could lose weight and look better, be closer with her mum, get together with Kaga and have a blast.
Okay, I’m done ranting, lol.
Haha i think it was very well done for 6 episodes, but ya if they drag to 12 episodes+ and do the losing weight and stuff route, it would be epic. Some of the scenes where the classmates were squeezing her cheeks, i thought she looked really cute hahaha.
I much preferred Koshiro to stay the bad guy too haha and felt really sorry for Kaga (esp at the end when he was reminiscing his time spent with Ayumi in Umine’s body. So saaaaaaaaaaad 🙁
Can somebody explain to me the last scene, why Koshiro is trying to shut Kaga up?