2 Best Movies to Watch by Kenta Tanaka

While live-action manga adaptations are known to have a bad rap, Netflix’s Trillion Game is quite entertaining. Striving to earn a million, maybe even a trillion dollars, is something that many people aspire to do, but the way Haru and the team do it is so unexpected. Ren Maguro keeps a great balance between Haru’s unpredictable yet charismatic nature, while Hayato Sano keeps the shyness of Gaku endearing. They go into the most random situations such as winning millions of yen in investments, going into a hacking tournament, and faking an AI. Is this really how aspiring trillionaires succeed? Maybe not, though they do teach some start-up strategies. But, it’s definitely still a fun ride as Haru bluffs his way into ballsy situations for Gaku to solve through computer engineering.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Hayato Sano, Jun Kunimura, Kanako Momota, Kenjiro Tsuda, Kimiko Yo, Koji Kikkawa, Mio Imada, Ren Meguro, Riko Fukumoto, Ryosuke Sota, Takashi Tsukamoto, Terunosuke Takezai, Tomoya Maeno

Director: Kenta Tanaka, Kentarō Takemura, Murao Yoshiaki

Rating: TV-14

When a group of people have to band together for survival, whether it be due to zombies, bus accidents, or being lost from civilization, there’s no higher stakes than life or death. If we care about the characters enough, the will to survive already drives the plot. However, Netflix show Pending Train doesn’t trust in the entertainment of this survival premise. Instead of focusing on the group’s survival, it constantly shifts to flashbacks depicting everyday drama. When the group finds out that they got lost way into the future, there’s less strategizing, and even more flashbacks. This strange episode structure makes the series feel less like a compelling survival show and more like a soapy melodrama.

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Actor: Ayaka Onishi, Eiji Akaso, Goki Maeda, Kai Inowaki, Kotone Furukawa, Miho Kanazawa, Moka Kamishiraishi, Sara Shida, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Sho Nishigaki, Shunya Shiraishi, Takayuki Hamatsu, Tetta Sugimoto, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Yoshiyuki Tsubokura, Yuki Yamada

Director: Kenta Tanaka, Naoki Katō, Okamoto Shingo