K. Madelyn

It's just as good as I remembered, but still can't explain why Bleach is so engaging. The animation is Yugio-level, & there's a ton of stuff that would only resonate if you have a Japanese background... but it's weirdly fun & engaging for over a hundred episodes (ymmv of course).

This is the 3rd LOM series I've tried and it's my favorite in almost every respect. This time "Life on Mars" dispenses with Bowie in ep one and leaves him there, because its past is set in 1988 rather than 1973. So now, the title almost exclusively refers to the more brutal and less humanistic SK of the protagonist's parents' generation (this LOM cop is also positioned as an ardent anti-corruption crusader who has nearly destroyed his career - which was a *great* idea). I love South Korean actors, and Park Sun Woong is by far the best (and best-written) among the LOM Bad Cop captains - this time, it's easy to believe his flunkies adore him, and the relationship between him and the young lead is complex and believable. And Go Ah Sung (who won an award) is adorable too as the alternately harassed and dismissed female PC - to a point where even though it was hokey to make her a martial arts wiz, by then I liked her so much that it just seemed right. As for the lead, Jyung Kyung-ho, he looks too young and delicate for the transplanted cop role (late 30s?!? please), but by the end of Episode 2 I'd bought in entirely - maybe because the character is exhausted and has satisfyingly un-delicate circles under his eyes for the rest of the series (and he's just more appealing than the UK nor US leads ;). The SK treatment of the story is more interesting (if over-plotted) and satisfying than UK or US. Their lead character's inner life is more relatable than the UK and US versions, and they added brush strokes for supporting characters that make them more dimensional here. All three versions of LOM handled the 100% implausible "in a coma/living 30 years in the past" narrative differently, and I like it that the SK one at least integrates it into each storyline and doesn't try to sweep it under the rug. It's risky to keep the "then/now" conflict in the foreground since it forces the 100% Implausible Thing in our faces, but it shows commitment too! And if I'd wanted a police procedural, I'd have watched Law & Order, not Life on Mars. I do miss the early 70s Brit glitter-rock soundtrack of LOM UK, but this version is overall more satisfying for someone who likes over-plotted, character-driven fantasy/sci-fi.