Ma Ri
Brazil
As I said before, Im Ba Reun (Kim Myung Soo) was a male lead that did his job letting the real protagonist shows up. The story didn't about him, but about Park Cha Oh Reum (Go Ah Ra) and her boldness to change everything around her, and this was shown a lot here. The most impressive thing to me was the fact that nobody of the characters was perfect. Ba Reun starts as a rigid and insensitive judge that had to learn to make a balance in his point of view, and the same happens with Oh Reum, that was pure emotion and had to learn to see the processes with more impartiality. It was amazing to see all characters learn and grow with each other.
A low point for me was the romance, unfortunately. For me, see their relationship growing up was amazing and I loved the fact that Oh Reum didn't fall for Ba Reun immediately because this made the process be more real. But I really missed more of their relationship being showed in the drama. Ba Reun was so cute and they were so cute together... I just wanted to see more. My empty was filled with Jung Bo Wang (Ryu Deok Hwan) and Lee Do Yeon (Lee Elijah), the cutest second couple that I had seen these days! I had to contend with their relationship and be frustrated with ReunReum couple.
Besides the important issues approach in this drama, I have to say that the script wasn't one of the bests in my opinion. Many times I got confused with the episodes and the drastic changes of posture in some characters from nowhere. The edition also didn't bring my attention. The idea of put the thoughts being narrated was interesting in the beginning, but, with the following episodes, I started to get tired with so many narratives and conversations just happening in the mind of the characters. The OST, in another way, was pretty beautiful, even just one song being played in the most part of the time (I think this is an issue in dramas with heavy themes).
To finish, I'll put this one as a "pretty good one" (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★). Some things in the production and script could be better, but the message and the way how the story shows the weakness and strongness to be a human and to follow real justice made this drama worth it.
Honorable mention to the explanation of the meaning of the expression "apple of my eye". I never heard an explanation like that and made me think a lot! I loved it!
I just finished "Tale of the nine-tailed" and I'm recovering now. I'll write about it later! Wait for it!
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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The story is very simple in the beginning, but when you start to go deep in the episodes, things get very interesting. I really was involved in the plot and started to get curious about how things could end. For me, this is the essence of a good story. You have to be connected with the plot. Some things, as I said on the "first impressions", was a little too much, but I put in the "Lee Jung Suk's fantasy quota", haha. If you aren't a big criticizer, you gonna let these little things passed.
About the actor's performance... I really started to look at Lee Jung Suk with other eyes. I could see the emotion and strength of his performance in many scenes. Honorable mention to episode 11 and 12, when I went down in tears. I won't give spoilers, but these episodes were just powerful. About Park Shin Hye... Guys, I just don't appreciate her performance on dramas. This time I thought she was blessed with a good character, because Choi In Ha is very intense and spontaneous, but even with this benefit I still couldn't feel personality on her. She is good at crying, but I just can't feel the emotion of the character. I really tried this time, and I expected that soon she can show to us an excellent performance. I have to say that I loved Yoon Yoo Rae (Lee Yoo Bi)! Most of my laughing was in her scenes! She crying and telling that wasn't... I start to laugh already remembering, hahaha. Seo Beom Jo (Kim Young Kwang), just useless for me. They put the character as stupid in the beginning and tried to change this in the process, but I just not bought it. Honorable mention to "araboji" Choi Gong Pil (Byun Hee Bong) <3
The OST wasn't remarkable to me, what it's a shame, and the production was a little simple... But considering the year of the production, we can just let this pass.
I will put this show as a PRETTY GOOD ONE (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★) just because of the little things that I mentioned about the reality in the story and because of the end, that was graceless for me compared with the crazy plot twists that we had in the process. If you are looking for something interesting and simple, funny and emotional, this drama is for you.
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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The story's a little dated for me. I think that we don't have a real problem being explored in this. We see the age topic being an issue sometimes, but this isn't a big thing in the plot... The question about the love triangle was well done, even when I hate this kind of thing, haha. I think that they pass the idea of the sadness involving the disappearance of an old love and the born of a new one. I really could feel the pain in Ban Ji Yun's heart. That said, I think that they could make the issues deeper because things seem a little superficial to me.
The performances were good enough considering the plot. Park Seo Joon was a baby, and sometimes his was a little simple, but it was okay. Uhm Jung Hwa just looks exactly a powerful woman, I loved her! And I love Yoon Hyun Min too! I saw him on "My Holo love" but here I appreciate him very much.
So, It was a simple GOOD ONE (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★)! If you wanna something with impact, maybe you gonna be frustrated, but if you just wanna have fun seeing Park Seo Joon being cute, go for it!
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About the story, I have a problem with "Ugly Betty" romances, but even when the story goes to that a little, it is so irrelevant that didn't change almost nothing. Did I think that was forced at this point? Yeah, a little bit, but nothing that was a big problem. The most disturbing part for me was to deal with Min Ha Ri (Go Joon Hee) attitude. I really don't buy a friendship so strong being disturbed by a so stupid act. I know, they are friends, good for them, but I really didn't understand people who do such a thing, even with the "love excuse". Maybe I'm being a little rigid here, but it's my point of view when we talk about real friendship. It was a lie too big for me.
About the actors, I will maintain what I said in "first impressions"... Park Seo Joon, my handsome and amazing actor even performing a tree. Hwang Jung Eum as Kim Hye Jin was a great thing! Her expressions and exaggeration were in the right place this time. I love Kim Shin Hyuk (Choi Shi Won)! I hate love triangles, but I think he was incredibly good at this. He was so fun and cute, I really appreciate the character!
I have to say... THE OST! Guys, the thing that I love the most on dramas is the OST's, no doubt! The songs were amazing and delivered emotions just right! I love hearing "Close to you" and this made me want a song theme for my relationship, hahaha.
So... For me, this was a PRETTY GOOD ONE! ( ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★) As Kim Ra Ra would say... BRAVO, AMORE MIO! haha If you wanna laugh and watch something without thinking too much or suffer too much, this is your drama! Go for it!
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Seeing Park Saeroyi (Park Seo-joon) constructing his life based on injustice was a lesson. His motivations always are revenge and this made him reach great things, money, friends, respect... But even with all this, his life always was sour. He wasn't satisfact with nothing until realizing the value of his life and what really moved your heart. On the other hand, we had President Jang (Yoo Jae-myung), that started your journey with the right ambition, but in the middle of the way lost his principles and let this ambition drag him to the end of the well. Saw this journey was pretty intense and made me reflect on my own ambitions and what can move me. Still reflecting on this. Without talking about the important topics that were trate in the drama, as preconception with gender and color of skin. If here in Brazil this is topics that still are delicate, I imagine the impact of this in Korea.
But talking about the production... The recent dramas are doing a great job showing visceral things to the audience. The places, the acting, the OST... Everything was very good and impressive. I loved Kim Da-mi as Jo Yi-seo! What character! She was totally consistent and funny! I love to have a female lead that was insensitive for once, even when she was totally crazy about Saeroyi. I'm not saying that this was healthy or that I agreed with this behavior, but I thought was new entertainment between so many female leads that look the same. Recently we have the amazing Ko Mo-young on "It's okay to be not okay", but I still thought Jo Yi-seo more unpredictable and different.
I love the close and how they put the heal of Saeroyi as a priority. We have romance and friendship, but the peace of Saeroyi with himself was the most remarkable thing. And how this journey tasted? Just sweet!
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Swaaaaaaaaag!
I thought the story very different and refreshing, and I love the chemistry of the main couple. Somethings made me a little suspicious, as the feelings of Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) for Jung Jae-yi (Lee Jae-yoon), but with the following episodes, I could understand the way how the drama wanted to show the feelings of Kim Bok-joo and the progress of her feelings with Jung Joon-hyun (Nam Joo-hyuk). Indeed I could see that the whole situation was necessary to construct the personality of the main characters.About the plot of eating disturbs, I really thought they could be deeper. I appreciated how they put this topic in the show and the way how they closed this showing a solution for Song Shi-ho (Kyung Soo-jin), but I think that maybe this could be more explored. But I understand that the drama is a rom-com and didn't want to show themes that could be too heavy. Still was a good insert on the plot.
I really love the chemistry between the main couple. I didn't know Nam Joo-hyuk, but I loved his character. His strength fighting with himself, his personality, and his devotion to Kim Bok-joo were amazing. I still think that the beginning of their relationship was annoying with all the disturbance that he did with her (I know it wasn't for real), but after all, I started to love the progress. Lee Sung-kyung was a jewel in the middle of this show! I never saw a protagonist of a rom-com drama so detached of the stereotype "cute lady". Even in "Strong woman, Do Bong-soo" (that I loved!), I could see in some moments the inclination to make a very cute female lead. This isn't bad, but for me was amazing to see a misfit female lead, who walks however she wants, that talks loud, cry with all her feelings, and don't try to fit in a padron. She didn't feel sorry for who she is or want to do... I really love Kim Bok-joo!
This show was very remarkable for me and inspiring too. I laughed a lot and reflected a lot about how many times I hid myself to showing a distorted image of me to others. This was a great experience!
Kim Bok-joo! Swaaaaaaaag!
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This fulfills what it proposes! And that is it!
I was looking for a drama to relax and watch without having to pay much attention. I was already curious about this drama, so I started to watch at noon and finished less than 2 hours later. This was such fun!"7 first kisses" have just 8 episodes with less than 15 minutes each and is very fun to watch! I really think this is a drama that put all dreams of each "drama girl" and made a show, haha. Really, I imagine myself in the place of Soo-jin all the time! So many oppas for pick and kiss, OMG.
If you are looking for something quicky and light for the watch, I recommend this one. Just warning that we have an open ending here, you can be frustrated for that, but I really didn't think that this made any prejudice for the drama. It is something to watch without pressure or high expectations. Made me laugh a lot!
If you are looking for something deep and with an amazing story and plot twists, look for something else. This is a drama made for be simple and clear. I enjoy this because made me relax for the heavy stories that I've been watching.
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A different kind of drama!
If you are looking for romance, kisses, cute lines... "City hunter" isn't for you.The center of this drama is revenge. Although we see the involvement between Lee Yoon Sung and Kim Na Na, this is a very small part of all the story. I love see Lee Min Ho on this character, I think is one of the few that he could interpret outside of your comfort zone (the rich boy). (but he is rich here too).
Considering this is a drama produced in 2011, we have good action scenes. The script is also structured and I really liked the fact that the characters are solid. We don't see oscillation in the purpose or smoothing in anyone of them. I won't give spoilers, but I was impacted with the endding and I give extra points for the courage that the writers had.
I would like to see more of romance, but this is my personal taste. Even without this, I was envolved in every moment of the story. Worth seeing.
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Saddly, a huge disappointment.
I could hardly finish this drama. Disappointment is the word. "Doctor Stranger" beggins with a very interessant and emotional story that made me dive into the characters and hope for a amazing plot. When I started to watch, I was very excited to see were they go with all political plot, with the tensions built initially... But during the episodes, the emotions lost strenght and we don't see nothing that was promised before.All impact that we have in the firts episodes turn to a weak story about a no sense competition in a reputable hospital. Can you imagine a competition like that happens in a real hospital? I really believe that a drama doesn't need shows one hundred percent of reality, but fantasy is different of neglect in the script. I love the criativity in dramas, but with such a deep theme, reduce the story to that was terrible. Without mentioned the couple Park Hoon and Song Jae-Hee, that have chemistry only in the firsts episodes and turn into a obssessed love with no sense. I can't understand the choices that were made for this script, and I believe that they could made so much more for this story... Saddly, we can't see this here.
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A piece of a masterpiece
I just have one word for this: WOW! Guys, I enjoy regular dramas, with many clichés and cheesy romance, but I also love dramas that bring real and important themes, and this one it's just like that.The story tells us basically about the process of grief, and I was worried about what kind of message this could bring to the audience, but I never saw this theme being approach this way. For me, every detail was incredibly beautiful and full of meaning. See the process with Moon Ha Won (Jung Hae In) since the beginning and how he grows in the process was amazing. His relationship with Han Seo Woo (Chae Soo Bin) isn't forced like a major passion, but just a connection that made both of them see their grief from another perspective. We can see that they decided to foucus on Ha Won's grief, but the process in Seo Woo's life was also very strong. I felt like I was falling in love too at the pass of the episodes, it was crazy! When Ha Won said "I love you" for the first time, my heart stopped. The side stories were also very strong for me. Kang In Wook (Kim Sung Gyu) and his redemption, Kim Ji Soo (Park Joo Hyun) and the self-forgiveness, all the characters of the Boarding House (honorable mention to Kim Min Jung (Lee Jung Eun), OMG! I just love her plot). I felt touched in every single episode, I think this is a real healing drama, as they say. My desire in the entire show was to see everyone keep going and find the purpose of their lives again.
I have to talk about the OST. We have amazing songs that fit in every single moment... The classic music that made part of the story it's also beautiful and wet my eyes in many moments. I just wanna share one of the quotes that made me think about a lot of things. This one was when Seo Woo was talking about things that made her happy:
"I go to work at my usual time and find that it's light today while was dark the day before. When that happens, I like seeing the world-changing on its own according to each season. Every day changes a little bit."
So, this is what this drama it's about. How you can suffer and be in pain in a day, but how you need to wait and see the things changing in a slow fade. For me, this is a masterpiece and a "chosen one" (★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★).
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari!
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Man, what do I say about this story? I can't describe how shocked I was since episode one. As I said before, don't follow the idea showed by Netflix's teasers (we have this one on Viki too, so go for it!) that this is a soft and funny drama. I was tense since the beginning and I was almost dehydrated at the final episodes. The way how the tension is built is totally captivating and made me devour each episode.
About the performances, Yeo Jin Goo is just perfect. I felt the courage of Ha Sun and the craziness of Yi Heon in the same intensity and this was amazing. Kim Sang Kyung and Jang Gwang were also incredible and made me cry and laugh many times in this plot. But I have to say that Lee Se Young as the queen wasn't my favorite. I didn't feel any feelings with her interaction with Ha Sun and the little that I felt is mostly because of him and his cuteness. But this wasn't mess up with the story and we yet can cheer for the main couple.
Without any spoiler, as known, the only thing that I would appoint as a not-so-good choice is the ending (the last twenty minutes to be more precise). When I watched the last part of the last episode, I just asked "Why? Why they are doing this?" I couldn't understand the events and the reason why they write the ending in that way but after reading about the story of Gwanghae and the rumors about his life, I finally understand. I still don't agree and think that this could end in a better form, but I understand. With this final I thought about another final based on a true story that made me feel the same, could you guys guess it? Let the initials in the comments if you got it, haha.
I'll put this as a chosen one (★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★) without any doubt. If you didn't watch it yet, just do it. If you didn't give a high note for this here in MDL, do it now because I can't conform that the note is only 8.4. Just absurd.
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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I thought very useful the plot about sexual harassment. The way how they told with so much true really made me think. I never get tired of this kind of theme because I see as a way of the show to other people something there is real. And the closer was also as expected... No spoilers.
About the cast, I like to say that Jung Hae-in is my regular oppa. If we talking about "adult dramas" this is the actor. I love this man, my gosh. I really think his performance deep and believable. I met Son Ye-jin with "Personal taste", and after that on"Crashing land on you", but I think her pretty good in this drama. I thought the chemistry between them amazing. They are so cute! I get myself smiling a lot during the episodes. The story goes slow but you can be involved if you like this kind of show. I get a little upset when I saw how tough some topics are in Korea, maybe because here things are pretty different. But I think dramas like this are a changing in some minds out there (hope so)!
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"Squid Game/Round 6" tells the story of Seong Gi Hoon (Lee Jung Jae), a broken man who lives with his mother and has many debts to pay because of his addiction to gambling. The life of Gi Hoon changes when he met a man who presents an opportunity to earn a lot of money participating in a secret game. What Gi Hoon didn't know is his life and the life of others 455 people would be at risk because of that.
We can see a lot of references in this drama, as "Matrix", "Saw", "Hunger Games"... I read a lot of reviews telling about copy, but I don't think this is the case. It's impossible to talk about survivor games without reply some aspects from other productions, but "Squid Game" has its particularities, which I can't mention here because it is a no-spoiler review. I was a little hesitant to start this because I heard so many bad reviews mentioning the violence and wrong ideas that I was scared, but now that I finished I really don't understand these critics.
Of course, is a violent drama, and the age-rated is the point that confirms this, but if you watched any other horror movie or even some heavier action movie (John Wick sent his regards), you won't be impersonated at all. It isn't the kind of k-drama that the romantic ones who just watch dramas because of their sweetness and softness would like. It is heavy, but nothing absurd to people above 16 who have a clear mind at the moment. So, if you are passing through something heavy in your life and don't feel comfortable watching violent scenes or a dystopic story, save this for later or for never. I just watched because I was feeling okay, but I would wait for sure if it was a few weeks ago.
I'm doing this review more like an alert because the internet is full of reviews and comments about it. My considerations are: The story is amazing. The performances are incredible. I don't know if I want a second season. If you have children, don't let them watch it. Even if your kid is pretty mature, that are some things that they don't need to watch, and the age-rated is made for this.
This is a chosen one (★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★) for sure, and now I'll come back to my silly romances until the blood dries out of my brain.
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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The thing about historical dramas for me is that I always look out about the king or queen in question to know about their real life and if the story would be a happy ending, and in most cases, this doesn't happen because -of course- is real life. I started this drama very excited with the possibilities of Gwang Hae and what would happen with him (I shared this before), but the main problem here is the base of the plot: the physiognomy thing.
I searched about it to know if this was so important at the time, but I didn't find anything strongly embased, so probably was a technique that could be used by some people, but for sure doesn't was so strong and determinant to the kingdom like they put here. The idea was a bit cool at the first size, but with the process, it was just too childish.
The most terrible thing to me was the construction of the villain (I won't give any names). I understood the idea that he defended at the beginning and I thought that they could develop a big reason behind this to make him the worse, but what happened was just a complete change of the character. It was like there was one character in the beginning, and then he was killed and replace by another person who had a completely different personality. I couldn't bear it, but his cruelty was worth the award of one of the worst villains that I watched and the one who I wanted to kill the most.
Another award to this drama is one of the saddest story ever. I was perplexed with the hate of King Seonjo with Gwang Hae and I cried many times in the scenes when this hate was evidenced with attitudes. Gwan Hae was the most loyal subject and the ambition of the king stopped him of see that. The love story between Gwang Hae and Ga Hee was the other face of tragedy. Really, I'm just like Ga Hee and now I don't have words (get the little joke?) to say how cursed these two were.
I could say more, but I'll stop here. This drama isn't garbage, the story catches you sometimes, but it is far away from being an amazing production. The acting of Seo In Guk it's clearly immature here (writing this with tears), but this makes me very happy when I see the great actor that he becomes.
I will put this as an "I'm not so regretful" (★ ★ ★ ★ ★) and let you make your own choice. If you wanna know some details or spoilers, send me a message and I'll be glad to respond to it.
See you soon!
XOXO, Mari.
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