A very beautiful one of a kind movie

It is one of those unique movies which are hard to come by but leaves you wanting more when you finish. It is a very very very beautiful movie, both cinematically and emotion wise. The movie gives off a earthly feeling with it's 1980s setting in a village. Coupled with the beautiful sceneries with the amazing lighting I was literally mesmerized. If you like unique movies full of emotions, then this is a great movie to watch.
I don't want to praise the movie so much that it gets the expectations too high. But for my sake, I want to praise the movie some more .

This drama has a nice plot to it. And the execution of the plot was so good that it left me speechless for a moment. Don't get me wrong, the plot isn't too deep or that amazing, but the way they progresses the plot and the way it makes the viewer change their view on the whole movie is the amazing part.

After watching so many movies and dramas, these days I don't really find any new characters that I truly find memorable. But I think I will remember Bo-Kyung. I hope when you - the reader - watch the drama, find Bo-Kyung as beautiful as I find her. The actress Lee Soo Kyung seemed natural in this character and made the movie so much more better. I love it.

There was some romance to it as all k-movies have, but it wasn't overbearing and had a fresh feel to it.

If you are contemplating whether to watch this movie or not then you should give it a try. I found it very beautiful, maybe you will too.

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Not your usual rom-com drama

It is a rom-com drama. But it isn't a typical one. Sure it follows the typical boy likes girl and girl likes boy line of every rom-com drama created ever, but it also has some materials that doesn't truly follow the norm of basic rom-com dramas.
This drama makes the viewers question some of the basic views in relationship that they take for granted. It tackles some fundamental problems that a couple may face in a certain situation in their relationship.

In this drama the ML is not the usual cool or rich dude. Here the ML is a ordinary and sensitive guy. The FL is portrayed as a cool woman with strong personality. The cast did very good in depicting their emotions in different situations.

The drama has some comedy to it. But it also hits the viewers in the emotional department too. The plot is not bad and the flow was quiet smooth. The second leads had good potential to them but I found it a bit lacking, but you will see why when you watch the drama. This drama was unique in this part too and it made for some fun situations.

Overall if you are tired of watching regular rom-com dramas and want to change the pace with something new in the genre then this drama isn't a bad choice. I would definitely recommend it.

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How far are you willing to go to satisfy your dreams

The concept of the drama is nothing new, but the team did a great job in executing this drama to almost a perfection. Even though some parts of the drama was somewhat predictable there were some great twists and turns too. There were games to play and mysteries to uncover. And there was also the heartwarming or heartbreaking backstories and interactions to balance the whole thing. What is one willing to do survive? How much is one willing to change in times of crisis? And who or what were controlling things behind the scenes? The story progressed very smoothly with no dragging and flashbacks to slow it down.
The atmosphere created in the drama along with the somewhat childish but eerie music was a huge part of the drama. The attention to details was a pretty good touch from the production team. The casts were very good and did an amazing job in my opinion.
Overall it was very refreshing and fun to watch. If you don't mind some gores and deaths in drama then it is one of the best dramas of the year for sure.

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Great drama with amazing music

Pros:
1. Good storyline which gets better with every passing episode.
2. Nicely paced. The drama has its fair share of slow moments. But personally I think they were necessary as breathers.
3. Great music. The music was honestly one of the most enjoyable factors for me in this drama. There were a lot of variations in music depending on the situations which complemented the scenes.
4. It is kind of a historical Mafia style drama.
5. Great friendships, great romance and great family bond.
6. Lots of emotions.
7. Satisfying.

Cons:
1. Big drama. It's 30 hours long with 1 hours each episode. But as I said before, it is nicely paced and it gets better with each episode. So even though it's a big drama it's definitely worth it.
2. A bit of fantasy aspect in it which honestly speaking wasn't entirely necessary. Even though it plays a big role theoretically, it was mostly ignored most of the drama. Honestly I feel like they could have achieved the exact same drama even without the fantasy aspect. But again, the fantasy part isn't too big and it can be enjoyed as a non-fantasy drama.
3. Did I say good music? It has sick music. I know it's not a con but I wanted to mention the music again anyway.

If you are into historical drama and even if you are not it's a must watch.

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Simply thrilling

I can't believe I haven't heard of this movie earlier. This movie should have more fame than it has now. As the name suggests this movie is just first part of a bigger story with a second part on the way this year. But the story, production quality, acting and the action scenes this movie offers is simply mind blowing.
The movie starts out slow but it ends with a bang. I haven't seen such good quality actions sequences in many Korean dramas or movies. It even beats majority of Hollywood action movies in regards of action sequence. I rewatched the second half of the movie just for the action.
The story delves into dark corners of scientific research and the movie has supernatural elements to it and contrary to my expectations it didn't actually ruin the movie but actually enhanced certain parts of the delivery of the movie. It has some gore to it but it's not too much.
The cast and acting was also very very well done with Choi Woo Shik being placed in a character that's very unusual for him at first glance but the result being a pure success. Kim Da Mi's acting in the 2nd half was also very impressive and helped build the overall atmosphere of the movie.
They used some old school korean music in this movie which I really liked as you don't really hear them in the average movies and dramas these days and it was quite nice.
If you are into action thriller movies then I would definitely recommend it.

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Expectation and Disappointment

The drama had a very strong start. I was very excited after watching the first couple of episodes and hoping for a great drama. Then it nose dived.
The drama had all the elements and potential needed to be a great drama. It had great quality, great casts, a cliché but good plot and a great start. But it all got ruined by bad storytelling and flashbacks. I understand that to make a drama interesting or make crucial parts stand out sometimes flashbacks are inevitable. But when they use the flashbacks because they have to somehow fill up the empty time slots and expand the drama it becomes boring. This is one of those dramas where you can skip several minutes at a time and you wouldn't really miss anything substantial.
The there comes the baits. The concept of "So close yet so far" to keep the viewers on edge was used heavily. They used so much baits in this drama that it became somewhat predictable.
The drama was almost always on the extreme spectrums of either very happy situations or very heavy situations. There were no in-betweens. It created a situation where you really couldn't enjoy a happy moment because you knew something was going to happen very soon which will ruin the mood. It was very repetitive to the point that this too became very predictable.
As one of the MCs was a musician I expected some good music from the drama but unexpectedly I was disappointed in this aspect also. They used some famous classical music but those too were very far and few. The OST was forgettable.
The story was not bad as it had some "twists" to it. But the repetitive pattern of the drama ruined the story and made it too boring to really care about those "twists".
The overall acting was good. But the chemistry between the two MCs was very awkward. But the other character developments and their relationships was nicely done.

Overall this drama was not as good as it could've been. It's not a bad drama if you really have nothing to watch and just want to pass the time. But I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone who hates baits and flashbacks.

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Fun and refreshing from the first episode to the last

I never posted any reviews for any dramas before, even though I watched many many of them. I created this account just to post a review about this drama, so that people looking through the reviews decide to watch this drama as soon as possible.

Here is my tldr review:
This drama is a unique and refreshing piece of work. It's fun and amazingly paced which keeps the attention of the viewers from the start to the end. The story is not very unique but the pace of the drama and the brilliant acting of the casts makes this not so unique story a very unique experience. All the characters had their purpose and their development was properly done too. This drama is for those who like episodes with funny sweet and tense moments in a properly balanced way and want to feel the excitement they felt watching the first episode throughout the whole drama.

Now comes my in-depth rant:
Most of the "Good" K-dramas starts strong and fun but as if as an universal law they lose all their color and refreshing moments in the second half. The characters become sad empty shells of their vibrant past selves from the first few episodes. Even dramas with comedy tags become sad dramas as if everyone has a disease of sadness. The scenes become too intense without any proper breathing moments. The romance scenes become the same as other dramas. If you saw one you've seen them all. And the worst of all is the plague and disease of all dramas, the disease which infects even the best of the dramas, yes you are right, the flashback disease. The dramas become so pitiful at the second half that even the characters start seeing flashbacks of their great and glorious past. Now if you are one of those people who love to watch these sad intense flashback ridden dramas then that is up to you, you weirdos, see a doctor asap. But if you are one of my kind of people who can't stand these sad excuse of second halves that ruined so many great dramas and the flashback plague then this drama is for you.

This drama starts with great momentum and you will ride that momentum throughout the whole 20 episodes of this drama. I dare say it gets better the further you go. The characters become more fun each episode, the romance gets a bit more sweeter each episode , the story becomes a bit more intense each new episode and when the story is starting to get too intense a breath of fresh air will be given to you with very well placed comedy scenes. You will be start to feel sad at one moment but you will have to laugh hard at the next moment because of the sweet and funny interactions of the characters. Sadly the flashback disease got to this drama too. For all 20+ hours of drama time, there was less than 20 seconds of useless flashback in total, and honestly I can see why they used those flashbacks, so you won't even notice it that much. There were twists in the drama some were predictable some were unexpected. The story won't frustrate you too much, but it will also keep you wondering what comes next. Overall the story progressed beautifully.

The FL was amazing. If you like strong FL with "Don't F with me or I would F you up" attitude then you would love it. The FL was as ruthless in the last episode as she was in the first episode. The actress played the character of a proud male stuck in the body of a queen amazingly. The ML was strong with realistic problems and weaknesses. ML was a likable character with zero identity crisis. The villains were played well too. The supporting characters were as much part of the drama as the main leads. The characters and the brilliant casts who brought these characters to life made the drama a gem to watch.

The music wasn't the best part of the drama but it also wasn't bad. It had appropriate music in appropriate places. But the music wasn't something that you would usually want to listen to later.
The production quality was great, the costumes and the sets were high quality. The locations were beautiful. And the action scenes were nicely choreographed.

About the ending:
(Warning! Even though this contains no spoilers if you haven't watched the drama yet I would prefer you watch the drama first before reading this part. All you need to know is that from start to finish it was a great drama. But if you are the curious type and must know what I have to say about the ending, then by all means proceed.)
The ending seems to have sprung some resentments among the viewers, but I can assure you, even if the ending caused resentment to some it is in no way a bad ending. The ending had no flaw and no unfinished business was left. It was not a rushed ending. It was a thoroughly and properly done ending. At the end of the day not everybody will like every outcome and this ending is the classic example of that. The ending was in no way boring. It kept my attention the whole way as it kept on other episodes. So for me it was a good ending to a GREAT drama and I wouldn't ask for anything more from the ending.

This is my first review of any k-drama and is probably the last. And this review is a sign of my fondness for this drama. I hope they make more like it in the future.

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Beautiful OST and Cinematography

First of all, very beautiful OSTs. The OSTs definitely carried the drama to a higher place. It is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in K-dramas.
The story of this drama revolves around the good parts and hard parts of being in a relationship. I think there were some relatable moments to it which makes you think back and ponder over them. The story was overall good. There were a lot of thing happening and they did a good job wrapping everything up in the end. I would say the story falls off a bit in the middle and the main characters literally switch their personality which was a bummer as I would've loved to see the female lead as she was in the first half of the drama, tough and strong. But it was still good and the change made sense. The side characters were good but they didn't have any character buildup to them, they were just there because they had to and for some comedy relief. Except for NJ. I loved NJ.
The cast and acting was good.
The Cinematography was good and made the drama that much more enjoyable.

This drama is not perfect but it did everything right and it paid off. This drama was overall a great experience and I would definitely recommend people to give it a watch.

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Feel good Friendship drama

This drama is all about friendship between three friends and sharing each other's happiness, sadness, anger and embarrassment over lots of lots of drinks and food. This is a part mukbang part bromance drama with some romance sprinkled in between.

The drama was fun to watch with lots of emotional and happy moments. It was refreshing and funny. The casts were great. The foods were great. And the context was great. It reminded me of college and all those time hanging out with friends.

As the title says it has a lots of soju and beer in this drama and a lot of eating food. It has three main characters and all three get their own background stories.

It was over all a good drama. Definitely worth the watch.

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Sweet hometown romance

Beautiful sea, a lighthouse, seaside hometown, chaotic neighbors, amazing friendship, cute romance and lots and lots of sweet and touching moments sums up this drama.

This drama is based around the lives of people in a small seaside town. The ML is a jack of all trades who is the life of the town, and the FL is a skilled but impulsive dentist from Seoul who moves to a small town for a fresh start. The drama is sweet, cute, romantic and touching. Some of the side characters were a bit unbelievable but they complimented the drama nicely.

The chemistry between the two leads was great and it was great to watch the development between them. The whole process seemed smooth and it flowed naturally and didn't seem that forced. Things did seem a bit forced at the last few episodes but it was bearable.

Speaking of bearable one thing that was a bit unbearable was the blatant and frequent product placements. But as k-drama viewers it is a curse we are fated to bear. But it was a bit too much in this one imo.

The story was quite good. Even though it wasn't ground breaking story the story flow was quite good and kept things interesting and made me look forward to what happens next.

The music was beautiful. There weren't too many songs but the ones they had went nicely with the whole thing.

The actors were nicely cast specially the few important characters were quite good and did a superb job. Shin Min Ah was beautiful in her character and Kim Seon Ho seemed perfect for the male lead's character.

This drama was very good. For people who likes sweet rom-coms this is definitely a good watch.

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Zombie movie with a comedic twist

Is this movie good? The answer is if you are into comedic zombie movies then it's not bad. If you have seen the Hollywood movie "Warm Bodies", it is kind of similar but a bit wilder. If you are here because of the movie poster and think that this is a bad-ass zombie fighter team movie then you would be disappointed. It is fun in it's own way, but it's not truly a scary movie. It's mostly comedy and some romance.

Again I am surprised by actress LSK's acting (truthfully, I don't usually watch any dramas or movies for specific actors or actresses, but I watched three of her works successively and I find her very talented.) Other casts also did a pretty good job considering the concept of the movie.
The cinematography was ok and the music was good and well placed.

The movie is a good time killer. The comedy was the best part of the movie. It is pretty good if you are into comedic horror.

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Charming and Nostalgic

The gender bender genre has been around for a long time and there are lots of dramas with this concept. So the general premise of the drama and how it would progress is very predictable. What is special about Coffee Prince is the general atmosphere of the drama and the early 21st century culture and cinematography which can't be found in the newer dramas. The drama was actually very fun and quite free flowing. It did get a bit slow near the end but just for a bit and picked up the pace again later on.

The drama has the tried and tested rich guy and poor girl dynamic and the usual antics that come with it. Even though it's called Coffee Prince and they spend a lot of time in the cafe it is not a major part of the drama but rather a backdrop to the main gander-bender concept. And even though there were lots of supporting characters they seemed somewhat neglected and forgotten without proper backstory or some sort of depth to them. They were just there to be the supporting character.

The actress actually did a great job in this drama. In some of the scenes it really seemed like the actress was a young guy messing around with his friends.

What really attracted me in this drama is the nostalgia that I felt watching this drama. As a drama from 2007, the music, the romance, the decorations and the jokes had a charm that the newer dramas lack. It reminded me that there are more to dramas than pretty faces with expensive clothes and pretty backgrounds, shot with expensive cameras and the directing and cinematography can be diverse and can totally change how you see a drama.

This one is definitely worth the watch. It's not really something one of a kind or a must see. But it is a good and charming watch nonetheless.

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Generic but satisfying!!

A generic rom-com drama that will make you feel warm and happy inside. This drama doesn't really have a nail-biting exciting plot or head-turning twists. What it does have are cute, well-written characters and the interactions between them. If you are looking for a fun and light hearted drama with satisfying ending and great music, minus those pesky annoying scheming villains at every step, then this drama is for you.
The main attraction of this drama is the interaction among all the characters. The beautiful casts in this drama coupled with the great chemistry among them makes this drama stand out from the rest. In this drama the chemistry between the second leads were almost as interesting as the main leads. The supporting characters were also great. This drama shows the impact great friends and supporting family members can have in people's lives. It is one of the very few dramas where I was satisfied with the supporting characters.
The mood of the drama is very well balanced. Even though most of the time the drama heavily leans on it's rom-com aspect there are some heavy moments perfectly placed to make things balanced. No problem is too big in this drama. They are always solved fast nicely in this drama and gets back to being the fun rom-com that this drama is.
The music was quite catchy and well placed, which complemented the overall atmosphere of the drama.
As I have said already this drama doesn't have any fresh intriguing plot and that is, in my opinion, one of it's strong points. It's a very good drama to re-watch when you are out of fun lightweight dramas to watch in a lazy relaxing day.

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Beautifully bittersweet "Summer Love" with stunning visuals

"Summer Love" that's what came to my mind while watching the relationship between Doo-na and Won Joon. They were from different worlds with different destinations who crossed each other's path momentarily by coincidence and created a lifetime of memories.
The drama's ending is sad by itself. But there's a real ending hidden in plain sight for the viewers to find. That's what made me give this drama a 10/10.

*Spoiler ahead*
It's mostly me nerding out about the ending ahead, so tread carefully if you still haven't watched the drama.
In the end we see Won Joon and Doo-na seemingly reconciling with each other but right after we see that they are going their separate ways, each to their own goals. From this it seems like that the final hug was a closure. But there are small clips at the beginning of each episode, right after the opening song where we can find the actual ending of the drama. The most important ones are in episode 1, 2, 6,7,8 and 9. It's a scene of both of them standing across each other at a rail crossing in japan (which can be confirmed by the Japanese letters in the signboards). In the clip of episode 9 the two of them can be seen standing in field of flowers with the mount Fuji behind them and they are slightly smiling at each other. In episode 2, 6 and 7 Won Joon is wearing the same outfit. In the clip in episode 8 and 9 he is wearing the same outfit he was wearing at the end of the drama. From this we can see that their meeting in Japan wasn't actually once but at least twice. But the final clue is actually in the video of the opening song where we can see Doo-na walking on a beach with Won Joon, wearing the same outfit she was wearing while standing in the rail crossing. And at the end of the video we can see them standing on the beach looking at the sunset wearing, you guessed it, the same outfit. From all this it leads us to a conclusion. They are still dating secretly. The drama ending makes us believe that they broke up. This represents them deceiving the people around them including us into believing that was the end. But the hidden clues all across the drama shows us their real situation. Because they can't openly date in Korea because of Doo-na's fame they continued their romance in japan, far from the prying eyes. Also the last big piece of clue is actually also in the opening music video. The whole friend group along with Won Joon's brother Kook Su jin playing around in the same beach. Which makes it clear that they are finally hanging out together again and Doo-na got the friends she always desired and she's not lonely anymore.

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12 individuals trying their best to "just end it" (For different reasons)

The plot is simple. 1 guy plans an assembly looking for 11 other participants to go to "eternal sleep" together.
The rules:
1. They need to vote unanimously to "pull the plug".
2. If even one person is against it then they talk about it until it's unanimous.
3. Anyone can leave anytime if they don't wish to participate in the assembly anymore.
The movie is not about the mystery or the suspense. They are a big part of the movie but they're definitely not the main focus. The main focus are the each of the 12 individuals and why they are choosing to "leave the mortal realm". As the movie progresses, the stories of each individuals starts to unravel while they try to solve the mystery of the 13th individual and each story makes it even harder for the 12 to come to a unanimous decision. Some stories are deeper than the other of course but it also what makes each of the characters unique in their own way.
It's not a horror, suspense or mystery movie. It's a story about 12 people trying their best.

Great movie. Watched it a few years back and re-watched it recently. I was shocked to see a low rating on such a gem.
Good cinematography, good cast/acting, good ost. Solid watch.

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