FreeWhirpool
Earth
Many comments below say that there is conflict in the later episodes, probably around 20-odd or so, but good lord if I watch an episode of this show I will lose my hair by pulling them out so much in frustration.
Sayonara, Boss & Me.
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Mischievous Kiss The Movie: The Proposal
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From their acting, which was a lot more expressive (even the actress playing Kotoko) in the first movie, you could CLEARLY see they were as bored of the movie as we were. The writing was meh as well, and they skipped over such memorable and cute parts of the dramas and manga (such as Kotoko's journey as a nurse, the second lead nurse I actually liked etc.) and left in the stupid parts that nobody gives a shit about (like the dumbass Kotorin game, which was funny for like, 3 seconds.)
Of course, there was the iconic umbrella where Naoki proposes to Kotoko, but by that point, the audience was probably asking themselves, "Do we even give a shit anymore?"
No, no we don't
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Story? Who gives a crap about how good the story was? You read the description. It's exactly as angsty (maybe even more) and cliche as the description suggests. There is some unnecessary comparison between a fallen angel and the male lead, which I found strange because fallen angels do bad things not because they particularly want to, but because they are designed that way and can't fight against nature. The male lead is just an ass.
And the female lead is as wishy-washy and damsel-in-distress like as you'd expect from the drama equivalent of a trashy romance novel. So naive that you wonder "how the heck did she not get kidnapped already?". She's one of those preachy women you've probably encountered atleast once in your life, who preaches about good deeds and right thoughts every time you talk to her. One day, you see her in the park bench singing to birds and throwing breadcrumbs at ducks, still telling any unfortunate old person sitting next to her about all the goodness in the world, because she has no other friends to preach to.
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Now...onto the actual review.
Plenty of other reviews all the amazing things about this drama (atmosphere, acting, relationships etc.) I won't really touch on that, not when other great reviews have already pointed them out better than I can. What I WILL touch on is the parts other reviews skim over most of the time: the not-so-amazing parts.
Let's start with Go Hye Ran's relationship with our main guy, Kang Tae Wook. Maybe I'm too basic for this stuff, but their romance made no sense, especially with that ending. 80% of the drama is spent with the two ignoring each other and barely talking. Then, all of a sudden, you want me to believe they're in...love? Lust? Because neither of them have gotten any in a long time? It's really disappointing considering all the other great relationships in the drama, with Go Hye Ran and her entire Newsroom team, Kang Tae Wook with his fellow public defender, Go Hye Ran and her reporter friend etc. It shows that the writer is capable of building credible relationships, but somehow, somewhere, fell flat on the romantic ones.
This point wouldn't have annoyed me as much if it hadn't been THE MAIN POINT OF THE DRAMA. The basic story is so fresh and new, of a love-less couple falling in love with one another while the husband defends the wife from being charged as a murderer, of eternal loyalty and blood trumping all others etc. Gosh, was it too much to expect a little more relationship development for what is essentially supposed to be a love story? I hope not.
Some side characters weren't always very likeable, in the sense that I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why they did what they did- Ha Myung Woo (...a guy with a 19 year old "crush" on Go Hye Ran?) and Go Hye Ran's boss (sorry, too lazy to search for his name on MDL). Ha Myung Woo because the way he was written was so sloppy and strange, like really, you expect me to believe he does everything he's doing because he loves Go Hye Ran? What? It logically doesn't make sense and the writer doesn't try to make it sound logical either. Maybe that's the intention. Whatever. Go Hye Ran's boss was also someone who was very inconsistently written, with his being Pro-Go Hye Ran at times and Anti-Go Hye Ran in the other. He seemed like more a minor catalyst for future events than a fully-fledged supporting character.
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The first 15 or so minutes of the movie is nothing out the ordinary and is exactly as the synopsis says it is. Tsuchiya Tao so far, as Yukina, fits the cast of Every Japanese Shoujo Heroine™. The REAL fun of the movie starts when Yukina and Kei meet Sakaba (Mamiya Shotaro's character) and try convincing him to be a pilot in the club again. What ensues is a hilarious scream-off between Yukina and Sakaba, owing to their headstrong personalities and loud voices, which is both extremely cute and displays the incredible chemistry between the two characters that never goes away throughout the duration of the movie.
That said, don't watch this expecting a cute romance; there isn't one. One-sided, sure (I won't say who), but definitely nobody becomes a couple at the end of the movie. I was a little disappointed at first, naturally, but in figured that in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter- it didn't matter to the two people involved, anyway. Yet, I hope there is a Part 2 so that my hopeful little heart is in peace.
Tl;dr: If you're a fan of cute comedy and amazing chemistry (that is only sometimes romantic- emphasis on SOMETIMES), you will love this movie just as much as I did.
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This review may contain spoilers
Dramas like these are tough to review. Really. It's not BAD so much as...lame. The story is lame, the acting is lame, EVERYTHING is lame. You could see that the director REALLY, REALLY wanted to paint this grandiose picture of the leads' life amidst the (admittedly beautiful) backdrop of the Shanghai skyline, but fell flat when a cold dose of reality set in: it isn't interesting enough. Had the story fallen into the hands of a talented writer, it could have been so much more. The potential was there. I could see brief glimpses of it when they tried narrating how exactly the female lead ended up getting amnesia and forgetting our male lead (this isn't a spoiler, btw, the description is just half done.) But after the first few minutes of the first episode- poof! We have to wait for MANY, MANY more episodes of unnecessary yammering and plot fillers to get to the actual point. And when it does- it still doesn't.
52 episodes for what could essentially be condensed into a 10 episode drama is excruciatingly painful. Each scene, each event and each action is stretched like a rubber band pulled far apart by nothing but prayer. Each episode was 40 minutes. 40-freaking-minutes. At one point early on in the show, the male lead tries persuading the female to join the contest (yeah, that's another thing they don't mention in the description) for 2 EPISODES! Hell, screw the writers, I would get massively unimaginative if I had to fill 52 episodes of this thing.
The acting is Terrible. The capital T was intentional. Is Ma Ke supposed to be attractive? I don't know. All the female supporting characters in the show seem to think so. He certainly wasn't a good (or even decent) actor. Guan Gabrielle was good as long as she didn't do anything because, in many ways, she was a worse actor than Ma Ke. The supporting characters are so utterly forgettable and recycled from other dramas they aren't even worth a mention.
Lastly, the female lead is supposed to be like, the best dancer (or something?) in the university she attended in California but SUCKS everytime we see an actual performance of hers. One of the judges instantly takes a liking to her because she reminds her of herself and (even though she ruthlessly denies it all the time) gives SO much leeway to the stupid shit our female lead does. Heck, even during this 'really important performance', she chooses the female lead's team that performed some boring shadow act with minimal dance over an actually decently choreographed, power-packed team in a DANCE COMPETITION. Why? Because the her team had actual "heart" and understood "the value of a team."
Yeah, give me a break.
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When I try recollecting everything I remember about the movie, all I can remember is the scene where she breaks up him. In retrospect, that's probably the only scene where we, the audience, really see REAL emotions from either of the actors (or from the actresses' part, the decided lack of emotions). It was a pretty heartwrenching scene, and probably the only place I felt the actors did a decent job.
The rest of the movie sort of...blurs. I really can't seem to remember any tangible moment in the movie, even though I probably watched during my J-movie marathon a month ago. A MONTH ago. I can remember entire 20 episode dramas from 2 years that really made an impact on me, which suffice to say, this movie didnt.
Overall, it's eh. Harmless, but unless you have absolutely NOTHING to do, I would move on to greener pastures.
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Story: To be very honest, it's nothing special. You've probably seen similar stories in many, many East Asian dramas and movies. The execution, too, was typical for your average Asian nostalgia movie. But you already knew that, and that's the beauty of these stories. They are timeless classics, and combined with the sharp writing of this one, it makes a great movie. I could make a movie 20 years from now with the same damn story, but it would still be extremely relatable.
Acting/Cast: Wonderful. All of the characters shined in their own way, bringing their characters to life. I can't find one character, even the side ones, that did a half-hearted job. I'm not a huge fan of Kang So Ra, but I think she really did her character, Ha Chun Hwa, justice here. The adult characters were an absolute delight; I LOVED the camaraderie they had even after 25 years of separation, like they had just parted ways yesterday. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Music: The music is from the 80s, which I personally think was a great time for music everywhere in the world. The music selection of the movie was masterfully done, showcasing truly some of the best songs from the era. Song placements were incredible, too- like when the two gangs were fighting with each other in the midst of the protestors and the police, the music in the background was HILARIOUS! The titular song, Sunny, was as emotional as it was heartbreaking, elevating the emotion in the movie. I can listen to it over and over again.
Rewatch value: This was a purely personal take. Since I relate so much to the movie, it is always going to be a comfort watch for me. I WILL cry everytime something sad happens (especially during the last few scenes) and I WILL laugh everytime something funny happens (like, say, whenever the grandmother comes on screen). Hence, the high rating.
Overall: Even if you have only one friend, I would watch this movie. The takeaway is something you can always resonate with: life is too short, keep friends close and follow your dreams.
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I'm no fan of the first season- far from it. Something about the main couple irritated me to the point of madness. When I heard that there was going to be a second season, my first thought was 'oh hell to the nah'. Nevertheless, I decided to try it anyway after I read a couple of reviews saying that it's much better than the first. They were right.
For starters, I'm very glad the producers decided to cut down on the (frankly unnecessary) amount of episodes- from 17 to 10. This ensured that each episode had enough content to keep the viewers interested and invested (unlike the first season where I can't even remember 70% of the show). The love triangle in the first season was absolute trash; I don't think ANYONE was sold on it. This one, though, was wonderfully heartbreaking- GOD I wanted her to end up with the second male lead more than Uehara. He was literally incredible. I still think he got the short end of the stick by the end of the drama, being that amazing, but I highly doubt the writers could have ended the season with Nao dating him. Suffice to say, the love triangle in this was NOT half-assed, unlike the first season (side note: the first season SML makes a frequent appearance here, not as a love rival but just as a side character with his own love line. It's decent.)
Nao is slightly less annoying than the first season, but maybe that's because it's been ages since I've watched it. Her voice is still as shrill and baby-like, though, which got on my nerves quite often. Uehara seems the same from season one, maybe just a little less 'I dont give a damn'. The both of them together was annoying as heck, but hey, they're the main lead. You can't avoid them. (also, Uehara gets his own little triangle with this really pretty and really smart scientist. He should have ended up with her.)
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As far as stories go, it's likely one of the most cliche ones in dramaland- rich, spoilt boy is forced to work as an assistant of an assistant in his dad's company to learn the ropes of management. No surprise there.
What really hits you is Chiu Roy's acting, which can only be described as absolutely delightful. Through him, you're able to see a SUBSTANTIAL difference in his character from the first episode to the last. The dynamic between Chiu Roy's character and the manager character show is another brilliant additional, which isn't surprising considering how hilarious the manager's antics are!
Alice Ke as the female lead is decent, though not particularly memorable. Nonetheless, her close friendship with Yao Yao's Yu Le is very sweet and makes you wish you had such an understanding, caring and loyal best friend (that is, if you don't already have one.)
What disappointed me the most was Li Tia's Zheng Kai Er. I recently watched her in Jojo's World, and I found her more than decent there. Over here, on the other hand, her acting was incredibly dull; her lack of reactions, coupled with no facial expressions, made what could have been a good, evil female lead a sort of pity party of one. Whelp, on a positive note, it makes you appreciate just how far Li Tia has grown as an actress.
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The best thing I can say about Meloholic is that it wasnt bad...
...that's about it.
There is nothing to write home about, yet there is nothing particularly annoying about the show. TVXQ's Yunho was pretty forgettable as a lead, even though his character was supposed to be charismatic and sexy. Kyung Soo Jin was fine as well, though I have to say, her portrayal of Han Ju Ri is probably the best part of this show. Individually, I liked both Yunho's and Soo Jin's characters. Together? That's a different story. There was very, very little romance development. He literally meets her and decides to date her in the same episode. Soo Jin's character Han Ye Ri was supposed to be closed off towards any and all romantic advances, but pretty readily accepts Yunho's Eunho (gawd, he even used a similar name.)
To call this a psychological show would be stretching it- there is BARELY any deep, psycho-analysis of Ye Ri and her dual personality. It was just like "Hey, heres a heroine with multiple personality disorder and her alter-ego is the total opposite of her. Done." One can't help but draw comparisons to Kill Me, Heal Me, another show that deals with the same issue, but executes it much better. I wish they used the disorder more effectively into the plotline and delved a little deeper into it instead of keeping it superficial.
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I Love My President Though He's A Psycho
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I briefly considered giving this a 10 (like another review for this drama) simply because I just could not believe that the writer would, with their hand over their heart, believe this steaming pile of dog shit masquerading as a script could actually be halfway-decent enough to be shown to the world. But that would mean the rating for this drama would increase, which would be false advertising. So hence, here is my very honest and slightly disgruntled review (after all, I wasted a good day watching all 10 episodes. A day I will never get back.)
This show is low budget, but that's okay. Low budget shows can also be great (read: Go Princess Go) or at the very least, watchable (read: Master Devil Do Not Kiss Me). Here, on the other hand, it was like the producers didn't even have enough to hire actors. Hell, my aunt who stays at home and reads to her 12 cats can probably act better. For example, when the male lead was talking about his 'Paranoid Personality Disorder' (does this even exist?), he put on this facial expression that really, really wanted to be tortured, but sort of fell in the ballpark of constipated. I think that if the producers spent less on all the fancy sets and locations, they could've afforded some decent actors, but hey, who cares about actors anyway.
I still can't believe this story is what it is. It gives me hope that if crap like THIS can get produced, then anything I end up writing will have the producers queuing in front of my house.
It starts off with our bug-eyed, small faced heroine (whose face kinda creeped me out with its very apparent plasticky-ness) being kidnapped and tied to a chair with a cheap-looking alien brain-sucking device on her head- or so you'd think (muwahaha the budget strikes again!) Its actually a lie detector. We see a bunch of science-y looking scientists (because lab coats, duh) ask her where she hid the baby. Female lead gets confused and vehemently denies ever being pregnant. Lie detector says she's lying, and the scientists keep asking her where she hid the baby. The heroine faints. Fast forward a bit, and we see our hero, looking all serious and hero-like while having a face that is 3 shades lighter than his neck (good make up artists cost money). Now, even HE asks her about the baby- his baby, apparently- and absolutely refuses to accept that they never had sex in the first place, because according to him, they both were drunk at a party she was waitressing at when they had it. While a normal person would accept that an ordinary woman would know if she ever pushed out a baby, this guy was somehow convinced that our female lead birthed a human without her knowledge.
Once this idiocy got over, the male lead had no reason to keep her at his mansion, but ya' know, he still did because he is 'ohmagerd obsezzed!!!' The female lead eventually stayed because Stockholm Syndrome.
Okay, I'll stop there. Not only because I was getting more and more annoyed as I typed, but the review was also suffering (if it hasn't already suffered enough.)
Tl;dr- The actors can't act, the writer can't write, the directors can't direct and the producers can't produce.
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This review may contain spoilers
Regret. That's what I felt after wasting more than 3 precious days of my life binge watching this hot mess. But if you asked me how I felt, say, 28 episodes or so in, I would've gushed loudly and happily, rambling on about the great chemistry, suspenseful story and amazing atmosphere. Sure, I would've admitted to plot holes and glaringly obvious breaks of logic, but my love for the passionate romance would have made me gladly overlook the negatives.
What went wrong, then? What made me go from giving this show a solid 7.5 (or even an 8) to giving a measly 5 (which I have given very reluctantly, considering how I actually want to give it a 4)?
To start off, I'll say this: The female lead is utter bullcrap. I have never, in ANY of the dramas I've watched, seen such a fickle, pushy, entitled and naive female lead- she's about as frail and intelligent as a dandelion. There is a limit to how dumb you can be, but this heroine surprises me every time. I can't say anything without spoiling the show for you (if, you know, you're still adamant to watch the show), but she acts VERY immature and heartless sometimes.
She's beauty,
She's grace,
She's a COMPLETE waste of space.
The male lead is dense. There's no other way of saying it. He constantly pushes around the female lead, directly or indirectly dictating her life and clings like a vine. I get it, you like her (for reasons beyond my understanding), but, sheesh, get yourself under control, man. But I'd take him over her moody ass any day; he was at least likeable.
But despite the problems I had with the characters, the story was engaging. It made me stay up till 3:30 in the morning on weekdays, desperately trying to find out what happened next...
...which is probably what made the shit that went down after (maybe) the 30th episode feel almost like betrayal.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
The heroine chooses, CHOOSES, to believe some random seedy looking dude she just met over the male lead (who she, by this time, already hooked up with and has his bun in her oven) that he killed her parents. She doesn't bother to confirm what she heard or to even ASK the male lead on if it's true or not. No, she just packs up and LEAVES.
And then, through some miracle of god, somehow ends up joining a group of rebels whose aim is to drive away the Japanese from Shanghai (and possibly, China). Yes, this chick, who has never held a gun in her life, got magically chosen to train with an elite group of rebels, who just happen to have the support of high-ranking officials in Shanghai, such as our male lead. Not only her, even the pissy and spoilt second male lead who just smells of bad decisions manages to snag a top spot with the group.
But maybe she's actually good? Maybe she actually learned some moves? WRONG! In the first fight we see her participate in, she comes in an expensive coat, loose hair and heels. HEELS! Not even practical block heels, but freaking 3-4 inch pencil heels!
Alas, somehow, I'm not even surprised at this point.
Final thoughts: Skip. Escape. This should go to the dustbin of Chinese drama history, where it should never rear its pitiful head again.
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The atmosphere, the characters, the acting EVERYTHING was incredible. Scenes that could have very easily crossed the line to melodrama surprisingly didn't and the directing was very well done. Not once did I feel like a scene was unnecessary or a waste of time.
The leads were literally perfect- they looked great together AND had amazing chemistry. From what I've noticed, older Japanese dramas are much better at romance than the newer ones, with more realistic characters and no flowery filters.
Overall- This is not a rom-com, but much more of a romance drama. Hockey is a huge part of the show, but it isn't necessary for you to know anything about hockey (case in point, me) to really enjoy the show. Annoying side characters (or should I say, character) are present though, but everyone else is wonderful, so don't let it deter you.
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I DID question the existence of some characters, but they were all so lovable that I can't bring myself to say that they were unnecessary. The best part is that there is no 'bad' character- people who you think are going to be complete jerks turn out to be pretty awesome. The main characters have only one enemy: themselves. This is one of the very few dramas where I liked EVERYONE. Like, literally EVERYONE.
Our main female lead, Wakaba, is an ambitious, smart and hard working young woman. She went through a harsh childhood with nearly nothing and practically made her own ladder to climb up the ranks. Hence, she consciously looks down on people she deems 'ambition-less', which includes our male lead, Sota. Sota, in fact, DOES have ambitions of his own, which he unfortunately had to give up to take care of his incredibly adorable son.
Thus, the whole story revolves around each of them finding what really matters: being honest to oneself and following their dreams or going with what they think is the 'right' way.
One of my motivations to watch the show was Aragaki Yui, who was great as usual, but what surprised me was Nishikido Ryo, of whom this is my first drama. He blew me away with how adorable he was (I paused like, 10 times just to stare at his smile), not to mention how well he acted as a naive, caring father. DEFINITELY watching his other stuff.
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