Hook ups, throw ups, fuck ups, hiccups...

Only friends does not really have much of a story at least not the first few episodes as there will be people touching each others genitals in pretty much every single scene making me wonder 1. did they use protection and 2. how durable are the skin and muscles of youth down below...

Pretty much every single one of the men in this is despicable at one point or another with the exception of the bartender who just had to little screen time to be so...

Only friends can apparently do a whole lot of shit making me wonder if these people really are friends forget the only, I would settle for acquaintances at some point, s this is probably the loneliest bunch of friends I have seen in all of Dramalad.

The main characters;
Sand- Smile to die for is shown to be this kind of saint but deep down we kind of know this guy is disloyal and can easiely throw his friend under a buss... He is however a good influence on some and has the best t-shirts.

Ray- Boy is crying for help so loudly... he does give up some psychopath vibes and I keep on going between wanna hug the guy and wanting to put him behind bars...

Top- Man is good looking, the ultimate bad boy you want to tame and make go good... but for the life of me I do not get what he sees in Mew... badboy desrservs better

Mew- I really do not get the guy, selfish annoying, fake... Psychopath... yes he has a nice smile but that is where the guys character ends. Why can't this actor get better parts?

Boston- Dude is crying for help... I hate him I love him I hate him again... I have had issues with Neos acting but honestly this time he nailed his character and did a great job.

Nick- One pretty huge mistake but after that I think Mark finally made my crush-list the most charming of the bunch...

Bowing- I have no words... dude needs to get some help...

Actually the whole bunch could use some help....

That said it was an entertaining watch, it completely lacked substance (unless you count saliva as substance), but it was indeed entertaining and filled a whole yers quota of watching people hook up!

Read More

Fights ad Fluff, Fluff and Fights...

This is a yet a gain way to short series/movie with slightly off pacing... though the characters are slightly flat they are pretty much lovable and make you want to just give them a big hug, most of them, some could probably use a syab wound or two... And may or may not actually get it... A long with a bunch of pretty unpredictable twists here and there... by knife and or plot...

The boys are sweet, passionate and have pretty good chemistry, there is plenty of thirst scenes and we do get to see abs touched, kissed, and talked about... They also have som pretty decent dialog and seem to generally care for each other. As well as did keep me on my toes.

There are also a few meaningful lines here and there about love, family and taking control over ones own life.

All in all a pretty decent show, definitely worthy of anybodys time be it the fluff , fight or suspense lovers out there it shows a pretty good balance and has a little bit everything

Read More

Where the darknes in society meets glitter and magic...

This drama starts off as the regular girl in utter misery meets Willy Wonka + Marry Poppins combo in a magical display of disbelief, magic and misery...

The music was good, the cinematography and effects were all amazing... And the way they adress childhood poverty may not have been revolutionary but they did manage to fit in the importance of the school meal as well as children hiding field trip expenses to not strain an already strained budget in a beautiful way.

The acting and singing is really good, especially the kids. There is also an amazing parrot in this drama that will truly make you laugh and fall in love with her!

As the story progresses the music subsides more or less along side the viewers faith in the adult world and probably society as a whole... This drama and it's subjects may not be revolutionary for a K-drama but it is done beautifully and magically...

There are a whole lot of great lines in this drama that may or may not restore that faith in humanity... or rather in the next generation giving us viewers a good balance between the dark social criticism and hope for the future. This is deffinetly not a fluff piece that will make you feel all good inside but rather a drama that will make you feel more or less everything and I dare say it will also keep you on your toes (the last 3 episodes or so).

Bingeabilaty: 10
Annoying side characters: non
Friendship: 10

What keeps this from getting a higher score from me is it's entertainment value, as mentioned before the first couple of episodes are well done but do not really bring anything new to the table. There is a certain awkwardness + cringe about parts of the drama and they may have overused the words:

"Do you believe in magic"

All in all defiantly worth a watch both for the musical lovers out there as well as those who do not care to much about musicals but love social criticism, important issues and drama as it does fit in quite a bit of that...

" There are no flowers on paved roads... "

p.s. The poor female lead does not have the newest smart phone...

Read More

Till the end of this Mess....

This is more or less what you get if you google random storylines and just randomly mix em up, copy a bit here paste a bit there... cut it in to a bunch of pieces that fade in to each other like a musical medley... add some good cast, bad dubbing, pretty pictures but awful CGI and vwalla you have 40 episodes of what the *** did I watch and why am i still watching this?

However! I am pretty sure the cast had a lot of fun filming this as they got to portray a whole lot of personalities and showcase their range, I am pretty sure they too had no clue about the story so the risk of leaking spoilers was really kept to a minimum. Among these personalities we got cold as ice, hot as lava, toxic, mean, addicted, obsessed, loving, kind, more obsessed... Seriously probably one of the worse cases of obsessed I have ever seen... Healer, killer, lier, backstabber, frontstabber... We have lovers, bromances, the lies for your own good, the lies for the good of the universe, and probably some lies told for the good of some random cat somewhere... Or just for fun... For those of you who love watching actors spit blood you are truly in for a treat as there are very few scenes that do not include the occasional blood spat... It is hard to fit ppl in to a costume drama but I am sure this was sponsored by the cranberry juice and fake blood association of China.

It is probably easier to list what you won't find in here which is logic, consistency , modern stuff, and quality.

But if there is anything else you desire, it is sure to show up at some point or another.

P.s. it has an amazing flaming umbrella

Read More

Like chewing gum...

It started out kind of fun, an easy watch with a pretty cool female lead and good looking cast. There was a slight stiff awkward yet playful vibe to the story and most of the characters as well. Entertaining as long as you don´t care about logic, because well there is none. While most of the story and quality is inconsistent there is one thing that never fails and that is the lack of logic in the plot.

There are of course some well loved drama cliches, and an abundance of umbrellas but as the episodes passed by I realised that the awkwardness that worked so well in the beginning was actually just lack of direction and/or talent from the leads. Add to that the plot just goes meeh, the slight build up of the first episodes just goes flat there is nothing really interesting to see there and while there are a few cute lines and smiles here and there it all just went bland... like the drama got covid and kept trying all kinds of flavours but had lost all sense of taste... Just like chewing gum bursting with flavour the first 2 minutes untill it slowley turs in turns to this tasteless mass you may be able to make bubbles out of but the falvour is gone...

Read More

Geometry, abs and lots and lots of people who need to learn about boundaries.

Watching this drama is like watching a collection of more or less every trope available for a c-drama but without the Rio and the cruel grown ups as I am sure you could fill a whole game brick of cliches and stuff you have seen before. The use of water in this show is as overwhelmingly beautiful as the use of abs as the show has a variety of umbrellas, drowning and people caught in the rain, the scenes themselves are not really special but the umbrellas are innovative, gorgeous and given the love they deserve, caught in slow mo and what not.

The male lead is more or less he typical god with a one track mind and complete lack of understanding of the word consent as he forces his kisses on the female lead more than once as well as pretty much stalkes her both online and IRL just to be near her (without the whole imagining stuff and violent tendencies) as this guy is very much aware of her not wanting him to get close to her. The guy does however do all from stalking her online, follow her from behind and go wherever she goes and collect mementoes of their interactions... Lovely to watch but so many red flags mayday in china seems flaggless... Still the guy does have a pure heart and good intentions that will make you forget all that... Oh and his voice sounds like a 45 year olds...

That and the second male lead is even worse when it comes to boundaries, respect and reading the room... it seems his job in this drama is to show off his abs (yes he shows them in about 80% of his scenes). And is there to annoy the audience and make us forget all the flags shown by the male lead, as chances of getting SLS in this show are slim to none. I am sure the writer loved abs as she wrote in a whole lot of scenes where the potential love threats, friends and whoever could got their abs shot from a bunch of angles and close up (including the male leads) . In short the writer seemed to love abs, geometry, and water...

The ML roommates are dumb and dumber, annoying most of the time and only there to prolong the show. The FL roommates are kind of meeh but the friendships over all in this are nice, especially the female friendships who have few traces of jealousy and seem more supportive than the typical C.

The female lead is mostly cool and pretty decent, she is not super stupid, and is rater a girl who with the right help from the ml can do anything,,, she does however seem a tad oblivious, defensive and while she keeps telling people she is not that vulnerable, people seem to treat her as someone in need of constant protection ... Which feels a bit (a lot) out dated.

The second couples female is called persistent... I would call her lacking boundaries, needs to learn about consent and how to take a no... The guy here is however pretty good looking, and the type who seemingly needs that type of girl... yes very out dated indeed...

Annoying characters: A lot
Consent:What is that?
Trust: What is that?
Communication: What is that?
Abs: 999999
Water:99999
Bingabilaty: 9

All this said, it was pretty entertaining most of the time so it gets 8 for entertainment and abs...

Read More

Castaway Music and Romance but instead we got so much more...

This drama is all about priorities and is so much more than another music Cast Away Diva.... Don´t get me wrong I love my idol music dramas more than most people do and this does have some of that but what makes this drama excellent is how it mixes dreams, and family abuse with fond family and friendship, killer secrets, a psychopath or two... and a side of romance in such a beautiful way.

Foremost this is a slice of life drama featuring a story about family abuse, found family and trying to escape....
Then comes the story about fighting for ones dreams in a world full of betrayals but also beautiful friendships
First after that comes the romance part of the story. To be honest I would have wanted another 4 episodes devoted to music and romance, but the mix in this was otherwise pretty well balanced.

There are almost over the top annoying characters or low comedy elements as far as my eyes could see... The two that had that type of characteristics had a job to do to get the story ruling to their invigorating annoying traits actually field a purpose. Making me accept (hate) them just the way they where as they indeed showed how dangerous being a **** when facing kids trapped in families where they are abused can be.

The main villain in this drama is very well written perfectly evil, smart, knows the rules and knows exactly how to avoid punishment. Our diva is a true diva with a story, the agency director a jerk, our female lead is bad ass and fun and lovable all at once. The male lead has this great mix of hot- cold, reserved... The second male lead is precious and clueless and just so much fun to watch. The found families are just so adorable, I love em I truly do, the sisemace also top top top... And the hot and cold romance has some pretty good chemistry and lovely lines but is just overshadowed by the rest both in term of story and measured in screen time.

Defiantly a drama I recommend to most, just be prepared for both darkness and fluff...

Read More

Sweet and pretty...

This Is the sweet and dramatic cautionary tale reminding all viewers of the importance of introducing your soon to be spouse before the wedding, especially if you are marrying some one your parents may disapprove of..

It also tells us the important of planning the wedding well and knowing your guests...

Other than that it is pretty sweet and has a lovely beach setting as well as both drama some geometry all in less than one hour.

Was it great, no, but the acting was good enough and it did show a nice palette of ways to relate to the LGBTQ+ community... Some unexpected funny lines and well great use of hoodies and video...

All in all definitely an ok watch

Read More

Let Me be Your Knight meets Idol-the Coup with a twist and an Age Gap...

It started a 9, went up to a solid 10 but took a dive to a 7,5 and well ended up an 8,5...

While I am not one to encourage people to fall for their teacher, I did fall for the main couple in this drama, it helps that he is a pretty cold mature type and an adult when the whole falling in love part actually takes place.. but I would be lying if I did not say it bothered me a little.. That said this is the story of the burnt out teacher who finds her self as the house mom of a failed boyband who just happens to include a student at her former school who she once encouraged to pursue a career in music... the start of a very complicated journey of friendship, encouragement, jealousy, and yes tiny (very tiny )amount of romance...

I loved the boys during the first 6-7 episodes or so, the music, the fluff... whole Idol-The Coup meets let me be your knight with a Japanese twist and an age gap definitely has all the ingredients to make me completely fall in love with this show , which I did... However as the episodes passed by, the I found that they added on some of my less loved cliches and shifted focus from the stuff I loved to stuff I did not care for as much ... taking away my oh so beloved fluff, it was still ok but I felt a bit cheated by the os so Perfect for me start... But that does not have to mean that you will not enjoy the last third of the show. As it was not bad or anything... I guess I felt that several of my beloved characters disappointed me and had some negativ character development....

Being a former teacher myself I love how the female lead guides the boys and tries to dig out their full potential... I alos love the representation of different types of people in this, as it just fits in perfectly in the dialog and plot and does not feel forced. There are also a bunch of adorable animals, a unique umbrella scenen and just a whole lot of good... and it will have you smiling from ear to ear thinking ooooh so cute...

So if you like watching dramas about idols, music, people who have been completely ruined by the world try to come agin... then tis is definitely a good place to watch it. If you do not like dramas about idols, ands etc... then I wonder how come you got this far in this review as this is obviously not a drama for you.

Read More

Skip it till they make it.. or just watch the main couple

To little good to make up for the bad but oh what a romance... as this is another one of those dramas that is just so hard to rate as it offers some of dramalands greatest pebbles of romance while boring the viewers by giving away the couples screen time to boring workplace plots...

9⭐️ for it's main couple who have great chemistry, fun interactions that balance the line of depth and playfulness. Watching these two flirt is a pleasure for the eye and soul. Watching them communicate and use underlining meanings is pure magic and joy... They are human, they are fun, they have issues and we the viewers get to watch them grow and so on.

7⭐️ For to the friendships, and the way they show issues with other men, offering us some good and important lessons but then ruining them by not really seeing them through and making them fall flat. No to mention how gold diggers are portrayed and the whole conversation there it feels like they wanted to say something progressive but ended up making a mess and shaming a bunch of women...

4 ⭐️ For the workplace whatever plots, not very interesting and wasting my time... between the parts that I actually did want to watch.

So what can I say watch it for the romance but feel free to skip all the stuff in between it really just takes up space and is a waist of time.

Read More

I probably won't see it agin but it was very nice to see...

This is a drama worthy of it's name showing the fear and struggle with the questions:
Will I see you again, did I see you again, do I actually want to see you again... Will the Yellow umbrella insure that I see you again...

As most of the characters are very lovable and fun to watch there are those that truly do make you wonder if you want to see them, on screen off screen in the past or in the present... The one character that is annoying na oddly/poorly written is probably the villain, which is kind of a drag and does drag down the score of this otherwise pretty good drama.

Hu Yi Tians performance here was lovely, even though he has a lot of lines he does seem to keep his mysterious cold side giving me a lot of gif material of him drinking coffee, drinking liquor, drinking boba,,, with a lollipop in his mouth, smiling...

The female lead is also pretty decent fun, a bit naive at times but no too naive, creative, bubbly... a person that can stand on her own even if she is poor. Showing us a drama where the writers both seem to have met a woman or two and actually seem to like them... All very lovely indeed.

The side characters (except for one of the villains), do their part well, they show great friendship (but not the annoying type) are a first for the eye, and though some scenes do come off as a bit stupid they do seem to make up for it as it goes a long... That said I do think they could have cut this one down to 24 episodes if they tried, as some parts just felt meeh or unnecessary, that said I do think they did a pretty decent job showing fear, toxic obsession, the difference between love and obsession, the difference between healthy fear and complete panic in fear of loosing some one as well as how that fear can paralyse a person... Not always fun to watch but well shown.

There is also some kind of boy that cried wold feel to it, as they do seem to put the audience to the test of how many times can a person disappear, the other panic and then show up again before the audience gives up and wished the male lead gone... (sorry).

There were several times where I wonder how the *** are they going to wrap this up, and without giving away anything I am willing to say they actually did a decent job with the last episodes, giving us an ending that almost makes sense... As much as a love story between a dude in the 30s and 2018 can make sense,


Also the umbrellas, clothes and cinematography in this was off the charts gorgeous... a bit to much slow mo... but oh so pretty
Deffientely a drama that was fun to watch, not a masterpiece and far from perfect but gif friendly and a joy for the eye...

Read More

The definition of mediocre

This drama is so mediocre it is impressive!

The dialog- mediocre
The chemistry- mediocre
The kisses- mediocre
The acting- mediocre
The scenery- mediocre...

EVERY SINGLE DETAIL SCREAMS MEDIOCRE

With one exception Song Han Hee who played Yoo Sin Bi / Mikael was actually pretty good and impressed me in her role, she reminded me a bit of IU....

But I guess that is the exception that reinforces the rule... But there really is nothing bad about this drama but nothing good either.... it just is...

So all on all... Mediocre... did I mention it is mediocre?

Read More

A good murder, mystery, romance, friendship drama with a whole lot of pain

This is a drama that raises the oh so important question:

Is it worth finding out who murdered your soulmate , if it means you may have to let go of his presence as a ghost?

It is also a drama that beautifully portrays love and loss, and is defiantly one of those dramas that you start watching while knowing you are in for a whole lot of pain...
.
Going in to this you are also probably fully aware of the pretty faces and good acting that will a company that pain, at least if you look at the cast list before you start watching it. Making it just that much more painful, because, if the acting would have been meeh you would probably not feel as much pain, but then again meeh acting and pain are just not really worth it anyway.

This on the other hand is so worth it, as you not only get a painful romance, you also get a bromance, a murder mystery and a ghost seeing male lead without to much second hand embarrassment. Though the ghost seeing male lead had some over acting moments I actually really liked him the rest of the time. As he did bring a whole lot of heart in to this character and was probably a perfect fit.

As for our female lead she was just so human, perfectly imperfect, sweet, and a great at showing whole range of emotions. She embodied the not wanting to let go just so perfectly. She was lovable, relatable and bad ass all at once.

Our ghost male lead was also really well casted, a cold guy with a few hot spots the few shows of emotions became that much more powerful.

So what can I say the pacing is decent, the predictability pretty high yet it still managed to keep me interested. I love the way the story unfolds, with spots of excruciating pain but also a lot of fluff, love, bromance, romance between the painful moments.

As for the OST we do get both the piano, the guitar and some shout out pain rock, the type that I think only J-dramas can offer. And I loved it.

So if you can handle some pain, this is a great place to find it, if not then move a long there is nothing to see here...

Also I did not like the last episode, it did not go well with the rest of the drama, but I am personally act like it never happand... So I did not let it affect the score.

Read More

Sooo good yet so draggy...

Once upon a time there was a lonely prince who lived in a palace where toxic masculinity and rivalry ruled... The women where abused and used as objects owned by men. Tradition was supposedly strong in the palace and any one male or female who tried to go up against it was tossed in to a marriage against their will, pretty much forced to commit suicide or ended up in prison. People where scheming plots all over the place...

But one day the prince met a girl whom was warm, funny and loved food above anything. And while he could not make her his wife he made her is concubine... Which made for the start of a whole bunch of people working towards new lives... and yes A New Life Begins...

The drama has a lot of everything, maybe a bit to much of everything as nothing seems to get fully explored and both drags out for what seems like an eternity only to be wrapped up with a few lines here and there... maybe a slow mo scene of the result but the turns are fast and the process extremely inconsistent. Is this the result of poor writing, censorship or a writer who just wants to include a bit to much I do not know... But it did feel very off at times. Which is really sad because there is so much good in here.

Both leads are lovable, good actors, have great chemistry and lovely interactions with each other with some pretty steamy kisses. Unfortunately. their story does not get nearly enough screen time as all those other side plots take away from their time together. However I do have to say that this is a male lead who even though he grew up in the toxic palace actually seems to have some kind of respect for women and can both take no for an answer and seems to try to avoid forcing himself on the female lead even if they are supposed to try to consummate the guy seems to want to the girl to actually want to consummate before consummating. Showing some type of consent culture.

The food in this drama is mouth watering, making you hungry every single episode.

The side couples are mostly lovely and show a bunch of ways of power relations and personalities... As we get to see the difference between domestic violence practiced by people with power and violence in the relationship practiced by people with less power. Non are good but we do get to see a nuance done pretty well.

We also get to see a lot of women empowerment, sisterhood and a potential poly relationship that could have been so good if the drama was not so obsessed with monogamy vs concubine culture.... There is one truly annoying character but she grew on me after a while, but then she pretty much disappeared from the plot.

This drama is a good pick for those who like c-historical with many episodes and do not mind the draggy parts. For those who want to see 100 years of woman's rights battles cut down to about 3 or 4 years and are okay with getting pebbles of great romance between sisterhood, friendship, family relations, politics, food and pretty much everything in-between...

However if you are like me you will miss the pebbles and find it draggy and may find yourself struggling to finish it wanting to drop it yet still not being able to score it to low because it just has so many good parts in it...

Also the predictability is pretty high so do not expect to be kept on your toes, at all.

Read More

A lot of Our´s and a whole buch of blues...

This is a drama that deals with a whole bunch of relationships, a true exploration of relations, regret, sorrow, pain... anger and so on. As they gather some of South Koreas greatest actors and actresses to deliver characters and stories far beyond how we are used to seeing them.

The first 3 episodes where kind of meh though they lay some of the ground work to understanding the characters they may put people off this show which would be a shame. As episode 4 was really good, 5 great and then it goes a bit back and fourth with how good, powerful and interesting the episodes/stories are. While some of the episodes could easily score a 6 , others 10 and well more or less anything in-between. However the way this is intwined and the way things progress, the way the writer keeps us on our toes at times, as well as those really good stories ultimately made me give this a 9.

The acting was spot on, the OST may not always have suited my personal taste but it was well fitted with the story and cinematography all there to make people feel things. Well balanced, well made and yes they did make me cry once or twice towards the end.

What I liked most about this drama was how the characters are shown as real human beings, while some indeed needed to be sent to anger management and got on my nerves more than once none of the characters or relationships where made flat, no one was just whatever typecast one would think they could be. No matter gender, age, disability, and hardships the people in this village meet they are shown to be more than just that story. This is done with the use of flashbacks, scenes where they meet prejudice, monologues... We get to see their hopes, struggles, solutions, and what not all shown all in a lovely mix. At times giving the viewers the blues, other times giving us hope... Some times plain pissing us off.

While I am a sucker for romance the romance in this drama is definitely secondary, do not get me wrong the romance here is lovely and gives us a break from the heavy and painful life parts. But the stars of this show are the friendships, family ties and relationships over generations.

There are a few stories I would have wanted to see less of, other stories that left me wanting more. There where several parts of this show that did not sit right with me at all and had me questioning the writers motives. However The fact that this writer makes place for all these different stories wins over the bad.

This is not a romcom, or a feel good drama, the few comic relief parts felt pretty unnecessary. So if you are looking for inspiration or feel good this is definitely not it. But if you want some good cinematography, human nature, painful and honest dialog this is a pretty decent place to find it.

Heart-flutter medium
Pain: high
Bingabilaty: medim
Anger: medium (with high spikes here and there)

Read More