4
1
Salty_bae
Czech Republic
#Letsgetdrunk!
Perfect in every single way.I went into this drama absolutely blind - i saw Eun Ji (who i love since R97) and “female friends drinking alcohol” and i thought to myself: this might be nice. And it was not JUST nice. It was perfect. In a span of 12 unusually short episodes, this drama managed to fulfill each and every single of my drama desires/needs.
STORY - the concept of 3 friends vs. the world is not unique. We’ve all seen at least 5 dramas with such theme. But why WLDN feels so good and refreshing?! Most of the issues the main leads go through are not new but the way our main leads carry though the mishaps is so much fun. The writer wasnt afraid to explore harder topics (though oftentimes only marginally or very nonverbally) like depression, lgbt, sex, harassment, patriarchy… this might seem like an explosive/too stacked mix but it was executed quite well in my opinion. And the dialogues were so good!
The drama started with very hilarious and bizarre comedy (imo on par with Chief Kim and Pegasus Market) and then it suddenly slipped into drama with very serious topics. The transition felt almost seamless.
CHARACTERS - at first, the main leads seemed very one-dimensional - weirdo Ji Goo, beauty Ji Yeon, worcoholic So Hee, creep Kang PD. But oh boy, do they all have LAYERS. And such beautiful and interesting layers to boot!
Ji Yeon is one of the most interesting and funny characters i've seen in a drama these days. So unapologetically feminine and over the top. So Hee and her endless inner (and outer) battle with her feelings. And jI Goo - seemingly so strong on the outside but in fact very vulnerable, too. Despite some of their character traits being overexaggerated for entertainment purposes, all of them feel like real complex women who are able to be both strong and weak, emotional, rational and irrational... And their friendship is something so beautifully written and perfectly acted by all 3 main leads!
OTHER ASPECTS - visually, this drama was so much fun - be it cute outfits for all main leads, nice coloring of the scene/shot, or the food/alcohol aspect of the drama. I am no expert in the field of camera technique, but i quite enjoyed the camera movement. idk…i didnt pay much attention to ost (cause the drama was stacked in other departments) but all the main leads sang a song for this drama and the songs are pretty good!
CONCLUSION - i love this drama so much. I found the finale a little … lacking but i suppose they are hoping for season 2. The rewatch value is high for this drama - especially early episodes when the characters are only showing their layers and the comedy is just perfect. With this drama i cried both - happy and sad tears (I actually shed so many different types of tears!) so it seems like it will be perfect for a rewatch during the time when one needs to unwind so many emotions. I had a really great time watching WLDN and it gave me all sorts of warm and fluffy feelings!
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Still 2Gether: A Damage Control or How 2 Save Your Series
This season was clearly done to save this series after lackluster finale/final third of season 1. It very obviously addresses most of the complaints and comments we as viewers had while watching the original series and brings back everything we loved at the beginning.And you know what? I liked it! I had a good time watching this!
Thanks to this bonus season, the first season of 2Gether wont leave such a bad taste in my mouth anymore, because i know this exists!
This is the first time in my life that i have seen such an attempt to save a piece of media that went downhill. And i honestly respect it, no matter if the driving force behind this season were money or actual genuine effort to save this series that stems from love for the source material. We could discuss their intentions ad infinitum but simple existence of this bonus season means they care about it.
The story was simple but entertaining. Besides damage control, the script focused on all the things we as viewers enjoyed - be it silly comedy or cute moments (or doubled-down on things the writer very obviously stood behind such as distinct TineWat love language). There were quite some plot holes or cheap plot set-ups like the two club rooms being directly next to each other or Tine missing Wat super hard after like… a week of separation. There are still some glaring issues from season 1, if you want to nitpick.
But lets just be generous for now and overlook these for a sake of general entertainment.
Acting was good and i think the overall cast chemistry was improved in this series. My only complaint is that some of the characters became caricatures of themselves at some point but at the same time it was, again, probably necessary evil so the series could be so entertaining.
I hope Still2Gether will become a case-study for any upcoming series. Not in a way that i want to see a shitty s1 followed by a damage control special season ever again but because im sure there are many ways a filmographer can learn from success, fall and eventual redemption that was 2gether the series as a whole.
My rating is probably a bit too high but i unexpectedly enjoyed this bonus series and i appreciate the amount of thought that went into “saving” 2Gether as a series.
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109 Average Things
Overall, it was pretty average.The story focused on some basic philosophical questions about robots (do they have feelings/free will/whatever?) but didnt really offer any deeper/surprising/more complex thoughts or ideas. It also was about struggle of 90’s kids/millenials who cant find jobs because they studied arts/humanities but again, no realistic outcome came from it.
Main characters were pretty okay but all of the side-characters were extremely annoying. And we still dont know if is Jung Chaeyeon good actress or not because she played basically same character as in Drinking Solo (finding out if Chaeyeon was good/decent actress was main reason i wanted to watch this).
There were some plot holes but at least this webdrama wasnt incredibly stupid. And it certainly had some idea behind it but it could be handled a bit better.
Watch it if: you are a fan of Choi TaeJoon or Jung ChaeYeon (she is incredibly pretty).
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Until I Rewatch This Again
UWMA is a flawed drama but when it comes to personal enjoyment I want to give it 11/10 and it wouldn’t be enough: An essay. Contains TL;DR. Perhaps light spoilers.Note: I haven’t read the novel yet so these are my opinions based solely on the drama. I’m also trying to be objective but know that I love the show a bit too much.
Do you ever watch a drama and think “man, I cannot believe this drama was made solely for me”? cause I felt like this while watching UWMA.
Admittedly, it is not a perfect drama – it would definitely benefit from having less episodes – 17 (basically 18) was indeed a bit too much. Making it 14/15 episodes would definitely please people who weren’t into the drama same way I am and it would make the storytelling more dynamic because the slowburn felt way too slow in the middle of the story. I personally don’t see it as a major flaw – considering this type of storytelling was present throughout the whole series it is obvious it was a deliberate choice and not accidental and I actually didn’t mind it at all (but I can see it why it could be annoying for others). The drama would also profit from having more dialogues and/or less “blank space” which seemed to occur in many scenes. Stuff was just not happening at all sometimes. On the other hand, this (little dialogues, slow pace) created a very calming and comfortable atmosphere.
= STORY =
The story itself has amazing premise but somehow, the execution on a scriptwriter’s/directors’s side seems lacking. In general, the story lacks big external conflict – I can imagine that in novel everything happens on the “inside” which leads to visually low-dynamic story that is hard to transfer to the tv show. There were not enough dialogues and actors can convey only this much emotions through their expressions. We know that characters are having great internal debates but inner speech is not shown though voiceover often enough which is a pity. Sometimes, the scenes were a bit too long. Storytelling was also sometimes a bit off – for example, based on what we have seen in the drama, KornIn had pretty comfy relationship with only few reasons to commit suicide – the drama showed them snuggling, kissing outside, playing outside… I’m aware that reality was different and they did experience hardship behind the scenes and what we saw were supposed to be a cherry-picked moments, but really, I think the suicide deserves stronger juxtaposition and build-up (even retrospectively).
While I have my comments on the execution of the story, I must admit that they are not actually deal-breaking flaws for me. Annoying – yes. Would I want to see some scenes done differently? – yes. Do I want to see something else? Also yes. But I still rewatched so many scenes. I think the case with the story is – the novel is a pretty standard soulmates AU which means there were not many reasons to go for some totally new plots and I don’t really see that as a flaw.
Ultimately, what I really loved is the focus on the main couple. Usually, in BL dramas we get a lots of struggles and only few snuggles but UWMA made it other way around. Also, the focus was solely on DeanPharm either in past or in present. No forced secondary couples you don’t care about which I loved as well.
Anyways, contrary to popular complaint – I liked the cooking scenes – it helped develop Pharms character besides the fact that hes In and also Deans BF.
What I also liked are the parallel/contrasting situations/scenes between KornIn and DeanPharm relationhips. And in general – I absolutely adored KornIn and DeanPharm. They were so soft, cute, loving, supportive, trusting, playful… I find it refreshing to see these healthy relationships being the main focus of the drama. DeanPharm do lack communication just like any other main couple in drama ever (this time one of possible excuses can be magic behind reincarnation) but when it comes to the physical stuff, they are actually consensual and have established boundaries.
Plus, the final episode was great – maybe it is a bit pity its story didn’t happen earlier – the ending felt a little rushed. But it solidified this drama on the top of my BL faves.
= ACTING/CHEMISTRY =
I see acting as the strongest aspect of the drama. Thanks to solid to great acting performances most of the flaws were evened out for me. Casting of main leads was done so well – both Ohm-Kao and Fluke-Earth are able to project similar energy while having their own personal color just like their characters do.
Fluke and Earth managed to carry this show with their performances to new heights. Ohm and Kao weren’t bad (actually, Ohm got better and better throughout the series and by the end I really enjoyed him. With Kao it was a bit obvious this is his debut role) but considering the nature of their characters, their job was mostly glare menacingly at everyone except their partners and be handsome. Fluke was great. No wonder he is one of the most acclaimed BL actors. That boy can cry and is not afraid to look ugly! And Earth is so damn sweet. Honestly my favourite BL actor atm. I also love the fact they got several accomplished veteran actors to act in this drama. I feel like thanks to them many tense scenes went so well and they made the story more multidimensional.
Personally, I don’t stand behind the decision of having casted LBC actors in minor roles, though. One or two maybe, but casting so many of them took my attention to things that werent really supposed to be noted. Oh and wth? I realized too late that Del is played by Pineare aka Yuri from Lovesick! She’s all grown up now!!
Anyways, back to the topic. The chemistry was on point. Personally I love KornIn scenes a bit more but it might be because their moments are so soft (and I like Earth. Did I mention that I like Earth?). Their beach scene (ep 8 – 4/4) is going to be one of the most legendary scenes in history of BLs and can be rivalled only by KornIn laying in bedroom (ep 10 – 1/5) and In being sick (15 – 2/4). (Okay, I might be overreacting a little now.) Of course, KaoEarth had as actors easier position considering their characters didn’t go through major trauma (yet) and you know… they didn’t have to portray some sort of split personalities like DeanPharm had to. But don’t get me wrong – I loved DeanPharm ship as well. I think they were extraordinary soft, loving and understanding and I loved them nearly as much as KornIn. (And since I named good scenes for previous couple, I should do the same here: Christmas lights scene 11 – 2/4; snuggles 11 – 4/4; Dean comes to terms with the past 9 - 4/4)
I didn’t care for WinTeam couple at all – I didn’t really feel their chemistry and they just felt forced in the grand scheme of things. I honestly don’t understand how someone managed to get attached to WinTeam couple to the point to only watch the drama for them. Same goes for PrukManaow. What was point of that. I get it – Sammy deserves a loveline with a Hot Hunk but honestly, couldn’t they make it feel a bit more organic?
Dick Energy aside – the cast overall had a nice chemistry. The friendships/families were so damn cute.
= MUSIC =
At the beginning of the show I felt like the music – or its use, to be exact - was the major weakness. I remember complaining that background music was too loud and by the end of drama I am not sure if the volume got fixed or I just got used to it. The case still stands though because sometimes, the use of music was unlucky. There are scenes that are void of any dialogue and then, suddenly Boy Sompob or Dome Jaruwat start YELLING acapella to the scene. What a buzzkill.
Other then that, I actually like the ost. The score is beautiful and feels really grandiose at times – especially the orchestra parts where the string instruments join. And I also love Dome’s song. The fact is, however, that considering the length of the series and the fact that the music is used in every “mute” scene (so basically in every scene), there seems to me not enough songs/pieces to not feel repetitive.
= CONCLUSION/TL;DR =
Objectively, the issues of this show lie in the length/pacing of the drama and some storytelling choices while positives are in acting, chemistry, music and general storyline. The tipping point that depends largely on personal preference is the overall atmosphere of the drama which someone might name pretentiously artsy due to coloring choices and slow development while others might call it calming – either it works for you or not.
The drama is not perfect, as I tried to address in this jumbled mess of a text, but in my POV the positives weight much more than the negatives do. UWMA became my most favourite thai BL. Very wholesome, cute, soft and full of warm and fuzzy feelings together with interesting plot that is much different from any other mainstream thai BL and with fantastic acting performances and chemistry.
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This review may contain spoilers
When Male Leads Have Personalities of Two Wet Socks
I werent planning to write a review but once my casual comment on this drama reached some lenght, i decided to turn this into legit-ish review post.As a long-time fan of contract relationship stories, i am willing to let slide stupid plot set-up for the sake of my entetainment. Entering contract marriage for newlywed loan and revenge? Why not! Basic premise and set-up was okay. The problem is it took way too long - instead of some nice co-habitation/pretend scenes between female lead and fake-husband (which we got only at the end of the drama as flashbacks?!) we were given infinite amount of nice scenes of FL and ex-boyfriend. Which endcouple were we really supposed to root for? Literally no couple had enough chemistry to overpower the other. Also?? Was the /big reveal ™/ during art exhibition really surprise to someone? No, then why was FL so shocked? It could be much better if she realized it earlier once she knew who the artist was.
The acting, especially from both male leads, was atrocious. The female lead really tried her best and i enjoyed her for the most of the time (quite frankly, she carried the show), but the dudes showed literally no emotion whatsoever. You could use carboard cutout of these guys and we wouldnt even know (except for the scenes in rain. i suppose they would bend slightly). All the characters were criminally underwritten and honestly... most of them didnt even have one personality trait so i can imagine it was perhaps impossible to perform sufficiently.
The shaky camera during the dramatic scenes was so bad it gave me motion-sickness. Other visuals were pretty nice and OST was fitting.
Overall, this was... empty. Nice to look at but in the end there wasnt enough chemistry to carry the drama /somewhere/.
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Between Me and You, These People Need Therapy...
I'll start this rantview with admitting that I was never that charmed by winteam in UWMA. But I was still waiting for this series for all these years because UWMA is legit one of my most favourite BLs.And in my opinion, everything went wrong for Between Us.
The script was bad. Uneventful. After the initial fun with fwb thing (2 episodes), the script became downright uninteresting. The WinTeam couple had no story worth of 12 episodes (at best we could squeeze 8 okayish episodes) and kept repeating same shit all the time. I've heard several times that perhaps the way WinTeam not talking about their feelings/situation for 9 episodes (!!!) of this drama is not that unrealistic - apparently gay men don't talk about their feelings. And ok, point taken, i'm not a gay man so i can't talk on this matter. Even if it was true, that doesn't mean this story is any less bad. No matter how/if realistic, this is not an interesting main story that could carry a whole show and people would want to watch.
Moreover, Teams backstory was beaten so much until it just was totally unwatchable. By the end, i had 0 sympathy. Win's middle child syndrome of a boy from rich family (booohoo your father works so hard so now you and your family have rESoRtS, hOtELS and eXpeNsIVe cArs but you can't anymore go on family trips?) was just absurd.
The characters, which many people loved in uwma became shells of themselves. Every character had barely 2 character traits. Team was constantly acting like a oversized toddler and Win went from charming almost-bad boy to... tihgtlaced bitchass.
Not to kinkshame, but the odd father son dynamics between was not it. I don't feel the chemistry between WinTeam (BounPream?) - haven't for 12 episodes and quite frankly, i don't ever plan to watch this duo in any show again.
Now for the side-couples.... Oh, the side couples. The only thing i found interesting was TulWaan and their set up but in the end, the writers missed so many chances with this couple and their ending was stupid and yet another missed chance (and therefore fitting of this drama, i guess). In a grand scheme of things, i didn't hate BeePrince but they felt out of place. PrukManow were cute, and i wish they got more space, BUT if this show has taught me ANYTHING it is not ever wish for more story for a side-couple...
The dialogue was absolute disaster - normal people don't have 20 seconds of silence when they take turns talking. THEY. REALLY. DONT.
And ANOTHER disaster happened in department of makeup artists. Do i need to even mention it? I'll skip this topic but you all know where im heading with this comment.
The acting was gruesome. I can't believe someone says anyone did a good job in this series. The only person who was ok was Yacht. Actually, Yacht was really great. I wish Yacht gets a main role soon, the guy deserves it.
Another thing that kept getting on my nerves was soundtrack. Now.. i actually love the soundtrack. But the fact that it was taken from uwma will remind you in every fucking scene that there exists a sister series set in the same universe with same characters that is more interesting and better executed in every single aspect than this waste of time and money.
One more jab and im done, i promise. The translation (the official one on their youtube channel!) was horrendous. I can't still believe they wanted people to pay for the drama. It's been a long time since i've seen so many spelling and grammar errors. Straightup embarassing to read. (i can't talk about how in/correct the translation was in terms of meaning, i'm not a thai speaker)
Despite this all, i would still rate it 6/10 as the biggest issue of this show is that it is boring and... not very well acted (but also not the worst acted i've seen). Im bringing it down to 5/10 as this show, or its showrunners have done one more additional CRIME. They made paid "uncut" version of this show with additional scenes. At first it seemed there will be only additional smexy time, which is not important for the plot. Well later on it turned out they started adding scenes that have more weight/relevance in terms of story development. As a result, the story editing became chopped and it gave already boring plot even worse pacing than it had.
Overall... i cant believe people who made UWMA were the same people who worked on this show. What happened? Where the passion for this universe went???? Were all these people replaced by aliens?? I. DONT. KNOW! And honestly... i dont even care anymore....
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LBC 2: Be Careful What You Wish For
I'm writing this only to clean my palate, dont expect any constructive criticism.If i thought this drama started on a bad foot, i certainly didnt expect it to go even more downhill. Literally everything was just bad. The re-telling of the whole first season was a questionable choice at first, but you know it was downright idiotic when they tried to re-tell some iconic scenes and they did much worse job than when they did it in the s1. Episodes 7 to 9 or whatever were okay. Episodes 10-13 were gradually getting worse and worse. What was the point of adding side-stories to a side characters we never cared for? Did Ae do anything except being emo? It certainly wasnt just a phase for him, huh??? I think i puked in my mouth a little every time KlaNo duo appeared on the screen. And why exactly are we supposed to be invested in any way in TulHin storyline? I see they casted quite young actors to these roles - did the producers think they might give them another season or what? what a joke.
The advertisement scenes were extra annoying. Now i know what i'm not buying if i ever visit thailand.
Every little decision the production decided to make while shooting this drama made me roll my eyes so much i feel like my head turned into a slot machine.
Every character in this show had like one braincell which projected them into having only one character trait that defines their entire miserable existence.
The dialogues were awful - robotic, unnatural and idiotic.I have one tip for the scriptwriter of this shit cause this person obviously never attended any writing courses: show dont tell – instead of making a character say "ya know, tin, tul is actually an okay person" show tul as an okay person. instead of can having conversation with himself saying "omg turns out i love tin" show him show some affection????
Acting was just terrible on all levels. I am usually very forgiving towards kid actors but like... the child in this was just annoying. You really couldnt find anyone better if you were to give so much screentime to the kid? Plan makes me want to punch my computer screen.
This is probably the worst drama i've watched and i've seen 2Moons, The Heirs and TonhonChonlatee. This is it. It wasnt even the good type of bad.
I just hope MAME has her nasty sticky little hands full of cash now and i wont have to see any of her shit promoted in any piece of media EVER.
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Ambergris is not your usual advertisement minidrama. It is very focused on its semi-post-apocalyptic visuals, technological success and gloomy atmosphere. Film-making and visual work is the staple element of this piece.
There is not much one can say about 24-minute-long minimalistic advert/drama except that it is worth watching. Despite the lack of more complex story is Ambregris still able to make you feel something while watching the drama. YDG and Kim So Hye could be replaceable by any other familiar faces but they couldnt do better job. Music was something that in my opinon stood out very well and it was more memorable than both actors.
It is a pity that this drama is not longer but it’s still very well made piece that will make you think that watching it was not a complete waste of time.
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Love Like a Half-Baked Cake
I must say that i am quite disappointed with the second part of this drama. The first part of the drama was such a good build-up; you have great characters, interesting relationships, the slowburn is burning so deliciously you are just THIRSTY for another EYECONTACT of main lead..s. All ingredients for the cake are perfect and you are ready for explosion of flavours.and what u gonna get? NOTHING...
First off, i'll start with what i loved because frankly, i liked a lot of things, and despite my complaints i enjoyed the drama for most of the time. I dont remember the last time i binged a 56 episode drama in one sitting. The production was beautiful - the costumes, music, settings, camerawork. All this was great (aside from odd scene cuts)
I enjoyed many actors' performaces – especially Zhao Lu Si was great as Cheng Shaoshang in her more somber state.
As for the story, i enjoyed the pay off - it was fantastic - once a villain was established they were dealt with (with an amazing bitchslap) within 3 or so episodes which felt incredibly satisfying.
And most of the characters had interesting and likeable personalities I wanted to follow. I enjoyed set up of so many characters here - i wanted to hear their stories!
Thats where my satisfaction with the story ends though.
The "Love" in love like the Galaxy is supposed to allude to not only Shaoshangs love with Ling Buyi, but also to her mother-daugter relationships. But neither of those two main loves had solid foundations for this story to build on. Her relationship with her birthmother was so terribly set up with mothers bizarre and illogical behaviour and cartoonish villainery in the part I so it was impossible for me to take seriously anything that happened in that storyline further the line. No sane person would behave like this towards their own beloved daughter. It just didnt make sense even to me, who is willing to overlook some nonsense in set ups.
Now the love of CSS and LBY. I honestly dont believe they had reason to love each other so much for them to be able to go through all the obstacles together. It wasn't obvious in part I as the buildup was done so nicely - but then it felt like Shahoshang never really felt passionately about him (yet she still overcame months of palace politics and bullying and struggles because LBY just decided he wanted to marry her. smh.)
So the love part of the story was not so galactic for me. What remains, as is uusal in costume dramas, is the politics part which... wasnt really well written. The scheming during the off-palace time was pretty ok and dynamic in part I, but omg... the switch to palace politics during part II was slow and draggy. Its like the author was overambitious and in the end was unsuccesful in writing both "epic romance" and "epic politics".
The foundations for the story that were so carefully built in the part I for most of the side characters were not developed further (i know, i know, they drama got cut down by 10 episodes) which left me downright miserable. I WANTED to watch Wan Qiqi and brother 2 bicker around. I WANTED to see the cousin get close to the Ban guy. I WANTED to watch more of Yuan Shanjian to be just a guy - they fuckign gave him such a redeem arc and then they decided to not give him happy end? Wtf????? They intentionally decided to wreck his character in the part I so LBY looked better in comparison to him but in the end YSJ wasnt given (by screenwriters) ANYTHING in exchange. I demand justice for my guy!!!!
Anways.. I initially wanted to give part II rating of 8 but the last 5 minutes of the drama - the sudden change of vibe from "depression, death and misery of 10+ episodes" to "sun is setting, everyone is here, background characters are clapping, someone said a joke and everyone is laughing" - pissed me so much i decided for 7,5. I am petty like this and I wonder if they ever release the 10 episodes they cut.
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Old romcom tropes in 2022 outfit work just perfectly
Finally, 3 weeks since finishing the drama, one haircut and one trip later, i had some time to gather my thoughts on A Business Proposal.Overall, it was so incredibly fun watch - it's been a long time since i've watched such a self-indulgent and fun show.
Amazing chemistry between the leads, unashamed use of classic romcom tropes AND perfect execution, on point acting, dynamic camera and storyteling… this drama is by the same director as Suspicious Partner and let me just tell you – he does his job so well.
Business Propsal had amazing start and for a long while all components were right - the main star are the characters of the drama – you love the main leads, you love hating the antagonists, you love the sidekicks… the story is simple but all the characters just click together and they are joy to watch. Sejeong in particular is a delight to watch. Once you put on this show, your brain just voluntarily switches off and enjoys the ride. The problem is when you start thinking about the story below surface.
First 8 episodes are 11/10 - absolute banger. But the last 4 episodes just felt like they were written by a completely different production team. The ending was, i dare to say, unsatisfying. 6/10 at best. Even now, i am still baffled how the show turned so… disappointing. Really...
The grandfather/Geumhee (Hari) storyline was teased for such a long time, until it ended underdeveloped and flat. The sizzling chemistry between the second couple? Gone and whats worse - once you think about the couple - what made them stay together after initial attaction? They had nothing in comon, Youngseo never let the dude finish his sentence (honestly, i found Youngseo absolutely annoying the more i thought about her). Sibling-like relationship between male leads was also not explored enough--- yada yada yada.
I could continue but i guess i'll stop. If i were petty (pettier than i usually am), i’d give this a 7/10 but since i loved the drama so much at the begining and the comedy and production was so so so good i will give this a 8,5/10 and add Business proposal to my ever-growing list of guilty pleasure dramas.
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How One Nasty Guy Came To Senses: Crazy-ish Edition
Crazy Love is somewhat entertaining drama - you get comedy, (fun) plot twists, backstabs, fake fiancé, terminal illness and of course R E V E N G E. At first it's a chaotic, crazy, enjoyable, silly ride (but despite all the ingredients being present, not a makjang) but it just falls off the funky rails soon and for the remaining drama you have dull bus ride through corrupted behind-the-scenes of academy business.Any way i look at this, this drama just doesnt deliver – i had no expectations but i was still disappointed (okay i might have had some expectations since the top reviews seem to be waxing endless poetics on this drama...). The worst of it were the characters. It's like they had no stable personality whatsoever. I dont even know how to describe it - it's like most of the characters did things for a sake of doing it (and something happening in the drama) not because it made sense for their personality. No Go Jin was an awful dude who has been wronged 12 years ago BUT he still invests so much energy into destroying confidence of every secretary and person he meets. It was impossible for me to root for him even after he seemingly became a better person. Honestly – until now i dont know why he was such a jerk – did i accidentally skip a scene or something? Idk. It kinda made sense to me that literally every fucking person around him wanted to get rid of him.
Lee Si Na had good moments of enjoyable lead but once her storyline was resolved, she was forgotten by the writers and she became a cheerleader for the No Go Awful. The returning ex-girlfriend was suddenly randomly bitter and intensively charming it didnt made sense to me. Characters changed out of nowhere and their relationships between each other barely made sense. The final nail in the cofin was the shift to exposing the corruption and mysteries at the Gotop academy but done in such a superficial way it was just boring. And lets not even mention random-ass fairytale ending. You will have to watch that stupid thing yourself.
Editing was extra annoying in this drama. I would be more understanding if the second half of the drama was badly edited but how can first few episodes be so choppy? And dont get me started on the very first scene of the first drama. I kept thinking for solid 13 episodes that the first scene of the drama was some fastforward in the story and we are still supposed to get to that scene *somehow*. Anyways...
This drama was at some points so unhinged and ridiculous, which made me stay and be interested to see how the writers decide to resolve the plot but it became absolute snoozefest. The comedy was addmitedly enjoyable but i didnt particularly enjoy (or see) chemistry between Krystal and Kim Jae Wook, however, their acting was decent (although idk why but KJW seemed so very tired to me in this drama).
Either way... I’ve seen better dramas. But i’ve also seen worse dramas. It is what it is. I dont think this drama will become one of the new classics. 6/10
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Yes Swimming
When i started watching this movie i was not expecting something extraordinary. Before i watched the film itself, I've read some bad reviews and saw Free! (anime) so i was ready for the worst (despite actually liking free! i know it's not something that should be made into a movie). To be honest, i was quite surprised because in the end i enjoyed No Breathing.Story. 5/10
The story is not the strongest point of this film. There are things that are surprisingly vague and the lack of details makes the story forgettable, the friendship between main guys could be a little more explored and the romantic sidestory could be handled better (tbh it wasnt necessary for Seo In-Guks character at all). Also emotional scenes didnt get to me much (but it could be only me).
However, I dont see a reason why it is compared to free!. Swiming, handsome guys, friendship. Yes. ... but well... i still dont get why people say it could be live action of free because imo No Breathing has different atmosphere.
Despite the fact that story is nothing new and the film is 2 hours long i actually was not bored at all. The first hour was fresh and funny and the second part was ok. To sum it up, the story was nothing (i wont probably remember it tomorrow) but i enjoyed it very much.
Cast. 10/10.
Initially, I was drawn to this film because of Lee Jong-Suk. I am dissapointed that his character was not written better but he still is a good actor.
BUT maaaaaaaaaaan I have to admit that Seo In-Guk is a great actor! I havent seen many of his dramas but whenever i see him i just cant help myself and love whatever he does. He simply carried this film on his back. I'm not afraid to say that without him, the film would be much MUCH worse.
As for Yuri... Well, I am always wary when are idols casted in a film/drama but she wasnt bad. Personally, i dont think her story line was good (or important for the film). However, that is not her fault and i think that she handled her role quite well. She actually looked like an ordinary girl which (,for some weird reason,) i appreciate.
Also, I cant help myself, but i feel like I have seen Shin Min-Chul somewhere but after checking his biography he seems fairly new. I hope we will see him more in the future.
Music. 3/10
Whatever Yuris "band" sang, i didnt like it. And the rest of the ost sounded pretty generic so..
Rewatch value. 4,5/10
The film is not worth of rewatching. But some of the scenes were good and if i ever feel like i need more of Seo In-Guk in my life, i might watch first half of the film (because as i've already said, i liked it a lot).
Overall. 7,5/10
I know i give this film higher rating than i should but (and now i will repeate myself again) Seo In-Guk was great and I didnt get bored despite this film lacked in so many ways. (If you are interested, mathematically correct rating based on my individual ratings is 5,5 but i liked this film much more :))
You should watch this film if you:
a) are Seo In-Guk's or Lee Jong-Suk's fan,
b) have spare 2 hours and you want to spend them watching smth easy and non-complicated
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Sweet Fluff That Lacks Substance
My School President is another BL from a long series of school feelgood BL fluffs to watch on a rainy day when you only want to sit down and watch something easy and teeth-rottingly fluffly.One thing that makes this drama in particular a bit different (but still not completely different, because we have already HAD dramas centered around music/arts) is the OST of the drama, with each episode having one central song. The connection to music was done seamlessly and clearly the actors have gone through some musical bootcamp to look at least somewhat competent with their instruments. This gave way to an episodic nature of initial episodes which felt very fun, cute, goofy and enjoyable.
But of course, the main highlight of this drama are the two leads - Gemini and Forth had amazing chemistry and they managed to carry this drama to its end without any big accidents. Their charm is legendary and it is hard to believe that MSP is their acting debut as they both understood their assignment very well.
The rest of the drama feels like a carbon copy of any other well made (!) Thai BL of recent years. In particular, it seems like the director and scriptwriters have gone very carefully through Bad Buddy and hand picked many things that worked there and tried to get it into this drama. The main lead dynamics felt similar, the story felt similar, the comedy felt similar, the setting was similar, but yes in the end there ARE many differences that do set these two dramas apart. But at the same time, I looked up my commentary/review on Bad Buddy and if I didn't know any better, I could use that text to describe MSP, as it describes my feelings for MSP to the dot.
Just like BB, My School President peaked around episode 6 (what a great episode!) but compared to BB, it managed to hold some semblance of shape and form for a little longer. Last 3 episodes, despite containing the climax of the whole story (that is competition and the main couple going public with their relationship to their families) were so boring, it took me 9 months (!!!) to finish these 3 episodes (despite binging larger part of episodes 1-9). It just felt unimportant, all over the place and unfocused.
Overall, I had most of the time great time watching MSP. It is a well-made drama. I dare to even say one of the best in the "fluffy school BL" genre out there. It is just a shame that the amazing lead duo was not utilized to make something more substantial as this particular type of story has very little to offer to this over-saturated market.
As for the rating, I am on a fence. It is somewhere between 8/10 and 8.5/10. I will definitely keep an eye on Gemini and Forth in their future ventures (be it as an acting couple or solo)
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Guilty Pleasures of Ruyi Pavilion
The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion makes me feel two very contradictory feelings. On one hand, it was very enjoyable watch with many satisfying romantic moments - thanks to Ju Jing Yi and Zhang Zhe Han as well as the second couple. On the other hand, the storytelling and editing was just problematic at times and as much i am trying to accept it as something that was necessary to happen for this drama to be even released, it crossed a certain line at some point and it became annoying.= CHARACTERS =
Fu Rong is a clumsy naiive lead with some moments of brilliance, while Xu Jin is that typical cool stone-faced ml. What i appreciate on their dynamics is that (as opposed to Legend of Yun Xi) male lead showed his emotions and love for female lead a lot and oh boy! he really did love her a lot!! ZZH did amazing job with portraying Xu Jin.
Anyways, it actually does not really matter what kind of characters the main lead were, as long as they were played by Ju Jing Yi and Zhang Zhe Han. Their chemistry is just… unparalleled.
Fu Xuan and Wu Bai Qi as a couple were very charming and fun to watch and enhanced the mood of the drama to a more classy level.
Side characters, although not very well fleshed-out, were quite enjoyable including characters that were infuriating on purpose like Cui Wan and other side-side kicks.
Character-wise, the worst one is definitely the villain. Quite honestly, it’s been a long time since i’ve seen a villain so pathetic. His origin story was pathetic, his schemes were desperate, and just overall all his manipulations were despicable.
= STORY =
This is an idol drama, and i think it’s unfair to expect some super deep and unique plot. Actually, the premise and the storylines that were hinted at/attempted at are in general okay. At times, it was very engaging, and although i feel like some storylines could have gone a different route at times to be more interesting (or! at least not dropped halfway!), i found the story itself still quite satisfying. There are several plot holes but i guess i am willing to overlook them for the sake of my own sanity and the fact that i enjoyed the drama. In my opinion, the plot comes secondary as this whole drama is mostly character-driven, and it proved to be fun to watch despite its various weaknessess.
Based on all those abrupt and unusual cuts, missing side-character storylines that you just know must have been there /somewhere/ as well as lack of scenes that would usually seamlessly connect two different scenes together, i am guessing that the production had to cut the drama shorter and im just glad that this drama was released and i guess we just have to accept that.
= GUILTY PLEASURES =
So… i know that based on what i wrote until now, it might seem like the drama is “so so” at best but i had actually amazing time watching this show! It hits all the right spots for me: visually stunning set and beautiful costumes, cute female lead, dreamy male lead who loves female lead infinitely, good humor, amazing soundtrack, my favourite tropes, some good action scenes and enjoyable “shocking” plot twists, lovable side characters characters, several fun callbacks to Legend of Yun Xi, and many many sweet soft romantic moments between main leads. Like… seriously, each and every single episode had a /moment/ between main leads that made me more or less swoon.
= REWATCH VALUE =
I’ve already rewatched it at least once and i actually see myself rewatching it again in the future. so… yeah. The amount of tender moments Fu Rong and Xu Jin share together is almost impossible to count and it’s so satisfying to watch (especially if you felt like Legend of Yun Xi just was not very generous in this area). JJY and ZZH are /that/ good together.
Overall, this is probably a 8/10 or even 7,5/10 drama, but i had such a good time watching BARP, despite some hiccups, that i am willing to rate it 8,5/10 while admitting that in my heart, it’s rated more like 9/10 but i dont want my rating to be too outrageous.
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