Reviews

The Time Travel Drama That Shot Itself in the Foot

It's been a long time since I've seen a drama fall over its own feet as hard as Alice did. Well, not that long. Eternal Monarch also did a spectacular job at that. But while both shows suffered from lazy writing and poor decisions, Alice is fresh in my mind and the disappointment hurts the most.

Alice is a time travel sci-fi with a unique twist and an interesting set-up, and while my bitterness leaves me feeling like it has no redeeming qualities, it does. The first half of the drama was good with a solid cast, well-shot opening episodes, and a unique twist to an over-saturated genre that left it feeling new and exciting even when it wasn't. Time travel is a tool in literature and film that you have to take with a grain of salt. There's no known real way to time travel, and the possibility of it is low to nil, so we have to rely on our own imaginations to interpret how it would function and what would happen if a person went from one time period to another, so when writing a story with time travel there are always going to be inconsistencies. Sometimes they're more noticeable than others, but there's always something. Relying on the multiverse theory or the butterfly effect can minimize those, but they're not quick fixes and they can only help solidify the concept of time in a story if the writers, well... follow through. And boy does this drama not do that.

Before I get into that mess, I really do think there was something here, and I really liked a lot of the characters for most of the drama. Oddly, my favourite character in all of this wasn't one of the leads, but PJG's father, Min Hyuk. He may not have been the most likeable person throughout the series but his character reflected the role of the estranged father perfectly. There was conflict and regret in his actions and emotions and I could believe everything that the story was telling me that he felt. PJG himself, while likeable, didn't make a lot of sense to me. A core part of his character background was his alexithymia, which seemed to be a non-issue less than halfway through the series as he quite easily expressed and seemed to understand his emotions, even more so than other characters. I didn't really hold that against the show, though, because characters with traits like that often don't show much of them the further they progress through the story, and I could chalk it up to him getting better with time, which the show also mentioned. He was enjoyable to watch and his awkward behaviour was endearing. I wasn't fond of his childhood friend as she was just a bit annoying every time she showed up, and both past and present Tae Yi were just okay.

The show starts with one glaring issue: the prophecy. That book and everything about it is a stupid, nonsensical plot point that doesn't make any sense if you think about it for a bit. It opens with Tae Yi going back to 1992 to get the book and specifically see the last page, but they get there too late. But they can time travel. Why not time travel to the day before and confront Tae Yi's father then to get the book? Or a week before? A year? There are also alternate dimensions, an infinite number of them, many likely also containing the book. If the book was so important, they could have gotten their hands on it. There's no excuse. The prophecy held no place in the story except as an anchor to direct it, so it really should have been left out.

Now we get to the ending spoilers, so be warned!

The first half of the series was pretty decent, but it declined fast at that halfway point. The writers proceeded to break every rule that they set until they turned the ending into a mushy pile of goo. They say that their world works off of the multiverse theory, so the past can't be changed because any changes will cause it to break off into another timeline, but they decide that if one version of PJG disappears, they all do, because for some reason killing him resets all of time and he's a product of time travel. But then they decide that only the versions of him who traveled through time, i.e. his future self and the present self that we've been following, will disappear. The high school version of him, though? Well, he gets to avoid non-existence because plot. That's all well and good for a happy ending... but it really doesn't make any sense. Even less sense that this version of him gets the memories of the original version!

Let's focus on this one rule: killing PJG will end time travel, and will reset the world to how it was before time travel. Why does this happen? I don't know. Doesn't matter. Let's say he's become a god or something, who knows? I could let that non-logic go if the story followed through with it. But who are the time travelers? Well, him of course. All of Alice. We saw them disappear, so that's fine... except for the fact that the chief was also a time traveler from another time/dimension, who is alive and well and in that same time period at the end of the story. Well, it's another dimension! Probably. Maybe. The show isn't 100% clear on that. So maybe it works differently because it's another world, not another time. Okay, that's fair. But because every attempt to change the past results in another timeline, that goes for every time traveler. All of them. That includes PJG, who was born after being exposed to a wormhole and time traveling from the future. That includes his parents, specifically his mother who, despite time resetting, is still left in 1992 with her son. That is not her original time. She should have been magicked back to the future where she belonged. Then, there's the father. We don't even know what time he was originally from because it wasn't mentioned in the story. Likely he isn't from the same time as Tae Yi, so PJG shouldn't exist at all. But let's say he is. Well, then he and Tae Yi should have met in their time, and PJG should have been born after that. But somehow, someway, PJG grows up with his mother in this terrible attempt at a fix-it.

There is one way to explain this, which I think it's possible the writers could have been going for: killing the future PJG and saving the mother meant that they branched off into another timeline, so all of the time travelers were left where they were. The only one erased being the original PJG. But that goes against was his mother told present-day Tae Yi, that all of the effects of time travel would be erased if they stopped time travel, and that time would be reset. That was a rule that they created for their story. So either they decided they didn't care about that rule anymore, or they didn't bother to think through what resetting time would mean for all of their characters. Either way, it's half-assed writing.

Normally, a drama's ending doesn't affect my enjoyment overall. If a drama has a bad ending, the journey was still worth it. If the ending was good, I love it all-the-more. But the ending they gave this drama, and honestly the plot reveals over the entire second half of the series, make me feel like I wasted 16h of my life on something that pretended to be good until it wasn't when I could have been putting that time towards a drama that was better written, or funny, or even some wild and crazy makjang that might not make a lot of sense, but is so ridiculous that I wouldn't care.

But this is the year of time travel and there's always more to come. Let's hope Kairos can wash away the bad taste that Alice left behind.

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So, 10 days after I started the drama, I finally managed to finish watching it. Yesterday, I got home after college and even though I was tired as hell and with a fever, I turned on the computer and watched the drama where I had last left it last Sunday or so: episode 15. I remember having thought 'Ugh, there's still 5 episodes to it', but I have to say those were the best 5 episodes ever! Not once (that I remember of, and excluding dramas that I've been watching as they air) have I been so hooked to "final" episodes.
Overall, I gave it a 9 because I wasn't as excited over it as I was with others like City Hunter, but it was an awesome drama, really, really good, and it was the best company ever these past 10 days! Great actors, great storyline, great filming, everything! The only thing I didn't like was Song Joong Ki's song... I felt it was lacking in some way, but I'm not taking points down from it because Junsu's song totally made up to it.

It's worth watching, trust me. Even though I was really busy (and still am), after I read the reviews for this drama, I felt that I totally needed to watch this — and bless my thoughts at that time hahahaha Should have watched it earlier!
The ending was a bit predictable, nonetheless great!

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Simple story, wonderful execution

The story is pretty damn basic and simple, like it has nothing. An adolescent girl has a crush on her older brother's friend and never really moves on from it, rather it grows as she grows older and finally she falls head over heels in love with him and accepts her fate, only to get him to love her back in the end.

So why such a high rating and so much love from everyone? A lot of reasons actually.
1.  Simple story, no melodramatic plot, unnecessary angst, bloodshed, death or anything annoying.
2.  This is one of those very realistic stories where people can relate to the main leads. Also which girl didn't have a massive childhood crush, but never really got him and still would love to see what if it worked out? i personally could relate to the character of sang zhi all too well, that is until she got him to love her. So for me, their relationship is like the part that i could never experience with my crush. It made me happy, i swooned and it brought me so much peace and satisfaction.
3. The characters (except jiang ying) were all loveable. Their relationship dynamics was natural. Main characters had development. They were well written and mature.
4. The acting and visuals. Needless to say zhao lusi is a high traffic actress. And in my opinion she outdid herself in this with all her micro expressions. I was truly impressed  by her performance this time particularly. I felt everything she was feeling, her acting was so perfect this time. Her character wasn't a stupid airheaded crybaby who does dumb shit and behaves like a 3 year old. She is a beauty and chen zheyuan looked like he is straight out of a manhua with his visuals. How can someone look that attractive and sweet and charming all at the same time? His character was the perfect high school crush.
5. No unnecessary misunderstandings, plot fillers with too much spotlight on unimportant secondary characters. The story focused on the main characters.
6. The story was fast paced but editing was not choppy. The screenwriter and production team did a marvelous job at the whole process. With a minimalistic visual theme, it screamed elegance. This proves its high budget.

So despite being a simple drama in one of the most common genres of coming of age, it was soothing, relaxing, relatable and light romantic comedy with a happy ending. It definitely is worth rewatching because of these exact qualities. It is perfect in its own beautiful way. It was a very pleasant and easy to watch show and i would recommend this to any romance lover.

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A slow journey with gradual build-up and a face plant end

One of the rare times that I'm dropping the rating of a show post the finale. Adamas isn't for everyone and I'm most likely included in that list. The show had a very promising start and suddenly started to drag it's heels at the beginning making it a hard watch.

I was excited to see a dual role but by instantly separating the twins and shooting scenes separately for most of the show undid that excitement. It might as well have been played by 2 actors. The camera work that excited me at the very beginning of the series was no where to be found. The writer twin spent majority of his time roaming around the mansion repeatedly which I would just watch at 2x speed. At the time, I found the role of the prosecutor twin more exciting. But soon that too felt like it was heading nowhere.

Most of the excitement starts around episode 9 onwards. By then a lot of the secrets about the mysterious Adamas are exposed. The people fighting the bad guys all seem to be helpless and powerless despite their status and connections. It is frustrating to see them failing so badly at times and you have to wonder why they have no result to show for all the work and manpower they've put in.

There was a rare opportunity to wind everything in a positive and thrilling way but it was a disaster after disaster for the good guys. In fact, episode 14 may have been the best episode. The ending leaves you scratching your head and wondering what happened? The satisfaction that one might get from watching a crime drama is nowhere to be found here. Do some bad guys get punished? Yes. But it's so underwhelming. And one of the characters realises, "truth holds no power". This is the entire theme of Adamas.

Acting and production is good quality but if the story telling fails to enthrall you, the hard work of the cast and team is meaningless.

SMALL SPOILER:
They tease an open-ending and if just makes you think, do I want to put up with that again in the second season? Probably not, in my opinion.

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WILL NEVER RECOMMEND TO ANYONE UNLESS I HATE THEM

The drama started out with a definitive story with characters having so much potential. The backstories were rich and emotional. The cinematography was quite good, too. However, the story just started to flop. There were limited character development and each time, it was proven to be inutile. The message the drama wanted to convey was blurry. The whole plot was messy and inconsistent. A lot of the small details were left open and hanging. The drama is ending in a very cliche manner and tbh, cringy. All in all, I'm just relieved that this drama ended because it is stressful.

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This is your usual Chinese youth drama that gos from high school to college. I like how it started with the female lead being impulsive with a strong sense of justice and on the contrary, the male lead is quiet and aloof. What I don't like is how they didn't develop the girl's character. All throughout the drama, she was an airheaded female lead whose whole life revolved around trying to please and make things easy for the male lead. She made life decisions just to accommodate the male lead. It's like she doesn't have her own identity and thinks of herself as inferior to the male lead which is unhealthy. On the other hand, the male lead is book-smart but also naive. He also lacks courage. I want to finish this drama but the female lead character is really annoying me.

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Starts off interesting but quickly goes down hill. The leads have no chemistry. There was no build to their romance. Both are really unlikable. She is a poor doormat slob. And he's a rich coward jerk. She's walking around with poor hygiene and I am supposed to believe men falling all over her.

The plot is all over the place. The supernatural elements really have no rules. For example fortune and fate only applies to the leads. It's really obvious the writers were lazy and use it as a plot device to explain why the leads are destined for each other no matter what.

I won't put spoilers but there isn't enough supernatural elements in the show. It's basically some weird romance story filled with wonky fate and jealous ghost exes etc.

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THIS IS MY COMPLETE DRAMA REVIEW. PLEASE REREAD MY EDITS.

OVERALL: I hate dramas like this. 75 hours of literally dragging and waffling around waiting for side characters to advance the plot or for "chance" and "destiny" to finally kick in. I watched this drama SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. A serious waste of time. Battle scenes and premise are good. Story and plot are not. The story itself is interesting but cut the number of episodes and random tension and speaking scenes in half and we might have a decent drama. I don't want to watch the 60 different side characters talking to each other about power and power struggles. If I was to count how many hours were wasted (I give a very specific and relatively old scene as a reference at the bottom) than I would be so frustrated. The only reason why I do not give the plot a 1 star is because I believe that the premise itself is interesting and would make a nice 200-300 page book. Drama, not so much.

WATCH TEN MILES PEACH BLOSSOMS IF YOU WANT A MUCH BETTER DRAMA.

Disclaimer 1: I would like to say that I am a very analytical reviewer and usually value plot and character development far more than any other aspects and I can often forgive minor plot holes or minor character flaws. However, when they affect the entire plot or are used by writers to further the plot. That is when I have a problem.

Disclaimer 2: I would also like to point out that I generally have no like/dislike towards actors/actresses, writers or directors and am not afraid to call a drama terrible even if a vast majority like it.

Plot: This is basically 3 main story lines about three main characters that are intricately interwoven with the normal troupes. Every single cliche troupe you can derive is included: power struggle in royalty, destined lovers, death of ridiculous parent figures, magical powers that are explained through fancy CGI and still make no sense, bromance yet not bromance, brotherhood yet not brotherhood, loving the same girl, star-crossed lovers, and finally fighting or fulfilling destiny. The plot as a whole is interesting enough but that has very little to do with the actual writing. How many times can you see a main character stand in front of who they love and do absolutely nothing except ignore her or say ridiculous lines... For example, "you'll be unhappy with me" says who and why does the main character believe it so easily? Ridiculous. How many times can we hear the word destiny or stars or fate or whatnot to explain the actions of characters? That is a gimmick in itself. Overall a plot that had potential but was weighed down by the need to include overarching themes and troupes such as destiny or forever star-crossed lovers.

EDIT 1: Absolutely terrible. I understand that this drama is based off of a book but how can a drama be 75 hours and get basically absolutely nothing done. The last few episodes are extremely rushed and don't resolve anything and are essentially just a cliffhanger that does not seem to be coming anytime soon given that there is only one book and there doesn't seem to be plans for a second book to be written due to conflict among the writers. This drama is a waste of time and unfortunately the pacing and the dragging and the lack of coherent character development and plot heavily weigh this drama down. If you were hoping for a huge battle scene with magic and 3 sides battling it out than you are dreaming.

Characters: Acting overall was superb by all the characters and you can feel the emotions that each character has. If the plot and writing were better to enhance the character development than the actors would have shined through more. Even the villains were generally acted well and dare I say better because they did not need as much character development. Let me explain: you can watch half of the drama and observe that the kid actors and the adult actors have portray basically the same characters. There is no character development in the first 30 something episodes of this drama. Everyone is still a kid that whines and cries and acts out for no logical reason. Theoretically the writers could be portraying that even as young adults they haven't learned the harshness of life but with the trials and love and etc. that the characters go through, how is there no character development? How long can we watch one character yell about being King of the world and doing nothing except rely on the prophecy and getting lucky? How long can we watch a character mope about the world being unfair and him not being loved by his parents (please keep running away and telling the people you love that they should pity you more for no reason)? How long can we watch one person not understand his situation and do absolutely nothing except walk into other people's traps. The writing is what makes 2/3 of the main characters honestly unbearable to watch. But their acting is overall very good.

EDIT 2: Acting remains consistently good all around for all actors. Problem is that the characters literally do not change or do much of anything. If you want to start off liking a character and than quickly hating him/her for their decisions  than please go ahead and watch this. This drama is the definition of frustrating characters portrayed by good actors. I think that the Muyun Sheng might be one of my least favorite characters in the drama due to how consistently weak he is even when he is actually not that weak. "Careful, don't drink wine. Drinks wine and complains/rants. Points sword around for some reason... Disastrous results." Other characters are just equally frustrating and it doesn't get better. At least they are acted consistently because I ended up hating many characters in this drama for their one dimensional thinking. Even the "smart and complicated and evil" characters weren't that well written or "smart" in their actions. The main reason I am saying this is that when the entire drama consists of stupid main characters that never change or grow than the side characters also do not have to be that smart. Which makes every character look pretty dumb in the end.

Another problem is that if they want to make a season 2 of this drama than they will have to wait multiple years. And that means it will be hard to recast everyone again. Acting carried this drama because tension and feelings are very clear for all characters, however, the decisions the characters themselves made were hard to act out.

Music: Suitable but honestly not impactful or noticable. Can't name an OST or even place where is belongs if there is one. Average costume drama music.

EDIT 3: Music is slightly more memorable and I actually think it improved. However, this does not effect my rating overall since my view of music in dramas is an accessory.

Rewatch value: Right now? No. Some scenes are aesthetic and CGI is done well, but often those scenes don't really mean anything. The floating stars are significant? Nope.

EDIT 4: I watched it so you did not have to. Don't watch this.


EDIT 5:
******Here is the key example of why I dislike the writing and pacing of the drama (potential spoilers so I will keep my example relatively old for Dramafever viewers): It takes about 5-6 episodes for one main character to even get engaged to his perceived "empress." Not 2, 5. Because every character had to show up and give their opinion and do whatever they wanted. My first problem is that the motive for him being crown prince is a jumbled mess with his father's motive being very muddled and unclear but the writers push it as if it is for his safety? For what reason no one can truly explain. Why do the characters act in such a way such as the priest or whatever for randomly listening to someone that is not his superior and believing him enough to cut his arm and give up all the tenants of his tribe. Just because there was a possiblity? Nonsense. He performed black magic cause some random character gave him a book and told him its possible? Pfffftttt. Why does the dad let his brother go when he knows he's plotting to kill him? "He's trying to take the crown and kill my favorite son but since he confessed to spreading rumors about the crown and he's my brother I should just let him go. Brotherhood!" Nonsense. The character's actions just don't make sense and they are always drawn out in such tedious lengths. 5 episodes. Jesus. It all ends up the same in which he reveals that he has a Charmer near him. Did we need 5 episodes to build up to a reveal of Pan Xi to the world? I don't think so. Literally 5 episodes that ends in weird family tension all over and Pan Xi getting taken away. 5 episodes/5 hours for something that could have been done in 1 maybe 2 with other scenes.

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Such a gem

I’m up to episode fourteen and what is not to like about this drama so I’m compelled to spread positivity for it’s a masterpiece. Why is it a masterpiece? According to me, myself, and I, if each episode of a drama leaves me in lingering feelings of connectivity and don’t want it to end, then it’s really good.

The drama is purely a love story. In its center is a hearing impaired man who definitely has a colorful backstory of pain and hurt stemming from his hearing loss. He’s now a grown man getting by until a sweet, somewhat naive young woman enters his life. That’s the story…relationship development. Leaving you to enjoy it, i just want to say that if ever there’s a couple you want to root for, it’s this one.

The deliverance is a standout for both main leads. After a few episodes, I feel like I got the hang of signing and became familiar with some. Much credit to the actors for learning and preparing. What lacks in oral speech or even in understanding signing you glimpse it in their expressions….worry, question, joy, concern, love, etc. They really learned and prepared well. This alone just makes me cry in every episode. It’s a beautifully woven love story.

With two episodes left, i hope they can continue the favorable writing. If they do, i can positively say this will easily be in the top list of many for go back rewatch.

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Let's make this review as Systematic as possible, I love this show so I'll try to make this one STICK! :)


STORY------ 9/10 ?????
This is one Korean show that had a story line based on gender bender genres of mangas and manhwas (as far as I know). I think it is by far one of the most successful or the most successful one to date. The story is basic, if you're familiar with this sort of plot, what I fancied is the attention to detail that they had, for you to take this kind of scratched framework and make it interesting for viewers is really a skill. I loved the way each of the subs-plots unfold with every episode,the sequence of events and how it was presented, the conflicts were showed in a way that you will laugh but at the back of your mind you'll think that it's hard to be in that situation. However the ending was a bit weak for me, I just wished there was a bit more to it. Just a little dash of sparkle will do. But it satisfies the curious mind never the less.

ACTING/CAST------ 10/10 ?????
I was very much satisfied with the cast,this is a role I didn't imagine Yoon Eun Hye (Eun Chan) would actually take, if you remember her form "Goong" she was as feminine as ever then a sudden transformation, she played this part so well I was amazed. This was the first time for me to encounter Gong Yoo (Han Gyul), I was fond of his style in this drama sense of fashion, etc. He embodied the character of Choi Han Gyul, he owned that character like it was made for him (even the writer of this drama agrees. The supporting cast was superb so perfect 10 for this.

MUSIC------9/10 ?????
The musical score was pretty, I still sing the opening theme up to this point whenever I remember it, then again rating all of the show's background songs, instrumentals, you don't recall all, there are these few that you still have to go though your memory palace to remember from what scenes was it used.

REWATCH VALUE ------ 10/10 ?????
Oh you'll rewatch this for sure, It has a very high charisma for rewatch, it's very invigorating, a feel good show. It's the kind of show that you instantly remember when you sit on your couch one lazy afternoon, and there's nothing good on the TV and when you want to activate your inner love bug, just for the fun of it, even during you're bitterly single days. :))


OVERALL ------ 10/10 ????? *Clap Clap
Overall it's very much OUTSTANDING AND IS A TWO THUMBS UP ON RECOMMENDATIONS, Like a summer chick flick :P


P.S
Try looking for a copy that has good subs, I've seen some with crappy subtitles it will ruin your day. The Tagalog audio dub is also good for those who speak in this native tongue, although they modified the dialogue a bit, it made it more funny, I swear. :)

Thanks for reading I hope this is helpful enough for you guys ;)

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Best Emperor ever

I started watching the drama because of the high reviews. Now i am grouping part 1 and part 2 together. Part one dragged. We got to episode 10 and I persevered. We got to episode 16 and I deceided to drop, how can we be halfway through and the female lead still doesnt like the male ( yes I am mainly here for the romance. At this point I did not know there was a part two). I came back after a few weeks simply because I wasnt ready to invest in another drama and at this point I knew the characters in this one. Got to 19 and decided to drop again. Came back to the reviews and found out there was a part two and a lot of comments that things pick up in part two. Skipped to episode 27 so I could jump to part two. Things between the leads finaly picked up. The drama was still dragging. Decided to give up for good at episodes 40. I would not have bothered to write i review but I wanted to give kudos to the emperor's character. He was hilarious and honestly what kept me watching. I also liked the relationship between the empress and consort. It was refreshing to see a portrayal of two women married ro the same man and not scheming against each other. So yes, my review is to praise the side characters.

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To be honest at first I watched it because of the main man lead as he was very good in School 2013 and the trailers seemed okay but I didn't understand them because I don't speak Korean but after watching the first episode I was hooked I was really hooked, I like dramas that don't start gentle I like ones that surprise you from the first episode and I was surprised. Through the story I got to know the characters more, I had mixed emotions, times I would laugh and times I would cry, times I would be so happy and giddy and times I would be so frustrated. The actors at first I wasn't sure off but than after I realized that they made a great cast and kept the drama flowing and it wasn't awkward.The music was very good, I have download mostly all there was one song that had me on the verge of tears through. I would most likely watch it again sometime in the future because it was just amazing and very entertaining and because of the amazing cast and just everything. Overall this drama is definitely 10/10.

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This was kind of hard for me to rate. For all the interesting and exciting parts there were just as many boring and lame parts. The story is good, but the execution is lacking. It is total fantasy with a little politics and romance thrown in. Part of the issue may be that the production spent so much money on special effects that there was none left for the set. Anyway, on to the acting.

I found myself routing for the "bad" guy. I couldn't help it. Kim Sung Oh was the best actor in the entire drama. He has more charisma in his pinky than all of the other actors combined. His portrayal of Sadam is excellent. I'm a fan of Jung Il Woo and he does fine as Rin. There was just something missing. I think it is because there was a lack of chemistry between him and the other actors. I don't know who Kim Sung Oh is, but she is a sucky actress. It is part story line and partly her acting as Do Ha. I could have cared less about what happened to her by the end. She should be ashamed that Yunho (who is a mediocre actor at best) had more chemistry with the prince than she did with either of them. The rest of the actors are fine. Oh but the crazy girl, Soo Ryeon, played by See Ye Ji also was just horrible. Do these actresses really think the same expression is good for every emotion? They just widen their eyes a little and they think that is enough. Blah. I only gave the acting a higher score because of Kim Sung Oh.

The music is annoying at times. For crying out loud...if they are going to sing English words then they should make sense.

I will never rewatch this.

I don't recommend this drama. It isn't horrible, but it isn't the greatest either. Watch at your own risk.

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poorly done slice of life

Overall: I would advise starting it at ep 5 34 minutes and you'll avoid a whole bunch of random child characters. This is from the same production company that made: Ai Long Nhai, Coffee Melody, With Love and Second Chance. 10 episodes about 40 minutes long aired on GagaOOLala and iQIYI.

Content Warnings: past death/grief, blood, bullying, hit/kick/punch, transphobia mentioned, intimate partner violence, drug addiction

What I Liked
- Khana and Pao (who had almost no screen time)
- how Barbie called out those bullies in ep 1
- good discussion of how if you are queer you are held to a higher perfection standard, you have to represent all queer people and can't make mistakes/learn like non-queer people*
- supportive friends
- Tin told his mom off

Room For Improvement
- boring, nothing really happened, scenes dragged on for too long they felt randomly thrown together at times
- Tin is maybe supposed to be in university but acts like he's in middle school, comes across as whiny and immature and he didn't know what a boner was???
- too many characters including children, lack of development with main characters specifically Kana and Pao
- *the trope of a hypersexual trans woman
- not into the Park/Tin dynamic, the cold/angry/reluctant guy hitting the peppy/persistent/harassing character, in ep 2 also Park randomly was flirty at one point which was an odd shift, Park later had a personality transplant in the second half of the series and was super flirty which was better
- comedy sound effects didn't make things funny, I didn't laugh once
- ep 1 started with a voice over/exposition dump
- why doesn't anyone called an ambulance, they just stand around shouting and that cpr technique was terrible

Question - what does Tin Tem Jai mean,? Tin is a character's name, internet searching says 'tem' is 'to do' or 'to make' and 'jai' is 'heart'.

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