Reviews

A story with a twist. Hush..it's a happy ending?

I love the storyline of this drama. The whole 24 episodes gave me a heart satisfaction.
The drama showcased three love teams and those three ended well.
I did watch this drama because its trailer caught my attention.
I dare you all to watch this drama because it will give a love genre, wuxia, revenge, comedy and some twists that will keep you on track.
Please don't leave each episode because it was really nice.
Mind you...the kiss scenes were real hahaha (I think so).
It was first time for me to watch in the series both the main leads. The female lead looked like a korean artist named Park Shin hye.
My overall rating for this drama is 10/10.
Please watch and support.

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Highly Recommended!

I have watched this drama twice already and will definitely watch this again before season 2 starts.. I love the plot, the actresses are so good that i started to stan them both. I was already familiar with Yihan through Meteor Garden and I was only introduced to Zhang Nan through here (Couple of Mirrors) since I only occasionally watch CDramas. Zhang Nan's beauty is so striking and I love how she portrays Xu You Yi, she definitely showed her pureness and innocence. Yihan on the other hand really fits the role of Yan Wei, she's very handsome.. and I love how her precious smiles are only for You Yi.. I rated the story as only 8.5 because I would love to know Yan Wei's back story which i will anticipate in Season 2.. I am excited and will definitely wait for it.

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Battles on Ice Vs Life

Maybe some may think I've rated this drama too much for what it was worth but it was a ten-star worthy one.
Throughout this 2021 year journey, I've seen and rated so many dramas and this by so far is one of the best. It had many flavours savoury, bitter, sour, salty and sweet. the chemistry, romance, plot, direction, choreography and acting are just beautiful.
The story had a direction and flow. It had a reason and it stayed the same till the end. Many dramas at times lose this direction I'm talking about and confuse us very much. We begin to lose interest in the plot, lose the connection and get bored quickly but for the first time in a long period of six months, I found a drama where I didn't skip through the scenes.
I saw all the plots, all the scenes with the supporting actors and at times even the credits because the ending ost is simply beautiful. It was such an encouraging drama and worth every minute I spent watching this 45 minutes long 33 episode drama.
Speaking of supporting actors, I must say without them this drama definitely wouldn't be this good. They helped make this complete and I can't imagine myself viewing this drama without even one of them. Each character was enjoyable in their way. The male and female lead's chemistry was so sweet that I thought I would get diabetes. The way they supported each other throughout their whole journey to the competitions was just so encouraging and so so admirable that you couldn't help yourself but cheer for them. The relationship between their mothers, the chemistry and the fallouts between their friends, their journey of growing up, them just being themselves, their day-to-day life all we're just factors that just made this drama another perfect one.
But it may be a little exaggerated when I say that it was a perfect one because it was flawed but every scene, every moment just made me especially anticipate for the next scene thinking what happens next. Crying with them, laughing with them, cringing thinking "Wow! This is just so damn sweet" - simply makes me put this drama on my rewatch list.
But the biggest thing I've learned from this was not giving up encouraging ourselves, believing in ourselves, believing in our teammates! Overall it was a wonderful lesson. The drama pointed out its view and showcased the thoughts it wanted to show the viewers and I'm sure the viewers have received this because I did.
I recommend this drama to everyone who likes encouraging themes, life's lessons, sports, college, romcoms, you would enjoy this. And comparing it with the 2020 winter sports drama skate into love I have to hand it out they both are well-directed, two amazing dramas that bring a smile to one's face and can't but help yourself silently cheer on for the male, female leads and supporting actors.

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So far the most wholesome series this year

My School President is essentially a live evidence that even young romance can be magically mundane. The fact that this show has a heart is what I admire about it the most. Though we look for angsty stories, we always return to storylines that make us laugh, characters that take our breath away and make us swoon, and songs that fill us up with pulsations after pulsations of joy. This is because it expresses emotions so vividly and delivers humor immaculately.

Without the necessity for kisses that most BLs display, MSP provides us all the wonderful emotions, but instead shows us the puppy love of two high school boys becoming in love through Tinn secretly assisting Gun to both of them finding comfort with one another and maturing. And the harmonious bond they share serves as a benchmark for relationships. Understanding and communication.

From the story, acting, and music, it was beautifully well done. Especially, fourth, bro is going places for sure.

Oh the songs are all bops!

A hundred percent recommendable. Even myself back then, promised not to watch anymore high school theme and yet here I am. <3

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Good start but gets draggy at the end

The show establishes a cute and fulfilling first few episodes but loses its spark at the end. At first, I thought the story about reincarnation was different from other shows with the same genre, but it started to get messy with a cliche kind of plot they presented with a lack of originality.

Poor acting performance of Jeon Chang Ha also affected my enjoyment of watching.It is obvious that this is his first on-screen role since he can’t put up a good act when crying. Although I like him when his character is fun and fluffy, I can’t sense anything emotional when he is being sad. On the other hand, Jin Gun is quite an actor with average skills and dependable during the exchange of lines between the rest of the cast. In terms of acting, the girl who is the nine-tailed fox nailed her character the best.

The first kiss was fine but the angle of the camera ruins the moment. I barely saw their passionate kiss with only two to three camera transitions in which all of them didn’t capture the scene perfectly. It was so dark that I almost saw nothing within the kiss, I even thought that it was a fake execution of kiss. The bad thing is the chemistry that they carried out during the half number of episodes faded away the moment they became a couple. During this time it should be the best part of the show and give us a numerous amount of romantic scenes but they choose to express a dramatic approach as the plot of the show. Until their story became another typical over romanticized story with no solid support of affection from the main character.

There is only one thing I am thankful about this, it is for introducing me to Kim Jeong Seok. He plays as the second lead guy who has been left unchoosen but in real life, he stole my heart. I like his acting, facial expression, his character, and the bonus of handsomeness. I even visited his IG account and was mesmerized by his captivating boyfriend-material posts.

Overall, First Love Again is another reincarnation norm which isn’t that impactful but also isn’t that bad. I really enjoyed the first half of the show but they failed to be consecutive and the reason why the story drags to the bottom. Anyways, I like the OST, perfect fit for the jolly vibes of the show. I guess the only major ousting of the drama is the saddening plot, the rest was good enough.

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I finished Theory of love weeks ago and I am now trying my best to refresh other details. Anyway TOL is a god tier BL!!! It is by far the most well put together BL I have seen. Also, since it was a GMMTV BL, I expected a great production and it did not disappoint.

First off, the concept was brilliant. The integration of popular romantic movies into the storytelling and episode titles was so well done. Everything made sense. Movies were used as metaphors to their relationship.

Next, the acting of the whole cast was topnotch especially Gun. You know that boy will always deliver. The dynamic of their friendship was really nice. Personally, it's kind of rare for me to focus on all side stories especially when they are too many but in this case, all of the storylines were interesting. KhaiThird's friends were all given depth. They weren't just used as decorations or shallow characters who were just there to advise the MC.

The first episodes felt repetitive to me but I did understand it was for us to really get deep into the emotions of Third. Along with that, I can't really blame Khai. During the first half, Khai was portrayed to be an asshole who always hurt Third but I actually think he was a nice friend. He was a jerk, yes, but he was a good friend. The only thing I hated with Khai as a friend to Third was his bossiness and constant bailing. But when you look at it, he was unaware of Third's feelings! How he acted was normal for platonic friends. Whenever he did something wrong, he did make up for it. He apologized when he felt like he hurt Third's feelings. Even with Third's POV shown to us, I still felt how Khai treasured their friendship---it was just that he overlooked it sometimes. Khai as a man who dated girls was a different story though.
The build up to the finale was well phased. The final episode was the best one out of all the Thai BLs I had seen. Everything---nothing in the progression of events was off or I felt was rushed. Things fitted so well in the last episode.

One of my main problems though was the negative representation of female characters. It has been done so many times in BL shows to emphasize even more the male to male relationship. But then it brought me back to the narrator of the story. We saw them from Khai and Third's perspective---Third who always had to face the aftermaths of Khai's breakups and Khai who moves on so easily.

Also I think I didn't really catch why Third likes Khai so much aside from their close friendship? They could have given us an insight or like a short montage of the reason/s why. Another thing that I felt was lacking was how Khai came to terms with his sexual orientation. I get that the episodes before 'Flipped', Khai was already developing his feelings but we were still on Third's perspective. The shift was abrupt but maybe it was just a matter of POVs.

Nevertheless most of the negative things I noticed in the series were not really about the scriptwriting or directing, but more on the nature of the characters themselves. They were flawed and raw. For example when Khai pretended to be drunk when he kissed Third and again when Khai was about to kiss Third while he was asleep. It was in his flawed character. Still, nonconsensual kiss isn’t the way lol.

And can we talk about that intro? Classy, I say. Also Getsunova's OST really hits you in the feels. They lyrics and tune are literally Third's perspective. Also, the kissing scenes, chef’s kiss. They are literally the most natural and best kissing scenes I have seen in BL ISTG. They were a lot of unforgettable moments too (the train station scene that for sure made everyone cry, Khai’s final confession to Third, Third’s shower scenes).

It is so rare for me to not want a second season but TOL is good as it is. It is THAT good. But I mean, more OffGun content so why not lol. If they ever make a second season, I just hope it is as quality as the first one.

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First of all this tv series is not for everyone. It tackles parallel universe and time travel and that in itself can get confusing more so if you're the type of viewer that doesn't really focus on watching or you like to do other things while viewing.
I personally like this series mind you I had low expectations because of the reviews that I have read however I watched episode 1 to 9 from morning to night and I was surprise that it got me hooked. I finished the whole series in 2 days and I was on edge the whole time because I just couldn't predict what would happen or how the character would react to difficult moments.

If you want to watch this because of the romantic LMH that you have seen in other series don't expect that here. There are some very romantic scenes but not a lot. Its not your typical romcom. I like the way he expresses love here though it's more realistic lets say compared to his character in The Heirs or BOF. When I watched those shows I always say no such guy exists.
Main comment is Its a complicated tv series even the flow of the scene is not typical. It starts one scene and very subtly ends that scene and you will think that was it. However in the next episode it will show an in-depth view of the scene. This is where I would say a lot of people think it was messy. For me doing it that way gave me that "ahhh" or "gotcha" moment while watching the next ep. Had the director and writer done it the usual way of doing the whole scene in and then a cliffhanger could have change the viewers perception. I like the way they did it but its not everyone's cup of tea. Reminds me of the movie Inception wherein there were so many layers to the scene.

What I like about it was almost every episode there is a "twists" and that got me. Acting was superb, I think they all did a brilliant job I was crying in a lot of scenes but the best actor was the 2nd male lead. He showed a wider variety of characterisation.
What I didn't like -- the ending - i wasn't happy with that "compromise" but that's just me (can't say much w/out spoiling).. Secondly like any other time travel/parallel universe movie there will always be loopholes look at Avengers for instance.

So many negative comments about the sponsored ad have you seen Goblin and other TVN shows they have heaps of them especially with subway brand. This is how tv shows make money and almost every hollywood film does this too so I wasn't very bothered with it. I have seen more blatant advertising

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Intense Love was one of my most anticipated dramas of the year. I picked it up when it started airing but found it to be boring. I resumed watching this recently and overall it was a mixed bag for me. There were some cute and romantic moments and some were downright annoying. This drama would be a zero for me if not for the main leads.

STORY + CHARACTERS:
There was no story. It's just about a ditzy, vain actress who falls for an icy doctor. Yes, the leads were cute but I never got invested in them. It felt like watching a compilation of scenes where I felt like I missed the initial build up. Because there was NONE. They fell in love out of nowhere and I wanted to smack the main girl because she annoyed me to no end. Her dumbness wasn't cute after a few episodes. There was no growth in her nor the male lead's character, What didn't help was the annoying sister of the male lead. She was infuriating to no end. There is a secondary couple in the drama as well who got the majority screentime, a below average story and no chemistry. I didn't like anyone.

ACTING:
Here is where I feel bad. The actors did the best they could. Ryan Ding and Zhang Yu Xi are decent and watchable. It wasn't their fault that the script was lacking, there were no challenging scenes nor that there was no character growth. Entire drama seemed like a teenage girl's fantasy being adapted on screen. I liked Jiawei and the male lead's friend. They were both quite good at their roles.

MUSIC:
Didn't notice any. Meh.

OVERALL:
I like turning off my brain and watching cheesy romance films/dramas. However this one tread on boring and disappointing category for me. I felt like it was an insult to my intelligence had I kept on watching this story that started nowhere and ended no where. It should've been a middle-school drama instead of unrealistically portraying all adults as ditzy and shallow. I wish I could have liked this because it was a waste of the main leads' potential. I don't recommend this drama unless you have nothing to watch.

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Another Underrated thriller mystery cdrama!!

I don't usually write reviews but since no one wrote anything about this drama I'm writing the review for this one .

If you like slow paced thrillers like The Bad Kids then this drama is just for you.
Initially it would look like a time and space travel story but then later you will realise that the mystery behind the disappearance is something else.

Story : Though it starts slow (since it's about someone's disappearance) but in the second half of story it picks up its pace. Everything starts to because clear and the mystery
unfolds.

Acting : All the actors did a good job in portraying there characters but the child actors did a commendable job.


There are only 12 episodes so please give it a try!

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Excellent Series & Angsty Tearjerker

Excellent series, but not perfect. Why? Because it seemed like the goal was to wring every last tear and emotion out of me, and that distracted me from noticing the subtle nuances of this series. To me, making me emotional is not what makes a great story, it's the whole package. The ending was unsatisfying, especially if I'm to believe they are meant to be together.

Story - A coming of age story. I usually love slice of life stories, but the reliance on melodrama and angst worked against it. I would have been happy if Oh-Aew chose Bas after the blessing, because the Teh x Oh-Aew's relationship was always on and off and full of drama. They were barely ever happy. At that point, I should have been solidly rooting for Teh x Oh-Aew. For me to be ready to accept Bas shows the story didn't express true love between the leads. Some positives were the expression of sexuality that is present during adolescence, and that Bas and Tarn were good people, not villains.

Acting/Cast - All of the cast did a fine job. I especially liked the two leads and Teh's older brother.

Music - Music was great, but the opening song and the score were not subtitled. The music selection was important, so they should have subtitled everything.

Rewatch Value - Probably not unless I want to cry.

Overall - An excellent series and would recommend it. The cinematography was beautiful and the locations scenes were gorgeous.

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A Must Watch Drama!

Classy Scenes:
1. First Fight between Cui Lin & Li Ni (Underwater fight and Backyard fight)
2. Li Ni hitting fire arrows with Style
3. Li Ni's Sword Dance
4. Li Ni and Cui Lin's Post-Wedding Fight

Emotion-Filled Scene: Episodes 29-30 depicted an intense scene involving Old Bao, Bandits like Zhao Youde, You Yi, and others deeply moved me. Witnessing their sacrifice to save Li Ni and the emotional weight of the moment brought tears to my eyes.

As everybody talked about the Plot, I wanted to share more about the scenes, impressions, and characters.

First Impression: Li Ni - His character: Down to Earth, Charismatic, Skilled, and Peace-Keeper. You will understand his character in the first few episodes. I loved his interaction with Bao, Chang Er, and Pei Yuan the most.

You won't be bored at all. Each episode unfolds with a distinctive challenge as Li Ni journeys through various cities en route to the capital, striving to restore their kingdom.

Overall, I loved IT!

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There were comments that this drama is worst, and that the male lead is very stiff and has no expression, or the female lead is annoying, the story is dragging and long, boring, etc. But honestly, i find this drama more than perfect, its daebakk!! I can't possibly count how many times i cried especially with the male lead, how many times i laughed, and how many times i got hurt whenever bad things happen, or how many times i felt butterflies in my stomach for every love scenes..This drama was really perfect. I've actually watched more than 3 times already and i bet when i got bored, i'll be watching it again sometime.. The plot and the story for me was very interesting. I can't help but be on my toes whenever its the end of every episode, it made me crave for more and look forward for what may happen next. The actors and actresses, for both the main leads and the supporting characters, were awesome. They played the role well and i really feel what they feel.

I don't really know the cast of this drama at all at first until i happened to accidentally crossed way to this drama currently airing at that time, and since i was bored i gave it a try, and it never disappoints me. The male lead was promising for me, i literally cried with him. His character was the saddest yet strongest character ever in kdrama land. Now i became his fan because of this drama. Lee Dong Wook is a best actor! Even the villain is a best actor. The mother was also daebak! She's just an amazing actress for me. Hands down to the actress Kim Hae Sook! And i also like the female lead. Overall, the cast , the plot, the music..all were amazing. I basically will recommend it to anybody! It's a must watch!

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Maybe not my Favourite but a really fun watch

This drama starts off with a whole lot of cringe, second hand embarrassment and a plea from me that one of our leads will please act his real age and not like a pree teen with low blodsugar. The other lead and the girl he married in the first timeline where however the sweetest people ever making me completely fall in love with those two...

As the story progressed our main lead finally grew up and all was fun to watch, the pacing got better, the story had me hooked and I pretty much loved every single characters role in this. Annoying elemens more or less went while there was some cringe left Flukes constant flirty moves with his eyebrows pretty much made up for all the wrongs in this drama.

Was it a masterpiece, nope, not at all, did it actually contribute with a great massage or bring something new to the table? nope not really but it was entertaining, pretty to look at and while some of the dialog did provoke me just a little bit by offering some inspirational mumbo jumbo I still loved it. So while I did deduct some points here and there the over all feel is deffinettly an 8,5 maybe even a 8,75.

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Based on the cast alone I should have loved this movie but I didn't. I don't watch many Korean movies but when I saw one of my couples from Jealousy Incarnate and my imaginary namja chingu from Lucky Romance staring in this one, I knew I had to watch. They didn't disappoint but the story unfortunately did.

The cast is this movie's saving grace, although the supporting cast is pretty forgettable. Jo Jung Suk
as Jung Jae Chul is unexpected but as arrogantly charming as always. Gong Hyo Jin as Eun Shi Yeon is a good strong female lead, although not as interesting as the male leads overall even though she is the center of the story in some ways. Ryu Joon Yeol as Seo Min Jae to me is the best part of this whole film. I am a fan of his weird quirky charm, which made me love him in the first place, but I liked seeing the action star sides of him too. I can't imagine any other actor playing that role as well.

I watched knowing nothing about the plot, which was a good thing, so I won't give much of it away. I liked not knowing who was good or bad, which was one good thing about the story overall but as a police action thriller it was pretty tame with some cool car chases but not much excitement overall. I honestly didn't care about the story at all until maybe halfway through, and even then it was more about loving Ryu Joon Yeol than it was about the plot.

Overall this movie didn't live up to my expectations, but it didn't quite disappoint either. It was pretty light as far as thrillers go, but not funny or romantic, so it was too tame for my taste. Maybe I'm just not as big of a fan of this type of genre in Korean Cinema, but there were hints at a sequel did leave me a little bit curious about the possibilities. Maybe if I lower my expectations for the next one I will like it more.

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Captivating...An Emotional Journey

Based on the novel "Miracle" by the legendary Lin Pei Yu, this series is about a gangster and a high school student fighting for their impossible love.

What I liked about their relationship was that their obstacles were external. Once they admitted they liked each other, Bai Zong Yi and Fan Ze Rui were totally committed. They were unshakeable in their devotion, but they have to overcome threats from the outside.

The second CP have their own gut-wrenching plot line. Ai Di and Chen Yi were both raised by the mafia, and Ai Di has suffered from unrequited love for his friend. Watching Ai Di come into the realization that his love may not be as unrequited as he thought was a joy to witness. He deserves all the love!

The Big Boss of the gang has has his own romantic spark with another man but their backstory is not fully fleshed out in the show. I heard Lin Pei Yu suggest in an interview that the 3rd book in this trilogy is their story. I'd love to see their story on screen. Since Pei Yu is both a screenwriter and producer of this series, I'm hoping we can see this team film all three books in the trilogy.

Finally, I wanted to comment on the ages of the main cp. I've read the book. Bai Zong Yi is 17 and Fan Ze Rui is 22. Spoiler ahead: The fact Zong Yi is a minor is important to the story, because it means he gets a lighter sentence for the crime (which he doesn't actually commit). This point about his age is reiterated by the big boss in the series.

None of the characters have a problem with their age gap (because it isn't illegal in Taiwan) but I understand that many viewers may be uncomfortable with it. If this is you, I recommend not watching any further. It's a disservice to the series to dismiss it with a low rating just because of their ages.

Series Highlights: The acting and chemistry between the cast. The endless parade of cameos from BL actors. The OST. Ai Di's wardrobe. The rewatch value...I've already rewatched several times!

Tip: Make sure to watch the special episode called Kiseki+ on Youtube. It basically ep 8.5 and should be watched between eps 8 and 9.

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