Reviews

Part were great and parts were problematic

I'll start by saying that I liked the first one very much and the parts I was so-so on, I was hoping they would fix in season 2, namely Bas and his extreme depression. It seemed like they were going to address mental health issues and I was all for that realism as someone with 2 degrees in mental health. The actor who plays Bas was BRILLIANT and I couldn't wait to see more of him, his acting and his story line. The first few episodes were on par with first season, but where they lost me completely was Bas literally being stopped from commiting suicide only to jump into the bed, happily, mind you, with Marco, who had not talked to him since he wanted Bas to tell on P'Tee and who had ALSO just confessed his love to James, a few hours later. WTF! They had gotten so much right with showing how a person with SEVERE depression behaves (the severe mood swings, the staring into space seemingly lost in their own thought, etc.), with how someone who was in multiple abusive relationship ( parents and P' Tee) behaves (banging his head, blaming himself, the suicidal ideation). Michael's acting in this role was amazing and honestly rescues the series for me. It was like they said, we only have one episode left and our second couple isn't official yet, lets have them confess their love and sleep together. Marco would have been freaking traumatized seeing Bas, who at the very least was his friend, hanging from the ceiling by his neck, twitching and dying. Bas would still be in his head about having almost died, about having not succeeded in dying, about what his Dad said to him only hours ago, about the ENTIRE fustercluck with P'Tee. No one would have been in the mood. And yes, I am fully aware some people use sex to cope, especially after a near death experience, but not a almost death by suicide experience. AND even if they did, it should been portrayed as them desperately clinging to each other, trying to forget why they were both so sad. They would have had sex just to be close with ANYONE to forget their individual pain and would have been consider a one off at this time. Not the great passionate, steamy sex scene we got to signify the beginning of their relationship/love. Neither were ready for this relationship. Marco needed to get over James and Bas needed LOTS of therapy. This could have been parlayed into a 3rd season or a spin off with just them, addressing the fact that 'we had sex and we kind of like each other and maybe we should explore these feelings' as well as addressing Bas' problems with his family and P'Tee's abuse and that it drove him to want to end his life. Then you get the finale, with Ait singing on the stage and Bas hiding in the bathroom and doing goofy ass code signals before the conference, followed by James giving a really touching speech about BL actors and behind the scenes staff being human and being allowed to live their lives. It was like they couldn't decide if this was a comedy BL or a realistic one. Until We Meet Again pulled this balance off brilliantly, not so much for CIWUW2. I can't say don't watch it because just Michael's acting alone was worth watching it for me, but the amount of people in the comments caught up in Bas and Marco being together and thinking that love scene was cute and hot bothered me, so I had to point this out for anyone thinking about watching it. I don't normally write reviews but couldn't find anyone as disturbed as I was watching the last 2 episodes.

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For me this film was overhyped

Sorry I don’t mean to offend anyone, we have our own taste when it comes to dramas but this just wasn’t my type. I felt like the story was dragged for too long that 12 or 16 episode would suffice instead of 20 episodes. The story is too long and very draggy, but overall if you enjoy up and down dramas, this would be great for you! :) The story line was indeed very realistic which i guess why a lot of people liked it, I liked the story too but it’s too draggy. Every episode makes you think who the Joker is but you just can’t guess it. I only enjoyed watching the last episode in this 20 episode drama :( Totally not worth watching again.

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Just finished watching this film. It's really a work of art in that it's not just another tear jerker family movie that teaches you to not take your loved ones for granted. It's so much more than that-there's a reason why it won Park Ji-Bin an international film festival award. This film challenges you as the viewer to use your imagination, think outside the box, and see the world from a child's viewpoint. And that is what makes it brilliant! It's element of magical realism really shocks you into paying more attention to the movie, because it is very unexpected. The actors were amazing and if you're a k-drama fan, this movie gives you a chance to see the stars before they were stars. I guarantee that you'll be seeing a lot of familiar faces in this one. And they all help to bring the storyline closer to home. So if you're up for the challenge, you should give "Hello Brother" a shot!

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This is when I watched episode 6. The show is legitmately one of the most saddest and dramatic lakorns I have watched. Even though some people may not agree, everything in the show is almost perfect. I can state that their acting was indeed good. These people can act. The music of this show contains two to three songs, in which I liked. The story is good, about a girl named Hong who is always hated, disgusted, and is the most unluckiest person ever (if you watch Krating, you could try to tell yourself.) Due to her inability to please her father, or even combat, this girl proves her father wrong (you'll see, no spoilers.) But she does have 'bad' luck. She witnessed her brother die (this is not really a spoiler since this happens in the very first episode.) Overall, however, her beauty, as her name suggests (Hong is Swan. Get it? Swan? Beauty?) makes everyone love her, and when I say EVERYONE, EVERYONE except her father (well actually he admits that she looks like her mother), EVERYONE HAS A CRUSH ON HER. If you watch the lakorn, you'll see that everyone see knows says she is beautiful, even the bad people.

but overall, the story has some stabbing scenes that could leave you weak and reflect on your life, so if you are really terrible and could easily catch sadness, I suggest you get some tissues so you don't overdose yourself. (Don't worry, just for the people who can't even handle a death scene.)

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As my first Wuxia this series blew me away. I bombed through 54 episodes without skipping forward one single minute in just under 5 days. I was intrigued by episode 2 and I was hooked by episode 6.

The BRILLIANT cinematography and dramaturgy is breathtaking and really pulls you in. There is an atmosphere that is overwhelming and is still with me days after I finished this series. The emotions and feelings came across so well, with a lovely original sound track. There were moments in this drama that were so brilliant that I had to remember to breath. I felt so moved and invested by the end that I cried because I won’t ever get to watch this for the first time ever again.

The actors were fantastic and the directing was wonderful. These characters are not all easy to portrait but they came across so well. The whole ensemble worked very well together. The actors and director set a tone that was intriguing and appealing. How they moved and the mannerism they used were perfect and it was very satisfying to watch how it reflected the way royal court worked in the old days. The costumes are lovely and beautiful. The setting locations, the backdrops and the props were just magnificent!

The main story is very touching and not a straight up revenge story, but instead about fairness, truth and justice. I found that so appealing. Shades of grey of good versus evil. I was so invested in the friendship between the two main male leads, it was beautifully portrayed and involved elements like loyalty and trust. They were perfect together. As the story unfolded I rooted for them, cried with them and cheered them on.

One of the things that made me really interested in this story was the fact that our hero is very sick and weak. His power is not brute strength but his brilliant mind. For me this is the first of watching a drama where the main character is truly dying and very weak, at no time does he pull any superhero stunts. Except when his mind solved problems with impossible odds!

The romance is almost none existent in this drama. It is sweet but chaste and not at all any main focus. I actually quite enjoyed it being so on the low and not in the way for the more important events. You won’t be seeing the hero rescuing the princess from the castle, because she can take care of herself. I do actually think this drama is labelled wrong when the tag says romance.

The story pacing is excellent! The side stories spanned two or three episodes, often overlapping, and were all linked to the main story. The plotting and planning was exciting. I was worried going into this that I would not enjoy or be able to follow the politics, but it was more like watching the detective case of the week and before I knew it I suddenly knew all the characters and was perfectly following along how everything unfolded. Not getting it the first couple of episodes was not frustrating an everything was presented so naturally that I was never confused or frustrated. There was never really any effort.

I am having problems with coming up with downsides of this series. What did I not like, what were the mistakes. But I seriously can’t. It was like it was made for me.

My views on this is as a total beginner of this type of drama (Wuxia drama that is, though I am a fantasy lover and watch loads of Korean drama). I usually avoid fantasy with too much “flying” fighting, because it breaks my immersion, and go for the more realistic (haha…) fighting style productions. But before I watched this I stumbled upon a short description of the typical standard Wuxia world building and I suddenly understood that things did not work as they do in our “world”. As a nerd I filed some of the information away as totally legit and comparable to a D&D rule set.

Shallow as I am I also need to address the two male leads again and their "bromance". Hu Ge who is playing Mei Chang Su/Su Zhe took on a role I think is very difficult to portrait without coming across as fake. He is supposed to be very sick and that is easy to overdo. With just his body language and demeanor he made me feel his pain. There was no room for overacting. Still he was very sexy. Because a brilliant mind is something extremely attractive.

Wang Kai who plays Prince Jing played a more rough cut type of role. Even so when he broke into emotions it was heart achingly good. I could feel his sorrow and believed the emotions he displayed. Also, the very dark voice he has is something of the sexiest I have ever heard. I am just that shallow I guess. :)

These two together were amazing!

I loved this! I can’t recommend it enough.

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This was the best drama i have watched yet, it is very addicting. the story has the right amount of suspense in it, and of course the love story of Kim Yoon Shik and Lee Sun Joon was the best, i was smiling all the time when they have scenes together. But this Drama being a Historical one, i think they have toned down the fighting scenes because it was more focused on the love story of Daemul and Ga Rang, which i think is just right. I think this Drama is more like Hana Kimi(Japanese /Taiwan Series) because Both Series have a Girl pretending to be a man and entered a university for all boys and both series has a Doctor backing them up, that's why i can tell that this is series is more like Hana Kimi.. The Character or Gu yong Ha (yeorim)
is very adorable as well... he is like the savior of the day...

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It is a 30 episodes drama but a kind of drama that will give you a satisfactory ending. The reason why im watching korean drama is that they are good in romantic comedy. But this drama gave me an impression that it is not just that kind of genre that they are good, this story is so touching, heartfelt story that will actually give a warm effect to your heart. It has a valuable moral lesson to give the viewer. This story is a drama not more on romance but not boring. Every episode is a must to watch that you wont want to stop and forget about sleeping! I finished it for 2 and a half days! This drama is a MUST WATCH DRAMA, you wont say that your 30 hrs was a wasted=)

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If i had to describe this drama in two single words i would say ´Refreshing´and ´Hilarious´! The plot itself has it´s own backpack of clichés but the way that the story is told is not so common in most korean rom coms´. It was very smartly elaborated in a way that you would find yourself asking a ton of questions at the very begining of every episode like ´What in the world happened? Why is everyone acting crazy? Whose fault is it?´ and then all the crazy actions will be explained as you watch the episode to find out.
It is the crazy love lines, hilariously unexpected turn of events,the classcial music used in every funny moment and the slow motions that makes it even more hilarious, and of course it´s the characters chemistry and charismatic sense of humor (amazing acting from the entire cast) that makes ´Marriage, Not Dating´ an interesting and unique drama , just like its title.
Another wonderful thing was the lovely ost, my personal favourites were ´Stop the love now´ by Ben a.k.a BeBe Mignon and ´Love lane´ from the rookie girlsband Mamamoo ^^
To keep it short this drama features a good mix of romance and comedy that never fails to make you laugh out loud and keeping you interested of what´s coming next.

P.S- I really enjoyed this drama. It became one of my favourite rom coms´ so far ^-^

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I found this movie shortly after I finished watching Strong woman Do Bong soon. Both, Park Bo Young and Lee Jong Suk, are great actors and make an awesome couple. I haven't seen many (korean) movies so far, so I can't judge it based on other korean movies, but to me this piece was a perfect mix of romance, slice of life, comedic Moments, a good amount of cringe (the right amount) and bittersweet high School relationships (at least in my opinion). It's definitely worth the two hours of watching. I was a Little sad about the ending and would have wished for a more detailed ending but that does not mean I'm dissatissfied with the ending in general. It's the right ending. Usually I feel really uncomfortable when watching movies or series' about the past (idk why) but this movie made me feel warm inside rather than uncomfortable. It cheered me up. I loved it!

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Anne-Ken’s comeback shouldn’t be like this

To be honest, almost the viewers who follow until the final episode are Anne-Ken fans. I watched all the episodes but I remember nothing but their love scenes. I’ve been their fan since 2016. I have waited for 6 years, I mean their comback shoudn’t be like this!

Weakness:
- Despite we have a lot of great actors, the script is freakishly weak that it can’t help the actors show their skills. It’s okay in the first episode, I like the chemistry between AK, but from episode 2, the script was wordy, becoming confusing and some unnecessary details appeared (I really don’t like their kiss in ep 2, what is it for???).
- There are also messy cutscenes with no explanatory text.
- Some jokes that if you’re not a AK fan, you don’t get it at all. And there are some uncomfortable jokes that appeared so many times.
- A lot of guest appearances that make the story line is boring and unnecessary (I don’t like the Furby Gang, so loud)
- I don’t like the character Ryu, he’s spoil, immature, and also a red flag in a relationship. I feel bad for Kat, she could have been ended up with someone’s better, love her so much more.

Strengths:
- Anne Thong is stunning in every shots, she’s beautiful in tones that I had never been seen before. Thanks a lot, Ken <3
- I love Kat-Soda’s friendship, they’re so cute together, the chemistry was good.
- Real kisses!!!
- The chemistry between AK is irresistible. I’m still looking forward to their next project.

Acting:
- Anne: I like her acting here, maybe Kat is similar to Anne, so she can play naturally funny, she is the one who carries the whole story. Sometimes I think Ken want to make a lakorn to help Anne becomes more popular 😂
- Ken: I don’t know how to say but I feel his acting skill is backward, he was trying so hard to be funny, not “real” funny.

Conclusion:
No matter how many superstars you have, if the script is bad, it will fails. The rating speaks itself. And it is NOT RELATED to the actors’s ages, it’s just the script. I hope in the near future, AK will play together but the plot must be strong. At that time, the lakorn will be a hit.

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This drama set itself apart from all others from episode 1 itself. I don’t know much about cinematography or lighting or any other film technicalities but throughout the series I couldn’t help but admire how beauty of each shot. I feel it is on par with Goblin if not better. The Cuba scenes were especially stunning.

Going into this drama, I came with high expectations since Park Bo Gum is one of my favourite actors. Song Hye Kyo I like as well. I can’t say their chemistry was exceptional but there was enough to make the story believable and leave a lasting impression. Needless to say, my expectations were fully met.

The side characters served their purpose but no one really stood out for me. Music as well., it was pleasant to listen to and fit the mood very well but not particularly memorable.

As the series went on I noticed that there were a lot of complaints about the pacing of the story. I fully understand their point of view but I feel like it’s one of the things that makes this drama so unique. Yes, it is slow but never boring. In this fast paced lifestyle that we now live in, this drama reminds me of old times when people took the time to savour the little things in life. I love how the bond between the two leads grows over the course of the series. There is no crazy villain, throwing curveballs at opportune moments. Every cliche that k-dramas have is flipped. A 2nd lead/rival that you can’t help but sympathize with. Even if this storyline has been done a thousand times with slight variations, the little differences mentioned above and more made the story refreshing.

This drama felt like a good movie that I wish would never end. It was pleasant, and served as relaxing end to each week after work. I spent the better part of the time with a goofy smile plastered to my face. Guys like Jin Hyuk are one in a million.

To conclude, I will say that the series was one of the better ones of the last year. I appreciate how the writers gave a proper end to every storyline, big or small. I truly enjoyed watching this show. However, I don’t think I would watch it again. Not because it’s not good but because, I know that the excitement that I felt the first time around won’t be there on a repeat viewing.

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Perhaps a little too slow, even for its genre, but still, a nice story about life and love

I don’t think this is really a film that can be described by its plot, so if I had to sum up what this film was about, I’d say it was about the feeling of living without direction, hesitating to take action, and the difficulty of breaking out of a comfortable passive state to move one’s life forward. Perhaps it is also about how we experience moments in our lives, how sometimes the things that are important only come into relief in hindsight.

Though I wouldn’t say it was a particularly profound work, it was quite relatable at times and occasionally touching. Sato is definitely the main character, but the film follows a number of interconnected stories, thus there is a rather large cast of characters each with their own importance. They all seemed realistic, though Sato was the only one that really felt fleshed out. With the others, I felt we saw only select aspects of who they were, but I think that worked for the way the story was told. The events were generally mundane. Though it has a love story (actually multiple), it’s definitely more slice-of-life than it is heart-stopping romance.

I wasn’t always engaged by some of the side stories. That being said, I can’t really argue that those parts should have been cut, since each one somehow contributed to the themes of the film. It was structured in such a way that all the little things slowly built up, until by the end you could understand how they fit together. They weren’t random, even if at times it felt slow. A leisurely pace is to be expected from this sort of slice-of-life film, but I do think this movie felt longer than it was.

All the performances were good. Miura Haruma, in particular, I thought hit all the right notes as the lead character, but I would also like to mention Yamoto Yuma, who most often made me smile. Harada Taizo was quite memorable to me as well, though his part was relatively small.

The main theme performed by the street musician was beautiful, and both the melody and lyrics seemed perfectly suited to the film. As for the rest of the soundtrack … it was interesting. Sometimes jazzy, sometimes bluesy. Sometimes heavy on the percussion or electronics, other times simple and acoustic. Many scenes were set against silence, so overall I would say music was used sparingly. At times I liked what they did with it, but often I really wasn’t sure what they were going for.

The cinematography was decent, but nothing memorable.

In truth, I not entirely sure about my overall feelings towards this film and decided to write this review only because no one else had written one yet. I suppose I liked the story, but somehow I didn’t find the execution fully satisfying, even if I can’t put my finger on exactly what I felt was lacking. Still I think it’s a good film and would recommend it, depending on what you’re looking for. I wouldn’t necessarily watch this just for the romance. If you’re in the mood for a warm, slow-paced slice-of-life film that is also romantic, then this might be the movie for you.

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I've rewatched it for a view times now. And I don't really remember my first impression. So I'm not sure whether it was very thrilling watching it for the first time. But overall, I liked it. It was interesting and I enjoyed it.

As I hope this review will be helpfull to others in deciding whether to watch "Baby-faced Beauty" or not, I made a list of the topics of this drama and my rates for some of the topics.

37% Work/Bussiness: Fashion Designing (7/10)
Ofcourse it is about the process of designing, getting ideas, drawing, choosing the materials an so on. But it's not just that. It's also about how the antagonists always try to prevent the protagonists from success with dirty tricks and how the protagonists overcome it.

35% Romance (7/10)
It might not be a thrilling romance, since we can guess who she'll end up with. But I liked it. It's quite interesting to see how the feelings of the 2 male leads grow. At some point there was the topic about the age difference, but as I see it, it was not a huge barrier for the romantic relationship.

18% Comedy
5% Family
Others

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This drama is 100% politics but I loved every minute of it. It's a tragic memoir of the Imjin war. I loved Ryu Seong Ryung & Lee Soon Shin - they were my favorites on this drama (and their close companions). I liked Gwanghae during the first half but by the second half I was disappointed with his actions... :/
A great drama however, if you don't mind watching one that has zero romance. I cried a few times while watching it and cried at the end too :'( It's more sad b/c you basically see history take place before your eyes :'(

This drama follows the writings left by Ryu Seong Ryung about the Imjin War that he titled 'Jing Bi Rok' - and we watch this unfold before our eyes, the invasion of the Japanese army, the fights in the court, the actions of King Seonjo as he tries to hold onto his power and suspects everyone. The righteous leading of Ryu Seong Ryung & his followers, the Bravery & Heart of Lee Soon Shin, the anger of Prince Gwanghae, the secret "peace talks" between Wae & Ming, the deception of the envoys, the patriotic spirits of the Righteous armies, the punishment brought out by Seonjo b/c of his fear of praise being taken away from him....the Japanese internal struggle with each other, and Toyotomi's crazy greed for power.

Ryu Seong Ryung is a character I admired throughout the entire drama & I respected anyone who followed him & believed in him. Lee Soon Shin a man who no matter who asked what of him would only do what he felt was right - he never brought harm to his men. He was upright, brave, unyielding and strong of heart - another man to be greatly admired - without him who knows what would have happened in history... I loved his friendship with Ryu Seong Ryung ^^ Both of these men are so brave - they go so well together - definitely the best of friends <3 While watching King Seonjo all I could do was shake my head at his childish, and petty ways.... and there were several other great characters throughout the drama :)

Actors I have to give a shoutout to:
~ Kim Sang Joon (Ryu Seong Ryung), Kim Suk Hoon (Lee Soon Shin), Kim Tae Woo (King Seonjo), Jung Tae Woo (Cheon Ri), Choi Chul Ho (Lee Hang Bok), Noh Young Hak (Prince Gwanghae), Lee Kwan Hoon (Shin Myeong Chul), Nam Sung Jin (Lee Deok Hyeong), & Jeon Kwang Jin (Song Hee Rib) ~

I for one would re-watch this drama if time allowed. If you like historicals - especially factual based historicals then you should enjoy this one as we watch history unfold.

The only OST I remember is just an instrumental that came on at the beginning and during the drama - nothing spectacular but it fit very well with this drama.

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Your sometimes friendly BL watcher. (Who is extremely fucking emotional atm and silently throwing a tantrum)
I honestly love this HIStory series as it makes me happy for some weird reason. (Mostly Trapped, Boundary Crossing)
I've seen some gay dramas with happy ending and explainable sad endings. So what the actual fuck was that. The series was going so good until the last episode. I was prepared for them to at least say homeboy got memory loss or some shit but he literally goes *POOF*. You could've killed off one of the friends or even the dada idk Like what the friggin hell.
While sitting on my computer chair crying into my popcorn, I'm trying to piece together that last episode.
First of all yall had the story going great everyone happy and all that jazz. I understand that there wasn't a major conflict in the plot and you wanted to add an accident. That is understandable. You could've added cheating. That would be understandable. BUT HOW COULD YOU KILL OFF EVERYONES SMOL BOY LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. I honestly hope that Boundary Crossing 2 isn't like this.

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