Reviews

First of all, the number one reason to watch Age of Youth is that it's the rare k-drama that's entirely female-driven and, on top of that, isn't driven by romance.

Of course, there are plenty of great k-dramas out there where women drive the plot; in those stories, though, the female protags usually share equal space with male leads. And there are a few gems I've come across that aren't about romance, but these examples are very much male-driven (Misaeng, SUFBB, White Christmas — all of these shows respect their women, but none of them are *about* the women).

Age of Youth, however, is an anomaly in revolving around a main female ensemble with all male characters being pushed down to supporting character rank (just check out the cast list here). This is in itself is a little bit momentous, and it's the kind of thing there should be more of.

Don't get me wrong, in general you can count on k-dramas for female characters with points-of-view. Still, the bulk of them follow the YA novel tradition of revolving around *one* girl, meaning that relationships between different women are rarely fleshed out (or at least, not as fleshed out as that of the female lead/male leads). Age of Youth, however, isn't about one girl. It's about five girls — five girls with their own inner lives, goals, and ghosts-in-the-closet (thanks to Jiwon for that unnecessarily dramatic metaphor). These stories might feature romantic subplots, but they're not the main event. The way these girls relate to one another is the real emotional core of the series.

Since I've sung my praise, for the sake of fairness I'll touch on a couple of the show's weaknesses.

Being such a short drama, AOY is definitely hurt by trying to do too much with a lack of time. The upshot is it suffers from the typical ensemble show problem of uneven character work. While some arcs are fully realised and flawlessly constructed (particularly, the growth of Hwayoung's character), a couple of others sadly fall to the wayside. (Han Seungyeon's character is the most egregious. If I didn't know there'll be a season two, I'd find the lack of time given for Ye Eun's post-traumatic arc absolutely unforgivable. Since there *will* be a season two, though, I aggressively expect this to be the #1 priority.)

My other gripe is about tonal inconsistency. Again with the trying to do too much, AOY teeters between realistic slice-of-life and... dark psychological thriller? Let it be said that it's much more successful at the former. Some of the darker story-lines work because they're *character-driven* (again, not sorry about Yina's narrative), but most of the show's dips into other genres are unfortunately half-baked. Considering that lack of time thing, AOY would have been more cohesive by cutting the excess.

THAT BEING SAID, these flaws stick out only because AOY is so quality in every other way. If you want a drama that actually cares about women's stories (and why wouldn't you), you arguably can't do better than Age of Youth.

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If you want to feel refreshed or look back on your precious memories, this one is for you

What I really love about this series is how it made me feel. It feels so refreshing, it's like the rest that you get after a stressful and tiring day. There might be some scenes or characters that I found kind of cringy but it was overall a good watch. Those "cringe" moments really take me back because it reminds me of how I was back then. The actors are really good too. Maoyi is really like a rabbit as her name in the series "Xiao Tu" suggests. Jun is a great actor too, I was really excited for this series as I get to see another side of him. This is also the first series to ever give me the second lead syndrome but I soon forgot about it because of Ling Chao's actions which are really endearing. This series screams home and comfort to me.

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It's a Really Good Film!

It's been a while since I've seen such a refreshing but entertaining take on the "Seishun" film.
There's so much in the film that in hindsight I'm really impressed it didn't feel overwhelming.
The acting was brilliant; particularly the FL whose facial expressions were so animated! I'm also a fan of Cody Lee so the music was also a win in my opinion. And i liked that we're not positioned to dislike any of the characters, i thought that was really beautiful.

If you're looking for a summery samurai-y film, this is it! But more than anything it's a really good film. Contrary to some comments, I liked the ending and feel like it did the film/story justice. Looking forward to rewatching!

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Dumplings anyone?

The Name is a heartwarming and bittersweet love story built on longings and lies.

Ri Ae offers Cheol Woo a small fortune for him to create 20 paintings and let her sign her name to them for an art exhibit. Living in what amounts to an artistic coffin in the park, Cheol Woo ultimately, if not reluctantly, agrees to being a ghost painter. Of course, not all is what it seems with the two characters.

The Name's plot is quite simplistic, with well used tropes and twists that can be seen from a mile/km away. The characters have some growth, but little depth. Cheol Woo's supposedly ground breaking artistic style peaked quite awhile back in the real world, but I understand they needed art for the displays.

Romantic movies whether comedy or tragedy succeed or fail on the chemistry of the leads, something The Name succeeded with for the most part. Jeon So Min gave a nice but not overly wrought performance as a woman with a complicated relationship with her mother, who was dealing with her own health concerns, and living with unrealized dreams. Choi Jung Won gave a charming turn as the down on his luck but rarely down in his mood artist whose success was just always out of reach. The remaining cast give perfunctory if not inspired performances.

If you are looking for something new and innovative, this is not it, unless you haven't watched many dramas. If you are looking for a comfortable, familiar romance with two likable actors this is just the ticket.

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Heart !

when you get to watch the drama you will definitely know why I chose that word as the headline. before starting to actually review the drama, I would like to say that
* YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER LISTEN TO THE HATE COMMENTS AND LOW RANKING VOTES THAT PEOPLE POST ABOUT A DRAMA! I saw many hate comments on this drama but when I started watching it I was 100% drown to it that I finished it in two days !!!

* to whoever say that the plots are predictable and all, you guys should distinguish between an interesting plot and a boring predictable one!!! LFY's plots were very interesting for me and even tho some are predictable it doesn't lessen their value !!
with you the help of the acting of the actors you will enjoy every scene and every emotion will be felt deeply!!!
I salute all the actors for their hardwork and the way they made LFY a great drama to enjoy ❤️

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Wow, just Wow

I decided that I would go head first into this series without other people's judgments, and wow, was I pleasantly surprised. I wasn't Love Mechanics' biggest fan, (for many reasons) so I went into this with little to no expectations, but, again, I was shocked at how many emotions this itty-bitty series brought out of me. The Best Story was a tragically magical astonishment with its way of telling this sympathetic first love story, and all the shit that comes with it.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start with production. I have to cut at least one star for how unstable the subtitles were. The grammar was sometimes really hard to comprehend or just worded very incorrectly, along with scenes passing by with no subtitles (thankfully someone was nice enough to sub them in the comments). Again, I realize this series wasn't intended for an English audience in the first place, but knowing that BL is big internationally, it's something to for sure look out for. Other than that, the production was decent, along with the OST (I really enjoyed Best's song).

My initial thought during episode 1, that this was going to be a cheesy high school story. Technically, yes it was, but with some good screenwriting, and a perfect performance by the actors, this turn into something more than that. War again stole the show. His acting is so subpar that it scares me. Even Yin did better this time around. At first, I was cringing at the thought of this series, but by the second episode, I don't understand how they did it, but a switch went off in me. Best being just so giddy and anxious and nervous around Dew was just so natural and expected from someone in high school. The best part was his friends. They really created such a healthy dynamic of boys just being boys, but supportive and caring, I couldn't contain the tears when Best cried on their shoulders.

I could see Yern outing Best from a mile away. It's overplayed, it's hurtful, and it sucks; but it happens, and I applaud this series for teaching the audience about how dangerous outing can be, and how it can really cause big changes if the outcome is severe. Yern outing best to Dew's homophobic mother caused her to up and move Dew to another town, hoping that it would somehow fix her son's gayness, or stop it before it happened. It was incredibly difficult to watch, to just see how hurt Best is to see how conflicted Dew was. I wanted Best to say something, to confess his feelings, but that is honestly not an easy thing, especially being in high school. They're still so young, and feelings can be scary, so I completely understand Best keeping his crush a secret (well, not really cause Dew knew, but you get my point) the ending is just HEARTBREAKING. Be warned, it might say Best, but this is far from a happy ending. Dew finally reading the notebook and crying broke me, Best seeing him post the notebook broke me even more. Again, an amazing performance from these brilliant actors. I'm really hopeful for a season two after Dew comes back from his studies, it just makes sense for the perfect ending to their story.

Overall, I highly recommend this series. No, there's no physical intimacy, but the way these actors were able to portray their characters' feelings for one another through expressions and emotions will tear you to pieces. A lovely watch, a sad one albeit, but a good one.

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Intense Love Story and for me it hit the spot.

I watched Here to Heart on Netflix during COVID and I loved it. I was very fortunate to watch two Chinese dramas’ that hit the spot and I really fellj in love with. The first was Ashes of Love.

Here to Heart in my own opinion is such a beautiful love story. I felt it was not a cookie cutter story.
I loved the intense emotions between the leads. I could feel the love, anger, jealousy and other range of emotions between Zhan Nanxian and Wen Nuan. At the end of the day they only had eyes for each other.

They did a very good job with the flashbacks, to give us a great picture of their previous relationship.
I also liked his relationship with his turtle :).

I could understand Nanxian’s hurt, angry; at the same time not willing to let Nuan go. Bottling up his intense feeling's until he felt he might lose her (episode 29-30). It was really nice when the finally opened up to each other.

I really like Nuan, I appreciated her personality, I understand why she did not tell her why she broke up with him.

I like that fact that she was smart, beautiful and had self-respect. When Nuan felt Naxian was in a relation with Yixin and he did not really show interest in her she let go. I truly believe love is a gift you can't force it from a guy.

I loved the songs they were beautiful and, full of emotions.

I personally don’t like the idea of trashing the wedding. It would have been better if they had a real conversation before the wedding.

I personally like the novel’s ending better the dramas.

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30+ aged women who continue to MAKE WAVES!

I've watched a lot of competition shows especially Korean ones - Produce 101, Good Girl, Unpretty Rapstar, Queendom, etc but out of all of them, my favorite really has to be Sisters Who Make Waves S1. Perhaps because now I'm in my late 20s now, but I found the women super inspiring and strong - almost like watching your older sister. It was such a joy watching these incredible women grow, support each other, and achieve their dreams despite their age.

For me, I found this show particularly empowering because there is a notion in China that after 30 years of age and unmarried with no kids, you are considered 'left-over women'. This show takes the competition aspect from Korean girl group shows and adds a twist - only women over the age of 30 (actresses, singers, who are also moms, single, or even divorcees, etc) are invited to compete and work together to debut as a girl group. This show sends a powerful uplifting message that it's NEVER too late to achieve your dreams! Even in the final episode, they invited various women from different industries (an 80+ year old pilot, nurse, architect etc) to show just how accomplished women can be in different fields. The other aspect I loved was its emphasis on sisterhood and friendship. With other competition shows *looks at MNET*, they would try to edit certain scenes to create ~drama~ but here, you can FEEL the friendship that blossoms between the girls. What I also truly admire is that some of these actresses don't even have a trained dance/music background, yet with their blood, sweat, & tears, they were able to put on amazing shows. Not only that, there were a few girls who broke their wrist/ankle while practicing but still did their best to keep up and put on a good show, especially with their limited time to practice. It's no WONDER this show was a phenomenon in China last year, raking in billions of views online.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
COMMENTS ON THE TOP 7 WHO MADE IT -
1) Ning Jing (She mostly got in bc of her popularity TBH.. I thought she acted quite stuck up in the final episode and sometimes displays a very diva-like persona. Many cnetz also agree and I think it's unfair to some girls because later on, she decided to leave the group and sadly now the group has disbanded. Her skills are so-so, but I give her credit for trying)
2) Wan Qian (No surprise she made it! Aside from being an actress, she also sings well and keeps up with her dancing. She has a quiet, alluring, and chic demeanor that a lot of cnetz also liked)
3) Meng Jia (After being disqualified, she came back with roaring popularity and am glad she did, although part of me wishes Fei made it instead oops)
4) Lisi Danny (the fun ~handsome~ rapper of the group, Lisi was a great leader esp in the last few eps and has a strong masculine vibe)
5) Zhang Yuqi (the biggest surprise! She started out as an X candidate aka one of the lowest scores, but with her confidence and persistence she was able to climb to the top. Her straightforwardness and her no-BS attitude is honestly so refreshing, when I say she DGAF I mean it! At the same time she's also a caring leader ie. she let Baby Zhang have her shine when she was in her group)
6) Yisa Yu (she is so multi talented and faceted. She's known as a ballad singer in China, but on the show she gave us chinese opera, hip hop, rap, etc she really challenged herself and it showed!)
7) Isabelle Huang (honestly I did see her as a dark horse before, but as I kept watching, she also proved herself to have many sides. Aside from her indie sound, she could also dance well and even showed flexibility as a pole dancer!)

Shout out to my girl GINA (JIN) CHEN who performed AMAZINGLY each ep, through to the finals. I considered her one of the strongest contestants on the show and she ALWAYS performed well. Her, Baby Zhang, and Wang Fei Fei were robbed and should have taken Ning Jing's spot.

FAVE Performances (look it up on YT):
1) 潇洒走一回 (imo the best performance at the finals. Lisi Danny did an amazing job leading this group, loved the MJ/Bruno Mars vibes and the tutting: https://youtu.be/pvp7f9_QpGA)

2) 这是因为我们能感到疼痛​ (awesome acrobatics by Meng Jia and my girl Gina Chen: https://youtu.be/_jozzbgs76c)

3) 大碗宽面 (one of the most popular performances from the show, for good reason! Chinese opera + hip hop+ in sync choreo = WOW: youtu.be/mw49aMMUmdw)

MINOR DISLIKES
Just be prepared for a lot of product placement on the show (I mean, for such a big show, you can see why).

I'm super sad that a show that had accompanied me these past few weeks is now over and am now watching Lady Land (the reality show with the winning team)! Season 2 is airing now but it's just NOT on the same level as Season 1. If you like female centered competition shows and sisterhood, this is the SHOW FOR YOU GIRL!

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A story that makes me want to cherish my youth

when this drama first started i was in a relationship. By the time is ended i was not. this drama really captures the essence of young love and how heartbreak is part of our youth. The main characters in this drama has remarkable chemistry and though some may say this drama was dragged out, i completely disagree. The progression of their love story was gradual and understandable. it wasn't not like one of those dramas where wow that escalated quickly. It has tremendous rewatch value. On the other hand some may say that this drama portrays unrealistic ideals of love and being in a relationship, its a c-drama come on. this show has high rewatch value because the side characters aren't boring. i very recommend to watch this.

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" Miss Lee " was an okay drama.

First of all, for a drama called "Miss Lee" there was not much miss lee screen time. Miss Lee had a nice role at first, with the leading lady struggling to feat into her new role as a chairman of a company that's going down. However, later on they started focusing more on the other characters than her. Also, even though the drama had a nice slice of life story with a bitter sweet ending, there was something missing, probably intensity or interesting twists. The performances were good, nevertheless, from every actor and actress in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Bad Writing Failed The Actors

LIKE:
Boun & Prem’s chemistry
Waan & Tul story
Manow & Phruek
Location shots (the resorts)
Boun riding motorcycle
FX: blood injury looked real

DISLIKE:
WRITING:
Making Team so childish and whinny, got annoying fast.
Flashbacks used too often and the same ones over and over.
No in-depth back story to explain Win’s fear of commitment. He’s a peace keeper in his family, he’s rich…. AND?
Too many side stories & characters, when focus should’ve been on Team & Win, Manow and Phruek.
No character development for anyone.
Pacing issues caused by repetition and dragged out moments, making it boring without the intimate scenes.
Badly handled mental health issues; once again writer/production team carelessly approached the mental health problems of the characters.

PRODUCTION: Shaking camera moments, please don’t get the k-drama syndrome and use your film stabilizer. Sound editing was not good (either a mic issue or something else).

MUSIC: over powered actors voices too often and certain songs overplayed.

OVERALL:
The actors did well with what they were given. No excuse for bad or lazy writing with characters and zero plot dimension. They had 2 years during the pandemic to focus on what the fans wanted story wise, but failed in so many ways [see all the negative reviews for in-depth analysis of plot/story/writing issues]. (I like Boun and Prem, I want to see them working with other writers and production companies. If Boun won’t do BL without Prem, how about give him a female love interest?)
I will watch certain moments again, or just wait for someone to do a scene compilation on Youtube. I would recommend it to someone who is just starting to watch the BL (Boy Love) genre.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " Hello, Me! " had an interesting story that is not encountered often. The fantasy- time travel element was handled nicely, the family drama was quite impactful and the character development on point. However, the drama didn't manage to leave a mark and it's quite forgettable.

The story, first of all, centers around Ha Ni, who's the complete opposite of who she was when she was a teenager. And, even though the reasons why she turned out to be this way were there, the drama failed to explore them properly, though her family drama was strong and supported masterfully by everyone in the cast. The romance, moreover, was slow, a bit silly at first, and was often left out, set aside so that the slice of life will be more on focus. Also, the love triangle was more enjoyable for the bromance rather than the romantic vibes.

In addition, the relationship between 17-year-old Ha Ni and 37-year-old Ha Ni was more like a mother-daughter than between two people of the same person. But that can be easily overlooked, as the slice of life genre often took the lead, with some heartwarming stories added here and there to enhance the main story and older Ha Ni's character. Also, the character development was just perfect, smoothly done and excellently handled. But, the ending was predictable and felt lukewarm.

So, overall, six out of ten.

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Don't worry about the trashy Chinese version because this Thai remake is made with care and love!

This Thai version really deserved the praise and it's really one of the best versions that I've seen! I really respect the production crew's effort and all the hard work to make the original manga version closer towards the Thai culture and their environment. This version definitely has the best mix of all the versions adapted, they really made good use of the iconic/significant scenes and removed the unnecessary ones.

At first, when I saw the casts I was honestly quite scared it will turned like the recent Chinese remake with only empty shell good looks but amateurish/bad acting... But this version really didn't disappoint me and in fact it has became one of the dramas I will rewatch again!

To be very honest, this version found the perfect actress as the FL. Her acting wasn't annoying at all and it's a very fortunate thing since this female character does has a lot of arguments and frustration scenes to deliver which the FL in the Korean and Chinese adaptation definitely failed to deliver the correct way of expressing emotions...

IF I really need to nitpick, I would say the plot for the fiancée part could have been better in terms of the process. To which my favourite version for this part is still the Korean one where the fiancee is very clear minded and didn't go all blinded by love like this version.

Overall, I urge everyone who are into the F4 story please watch because you won't regret it! Really the best and I'm not over exaggerating just cuz of good looks but because they really made the effort to make a good story and also a good closure for the ending!

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What I enjoyed:
• Themes: good vs evil, loyalty, selfishness vs selflessness, mob mentality and group think, justice vs revenge, exploitation and corruption of power, privilege, justice, forgiveness, relationships (familial, romantic, friendship, brotherhood, siblings, parent/child)
• Music: I loved the soundtrack. I enjoyed the instrumental soundtrack more than the character songs
• Locations and sets: I loved the whole aesthetic behind different sect/clan principal residences. Especially Cloud Recesses and Lotus Pier
• Love story: It was a joy to watch their beautiful, but tragic love story unfold
• LWJ looked fresh, beautiful, and ethereal during second half of the drama
• Costumes: The different colors made it easier to tell the different clans apart

What I didn’t enjoy:
• Majority of the female characters were killed off and there weren’t many to begin with. I think only 3 female characters with lines survived
• WWX looked terrible in the second half. I’m not sure if it was a director’s choice, but he looked sickly, unwell, and deathly pale
• LWJ becoming chief cultivator. This just doesn’t make any sense. LWJ has shown zero interest in leadership roles. He outright ignores the other cultivators so it’s unbelievable that he’d have any capital to procure the chief cultivator position.
• It took forever to wrap up the JGY arc. Seriously, just kill him already. I totally agreed with WWX when he blurted, “Can we stop talking and just start fighting?”
• Plot: plot was confusing for the first two episodes
• Extra long flashback: When the flashback ended, I couldn’t recall what happened in episode 1 and 2
• JGY has the most punchable face and his dimples did nothing for me. He was also hammy in several scenes
• Wang Yibo looked dazed, sleepy, and unfocused in early flashback scenes episodes. It was a bit distracting
• Styling: I wished the director would have styled WWX differently after his resurrection. But he essentially had the same hairstyle, same look, same feel
• LWJ appearance: He looked ethereal and beautiful, but I felt that Wang Yibo should have bulked up for the role. His character is supposed to be more muscular and stronger than WWX.
• Noticeable continuity/editing errors. On repeated watch, the errors will become more noticeable
• The Ending: Initially, I was so confused by the ending. Did they end up together? Did they go their separate way? After doing a bit of research, I came to the conclusion that they did spend some time apart, but reunited after some time.

Overall, I LOVED The Untamed. After watching the drama, I read the novel, watched the Special Edition, watched BTS videos, watched interviews with the actors, read up on all The Untamed content I could find, and watched fan made music videos. This is the only drama that has captivated me (I've seen several dramas)

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