Reviews

Third (time) is the charm...

The first (Khai) is a total player and insensitive jerk but Second (Two) and Third are just sweet and adorable right down to Bones who is also such a sweet soul.. this drama has a lot of my favourite tropes, and hits lot of good spot.

The drama is entertaining, painful at times but easy to watch, easy to binge and has very few annoying disturbances and mostly lovable characters.

I was truly impressed by guns acting in this drama, he really conveyed all the emotions (mostly pain) of falling for your best friend. A performance that definitely stood out and made me want to see more of him. Most of the rest of the cast did a pretty decent job too, with the exception of one or two side characters most the shortest roles were well written and well preformed.

What I loved about this drama was how all bad behaviour was called out for what it was, but also the show of conflicting emotions and knowing that person is bad for you but you can not help but love them a reality that I unfortunately think many can relate to. And though those who are jerks in real life really change it is nice to dream of a better world...

The next thing I loved about this drama was the bromance, crew friendship though they where sexist jerks a times they were pretty decent friends and I just loved how they supported each other (especially Two and Third).

Definitely a drama I recommend all GMMTvs lovers out there, I also think this could be a good starter drama for those who are curious about GMMTVs dramas.

Also, for those of you who remember Earth from A Tale of a 1000 stars, he does a good job here too, but it took a while for me to recognise him, his styling here is not nearly as good as in ATOTS...

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Well, I did not enjoy that.

I'm not sure how I finished watching this show. Around episode 11, I realized that I wasn't enjoying this very much but I thought I'll finish it anyway. Around episode 18, the show became unwatchable and I had to fast-watch my way to the end.
After watching "A River Runs Through It" I became interested in youth dramas and I decided you watch a few more. "Our Secret" cured me of that. I think I am done with youth dramas for the foreseeable future and need a total palette cleanse with some seriously good shows to get over this nightmare. I don't recommend this. I just can't. I hated it.

Things that exist in this show that infuriated me beyond belief:
1. Sadistic younger brother
2. Unhinged, abusive, moody, and immature mother whose behavior is excused as caring
3. A second male lead who must possess a Time-turner because there is no way he achieved that character assassination in just three years
4. Dumbest university arc ever.
5. The female lead's voice. It was like having honey poured into my ears if honey was made of acid. -_-
6. Villain of the weeks who make you gain respect for scooby-doo villains
7. Regressive sexist rhetorics

Plot: This was like a slice of life, high school drama with an appendage arc in a fantasy university in which meeting drawing club deadlines is somehow more important than spending arduous hours crying over your engineering homework that you will definitely not finish anyway. The plot starts fine. It's a bit sad and I was really feeling for the FL. The characters were so balanced and nice, even though nothing important happened, I was enjoying it but before the show even reached its halfway mark, I was done with it. It was too long and things moved very slowly at first so eventually, everything became tiresome. The romance plot was sweet but they had to wait until they were out of high school to consummate it and that hurt the story because it took too long to reach that moment, made more complicated by unnecessary melodrama plots that were pointless and it just wasn't engaging anymore. So the story became lazy and exaggerated and boring.

Acting: The ML is fine. He isn't doing anything much. The plot doesn't require complex acting chops so moderate skills would suffice for all the performances. Unfortunately, the FL lacked for me, still. Her talking style was grating on my nerves. At first, it was fine but slowly...it just felt like my ears were bleeding. She sounded like a spoiled child who is constantly pouting. The ensemble was pretty subpar too as most fell into really cliche archetypes so again: bare-minimum skills required.

Music: Idk, most of it was copyrighted so the YouTube video's sound got muted...I wasn't gonna like it anyway. Generic, whatever sounds.

Production: I wanna say bad? This was supposed to be 2009. It looked very little like it was from that time. I was in school back then and save for their phones, the fashion, the decoration, and hairstyles all looked out of place. Just watch some shows produced in 2009 and you'll understand. Moreover, the concept of seasons was not one the creators had heard of. Characters wore freaking shorts in winter...how? This was probably filmed in summer. No matter what season it was, everyone was constantly in summer clothes. That is just lazy.

Rewatch value: Oh sure, I'll torture myself again.... -_-

Negative: The whole university stuff. This show should have ended after they took the entrance exam and ended my misery. I might have rated it higher.

Overall: If this is the best youth drama out there, then I was right to avoid them from the start. I'll have to write down my love for ARRTI as an anomaly. This show had no real direction. It must've been targeted at younger viewers. Perhaps actual high school students but even in that case, some plot choices become even more dubious. How can you encourage your young viewers to just take the abuse of bad parents? Or become a new person to appease a boy you like? wtf! Don't teach girls to put someone else's likes and dislikes above their own. Only in a fantasy world would anyone give a job to a person who is studying a completely different field. Trust me, I learned that the hard way...
At the last leg of the show, there is a sudden realization about the weird messages they have sent their young and impressionable female audiences and they try to fix that but it's just such a frustratingly silly fix that it made me angrier.
Anyway, I don't know how clear it is in my tone but I am so mad right now; mostly at myself for watching this but also at the creators for starting the show normal and just ending it so ridiculously. Dear creators, please make steadily good or bad shows so a b**ch can know her deal from the start and not waste so much time investing in a show that will crash and burn later.

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Man this movie totally gave me the creeps (and it was my first time watching it too.) This is not for the young at heart indeed. I gotta say the actors did a good job portraying the characters and the music fit perfectly well. All i gotta say is if you ever except hair from a stranger and you start noticing strange things, especially if a stranger comments on your hair or appearance, keep it in mind and do some research and find out the stranger's true motives or attentions. And you may not want to get your hair done after a while once you see this movie. Good , but very creepy and scary.

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Well for one thing you laugh from beginning till the very end. Hadn't seen great quality movie in some time. That I really enjoyed and wasn't disappointed.

The detective has great capabilities of discernment and is investigating serious stuff...you have so much fun as he is seeking the truth. Things are not what they seem.

It is hilariously funny, witty, interesting,plenty action,his sidekick is great. It offers a little bit of everything, you don't get bored.

Actor Kim Myung Min which I loved his role in King of Dramas and Beethoven Virus...has delivered an excellent performance.
Kudos!

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Am I the only one who thinks the detective genre/series is a great fit for Yamada Ryosuke? I mean.... "Tantei Gakuen Q" and then the "Kindaichi" series, too. Also, Yokoyama Yu is always a fantastic actor! His talent to submerge himself in to his acting is amazing! This special/film was the prequel story before the series, so I don't want to say too much.

It did move fast in some areas of the film, but it also didn't go so fast that you would miss something or not understand something. The story, itself, progressed rather quickly, I thought. But, that also could be my imagination because ever since I pressed play on this story I have been completely sucked in!

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Healer. Wow. This drama has been on my "To be watched" list for a long time, and it kept just being something I didn't want to start. Then I started watching The K2, which also stars the ridiculously charming (no, seriously, it's criminal how charming this man is) Ji Chang Wook. Unfortunately, just about every single character I encountered in six episodes I've seen so far of The K2 has been despicable. Which is not to say that it isn't a fine show, just that I can only take so many doses before I have to walk away for a while. Contrary to that, Healer is filled with delightful characters that really inspired me to care about what was happening to them. Did I mention that Ji Chang Wook is inhumanly charming? He embodies the character of Healer, a "night courier" who does shady work for high pay. It also has Park Min Young as the spunky girl reporter with a mysterious past (well, to be fair, most everyone in this show has a mysterious past) with whom he falls in love. This one is a lot of action, a lot of political drama, some family drama, and a bit of lovely romance thrown in to season it all with hope. Ji Chang Wook is a joy to watch in action scenes. And non actions scenes. And gratuitous shirt-less scenes. And cute falling in love scenes. And hot kissing scenes. And outraged black-hat-turns-white-hat (though really he was always more of a grey hat than a black hat) scenes. And devastating emotional loss scenes. He'd probably be a joy to watch in reading the phone book out loud scenes, truthfully. Throw into the mix Yoo Ji Tae as the intrepid, famous, successful investigative reporter and add some truly outstanding supporting cast members, such as the ever versatile Kim Mi Kyung as Healer's hacker ahjumma, and the outcome is a very engaging race to the finish line.

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A lot of hollow cuteness, and also somewhat disturbing

Cats. Cute guys. BL. Lots of affection and friendship. What could go wrong?

Well, if you isolate the different parts, it's all good. I wish the real cats appeared more frequently. They are adorable. The leads are cute and sweet too. There's even a bit of GL thrown in as a bonus.

But even if we don't care about the lack of a story in quite a number of episodes (the danger of Meow getting into deep trouble because his ears are revealed isn't really made use of fully), there is the awkwardness of the human-evolved cat romantic pairings. At what point does love for the cuteness of cats become romantic love for the human form of the cat?

Even if we just take the evolved cats to be more like humans who can transform into cats, the characterization of Meow is problematic. Meow doesn't seem all that young, but he behaves very much like a really young kid who does not know anything. Come on, cats grow up much faster than human beings, and why would a cat remain like a kid when a human kid has grown up into an adult who has been working for a number of years? And then the talk about Meow "growing up" in the future and Meow's seeming ignorance of romantic love makes the whole relationship between Dermdem and Meow pedophilic. Such a portrayal of Meow is very much unnecessary. Can't he simply be a young grown-up who is really innocent but is still aware of his own romantic feelings for Dermdem? (Even young teenagers are often curious about romantic relationships and sex, so Meow seems more like a toddler in a young adult's body.) There's no need to exaggerate his innocence given that this is a live action series featuring human actors.

Some parts of the series are quite nice, like the first half of Episode 8, which brings some of the significant events together. Unfortunately, overall, the potential provided by the cuteness of cats and the cuteness of the actors isn't really used.

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TL;DR - A solid and very well produced time travel lakorn. The plot, characters, production and music are great. Romance is top notch. The kind of drama where I wish I could forget what happened so I can watch it again. There are hiccups here and there but overall I'm happy, and it's worth it to see the magic of Mike/Mook again.

Obligatory disclaimer that I love this couple although even if I didn't, I would still give this lakorn a high score. Not only is the romance superb, the story, secondary characters, music, production are also amazing, and in my eyes, done very very well. I didn't have much expectation going into this, and I had doubts that Mike could pull off a classic boran character, but I'm happy to say that I was wrong on all counts. I'll start with the story first.

The story is about a modern girl (Mae Orn) who travels back 200 years in the past due to a spell the male lead (Khun Luang) chants to find his soulmate. Time travel plots can be tricky, because you have to make sure it all makes sense, and that there's no loopholes the audience can see. This aspect was done well because every character was held accountable for their part in making sure Mae Orn was sent to and stayed in the past. There was purpose and logic to the things characters did in the past that made the events in the future timeline make sense. It really comes full circle in the end. The pacing of the drama was good and although the rest of the story was simple, there was a good mix of comedy and fluff to make me happy, but enough tragedy so that it didn't feel stale and out of touch. 

Of course, I have to gush over our leads, Khun Luang and Mae Orn. I wasn't sure Mike could pull off a gentlemanly character since I'd only seen him in ML and KKSR but boy was I wrong. He was sweet and sensitive, but not a doormat. A total gentleman who could think for himself, has strong morals, is an advocate for women, has a super nice body (:P), and much more. I loved that he could see through Bua's scheming (mostly) and his devotion towards Mae Orn. Mookda was great as Mae Orn; someone who was spunky and not afraid to be herself, but knew when to draw the line and be conscious of her surroundings. Her teaching her modern ideals and mannerisms to the servants and Khun Luang was super endearing and I replay those moments a lot. She could be a bit too self-righteous at times (esp concerning Mae Bua) but it wasn't too in my face, so I could ignore it. 

Since I love our leads as individuals, I'm obviously gonna support them being together and my goodness, I swooned and fangirled hard every time these two interacted. Khun Luang's gazes of love to Mae Orn gave me the same feelings of when Por Date would gaze at Mae Karakade (Love Destiny). The magical Mike/Mookda chemistry struck again, and it was a beautiful slow burn romance that gave me all the feels. I liked how the drama didn't make them fall for each other just because of the soulmate spell, but made them spend time together and go through events that tested their relationship. Whenever one got mad, the other would come over and talk to them to figure out why and try to resolve it. They both openly communicated with each other, and both wanted to protect the other at their own expense. I honestly could go on and on about their love story but for now I'm just gonna say I'm very happy with it and it's a well deserved HEA.

The secondary cast were all great and added to the plot. I especially love the servant gang, who added colour to the story and this drama wouldn't have been such a great watch without them. MVP is of course Por Yong, who was the reason Khun Luang could meet Mae Orn. Kaew surprised me; Chorkaew (Kaew's future self) was pretty flat but Kaew herself was sassy, bubbly and her facial expressions were always on point. I love how the servants (wanna shout out Chun and Mun too!) shipped Khun Luang and Mae Orn together and all had great comedic timing. My most replayable moments besides the romance is the servants being silly and interacting with the leads. Khun Luang's mom was awesome as well because despite her initial prejudice, she was able to see Mae Orn as a good person and the one who her son loves. Mom Tos was also an awesome 2nd ML. I actually also liked the villains Maggie was killed it as Mae Bua), although I have an issue with them that I'll discuss next.

I had some issues with this lakorn that came up repeatedly that I couldn't ignore. The biggest one are the villains; to start, I liked how terrible and cruel Mae Bua and Mom Thep were because although they made my blood boil, you can't deny they added excitement and propelled the story forward. What I disliked was how one dimensional they were and how they would repeat the same mistakes over and over with very little consequence until the very end. It got tiring to see the same cycle of either Mae Bua scheming to kill Mae Orn, or Mom Thep scheming to get with Mae Orn. After their failures, they would get told off but that did absolutely nothing and they would repeat the same shenanigans. Honestly, I wanted to see some growth from them or them having other goals other than to harm Mae Orn. Some of the editing also felt a little choppy and abrupt; we'd be in one scene feeling sad then cut to another scene that's happy, but before you could feel happy, you get cut back to the sad scene. I also wish Mae Orn had a bit more backbone when dealing with Mae Bua. I'm also salty about P'Jun; the actress who plays her tends to play the villain roles, so I was happy to see her in a good role. But then her character got stupid (I know it's following the novel but ugh) and I was very disappointed that she got with and stayed with Mom Thep despite all the shit he put her through. It was somewhat cathartic for her to end him, but I felt like her character was tragic when it didn't have to be.

The music was absolutely stunning and I love both OSTs a lot. It was played appropriately and guided the mood of the drama very well. I also loved the boran sound effects and background music. Overall, if you couldn't already tell, I love this drama a lot and had a great time watching. I was pretty much obsessed from the beginning and it got to the point where I knew I had to spare at least 2-3 hours for each episode, because of how much I would pause to take it in or to replay certain moments. I highly recommend this if you love time travel love stories and will certainly re-watch this on my own time.

As a side note; I've been a Mike/Mook fan since 2020, ever since I saw them in Maturot Lohgan. That drama has a special place in my heart as well as this pairing. Somehow, the chemistry of these two hits me differently than other pairings, and I always go back to them when I need a serotonin boost. I'm quite thankful that I was able to watch three different types of quality lakorns with these two as the leads, and if this is the last, then I'm beyond satisfied that this was the one to end it off. Of course I wouldn't complain if they were paired up again...but maybe after some time passes haha

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Really terrific movie. Filled with dark humor and even darker life lessons, it melds the unquestionable illegality of the criminal with the questionable legality of the cop. Beautifully acted by Kim Rae-won who has the ability to 'become' the character in whatever role he assumes with an ease and smoothness unmatched by most actors out there, imo. He is why I watched the movie, but the plot was more than just entertaining and is what kept me watching. It moves quite rapidly and I found the story of Dong-hyuk to be engrossing not because of the violence and action that usually draws me to these types of movies, but because, as is so typical with especially Korean film, the story had its deeper lessons to teach. In the small parameter of what could be expected from a deeply flawed character such as Dong-hyuk we get to see growth and development from a deeply flawed and lost hoodlum, to a still flawed but purposeful cop. No perfect fairytale ending, but it is its own 'success' story despite that.

Don't remember the music (I watched this a year ago).
I definitely want to watch it again one day, given TIME! This is the kind of movie that tells you more about the characters and the story as you pay more attention. And, I love KRW.

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Love, Again, on the Tracks

Jim is a location scout for a film production company, and he finds himself at a train station. He knows it is a complete cliche to set a love story there, and yet, when Toy rests his head on Jim's shoulder, he comes to understand why train stations work so well. There is a lot to like in this short movie - the location is appealing, the cinematography is pretty good and the actors are cute and look good together. These actors are so new, Ohm Pasawit's Instagram (he played Jim) was set to private. He's so new he isn't even in MDL! I liked the forwardness of Toy and the playful exchange between them. These aren't confused characters - they're gay, and they're going to hook up. If that isn't romance for the modern age, then I don't know what is.

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Average typical Republican low-budget web drama. It's OK. Nothing special.

The Republican era seems to be a really popular time period for these low-budget short web dramas. How does “Miss Mystery” stack up against the likes of “Provoke”, “Maid’s Revenge” and “Everlasting Bride”? Well, I think it’s in the middle of the pack.

The story is straightforward - hidden identity, secrets, revenge, and falling in love. Since this is a short drama, I’m glad it didn’t have too complicated a plot. That was my biggest complaint about “Everlasting Bride”. Cinematography, acting and chemistry are not as good as “Provoke”, and the ML is not as handsome as Mr. Abs, Dai Gao Zheng, but he does have some nice abs. LOL. I also don’t think the FL is as pretty as the female leads in other dramas.

Acting is not impressive in the earlier episodes, especially for the female lead. Her portrayal of the calm and smart FL is a little bland and emotionless. ML is a little better. However, I did notice some improvement towards the second half of the drama. For some reason, I found the dubbed voices ‘acted’ better than the actors themself. ML’s voice sounds so much more mature than the actor’s face.

The plot is nothing special and we’ve seen this many times. At least we have a male lead that’s not mean or abusive to the female lead (except for one drunken, frustrated scene). I would have loved to see the push-and-pull between the leads last a little longer, and the ML not falling in love and be so smitten that quickly. It doesn’t have the sexy tension that “Provoke” has. However, I do applaud them for some pretty good kisses from both leads. Female lead is also too smart. Everything goes her way and she’s the mastermind of everything.

Given this is a lower budget production, the quality is decent. Nothing seems too cheap. I like the mysterious opening theme song. I do dislike the use of slow motion in romantic scenes and especially in non-romantic regular scenes. Why would you do that?

It’s an OK drama and I probably won’t recommend it unless you are a fan of the actors or this type of genre. These are short 15-minute episodes, so if you want something quick and easy, it’s OK.


Completed: 3/14/2024 - Review #417

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Your Star has burned out and you're poking it with an electric stick

That's how I felt watching this show for the first time. Originally, I planned to make this long-ass review dissecting everything about the plot, character development, cinematography... so I went to rewatch the whole first season and episodes 1-8 of season two to prepare for a finale. Made a bunch of notes and quotes from the series. Intended to give points for every good thing a character does. Take away points from stuff they do wrong. Then I realized there would be a lot of substracting and negative numbers are ugly, so I switched strategy to giving black points. Looking out for for stuff to judge them on and drafting up my HJW defense rant of "To My Sta(lke)r: The Series."


I won't do that.

For one, I'm tired. It's 12 - 1 am where I'm from and this show has totally spent me. I could let it sit for a day or two, but it won't make me feel any more rested about it.

Secondly, it would go against everything the show's trying to portray. And portraying it does really well, so I will respect its message. It's a good one.



Let me just say some general advice for people that have yet to watch the show.

1. This isn't a feel-good story. It's heavy. Make sure you're prepared for that (TWs may include: portrayals of simulated violence, panic attacks/seizures, abandonment, manipulation, forceful following [I won't say 'stalking' because I'm playing nice], scamming, and more. Hearts will most likely break.)

2. Even though it may feel different from season 1, it's actually doing a really good job of expanding on what's already been established and keeping the characterization consistent. I recommend rewatching season 1 beforehand if it's been long since you've seen it last time.

3. There's a lot of details. Lot of symbolism. Lot of flashbacks and getting back to past scenes. Paying attention to it makes the show look way more logical and believable in my opinion. Rewatching might help you from getting lost in it.

4. Take your time. Some might like the show more if they binge it, but don't force yourself into continuing right away if it makes you feel uncomfortable. It was originally releasing 2 episodes per week, and the pacing feels adjusted to that (odd episode usually sets stuff up, while even episode sets it off).

5. Try to keep an open mind. Things may not be as they seem at the start.


Overall, I think this is one of the best BL shows I've ever seen. The characterization is insanely good in this one! The plot is on roughly the same level as in season one. Not my favorite, but good enough. It serves its purpose, which is uncovering the truth about main leads. The length felt suffocating on weekly basis, but looking back at it, I can't see what they could have left out without the show suffering from missing it. It's just very well put together in that way. Every little detail counts. I must say the ending didn't go exactly as I'd like, but that's personal preference. Everything else was solid.

If you liked season one, I think you will learn a lot more about the main leads from season 2. If you're new to TMS and somehow stumbled here, I very much recommend starting the show to anyone who's looking for something more complex and character-oriented. Start with season one, though! Both movie and the tv series are about the same, so either one is fine [around 2 hours long]. In both cases, just be aware it's not a light show to watch.

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When I picked up the movie Kuki Ningyo (Air Doll), the story about an inflatable sex doll that comes to life and goes out exploring the world when her owner is at work each day, I thought I was in for a cute, light-hearted, quirky comedy...BOY was I wrong about that!

While Air Doll does have its quirky moments, and Korean actress Doona Bae is extremely adorable as Nozomi, the sex doll come to life, this was much much more than a light comedy. While following Nozomi's search for the meaning for living and happiness, she discovers the world and people around her are just as much in confusion about the very same things as she is. When she proclaims to a lonely old man that she is "empty inside" (as she's full of air), he sadly notes that a malady of that kind is not such a rare thing for people.

As she searches deeper and deeper into the answers for her existence, we see Nozomi's wide- eyed innocence slowly turn to sadness and detachment as she is faced with the reality of "real life" and as if to punctuate how bitter living can be, we are also given insight into the people around her, where we realize Nozomi is just one of a thousand people coping with their own personal hardships from day to day.

Without giving away any spoilers I have to say that the movie ended on SUCH a somber tone that when it was over, I just could NOT shake off this feeling of utter loneliness! That's quite a movie to make me feel like that! Ahhhh, man, I'm depressed! Somebody better give me a comedy, QUICK! Time to re-watch "Summer Time-Machine Blues" to pick me up!

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