Reviews

"Impossibilities are what make this world interesting"

The Sealer was a short drama involving a secret organization that seals blades filled with “filth” such as malice and hatred and causes the humans wielding them to disappear. A reporter who can see the evil black haze emitted from the demons and swords becomes involved with the group and aids in needed research to help one of their own.

The premise of the story was interesting if dark. Anyone dealing with anger or other strong emotions could become a victim of the sword and then be turned into mindless killers, even good people. The Sealers absorbed the “filth” from Blades of Filth until they could no longer contain that “filth”, then they were eliminated lest they become demonic as well. Not a great retirement plan or selling point for new candidates. Over the centuries, no one figured out how to resolve some of the more problematic issues. Karen, the maker of the scabbards that sealed the evil blades, believed that scabbards could be made that would save the humans attached to the blades and grant them the ability to atone for their deeds instead of disappearing. The blades were similar to Mordor blades, wounds caused by them would never heal.

Most of the characters were flatly drawn and acted. The characters wore basically the same clothes throughout the episodes. Sanjo, the overly earnest reporter, needed a pair of trainers as many times as she fell down and couldn’t get back up. In fact, characters falling down and being unable to stand afterwards was a common theme. I counted at least nine times it happened, as if they were all part turtle with no way to get up once down.

The Sealer was entertaining for a short drama, but being so short often left the characters underdeveloped as well as the story. There were times characters just stood around and watched what was happening with little to do. Many of the action scenes felt redundant, yet the stakes were high. For the most part The Sealer kept my attention except when I wasn’t wondering what evil spell caused people to freeze on the floor instead of attempting to escape a sword wielding demon.

6 May 2024

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How to avoid the obvious for 43 episodes

I will start off by saying, I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. The reviews were not bad, but I had expected to find it difficult for me to watch based off previous attempts to watch the first episode.

I loved the acting by Chen Zheyuan, Hu Yitian and Vicky Liang. I really enjoyed the dynamics and chemistry the three shared despite circumstances pulling them apart. I liked how feelings came and left and that they did not automatically abandon their aims for each other. Whether for right or wrong, you could really see how their different upbringings drove their decisions and priorities, and why they could or could not accept certain sacrifices.
I also really enjoyed how a 'righteous' upbringing did not make the characters more feeling or make better/more morally correct decisions.
It has also been a while since I have sat on the edge of my seat screaming in desperation for a character to be killed.

But this is where we get to the but. I did not enjoy Su Ying's character (likely due to her vicious nature) and could not bring myself to like her relationship with Xiao Yu'er (he had more chemistry with almost every other female character imo).
Also, I don't understand how they could drag the rivalry out for that many episodes without them finding out the main secret... I began to get sick of the diversions... I also felt that all the villains (except for one) got off too lightly... but maybe that is my craving for revenge, and I can accept the brother's decisions.

Honestly, with the dragging out, if it had not been for Hei Zhi Zhu and Muroung Jiu, I'm not sure I could have gotten through this drama.

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Its good but very exaggerated mother daughter duo

I am very confused with this drama honestly.i watched it for xu kai, but ended up watching till the end. i just hated the exaggeration of a mothers obsession towards her children. i kind of did not like the unprofessionalism where a mother can randomly enter a daughter's office meeting and say to have lunch. They were a lot of unattractive points in the drama. but above all the ML and FL has carried the drama beautifully. Even FL's brother and Ex boyfriend did a good job projecting the relationship. It was sensible for a mother to be noisy in a daughter's relationship but it was really really not acceptable for a mother to be noisy in professional fields. I have a lot of mixed feelings towards this drama. Its a family drama with very weird obsessions. The granny was the best among everything.

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Good Enough

Japanese Drama '' Sugar Sugar Honey '' is a short drama.

The story is cute and it has it all: food (delicious desserts), sports, old rivalries, office drama, cute romance, comedy, family drama, etc. And it does a good job blending them, though each episode focuses on one of those genres, as the drama's length doesn't allow it to get more in depth.

Also, the romance, though adorable at first, got unnecessarily dramatic with an eye rolling twist in the end.

Finally, the performances were enjoyable by every actor and actress in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Wedding Impossible '' is a romantic comedy about a contracted marriage.

The drama starts out nicely, introducing the main characters and their situations. However, as the story progresses, the main plot is ditched and the drama becomes something completely different. And boring to boot.

The romance, therefore, which was cute at first, got overdramatic for no reason and the second male lead was pushed aside, as the drama mainly focused on the main couple.

Also, the family drama was predictable and unoriginal.

At least, the performances were enjoyable for everyone in the cast.

So, overall, two out of ten.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Yellow Boots '' is a melodrama with a revenge plot.

Though the drama starts a bit awkward, introducing the characters and their relationship between them, things get better and better as the drama progresses. Without unnecessary overdramatic scenes and outbursts, the story truly gives a satisfying result in the end, which is quite dramatic. However, the final episodes were roughly chopped and edited, which made the drama look like a low-budget one, which was not the case, as the rest of it was smooth and the pace was just perfect.

Also, the performances were great, and, the characters' development was nicely handled. The characters were interesting to boot.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

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The Humans earn any Losses that come their way.

The Good:
-Acting- All of the cast seem to be putting in the effort to be the characters they portray, no obvious evidence of anyone phoning it in.
-Relationships- The main squad forms up pretty well and for as far as I watched they kept getting better and having more trust in the group. I love watching squad vs the enemies shows especially when the team fully uses everyone's unique attributes.
-Fights- Now this one is a bit iffy but that just means it ends up getting noted twice. The action and choreography in the fights is pretty good especially the actual martial arts.
The Bad:
-Plot- Starts out pretty basic protagonist with dead/missing parents and a quest to save/get revenge. ML does all the training but, surprise he has [insert plot disadvantage here] so he needs a [insert wise mentor here] to help him realize his limitless potential. So far not the worst ad definitely still watchable. Where the compound the issues with this poor plot is that [bad guys] are always 4 steps ahead, everyone outside the main squad is either, weak, incompetent, a traitor, a spy or just a full on moron.
-Fights- This is also related to the plot and its's probably the other 40% of why I gave up. The main cast 20 episode in has not even once gotten a clean win or even a win in any situation that matters. At every critical juncture the villains come out on top even when the protagonists "win".

I got to episode 20, the protagonists ate another plot convenience loss and I just couldn't hold out any longer. Directors and writers need to learn that small wins for the protagonists help keep the viewer engaged. Knowing the bad guys are going to win every encounter till the end where the good guys then use the [insert random plot power] to win at the last moment is a snoozefest.

The fact that these episode are about an hour long means I effectively wasted a day of my life watching this. Hopefully no one else makes that mistake.

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An all time favorite

I was hesitant in picking up modern c-dramas as i was purely a historical/wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan purebreed however this drama just blew me away. I admit i dropped it initially during the first 5 episodes due to some comments i have seen but after watching some snippets on Tiktok edits, some moments actually made my heart skip a beat. I decided to pick it back up and voila the rest was history. It's currently on my to be rewatch list however i keep stalling as i still wanted to savor the feeling i felt watching the show. One day for sure i will revisit this (when i eventually run out of c-dramas to watch). To those of you who have hear good and bad things altogether leaving you on the fence whether to pick this up or not. JUST DO IT, DROP EVERYTHING AND BINGE THIS.

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Lacks depth and substance

This drama takes on a very serious and nuanced topic -- marriage and divorce. Unfortunately, instead of leaning into all the difficult issues surrounding a failing marriage and dealing with them head-on, it skirts around all the important parts and instead delivers nothing more than Hallmark-type cheesiness without any real substance. A lot of people are saying it was good up to Episode 10 or so and then went downhill. But for me it was downhill, or flat, from the get-go. I don't really get what all the hype is about. Frankly, despite the fact that I love Kim Soo-hyun, I did not enjoy this drama, for several reasons.

1. Supposed to deal with marriage and divorce but fails to get into the real issues. This multilayered topic needs to be handled with maturity, depth, and honesty, and this drama just fails in that regard. While we are led to understand it was just a simple case of miscommunication (or lack of communication) between the leads that led them down the dark road to divorce, this matter is never really fleshed out or given any further treatment. We are not really made privy to what really happens between them. There is one scene that deals with a miscarriage, but that's it. No context or follow-up is given and it is hardly ever mentioned again. In other words, there is a lack of context and story development to enable the viewer to participate and empathize. The drama instead chooses to focus on external conflicts with one-dimensional, cartoonish villains. The failing marriage is dealt with shallowly and romanticized, and the real issues are swept under the rug. Suddenly, this couple has the perfect relationship and their only problems are actually how to recovery the company and vanquish the baddies.

2. Unlikable characters, especially in the first half. In the beginning, the ML seems to have been made deliberately weak. I felt like the drama was pushing some sort of feminist rhetoric -- subversion of the patriarchy and all that. But there is no need to emasculate the male in order to emphasize the strength of the female. Likewise, the female need not be an uber rich girl boss with a bad attitude in order to come off as a "strong independent woman." Anyway, Baek Hyun-woo is introduced as a seemingly shallow, silly, ill-intentioned weakling who could not even stand up for himself or make up his mind about what to do with his own marriage. He relies on a friend to tell him what to do. To make things worse, he actually seems relieved and even slightly elated to learn his estranged wife is terminally ill. Now, I like falling in love with my kdrama/jdorama men for the space of a few hours, and I definitely was not going to fall in love with someone like this. Neither could I relate with the wealthy CEO girl boss who was cold and arrogant and disrespectful and had no qualms about berating her husband in front of their colleagues. It just wasn't working for me. Even later when her arrogance is toned down, Hae-in just comes off to me as abrasive and unrelatable. Many people are saying the leads had great chemistry, but I never saw it. They're both great actors for sure, but there was something off for me about their pairing. Strangely, I felt like the FL was patterned after the typical Asian mom or aunt -- brash, brisque, pragmatic and unromantic, and the ML has the typical henpecked husband vibe. And their romance felt to me like I was watching one of my stoic aunts suddenly becoming lovey-dovey with someone. Goosebumps. But because the actors are both attractive, it probably seemed that the characters were attractive too. The writers seem to realize this and tones down everything in the second half, which leads to my third point:

3. Inconsistent characterization. I guess the writer wanted to show that the characters have a deeper dimension than what was shown in the first episodes, but somehow the sudden shift in the overall tone of the characters didn't work for me. Suddenly, the FL is vulnerable and in love (but still, just for me personally, unlikable and unrelatable). Suddenly, she is a silly lovelorn stalker. I mean, sure. One can argue that her coldness and arrogance were merely a facade or a coping mechanism and that she actually really is a softie, but somehow, that doesn't feel believable. And the ML suddenly becomes strong, capable, fiercely loyal, very loving, and knows exactly what he wants and what to do. Yes, writer-nim. This could have worked if you had written him that way from the beginning. Making a character's real personality a plot twist just does not work for me. I need to connect with the characters immediately or as soon as possible for the story to work. That is the most important factor for me in any story. The plot could go to hell but as long as the characters are well-written and feels real, I am in. I think it just is bad writing overall, the way the characters were set up. Again, the actors' face cards and sex appeal covered this up for most viewers.

4. The drama can't seem to decide what it is, and the main relationship lacks substance. In the beginning, it seemed like it was going to be a romcom. But wait, Is it a thriller? Is it a makjang? Is it a "beautiful love story?" It tries to be all of these but fails. The thriller part wasn't thrilling enough. The romance part was, to me at least, somewhat cringey (probably because of the Asian mom/ahjumma peronality of the FL). And the romcom just failed to show up. Instead, the drama seems to take itself very seriously and seems to think of itself as a "beautiful love story. " In order to show this, it resorts to cheesy lines and overly sentimental scenes that don't really show any real connection between the husband and wife, at least none that you could really feel or that is properly developed. Instead, their strongest and most powerful connection seems to be the dreaded "childhood connection thingie" that Koreans seem to adore -- unmyeong. In other words, their love is one for the books because they were fated for each other, as evidenced, apparently, by the fact that they had a chance encounter when they were children. This is a pet peeve of mine in kdramas. This is a very shallow type of sentimentality, IMO. Instead of trying to establish this childhood connection, why not focus on their current mind-to-mind, heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul connection instead?

5. The loopholes. In a romcom, I usually could look past the glaring leaps of logic because most romcoms are meant to be a little silly, and so the logical inconsistencies just seem campy, not a writing failure. But you can't really call campy on this drama because it takes itself way too seriously. One major example of a glaring lapse in logic is the fact that the villain manages to step in and claim to be the guardian and fiance of a patient who has lost her memory. What an insult to European hospitals! You're telling me, writer-nim, that the hospital does not have any protocols at all regarding patient security? Furthermore, Baek Hyun-woo actually sees the villain walk in as he was being scandalously arrested (another huh moment). And he doesn't do anything about it, apparently. Yes, he got arrested and dragged away to prison on false charges, but that should not have prevented him from instructing one of his lawyer friends (or hello, Hae-in's family) to immediately contact the hospital and inform them that that man should not be allowed anywhere near the patient as he is not family and not her authorized guardian. And why didn't Hae-in's parents, on their own initiative, do anything? A phone call would have done it if they didn't want to fly out to Germany to look after their daughter. They knew than man is dangerous and Hae-in is in an especially vulnerable position after having lost her memories, and not a single one of them tried to contact the hospital? LOL. There are many, many others. This is just one example. Very shoddy writing.

To sum up, again, this drama tries to be something -- an epic, sweeping, memorable, beautiful love story, or a deep dive into marriage and divorce -- but does not really have enough meat and bones/substance to actually succeed. Instead, we get a lot of cloyingly sentimental scenes, cheesy dialogue, a half-baked thriller element, and a kind of surface treatment of a serious topic that is more suited to a romcom or light drama, and a dancing or skirting around the important issues about love and hate in a relationship and all the nuances and layers of emotion that are involved in a marriage, and all the heartbreak of divorce. This weird, half-baked stew just didn't work for me at all. The actors did their best to hold it up, but it is not worth all the hype and is way too overrated, in my honest opinion.

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=> A great drama, very addictive, and an exceptional performance from 2 great actors.

Series which tells on the relationship of a couple who love each other (against all odds) but must overcome the many trials of life: bereavement, lack of communication, infidelity, lack of trust, family relationships, work problems, etc. .

1st part: difficult situation in the couple (mourning of the child that the two do not experience in the same way). The relationship is therefore deteriorated (coldness, lack of communication, isolation in one's own suffering, etc.) and a young seductress (super selfish) takes advantage of the flaw.
This part is very frustrating. The ML is behaving like a dark idiot. The FL2, in love, is self-centered, born before shame. How can the ML (35-40 year old teacher) allow himself to be seduced by a childish 1st year student, by her childish pouts, by her whims, her obvious tricks?
+ the actors are very good because I haven't lost my temper since the 1st episode...

2nd story arc (10-11 => 28): time during which Hae Gang lives as Gong Ki and changes (becomes Ong Yi). The ML is almost sure he has found his wife, supposedly dead. FL2, anxious, becomes even more unbearable.
However, the 2 leads show incredible chemistry and we witness some very cute moments.

3rd arc (28-29 -> 50) Return of Gong Yi and Hae Gang gradually regains her memory and becomes cold again. She then begins her plan to defeat the villains, particularly the brother-in-law.

PROS:
+++ excellent actors: they take us through all the emotions in this show. The 2 leads, in particular, give an exceptional performance ♡ඩ⌔ඩ♡
+++ The production is quite dynamic, even if the pace slows down in the 2nd arc. The tone is quite dark, we are often in suffering. Fortunately, a few characters are there to make us smile.
+++ the OSTs are pleasant and stick in your head (especially the songs sung by Ryu, now on my playlist)

What i liked less :
### the story is at times a little too "dramaland" and "melodrama". We feel that the screenwriters wanted to bring out the tissues.
### Gong Yi's appearance is exaggerated!! I understand that it was necessary to differentiate between the 2 characters played by the same actress, but that's too much!
### I would have liked (like many other viewers) more time devoted to the Gong Yi-Dr Autistic-Woo Woo relationship, too funny and very cute.

I rarely watch a series again (except masterpieces) but I might watch certain scenes again (OTP).

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Série qui traite de la relation d'un couple qui s'aime (contre vents & marées) mais doit surmonter les multiples épreuves de la vie : deuil, manque de communication, infidélité, manque de confiance, relations familiales, problèmes de boulot, etc.

1e partie: situation difficile dans le couple (deuil de l'enfant que les 2 ne vivent pas de la même manière). La relation est donc détériorée (froideur, manque de communication, isolement dans sa propre souffrance, ...) et une jeune séductrice (super égoïste) profite de la faille.
Cette partie est très frustrante. Le ML se comporte comme un sombre idiot. La FL2, amoureuse, est self-centrée, née avant la honte. Comment le ML (professeur de 35-40 ans) peut-il se laisser séduire par une étudiante en 1e année, puérile, par ses moues enfantines, par ses caprices, ses tricks si évidents ?
+ les acteurs sont très bons car je n'ai pas décoléré depuis le 1e épisode ...

2e arc narratif (10-11 => 28): période durant laquelle Hae Gang vit en Gong Ki et change (devient Ong Yi). Le ML est presque sûr d'avoir retrouvé sa femme, soit-disant morte. La FL2, anxieuse, devient encore + insupportable.
Cependant, les 2 leads montrent une alchimie incroyable et on assiste à des moments très cute.

3e arc (28-29 -> 50 ) Retour de Gong Yi et Hae Gang retrouve peu à peu sa mémoire et redevient cold. Elle entame ensuite son plan pour venir à bout des villains, en particulier le beau-frère.

+++ d'excellents acteurs : ils nous font passer par toutes les émotions dans ce show. Les 2 leads, en particulier, font une performance exceptionnelle ♡ඩ⌔ඩ♡
+++ La réalisation est assez dynamique, même si le rythme ralentit dans le 2e arc. Le ton est assez sombre, on est souvent dans la souffrance. Heureusement, quelques personnages sont là pour nous faire sourire.
+++ les OST sont agréables et restent dans la tête (en particulier les chansons chantées par Ryu, désormais sur ma playlist)

### la story est par moment un peu trop "dramaland" et "mélo". On sent que les screenwriters ont voulu faire sortir les mouchoirs.
### l'apparence de Gong Yi est exagérée !! Je comprends qu'il fallait faire la différence entre les 2 personnages joués par la même actrice, mais c'est too much !
### j'aurai aimé (comme beaucoup d'autres viewers) plus de temps consacré à la relation Gong Yi- Dr Autiste- Woo Woo, trop drôle et très mignonne.

Je regarde rarement à nouveau une série (sauf masterpieces) mais je visionnerai peut-être à nouveau certaines scènes (OTP).

=> Un grand drama, très addictif, et une performance exceptionnelle de 2 grands acteurs.

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