Reviews

I've been turned into a Park Bo-Gum fangirl

This drama is what you would get if you were to mix a star crossed lovers story, a la Romeo and Juliet—except, you know, with a big social class gap between the two main characters—Mulan, and maybe a little bit of Cinderella, and set it all as a historical drama set in the Joseon period of Korean history.

This was my first foray into the world of sageuks, and I must say, it was an excellent choice.

Had its fair share of laughs as well as angsty, teary moments. I enjoyed it very much, and the leads were absolutely adorable together! Had great chemistry. The supporting characters were also very good.

I would definitely watch it again!

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I actually liked this so much I watched it twice

At times it was silly and quite ridiculous. But when it aimed at your emotions? It hit true every single time. Hold on tight and reach for the tissues box. The chance of ending up in tears is high with this one.

This was my first time ever watching a K-drama, and I've gotta say, never before have I seen as much crying as I did on this show. Every single episode either one or both leads ended up crying, and it may or may not have tugged at my heartstrings (it definitely did).

The main couple was marvelous and had incredible chemistry. And all the supporting characters were also great. I especially loved Captain Ri's subordinates. So many laughs with those four. The provided amazing comic relief and were a bunch of lovable goofballs.

Thoroughly enjoyable first experience, I look forward to watching plenty more.

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All Hail Hee-Kyung Eonni

If you're thinking of starting this drama, you should definitely consider watching Extraordinary You first. Trust me, it'll make watching True Beauty all the more fun.

This drama would be worth watching for the eye candy and fun references to other k-dramas alone, but it had so much more to offer!

The first few episodes were totally chaotic, extra and over the top. Kinda crazy, but a lot of fun! Then a few more serious topics like low self-esteem, bullying and psychological trauma were brought up. Honestly, the show struck a good balance between kooky and serious. It was funny and lighthearted, but also emotional and deep in certain aspects. It succeeded in making me laugh, swoon and pulling at my heartstrings.

And the casting! The 3 main actors look like the webtoon characters come to life. Which is insane. And they delivered solid performances all around. But I have to admit the older sister completely stole the show. All of her scenes were hilarious.

I absolutely loved this show and would recommend everyone who loves romance dramas watch it.

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Too many episodes, too little story

Meh.

I liked the premise with the FL being pretty much a human lie detector and the light exploration of how the world isn't black and white, as she first believed, but full of nuance and how, sometimes, the lies we tell ourselves and others aren't always for bad reasons.

The ML was a little too beige for my liking, and the spark between the main couple was missing imo. They were comfortable together, but gave off the vibe of long-time friends, rather than romantic partners. I couldn't help but feel sort of uncomfortable whenever they kissed, because their lack of chemistry made me painfully aware that they were two actors doing a job, and not two fictional people in love, if that makes sense. Like they were following the script, but not actually feeling it.

Lastly, as evidenced by the last two episodes just being a fluff-fest of a mamut epilogue—to give even the most secondary of characters their happy ending—I don't think this drama needed to be 16 episodes, or had enough going on for that to be the case. Frankly, I got bored towards the end and think this would have worked better in a 12-episodes setting.

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Hmmm ?

Don’t get my wrong I’m a huge fan of both the female lead and male lead. Watched the male lead Hwang Min Hyun in alchemy of the soul loved him, he totally nailed it there. But in this drama I was expecting a bit more from him, it could be the script was not good enough or it’s just the portrayal of the character he was given but I didn’t feel him at all. Their chemistry was a zero for me . I mean it’s Kim So Hyun we all know her she’s been on our screen ever since she was little her chemistry with the male lead in the Tale of Nokdu was top notch I was expecting a way better chemistry but it wasn’t there I couldn’t feel it. I had to continue watching this drama because there was nothing better to watch on Monday Tuesdays time slot most times I had forward. I think it couldn’t have been better.

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On the verge of meh-ness...

Although it's politically themed drama but it's a watered-down surface-level politics and the excessive overdramatization didn't fit its theme. Repeating the exact same dramatic flashbacks multiple times throughout both seasons further highlights my point. It ended up relying on these melo moments rather than having a better written political drama and a more engaging dialogues as you would expect from a good political drama to have. What also didn't fit its theme is the male lead constant overreacting and overacting for his role. The romance of the main leads and the pair up of the secondary leads were all out of place. On the other hand, the OST was nice, it reminded me of Comrades (2010). The drama is okay if it was your first political drama, can serve as an easy introduction to the genre.

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On the verge of meh-ness...

Although it's politically themed drama but it's a watered-down surface-level politics and the excessive overdramatization didn't fit its theme. Repeating the exact same dramatic flashbacks multiple times throughout both seasons further highlights my point. It ended up relying on these melo moments rather than having a better written political drama and a more engaging dialogues as you would expect from a good political drama to have. What also didn't fit its theme is the male lead constant overreacting and overacting for his role. The romance of the main leads and the pair up of the secondary leads were all out of place. On the other hand, the OST was nice, it reminded me of Comrades (2010). The drama is okay if it was your first political drama, can serve as an easy introduction to the genre.

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Weaker than expected

No matter how you look at it, the drama was a missed opportunity for something much better. It's a very dumbed-down secondhand tacky "be careful what you wish for" type of story. Little to no dynamic between the female lead and the witch until the last episode. The introduction of the female lead and her "wish" was definitely a weak start for the drama. Poorly written and executed love interest for the female lead, it wouldn't have been an issue if they didn't give her a trashy pair up but instead something that would serve the narrative and the resolution better. None of the clients were interesting and the outcome was always lacking the x-factor other than the obvious trade off of the deal. At least the drama looked nice and the cast was good enough.

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THE BEST KDRAMA EVER

I still need some time to process everything but I had to jump on the hype train and write this review just to share how amazing Moving was.

The storyline, the plot twists, the time transitions were all executed in such a professional and perfect way that mostly no other kdrama has been able to hold from start to finish.

The chemistry between all the cast was off the charts. The main characters grew way too much on me. It was so interesting to see Lee Mi Hyun in this role. Loved how all the parents played as much of an important role as their kids.

The ending clearly leaves an open space for a 2nd Season that I would happily welcome.

I think the reason we connect so much with Korean Dramas is because no matter the genre, the writing and the plot in general gravitates towards a human orientation which makes it easy for the viewer to connect with the characters.

Will for sure write another review later on after I watch it for a 2nd time.

Thank you to each and everyone of the cast, who made this possible! 감사합니다

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Being the fan of Japanese horror that I am, I couldn't pass on this "Higanjima", for a number of reasons: the tremendously interesting premise and setting (a remote and pictoresque Japanese island taken over by a bunch of vampires!), the fact that it wasn't subbed (more often than not, at least recently, that's kinda proof of a series' potential - the ones getting subbed being more and more often the "westernized", modern ones that copy abundantly from Hollywood and/or South Korea) and last but not least, the cast (I've always been a big fan of Satou Megumi, an actress I really love and can't help but think she's horribly underrated, alas; at the same time, I also really like Suzuki Ryohei).
Upon watching it, I can in all fairness say that I wasn't let down.
True, the series could have been even better (heck, "freaking masterpiece" would be the right definition then) if it had had a more brilliant and conclusive finale. But it's still a very solid 8 in my book!

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Over complex a simple story

A simple story, travel back in time to correct the future, but due to the constant time flipping it is so annoying and unnecessary. I lost interest in this. I only watch this as KD is doing a remake of this. I hope the KD does not make a mess like this.
Also she is not beautiful and for a Taiwanese girl so guys chasing her and dying for her lol makes me laugh.
If you are bored and happy to sit in front of this drama, non stop, and do nothing, you might understand and follow the story, but in 2023 who has time. Maybe ppl was lockdown in 2020 so they had time to sit and watch as they was nothing to watch.
A bad boy gets beaten by up by a nerd doctor, please....

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I actually enjoyed this one.

Started stronger that it ended but still was very good.

I think the craziness of the social media bullying and how fast opinions of people and fandom changes in Korea only makes sense if you actually follow a bit of that world. If you haven't experienced how toxic those fanatics are, you will think this series is just exaggerating a lot, but trust me, it isn't. In Korea, fandoms have ended whole careers just because their favorite idol have started a relationship with someone they didn't like or they have had rumors or bullying in school, it's a CRAZY conservative Society, and they act like mobs on social media.

So basically this super thrilling and fast paced drama depicts exactly this social media world in korea, where your can have everything given to you, or taken from you immediately, because unfortunately in these societies it doesn't really matter how talented you are, its all about how much you are liked.

I love the female lead, she has such feisty personality, she is so smart and she won't ever compromise her values. I also love her as actress, I absolutely love all her dramas, ( cant wait for sweet home 2!) and the tension and crazy electrifying attraction she has with the male lead in this drama is just ridiculous, without even speaking. Love them!!

I won't give it a 10 because towards the end they did a couple on nonsensical things that were a bit dumb with the mum and the best friend, I think it could have been a more polished and smart turn in that sense.

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Every now and then, Japan offers us a production that leaves you in awe for, like, 90% of its duration, only to suddenly (and awfully!) fail in the final part.
It's been for example the case of movies like "Metro ni Notte" or "Blindly in Love" - while watching them, I seriously thought I was gonna give both a "perfect 10"....until they tried hard to ruin everything in the finale.
It is unfortunately also the case of this "Shiori to Shimiko no Kaiki Jikenbo": until the very last episode, it was a crazily funny run, filled with tremendously original and brilliant ideas...but then the last episode was a complete U-turn, silly, uninspired, annoyingly boring, Now, the problem with stuff like this is it's hard to grade them; were I to consider everything but the last episode, I would seriously give this a 10; if, on the other had, I only considered the last episode, of course it'd be a 1 (and only 'cause we can't give less than that). I'll try to pretend the last episode didn't happen and grade this series as a pretty decent 8.

p.s.
I had some weird fun imagining a possible explanation of how that abominable last episode came to be:

"It was originally supposed to be only 12 episodes, as the last week of the season [Japanese TV annual schedule consisting of four seasons of 13 weeks each] was supposed to be reserved for a SP episode of a different drama. Due to a number of unforeseeable circumstances [a scandal involving the cast? technical problems? whatever...], the SP got canceld within but a few days from airing time. At that point, it was decided to produce a 13th episode of this drama, but by then, as it happens, it was Golden Week so 99% of the staff was not at work; the script was done by an aquaintance's cousin's son who said he could write it, and got greenlighted by the studio's janitor [the closest thing to a person of authority that could be found on such short notice], a foreign national who had actually lied on his being able to read kanji in order to get the job. And the rest is history..."

p.p.s.
If you happen to be a fan of Maeda Atsuko, this is a must watch, as she's absolutely A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E in here! ^___-

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The don't make them like this anymore... and I'm glad they don't.

After Romance is a Bonus Book I was looking forward to LJS in another drama, but Pinocchio is kind of a hot mess:

1. Red flag romance where FL is alternately ML's emotional punching bag or cheerleader while ML can't decide between punishing her or himself for their relationship. Plus the fauxest gives it weird step-sibling vibes.
2. A plot that's a series of coincidences explained by the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon which is... a choice.
3. Relationship drama to rival a soap opera and about as believably written.
4. Guessing game of "who's the real villain" where the real villain turns out to be the most cliche option possible.

6/10 for an important underlying message about journalistic integrity, some touching side stories and a good ensemble cast. Otherwise, this was hit or miss for me and mostly miss. It picks up some pace after a slow start but then drags to the point where by Ep12 I'd lost interest, by Ep16 I was DONE and at Ep18 I was FFing without mercy. There's some banger story lines that get cut off and a total change of focus in the second part that replaces the previous themes and characters with a big revelation that's nothing more than another generic corruption plot. Yawn.

The romance was more rage inducing than yawn inducing. I'm wary of older dramas exactly because of dynamics like this one. ML is an emotionally immature jerk who every once in a while makes a grand gesture which magically redeems all his other awful behavior. Yes, he has tough circumstances, but taking out your trauma on someone else is a HUGE red flag. And FL just rolls with the punches; she even apologizes to him (more than once!) for not being more understanding. There's a few scenes where she asserts herself but she's mostly a sponge for ML's man pain.

Speaking of FL, I expected her to play a much larger role in this drama considering it's literally about her family and she's the one with the Pinocchio syndrome but somehow ML is always the center of attention. FL struggles for years to get a job in journalism; genius ML does it in three months. FL builds a relationship with her mom; she torches it in favor of ML's revenge. FL's family is torn apart when ML's identity comes out; she's more worried about him than them. She isn't given any agency or identity outside of her romance with ML which is another HUGE red flag.

Even SML and SFL basically exist to provide comic relief or act as plot devices to further ML's story. The rest of the ensemble cast is great, but to waste two leads like that is incredibly lazy writing. I was also disappointed at the lack of any close female friendships. There are a lot of opportunities for them to develop but they get passed over in favor of bromances or treated as more comic relief. Not a great look.

The best thing I can say about Pinocchio is it has a great message and tries to portray good people in tough situations attempting to do the right thing. But that gets drowned in the noise of the other needless drama.

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