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.Was this review helpful to you?
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.Was this review helpful to you?
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.Was this review helpful to you?
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.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
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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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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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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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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Not bad, great acting
I don't see any point in writing a long review: dragynfaerie said pretty much what I thought. The cast was outstanding. I think Ra Mi Ran is one of the best actors currently active - you could search out everything she has been in and not go wrong. Her comic turns in Please Come Back, Mister, made the show. She was heartbreaking in The Good Bad Mother, and Avengers Social Club is one I've re-watched a few times. So this show is good, but the ending is a bit meh. It deserved a few more episodes to wrap up everything neatly. Obviously I'm just writing this to rave about Ra Mi Ran.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Is it truly the end?
A drama worth to watch, who leaves you pondering about many things.Careful, spoilers are down below.
This drama shows the stories of families struggling in the midst of a war for power between countries.
Here are the reasons why.
In episode 20, the North Korean agent mentioned to his superior that this conflict repeated itself for 50 years, that North Korea sent Kim Shinjo first and then South Korea sent Kim Doo Sik after.
Am I the only one who thinks it hints on a background for the Kim family story?
Does that mean that Kim Doo Sik is Kim Shinjo's son? Which would make Kim Doo Sik NK from his father.
Is the NK agent who can fly related to them then?
Kim Doo Sik mentioned that when he was a baby, he could fly, that his father left him a knife, and that all his life he lived in the shadows. Why does it seem as though he was raised by the NIS? Maybe the leader boss of the NIS, the woman who doesn't age is involved in this, she most likely was there 50 years ago and planned it thorough.
This drama left me more questions unanswered that I thought.
It was truly amazing. I loved it all, the stories were so impactful.
It also opened a new perspective of the superhero genre.
Most of the time, stories about heros are about saving the world, the characters fight against a supervillain, either a crazy scientist or a rich dude that just wants to control the world.
But here, it shows more the perspective of what if people with powers were discovered by their governments, and what if those governments used them as weapons for their own conflicts?
Superpowered people are the new weapons of the countries, in the same way that nuclear bombs are. They work in the shadows for the sake of their countries.
This drama presents the start of an arm race between governments and how this arm race neglects the rights of the humans involved, and it shows this in a beautiful way through the lives of those families involved that struggle to protect their own.
It leaves a beautiful message about human rights and the fact that human beings are not meant to be weaponized or used in anyway.
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This review may contain spoilers
Painfully Bad
How is this show so well-rated and beloved?I've seen other shows with Off and Gun paired together, so I know I can't blame their lack of chemistry on the actors... but damn if their characters Khai and Third have literally nothing going for them. You can't even blame the ratings on it being a steamy show because there are only a few kisses between the leads and they're all awkward as hell. Honestly, you know it's bad when the only pairing with any on-screen chemistry is the 'teacher emotionally cheats on fiancé with student' one.
The plot is ridiculously slow and Gun's narration constantly lampshading the fact Third is stupid for liking Khai doesn't help; if anything, it only makes the watching experience more frustrating because it destroys what little audience buy-in there was to begin with! Why should I care to see Third get treated like shit for 11 episodes of a 12 episode show? Gun's definitely a beautiful crier, but I still got bored of his constant tears by episode 2.
Meanwhile, Off's performance is, dare I say, off-putting. His coming out scene is so wooden and flat that I had to walk away. As a bisexual who didn't come into my identity until I was well into uni myself, I was hoping for more: more enthusiasm, more confusion, more distress or relief or incredulity. More anything. And it never got better. There was no sense of physical attraction between Khai and Third at any point in the entire show. A more generous read would be that Khai is a homoromantic heterosexual, but the stupid boner jokes undercut any credibility there. Instead, we're merely told that Khai thinks Third is attractive rather than that ever being shown.
Final verdict: 2/10 stars, direct to video.
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I suck at writing reviews and this is purely for my own enjoyment; read at your own risk lol
This is one of the first chinese dramas I watched.I personally do enjoy the plot and characters, though some of it is also partly nostalgia and just the over-all vibes (if that makes sense).
The phasing is neither too fast or slow, and I quite like how it doesn't only take place in university, but continues a little bit after.
I think the casting is pretty well done, though sometimes I find the chemistry between the main couple a little bit awkward....it feels like the roomates to Xiao Nai (Yang Yang) have more chemistry. But maybe that's just me. Other than that, I do think the the main cast is also well done, and the acting in general is okay.
The overall production and visual effects are also pretty good; quite impressed with the costumes and make-up. Though I do sometimes question Bei Weiwei's (Zheng Shuan) everyday clothes...
However much I like the drama, it does feel like it falls a little short when it comes to the overall plot and character development. So even though I like rewatching it, mostly for the vibe and nostalgia, it isn't super amazing or good.
Though it is pretty iconic for its time, as well as the OST.
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It was thusly with pretty high expectations that I've watched this "Akuryo Byoutou", even more so considering my beloved Kaho stars in it (and at least she didn't let me down in the least, gorgeous and brilliant as always, seriously! ^____-).
The rest of the cast provided mixed performances (as is to be expected of this genre, let's face it).
The music and the rest of the "packaging" (direction, editing, photography, etc.) were OK.
Unfortunately, the story ended up being the weak point of the series; way too many flashbacks in the first half of the drama (to the point that you'd watch an episode, think nothing of it, and then appreciate some details only through next episode's flashbacks - rinse & repeat) and way too few good ideas in the second half.
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