Reviews

Wanru’s Somewhat Rambling Journey

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this started as a “liked” but ended up a “meh”.

Spoilers ahead b/c I didn't follow the rules of writing a review. :D

The deets:
Young woman with a mysterious past (with hints that she’s been transmigrated from our world into an alternate one) who lives on the streets and makes money by scamming people tries to scam the wrong person and ends up being forced to take on a false identity. She apparently is identical to a developmentally delayed daughter of a powerful pugilistic clan. The lady of the clan has decided to sacrifice the life of the developmentally delayed daughter—who is the daughter of a concubine—in exchange for healing son by blood. But since the lord of the clan really likes his daughter, she decides to replace her instead with our FL. Our ML notices right away that something is not right with his half-sister and quickly figures out she is fake (which helps with the ”ick” factor of him falling in love with his half-sister’s face and name; they were also raised separately so he didn’t grow up with her, either). The half-sister is betrothed from infancy to our SML (more costume/period dramas with Deng Chao Yuan please!) who turns out to be a very decent guy. All three meet up at a pugilistic academy for young people where about half the action takes place until the plot kind of falls apart and they spend a lot of time hiding out in luxurious bamboo houses in the woods while they fight the machinations of various powers-that-be in the pugilistic world.

Things I liked:
The story started out very interesting. It’s a short drama, ~30 minute episodes with a total of 24. For being relatively low budget, it kept me very interested basically until the end of the “academy” arc. The fight scenes were really well done. I didn’t have any objections to the way the three leads were written, they were all decent people, their motivations seemed solid.

Things I did not like so much:
This drama could not decide if it was a BL between our two male leads or a reverse-harem between all three leads. The most believable chemistry was between the two male leads and the chemistry between the ML and FL was a bit forced. The ML went from really disliking her to suddenly liking her and she went from crushing on the SML to suddenly falling in love with the ML. As if the script writers and director were suddenly like “oh crap, this is becoming a BL, we’d better put a beard in there STAT!” The storyline kind of fell apart after they left the academy to try and run their respective clans in the pugilistic world. It got draggy and asked one to suspend one’s disbelief A LOT! The FL supposedly had minimal martial arts yet could hold her own against trained killers whenever necessary—but only until the point it was time for a male lead to rescue her. Seriously, were the heroes live-streaming all their actions!? The evil guys ALWAYS knew what they were up to and yet the heroes were always relying on pigeons that magically found their target to matter where they were. And also, everyone could apparently travel huge distances in a couple hours. I get that in a wuxia you have to suspend your disbelief a little—all the flying round & stuff—but there’s a limit. The ending is happy but ambiguous as in the FL never really settles on her choice of male lead.

Should you watch it?
I found it free on YouTube. It’s relatively short. The male leads are easy to look at. The FL is sweet with a good heart and not a complete idiot. It was pretty decent at first and by the time it gets less interesting, you don’t have that much farther to go to get through it.

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Disclaimer: I'm typically a romance watcher and don't often stray from that genre. But maybe you're like me and looking to watch something different, so here's my take on the show:

Very solid first season. The acting from all the leads and supporting characters was astounding and the chemistry between the Counters was so natural. Plot-wise, an interesting idea, pretty well executed, except for some moments of dumbness where unreasonable decisions were forced for the plot's sake. Was it predictable? Yes. Was it still fun to watch? Also yes. I felt the serious topics were well blended with the funny bits, and I liked the "territory" light effects, even if some of the more practical bits look quite rough and fake (particularly the wire work). For the casual action-adventure watcher, I feel like this would be an entertaining show.

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I went into this show hoping to see a cute fluffy romance that doesn't require many brain cells to enjoy. Unfortunately what I ended up with was a mess of a show. While the cinematography and production is done very well that its nice to watch the story really was the downfall. This is filled with every typical cliche you can think of; cold CEO with a past trauma, immature female lead that is bubbly, contract relationship, forced cohabitation, toxic second female lead, greedy business partner making problems. Usually I can over look a lot of plot holes in romances like this as the main purpose is just to see the relationship progression but the way this one was written made it very difficult to even finish the drama in the last ten episodes.

The actors did a good job with their characters and its acted fairly well with how it is written though the emotional scenes don't carry the weight to make you feel them as the viewer. The story however did not stay consistent throughout the show. It is told very much like an outline of a story that hits all the main plot points without any thought behind the how or why of it all. Business problems that don't seem to make sense, money problems that aren't explained, and the characters almost seem to devolve as time passes. In an early episode there were many comments about how Qingqing was so young and even Mr. Gu made a comment about them having a generational age gap though they never actually tell you his age. But in all the flashback scenes of their childhood, which felt like they were added as an after thought purely to try and give the couple a past connection, the kids looked very close in age. The first half of the drama is fairly fluffy and fun with their bickering and Qing's character was made to be immature and at first it really was not a huge deal and easy to overlook. But when the couple finally get together later in the series it became painfully childish to watch most of their scenes together. The couple set rules that felt like you were watching two high schoolers in love for the first time not two adults and the fights and misunderstandings between them were immature.

I wouldn't recommend you spend your time on this drama. There are far better fluffy romances that deliver much better chemistry and a more coherent story than this. I would have rated this higher before I got to episode 20 but after that I found it difficult to even finish because of the behaviors of the leads.

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Was gonna be a flop....

A very strong contender for the worst medical drama. The equivalent of filming two patients' beds and calling it a "hospital". From the very beginning they did such a poor job in setting building that it's constantly sticking out in your face. To give a few examples: The hospital is completely dependent on a single skillful witch doctor that otherwise everyone would be dead without his witchcraft which eliminated any hierarchy in the hospital. The hospital had no rules, anyone can come and go as they please, anyone can get a patient into the operation room and perform a surgery and no one faces consequences to anything they do because writing such scenes would take more effort. The hospital management is non-existent, there's only one guy in charge (the bad guy Tae In Ho) with no one around him or beside him managing the hospital. Even worse, the actor is known for his side roles as a subordinate character so giving him a position in charge while lacking any intimidation and gravity to his character has ruined the role and killed the little tension the drama had. There are more examples to this lackluster hospital setting but these were the most obvious.

However, if you managed to over glance the entire setting and just hyper focus on the main 2 leads then the drama is alright. The 2 main leads first encounter and the first episode had an abhorrent and despicable dynamic to watch on screen but, to my surprise, it got a lot better later on and turned out to be fun which was the only reason that saved the drama and made it watchable.

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Eve (2022) - it’s a really good drama for me at the start but then eventually fall out in the end. I am disappointed per say with the ending of the drama. The build up of the story is really good especially the first episodes. Revenge dramas usually are really great especially in the middle part of the drama, and this one is really good as well. In the last 4 episodes, I did felt that the disappointment, maybe because I didn’t like how the story evolved especially in the romance part. The last episode was really not to my liking because I hated the ending so much. Eventually the process of watching the drama is satisfying but I was not really satisfied with the ending.

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Maid’s Revenge 2.0

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “meh”.

Spoilers ahead b/c I didn't follow the rules of writing a review. :D

The deets:
Young woman is forced to marry a comatose young man to “bring him luck” mainly so she can be blamed when he dies. This comatose person turns out to be the younger brother of her boyfriend (SML—though MDL has him first in the list after the FL. To me the SML is whomever DOESN’T end up with the FL) who is also getting married that same day to her cousin. This is supposedly the best she can get because, through absolutely no fault of her own, she was roofied and assaulted (by said ‘boyfriend’ in the hopes of forcing her to be his concubine—however ML interferes with the aftermath of this plan and SML never gets to “take responsibility” for his actions). However, in the classic manner of all patriarchal societies, it is of course, somehow, the girl’s fault whenever this happens. Anyways, ML does not die and turns out to be a decent chap. There is plenty of framing/blaming/torturing of the FL during this time—including causing her to have a miscarriage. SML succeeds in knocking off ML (or so we think…) and takes FL as his concubine (because she wants to stay in the family home and find out what happened to ML). There is lots of back-and-forth framing/blaming/torture between the SML’s three wives (and we’re expected to believe that SML only made FL sleep with him once more) while SML tries to gain control of a lot of local businesses and essentially makes a lot of dumb decisions and gets himself into a hot mess of debt. Our ML reenters the scene, totally not dead and having grown some huevos during his absence. After only a brief period of doubting our FL’s intentions, he works with her to bring down the SML in a dramatic showdown.

What I liked:
The FL had some steel in her the whole time. She wasn’t an idiot, didn’t take blame for things that were not her fault, and always got revenge. I liked that the misunderstanding between the FL and the ML about why she married the SML was short-lived and that they worked together equally towards a solution. It had a happy ending. I liked that it was a short drama. I liked that the costumes appeared to be a well-intended effort at historical accuracy (I find that, for especially the Western clothing, the attempts are half-@$$ed at best with accurate costuming in Republican-era dramas).

What I disliked:
The assault for one. They did a decent job of not showing a blow-by-blow, but it was still there. Mother-in-law was an awful person, yet both the ML and FL were nice to her and mourned her loss. This drama also asked you to dispend disbelief a great deal and to just trust that things had ‘magically’ happened in a certain way.

Should you watch this?
I don’t know. It was short, the male leads were easy on the eyes, the FL was not a brainless idiot. I only watched this because I watched Maid’s Revenge (…speaking of brainless FLs…) and I wanted to see Dai Gao Zheng in something else. If you’re in a dry spell and can handle the fact that the FL has the trauma of assault in her past, then it’s a quick watch.

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Kinda watchable

The drama had a nice concept but the story was too thin for a full run drama even with the added side stories. It's also why they sneaked in a useless love pentagon that didn't get anywhere. Although you may find the FL's behavior passable as a teen but that wasn't the case as an adult, it was increasingly challenging to endure watching her. It simply didn't serve the narrative. After seeing her character in action I had a strong hunch to why they broke up. Such a reason may be valid when written adequately but, in this case, it came off as a shallow excuse to progress the plot. Even if we were to over glance that, they ended up giving a half-assed resolution to their underlying problems and opted to supplement the rest with an overdose of mindless lovey-dovey scenes while eliminating any opportunity for the drama to delve deeper into the emotional package they threw at us earlier on. Another prime example of the bait and switch technique the Kdrama industry have been going through recently and it doesn't look like this will change. One last thing, there were some obvious amateur editing mistakes sprinkled in the drama. One singular scene may have multiple camera angles but 2 different color grading, even for the same consecutive face shot.

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Remarriage and Desires (2022) - finished this in one sitting. Revenge dramas are really enticing and satisfying to watch. What I like about this drama are the characters. Top tier actors and actresses, great in expressing their respective characters. There is this thrill in the drama that I like and also how the characters are portrayed. I’m satisfied with the drama and a season 2 would not be as appealing maybe for me for this drama. Full packed, there is not too much romance parts in the drama which I really like as well. There are characters that I’m hoping to know what happened after the chaos since there is no closure that is shown in the drama for them.

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The world of sleeping

The chilling effect of this movie is very prominent right from the start, setting the threat at the closest person you could ever trust in the most unbelievable way. The acting performances are of course top notch in order to achieve that, even the snoring act was designed precisely to elevate the creepiness of the situation. The storyline buildup was good, the ending though could be better, as the tension control at the end was a little off balance. The way it handles its logical sense was technically ignored as the characters sleep in, and audiences should do the same.

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bellissimo ma pensavo avesse un happy ending

saranno passati 5 o 6 mesi da quando l’ho guardato e ancora non sono guarita dal dolore che mi ha provato questa serie, quando vedo un edit o delle loro foto mi viene da piangere.
ovviamente lo consiglio se preparati a ciò che si andrà a vedere, a differenza mia che non ero a conoscenza della trama.
resta bellissimo, gli attori sono bravissimi e la storia ancora di più, anche se non parla di roba che potrebbe succedere nella realtà, come koichi con il cuore che non batte più ma che è vivo ed alcuni che lo vedono e altri no.
ne vale la pena guardarlo? si, se volete una storia triste è perfetto.
lo ho amato e lo amo tutt’ora.

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A fun, fun, fun, hot mess!

I've only started watching (the first 10-15 minutes)—I love the detective/mystery genres, but it's not from that perspective that I felt inspired to say something about this hot mess.

The production definitely does not scream BIG BUDGET; in fact, it's quite the opposite—dare I say it doesn't even seem to merit a B-grade production (no big-name actors, sub-par costumes, bare minimum sets, etc.). However, almost from the get go, it's stupidly hilarious. It's so awkwardly funny that I couldn't stop laughing pretty much through all the scenes.

Don't get me wrong. It's not one of those, it's so stupid that it's unintentionally funny.

It's incredibly funny precisely because it's meant to make fun of the all around stupid. The fact that the low production quality is so obvious, seems to tie in to the wtf-just-happened humor that the script writers must've had a rollicking hay day writing the stuff (I'm not even talking about the story writing, cuz it's not so much plot driven as it's jokes and pun driven). That there's some detective work in the mix is just icing on this unexpected comedic series.

From the start, I had the thought—what.the.heck am I watching, while at the same time having a big grin on my face and totally enjoying the whole experience. As I'm writing this, I find that it's actually hard to explain why I'm liking this so much; you just have to experience it yourself.

Update: past the initial scenes, the series has calmed down a bit to concentrate on the dectecting/mystery, and I have to say, while it's not the laugh-a-minute it was at the beginning, it's still an engaging, entertaining series.

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An unexpected but enjoyable experience.

A unique and distinct story is told by this film. When I started it, I was not aware it would be horror, but these aspects were handled well. If you’re looking for an unguessable but well told story with horror, mystery, and supernatural elements, this may be a good watch for you.

The visual effects were impressively well done, and the sound design very atmospheric and immersive (pun not intended) to complement the well constructed visuals. Overall I’d say the film was very well thought out and as an experience I’d rate it highly. The shots and transitions were also crafted well to fit the pacing and changes that needed to be matched.

Personally, I wouldn’t say I was highly invested in the film character wise, if you’re looking for a character driven experience, probably not the film for you.

What I enjoyed:
- The unique premise involving a VR world modelled to be identical to the real world
- The immersive visual and sound design
- The incorporation of some cultural elements that intertwine with the supernatural elements
- The overall unreadable mystery

What I didn’t enjoy:
- No real feeling of connection or investment with any of the characters
- It wasn’t really a film I would have picked out; I was a captive audience and it was what was available to me

If you’re looking to watch it, good luck to you! I don’t know when it will be widely available and only watched as I had a very long flight with nothing else to be doing.

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im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here. im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here. im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here. im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here. im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here. im curious why is no one reviewing this best drama:/ this is so good tho. im just kinda surprised why is no one commenting here

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OK drama

As a fervent enthusiast of the BL genre, I have had the pleasure of immersing myself in both renditions of this particular series. It is not surprising that certain individuals who have experienced the original version may harbour a sense of discontentment towards this alteration, the modifications implemented in this adaptation are far from inconspicuous, leaving no room for ambiguity in their impact.
The diverse range of preferences among BL fans regarding the desired level of sexual content is clearly apparent. The product provides a diverse range of options to suit various preferences, including both explicit and PG-rated choices. This ensures a comprehensive and satisfying experience for all users.
The Thai adaptation of the show brilliantly highlights the characters Tutor and Fighter, making them the heart and soul of the story. Upon careful comparison, it becomes clear that the Korean adaptation skillfully highlights Woo Sun Woo and Ko Yoo Kyeom as the central figures, even though they were initially portrayed as supporting characters. The Korean adaptation of this show does a great job of focusing on the character development of Jung Lee Won and Kim Ji Oh. These two characters are quite similar to Zon and Saifah from the Thai version, and they play important roles as secondary leads.
I still don't understand what kind of story is that as it mixed, I try to over look the mixing story line from the leads and the second leads as it is very noticeable, but it hard to ignore specifically if you are expecting similarity from the Thai version minus the explicit scene
I found both versions to be enjoyable, but ultimately my preference remains with the Original version.

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