Reviews

matchmaker couple

It was a simple but nice series. I smiled while watching. A humorous series about those who mediate between families and between boys and girls in marriages. There's a mystery stuck in between. In other words, the head of a noble family's house is a minister. The death events in that minister's family are also reflected in a mysterious way. The sprouting of love between a widowed man and a widowed woman acting as a mediator and the possibility of them getting married like others are also discussed. Although this couple loves each other, the solution that the King found for them because of the obstacles to their marriage due to customs and traditions is also explained. Events develop a little funny and a little dramatic. However, do not keep your expectations high as the series is oversimplified. A delight, a series that puts a smile on your face. There is nothing more. I started watching the actors especially for RoWoon. He was an actor I liked. I looked at the actress Choi Yi Hyun a little coldly until my eyes adjusted. However, as the episodes progressed, my eyes got used to it. He played well and exceeded my expectations. Even though their height gap is so wide, they make a good couple. The other actors were also very good. I liked them all. Especially Jo Han Chul, who played the king, was both very cute and very successful. enjoy watching...

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7 Episodes of Chase

This show makes me so angry... I enjoyed watching it to an extent, because I like Yim & Tutor, have since Cutie Pie and I liked Yim's character in Bed Friends but their chemistry in this one felt a little off to me, I'm not sure If the characters are supposed to be a little awkward (i haven't read the novel) but Jade didn't seem like this in Bed Friends.

Jade & Mai - These two made me mad, for 7 episodes They were playing chase with each other, and then of course on the last episode we saw them being cute and cuddly and it just made me upset because I like these two together and would've like to see them in love more than one episode - I hope they get another series together soon- also the beginning of Ep 8 when they kiss, Toturs big lips devor Yim and i needed more of that.

Uea & King - I will forever love these two, I know that this show isn't about them and they were just the side helping BUT I needed more of them, just like a little more. Their spicy chemistry is next level and I wish we could've seen just a smidge more of them.

Tong & Gus - Same for these two, I have loved them together since Friends Forever but we didn't get to see much of them, I hope they can have another show together. I think what we got of them was so good and they have great chemistry

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7 Episodes of chase

This show makes me so angry... I enjoyed watching it to an extent, because I like Yim & Tutor, have since Cutie Pie and I liked Yim's character in Bed Friends but their chemistry in this one felt a little off to me, I'm not sure If the characters are supposed to be a little awkward (i haven't read the novel) but Jade didn't seem like this in Bed Friends.

-The spicy scene between Jade and Mai was so good, they were holding out on us, and Mai doing everything with his tongue made me feel things I shouldn't, personally its right under King and Uea's scenes, Mai's tongue, and lips and the rose was a paid actor.. Also Jade knew exactly what he was doing, he wasn't shy during the bed scenes

Jade & Mai - These two made me mad, for 7 episodes They were playing chase with each other, and then of course on the last episode we saw them being cute and cuddly and it just made me upset because I like these two together and would've like to see them in love more than one episode - I hope they get another series together soon- also the beginning of Ep 8 when they kiss, Toturs big lips devor Yim and i needed more of that.

Uea & King - I will forever love these two, I know that this show isn't about them and they were just the side helping BUT I needed more of them, just like a little more. Their spicy chemistry is next level and I wish we could've seen just a smidge more of them.

Tong & Gus - Same for these two, I have loved them together since Friends Forever but we didn't get to see much of them, I hope they can have another show together. I think what we got of them was so good and they have great chemistry

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A Great Adaptation to a Great Manga

As someone familiar with the original manga, the live action is a strong adaptation that also cleans up the shortcomings of My Home Hero's "Hangure" arc, its first act.

Tetsuo is still the meek salaryman who loves writing mystery web novels on the side. When he discovered that his daughter, Reika, was being abused, his paternal instincts drove him to confront and ultimately kill her "hangure" boyfriend. The man planned to kill Reika in the first place, so what else could he do? What I love about My Home Hero is not Tetsuo's mystery novel knowledge-turn-applied skill but his chilling moral descent to protect his family. He's a great anti-hero, one you're not sure whether to cheer for or not.

Kuranosuke as Tetsuo is the perfect casting. He makes Tetsuo very lovable, and his quips with Kasen are very funny. I'm glad they kept the comedy of the manga instead of going full-on dramatic (loved the final episode for this.) The comedic side of Tetsuo was key to humanize him, especially considering the lengths he goes to for Reika. Kasen is this super mysterious character, especially early on. You can feel the lovelessness between husband and wife before they started working together to save Reika. Why is she so quick to jump onto Tetsuo's plans? Tae plays that mysterious role well, and I love it when she is "acting out", considering it's an important character trait moving forward. But my MVP has to be Eisaku as Matori. How maniacal of a man Matori is in the manga isn't obvious outside of his manic episodes, but here, every time Matori talks, you know the type of man he is. A very unstable man who never knew how to love until Nobuto, his son, turned to a life of crime. I love his characterization of Matori because you can see what type of father he would become if Nobuto led a normal life. Maybe he and Tetsuo would've been good friends.

There were a few tweaks that occurred from manga to live action, like replacing Takeda's RV, but my favorite was how they treated the final conflict. They skip the whole "noise complaint" subplot, which honestly felt unnecessary, and give the climax the breathing room it deserves. The lighting and cinematography in that scene, not to mention Tetsuo's exhausted yell, make the live-action version blow the anime adaptation out of the water. To the anime fans that felt cheated by how the series was portrayed: watch this instead.

The live-action ends at chapter 48 of the manga. Act 2 follows Tosu Textiles: why the hangure wanted Reika in the first place.

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Disappointing

Let’s start by saying that I read the book and loved it. my impression of the show began off with how disappointing the adaptation is. Imagine my shock when episode one they changed the entire timeline from the book. Which meant everyone’s motivations now had to be completely rewritten. Mai stayed pretty much the same but now he has a fellow intern magically show up to handle the plotline where Jade thinks Mai should pair up with Ae. and because Ae and King are no longer an integral part of the main plot they’re shunted to the side and all the friendship chemistry goes sideways.

Ae is supposed to be a quiet smart influence on Mai. Helping him along with wooing Jade. but since Jade no longer needs to misunderstand that relationship that meaning is lost.

Jade is supposed to be a “mid” character. quietly helping everyone around him yet he’s rewritten and (surely coached) to be loud and, let’s be honest, slightly annoying, instead of kind and self defeating. you get more incite into his character through his brothers conversation with Mai in the last episode than you do in the enitre series.

Honestly, I could go on for pages and pages so instead I’ll try to keep it short. I know this series suffered from a lot of changes and recasting in the beginning but instead of getting better due to the delays is seems like they ended up having too much time to make too many changes and they got lost somewhere in the middle and ended up lost out in the wilderness of story land.

in short, my suggestion is to go read the book, I enjoyed it. the adaptation should be enjoyed for purely seeing Tutor and Yim interactions. I’d suggest skipping episodes 2-4 though. Yim isn’t really allowed to have emotional range until that episode.

gosh. I’m still suffering from the disappointment.

if you want to see how adaptations should be done go watch the Thai adaptation of the Japanese BL manga Cherry Magic.

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better as it went on (watch suggestions)

Overall: unless you enjoy over the top humor with a ton of comedy sound effects follow my watch suggestions. I wanted to rate the uncut version higher since it had more intimate scenes and included Gus/Tong scenes, but the story dragged even more in the uncut version. 8 episodes about 1 hour each. Aired on Mandee Channel's YouTube (cut), GagaOOLala (cut), iQIYI (uncut) and Viki (I assume cut). Mandee Channel/Domundi also produced Naughty Babe, Bed Friend, Cutie Pie and Why R U.

Watch Suggestion (watch the cut version & play at a faster speed unless noted)
- skip episodes 1, 2 & 3 (though shirtless Mai in ep 3 is nice)
- watch ep 4
- watch ep 5 to 48min/standing on the podium
- watch the uncut version of ep 6 15-18 minutes which includes a brief kiss with the side couple (this scene was totally removed from the cut versions for some bizarre reason)
- watch the uncut version of ep 7, can start at 27 minutes with Gus/Tong or to skip over something sad that happened in the past and start at 37 minutes and end at 43 minutes, then you can watch thru to the end with Mai/Jade or skip to 1hr 4min to see their final scene
- watch the uncut version of ep 8 which has a lot of sweet moments and NSFW scenes with Mai & Jade

Content Warnings: hits played as comedy, vomiting (in uncut ep 2), molestation off screen, past death/grief

What I Liked
- enjoyed some of Uea/King's moments (like in episode 5)
- Mai's flirting (wished they had shown why he liked Jade earlier than ep 5)
- Jade's and Mai's supportive family
- cute moments
- how Jade did have agency in episode 8 and initiated things
- good consent/communication in episode 8
- that it has a wide release on 4 different platforms

Room For Improvement
- the three minutes of cringey animation didn't hook me
- Jade's exaggerated/yelling was irritating especially in the beginning episodes
- cringey editing, voice overs and comedy sound effects that didn't make anything funny
- the side couple was oddly hot and cold (note, apparently the cut version removed several of their scenes which is contributing to their confusing interactions with each other)
- not happy with the Uea/King reluctant/violent dynamic, how King was jealous/retaliatory at Uea in ep 6 for just talking to another guy
- slow pacing/repetitive, in episode 6 as an example Mai had almost a duplicate conversation with his mom
- bad decisions with what they cut, I was happy they cut the vomiting scene in episode 2 but why on earth cut an entire scene including a kiss with the side couple in episode 6??? I normally would expect a cut version to reduce a NSFW scene but there wasn't anything to cut up to episode 7 (and then they did cut the NSFW scenes in ep 7 and 8)
- the NSFW scenes were kind of choppy, one of them oddly stopped and then re-started

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Vigilante: An Underrated Action Masterpiece That Deserves More Attention, in My Opinion!❣️

Vigilante is hands down one of the best action K-dramas I've seen this year! It's such an underrated gem that deserves more love. I was hooked from the first episode and couldn't stop watching. The cast is incredible, and Nam Joo Hyuk's performance in his first action genre drama was outstanding. The story is absolutely captivating. The anti-hero concept is amazing, and I totally wish there were more episodes too. I don’t like some characters, but there are always characters we don't like in most series, but that's part of the fun. After finishing Vigilante, I couldn't help but think that we need a season 2 ASAP. Plus, it's a shame that not many people are talking about it. Overall, it's definitely one of the top K-dramas released this year, and I highly recommend it!!??

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Dazzled by the filmmaking, hopefully there is a sequel to develop more the compelling lore

As Long as We Both Shall live is a historical / fantasy movie about a mistreated young woman going through an arranged marriage in a fictional Meiji Era where powerful families have inherited magical gifts. The set up and context of the story is really intriging and captivating, there are a lot of lore and the movie does a good job in exploring it. Could it have been better in terms of exposition and settings? Yes. But at the same time it does make you very curious to know more about it.

The casting did a good job overall portraying charismatic characters and despite a script sometimes feeling too rushed to really allow a lot of emotional development. The two main leads relationship evolution is beautiful but it felt a bit quick to me because of the movie format. The emotional scenes were very good, especially a couple of them involving at the same time powers and fights.

What I loved the most about this film is the very high production value. The decors and accessories seem super expensive and are truly beautiful to look at...I was dazzled by the magnificence of the numerous kimonos, so so pretty. I really enjoyed as well the visual effects during the fights: there were a myriad of details making the watch super compelling.

The main regret that I have relates to the scenario and the speed at which each of the narrative arc is developped. There are so many elements in the politics of the empire that I would have liked to be better explained and more expanded on...I hope there will be a sequel because the richness of the lore leave room for so much more stories.

I would recommend this to people looking for an historical / fantasy movie with amazing production value and captivating lore. If you enjoy beautiful kimonos, meticulous decors with a lot of details as well as romance involving fantasy elements, this one is for you.

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The idea of this movie is cute but the way it's executed is problematic and annoying.

The idea of the movie is cute: Momose tried to encourage Yashiro to be confident in crossdressing. Yashiro is very lovely, I tried to finish the whole show bc of him. I believe with the same idea it could be done better. The way this idea was executed in this movie was very problematic. Maybe bc of writing, Momose looked like a manipulative freak, trying to make Yashiro do this do that, and excused by saying: "I don't know how to do it better". And one important thing: he did attempt r*pe Yashiro, this is unforgiveable. I guess the reason why people liked it back then bc it was in 2015 so people's viewpoints might be different than us now and they didn't have many choices at that time.

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he princess's intrigues

I watched 5 episodes. I couldn't stand it. It is about a princess dealing with the character called Liu Li. It is based on how they will separate her from her husband, how they will disgrace her, how they will accuse her of a crime and pin it on her. It's a series that gets passed over by watching the same things over and over again. I respect their fans. Some people like it very much. Some people don't like it. I did not like. It is not nice, it is wrong, for someone to constantly try to do harm to another and for this reason to use women whose identities I do not know. What right this princess has to do this is another mystery. It's as if he rules that city, those people. Supposedly there is a king. Our hero Liu Li's husband, Pei Xing Jian, is the Judge of their city.
I think they are planning to bring a woman similar to Xing Jian's ex-wife, anger his new wife, and break them up. Female maid. She doesn't act like a maid, she acts like a woman hitting on the Judge. His wife, Liu Li, is also watching. If that woman is a maid, why doesn't she give her additional work and prevent her from taking care of her husband? Make you clean toilets all day long. Mop the floor. See when she can spare time for your husband. Or pull your ear, scold, punish. No sir. Is watching. If anyone has a clue as to why he did that, let me know.
In the second incident, they provoke Liu Li's sister against Liu Li. But they fail. Thereupon, Her Majesty the Princess punishes that brother by beating him to death and bringing him to Liu Li's house and leaving him. He was supposed to die there. The blame was left to him. It was very simple. But Judge Pei found a doctor and realized that the sister had been beaten and seriously injured. They even made her drink ginseng soup so that this would not be noticed and gave her medicine so that she could not speak. The sister only points out that the woman who brought him made him like this. Their father is also there. After all, this woman dies.
Here's the interesting thing: They make this woman like this and leave her there. The woman next to them is the culprit. The judge, his sister and his father do nothing against that person. They look like that. Will I forgive those who beat my daughter to death? Can't I say two words? I won't attack. No. They do not attack. They don't say anything. The husband, on the other hand, is supposedly a JUDGE and is not involved in the incident in any way. So you attempted to kill this woman. Let's take a statement from you. You come and see. You take him to a room and lock him. Then you call the security team and have them questioned. These are not happening. And this Judge is someone who can meet with the Big King. So he is not an ordinary personality. This being the case, how can we stand by and watch a person die in plain sight?
Who is this Princess that kills people? He's troubling some people. He gets rid of what he wants. He takes with him what he wants. He questions or performs actions such as rewards and punishments. He interferes in your affairs. With what right can this Princess do this when the King does not? Why not file a complaint? Deaths are tolerated. The treacherous approaches are ignored. I did not understand. I didn't want to understand either. It's a shame to put effort into a series like this. I started watching because of Gülnezer. She is very beautiful and a very good actress. But unfortunately, it was launched here with a model-like presentation. His acting was left to his sophomore year. Timmy Xiu is all about appearance. It's accompanying. His role is very low. The main character we can call the main character is Zhu Rui, who plays the role of the Princess. In the episodes I watched, they constantly focused on him as if he were the leading character and we watched his intrigues. He played his role well. Let's say that role suits him. But the topic is shallow. It has been turned into a game between a single princess and Liu Li and Pei, whom she wants to separate from each other. Simplified. It could have been much better. The fact that the events happened this way and were kept far from believability is another matter. Because there is no justice. Anyone can do as they wish. People are being deceived. He is being killed. The person doing it is obvious, but everyone is watching. There is no atmosphere of trust. That country also has rulers. They have kings. They stare without doing anything. Do you think it's normal? How many episodes is this series? Will we continue to watch this game until the end? In the end, will that princess get away with what she did, or will she be punished? Why should we wait for the end? I don't think it happened. I found it wrong. I won't watch.
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It might seem slow, but it gets to a point.

All in order:

1) The acting is very good!
The characters portrayed are complex, multi layered, with intense back stories and sometimes unclear path they will go. The cast deals with this wonderfully, portraying the full range of emotions as intensely as needed.

2) Cinematography and soundtrack are also good.
You wouldn't call this a cinematic masterpiece, however the setting, the coloring, the added music add to the eerie, unsettling and often difficult to grasp events and settings.

3) Timeline jumping.
For more than first half of the series we jump between 3, sometimes 4, timelines - what the detective is telling, the interview with him that is taking place, the mass murders interview and different memory sequences.
We also jump between character POVs - the detective, the murder, the teenagers looking for their friend and several more.
All this can be quite confusing and throw one off the plot.
All timelines merge in one near the end and becomes a much easier watch. Apart from some flashbacks revealing character back story.

4) The plot itself.
Cults, brainwashing, hypnosis, gas attacks, mass s**cides and much more. Many of us will recognize elements from actual events and cults inspiring this. The plot is actually very interesting, however the executing with different timelines and the many POVs takes away from it.

Overall - a good background watch that picks up the pace and becomes more clear during the second half. But would I recommend it to everyone? Probably not.

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Even so, sometimes life ends. For me, an engaging Korean short film, played by likeable actors. I didn't imagine such an ending, but that's how it is. Who is more to blame, one or the other? Or the third one? In any case, I appreciate that it is completely believable and overall I rate it above average.


I tak to někdy končí v životě. Pro mě poutavý korejský krátký film, zahraný sympatickými herci. Takový konec jsem si sice nepředstavoval, ale je to tak. Kdo je více na vině, jeden nebo druhý? A nebo ten třetí? Každopádně si cením, že je naprosto uvěřitelný a celkově hodnotím nadprůměrně.

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Brilliant show that's emotional, heartwarming and uplifting.

truly so very brilliant, carefully written, greatly emotional, heartwarming and after all quite uplifting.

The first episode didn't fully catch my attention, but trust that if you keep watching you'll be in for a great ride. I liked how there was a somber, dark and quirky but muted atmosphere, a show that talks about mental health and tries to break stigmas, that tries to change stereotypes that have been perpetuated by the media for so long.

It's a show that's complex but the natural yet poignant dialogues bring out a very special environment that sets the journey. The acting was truly phenomenal I was very impressed, I think Bo Young did a fantastic job conveying the emotions of her character.

It talks about the different personal experiences in terms of how each case is so unique, even if it's the same illness, and it was showed in a very visual and metaphorical way that almost reminded me of a theater play, though the effects looked a bit strange and inconsistent it was still so valuable and a great element that added another layer to the narrative.

I solidified my thoughts about empathy in the healthcare system, how the healing journey isn't linear, how there shouldn't be shame around the subject and how health doesn't discriminate, that we should set boundaries, how life is so much about perceptions and how our minds can become our own prison, but if we rely on our support system they can become a source of strength, to help us learn more about love and how we should always take care of ourselves.

There are some unrealistic elements as well but this show is very clear in the message that wants to convey and it's very valuable. I truly recommend!

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