Reviews

I enjoyed it. but had a few questions about the plot.

Overall I really enjoyed this drama.

I think Bae In Hyuk was miscast. I like him as an actor but the role needed somebody that was very cold in the beginning, and he doesn't have a commanding presence, he has more golden retriever energy. I still liked watching him, he is adorable and he did a good job with acting.

There were a few things in the plot that confused me:

-I don't really understand the grandfather's full motivation, why he was trying to force his grandson into getting married by pretending that his health was failing, only to have disappeared the original intended bride.

-I think I missed the full explanation of why his mother was in that room and what his grandfather was trying to accomplish.

-They don't go into who the butterfly lady is. unless they did and I missed it, but what was her motivation was for appearing and manipulating things? Was she fate or chaos?

-There were some scenes where it kind of eluded that the present Tae Ha might have had his medication tampered with, or his doctor sabotaging his treatment, but that was never followed up on.

The moon rabbit scene was absolutely one of my favorites, It made me laugh really hard.

I liked that they didn't bog things down too much with her having to learn about the future and how to use things properly. They had to spend a bit of the episodes showing her adjusting, but it didn't get too ridiculous.

And I liked Sa Wol's character, because she was very outspoken and brazen and brought some lightness to the seriousness of the main couple.

It's definitely one that I would recommend to people as an easy to watch rom-com with a little bit of historical drama thrown in.

Read More

squandered promise

I was disappointed with how Bump Up Business turned out. In the premise there was so much potential for a far richer story. There should have been three or four members of Lion Heart, not just two, and two of which are gay, two straight. And the CEO decides to publicly announce that one gay and one straight member are a couple. And then the other gay member begins to fall for the gay member in the fake couple, setting up the standard BL love triangle trope. Meanwhile, fans begin to pick up on the artificiality of their relationship, and start shipping different lion heart members together, and posting absurd, hilarious, and/or cruel content on media. The unceasing media commentary begins to strain the members of the group. Sasaengs should have stalked them at the airport, and sent gifts to their private homes, confusing the love triangle further. The story really should have been a bl romance mixed with themes of the pressures idols feel to interact with fans, idols' right to privacy, and the folly of using same-gender romance as a marketing gimmick. All of that is just one suggestion. The story needed to be twice as long -- 16 episodes. After finishing the series it feels like the writers were going to go somewhat in the direction I described, but the production ran out of money halfway through and needed to end the series in a hurry.

Read More

The ending felt weird even though it was concluded well

Jan 6, 2024

WAW, this is the first kdrama that I have finished for the new year of 2024. I really liked keeping up with this series and I didn't even realize that today would be the last episode. I feel like the story was good. It was captivating, enchanting. And I guess even though, the ending is loved by others and that it seemed complete.

I just feel like it went kinda flat for me to say the least. I guess this is the happy ending that everyone wanted. But I never realized how bad it has ended for the Joseon Tae Ha. He is literally the second male lead with a painful ending to say the least. I guess maybe I feel a lot of pity for how his story ended. But I guess that is the sacrifice that is needed so that our leads can have that happy ending that they deserve.

On a more positive note, the casts were amazing. I loved every single bits of the "villains", side couples, and our leads. The mixture of comedy, romance, and fantasy were pretty well done. I do feel like 13/14 episodes would have been better to explain certain chunks of the plots. As some felt, really fast-paced that, it almost felt like the story was jumping in a jagged way.

Cheers 🍻

Read More

Amazing performances yet messy writing

It's an interesting premise that tripped and rolled down the stairs at the last steps. This drama is good overall and the acting is amazing but the messy script in the last third brings the whole thing down.

What I liked:
***The performances. I think all of the actors gave really good performances for their characters. The main leads were great, and I especially liked Kang Seung-Ho who portrayed the grandson of the late Madam Joo.
***The soundtrack. It's nice, not overly noticeable though. I loved the intro song.
***The basic premise. If I overlook the messy details of the drama the fundamental plot is pretty interesting.
***The characters. Except for the villain and both second leads because of the flawed writing.


What I didn't like:
***Messy script/characterization in the last third of the drama.
(1.) It was an interesting decision to reveal Noh Suk Min as the main villain in the 9th episode just like that. We get to see a nice compilation of him doing his villainous deeds, and then a face reveal. Just like that, on a pretty silver platter and everything. Do the writers consider the viewers to be so dumb to not figure out who was responsible for everything? Why can't we piece everything together with the main leads? It would have been so much more interesting if we got to 'investigate' with them together. Also, Suk Min has the audacity to cry when his son and eventual victim tragically passes away due to how Suk Min was treating him? As of episode 12, we didn't get to see a close bond between the two of them to believe Suk Min's tears if they were genuine. If the tears are fake, he is not portrayed as a good actor/two-faced manipulator who has a curated persona shown to the public; he is shown as a cold and cruel person so it would be uncharacteristic to fake the tears. Whichever option doesn't make sense of the tears anyway. To me, it translates as bad writing.
(2.) The technical decision to make a whole separate episode for Gu-Won's past life instead of delivering the same information in a more elegant way. Maybe giving him wisps of dreams of how in his past life he fell in love and was made into a demon. He could have had a separate arc of finding out/trying to forget his past life with echo-y lines and foggy visuals from his dreams (you know, how people usually remember their dreams when they wake up). Mans had a whole movie play out in his mind one night instead and became conflicted about how he could be the cause of Do-Hee's downfall. This conflict could have been delivered with better writing quality and no changes to the amount of material filmed. Also, we get to see almost the same dream sequence backstory when Do-Hee remembers her past life. I can get past the first huge dream/past life backstory exposition but repeating it again and almost shot for shot? Exhausting and boring.
(3.) We are shown that after Gu-Won loses his powers his contracts are terminated, they literally burn to ashes, it's as if the wishes were never made (the little girl gets sick again). Since he got back his powers were his contracts magically restored? Why? Is this how it works? Shouldn't he make the contracts anew, the old ones burned away? I know it's nitpicky but hey, the drama should stick to its own rules.

***Stereotypical 'evil' second leads. Why do writers still rely on the drama created by second leads to drive the main romance forward? Can people truly not write good multidimensional characters that have their own story regardless of their feelings for the unattainable main leads? Both Jin Ga-Young (the dancer) and Joo Seok-Hoon (the not-really-cousin of Do-Hee) are one-dimensional 'pathetic' characters with unrequited love for their corresponding main lead. Nearing the end of the drama they come to realize that they have no chance to win over their main lead and move on, as ALWAYS with these types of characters. Uhhh. I'm just disappointed that the writers made these unsubstantial characters to drive the main leads away from each other when the main thing that is holding the second leads together is their unrequited love, warnings of how the other main lead is bad news, longing looks with eyes full of tears taped together with a few pieces of office tape.

Read More

A stellar cast comes together to deliver a flawed message

Before I get into what I loved about Part 2, I wanna touch on my overall main issue with this otherwise good drama. So getting right into it, I never expected this drama to move the needle as far as addressing the societal problems SK has that leads many to commit suicide. However, I also didn't expect the overall message to lean towards blaming the victim for doing such a "selfish" misdeed either.

Continuing from Part 1, the theme has been pretty consistent in wrapping things up in Part 2: the ML is so preoccupied with his own troubles that he didn't stop to take a look at the suffering of those around him. It is this misstep that has led him to do the very selfish act of taking his own life in the first place. After all, it's his fault for not continuing to endure his suffering for the sake of his loved ones like the rest of us. Hahaha loser. Of course I stated that in jest, but that isn't far off from what was depicted.

Let's make this clear: the ML is pretty selfish (but not for THAT reason) and has taken life for granted. However, these character flaws shouldn't have been the crutch of why he took his own life. Furthermore, he shouldn't have received punishment because of this. He couldn't see the struggles of those around him because he too was suffering. This doesn't invalidate his suffering, though. This isn't some Christmas Carol Scrooge-like situation where a nasty mean old man gets confronted with his misdeeds and is forced to change his ways or meet a grim fate. We feel empathy for the ML because he is a good person who has a hard life. Those of us who have been in the trenches of depression and suicidal thoughts know what it's like to struggle to hold on. It's not his fault for giving up.

The ML has worked hard for years only to not see the fruits of his labor because society continued to beat him while he was down. Not only that, but once he took his life, he met death who damn near guilt tripped him to hell (literally). Why? Because he's selfish. He treated "meeting death before death comes to meet him "as no big deal. He should've lived and continue to take what life throws at him. It's a good concept on paper, but in action it fails to see suicide from a broader perspective. This is not quite the message someone who has worked hard but still struggled for many years would want to hear and sadly there isn't enough positive thinking in the world that can solve deep rooted issues that society has caused. Don't get me wrong, I see the intent behind depicting the ML go through so much when he was alive, but to enter into the body of someone who got "thrown away" by his family and society (The 11th life where the salaryman loses his job he gave his youth to and his family), only to have the message remain "don't be selfish you loser! Think of your loved ones!" is hard to understand.

So, the few surface level criticisms on the pressures society place on its citizens were nice, but it never attempted to scratch beneath that layer of comfortability to get to the real uncomfortable conversations about why folks consider suicide in the first place. Of course no one's gonna call out or point the finger at the culprits and again, wasn't expecting them to. But to outright pull the victim blaming card was...a choice. There were better options to convey the point but I get the writer wanted to play it safe by doing what is considered a less controversial/ narrower depiction of suicide.

All of that out the way, I still love this drama. I'm not so jaded by life's many struggles not to enjoy every piece of content that misses the mark on depicting sensitive subject matters. The acting and cinematography were top notch. And the music, while not highlighted in every episode, was pretty good as well. Overall, there's enough to love about this drama that'll keep you tuned in. Twists and turns leading up to the finale should keep most satisfied.

Read More

who's the monster ?

"se não é para todos então não é felicidade."

"quem é o monstro?"


essas duas frases são exatamente o que define o filme como um todo. a felicidade aqui vem da pior forma, que é extremamente passageira, que parece boa demais para ficar durante muito tempo. como se os personagens não merecessem ter acesso, o que chega a ser cruel pois há personagens aqui que definitivamente deveriam ter um acesso ilimitado a ela.

sobre a segunda frase, é o que faz o filme ser tão transformador. toda a construção da narrativa durante o filme é algo hipnotizante de se acompanhar. os questionamentos que são levantados e as respostas que são obtidas a cada novo ponto de vista faz com que o filme seja um deleite de se ver. as nuances entre os personagens e as dúvidas sobre quem fez o que, ou que simplesmente deixou de fazer, e consequentemente os impactos que foram resultados dessas ações levanta um tipo de questionamento de que até qual ponto saber a verdade é o que realmente interessa ? como definir que o que aconteceu nas entrelinhas tem um valor menor do que a verdade?

eu havia visto uns paralelos comparativos com close do lukas dhont, e a minha semelhança favorita é a criação de um mundo que mistura realidade e fantasia em que nada importa além dos momentos que estão sendo criado entre duas pessoas, em que a felicidade parece ser o único sentimento possível e nada externo tem poder ali.

Read More

I wonder whether I would have been able to power through this drama had I waited and binged the whole thing. Instead, the plot and the acting are not interesting enough to sustain interest during the lengthy time between every episode's airing. I'm finally giving up and I feel that a weight has been lifted. Haha I'm free. At first the dogs were kind of cute and it was fun having a high school story revolve around the teachers rather than students. The drama was intermittently funny, especially the scenes with Yoon Hyun Soo. I also liked the actor Park Gyu-young in "Dali & the Cocky Prince" and "Romance Is a Bonus Book."

But Cha Eun-woo cannot act to save his life. Whenever he is on screen, I feel like I'm watching a brick wall, albeit a pretty and decorative brick wall with nice eyebrows. It doesn't matter whether he is running around with a sword slicing people up or putting on glasses and teaching, he looks like all he is thinking of is his skin care regime.

Read More

Am I the only one who was disappointed?

What I enjoyed
- Bong Hwan/So Yong was by far the best part of this drama for me
- the theme song was fantastic! I found myself getting so excited whenever it started playing
- whenever the Queen was in the kitchen
- Hong Yeon and Lady in waiting Choi, I became very attached to them
- Shin Hye Sun's acting!!!

What I didn't like
- how political it became a little over half way through
- the relationship between Jo Hwa Jin and Kim So Yong. I personally am very tired of seeing two women fighting over a man. I feel like that trope is extremely overused and that something else would've been fine to use as conflict.

the first bit was my favourite. It was funny and lighthearted but around episode 11 it started to get more and more politically focused and pulled me out of the story. I found myself skipping through a lot of the political bits and am now relieved that it's over. I am really surprised that this is my reaction because I was very much anticipating this. My favourite part was definitely the Shin Hye Sun's acting. She was so good and I can't wait to check out her other works!

Read More

Need To See This Version

Disclaimer: This is an edited version of my original review I posted on the cut version of this series.

This series is not for you if you don’t like paranormal story lines with a side of sci-fi. If it is, you are in for a treat.

I love this series even with the bittersweet ending. It had a great original storyline and script. The cast did an awesome job with their characters. This had a great music and beautiful cinematograph. was great and the special effects were used very strategically. I liked how they incorporated several nods to Lovely Writer in some of the earlier episodes.

Random Note:

I strongly recommend watching this version if you have access to it. As I stated in my original review, the editing of the free cut version was horrible. They cut a lot of scenes which made some of the episodes disconnected and/or confusing. The cut version had many scenes missing that were needed to help the viewers fully understand and appreciate what is going on. They also cut scenes involving the backstories of the side characters.

Read More

Stellar casting, meh drama

In the end, the casting saved the show from. An otherwise patronising show.
I'm so tired of school bullying scenes, I skipped that episode entirely.
The first half was more balanced, then it abruptly be one a crime show.
Kim Ji Hoon gets typecast as the villain too much, and his "crazy eyes routine" are not effective anymore, expecially when border parody, like in this instance.
You could tell Kim Jae Wook and Park So Dam were having a lot of fun in their part.
Oh Jung-se gets the most screen time so we get to empathise a bit more with him.
What it left in the end is the crazy moto chase and the serial killers duel.

Read More

Don't hesitate to watch this drama!

Derailment was promoted as a fantasy, mistery, romance genre but turns out It's more of a HEALING drama, the way I feel all their pains & then cherish their every touching moments... 🥲
I really love all their relationship, Qi Lian, Jiang Xiao Yuan, Xu Jin Yang, Jiang Bo 🥲❤️

What I love from Derailment is the fact that Qi Lian & Xiao Yuan's relationship has no thirdwheel, the problem is not some kind of 'stupid misunderstanding', but more of building trust, overcome mental matters, & reunite stronger than ever!

What I wish they could do with this drama:
✅️ Decrease Xiaoyuan's work story & change to their sweet flashback story instead (it deserves at least 7 episodes, not 2-3 only)
✅️ Add more mistery & thriller elements (u will know it's that good when u see Huo Boyu!)
✅️ Reveal the last plot twist for the last 2 ep to keep the excitement
✅️ Make a plot twist at the last episode, but I wish it will still a clear HE just like now!

But whatever the minus from this drama is, I still think that the rating is still too low for the drama,, Be real now, there are soooo many worse boring drama get better rating I'm in pain seeing the rating!

Positive things about this drama:
✅️ Quite many plot twist
✅️ Thriller scenes are quite good too (Huo BoYu acting is superb!)
✅️ Slowburn romance but so many memorable sweet romance scenes
✅️ Excellent FL acting, I mean, very very very excellent!

All of this reason is enough to enjoy this drama to it's fullest, so don't hesitate watching this drama without thinking too much about other opinions...!

I will personally add tags for the genre: #sliceoflife #healingdrama

Read More

A Journey to Love is one of the best wuxia productions that, even if the screenwriter, producer, and director turned delusional in the last eight minutes of the grandiose last episode, it does not take away from the fact that it is one of the best period legend dramas in matters of cinematography, costumes, writing, and a strong, smart, and passionate cast that has one of the best written dynamics in complex human interactions. This drama is fast paced and due to the fact that it has multiple leading characters, there’s never a dull moment. The audience is pulled into the plot and gets totally invested in the main characters and some great supporting characters as well. Although the plot deals with revenge and justice seeking themes, the story is really a beautiful and bittersweet tale about friendship, loyalty, romance, and the fine line between what is right or wrong in order to achieve justice. The main cast did an excellent job bringing their complex and ambivalent characters into life. And lets talk a bit about the extraordinary leading couple; the strong, smart, stiff, and frigid female assassin Ren Ru Yi / Ren Xin (played by Liu Shi Shi) an the intelligent, enigmatic, and resolute strategist Ning Yuan Zhou (played by Liu Yu Ning) which met by coincidence and found themselves working together for mutual benefits and, in the process of leading Wu's State's escort delegation to save the King of Wu who has been taken hostage by the State of An, formed a partnership based on mutual respect and understanding that leads to a steadfast and beautiful love story. SPOILER ALERT:
Now to the end, what were they thinking? This is one of the rare dramas in which a tragic ending is written in a beautiful and mesmerizing way making it clear to the audience that the leading couple gave their all, saved many lives, and fulfilled their promise to live and die together. [After sustaining multiple injuries, the leading man was pierced all around his waist by nine spears, all at the same time, with blood gushing out while she says in despair: “You broke your promise again.” Then the leading lady goes to the Beipan enemy encampment, gathers all the leaders in a tent and, as she killed the Prince, she closes her eyes and, in her thoughts, she says: “Yanzhou. You’re gone. It’s too lonely for me… in the world.” Then she immediately throws two of Yuan Lu’s bombs and the tent bursts into flames following the blast.] So, why giving the audience the implausible ideas that they survived, had children, and are living their dreamed life? How ridiculous!!!!! If the audience stops at the 40 minute mark of the last episode before they announced: [Ten or so years later], it will avoid ending up scratching its head, in disbelief!

Read More