Reviews

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

First off, I want to preface this by saying that I had (kind of) high expectations for this series - I've seen it recommended EVERYWHERE. And then I watched Only Friends and FirstKhaotung were amazing in it and I just got more excited to watch this one.
It didn't, unfortunately, live up to what I was imagining (or hoping for). Here are my thoughts:

- The story (which was kind of the main selling point for this series) is incredibly weak and flimsy. They do a great job the first episodes at pulling you in and making you wonder what the hell is going on at the school: why is the principal so strict? Why do they run the school like an authoritarian regime? What is the curse and what does it entail? What does 'The eclipse' mean? Who is Ayan? ---- These are all great questions. Having watched the entire thing, though, I can confidently say that the answers to all of them are so frustratingly simple it actually hurts my soul. The curse wasn't a curse, it was fabricated (obviously). The eclipse is just there for the aesthetics. The school is strict because they are old, repressed and angry. Ayan is a sad kid with uncle issues. That's it.
The protests against the school's leadership are so unimportant and have so little effect it's almost funny. We are TOLD (not shown) that they are a big deal and it's impacting the school's reputation, but throughout the series we only see the same three guys weakly yelling dumb shit and holding up signs. Honestly, they couldn't have found less threatening people to be the face of a student revolution. Also, why only THREE? Did GMMTV run out of extras to cast? Do gays with signs pose such a threat in this fictional universe??
- Unlikeable characters. As it turns out, Akk was the one behind the curse. You're telling me he was trying to harm students into silence by dropping flower pots on them and setting things on fire?? Are we supposed to be okay with this?? Same with Thua - but I'll talk about him later on. Akk doesn't end up publicly owning up to what he's done, and he doesn't suffer the consequences of his actions. What he did is only discovered when Thua outs him in front of everyone, and even then Akk's friends save his sorry ass. Akk also turns a blind eye to Ayan's actions (when he knows he's stirring the pot and instigating the protests), while being incredibly strict with the rest of the students and essentially being a massive tool.
- And now onto Thua. OKAY. I am MAD about this one. See, by episode 10 he was my favorite character. He was nice, and shy, but was concerned about the rest of the students and saw the flaws in the system, and tried to distance himself from it. His scenes with Khan were also adorable. And THEN they felt the need for some drama, and of course they had to ruin the only good character in the fucking show. Of course. Turns out he's also doing shit to scare everyone into obedience, and was responsible for the more extreme acts directed against the trio leading the protests. He also randomly outs Akk and Ayan to the entire school and board of professors?? Because that's needed I guess??? This was not it. This is character assassination and oh my God, do I dislike it--oh. Now everything's okay and no one remembers and Khan forgives him and they're together? Nice! I guess I'll forget everything he did then!

In conclusion: I am so tired of this. They could have done better. First and Khaotung's chemistry is so much better than this. This is a problem I see with a lot of Thai BLs, they try to innovate and have more dramatic storylines but forget to actually develop said storylines and live up to the hype they themselves create. It's disappointing, honestly.

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"Zeicho: Haraenai ni wa Wake ga Aru" is a procedural drama about city tax collectors with a lot of comedy and heart. These types of procedurals (where there are episodic stories that eventually connect into an overarching storyline for the characters) can be a little stale if not done right, but the comedic tone and wholesome energy of "Zeicho" makes this one enjoyable. Aiba and Domeki make a fun, if not, predictable pair, all thanks to Kikuchi Fuma's over-the-top goofball energy and Yamada Anna's ability to really hold her own against it all. The human stories are interesting, if not sometimes complex, but the drama does a decent job of demystifying it all for the audience. It's hard not to root for the team as they work as upstanding government workers who want to make sure everyone is paying their taxes to serve and support everyone. Truly a fun and wholesome drama once you can get past the heavy tax law lingo. Kikuchi really makes this one as I didn't know what they were doing casting him in this role, and now I get it. What fun! :)

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Each friend brings their own strength to this group of young women

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2016 Chinese drama series with 42, 45 minute episodes.

First I provide a Unique Synopsis then review

Synopsis

The story is about five women who all live on the 22nd floor of an apartment building called “Ode to Joy”. Three of the five are roommates sharing an apartment and are existing residents when two, much more successful, career women move in. What evolves is a five way friendship where each has their own unique qualities to bring to the friend group. Some start out not liking each other but as life happens and they come together to deal with things they learn to appreciate their differences as well as their similarities.

The Five Women:

*Andy (Liu Tao) - 31 years old. Lived as an orphan abroad but builds herself up to be a sought after financial adviser. She returned to China to find the brother she was separated from when they were children. She does not physical touch and her only close friend is also her boss. Despite her aloofness she is actually kind and caring. The other women break through her icy exterior and find her to be the most logical and capable person to go to in times of crisis.

*Fan Shengmei (Jian Xin) - 30 years old. She is a highly skilled human resource professional. As the oldest of the 3 roommates she is often consulted in life matters. Her family is a black hole if financial requests which has led her to look for a wealthy husband to escape her financial worries. This makes others perceive her in a bad light at times.

*Qu Xiaoxiao (Wang Ziwen) - 24 years old. Her father is a wealthy businessman and she is slumming it to create some independent space. She was a hard partying girl with a band of groupies, until her friendship with the other women on floor 22 decreased her desire to hit the clubs all the time. If you want the pure unvarnished truth she is the go to. If you have a problem she likely knows someone that can apply just the right kind of pressure. Her unfailing honesty rubs people the wrong way at times.

*Qiu Yingying (Yang Zi) - 23 years old. Comes from a smaller town and is in the big city for better opportunity. She works standard office and retail jobs. She can be naive but has a temper when crossed. Very chipper and positive most of the time. She is a go to for someone to cheer you up.

*Guan Juner (Qiao Xin) - 22 years old. She is best friends with Yingying. She works at a company on an internship where she hopes to become permanent. She is very quiet and earnest.

Review

If you like dramas about groups of friends, this is a very good drama for that. It is lighter on romance as many of the relationships do not end well or never start. The dynamics between the women make for a very enjoyable series. It ends abruptly on some of the story lines and it is clear they planned for additional season(s). It ends overall on a happy note.

Spoilers

Andy appeared to have very high functioning autism. They make it out that she has some scary hereditary disorder like schizophrenia but all the symptoms point to autism. The brother also appears to have autism just of a more severe form. I thought her split with Qi Dian (Zu Feng) was sad because I thought he was very good for her. I understood her point and her test to see if he had a deep seated fear she would go crazy was valid. The live commenters when I watched the show were vicious to Qi Dian they thought he was too pushy with her to the point of being creepy. With her disorder I thought his firm nudging was appropriate.

Shengmei may have had her reasons but I did very much agree with Xiaoxiao that she was a gold digger. She was smart enough she should have known none of those men would marry her. So it was hard to watch her allow them to humiliate her. I was glad when she finally realized it was not all about the money.

XiaoXiao was my favorite. Yeah she could be a harsh critic and her honesty was often brutal but she was a force of nature. I loved when she decided she liked Zhao Qiping (Wang Kai) and the determined way she romantically pursued him. She was clear she liked his looks and there was no swoony first love vibe to it. She wanted him at first site but liked him after they spent time together. Other characters were mad at her for saying this or that but I found she said what really needed to be said.

I was a little mad at Guan Juner over her getting hung up on Dr Zhao after the mist limited contact. I thought the minute she found out he was Xiaoxiaos love interest that should have been the end of it.

I was annoyed how abruptly it ended. I do not like unfinished storylines as additional seasons can fall through.

#OdeToJoy

#LiuTao

#JianXin

#WangZiwen

#YangZi

#QiaoXin

#ZuFeng

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Too long, but still good overall

Damn. I finished this. The middle and the last couple episodes were… long, and I admit that I skipped a ton to get ahead. I think 35 episodes would have sufficed to tell the story; I don’t know why it was nearly 50😭.

HaoYan is indeed an incredible couple. Hao Du is like a pillar, a rock, that’s always been there to protect her. I think it’s because he was also so consistently there that she kind of didn’t think more of it. The competition changed everything though 😏. Even when their feelings weren’t as strong, his highest priority was ensuring her safety, something Wei Shu Yu simply didn’t do. He was so useless in general: losing Le Yan, losing the Crown Prince, losing Chang Ge, not speaking up when he should (Le Yan confessing her love and letting her think he accepts her feelings only to sister-zone her???) etc. Hao Du had to clean up WSY mess, AND he would die for Le Yan, and gladly so (as we see when he joins the competition for her marriage, he does so because he didn’t want her to marry someone she didn’t love – even if it meant she would reject him). Both Le Yan and Hao Du grew over the course of the show, they matured and learned to communicate their feelings and how to trust one another.

I also enjoyed Chang Ge’s and Ashile Sun’s relationship. They were each other’s safe place, and a very smart, calculated couple. It was nice to see them have some sweet moments towards the end of the show.

What I didn’t like:

- The camera work and editing felt very sloppy and unflattering sometimes. Very disappointed in that department. How do you make Dilireba, Wu Lei, Liu Yu Ning or Zhao Lu Si look kinda bad? And why would you waste pretty scenes with a weird light??? Shining brighter than the sun damn.

- The show was too long, and I really didn’t care about the Ashile tribe. I liked A’Sun, but the whole tribe and its inner politics?😬 After a while, I got tired of it, and I also felt like those parts of the middle dragged the most.

Overall, a really nice show that shines due to its stellar acting, great costumes and sets, and amazing music that underlines every situation perfectly. It should have been a little shorter though, and the camera work/editing could have been better….!

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Cute but it´s not very longlasting feeling

Very nice and cute story about two coworkers. Maybe a special episode in the future would be great because the story itself was really basic. I feel like if there were maybe more dialogues it would be better. I get that it needed to be basic, cute, and short but that's all it was - basic, cute, and short.
Acting was accurate. The story itself wasn't bad either but I wouldn't call it drama or a series. It was a nice short story, which could be easily portrayed in one film. And I think, that then it would be more acceptable, that the scenario was this light and basic.

I feel like it´s that type like when once you watch it, it loses your interest.

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Deep, yet very hartwarming story

The drama is so well filmed. The whole story was perfectly portrayed by the actors, however, I was kind of triggered by those unending crying scenes (they just were there, no spoiling).
If you are planning to watch this drama, it's probably not a secret that it´s overall a pretty sad story. Whether it´s the heart condition problems or the love between the main couple.
Anyway, I liked how they uniquely portrayed every relationship. I mean...it wasn't cringe (mostly parent-child relationships are portrayed like that)

I would highly recommend this show mostly to girls in their teen ages or in their early 20s (close to the characters' age)
P.S. Be ready to laugh, cry, smile, fangirl over the main cast and be ready for everything

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Found family and friendship matter far more than blood ties, series brought up a lot of emotions

This is simply a great family drama. A story where found family and friendship matter far more than blood ties. I loved-to-bits the relationship between the three youngsters as they grow up, between themselves and with their father figure. The various arcs of the series were well-built and developped, with maybe a less inspired last act which could have been better balanced than a succession of misfortunes.

I loved the main characters and the actors and actress really brought likeability into their roles. They had a good chemistry together and you felt the change and shift in their relationships over time. It was very pure and satifsfying with a lot of looks and attentions from both boys toward the girl. The cast playing the older generation did also a good job, I really disliked some of their characters which mean they did a good job portraying them. The "villain(s)" of the series are really ennemies you hate, I could not manage to gather an ounce of sympathy for them as they were (or at least one of the "antagonist") unredeamable in my eyes and not worth of any redemption. Some of the secondary roles were more averagely played but it was ok in overall.

I enjoyed a lot the production value. There are a lot of cooking scenes that are very appealing as well as some striking and memorable moments for many of the relationships. The OST is beautiful: it is sad and nostalgic but very pretty at the same time, it is tugging your heart strings. The opening and ending generics are great and unskippable but you really need to listen to it without watching the images in order to avoid spoiling yourself (which I managed to avoid fortunately).

I would recommend this to people looking for a great family drama. There are quite a lot of characters and they take their time to develop each of them. It is a very satisfying watch which can brought a lot of emotions. The ending was a bit tiring in terms of scenario for the last arc and a bit too quick at the same time. I would have loved a smoother landing but I was not disappointed in any case.

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More Or Less...

Only Episodes 5 in and...

This would have been better had there been no hint of romance whatsoever as it seemed too sudden and undeveloped to be believable and ideal had there been more of the creature or creatures in the making.

Nothing like a good action fantasy series with a touch of drama and lots of fighting scenes in my opinion.

The ML isn't like he is with some of his other character roles and comes across as a bit "weak in the knees " for a person that survived poverty and living on the streets whereas the FL plays her part really well. I think he is meant to be like that, but it would have been better if he wasn't so giddy around the female like a school boy with a puppy crush.

Some of the fighting scenes are cool ONLY I wish there were lots of them.

I found that I fast forwarded parts here and there from the very first episode which isn't something I normally do when giving a series a fair go, but I did it as something either irked me, bored me or wasn't good enough to hold my attention. Parts like: The ML acting like a wide eyed puppy dog, one or two military scenes and parts that seemed to go on longer than they probably should have.

It isn't too bad, but isn't what I expected so will see how the rest pans out for part 1 before entertaining the idea of part 2 on its release in January 2024.

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The Best BL Ever

I've never seen or watched a BL series like this since I started my interest in BL series. This is Epic!!
The plot or storyline is amazingly layout where it makes you want to know more. 60 to 83 minutes too short. Seems like 60 to 83 seconds!! That's show how amazing they tell story to the viewers. Every each episode has its continuation or link to another story or scene which I believe it is brilliant.
The Director of this series really looks into every details that make each episode connected to one another without fail ... brilliant. The CGI.... the quality, I must say equally Hollywood style. Amazing.
The actors and actresses, they are perfect for their characters.... indeed.
The chemistry between the two ML, they are excellent.
Bottomline this is my kind of BL series I love to invest my time in. This is big time Epic.

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2 weak 2 die

The drama had no right or reason to get the full 16-episode lengthy runtime. Zooming out to look at the drama as a whole, they turned a movie plot into a fully-fledged 18+ hours of redundant episodes. This was quite apparent, watching the writer struggling immensely at every turn. It's also why the writer incorporated cheap antics to get around the plot, the worst of which were the cowardly sneaked-in time-skips, a deplorable trope. Anyway, the writer must have been wearing his clown costume while scripting the last episode. This drama had no respect for the viewers or their time. We were promised an oasis but we were left stranded in the desert.

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Glad I watched until the end

When I first started watching Search: WWW I thoroughly enjoyed it. Towards the middle the romances that were developing were somewhat frustrating. However, once I let go of wanting the leads to stop with their angst and get together I was okay.

I loved the surprise ending. Seeing three strong career minded women able come out on top without compromising their integrity was a win win for me. The best payoff was getting back at the mother in law. It was difficult as I watched the daughter in law be treated as the MIL’s dog; and satisfying to also watch the dog bite its master.

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Awesome Wuxia drama with a disappointed ending. I would rate higher if it has a better ending.

"A Journey to Love" is a Wuxia drama starting Liu Shi Shi (Cecilia Liu), Liu Yu Ning, Alen Fang, Chen You Wei, He Lan Dou, and Wang Yi Zhe.

The Synopsis: Female assassin Ren Ru Yi, the former left envoy of the Scarlet Guards, becomes a member of the Wu State's escort delegation to save the King of Wu, who has been taken hostage by the State of An. Together with Ning Yuan Zhou, the leader of the Wu State's Six Realms Hall, the free-spirited Yu Shi San, Princess Yang Ying, clever teen Yuan Lu, and the imperial guard Qian Zhao, they experience love, life, death, and grow together.

I enjoyed the drama, and all cast members' acting is undeniably good, especially Cecilia Liu, the FL. Liu Yu Ning did a decent job as ML as well.

I also like He Lan Dou; she did a better job in this drama than in "Tiger and Crane." The kung fu fighting scenes were good, except for the last 5 episodes, where some of the fighting scenes were unrealistic, like in the WRTW drama.

I was going to give it an 8.5 rating, but I am downgrading it to 8.0 because I didn't like the ending where Ning Yuan Zhou and his comrades were all killed, which was a big disappointment.

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A Truly Beautiful Drama

Okay, now I understand why this drama has such high ratings.

It truly deserves even more than that. It was beautifully crafted with a compelling storyline, the best chemistry and romance between the leads, heart-wrenching moments, and a flawless OST, scoring a perfect 10/10. I could go on and on about how awesome this drama is. Each episode feels like a little emotional journey that sticks with you. It's not just a show; it's like living these moments with the characters.

However, one minor drawback was the occasional repetitiveness, particularly in certain scenes. There were too many small breakups and goodbyes, which at times felt excessive. Additionally, their relationship seemed somewhat toxic and manipulative after some point. Following a breakup, they would reconcile as if nothing had happened, without addressing the issues that occurred, honestly I found that frustrating.

Not every relationship is perfect, and in the end, it was sufficient that their love made sense and was convincing. After numerous tears, the show is finally finished.

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Getting second chance in 30s

My second Aoharu already tells the brief of the story by its title. Sayako is a 30s woman who once gave up on her dream. Until one day, she met Taku, 10 years younger male than her, who advised her to give another shoot for her dream.

This dorama is really refreshing. Once again, the concept of sharing house is still a good idea. Throughout the episode, we are served with the brief and harsh reality of workers nowadays, college life, and the beauty of friendship and love. Despite of the number of characters, they were portrayed beautifully along with their backstories.

Taku and Sayako's love story is also well-done depicted. One of the refreshing age gap doramas, since it is a love story between young and adult collegers. The thing I love about their relationship is they are growing and supporting each other. They also advised each other. And the best thing, they resolve the misunderstanding by having good communication. I love sometime Taku would be mad when he was still considered as a kid. Even he is still young, he knows himself the best. Both Alice (I really love with her facial expression) and Micchi really did well with their characters.

Another typical ending with the promise of marriage. Also, the OST from Naniwa Danshi is cute and makes you want to sing along.

Give a shot if you don't mind with age gap romance with the spark of youth story.

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Beautifully Decorated Cake That’s Missing Flavor

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this series was ok. Although it’s not a new concept, I still appreciated the attempted. It failed with the executed and something got lost in the mix. One problem is the pacing was a little off. There were some sections that felt rushed and disjointed. This caused some scenes to make no sense. Then we get sections with long useless scenes that are there as filler screentime. One example is there were too many flashback scenes in episode 5 and 6. There were also some weird scene placements which added to the story disconnect. Another problem is the script has many weak elements. Once again, there were one too many story elements/conflict scenarios for a 6-episode series. All the storylines were messily incorporated and received half-baked out-comes. Considering most of the cast is still relatively new, the acting was ok. I normally don’t single out actors, but Ohm unfortunately didn’t do a great job with his character. He didn’t show that much range of emotions with Shin. The cinematography and locations were stunning. However, it had some poor background music choices which did not match the mood of the scene.

Random Notes:

The two opening credits in episode 2-6 was weird.

Product placement was ok with one exception. In the middle of the 4th episode and during a very important scene, it turned into a Toyota commercial. This killed the overall significance of a scene between Shin and Peach.

If you are new to my reviews, I’m fascinated by seeing familiar location used in different series. The location for Peace’s house was also used in the series “Shadow” (Dan’s childhood home), “Sing Again” (Piano’s childhood home), “Mama Gogo” (Annie’s house), and in “21 Days Theory” (Q’s house). Yes, I acknowledge I'm a nerd for this.

******Potential Spoiler Alert******

On a positive note, this had a happy ending. However, it was rushed with everyone forgiving each other.

I wish they had just focused on one- or two-story elements that showed the character backgrounds, relationship development between the main leads, and friendship developments between all of the characters.

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