Reviews

Came for Veronica Park, but ended up getting angry with the ML and dropped it.

I came to this drama due to Kim Jae Kyung having fallen in love with her as Veronica Park(eyay-oh) in The Secret Life of y Secretary.
The premise was good. A struggling vet saves the pompous CEO after he's stabbed. It had the makings of Kdrama gold.
Although it would have, were it not for Sung Hoon's one-dimensional character with zero character development - so much so that halfway through the penultimate episode (ep 6 out of 7) I couldn't take it any more. He was a toxic walking red flag and what made it worse was that Jae Kyung's character started to have feelings for him (they were in a contract relationship), despite him belittling her and controlling what she could and can't do, let alone who she could see. If her male friend spoke to her, he'd get mad. Like I said, walking red flag.
The hope I had of a redemption story just didn't come - I'm guessing I've missed on seeing this, but surely you'd want to see little signs of him changing, and her realising her self-worth.
So, to curb my frustration, I had to drop this as it stopped being enjoyable for me, which is a shame because of Kim Jae Kyung :(.
Thankfully there are only seven, 45-minute episodes on Viki if you want to try it. Other people rave about it.

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Love TJC, Love TJC's voice

Total fluff out of a lovesick teenage girl's play book. ML's a full time doctor, a voice actor at least part time, sings like an idol, cooks like a chef, speaks like a therapist AND never dated. He'll love this girl for years only based on her voice and music without knowing what she looks like but thankfully she's equally hot and pure. That characterization right there already puts this drama in the unplausible fluff category.

It's a very slow & mellow drama with uninteresting interactions between the leads but both are good looking.
The supporting couple is cute too.
Both couples are with significant age gap and maturity gap making the relationships even more unbelievable. Age gap is not noticeable when both people are working, but one is in college & one's been working. Even when the age gap is not a big deal the maturity gap feels huge.

TJC fans will probably watch just to hear his voice. Most of the time this drama feels like a one giant cooking music video.

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Uplifting

I've seen this three times now. At 32 minutes, it's a beautiful pick-me-up for down days. Every time I see it, I find new interconnections in its meaning. The plot is simple enough but everything else intertwines.

This is a small gem with many facets. One of the characters, Kei, is a painter whose home is filled with "her" work (a commenter on youtube credits them to Takuya Sugiyama). They're dynamic and vibrant and make a great setting for this story about creativity, authenticity and belief in oneself. Their confidence is everywhere in the flat. Kei is likewise visually striking, beautiful, stylish and charismatic.

Riko, the other main character, is in contrast to all of this. She is shy, inexperienced and still struggling to find her voice as a writer and, in many ways, who she really is herself.

Together they tell a gentle love story between two women, emphasising how the support of another can help you find confidence in yourself. It's ultimately about taking risks, both in love and art. As befits a story about a visual artist, there's a beautiful, sensuous love scene too, one many directors could learn from.

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50 hours long but worth it

This is the first time I've written a review here. I am so appreciative of the reviews on MDL and the time people take to write them, so I wanted to do my part and encourage people to watch this excellent drama! Fifty hours for a single drama (100 half-hour episodes) seemed intimidating, but this show is very binge-worthy! The story flows so well, with so many moving parts all fitting neatly together, I just kept clicking on the next episode.

The drama centers on the Song family and their neighbors at Yongju market, where the family has a fried chicken shop. While the series abounds in staples of a kdrama rom-com (a contract relationship, fake girlfriend, lost sibling, and an imposter relative, etc, etc), the characters were incredibly well-written and relatable, with realistic problems.

The family members include:
Patriarch Song Young Dal: generous and good-hearted (though a skinflint with the family budget), he carries a burden of guilt from childhood for leaving his sister when they were orphaned and he was unable to care for her.

Mother Jang Ok Boon: hot tempered yet fiercely protective of her children, three of whom are still living at home.

Oldest child and only son Song Joon Sun, a stuntman who has inherited his father's good heart. His generous impulses have ruined him financially and wrecked his marriage.

Oldest daughter Song Ga Hee, who left her cheating husband and is struggling to support her son.

Middle daughter Song Na Hee, a pediatrician with her husband Yoon Gyu Jin in the same profession. Her parents are very proud of her career and stable marriage, and consider her the most successful of their children. However, not all is as it seems.

Youngest daughter Song Da Hee, who is engaged to a fiancé with social and financial advantages. Here as well things don't turn out quite as expected.

Everyone has obstacles to overcome and issues to resolve., and manages to grow working through these personal challenges as the story goes on.

I would say Song Na Hee and her husband Yoon Gyu Jin are the primary characters. Their marriage is strained by life events and affected by their poor communication. Song Na Hee is whip smart, logical and emotionally distant. Yoon Gyu Jin is popular and friendly but not very mature. Their love story is touching and painful. You really feel for both of them.

My favorite romance by far is that of Da Hee, the youngest daughter, and Yoon Jae Suk, who is actually Yoon Gyu Jin's brother. They are both lovable goofballs. Their love story is so cute and quite a counterpoint to Na Hee and Gyu Jin, as they seem so attuned to each other's feelings and so kind and supportive of each other. I just loved it and admit I went back and re-watched all their scenes. They were just so hilarious together.

There are many other minor characters with their own story lines, all entertaining and nicely integrated into the overall plot. The humor was fantastic, and the actors were so well cast.

OST: I really liked the music, and I normally don't even pay attention to the sound track at all. I actually downloaded two of the songs: Love is Danger by Raina & Song Yu Vin, and Spring Breeze by Lee Moon See.

I rated the show 9.5 - some of the storylines were a little predictable, or too neatly tied up in the end, so not a perfect 10.

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Yes, Yes and YES

This season was definitely better than season one. All couples were splendid but you’ll definitely like two of three the best. The kisses were delicious and well done except for one of the main couple (who has the dude that looks just like seungmin from stray kids) who gave stiff kisses but where they lacked in kissing they had some of the sweetest moments giving us everything else.
The show itself had good plots but I will say there was too much screen time for a certain character and it wouldn’t have been bad if only the writers and directors divulged and explored that certain storyline further. I still have many unanswered questions.
The actual editing of the show could have been a lot better. There were several scenes where you could see the boom mic and choppy editing with certain scenes where you can tell they were from several different takes.
Other than that everything else was well done. Especially the casting! So glad they got to explore and do more with the storyline and script this time around. Hopefully we’ll get more in the future!!!

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I didn’t enjoy this drama, I suffered it

I'll start by saying that it's not a bad show. In fact, it keeps you hooked to see what comes next. And I loved the chemistry between the three couples.

But I have so many things to say about this, so let me start with a question: is this about a journalist who doesn't understand the importance of good communication? Really?

Isn't discernment (the ability to evaluate what is good, and what is bad) one of the essential skills of a journalist? However, the female lead blindly followed the awful advice she got from her best friend. Did she really believe that starting a relationship with lies and pretending was going to have positive results in the future? I think that's what bothered me the most about this series.

And I really hated the friend. With so many tricks, secrets and lies in her relationships, she didn't deserve a happy ending.

Another thing that annoyed me was that sometimes the FL was very bold and when he responded, she ran away like a scolded puppy.

Now, let's talk about the second female lead. She was so cute and persistent. I understand that the idea was to fight for what you want, but to what extent do you have to “beg for love”? To what extent do you give up your dignity to try to attract someone who is not interested in you, even pretending to be something you are not? Was the idea to pursue him until he accepted out of exhaustion? In any case, I liked the evolution of her character, going from a shallow girl to a woman with interests and goals.

On the other hand, there are the three male characters, which I thought were good, and I loved how they looked together in one of the scenes in the lasts chapters.

The ML was pretty deadpan, but I guess that's how the character was written. The teacher was my favorite, with his serenity. The third, who carried a certain sadness within him, matured as the plot progressed.

Another issue that bothered me about the series has to do with journalism. I don't know what it's like in China, but as a journalist, you don't give the interviewee the draft of the interview to approve, unless it's an advertorial. You're also not afraid to interview someone because you might suddenly fall in love if you get to know him better. This is just a professional interview, not a date.

In any case, it is better not to analyze these professional issues too much and enjoy the drama.

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Worth Watching for Just One Role

As much as I enjoyed the drama, it was mostly for just the Din character played by Mike Angelo. It's not unusual for a teenager to go through many emotional turmoils but Mike made this boy real and nuanced.

The storyline was captivating, and I noticed Thai dramas often strive for more original scenarios. However, it was unusual that I cared for only one character, while the rest were annoying.

***My general reflections. Spoilers galore so don't read if you don't want to know***

Before Darakan marries she has an illegitimate son Jang by another man. She leaves him in a shrine, where she visits him frequently, while her legitimate son Din is left behind. Although by the end of the series it's said that she tried to love them both (because it's a rule in Asian dramas to forgive your parents no matter how bad they are) throughout the series we see she really didn't love Din, and whenever she showed any concern for him it was either out of duty or guilt. Esp. when we compare her behaviour towards Jang when he comes to live with them. We can see that the things she does for him, like personally cooking, decorating his room, throwing a party for his friends etc. etc. she never did for Din. And she does it in front of him not even once stopping to think how indelicate it is. Even when she does something for Din, like when trying to separate Jang from his girlfriend, it's not to make Din really happy, but because she worries Din's relationship with Jang could worsen. She's very happy seeing her husband accepting Jang as his own son and giving him a major position in the company, and not even once she worries how her other son will take it. Whats more, she didn't see it fit to find 5 minutes to talk to her other son and explain that he has a brother who will be joining them. Din learnt about it in the most awful way, and since he loved her he didn't even want to believe it was true because he didn't want to think about her as an easy woman. By the end, we see how she worries that Jang is in grave danger but doesn't try to stop Din when he's going to put himself in the same danger to save his brother for his mother. So every time Darakan says she loves Din or loves both her sons equally it comes off as hypocrisy, and I'm not surprised Din doesn't even want to listen to it.

Din takes it all really badly and grows up as a messed teenager. However, under the violent surface there's a loving, caring and loyal boy ready to do anything for the people he loves. Whenever it really matters he's selfless towards his father, mother, and Dongyiwa. At the same time his "better" brother is very quick to turn against anyone, including his girlfriend, over the smallest misunderstandings.

It's ironic that Din is again and again accused of being inconsiderate, while he's always the first to stop and think how others must feel. Even when standing in front of the dilemma of getting rid of Jang his biggest concern is it'd make his mother sad because she loves Jang so much. Neither Jang nor his mother ever do something like that for him unless pointed out by others, and often not even then.

Thus said, I wasn't crazy about Jang character even though it was the main role. He was nice to everybody because it's how he was raised but he wasn't that much better than Din. We can see it when he turns as violent as Din messing up the company's contract, or when he defends his friends who beat up Din, even though one of them was kicking a bleeding person on the ground. All he had to say was that his friends didn't know Din was his brother. Unlike Din, however, he's given many chances. And whenever he fails he can try again with the support of others. Din never gets a chance to do anything, no matter how hard he tries.

Then there is Dongyiwa, a girl both brother fall for. First Din, and it seems for a moment like they might hit it off, but then she meets Jang and it's clear which brother she prefers. I mostly found her annoying. Din liked her because it seemed like they could be honest with each other, to which she pays him with such an amount of dishonesty, leading him on and misusing for her father's or Jang's benefit that it's really sorry to watch. To top it off she considers herself a martyr who has to spend time with Din against her will, as if she couldn't just tell him that she doesn't care for him 20 episodes earlier. In the end she just accuses Din of not really loving her but only wanting her to win a rivalry with his brother, which is neither true nor fair considering he told her he liked her long before he even knew he had a brother and how respectful he was towards her feelings once he knew them.

As much as Dongyiwa and Din had some chemistry, I found her romance with Jang lukewarm, so I didn't care about their ending. I wish for a better ending for Din though, because Teresa is just a random leftover from his brother while Din is a character who deserves real love.

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best family drama who leaves me crying ...

It turned out one of my fav drama. Acting skills , cast , and all are perfect.? The song also beautiful ,melts my heart?. This drama is too relatable to us and heart touching. There is a lot funny moments ,it rememberes us of our childhood. I really liked this drama. You can watch this without any doubt .
Their childhood days are really memorable and enjoyable .
I started watching this drama because of my fav actor steven zhang, now i'm in love with this drama. I don't want this to end , but all good things has to come an end .
this drama tells us how the small incidents in family leaves a great significance in childs psycology ...

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Do not hesitate because of rating

I just finished the drama and I love it more now, than when I started. I am so glad I did not dropped it just because it rated at only 8.0 on Mydramalist. I continue just because of the wonderful casts and my beliefs in them delivering their best. It didn’t disappoint. The acting were superb, the dialogues were engaging and at times captivating, the story was interesting and satisfying.
Sure it has some flaws in the last few episodes, where some scenes seemed jumpy and some matters were not properly explained. But the whole story makes up for the small imperfections. Congratulations to the production house and its crew for an excellent drama.
While I do love Yang Hua & Qin Shi together, I actually secretly don’t mind if Qin Shi ended up with Tao Junhui. LZF is excellent as TJ. His uncomfortableness every single time YH name was brought up by whoever are just so well done. TJ and QS interactions with each other were just next level, its like they understood each other beyond the spoken words.
But of course YH and QS are the ultimate couple, who wouldn’t want a partner like that, who supports you not only at home but at work too. YH unconditional love is just what a person like QS needs.
I love the bosses Chen & Hui, both their kindness and meanness. Li Dai to me is annoying. She seeks too much help in her work from others. Qin Shi is always the better lawyer than her, but her character adds flavor to the story so I can live with that, just like all the family and office members.
Its so unfair and sad that the drama rating is not higher than 8 .

Can we have a two hour movie please to satisfy our unfulfilled desires to watch more of YH & QS ? ;)

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no storyline + great cast = total mess

This drama is really cute and enjoyable until ep 8 till they started dating but after this there is nothing more than continuation of gazing at each other , laughing , cooking and eating , dating . the male lead who is doctor and voice dubbing actor who did not even have time for his own sleep but has time for dating .
This drama is more than unrealistic , a normal college girl got her idol as her boyfriend who is not only famous but also gentle , handsome , rich , knows to cook , he is in excellence in everything . i did not even like the fact that they fall for each other just because of their voices ,,,
I also don't like that female lead Always sees male lead as her idon not as her boyfriend and say yed to everything to him , i really do not like naive girls ...

as for the rest cast , all of these has a very easy going life like a dream with no hardships , in which although some has their company and are doctors but still they are free to do anything ...

although i like acting of cast members but it is a hollow shell in which there is nothing to watch , we are not watching dramas just to see someone dating and kissing ..

i love dramas which are quite realistic and shows true face of society and hardship ...

as a big fan of tan jianci , i try to hold myself till now but i am really disappointed ...lets see him again in future .....

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Vampire Diaries

The poorly written prologue wasn't a good sign going into this drama. The leads didn't develop their relationship naturally, most of what we got to signify their romance was long dreamy stares. That's pure lazy writing. This what their romance was based off which made it hard to care about their romance, let alone their unmatched chemistry. If we were to ignore the romance, then we are left with the vampires which were equally lacking. The pacing of the storyline seemed uneven, resulting in moments of sluggishness followed by rushed progress. The bad guy barely showed up in the first half. Although I didn't expect much but the ending was just too boring.

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Political intervention

A boring start, it certainly took some time to get going. Even then, it wasn't a smooth sailing after that. Whenever the drama managed to pick up a good momentum, they shove in a massive intervention with their palace politics. Disrupting the flow and the main attraction of the drama. Like pulling the sheets away on a cold winter night. Which is why this was its biggest problem, being wrapped around politics instead of giving it its independence. This was easier for the writers so they don't have to go into too much details and technicalities, instead auto generate some mindless palace drama to fill the gaps. I found the ending to be quite distasteful to this man's journey.

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Hmmmm....

Granted I watched this years ago, when I was first getting into K-dramas. At that time, I only knew who Park Seo Joon was, and I watched it for him. I struggled with this one because it didn't seem to know what it wanted to be, it slipped from slapstick comedy to melodrama in the blink of an eye. Which wouldn't be too bad, but it was back and forth between the two for most of the show.

I loved the bromance aspect of it. I didn't buy the romance much.

Since I seem to be in the minority, if you haven't watched it, and are considering it, give it a go. There's certainly enough eye candy to keep a person happy!

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