Reviews

Greed & honesty

After Tracer which had as main characters accountants working for the state tax service, I decided to watch another accounting drama this time taking place inside an accounting firm. Numbers was just as incomprehensible as Tracer but that did not take anything away from the suspense. It is just like with a medical dramas: you don't get most of the professional gibberish the actors utter but ultimately it is the overall story that matters and this pro talk just takes the necessary space to make the story credible. And I am ok with that.

The story follows Ho Woo who enters as a trainee inside a huge and influential accounting firm in order to discover why his adoptive father's company was ruined by them. Thereupon ensues a string of cases, underhand dealings, betrayals, secrets but also friendship, bromance and love. And of course, lots of corruption! What would a korean drama be without it?

The most fascinating character is of course the big baddie: from the first moment he appears his menacing smooth presence and his tinted glasses promise a lot of evil doing. The actors micro expressions particularly the slight movements of mouth were creepy and scary as hell. And we are not left disappointed. The character's long standing greed, for over 20 years, and patient building of plots and people networks are fascinating and repulsive. He was just like a cat with nine lives and always landing on his feet. It has been a long time since I watched such a completely evil character: he has not one single redeeming quality!

The rest are more classical good guys, banding together as the drama unfolded in order to stop the bad guy.

The production was good, nice cinematography, subdued colours, average music, excellent acting and writing. No obvious plot holes unless you consider accounting superpowers all characters seem to have: apparently unsolvable problem, everyone is worried, they start talking about something else which provokes revelation of the solution for the worried main character. Very often it did look like Deus ex machina kind of solution but what do I know? Maybe all accountants know tax and finances laws inside out!

All in all, it was a rollercoaster ride I quite enjoyed!

Read More

Good

There is no unnecessary plots
But editor can be to improves
To make the story flow simultaneously
All character shows their talents well
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Read More

It's OK

This series had a lot going for it - a good cast, interesting main characters that are well-acted, the main character's smoke-show brother lifting heavy boxes... but the quality of the writing is low, with improvised moments ending up the highlights of the series.

The plot is frustrating, as Phumjai (Offroad) spends two thirds of the series obsessing over a girl, who in fairness is not evil and doesn't attempt to sink the ship. Once the romance starts, it's immediately derailed by a ridiculous plot turn that could have been fun if it went camp like it did at the very end, but unfortunately was instensely boring. the writing is poor, repetitive, and lazy. There's a point where it turns out Yang has a number code system for some reason, including a code number for "just don't come". What possible purpose would he have for that phrase? Unless he's kinky or something.

There's too much of people behaving out of character just to move the plot along. Yang won't allow Phumjai to give him $5,000, but he's OK with selling Phumjai's brother into slavery? OK, good to see he has his priorities in order. That did lead to Phojai lifting heavy things shirtless and sweaty, so it was all worth it in the end, I guess.

Offroad has always been compelling, and Daou Pittaya is a stunning man... when he's not disfigured with a hideous wig. Why is BL so terrified of short hair on men? Look what they've done to poor Frank Thanatsaran!

Anyway, this is silly and immature - it left me missing high school dramas and engineers - but the cast is able to compensate and make it a worthwhile watch. Special mention goes to Ngern Anupart who had me fanning myself whenever he was onscreen - I hope we get to see him in a lead role at some point.

Read More

The phrase "idiots in love" took on a whole new meaning in this series

This show has been on my "to-watch" list for over a year, but I didn't have a chance to actually sit down and watch it until a month ago, and... well...

Ever heard of the phrase "idiots in love?" In this series, Dao and Kluen were idiots and then some. One is a dummy who harbors a secret crush , while the other is a blockhead who has trouble expressing his feelings. The two go to the same school, and are in love with each other, but both are too scared to admit it.

They seemed destined to never cross paths, until one day, when Dao was about to leave to study abroad. Encouraged by his best friend, he confessed his feelings to Kluen.

Kluen response? "Have a safe flight."

*Facepalm*

Nontheless, Dao took that as a sign of rejection and was devastated, and left Thailand with a broken heart.

A year later, Dao returned to Thailand for college, and lo and behold, who did he see? Kluen, the very same guy who (in his POV) rejected him. Bad enough that they had to take part in the school pageant together, but they also had to live in the same dorm for the duration of the competition.

Clearly, someone forgot to check their horoscope that morning. (j/k)

Thus begin a "second chance" type of love, in which Dao tries to forget his "unrequited love" for Kluen and simply be his friend, while Kluen does everything (from being helpful to just downright possessive) to get close to him. That is, everything short of confessing his feelings.

I rarely have a love/hate relationship with a series, but this one falls under that category. Watching this show was like going on a rollercoaster ride. My emotions went from "awwww, that's so sweet" to "FFS, just kiss already!" to "why am I wasting my time on this show?" to "it's about d**n time someone does something" to "Jesus effing Christ, can you two be any dumber?"

There is something about the way Dao and Kluen interact that makes the whole angsty love journey very realistic, and you can't help but root for them. At some point, it becomes obvious to everyone (but Dao) that Kluen was hopelessly in love with him. I mean, the guy used his mom's birthday to lure him to his house. And really? Did Dao seriously think he changed his own bandage and applied the ointment while he was drunk? *smh

On the other hand, the pace of the story is somewhat erratic. The beginning and middle were fine, but then towards the end, everything became rushed. The conflict, resolving of the conflict, and the love confession all happened within two episodes. It's as if the screenwriters realized they'd taken up 6 episodes with the storyline, and not wanting to cut anything out, simply wrapped up the story quickly.

Despite everything, Star in my Mind is a decent series. Sadly, character development was poorly written, but I think it had to do with the fact that the series only had 8 episodes. The acting is not bad, but if Dunk and Joong want to keep up with their fellow GMMTV artists they'd need to step it up. Maybe take some acting classes. The one saving grace of this show would be the OST. These two should form a duo and aim for the music market. Their vocals are so well-matched.

Overall, this series is not bad, but it's not particularly good, either. Compared with other BL series that aired in 2022, and the ones that are currently airing this year, there are many better options. Hopefully, JoongDunk's acting would improve in the future.

Read More

This is the best . Literally ,a beautiful masterpiece.

I remember waiting weekly for an episode to be released . I fell in love with the theme song,the plot ,the characters and the story line .
We are introduced to the characters Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan . Lab Zhan is more of a cold ,reserved person while Wei Weixuan is the naughty ,loud and getting into trouble . This story first starts with WW coming back to life by someone resurrecting him ( we don’t know who but we later find out or suspect someone at the end of the series), he wears a mask so no one recognizes who he is at first but everyone finds out later . That’s when the truth of what happened 16 years ago (ie WW falls off a cliff and dies ),he was accused of a whole lot of things when he literally saved their lives especially his brother ( WW was adopted by his family ,they died though) , it’s somewhat getting to the end that his brother (quite impatient) sees how much WW did for him be he regrets but they don’t really talk it out . I really loved this drama . There were moments I cried (esp the part where he gave up his golden core ,etc), there were parts I turned into a detective and there were parts that I was happy . I really fell in love with the OSTs so much so that whenever I hear it or him the tune ,it gives me nostalgia till date. This is a drama that you can watch over and over and not get bored easily . All the actors really embodied their roles .

Read More

First scenes aren’t canon.

5 minutes into the first episode and it already doesn’t work with the lore of the original. Did the creators forget that in the prequel both Bong Soon and her Mother lost access to their powers FOR USING THEIR STRENGTH FOR PERSONAL GAIN? Their super strength was to only be used in times of crisis and to protect/help others. Using it for a fighting tournament (like Bong Soon’s Mother) would have caused Nam Soon to lose her powers at an early age. Already a big no from me. This is obviously a somewhat poor attempt from netflix to reboot a series to easily pander to a fandom so they can just coast and not have to do any real marketing or advertising. BUT i will continue to watch to see how this series progresses.

Read More

Let me start by saying this is one of the good/decent short dramas I've watched so far.

The leads have great chemistry!! I had watched their other drama previously (Chang Xia Wei Yang) but here the chemistry is on another level!
I think all casts did a decent job in acting as well.

Each episode is only 2 or 3 minutes and the story is quite fast paced due to the duration of the episodes, but they could cover almost all of what mattered. (it had the typical jumps of some scenes leading to another in these kind of short dramas, so you'll have to fill in some gaps while watching though it's not hard to guess what went on in between).
It does have cliche but they didn't overdo it.

Don't miss out on this one! It's short and very binge worthy!

Read More

Complex story, splendid performance

I didn't know why I didn't watch Lost You Forever earlier, I started about a week ago and just completed it. It has been so addictive to watch!

First of all, Lost You Forever is a story full of complex characters, with traumatic pasts, existential crises, and complicated family relations in a seemingly "peaceful" Dahuang, with geopolitical courtly conflicts both internally & externally. It is not an easy story to watch, I probably took some time to prepare myself to expect angst from this, but it is what made it interesting and enticing to continue. Initially, I was lost about the plot, I didn't even know what the plot truly was, I mean, I did read the synopsis, but where was the plot headed?

In my interpretation, there are two major themes in this story, both are pretty symbiotic 1) XiaoYao's love and 2) CangXuan's love (I'll talk about soon). So far, there's two arcs in this S1, in Qingshui Town, when XiaoYao disguised as a male Wen XiaoLiu amongst mortals, and second, when she reunited with CangXuan, her family/ in the diety world. I assume the last arc would be in S2, which I do not know anything about yet (except for those depressing trailers).

I'll start with CangXuan's love... his love encompasses protection for those whom he loves, and XiaoYao is The foundation of his love for the kingdom and the entire of Dahuang... :( He does all the things that he needs to because he needs to become the most capable person to protect XiaoYao, whom he loves so deeply, that he restraints so much. He hurts himself so much for her although he keeps telling her not to have much hope and expectations. Every day he lives for XiaoYao but he cannot be the one for XiaoYao... and Zhang Wanyi did a really splendid job bringing CangXuan's character to life, his deep voice, his monologues, his breakdowns, I cried so much whenever CangXuan & XiaoYao had a breakdown/life-threatening moment and all they could think about is each other.

XiaoYao's love... is so complex and multi-layered, in my opinion, she loves all three men... and that... Love is Timing..., really. XiaoYao's love for CangXuan is unwavering, she is really his support system, and she wants to be there for him forever, it's resolute since day 1, since we saw them play at Zhaoyun Peak at young age. She can't see a future without CangXuan...being the best he is... but unlike CangXuan's love for her, her love for him is not consciously romantic although they have acted like romantically a lot of times... imo ...maybe her love is unconditional love she can't see him die or get hurt, that kind of love that XiaoYao is willing to kill for him, do everything to benefit him. Her romantic love was between TSJ/SQ & XL, she was so afraid of deep sincere relationships & companionships because of her attachment and existential issues but both of them were so similar to her. I saw how XiaoYao's love for both of them grew, she pushed, pushed, and pushed them away because she did not want to be hurt. She genuinely liked both of their companionship though :") TSJ/SQ is kind, gentle & a really good man to her, XL/FFB is cold, heartless, rough & villainous & playful. She appreciated both of their existence and really cared for them, despite having serious toxic relationships with them. They are protective and romantic to her but in their own nature LOL... fox or demon PICK ONE! Anyways, I know she will end up with TSJ/SQ but this S1 was so hard to watch them together, because of this one piece of information I had. I wish I didn't know who she would end up with, it tore me apart watching CX & XL and XY having great chemistry and dynamics.

YangZi, Zhang WanYi, Tan Jianci's performances were splendid because of their complex characters, their characters are my favourite so far! I'm not sure if it's Jing's character or Deng Wei's that I didn't really feel compelled to him but I felt his pain, pitied him a lot, sure, he is handsome but not as alluring as Zhang Wanyi's or Tan Jianci's performances. Also, just as I thought I can't watch any YangZi's dramas, she is so wonderful in this, I've no regrets and I saw that her works are always so sad :(

Lost You Forever S1 had a satisfying conclusion, with CangXuan finally becoming the most capable person, king of Xiyan, most powerful in Dahuang...? and a cute exit from the grandfather and granddaughter... I'm excited to find out about their last arc & all her men are going to protect XiaoYao forever...

Read More

The end of the Journey ... and of Wufeng

I write this review because I found nowhere someone telling about the end of the story the way I understood it. So I share it with you, dear watchers of this beautifull series ... but read that only when you have finished to see it.


Many heard with the last images the sound of the door of the citadel opening. I don't deny it but what I heard as well and more loudly is the sound of an explosion. We have been given all along this story meticulously written and very precisely translated in images several clues from the begining to the end, which led me to my understanding of the conclusion of the story.
- Yun Weishan is the only one who saw the plan of the 'infinite fire' on the back of Ziyu, and says 'I saw it all'
- Yun Weishan having been discovered as an agent of Wufeng is asked by master Yue, who is the moral values keeper of the Gong Family, not to remain among them and leave someday, which she agrees with.
- Then Yun Weishan after the last battle knows that the purpose to erradicate totaly Wufeng to give peace once and for all to the Gong Community has not yet been reached, and that everything could start again as ten years before.
So having the plan of the 'infinite fire', the duty to leave the Gong community, and no plan in life now she has already found her true love, her leaving the Gong mansion is to meet Wufeng an ultimate time and blow them off after they themselves came to track her again at her sister. The last sound of explosion is a kind of maybe allegoric way to put it, but I definitely believe the story is that she sacrificed herself to blow Wufeng leader&Co away with the dreadful infinite fire and she did it.
Thank you Yun Weishan !

Read More

just finished watching and...

well, there's many things to consider about this drama. let me focus first on the acting/music.

acting in an overall (all the actors together) is 7. because of (don't kill me) kang minhyuk and lee chunga...please I'm not hating them!

there's scenes where Yoon Si-hyeon (Chunga) could have more emotions instead of a sad + tired face. i don't know if she was supposed to make this face bc of her character or what, i just couldn't go with it. BUT!! in fight scenes she was good!

about minhyuk, never watched any drama with him. I met him because of CELEBRITY and i must assume that i didn't have a good first impression of his acting... Jin-Kyung (Minhyuk) was serious all the time, so, yeah...couldn't go with it too.

okay, about ost: loved the outro song and a background music (it's one that has dadada, it's so badass) and i loved the intro as well!


now, story: the final plot was really nice. using deepfake to fool the bad people was really smart. but they could've shown the bad girls trio end. how they ended up? prison? poor? how?

and what about A-ri? apparently she didn't came back to social media but what happened to her? plus, what about bbbfamous? what happened as well? she recovered and got to prison? received psychologic treatment?

this doubts made me give 6.5

but, the story made me realize what i already knew, we are able to make a person famous living like a parasite on them but we are able to bring the same person down, wich is patetic and sad, to be honest.

oh and i can't forget, when bbb famous said all of that things before jumping out of the damn window, i realized: damn, envy kills people's souls!

enough of philosophy

i wouldn't re-watch because i don't re-watch dramas and i wouldn't recommend to someone, cause there are dramas from the same topic, but better.

Read More

Its my first time watching a japanese drama and it didn’t dissapoint me

Obviously I thought It's a little bit weird that a teacher and student in a love affair .....?
But after watching it.I really liked it.... Or should I say I just love it.And mostly they are so pretty and cute or should I say they are super pretty and super cute that I can't help myself but fall in love with this drama..And most impotantly the teacher..How on earth a teacher can be so cute....???
But most important thing is that the drama gives us inspiration for living...... It's really effective for those who felt the same as those students as wanted to attempted suicide.... So I can say that it's an inspiration one for all... So if you have time then watch it.... ???
I also want to shear that this is my first time watching a japanese drama.... And it didn't disappoint me.... I really liked it a lot.... ♥️♥️♥️

Read More

Sometimes all the pieces fall into place

The performances of the actors, the story, the music and the CGI are all really high quality in this interesting drama.
Ni Ni is simply amazing in this role and Bai Yu's performance is also commendable. In addition, when none of the actors failed in their performance, the result was surprisingly realistic even though the theme and events of the drama are fictitious

The drama completely lacks the common stumbling blocks of a typical c-dramas, i.e. gender chauvinism and naive, childish female characters.

One of the best C-dramas I've seen and I hope that future C-dramas will develop in this direction.

Read More

This One Was Eye-Candy Only!

Dai Gao Zheng. That's the reason I lasted through 30 short episodes. I was rewarded by every shirtless scene and even a few of the kisses because he is hot. HOT! Admittedly he had much better chemistry with this FL in Maid's Revenge, but she was very disappointing and underwhelming in this drama.

The story was weak. The acting overall was mediocre. I would say the only really believable character was the ML's adopted brother. The story had so many holes, and the story was really not very well developed. Poor writing was the contributor to this, I think.

The only reason I gave this as much a rating as I did was because of the ML. And I knew that it wasn't his acting I was really paying attention to. He was much more convincing in MR (but I watched that one for the shirtless scenes and his sex appeal too). Same applies to rewatch. I wouldn't come back for the story or the acting, just to look at this very appealing ML!

Read More