Reviews

Second Couple Had More Chemistry Than The Leads

The only good thing about the lead couple casting was that the female lead could actually be mistaken for a pretty boy.

They not only lacked chemistry but their story was so boring. Despite such a interesting trope, they weren't able to hold my interest. I finished all the 40 episodes in 6 hours, skipping to scenes that featured the second couple. Now, these two were so well-written and cast perfectly for their roles. They had amazing chemistry.

In the beginning, I though the SML's resting face was too bland and it just made in look expressionless but when he starts interacting with the SFL magic happens. If it wasn't for my curiosity about what happens in the end and how it happens, I would have dropped the show.

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It was great at first but it became a major letdown

The drama was wonderful at first, it was entertaining and it was painful to have to wait until the next episode.

The chemistry between the actors was great, as well as the aesthetic. However it wasn't enough to save the drama in the end.

The plot became lame and uninteresting after the two lead settled in their happy life and the revenge against the villain seemed to be forgotten.

As much as Do Do Hee and Gu Wong's sweet and funny moments were a delight to watch at first, it turned to a tasteless comedy that didn't bring anything special anymore because it didn't relieved the stress of the episodes as it did at the beginning.
Speaking of comedy relief, the gang could have been a nice touch but it was under used and didn't live up to its potential.

About the villain : it was interesting to search clues on his identities at first but the last couple of episodes made him mediocre, I doubt he will leave a long lasting impression on the kdrama's villains' book

The plot really went downhill after the episode centered on Gu Won's past life, as interesting it might have been, it broke the pace of the story and starting episode 13, it only went worse.

Episode 14 : unnecessary breakup, and the fact that Gu Won killed Do Hee's parents didn't actually brought much to the plot, especially so late in the story

Episode 15 : bad and disappointing

Episode 16 : also disappointing

It seems like the story and its characters lost their sparks and became of shadow of what they could have been

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Well-acted but the plot is lackluster, really.

Cheon Sang Hyeok (Jang Dong Yoon) is a cupid living his 28th reincarnation to repair his wings, which were burned 500 years ago. In this life, he acts as a matchmaker for humans. Oh Baek Ryeon (Nana) is a veterinarian, whom despite of her charms, seems to be unlucky in love. Anyone who starts dating her always has a near-death experience and so they run away from her. Will there be love for them?

This fantasy-mystery-romance drama has a lot of plotlines going on: from mythical creature, reincarnation, past-lives connection, murder mystery. At first, I was excited to see how it all played out together, so I keep looking forward to new episodes. Sadly, it is not cohesive. The crime and past-live connection mystery are long-winded. Plus they add boring and irrelevant characters that are not adding much value to the story; too many things going on already! Frankly, I can't stand the other cupids as well as the love triangle. I also dreaded every time pets become victims, it's painful.

The only thing that keep me around to watch until the end is our lead couple! I find their chemistry is great! Even when I am already bored and annoyed with the chaotic plot, I want to watch for the reveals. The ending is repetitive and boring, I wasn't impressed, it has been done too many times before.

-Jan 2024, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Chorei. Chorei muito. Tem muito coisa nesse dorama. A história dos dois casais foi muito bem trabalhada, a trilha sonora tbm é muito boa. As histórias na casa de chá me fizeram chorar um monte, a história dos protagonistas tbm, tudo.
A única coisa que eu teria a reclamar é a diferença de idade dos atores E dos personagens. Se eu nn me engano os atores tem quase 20 anos de diferença e a personagens da trama tem 19 no começo. É umas das coisas que eu só fui me importar dps de terminar pq eles tiveram um carisma tão grande na série que eu só fui perceber as idades quando comentaram.

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Amazing story, told in the most heartwrenching way possible.

I can't even describe how much I love this drama. The directors cut is the only version I watched and I also don't have understanding for those who choose the cut version, knowing there is a more fleshed out one.

I know the most controversial part of the drama is Li Cheng Yin. I saw so many conflicting opinions about his character that it made me appreciate the actors performance even more. Cheng Xingxu... what an actor.
His character, Li Cheng Yin, is in no way a hero, but also no villain. He saw his brother getting murdered infront of his eyes, the brother who was the closest to him and the most honest. This, and the truth about his birth mother, gave him the reason and the motivation to fight for the Throne - knowing that those in the palace are nothing more than power hungry people. He made those plans before he fell in love with Xiao Feng, and I appreciate that he doesn't give this up for the sake of romantic love. Knowing that the palace is full of tyrants, he had to become one himself, infront of his love and wife, Xiao Feng. At the end, he gained justice for his dead brother and mother and got rid of all cruel people with power, but lost Xiao Feng on the way... forever.


Xiao Feng... She has become one my favorite FL in Cdrama-land. Peng Xiao Ren portrayed her perfect. I felt so much sympathy and sadness for her character, that her decision to end her life, was one I totally could understand. It was just too much for her, and neither way to live was in her favor.


A Story, so human and full of emotions, that it's hard to move on from.

Bravo.

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Wish this was a Series!

Introduction:
"Kingdom: Ashin of the North" serves as the prequel movie to the popular Korean zombie series Kingdom Season 1 and 2. Set before the events of the series, the film follows Ashin, a young girl who witnesses the massacre of her village by Japanese soldiers.

Plot Overview:
Ashin, seeking revenge, initially aligns herself with the Joseon people. However, as she uncovers their involvement in the tragedy, her quest for justice transforms into a desire to destroy the world, leading to the inception of the first surge of zombies

Acting Performance:
Jung Ji Hyun's portrayal of Ashin is nothing short of phenomenal. From conveying grief to intense fighting moments, her expressions are powerful and authentic. The young actress portraying the younger version of Ashin deserves praise for delivering emotional scenes convincingly.

Story Depth and Connection:
The film not only provides the backstory of the first zombie apocalypse but also intricately weaves connections with Kingdom Season 1 and 2. The revelation that Ashin sold the resurrection flower to physician Lee, triggering the second zombie apocalypse, adds a layer of complexity to the overall narrative.

Creative Writing and Compelling Narrative:
Despite the limited runtime of 1.5 hours, the movie succeeds in delivering a compelling narrative. The creative writing effectively communicates Ashin's story, evoking empathy for her actions given the immense loss she suffered and the manipulation she endured.

Conclusion:
"Kingdom: Ashin of the North" stands out as a powerful prequel, expanding the series' lore while maintaining a tight and engaging storyline. Jung Ji Hyun's exceptional performance, coupled with creative storytelling, makes this film a must-watch for fans of the Kingdom series.

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Believe the rating, it's not great

I watched this because I enjoyed season 1, contrary to the other reviewers. The acting in the previous season was much better in my opinion. I agree that there were points in the drama that were exact stereotypes of cult behaviours but I still feel like the whole drama was executed way better than this. Please believe in the rating of this drama omg... The rating given the number of viewers says a lot about it already.

Cast
Sorry, but I've never been a fan of Esom because I feel like she's unable to portray emotions well and this drama proves my point once again. The side characters did a better job in my opinion LOL. This was my first time watching the explosive male lead but I think he's not bad. It's difficult to like anyone in the drama in my opinion...

Plot
As most of the reviewers mentioned, this drama has a slow start. I listened to their advice and tried to push through but I still think it's slow at episode 11. When I read their reviews, I end up doubting myself... Are we even watching the same drama? Some character development is there but feels abrupt.

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Takes the cold executive trope too far for too long

8.5/10 is my rating.This is a 2023 Chinese romantic drama with 36, 45 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

As a reporter Zheng Shu Yi (Bai Lui) has a specialized and unique writing angle as a writer for a financial news publication. She is highly capable and career driven and her goal is to get enough headline articles that she can pursue digital platforming the publications to pull her magazine into the modern era. When the opportunity arises to land an exclusive with a young CEO who is rising in the financial investment world, it is the perfect chance to get a headline. Everyone is curious to know more about the cold but exceptional Shi-Yan (Dylan Wang). In fact Shu Yi’s arch rival, who is equally ambitious, is so determined to land the interview she even cheats in an attempt to get the exclusive. But Shi-Yan was more intrigued by Shu-Yi’s outline than her rivals so she still lands the interview. Once in his realm, Shu Yi decides she likes the handsome Shi Yan for more than just an interview subject, Can the determined journalist melt the heart of the cold young CEO?

Review

If you like the cold chief executive officer (CEO) trope then this is definitely a solid addition to that category. Overall I liked it. I recommend it for anyone that is fans of either lead or supporting actors as they all act their roles very well. If you like cold executives, romance and/or want a slice of the financial reporting or technological investment realms, you would find this interesting. There were some aspects that were not really interesting to me and some frustrating slow spots. It is not one I would rewatch in the immediate future, with so many choices available. I found the length of time he was “cold” and the parts about financial investments, tedious.

Spoilers

I think they take the cold executive trope a bit too far in this one. He is not just cold to her but I think his behavior borders on abusive. When she is trying to connect with him, if she doesn’t say exactly what he wants her to say, when and how he wants her to say it, he walks away or kicks her out. He says he does not like to talk business on his personal time and will shut her down even if she is doing it as a common interest to carry the conversation. And that would be one thing, but he seems to break the “do not mix business and personal” any time he feels like it. He doesn’t even say what she did that he didn’t like, he just shuts her out emotionally and often literally. His friends and family even find him difficult to deal with.

Usually by three fourths of the way through the series, the ice cube CEO has thawed and is now all warm and fuzzy, at least to the main girl. In his case, other than the briefest thaw before getting break up mad at her, he remained cold until the last few episodes. Which, to me, was entirely too long.

Okay so she approached him originally to get the story. So what? She is a reporter it is what she does. But she was using him to get back at the cheaters? I felt like they decided to twist it that way later because that was not a motivation she revealed in any of her abundant internal dialogues early on. But still, he should not have been so hung up on why she approached him originally, but where they went from there. I thought the level of cold shoulder she got from that was over the top. Then several commented later that he let her off easy. She was so heart broken she landed in the hospital multiple times, that is not letting anyone off easy. And I dd nit think she did anything so horrible to him to deserve his cold shoulder, yet again, anyway. Supposedly he still loved her but had no problem seeing how he was completely devastating her emotionally.

The second guy in this I thought was her perfect match. He noticed when she was sad and did everything to cheer her up. He let her talk work whenever, and even helped her find new opportunities. Through his actions and words he indicated how wonderful he thought she was. He was smart, handsome, successful and extremely kind to the main girl. She was happy and laughed a lot when she was with 2nd guy, so of course she liked the absolute opposite guy. I was disappointed he did not at least get someone else wonderful.

Other reviewers said her best friend gave her terrible advice and, early on, I disagreed. She gave great advice on how to catch his interest. But I found they were right later when she was advising on how to save her relationship. Continue to lie and deceive him until he is so in love with you he easily forgives? Main girl should have known better. In the book on being petty and holding a grudge (pretending such thing exists) there would be a picture of him. They never explained what made him so he assumed the worst in relationships but that definitely characterizes his reactions. Deceiving him was absolutely the worst thing with him and anyone that knew him well would know that. So the friend’s advice was so far from right with him. It was frustrating she kept following the friend’s advice and kept hiding things. Main girl should have known him well enough by then to know he would not forgive being deceived easily.

I found all of the “business talk” boring. Financial investment in technological companies just was not that intriguing. Reporting was more interesting but all the investment speak was a yawn fest. And it just made the main guy look less capable.

The side couples’ romances were all super heart warming and they spent just the right amount of time on them. I thought the triple wedding idea was great.

I know people love when the couples spend seconds to minutes just gazing at each other but it is not my favorite. I have never seen anyone do that in real life.

#OnlyForLove

#DylanWang

#BaiLiu

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ok for a one time watch ONLY

I thought this was just ok and was fine for a one time watch and no more than that.
But I made sure to watch this to the end to give it views on Prime Video in the
hopes that it helps them see that we need more foreign dramas produced by them.
Now
The female lead was annoying a good bit of the time and did unbelievably stupid
crap to many times to count. The second male lead was annoying and made you
want to push him off that mountain they kept climbing. What I liked most was
the supporting characters. I was more interested in Chun Dong Chil, Chun Dong Koo
and Chun Dong Pal and even the female lead's best friend An Do Ra.
I would've been fine if the leads were the side story and the supporting characters were the main story.

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Brutally good

One of the best things I have seen in quite some time.
Raw, devastating, complex, beautiful, unflinching, a masterpiece.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Less action-oriented than Weak Hero, more character-driven, slower, more real. Exudes a darkness so substantial, an edgy gloom, a tone so deeply depressing it almost equals "No Longer Human". For mature audiences or those who can handle the trauma inflicted in the drama as well as on the viewer. Adults are notably absent here, in a way adults are absent in Stephen King's "It".

A clear-eyed look at school bullying, its consequences and all the harsh realities that come with it even into adult age. There are a lot of revenge dramas out there but this is one of the few where the revenge feels justified. Deeply wounded, flawed, complicated main characters looking for a way to cope in circumstances that leave seemingly no way out.

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best drama I've ever watched

the acting was amazing, the storyline was amazing, the message was amazing, the filming was amazing, it was just such a good drama!! I've rewatched it twice already. It is a funny drama with one or two sob scenes. I will never shut up about this. i knew this would be an amazing show knowing choi hyunwook plays in it. if you liked Julie and the phantoms, you will eat this up!! the music is amazing! I was wondering if choi hyunwook actually sings in this as his voice is very similar to the singer of higher... but that doesn't matter because it's great nonetheless. the fact they used sign language makes me so happy!! the actors also actually learned how to play the instruments so it's very accurate :)

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Lee Jae Han forever

This Drama is on a whole other level. I have never seen anything like it.

Starting with the hyper-high-octane nature of the Drama that makes 24 look slow, Signal is at the same time like a Russian novel, more complex than even Stranger 2 (which feels like a discourse in political philosophy they had the guts to make into a Drama).

I can overlook obvious flaws, like the decision to play up overly emotional moments which feels manipulative at times. During the course of the Drama I realized that emotional trauma makes up the crucial moments of everyone's life. Also, certain scenes are repeated over and over, because those crucial moments in life stay with you and are the ones you ruminate over.

These emotionally loaded scenes contrast with and bring depth to the gripping hunt for criminals and make for much needed breathing space. The Drama also infuses a very dark story with a lot of hilarious comic release moments that feel almost brutal in how they break the tension.

I think the storytelling and pacing is absolutely masterful here. It builds a perfect circle.

Signal seems to say that suffering is something you might never overcome but you can use as powerful motivator to change yourself and your environment. Without that you might live a more comfortable life but there is a price to pay for it, which may be the suffering around you.

Signal is about what makes you who you are. It closely examins in equal measure trauma, transformation and transcendence. It is healing and, in every sense, life altering.

I feel like I have lived an entire lifetime with these characters and consequently the connection I have to these people is much stronger than with other characters.

Watching Signal is an all-consuming, exhilarating experience.
This is largely due to one character and the acting involved in creating him.

Lee Jae Han: shy, socially inept, an almost naive idealist, tremendously sensitive, stubborn, defiant, gentle, strict, with a strong sense of justice, cheeky and bold, innocent, who shoulders too much responsibility, emotional, caring, grumpy, charming, unflinching, perpetually annoyed and frustrated with anyone and anything standing in his way, no-frills-no-bullshit-no-time-to-waste, quite a temper, empathic, a little silly, no sense for playing politics whatsoever, who over time embraces his outsider status, stepping over every line and on every toe in order to do what he believes is right.

Cho Jin Woong marry me.

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this IS not my tipe female lead

after watching this drama, I can't agree with what people wrote that it is the best series .. the series is good but not to my taste, it didn't excite me so much that I would have butterflies in my stomach from it .. maybe it will be a female character, I always like the older one a strong, independent woman, she's too young for that role ..it's more suitable for older people as we all know (its okay not be okay) that's exactly the kind of woman I imagined in this drama, unfortunately I didn't like her at all, I mainly watched ore song kang because I love every drama but this one is not one of my favorites

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Every little detail is meaningful

I will never again watch an on-air Murder Mystery Drama weekly, the suspense almost killed me. This is one of the best Murder Mysteries I have ever seen though, so no complaints.

My Perfect Stranger lives in the comfortable space between a high-octane crime thriller and a vivid 80's time travel melodrama. The fact that both main leads want to change not only the course of their own life but the ones of their close ones and go back in time to do so makes every single scene, conversation, even a mere gesture loaded with meaning. There is a lot of healing involved with a little romance on the back-burner. It is sometimes laugh out loud funny, often tragic, but always touching.

The story is also one of the most complicated murder mysteries with even so much detail and so many moving pieces that when all is said and done many questions are left unanswered. That doesn't substract anything from the final picture, if anything it adds a layer of intrigue and might benefit the rewatch value.

Episode 1.9 - the young Hee Sub hobbling, intercut with the elder Hee Sub hobbling - simply shattered me. Yu Sub with the watch, Hae Joon carrying him (one of the best unintentionally gay moments ever), the father-daughter-dynamic moved me the most. What a chance to be there as a witness, how you suddenly see someone close to you in a completely different light, and to be able to change circumstances, such a dark yet powerful moment.

In the end the healing aspect comes full circle and becomes self care - make your own life better. Tell the ones that need to know. Small adjustments can mean a world of difference.

Phenomenal Drama.

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