Reviews

Super Good Plot But Heartbreaking Ending!

Can I just say that I've never been very invested in short series, until this drama came along? Like literally all of the episodes were keeping me on my toes as I impatiently waited for the next episodes to be aired! Unfortunately, my hopes of having a happy ending were shattered when I watched the final episode. At first, I thought that maybe the ML might not have died, but it was heartbreaking to see him passed away in the arms of the FL. Who would have thought that things would end this way! Am seriously thinking of writing my own alternate happy ending for this couple!

I love the chemistry between the casts and I would have to say that their acting made it enjoyable throughout the show. The cast of the ML had great potential and his eyes speaks so much words. He's so good with the way he acted with his eyes and his angles! Like damn, how could someone look this handsome and perfect? The cast of the FL is a natural actress as well, seeing as she has acted in a lot of dramas before this so she's equally experienced. But overall, I would say that the ML really shined in this drama. Don't get me started on his abs. That is probably one of the reasons why this drama was such a hit!

The plot is very intense and keeps me expecting what could happen next as each episode slowly connect the dots. There doesn't seem to have any loopholes here so I would say that the scriptwriter did a fantastic job! The fact that both uncle and nephew were vying over a lady was a very interesting plot, I would say. Honestly, I never knew that the uncle in this drama would be this hot and captivating. It truly blessed my eyes.

I really like that this wasn't a typical ancient xianxia drama or a modern drama, it was very refreshing to watch the timeline set in the middle of a tumultuous times of war. Really loving the costumes, I especially love the outfits that the ML had on, especially the military uniform.

Definitely love the choice of song here, they really place the songs at the right timing in this drama, making it very emotional for me everytime there's a heartbreaking scene.

Would I rewatch? Definitely is a must once I have moved on from having to accept that the ML has died in the end. This story had so much potential, what a pity that they ended up giving us a terrible ending, despite the fantastic plot.

Not for the weak-hearted, but I genuinely enjoyed the story! I'm hoping that there's a season 2 with a happy ending for making us heartbroken from watching the 1st season.

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A Thought-Provoking Adaptation..

With numerous adaptations across television and film ( including a predecessor Japanese version in 2001, as well as a loosely- based South-Korean adaptation called “ Hello, God” in 2006 ), it is only natural to raise the apparent question whether this recent Japanese version of Flowers For Algernon is actually worth watching as a stand-alone production.

In this Japanese version of the eponymous novel, our main protagonist Shiratori Sakuto ( Yamashita Tomohisa) is a kind-hearted young man with an intellectual disability. Working for a floral delivery service, a misunderstanding between Sakuto and researcher Mochizuki Haruka ( Chiaki Kuriyama) leads Sakuto to developing a benign crush upon Haruka. Wanting to become “ smarter”, Sakuto with Haruka’s aid enters a top research programme with the hope of improving his IQ, however, as one thing leads to the next, Sakuto begins to realise that the world he’s been in living isn’t as perfect as it seems, as his relationships with his colleagues, friends and Haruka will change irrevocably.

In screenwriters Nojima Shinji ( Love Shuffle, 49) and Ikeda Natsuko ( Zekkyou, Ouran High School Host Club-2011) ‘s contemporary adaptation of Daniel Keyes’ 1959 eponymous novel, there would seem to be two prominent made to this version ( sans the cultural localisation in Tokyo) alone.

The most evident change being that the show places more sympathetic lighting for the characters associated with our main protagonist Shiratori Sakuto ( Yamashita Tomohisa), with an actual didactic focus upon most of these characters as individuals with emotions and their own problems rather than just merely plot devices. Then of course, the greatest change in the show comes through the focal point of the “ casual romance” between our main protagonist Sakuto, and researcher Mochizuki Haruka over the course of the series and a lot more than their predecessor counterparts in the novel.

Whilst their obstacles and later development in their relationship are paramount for Sakuto’s progression as a character, the relationship between Sakuto and Haruka truly ceases to be challenging in terms of the overarching storyline . Haruka for a major part of the series felt a little more objectified to simply the “ love interest” than an actual individual with thoughts and feelings. Arguably, this is the mould in which Sakuto “ sees” Haruka within, however, even in her own scenes, there was little to really draw up about Haruka as a individual , apart from creating more and more “ naive” and unfair misunderstandings for Sakuto without acknowledging how he may feel also.

Arguably Sakuto is fairly similar to Haruka in this department towards sometimes being “ unnecessarily cruel”, particularly towards the unfortunate second female lead Kawaguchi Rio ( Tanimura Mitsuki). Whilst the show did constantly attempt to make us question the boundaries of ethics and principles both in science and our male lead’s “ actions” , it is hard to truly feel pity for Sakuto in some cases after his behaviour with Rio- a kind-hearted girl who fell in love with Sakuto despite his intellectual disability, and soon became a form of “ grief” for Sakuto to inflict his feelings and anger upon. Whilst this did certainly add a touch of realism to complexity of actual relationships, the way that screenwriters Nojima and Ikeda initially dealt with Rio as both an individual and her storyline, felt both lacklustre and anticlimactic in the grand scheme of things.

In all honesty, the acting of Flowers For Algernon could sometimes be a bit of a mixed bag with genuine heartfelt, with some questionable performances. Yet what should certainly be said is that our main leads do not disappoint.
Whilst Sakuto is a complicated and questionable individual, there’s no denying that Tomohisa was brilliant within his dual performance as our main lead between the fine drawn line of innocence and cynicism over the course of the series . En par with Tomohisa, was undeniably costar Chiaki Kuriyama. Despite her character’s flaws, Kuriyama added much needed charisma to Haruka as a character. In addition to this, the show tackled some surprisingly difficult themes from discrimination against those with an intellectual disability, abuse and deeper philosophical and ethical questions including the pursuit of happiness in the face of intelligence.

Overall, it’s fair to say that Flowers For Algernon is a show which is fairly rough around the edges; the romantic factor ( although not predominant ) is a little lacklustre as the focal point , certain characters ( such as Rio) could have been written with more intrinsic purpose to the overall show and the pseudoscientific elements of the show could have been explained in more depth than just “ passed over” for the sake of plot progression. However, Flowers For Algernon is still surprisingly thought-provoking with deep moral questions posed for both viewers and our main protagonist Sakuto, an intriguing premise and a bittersweet , yet appropriate ending for our main lead’s journey from beginning to end. Although not flawless, this is worth a watch if you’re looking for something with thought-provoking questions.

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Coming from someone who read the webtoon sweet home (No spoilers)

I have said this before, but the webtoon was one of the masterpieces and I love the other works of the author. I had a beef to pick with in the first season, but it was still leagues above what the second season is (can't even call it a season, to be fair). The whole 8 episodes could have easily been delivered in a single episode and would have been way better. Not gonna lie, I was massively excited as to how the story will progress, as it was diverging from the webtoon in the first season to begin with. However, now after completing it, the only thing I can say is the whole season felt like a dish served after it had gone bad.

The fan service of naked men was one thing, but the story was going around in circles and the bare minimum progress it had wasn't enough to keep oneself interested in keeping up with the whole darn eight episodes. The acting of the cast members was good, but too much CGI, which left a bad aftertaste for me personally, as I think it could have been done way better. Also, the individuality monsters had in the first season was gone, and the focus was more on portraying monsters as zombies than "monsters". I don't know how much budget went into the whole season but the gunfires, explosioins, fires, and such were done like poorly designed 3D warfare game. Anyways, it was a complete mess, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but for now will see how season 3 pans out.

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A drama of TWISTS and TURNS! Definitely for those who love mind-boggling dramas and those who love to take guesses. While watching, you can't help but contemplate about this: "Are monsters created, or are humans born monsters?"

This drama has a really unique plot. This would make you realize a lot of things about humans' real nature. It depicts how past events can greatly affect one's thinking and behavior. There are lot of unpredictable scenes. But on the later part, it might be kind of very confusing but it was sort of cleared up before the ending. It's very very unpredictable til the end. Brace for it!

The cast were great. Their acting was sort of convincing. Each of them were suitable for their roles. Well, I must admit, there are lot of eye candies (kekeke) but they have REALLY performed a great job. *claps*

Music suited the scenes, it added an extra effect to the thrill. Hmmm, rewatch value, I think, I wouldn't want to rewatch this (maybe after some years, I'll try) since the excitement and thrill would be lessened since I would know how everything would turn out...

Definitely this is worth the watch... Must-see!

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Out Scheme the Schemers

Though I don't play chess, this series was essentially exactly that as the moves were strategized in people's heads and then we as the audience saw the results including flashbacks of how we got somewhere. In general I picked this up as I've seen and liked how Chen Xiao had previously done as well as some other actors. It was really a battle of the schemers in a wuxia-like environment.

Pros: I personally like anything wuxia related so the fight scenes though there weren't a lot of them because that wasn't the premise of the series, were very well executed. From YX, our ML to every other "good" character, what I really enjoyed was that they were all morally gray. None of them were these goodie two shoes protagonists we see frequently on the screen. Each and everyone had secrets, lies, flaws, past experiences that shaped them into who they were and nothing was ever black and white. I'm also glad that the romance portion was profoundly tapered and didn't steal time from the main plots. Was YX really the ingenious one? That's hard to say, he certainly out-witted everyone in the end but he wasn't without flaws or mistakes he made which he did own up to. Originally everyone was a pawn to him, but gradually many became friends and even sworn brothers. He planned his revenge for 15 years but even then, there were many factors he couldn't count on like falling for SYN and even though she was the opposing sect's eldest child, they both broke many of their respective sects rules by having faith in each other and that ended up actually being their benefit in the end. Plus having and trusting friends as mentioned above.

Really liked the characters of SMY, KML, JB, LGC, MBF, and KQ even though we lost the latter two and that was just very sad. Another positive that just about every character stayed for as long as they needed to and then either bailed out or was killed off. Favorite antagonists both survived; one was half evil and half just grey and I feel like he should have returned to round out team good grey in the end. His leaving just seemed kind of odd and like it wasn't properly finished or balanced. NGF was the vicious, best evil schemer half to YX but he should have been offed properly not just had SYN cut off the family jewels (not that I didn't enjoy that very much), but I felt he was just given more of an opportunity to grow his evil, vicious side, with the pirates.

Costumes, scenery, and OSTs were great and on point. All quite appropriate and placed well.

Cons: Here I find that the plot strayed a bit and then took off like a galloping pony towards the end. Plot holes included who the real SYN was and where she was and why did KLY take that name? And the entire mystery surrounding WC; that was just left by the side of the road somewhere. The entire premise of this was for YX to find out who the mastermind and executioners were of his village but by the time that happened, it was kind of just put by the way side as other conspiracies took over. Again, he let NGF live! Though Prince Fu was the mastermind and died a totally copout death by suicide in flames; NGF did most of it, yet sans his meat and two veg he was allowed to live with pirates and grow strong again. A decision YX made! Made no sense to me. Most of this series was about revenge but when it was right in front of him, for a different purpose, he let it go. He was now no longer scheming but would live a peaceful life with his lady love and sworn brothers. That part I was fine with, but the rest was a bit of a let down. Most likely had a lot to do with that race to the finish line where the script took a hit.

The whole revelation of Prince Fu being the mysterious Master of the Yuntai sect was beyond lackluster because everyone knew it by the time it happened. They kept dragging it on for too long and others were ruled out and there was no one else left. SYN's bro was the stupidest, greediest, power hungry moron that killed his own mother and was ready to help NGF to rape his sister, should have been just discarded immediately. The only positive here was the actor that played him did so very convincingly. But glad SYN took him down finally.

Would I recommend it? I would; other when YX forgetting his scheming ways in the last 8 episodes but coming back strong along with everyone who mattered in the last two, the pros outweighed the cons. This is a good, engaging, and entertaining drama to watch.

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Wow. Wow. I did not expect this. This drama is really really good, and man, definitely give it a try.

After just the first three or four episodes I was feeling like I had just finished it because so much happened, but it seemed so...complete. I think the first four are the most powerful, but that doesn't mean the rest aren't amazing as well.

The storyline is great. I mean, sure, I bet there are tons of these types of stories out there, but man, this was really great and amazing and I think I cried more than once.

The whole complete feeling is just so weird, because I don't get that from many dramas, but this one was definitely complete. I was satisfied, and everything just finished in a way that was good.

Surprisingly, even after just the first few episodes, I was so ridiculously connected with the characters. There was something about them that I found was easy to relate to, I suppose, and to have been able to create the emotional attachment between viewers and characters so early... That was pretty cool.

The fact that this drama is more about friendship and starting a band was refreshing, and while there's romance in it, I found myself wanting less of it. It's well-balanced though.

The entire drama I found rather realstic, which is pretty awesome.

All of the acting I thought was really good. The characters they portrayed were realistic and relatable, and really well done.

I found Woo Kyung somewhat annoying at times, but still she's a great character. Even the most annoying guys like Pyo Joo were likable.

As it's a music drama, the music was prominent, though personally I wished there was more. I loved all the songs though.

I would rewatch this, definitely. And if you haven't watched it already, go watch it.

Excuse my gushing though. I just finished watching it and remain amazed.

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I'm really not used to japanese television, but I really enjoyed this dorama!
It's a comedy; It has the "sitcom" format, but let me warn you, the kind of humour it displays has nothing to do with american sitcoms (that's why there's people that didn't find it funny at all).
Of course, being a sitcom, it has no story at all, but the situations the employees of a late night shift in a convenient store; and they are hilarious. The contrast between Urai Kenji's facial expressions, and the expressionless Shotaro is fantastic.
The acting is pretty good (I'm really sorry Sato Jiro wasn't there more time, because he was superb every time he appears), and I have really no idea how Mamiya Shotaro kept a straight face with all the ridiculous yet hilarious situations.
If you enjoy bizarre (and sometimes "stupid") humor, and WTF situations, this dorama is for you.

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God, this brings back memories...

A little bit of a throwback to my past, I went searching for a "GARO" review, found there was none, and decided to write it myself.

There is not much I can say for plot because the synopsis given pretty much tells you what the deal is (a but too much in my opinion, but meh) so I will just be jumping into my thoughts on the show.

Man I loved this show. First of all, creative director should get an award. I'd hate to compare this to Power Rangers because it'd be like comparing a slingshot to a gun, but this is like that genre for a more mature crowd. The "Horrors" are splendidly created with interesting diversity. I loved the mermaid episode costume, and the main boss near the end. Animation sequence could have been better where used but you get so wrapped up in the story that you forget/ignore it.

Konishi Hiroki as "Saejima Koga"... honestly I found him adorable in the broody-type-of-lead way. He didn't kill it and made "Koga" likable (trust me folks, harder than it sounds sometimes, this type of hero you tend to bore of). As Koga, you kind of like the fact that "Kaoru" (played by Hijii Mika) has that way of putting his knickers in a bunch. Her character surprises you towards the end.

"Rei" (Fujita Rei) was probably my favorite for character writing because they made him so bloody interesting right from the get-go. I actually liked Fujita Rei in this. I have seen him in other shows, but hadn't really taken a liking to him like I did in "GARO".

Character development wasn't too rushed, and they didn't flood us with angst.

Story, honestly, wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be going in. I had tried to watch Kamen Rider to no avail, and stumbled into this and got sucked into the story. It's an interesting ride as we see our Hero try to live up to expectations, stay true to his sense of right and wrong, and still do his duty as Garo within the span of the 25 episodes. Oh, and keep "Kaoru" alive.

Music.... ok well, the first opening... to put it gently got annoying fast, which is why when they switched the theme song for the second opening I was so glad.

As for re-watching, up until last year I was still re-watching the series. I don't know, there is just something about this show that gives this sense of nostalgia when remembering it that brings on the urge to re-watch.

So to conclude, Great show with a interesting take on the whole "magical/transforming armor" genre. Do not be detoured by the whole Transforming bit! It surprisingly gets under your skin for a great 25 episode run. Good story telling and great art make it worth the time.

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Spectacular and hilarious

This drama is very funny in the Thai overthetop way. Luke Plowden is one of my fave Thai actors.
Just about halfway through the story is being dragged (no pun intended :-)) somewhat.

The appeal comes from the drag shows, the humor and chemistry of both leads and from their great delivery. The Pla/Too character is a great find. The seamless switches between Pla and Too are awesome.

The whole noona-nadia swaps annoyed me. At this point I was just hoping Prab confesses w/o knowing the truth. That would have made an interesting twist.

What was good: The colorfullness, the representation, the acting, the humor
What was bad: The bland romance, the mafia theme, bad acting from side characters.

Other things worth mentioning: Although this may be a very forward show with regards to representation and modern outlook on LGBTQ+ from a Thai standpoint, do not expect too much Western woke-ness. For example transgender, drag and transsexual are not really seen as different concepts.

That being said, the message that Love Is Love is clearly put forward and I love that.

Sooo sorry that this series is finished! I was looking forward to every episode, despite the flaws. What am I gonna do with my Wednesdays and Thursdays.

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The story is awesome, but it starts a little bit confusing (you have to pay full attention to this series in order to not miss anything) and there are so many characters that you don't know who to follow anymore haha, but I ended up loving every one of them (eccentricities included!). Also, the plot starts a bit boring and slow, but after some episodes everything goes down hill very fast... I was shocked, all the characters just started to die one after another like flies omfg! xd

Despite the cast of amateur actors I really liked the acting, very powerful moments and emotions coming out from the actors (Jian Bin and Xiao Qi, I'm manly talking about you two :c). About the music, the soundtrack was good, it got me emotional many times and I absolutely loved the melody Ah-Li plays with his flute through the series, it's melancholic and sad, but beautiful.

Overall, it's entertaining (if you like politics and people scheming against each other, then this series is perfect for you) and I never got tired of the sweet scenes between the main characters (despite many of them were cut by the censors). 8 out of 10.

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"What's It Like to Date a Walking Red Flag"

That's what this title should be called...

I watched the animated version, (The Girl Downstairs) and now having watched the live version, my opinion hasn't changed. I was very surprised when I heard that they were making a live version of this because IMO, it really wasn't worth it. While the storyline vastly differed from each other (webtoon vs live action), the main characters were the same. This is probably one of the shallowest k-drama I've ever watched. Usually, you might see some immature ones like you find with some high school genres but this one certainly had no real, true depth.

The FL was a huge, walking, waving RED FLAG right from the beginning. She had no charming traits to her at all. A smoker, a drinker and basically a hothead. She obviously had some serious mental issues and was very unlikeable. The only reason you can think of why the ML falls for her is because of the physical attraction and all the moves she was pulling on him. After finding out the reason why the SFL, Jin-ju, left him in the first place, you sympathize with her and honestly, I was baffled as to why he never chose her. Jin-ju was way better than Doona. You only get glimpses of Doona's life and whatever the ML read about her online but she never once really opens up about herself at all. She just expects the ML to put up with her closed off attitude and he embarrassingly does.

Halfway through this, I was getting sick of watching the ML just get used and abused by the FL. He was constantly apologizing to her and putting up with her tantrums, mood swings and silent treatment for no good reason. He put up with so much of her BS that you lose respect for him early on. By the time EP7 came around, the minute she got into the Manager's car, I basically threw my hands up and gave up on both of them. The ML remains a pushover the entire time. It never stopped right from beginning to end and there was absolutely NO character growth from the FL at all. Four years go by and yet she remained self-centered, obsessive, whiny, and demanding til the very end. She never seeks any professional help. She could've used some serious therapy. In all honesty, it would've been good to see her talking to a therapist or doing some kind of work on herself like meditation. At least then it would've shown some self-reflection or inner work and it would've shown the audience that there's professional help and some options available to those who need it. That even "idols" could use some help.

In regards to the side characters, they contributed almost nothing to the story. The writer just couldn't write anyone having a real, heartfelt conversation. Like why did the FL's mother even bother making an appearance and nevermind the ML's family or best friend? All the side characters were just fillers. All the non-verbal communication was just irritating and frustrating to watch. I didn't even care about all the intimate scenes because I didn't care much for the ML and FL and especially the side characters. At least the side characters showed some changes and personal growth and I didn't even care for them.

It was really strategic and lucky that Netflix dropped all episodes at once as I think it would've been a lot different and worst if we had to wait for 1 or 2 episodes weekly. Overall, a hard pass on this one.

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[Note: I watched this series without watching Master Devil Do Not Kiss Me 1 & 2. So my review is based on this third series as its own show.]

I thoroughly enjoyed this drama! It is a fluffy comedy, has a beautiful romance at the center, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The Demon Master follows leads An Chu Xia and Han Qi Lu through college as they attend classes, make new friends, and have to make decisions about their future. Despite the drama description, amnesia is not the focal point- it is just one of many things to happen to our leads.

The story can be a little ridiculous, full of cliches and things that would just never happen, but if you can suspend your disbelief you will definitely enjoy the ride. I thought the show used enough humor and heart that even major cliches were fun to watch. Like a lot of longer dramas, the final quarter of the show is not as strong as the beginning, so I did feel that some later episodes were filler or just dragged, but because each episode is only 20 minutes long you can easily power through to the end.

Plus, the story moves incredibly fast- most plots were usually wrapped up in an episode or two. I really liked this because problems or miscommunications between the leads were never dragged out to the point of annoyance, and their undeterred love was the true backbone of the show. Friendship was also a major theme and the warm friendships that formed between the main characters was wonderful to watch. Also, love triangles that turn into actual friends for the leads? I'm here for it!

The cast all do well in their roles. Jia Sheng Yu and Yu Vicky (ML & FL) have good chemistry and are super cute together.
I generally like re-watching shows, and I can see myself re-watching The Demon Master when I need a quick pick-me-up in between more serious dramas.

[TL;DR]
This show is a cute rom-com. Even though the plot requires some suspension of disbelief, the cast is adorable, and the romance and friendships that grow over time will keep you rooting for all of the main characters. It is a fun and fast watch, give it a try!

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(Excuse all my grammar and spelling mistakes, my English is not perfect^^)

Story:

Im not going to tell a summary in order not to spoil you and also because the story is already told in the synopsis.
What I liked about the story was that it was not only a love story but also kinda a family genre telling about different families and all family members of all families kinda had their own (love) stories. It made you felt watching more than just one drama and it was pretty varied. What I didnt like about the story - and thats why I gave it an 8, was that in the middle the story started dragging on. On the one hand you felt like wanna drop it but on the other hand you didnt wanted those 18 or 22 episode you already watched being wasted, so I kept on watching it. And i didnt regret because the story became better an the characters and their relationship started delevoping pretty much.

Acting/Cast:

I think IU was a pretty good choice for Lee Soon Shin because of her cuteness. Something was bothering me...the first episodes people kept telling how "ugly" Soon Shin was...but please, just take a look on her, can you take it seriously if someone says shes ugly? This was kinda irrational.
In my oppinion Jo Jung Suk is not really an attractive man. (Im sorry to all his fans, but its just my oppinion) but he was okay. I liked his acting.

Music:

Is it just me or was there not many music? I only can remember to songs, the songs which were chosen for the ending. I liked both songs, but those are the only songs I can remember. Maybe bcause the other songs didnt leave much impression on me so I forgot them or theere really were only 2 songs during the whole drama...

Rewatch Value:

I dont think this drama worth a rewatch because its too long.

Overall:

I actually enjoed watching this drama. I kept looking for every week
so i could watch the next 2 episodes.
If you like a cute drama about love, family and life with success, failure and secrets you should give it a try. But it takes a lot of episodes until the relationship of the main leads start to develope, just so you know.

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