Reviews

Hide': A Suspense Drama that Misses the Mark.

"Hide" offers a promising premise with its thriller and suspense tags, but falls short of delivering gripping tension. While the plot twists may not be entirely unexpected, the suspense and revenge elements add an enjoyable layer to the story. Lee Bo Young shines in her portrayal of Na Moon Young, effortlessly embodying the complexities of her character's roles as a mother, wife, daughter-in-law, and daughter. Lee Chung Ah impresses with her portrayal, bringing depth to her character beyond the stereotype of a lovable neighbor. Despite some frustrating scenes and predictable moments, the cast delivers strong performances overall. While the cinematography doesn't offer anything groundbreaking, it complements the story well, and the soundtrack enhances the viewing experience. Overall, "Hide" may not be a groundbreaking thriller, but it's a solid drama with strong performances and enough suspense to keep viewers engaged.

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A refreshing plot with a good acting

This drama has successfully 'killed' the mainstream plot, and 'rebirth' a new storyline.
A very unique one. It might be quite confusing at first, but if you do follow the story closely you will understand and find it really entertaining. The production was really good for a short drama. I like their cinematography and its ambience. The casting, both the leads are really good in bringing me into the drama. I did not realise was so drowned in the series until I noticed that I cried when the FL cried...

If you are looking for a not-so-heavy drama to watch in your leisure, you should watch this drama!

[End = Happy Ending]

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It's ok for a low budget flick

A low budget drama is low budget with only 10 episodes and 17 minutes each. It's a shame that this wasn't a full length drama because there was enough plot to write a nicely developed story and characters. Everything felt rushed here because it was so short.

The acting was decent. Na In Woo is still a bit inconsistent. His acting is good in some dramas but stiff in others. Here, he was good.

The plot was mostly straight forward, except some side stories that went nowhere due to the short length. There was no point in inserting a new potential love interest in the second to last episode if FL was going to end up with ML anyways. The writers tried to stick a lot of material into a very short drama and it was awkward. There just wasn't enough time to develop the story or any of characters.

Rewatch value? None. It's a good show to kill time for a few hours and forget about afterwards.

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Passion by pinkpantheress

gray shelter is like that warm embrace that you receive from someone that you love and meet after a long time far from you, it's like the song passion of pinkpantheress, its like a loona mv solo, it's like seeing the sun down drinking a good tea with bread, it's like those moments that you live and instantly know that will turn into a good memory, the whole story was well constructed and everything is so good that you feel comfortable in every minute while watching. I really want to say that I was so happy to watch something so good like that in years, the """sad"""" part is that there’s only 5 eps, but I can guarantee if you are reading this and haven’t watched yet that you will watch something so good that can relieve your heart. The story, the actors, the delivering, the soundtrack, everything is perfect! the whole scenes of the past side by side with the present and all the narative... is really good, I wish to see more and more dramas like this from Korea.

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Bai Cai is the most annoying character I've ever watched.

Overall the story was ok. I've been a fan of Ren Jia Lun since Glory of the Tang Dynasty and I have to say, he really had no chemistry with the female lead at all.

Some may say that this drama is not romance, the problem is because there's no chemistry between the two leads that I felt some of the things Wu Geng did and said feels off. For example, he was desperately trying to save her but I can't understand why, I don't see the love being so deep. I thought Hei Long and Bai Long had very minimal screentime but they really stood out to me. The way they look at each other, I can see that Bai Long meant the world to Hei Long.

Bai Cai was always on the floor screaming "A Gou" "A Gou" but the next moment she's ok running away from danger. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, more than 50% of her script was "A Gou".

For viewers who are ok with a weak female lead and not expecting an romance, it would be a good watch.

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IT'S SOOOOO GOOODDD!!! WATCH ITTT NOWWW!!

idk how to explain but I'm waiting for the next episode and I can't stop thinking about this!! ??? this is my first time writing a review about a movie or series this is my first onee !! ??? Over all? THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! SOOOOOOO WORTH TO WATCH!!!!! I saw it first on tiktok and I decided to watch it and also I thought it's not ongoing anymore, I thought this cdrama is about 2-5yrs ago because I know I've seen it before, so I decided to watch it and when I searched it up the views is not that many but I don't care and continue to watch it and I found out that it's uploaded in April 2024. I'm always waiting for the next upload of the next episode I think I become so so crazy HAHAHAHAHAHAH

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Don't fall for the hype, keep the expectations low and similar to what kdrama usually do

I had to fall for the hype and start it earlier than I planned, it was going well but you can see that the writers tried to mix storylines from multiple dramas without a core story.

Kim jung Nan character and acting is everything that is wrong with most kdrama, there's always that one character they get wrong by making them annoying and using them for all the dumb stuff no one else would do.

the leads chemistry and acting is spot on but how does one who is supposed so sick NEVER looks sick. is it part of contract to always make her look impeccable.

the ending is almost close but almost every single twist can be guessed long back due to similarities with other series so I don't have much hope but they will end it well as usual so a boring 7/10 as usual which is not a bad thing

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Cringe fest

Clearly, the show didn't know whether it was a comedy or a drama. The plot had very serious elements relating to mental health, trauma, and PTSD. And, then we had Park Hyung Sik rolling in bed and throwing temper tantrums in every episode. If that was supposed to be comedy, it was cringey as hell.

The romance didn't feel very organic. "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" set the standard too high, so everything else with Park Hyung Sik will inevitably be compared to it. The chemistry was just too good. In this drama, it was kind of meh. I wasn't sure why because they did have some cute moments. Maybe because it took them half the show to finally kiss. Maybe because the funny scenes looked stupid and extremely overacted, mostly by Park Hyung Sik. Maybe because their trauma was undermined by immature behavior that was completely unnecessary. If a man acted like Jeong Woo in real life, no amount of good looks would make him attractive to women.

The villain who caused the medical incident was also badly written. His motivations were just so very shallow. He decided to punish Jeong Woo because his mom didn't let the villain see his dad and dad died. So, Jeong Woo, who happened to be his best friend and who did nothing wrong, had to be put through hell and back for the villain to feel vindicated. Crappy reasons, motivation, and extremely lazy writing.

I like Park Hyung Sik and I was looking forward to this drama, but it left me extremely disappointed. I am going to take a break from him and watch something else for a while.

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One of my Favorites in 2024, Surprisingly Impressive

There are very few dramas that actually hold your attention until the very end; I’m the kind of person who mostly fast forwards through the penultimate episodes because I can’t stand the angst or melodrama. I rarely did that with this show, enjoying each and every moment. I grew fond of the characters; it could be the sides or the mains. Adapted from the manhua “Wu Geng Ji” (武庚纪) by Zheng Jian He (郑健和) and Deng Zhi Hui (邓志辉), “Burning Flames” is a dystopian story with the MC seeking justice for the wrongs inflicted by the Immortal realm on the humans and the demons. It was peculiar that the antagonists in this show were actually Immortals who are supposed to protect the common people. From start to end, there wasn’t a dull moment as Wu Geng led the fight against the all powerful immortal while growing mature as an individual. Ren Jia Lun excels in his portrayal of Wu Geng/A Gou. Both are obviously varied personalities, and yet he embodies them effortlessly. Joining this ensemble casting are Xing Fei (Bai Cai), Zhu Xu Dan (Lan), Yan Yi Kuan (Zi Yu) and Zhu Zheng Ting (Ni Tian Er Xing), each of whom make valuable contributions to his arduous journey. There was character development for each of them and some more!

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/04/28/burning-flames-series-review/#more-768

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Overrated

Interesting premise, definitely something new. I really enjoyed the first half with fun cases and all the whales. After episode 12, it was time to wrap up.

The romance needed work. Firstly, it's already difficult to write romance between an autistic and healthy person. Secondly, the romance between FL and ML was rather shallow. He started liking her after he saw her in a wedding dress. It was hard to root for them because there were more red flags in that relationship than the positives. Yes, he at first listened to her talk about whales, but it became apparent that he was getting tired of it. The recurring theme of her having no social cues and consistently disregarding his feelings was not looking good for them. Perhaps, breaking up or just having a platonic relationship would've been better for the plot. Young Woo showed no signs that she would adapt to his emotional needs and he was increasingly hurt and frustrated by her disregard of his feelings. They broke up, then they got back together and that was it. The writers showed no growth in their relationship or her fundamental understanding of how to treat the person she supposedly likes. That would've been an interesting plot idea to teach an autistic person how to navigate relationships.

And what was Joon Ho's position with the law firm anyway? He wasn't a lawyer. A paralegal? A secretary? An errand boy? While Young Woo was running around with other lawyers solving cases, he was mostly in the background getting far less screen time than everyone else.

The acting was really good. Park Eun Bin did a very good job portraying an autistic person. Kang Tae Oh is also talented and very very hot. I want to see more of him in major roles.

Overall, the legal procedural was mostly fun, although it became kind of boring after episode 12. The romance was pretty underwhelming.

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My favourite KDRAMA couple pairing in a LONG LONG time :)

This drama was so good until episode 11. I thought it would just get better and better... BOY WAS I WRONG haha. The plot at the end was like throwing every ingredient into a sandwich, too messy and I couldn't even taste any ingredient. Toooooo messy for me. The bad guys are made to almost be like these invincible unstoppable characters and I hate how dumb it makes the lead characters look. Other than the plot, everything else was SO DARN GOOD.

I am so impressed by the acting. I find it so impressive how KSH and KJW can manage to keep the viewers hooked even with this gosh terrible script LOL. Their chemistry is great, very realistic and I think the emotional scenes were done very well. The side characters were great too!

OST was my favourite KDRAMA OST. I love it so much, the instrumental accompanied by the voices of the singers gave me chills, and it was just SO beautiful. My favourite song is Can't get over you by Paul Kim, such a lovely song!!!

In summary, OST was great, acting was phenomenal, and the plot was absolutely spectacular at first but then watered a bit. However, I still LOVE LOVE LOVE this drama, the rewatch rate is just low cuz too many tears TT.

Check this drama out if you want to watch an acting masterpiece, gorgeous cinematography, and if you want to shed some tears.

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Great show, thanks to all the performances of the groups.

I watched Queendom Puzzle without having seen the two previous seasons, so I decided to watch them.

All the groups deserved to win the show:

-AOA nailed every round with many different concepts. "Egotistic" was the best cover of the show; it seemed like their own song.
-Park Bom was very nostalgic about her former group 2NE1 in every round. I particularly liked her duo with Hyojung.
-I found that (G)idle was stuck on their dark concept throughout the show but their last performance was strong.
-Lovelyz showed a bright and refreshing side, with Kei carrying the group.
Oh My Girl and Mamamoo were the two winners for me:
-Mamamoo was consistently perfect, with strong vocals and a very charismatic presence.
-Oh My Girl was THE all-rounder group, with good concepts, skilled dancers (I'll never forget the perfect dance moment of
YooA with Smooth Criminal), and fun members.

It was a fun show without drama and tension (Queendom Puzzle). Jang Sung Kyu as the MC was funny, and all the songs released were good.

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Raw Proposal

I can assure you, it wasn't a delicious proposal. The romance in general was really not good here. The drama was a bit of a mixed bag. At a first glance, the cast was undeniably stacked, Son Ye Jin, So Ji Sub, Ji Sung, and Kwon Sang Woo, however, everyone except the male lead Jung Joon was a side character, he was the main focus throughout. Even Son Ye Jin didn't do much in this drama despite being the female lead. The story could use some spice and maybe other ingredients as well, something was always missing, it didn't feel complete. The male lead character was kinda bland and didn't fit a lead's mold for a drama. There were some nice moments that remind you of the good old raw kdrama days, but they weren't enough to make up for the overall lack of taste.

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Courtless Behaviour

At a first glance, the drama got a commendable cast bringing adequate performance to their character. The initial events and the 4 first episodes were eye catching, interesting and kept you looking forward to see where the story is going. However, the story just didn't quite measure up. It's like they've got all the right ingredients, but the recipe just doesn't come together. They very rarely went to court after that, it turned into mystery/investigation. They were also building a mystery around the male lead trying to insinuate something else about his character but that got boring really fast for how obvious and lazy their attempts were. Finally, the last 2 episodes and the climax were weak in general for a finale, nothing interesting or appealing came out of them. Don't expect much beyond the initial few episodes and the decent cast.

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