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This illustrates perfectly why I hate crossdressing...
...and it's even worse than in 'Dok Ruk Rim Tang', because Davika looks so gross as "boy" that I needed to watch SEVERAL other of her lakorns to "unsee" this in my head and actually see that she is NOT ugly.As if that was not enough, we have our WEIRd choice of a pra'ek to pair with her, being 7 years older (it was not as a big issue in their later lakorns together, but here it still is) and quite plain himself (but we are used to that with HIM:)
So, eyecandy this lakorn is NOT.
Unfortunatelly it is also not any fun (I am NOT interested in any of the over-complicated plots in my lakorns) and I rather use this Davika's lakorn for the future reference, when deciding rating on later lakorns. Like: Was it as bad as 'Ngao Kammathep'? No? And then I rate higher, LOL
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This review may contain spoilers
Type: lakornCategory: bad/weird
Kisses: 1 fake and veery awkward
Filled with: messed-up depressed characters, dark mood, stiff dialogues, dragging misunderstandings.
Contains: very young Janie Tienphosuwan
This show was disappointment till the very end for a romance-sucker like me. Quite disturbing how depressing atmosphere this had... And Anne so clearly had a problem to kiss Johnny Anfone.
But I guess one must see lakorns like these to appreciate the other ones that offer you more than dragging drama about 1 letter. Although, now I remember Anne's 'Yah Leum Chan' was not better in that respect:-p
EDiT: Now I see someone actually put 'Yah Leum Chan' into "Recommendations", here:) That's funny. Yeah, that one is with Anne Thongprasom being too old (like here she's too young) to play a nang'ek who got tragically separated from her lover because her mail was not delivered. Enjoy! LOL.
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This review may contain spoilers
There's only 9 years difference between him and her, if we speak about the cast, but well it's the cast we watch in the drama. She's pretty, womanly. His looks are a bit dry, he's very skinny, with hollow cheeks (very skeleton-ish). He kisses main heroine episode 1 and then moves next door to her with his... wife.Being in the dramaland, she does not notice the identity of the male counterpart of the new couple that moved next door, only the wife, who is the kind of overly friendly neighbor. She becomes his lover, though at first she hesitates. The phrase "second virgin" describes a woman who was not with a man for decades. Just to take off her clothes takes courage, now. She concentrated on her worklife, while having no personal life, and became very successful. So much that she now believes that if she falls for a man, her worklife would crumble (which does not make any sense, but it probably feels like that to her). Also she knows the fact that he is married, and that if she falls in love with a younger, married man, it would not put her in the best position. Still, she sleeps with him in episode 3, when abroad. Obviously the point was for her to do that before she realizes that he has moved next door.
Reviews for this drama noted it has the 90s feel and one should watch it to see the soul of jdramas:-) Comments of course inquired whether the ending is a happy one. I guess we do not need one for a drama of this kind, just be advised that SPOILER he even dies. My belief is that the Tag "Death Of Main Character" should be listed on MDL for those viewers who can not handle it. From the hot romance, through divorce drama this show descends into personal tragedy of the man.
Some of my notes... The wife was such a psycho it would be understandable (considering they did NOT have children, yet) he would plain told her he wants divorce the day he met the second virgin. Or BEFORE. Either way she was obviously SO alone in the marriage she talked all her personal life to total strangers so it would not make much a difference to actually separate. (Which they eventually do, yet we keep watching her side-character.) Then there's the big court case we go through. Sometimes, less is more. Ordinary things are more dramatic. Normal wife, normal life. At least (thanks to being a real couple also offscreen or thanks to something else) all main couple's scenes were a treat. You notice the difference immediatelly, especially after watching many dramas with all the "high-schoolers". It was getting a bit ridiculous when repeatedly there was a scene with her trying to run from him on a street, but with the far-fetched kind of plots I already mentioned, what can you expect. Last episode is more about surviving women than about anything else... I found myself to care less and less about every character the more the series progressed to the end.
I was kind of at loss as to how to rate this because overall it's good yet it's not a satisfying romance drama, nor a family drama, nor a human drama. Least of all it's "mafia genre" because all that was pretty intermediated. We just read some letter retrospectively, about what happened before. So, I don't know: a career drama, maybe?
I'm not interested in the following movie (marked as *Not Interested*), after learning what it is about.
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I kept skipping basically all the support characters. They all tried to be attractive and funny, but only the mains were. As for the "story", there wasn't much of it in this one, not that I did miss all the usual "drama" devices such as love triangles or money plots or semi-criminal themes.
So, on one hand I immensely liked the main couple cast & characters. On the other hand, I fastforwarded at least 80% of the series. I never cared whatever happened with any side characters. And sometimes even with the main ones.
It was like a day-time show that runs every single day and each episode contains "daily drama". Like a case at work. Going shopping. Visiting doctor's. Etc. Oh! Looking at the airtime information, that's what this actually was (it aired Monday-Sunday, lol) I don't know why is this called 'Across The Ocean To See You', mostly it's about 2 people working at the same office and living in the same building, lol.
I gotta admit, there were SO many times I considered dropping this. Like, almost every episode:) Not that I would dislike it, but honestly I didn't feel compelled to keep watching it. But then, what would I watch as my next c-drama? It's all mystical wings and long-haired dudes. So, I sticked with this one:D After a looong time of boredom, occasionally I was blessed with super-cute /+ funny scene. Then, another looong time of boredom, lol. Apart from the clothes people wear (well, it's China:) there's not that much fun. Just the main couple. Seriously, this couple did some goofy couple stuff, lolz. Nevertheless, it takes 31 episodes for them to speak about being a couple openly (if you wait for kiss scene, it's the same number: 31 episodes of waiting, then first kiss is epi 32).
It sure was a LONG watch. Like, when I felt like I was watching this for ages, I was still at 1/2 of it, lol. I don't binge, and I don't watch the same shows every day. Like, even if this aired daily all 7 days a week, how they managed to air 44 episodes within 19 days is beyond me ("Aired: Apr 2, 2017 - Apr 21, 2017"). LOL. After completing 44 episodes of this, I was immensely exhausted. And I needed time to decide the next c-drama to watch, if ANY.
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Axed with all the usual possible fillers & road-blocks
Finally! There is not Ken Phongpanu. There is not Alek Teeradetch. There is Ken Theeradeth!:)) No matter that he's 40 (to cast Noom Santisuk though, who is 14 years older, as his dad, is a bit an insult, LOL) I still prefer him over any of the other "Cupids"... As for the two main characters: this is NOT the beginning of their story, actually. That was inserted in between the previous 7. Episode 1 of this, the guy already wants to confess. I gotta say that what we watched in those time-limited portions here and there during the stories of someone else, was brilliant. The exact moment we get to watch this couple as the mains though, the brilliant writers no longer know what to do. Therefore, the man is suddenly unable to finish 1 sentence. There's everything they were able to think of to prevent him: first, a cell phone rings (a classic), then something happens to disrupt the conversation altogether, and when there's no longer anything else, Tor Thanapob's bratty "blogger" swings by & steals the guys's line on a day 1. I admit that him saying that he's got no problem with the age gap was funny, especially after Tor's previous role on Club Friday, but it was aggravating, too. These two were working SO well together. They were the rare ones who did NOT need a third wheel.Sadly, now that we finally have all the time for our main couple, it's clear the writers did not trust on it and decided to ax it with all the usual possible fillers & road-blocks. When they were pressed by the limited space within the stories 1-7, they were forced to be creative. Now, no longer. And so the story to which I kept looking forward as the best watch to come, showed me disappointment right in the first episode. Even when we start at the top, so to speak, with two already developed characters, who no longer have any stupid "Misunderstanding" and/or Love-triangle going and the female is already close with the guy for it to be believable (though she keeps calling him "boss", despite them being far from office, or english-speaking country) and the male DOES know what he wants, we're suddenly sent back to square one. Where the guy gives up on his confession and throws flowers intended for the girl into trash. Ugh. This is not a high-school drama. This was supposed to be different.
So, this is the first letdown, and then Sara Legge & Louis Scott step in, to add even more triangle-ing. They both are tiring to watch. It becomes rather rare to have the two mains alone for one second. Episode 4 the "boss" announces to Waralee and also to everyone else that he is pursuing Waralee. But, we have to deal with the third (or fourth, or whatever) party, first. LOADS of screentime is dedicated to THEM. Instead of watching the funny ways he would pursue her, finally. Both the main leads use their ex in a stupid "high-school way" to make each other "jealous", while in reality they give a kind of second chance to the people who deserve NONE. Not a single minute of their time. Not only that was a thing I didn't approve of, also it meant secondary characters got too entangled into main story, which is a failure itself.
This might seem like a short series as it's 9 episodes only, but the single episode runtime is KILLING the viewer, LOL. After the unlucky beginning, episodes 5-6 are full of antics involving the side-characters, the relationship of the mains only suffers for it. By episode 7-8, it's hateful to see how the things have "progressed"... We then spend another huge chunk of screentime deditacted to a "detective plot" about bad guys trying to destroy the dating company, which is yet another idiocy (and not romantic, either). Yes, this really got lost and strayed far from Romance, just as the other Cupid series (sadly) did. The one I rated the highest so far got 5.5 stars from me, and I did hope this one to BE better. Instead, it felt like dropping the show. It looked like UFO landing was more likely to happen than the two romantic leads to start dating. After everything, I could understand why Waralee was with another guy. It's somehow typical of thai production: while you open any imdb movie page and you'll find the cast is listed according the amount of screentime they had, in thai lakorn the audience gets exhausted from all the side-cr*p and bewildered where did the original mood and couple's chemistry go to.
I didn't care much for the final, half of which was dedicated to the side characters still, half of it to final union (she keeps calling him "boss" even if speaking a thai sentence, including her love confession), which was perhaps supposed to be romantic, perhaps funny, who knows.
Apart from the failed 8th romance, we should at least see the conclusion of all the 8 Cupid stories here. Yet we don't get to see all the 8 cupid girls together, again.
Note: Waralee's house looks really pirotesque.
Btw.: Pitty it did not occure to them to pair Ken Theeradeth & Cris Horwang️. Neither the generic beauty Chompoo Araya, nor the vampire-stylized Sara Legge (super white makeup & super red lips) does match his kind of sexy.
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Good airport drama/ Bad fantasy melodrama
'Where Stars Land' centers around Incheon Airport. Unfortunatelly, set in some alternative reality.At the airport, we are introduced to many people. They are all professionals (except the main girl, who does not behave professionally), plus even their characters are all really interesting and/or funny. Except the main couple (more about that later). The "ordinary" airport dramatic situations were handled well. It all had good standard until we had to solve the supernatural problem. Then it dropped.
Yes: the airport-drama side of this was actually good. I was NOT enjoying the melodrama-fantasy. Romance was working only for the secondary couple/s of just ordinary humans. As for the characters, the more interesting they actually were, the less screentime they had, and vice versa. Typical episode was like: The main guy is possibly dying and I only find it corny and boring. The completely secondary guy is solving an airport problem and he ROCKS. So, while I do cheer for Chae Soo Bin, who got well noticed by producers in 'Sassy Go Go' and deservedly got main role, as for her 10 years older partner in this, I definitely preferred him crying over unsolved murders through time-travel radio, than being/not being wheelchaired. I'm sorry, but thumps down for the main couple. Girl might as well tried dating her friend Eun Seob, for all I cared.
The added fantasy melodrama actually made the drama less good, not better. Less is more, I say it always. But drama producers never say this to themselves.
It's a pitty because what we can see more and more clearly when dealing with all the "normal" airport problems, is that the whole huge machinery just tries to ensure that all the people get on with their travels peacefully and smoothly. No matter what human emotion rises at the moment, it always follows logic. But then, when dealing with the supernatural, all logic is thrown out of the window, for the sake of the "drama". It's actually a step backwards to dated drama. What's refreshing is to show just how much effort is needed only to maintain peace. No corny villains are actually needed, it's always the simple human recklessness, laziness and folly which is enough to create danger. That would be a modern drama. That could be this drama. Just if the producers deemed it ENOUGH without the "fantasy duo" put in.
I actually cared about many of the airport side-characters and would welcome seeing more glimpse of their fate, but obviously the writer wanted me just to be thrilled whether the main guy does return as the "superhuman" or not. As for the "action final" epi & final scene, I would rate it 3 stars, tops.
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First episodes had potential. Then only 1 solid character got swarmed in a huge sea of garbage...
'Prom Mai Dai Likit'... The last show with Bie Sukrit left on my watchlist, and FINALLY one I liked:) Same goes for Esther Supreeleela. I have watched her in approx. 10 roles already, but this was the first one I liked her in.While I liked the main couple and thought the way they met well thought of (the rich spoilt playboy was in very vulnerable position as a patient:) I honestly anticipated the romantic drama to stretch more, before they started dating. Instead, she affirms that she loves him back in episode 12/27 already (first kiss is episode 10, be careful to not watch the censored version, lol) and instead of more romance progress, we have to watch other things, from Ak Akarat's fellow doctor/suitor's sideline (unnecesary), through more weak side characters portrayed by questionable "actors" (Puifai Natapat & Chin Chinawut), to plain weird/tacky side-storylines (Lily Pansirithanachote & Tack Pharunyoo). I'd think putting Esther's nurse into the high-society mix would suffice enough drama. She is an enjoyable character to watch at any circumstance, because she is firm. But, no.
Esther & Bie make surprisingly good fit. Actually, they make a perfect fit. Unfortunatelly, once again, the drama is not theirs. The greatest importance is given to side-characters. Looks like the writers will never learn. First, Ak Akarat's rejected suitor is pouting, the grown-up man makes such faces I wanted to slap him. He then sacrifices himself for Esther's nang'ek so that it inspires a massive guilt trip which now won't leave our main couple in peace... Apart from that, there's Esther's character's conviction. She sees the relationship with pra'ek quite realistically, pointing out their differences. Her character sure is something else, she tells him to call it quits right after a sweet couple of bedscenes, lol. It's cemented by her marrying the other guy out of pitty (epi 16/27). I said I liked Esther in this role? I ceased to enjoy it.
Ak Akarat's pitiful blind husband starts to exert passive agressive behavior with his wife right away. I was dismayed, because so many episodes were still awaiting. This each-marries-someone-else plot is so tiring when running for 100 episodes within hispanic telenovelas. Did they also have to put it here? I didn't want to watch it even for 10. Basically, Esther's character tries to be more "rational" than just giving into feelings, so she discards love from her decision process, which results in her actually making stupid decision. Nobody is happy. Nobody will be. And it's going to be painful to watch, like ever before. And I mean painful, because episode 18 she sleeps with the other guy out of pitty. Perhaps this lakorn was supposed to be a cautionary tale about how this is wrong (it's GMM, they love to preach) but it's hardly anything new in 2018 this was filmed: actually the source material for this can be dated back to 1980's. So, this is what you get thanks to thai tv continuing to do remakes of remakes... Everybody gets a smartphone in their pocket, else their behaviour is like before, LOL.
Here, I can comment about the quality of skinship scenes:) Esther & Bie's scenes are decent, thanks to them being able to "train" once before ('You're My Destiny'), Esther & Ak Akarat's scenes are plain awful. Also, by this point, I was skipping all scenes of all the side-cast completely. They were all unwatchable in this lakorn. And I was considering skipping ALL the rest, it was not like one would need to keep watching the main line, either. Obviously the big plot is nang'ek still got pregnant with pra'ek, despite each of them being married to someone grossly incompatible. It doesn't really matter whether you watch the 1982, 1986, 1995, or 2018 version. If you like Esther, or Bie Sukrit, HD quality image, and generic soundtrack from the (by now large) tv music library, watch this version. LOL.
It's a painful watch because we get to watch 2 dysfunctional marriages. That's why usually the romance drama has romance most of the screentime and then it ends with the wedding. This is similar to what you can see if you have married neighbours and you can hear them arguing through the wall. Nobody needs to turn on a drama for that, lol. So, it's a dated approach, nevertheless it suits the GMM channell which seem to always prefer teaching the viewers "life lessons" to presenting them with something enjoyable to watch. Mostly, we watch Esther with her child, always potrayed by an onscreen child visibly at least 6 months, or 1-2 years older than the supposed age (we do know we can hardly expect a real newborn on camera, but the child is huge, LOL), acting hateful towards the man who's supposed to be her romantic love interest.
This is what you get with this kind of story. Episode 22/27, I was so wishing it was over already, and there was still 5 more. This is probably the only show I would welcome if there was amnesia, because had the blind husband forget Esther's main girl after his surgery, then he'd finally let her go and we could have the happy ending sooner, LOL. Instead, he just gets his eye sight back. 1st thing he can see, "his" child is looks just like his wife's ex, LOL. Yeah, I wouldn't mind skipping all this kitsch. Ak Akarat's level of acting "skills" was enough to make this a real skip fest. Like, there's LOADS of screentime filled with the unwatchable side-cast scenes as it is. Then he adds to it. I wished Esther would kill him in this drama, LOL. Or Bie, or someone. Anything but more listening to his whines (when the scene requires of him to yell at someone, it's REALLY unwatchable). I would laugh but sadly this was not my 1st experience watching bad acting.
Even watching the main couple alone and blissfully without others, Esther's nang'ek acts real hostile towards her pra'ek. The two are at war. Is that Romance? I admired when she was stern with him in early episodes. But that was about her being nurse and him being irresponsible and spoilt. A bad patient. Her making stone-y face expressions with him (rightfully) demanding what she owed to him as her loved one and her child's father, I could not admire. She wronged 4 people, including her kid. And herself. And then, watching Bie & Esther's scene of them physically fighting for the child (seriously) left me gobsmacked even after Ak Akarat's departure, because I thought we reached the level of garbage for this show already. Nevertheless, after all this passed, I was equally astonished by how well Bie & Esther worked as onscreen couple... They were magic. I didn't care whichever corny way the script would take them to their happyend, as long it finally did.
It's probably the best to watch just a MV of them in this drama to enjoy the watch: because the drama itself CEASED to be enjoyable.
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A funny and heartwarming melodrama
Okay, first we see both main girl & main boy as 17-year olds. Despite the infamous common practice, they were not portrayed by 30 year old actors. Yoon Chan Young and Park Si Eun were both really 17. Actually, they were both so talented and likeable that at first I worried I will not be able to like the grown-up versions as much, in compare.As for the story: Main girl got robbed of 13 years of her life. Suddenly waking up in a body of a 30-year old, her mind was still 17, without the time to allow her grow up and evolve, develop her personality, adjust to her body change... Or completing her education and gaining working skill, to mention the practical. First thing I thought was that along with physiotherapy she'll require a psychologist, and some support. But her family was nowhere to be seen. As for main guy, at the tender age of 17, when he liked a certain pretty girl and first tried to approach her, she obeyed his advice to get off on a different bus stop, which (in his mind) caused her to die in following accident. After this, he decided to live alone in woods. Okay, maybe not so extreme. Basically, he keeps a long beard and a dog:) That way he maintains his distance from females, while pouring all emotional attachment onto the small creature.
Shin Hye Sun had interesting acting task, here. Her 30 year old face was now supposed to wear expressions a 17 would make. Same with her manner of speech, and general behavior...
First episodes, the girl struggles with physio for a while and with seeing her own face and hearing her own voice for long. We don't see her getting any visits, the facility staff keeps avoiding her questions. The guy maintains slightly antisocial behavior. I had to smile. I personally could relate, it's the same whenever I attempt to act like that. In our society, you practically cannot get through 1 day, if you'd just purely attempt to not interact with any people around you. You unavoidably end up perceived as rude, mean even. Nobody would ever understand you'd like 1 single day of social "cleanse" from all the communicating. You really need to lock yourself alone for that:) Main girl and guy mirror each other when she seeks after company while he tries to avoid it.
Episode 2 ends up in crazy confusing situation where I was equally confused while I was the audience, lol. But actually, it was kind of tragic... Main girl was still recognized by her old dog, else, her house got new owner and her family members were gone. She was told to go to the police. Yeah, I indeed thought the story of a young girl having woken up in a strange adult body, in a strange world where she had no one, was not very cheerful. I would understand if she started to cry. The scene where even police refuses to help her is especially weird. Apparently before the accident, she was not legal age enough to receive ID card, but her appearance was older now, so the police just refused to help her. I was confused, why nobody in the facility having her medical record didn't provide her assistance with such matters, or why did all of her family members disappeared. But, perhaps the writer needed to create situation where she'd have only the main guy to provide help to her.
Main guy looses his long hair episode 3, unfortunatelly he gets that weird helmet-shaped haircut they sometimes do to guys in Korea so I actually did not find it that much of an improvement. Who needed his hair shorter was the main girl (well, woman). Anyways. The following episodes, she continues staying in main guy's house, who grudgingly allowed it for 1 month. I couldn't help but thinking she'd be better off had he not. She was a grown-up looking woman acting like a 17-year old, which was not always looked kindly upon. She kept going around for job interviews with completely empty resume, as she haven't even finished high school. She was not able to play violin with her new hands. She actually needed lot of help, unfortunatelly the writer's plot made it so that she left the only place where she could be found to receive it. It was frustrating to watch. The main guy needed to learn about her identity to start treating her better and also to start healing. But that was obviously also something the writer wanted to happen way later...
I kept watching, because I agreed it was more important for the girl to meet her right guy, after all:) She was stuck in being seventeen, he was also stuck in the past, so that way they suited each other. It was right for them to meet (again). They started to develop a connection, to realize and address important things, just everything but him realizing who she was. That was always conveniently swept under a rug. Apart from these obvious flaws, soon it all comes together, even with such characters like too noisy friends or too weird a housekeeper, it somehow clicks and the drama works: it's enjoyable, funny and heartwarming.
ML knows about FL's identity since epi 14/16. Better late than later. By that point, FL's got 3 suitors (counting ML in). There is still yet the Mystery about her family & about the housekeeper, and mysterious man in a baseball cap. Despite all these corny elements, I liked the humble quality the main girl had. She knew grattitude, not just attitude, like all them leading ladies:) It's actually easier for people of this kind to find happiness, and I liked the drama did mention that. Romance is very satisfying, the romantic conclusion comes earlier than the final and really is quite romantic. Then there's more heavy drama about the family stuff. I didn't enjoy watching main girl going through even more pain, but at least by then she had her guy by her side. Luckilly, some more cute moments follow.
And questions about their future. But the girl was younger than her age, so I didn't see why she should not study if she wanted to. And the guy was used to being uprooted. The way I saw it, nothing prevented the guys from getting married and going to Germany together for one or two years, even with the dog:) Then they could return to their korean home and she could complete her degree. I didn't see a problem, no matter how many years it all should take (so what if you get your degree at 38 or 40 years old? if it's the craft you long to practice till you're whitehaired:) Life is long. No need to rush your journey WHEN you already have the right person to walk hand in hand with. The writer tried a to make bit of final drama out of it and we had a couple of separations and reunions of the characters, so the ending was a bit zigzagging but the emphasis was on friendship and love.
Overall, it was a good melodrama.
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Classic, oldchool, annoying... With cute & sexy mains
Watched for the sexy Cee Siwat (wearing glasses in this role, very cute lol), certainly not for Aum Patcharapa, his not very compatible partner, she's older than him, nearing thirty, but stylized into "mousey" servant wearing mostly pigtails (doesn't make her look younger) and stuff. As other secret occupation, she's host on a radio show, which is a bit better (more funny, too). Soon, Cee Siwat's pra'ek keeps calling her nonstop and she teases him and some of his expressions are priceless:)So, she is a housemaid during a day, radio-host at night, plus she does study. Nang'ek sure has a busy schedule. She's got completely messy hair as a servant, as a student she has it half-messy, only working in the radio she's normal, but there pra'ek can't see her. There are such scenes as pra'ek spanking her (seriously) as she prefers that to being kicked out of his house, which she came into with some hidden motive of course, which is something birth secret-y, just like it's supposed to be in oldschool lakorn, lol. It's full of the usual annoyances so one needs to fastforward half the scenes, it's like, classic.
Episode 13, I was glad the identity charade was finally over, how can a proper romance start, when there's still a mess about who is who? After he learns the truth, he's refusing to talk to her for 1 minute... So, we then have to wait THAT out. SO annoying, these hidden identity plots. When everything gets fully revealed only then it's finally interesting, as the story actually moves forward. But it's like episode 17 of 18. Because before that, basically we only had a lot of screaming. Like I said, classic.
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Who is unwatchable is Pete Thongchua (no surprise there), who perhaps belongs on some plastic-surgery advertisement poster but not into acting. Who owns his acting is Tao Sattaphong of course, somehow he looked... really gay in this. I didn't even wish for romance in between him and Fern. After just 5 episodes, this started to drag for me, the screaming, the plot, all the characters. Even after the relationships started evolving, I didn't really care for it. And Tao Sattaphong's character here could just be gay, I would have not problem with it.
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Not single 1 kiss in this*
In "Missions Of Love", out of all the missions, mission number 3 is kiss already. So, things looked like this movie should be cool and no waiting for number of episodes for nothing like in dramas, but! It doesn't happen. Then, what were missions 4 an on about? Nothing happens with the lead boy or any other boy.. (Like the lead from 'Mischievous Kiss'!)The ending was probably intended to be moving, but it didn't work on me really, it kind of lost the spark a long while along:) It was just funny there was not much about which she could write "a novel".
*I'm not counting the ending credits kiss & I think they kissed each other right above/below the mouth anyways:)
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I love myself fluffy girly romance thing like this...:)
It's funny & cute (GEORGEOUS drawings at each episode opening), all episodes have funny "epilogues"... The only problems are exactly the same like in 'Noble, My Love'.While I appreciate that they kept the funny male secretary from 'Noble', I'm having the same problems, firstly I don't like Sung Hoon (the girl is cute, cuter than most korean female leads), secondly I don't even like the kind of main character that he portrays. Again, it's a rich guy who has to gradually blackmail the main girl into being his gf.
The 1st episode is skippable until they hook up in the car, then the proper fun starts. She then meets him again, meets the funny male asistant... But then, it's all about him being her overbearing boss. That's kind of uncomfortable. I didn't like when the lead girl was constantly strained by his demands, while he was actually making a move on her (just because they once met years ago?). It was all so artificial. While the guy she SHOULD really get close to by now naturally (the one from the book store/cafe) got completely side-lined (friend-zoned).
Basically, what I didn't like was: Sung Hoon, Sung Hoon's haircut, his male character who after a one night stand acted morelike girls act after them, and also the fact that he became her boss. (Throughout the whole series, she keeps calling him "director"... idiotic.)
What I liked: It was funny, it was cute, nobody was a virgin or sexually clueless, no one fake/stiff kissed (well, mostly) and nobody yelled on the top of their lungs just during regular conversation (mostly). Wow, k-dramas seem to have improved, lol.
Some moments are SO goofy. Like the kiddie playground in epi 9... I really did regret that I didn't like Sung Hoon. It would be perfect if I did:-) Epi 9/13 main guy also makes his confession. It's not very believable one even for a dramaland: I can't help it, I am used to seeing that after the two characters get to know each other, spend time together, go through things together, they get closer, and relationship develops. This drama, we are supposed to believe that after two random strangers spend a couple of moments together and then don't see each other for years, relationship develops. Why not, right? As long as it's cute... Which brings me back to the problem that Sung Hoon is not my type of eye candy. Else I might enjoy this more. Either way, when his main guy misunderstands that he's got a kid, he embraces it immediatelly, which is really sweet. When the girl left though, I didn't feel sorry for the guy. He LET her leave.
The viewer should be in understanding with the fact that k-dramas ALWAYS tend to overdrag, so this one, having 13 episodes only and not 16, means it REALLY had no other plot or reason for further angst, lol. Last 3 episodes, even the "epilogues" went draggy... We watch scenes like: Main girl & main guy both travel on the same street but fail to notice one another, and therefore fail to meet. On one hand, this was draggy, but the truth also was that I even didn't particularly mind it that they didn't meet, lol. (And I'll let you guess if such scene then also gets "epilogued".) Then, there's like 1 minute with the funny male assistant... Nice. This is why I rated 'Noble, My Love' 9 stars, though it was basically similar: TIME SAVING, lol.
Near the end, among flashback scenes providing the runtime filler (like, you don't even need to go on youtube to watch this show's MVs, those are already included), they end up at the same place in the same car and that oddly reminded me of another k-drama called 'Witch's Romance', where the couple also had one great moment in the beginning and then after many episodes of suffering we watched an actual repeat of that scene. I didn't give that show very high rating... I know wievers were supposed to find the reminiscing montage moving, but something nasty in me wished for the girl to REPEAT her previous behavior, then:) Meaning, leave the car before the guy wakes up and not contact him for years. Who cares about the happy ending, LOL. But, we do get happy ending, and it's like 58 minutes long, so my rating is still generous, considering;)
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This might be exactly the show that would make it up to me after 'Duang Jai Akkanee'
This might have been exactly the show that would make it up to me after 'Duang Jai Akkanee': instead of the face Nadech Kugimiya, whom I'm not fond of, we got Por Tridsadee. Though he WAS a bit old for Yaya here, I certainly preferred him, and after his death, this was my last unwatched lakorn with him in the lead I had left for watching. Also, here Yaya portrays what I would expect from "fearless and daring" heroine depicted for 'Duang Jai Akkanee': she lets herself to be seen as a naughty girl, while actually secretly heps the police to catch bad guys. She is also softhearted towards animals, lol. This is so much better setting than 'Duang Jai Akkanee', and especially after I watched Yaya's career grow, including her convincingly portraying A PRINCESS I had a good laugh watching her here, as a naughty girl:) Gotta admit she was already talented since young.BUT! Why did it all fall flat? Lots of reasons. For a comedy, the runtime is too long. I would prefer half-length episodes. After first 5 episodes, the humour got a bit old (also it bordered on the line), there were situations I found more creepy than funny, and we could see more and more of the village crime problem, which I find always problematic. It brings too dark a theme into the crazy comedy, turns young girls & elderlies into action heroes, etc... Once again, I couldn't help myself seeing the thai tv, trying to somehow "make up" for the crime & corruption occuring in their country. When the main guy fully learns about what Yaya's seemingly naughty romp secretly does for heroism, he starts liking her and genuinely care for her, though he still treats her morelike a little sister. Simply put, there's too much crime cr*p, and too much age gap. It's a pitty, but episode 10 out of 11 we're still solving the crime case and the romantic tension in between the leads is still close to 0. Episode 11, Yaya puts on make-up and suddenly looks like we know her now and they resolve everything, both crime & romance.
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3rd attempt to make a good series with the same characters
Okay, people. This is already 3rd attempt to make a good series with the same characters. Perhaps in 'Dark Blue Kiss', it will finally work? But, if it's still the "dead fish" kind of a kiss, then I say it probably doesn't matter which color it is:)The rating looks high, but you must understand that the viewers of this got pretty pre-selected. Because after 2 shows already, anybody else except the hardcore fans (mostly of Pete & Kao couple) got tired by now. I must say, I had to smirk seeing the opening credits with dramatic string music. They really tried to revamp this HARD:) I found it ridiculous more than anything else, to be honest, but... never mind.
By the way, first answer to question is: NO!!!
No, you don't need to watch the previous 2 series. You WON'T miss anything (no matter what you particularly watch series for). Those REALLY were THAT bad. Personally, I can affirm that watching the whole previous series (or two of them, even) made me so tired I was even not able to thoroughly enjoy this after all I had to go through to get to it;) Even the so-called 'Pete & Kao Cut': The very existence of that cut is like officially confirming that all the rest was unwatchable, LOL.
I admit that the two previous series REALLY tried my patience so I WAS set against this since the beginning. It might be unfair but I couldn't help myself. I was immensely close to dropping this series... Okay. We concentrate on Pete & Kao. Which is what saved this. Because openly speaking, no one else in these shows was even watchable (including the other couple, Sun & Mork, they don't look good together). After I forced myself to tune in, I can tell you that general story is: Mild & nice Kao and choleric & hotheaded Pete already decided that they care enough for each other they wish to be in a steady relationship, which they nevertheless wish to keep low profile, which is understandable in Thailand.
Story goes, Kao gets a bit into a pickle when he starts tutoring, and therefore spending lot of time with Non, who outwardly looks like a spoiled, flirty, and brash relationship-breaker (especially to jealous type Pete), while actually he's got a psycho dad and probably desperately needs a friend (which cannot go unanswered by the kind Kao). Therefore, Kao keeps meeting Non in secret and keeps lying to his explosively jealous secret/boyfriend Pete, whom he loves, both because he needs to take care of his financials by himself and because he feels that Non needs him. It's simple but engaging enough story. You can guess how the drama should evolve, nevertheless it's enjoyable.
At epi 7, Pete & Kao celebrate their anninversary. They share a pretty average onscreen kiss. It's funny because they mentioned it's been 3 years. Yeah, THAT long it took to at least look like this, LOL. Like I mentioned, NO need to watch the previous two series;)) Then they kiss right again and it's a bit better:) Only pitty was that Non didn't get to see, because then he perhaps might calm down a bit and cease to provoke Pete (and Kao) each chance he got. But no, instead, it's the father of one of the boys, who walks into such scene.
Either way, I do enjoy "couple scenes" of Pete & Kao:) What's so cute are their contrasting personalities. They're so opposite scale. They usually NEVER compromise. And yet you can watch them compromise all the time, for the sake of the other. You just love them together;-)
Crisis comes at 9/12. Non annoys the couple to the extreme, Pete won't stand for it and Kao gets pressed to the corner. People should mind their own bussiness. But if you love someone, sooner or later you have to be open about it. Unfortunatelly, that's inevitable, though honestly I more or less supported Kao in not wanting it, I understood perfectly if he didn't want to tell his mother, or the loud-screamer June, or anyone else. In this crisis, will it be the hot-headed, black-and-white world residing Pete, who'll try to smooth things over? His character's development, in this third attempt of a series, sure IS enjoyable;-) Non's on the other hand, reduces to plain bad guy, perhaps? Let's not spoiler... What I did appreciate was the issue of Pete & Kao being so different they practically each could come from different planet was NOT ignored and it was adressed that it CAN always bring trouble. If they want a future, the two of them would need to be prepared to keep dealing with it.
Since epi 11, Kao faces serious problem, which is probably the 1st time a main character does in this (these) series. But at least that makes him have a good talk with his mother. But, there's currently a wall in between him and Pete...
Overall, I'm rating this 2 classes higher than the previous series, because this had a proper drama (though not as big as the opening credits would suggest, LOL) and developed characters. Which might be something you'd think standard but it was NOT the case with the previous 2 series, trust me. Plus 1 point for the ("dark blue") kiss, with bubbles:)
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First, it doesn't seem very convincing as the lead guy is surrounded by beauties (like Jacqueline Muench!!) with enough charm it's difficult to imagine why he'd need to pine over the unobtrusive shortie. Spying this, Toey Jarinporn's disguises are hilarious. Nevertheless, I just couldn't help thinking SHE could be one of those trifling flings and NOT Jacqueline Muench. Either way, when she prepares a folder containing info about all his women, the petite lead girl is strained while carrying it, lol.
Then it's funny because main girl analyzes (correctly) that what the main guy is looking for in a woman is a good laughter dose. He just wants someone funny. Then the main girl acts funny and main guy is having a good laugh. Then he's sold (after hundreds failure attempts). But, to different girl than his sister intended for him!
I gotta admit I really did laugh watching. And I was glad for this, because Ken was SERIOUSLY too old for Toey. Them making openly fun of it (among other things) made it better. Only it's up to you whether you find it romantic that the guy is after the girl because he loves to laugh at her...
As the story goes, the main guy's sister does not learn her lesson and tries to hitch him with a beautiful woman who poses like a model in front of him (literally, lol), while the hilarious girl who makes him laugh is purposedly kinda hiding from him. And he won't have that!:) The plot is kept going by the main girl being in the need of money so that she keeps getting hired by the main guy's sister to set him up with another woman. I didn't quite get why she always had to be there when we was supposed to meet the OTHER woman, but without that we wouldn't get the main guy & main girl together. She certainly didn't try to meet up with him for herself, and so this can be classified as "Male Chases Female First".
Then, the story reverses into main guy hiring the main girl too for himself, to do some spying for whatever reason (I didn't pay attention to that part), probably in order to make the two spend time together regularly. I didn't care for that, they might as well kept the story simple, her trying to hitch him with somebody else. This way, I started skipping most of the screentime, except of the main duo's mutual teasing. Then, even that started to drag. After the first few, the 2 hour episodes became a burden. And if I was NOT interested to watch something here, then it was some CRIME related plot. My, this got LONG. Even scenes with both main girl & guy together, I was bored (!), because they kept talking about THE CASE.
Then, after TEN episodes of this, there is the first kiss. And it's sadly not a good one! Nothing against Toey Jarinporn, yeah she is short but still she's got nicely long neck:) But Ken Theeradeth needs to crouch significantly to kiss her. Inevitably, he looked like he leaned to kiss a child. It can't be helped, that is how it looked like. The kiss was also perfectly still. I really finished watching the remaining episodes only out of courtesy.
Overall, as the 1st episode really was funny, perhaps this better should have been a movie. I can recommend this only till Toey Jarinporn was still wearing her gypsy outfit (which was I think epi 1-2). After that, it faded and when the final came, I seriously did not care even if they all died (there IS a gun violence action, of course:(
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