So good but yet so cringe... and badly paced

This is a fun drama with a whole lot of good (mostly Shin Hye Sun) and a whole lot of cringe... and some of dramalands oddest/worst pacing.

The drama starts off all fun and sweet with some darn good acting and what one could say as a gender fluid theme... While one could think there would be a lot of second hand embarrassment the writers of this drama managed to dodge most of these and built up a really bad ass lead. With a whole lot of interesting lives and people around them.

Our lead has had several ethnicities and genders throughout their lives, learned a whole lot of interesting traits and grown up to be a seemingly care free person with a slightly one track mind... Making way for som pretty good humour... Having a gambling addict as a father our lead knew that life number 19 was not going to be easy...

Our male lead, is ok, nothing mind-blowing about him but a nice mix of sweet and cold... The friends and found family around the two are lovely in every single way not at all annoying as some may be. And I especially loved the dramas take on biological family... Saying some times a former anamy becomes ones parent in the next life in those cases it is better to cut them off...

I also really liked the mysterious guy with bells, however his character got way to little screen time and felt cut short in a lot of ways.

The OST is amazing, cinematography lovely and there are a lot of fun lines.

All things that could have made me give this drama a high score as it was also an easy binge and entertaining most of time... Had it not been for what I have to say next this drama could easily have gotten a 9 or a 9,5.

HOWEVER

Pacing- At times so fast you do not understand what just happened other times so slow you wonder if you are watching the drama in slow motion.

Cringe- The characters are often seen side by side with other versions of them selves...

Anticlimactic-The feeling of "was that really all there was to it " took over me several times while watching this drama. So much build up for nothing.

So all in all an ok drama that could have been a lot better but is still entertaining to watch.

Read More

Love Bulldozer meets Icicle

This is a sweet, short easy binge as we meet mr. cold but sweet smiles as he ventures out in to the country side to escape his fathers pressure (and some other stuff), where he meets mr. tractor (also cutie smiles).


Mr cold but sweet smiles is a walking talking lip gloss commercial. He is very a bit distant, angry, puts up walls but is shown to be sweet deep down inside. I guess we could say he is a popsicle melting in a water fight (the writers seem to have a thing for water-fights in this).

Mr tractor is probably more of a bulldozer portrayed a little bit to stereotypical, stupid country bumpkin for my taste, and I would be lying if I said it did not bother me. However he is really sweet and extremely lovable, the type who can tear down the wall of china with his smile.

The characters around them have limited screen time, most of them use that (limited) time extremely well and dare I say almost steal the show... other add on with a pretty face but an unnecessary twist. There is also an old dog, adorable farm animals and a whole lot of pretty scenery and splashes of water.

Definitely a drama I recommend, just be-were of the stereotype.

Read More

I guess this could be what one would call an aftershock

I do not really know why this is a spin off and not just part of the show... but then again I did not make the rules. This little extra episode is just like the first season, sweet found family and awkward insecure men who let fear, assumptions and jealousy take away form the fluff and fun they could have had.

If you loved the first season you are sure to enjoy this as it is indeed in line with the rest but if you found the first season pretty good but not WOOW masterpiece... this will probably feel kind of bland. Still a good watch. as long as you did not hate the first season you should probably watch this too. Just do not expect anything revolutionary to happen.

Read More

A more realistic ending...

If you have watched the original ending and could look passed a bunch of stuff this ending may just ruin stuff for you as I would say this ending is more realistic . Or at least more human, real, less out there... ending as far as realistic endings can get. I am not really sure this ads much to the story.

However for those who have been there... or who have been trying to figure out the pros and cons to going a long with societies expectations, falling in love at first f*** or just trying to be true to ones self without hurting others. This ending could probably hit a spot or two...

Watching this is pretty much completely unnecessary, especially if you are satisfied with the first ending, but if you feel like you want to see more and want something that gives you a bit more food for thought this is not a total waste of time (and money)

Read More

Sweet and fluffy teen romance, where the parents stole the show

This is an easy to watch short and sweet series that is about 50% fluff and 50% educational. Though the leads of this story are supposed to be the teens the true stars are the mom and uncle who seem to be there to teach the audience how to be supportive parents.

The mom here is a single mother raising her kid together with her gay brother. She is a concerned mother who pushes her son to do well. And a mother who worries a lot about her son. She has seen how badly life has treated her brother and does not want her son to have to endure what her brother went through, She seems to stand for the voice of the concerned parents out there. Though her conversations with her brother the viewers get a whole lot of education on the subject showing both concerns and solutions to them.

The uncle is the voice of reason in this drama, he is also pretty good looking and a character I would love to see lead a spin off for a more mature audience with less education and more romance.

The friendships here are supportive, fun and all round great however I can not help but wonder what the people around Q (the main lead) actually like about him as he is pretty self centred, immature, emotional, competitive and oblivious to his surroundings. Yes he does have a pretty face and he does seem to be able to care for others. I would have wanted to see more of this guys good parts to try to figure out why someone would actually like him.

X on the other hand is in need of a lesson in communication but other than that he is just perfect in every way possible. easy to love, easy to understand, not to emotional and extremely aware of his surroundings.

In short: bingabliaty high, fluff high, annoying elements few, quality low, entertainment decent. A bigger budget and a few more episodes would have been great!

Also you may notice that the "bad people" here all have darker skin then the main cast, so the production may be all gay rights friendly but does need to look over how they cast good vs bad people....

Read More

Stars that brighten up the mentally blocked sky...

This is such a sweet romance drama. packed with insecurities, fear and people who use different strategies to seem all together when they obviously are not... As 20 shades of mental instability/illness are portrayed in this drama. To keep this drama from becoming too dark and deep these issues are rather sampled than explored in depth... And Bright/Stars/sales are all there to brighten up the sky (mood). With beautiful smiles, some pretty badd ass moves fluffy cats and beautiful product placed things.

What I loved about this drama was how easy it was to binge, as well as the characters and acting. No one was overly annoying, do not get me wrong there where times where I felt bad for people and wanted to yell at the screen come on... and for ff.... But the evil where truly evil done... well evil. The ill where ill and sent to the hospital/taken care of, the mentally scarred admitted to their scarred and those in between did their job and then quietly disappear without too much commotion or annoyance.

Since I have seen many of the actors here play homosexual characters I will admit that It did feel a bit odd to see some of the them play heterosexual characters, but with time I got over it and noticed that they where just as good or mediocre here as in any other drama I have seem them in. I also really liked the female lead (not all her characters choices) as she does have that extra spark that just makes you fall for her. And Bright,,, Well he lived up to his name brightening up the screen... And nothing was really off with Off either...

So to sum it up, highly bindable, sweet romance that scratches the surface regarding a palette of mental issues. If you are looking for depth or accurate depictions of mental illness then move on and look somewhere else, But if you are looking for some good friendships, some fighting spirit, a bunch of drama and romance this is not a bad place to look for it.

Read More

Alice, you are indeed not in wonderland any more...

This drama takes you on a journey back to wonderland and then crushes it all and fills it with, blood, gore and pretty much everything nasty... Ok not really however the english tittle Alice in Borderland is very much connected to Alice in wonderland, the adult version with lots and lots of gore, pain and playing with human lives and emotions to the max. Much like the original Alice who seems all fluffy and nice this drama has quite a bit of social criticism and seems to ask the viewers to either just enjoy the splatter and the gore or think past the surface as every single one of the games in this drama seam to have something to say. To be honest i am not sure I always get what they are trying to say but i am sue there is a lot more too it, which I hope to find out during the next season.

When it comes to twists and turns I will admit some of them where more predictable than others and while part one of a twist may have been very predictable, part two blew my mind more than once. and it is always nice to have your mind blown from the safe distance of ones couch.

I also liked the the way the characters are portrayed as complex humans, not always perfect, some times mysterious and with more or less interesting background stories that at least made me curious to find out more about them as every single one of the characters has more to them than meets the eye.

A lot of people have compared this drama with Squid Games and though i do see some similarities about human nature and the game theme, I do think these two are very different in the core, but sure it is some kind of mix of Alice in Wonderland goes Squid Game meets Lord of the flies type of deal with less colours and more unanswered questions.

Read More

Just an orange...

This drama is a bit like the process of eating an orange a bit hard to get in to, some bitter parts here and there, some souer parts too, but overall pretty sweet and juicy... Or it could also be that it seems to be sponsored by the orange lobbyists of the world... Making me think of oranges...

The male leads ate a bit like oranges too.. as they have very sweet ores but seem to need quite a bit of help to let that sweetness out.

There is some pretty decent representation of several parts of the LGBTQIA community. however which parts may be a spoiler so I will just say that the representation was pretty decent (and write more under the spoiler tag) , however I do not know if it was something lost in translation but while most of it was decent. Again this could be due to something lost in translation/subbing but there is a part that is highly questionable (again more under spoiler),

The friendships, and relationships shown in this drama are both lovely and interesting, the mom is not the typical drama mom but is rather very lovable and the type you just want to hug and send to all those kids who may need her.

Bingabilaty: High
Annoying elements: too many flashbacks + repetitive montages but characters are all good.
Romance: 8

It does get some added points for oddly unique plot line even though it does have a whole bunch of tropes...

Defiantly worth a watch, but beware of the first couple of episodes.

Read More

Fluff, a god, a dog and an unbelievable journey into the troubles of youth

An adorable Chihuahua on the outside BL-fan at heart presents us with the oddly real journey of 4 teens dealing with life and relatable issues affecting teens everywhere... This by letting two of these teens swatch bodies. However do not mistake the body swap theme here with punch down humour or trans identities as they do a really good job avoiding common punch lines and stick to the issues at hand as well as use this to show different types of love, gender identity as well as sexuality and do fit in a whole lot of equality not to mention a subtle wink to people on the NPF-spectrum.

In other words this has a whole lot of well done representation, as they also show that every decision in life will have consequences, and acting on them (teen or not for that matter) can much like the kid in home alone... seem all nice in the beginning but can also leave you with a whole lot of regret... Ans while some actions made by impulse can easily reversed others can't and or make way to a whole bunch of new consequences... as life, love, sexuality, gender identity, family, dreams... and what not pretty complicated...

While some people are afraid of people who are different than them, there are those who will not only accept you for who you are, but love you for being you... it may seem hard but find those people and try to move on from those who do'n't seems to be a recurring theme to this drama, a message any kid, teen, adult, senior citizen (in short human, heck dog, god and cat too) can need to hear over and over again...

Bingeabilaty: High
Friendships: 10
Romance: ok but not the main attraction in this drama
Annoying characters: no
Fluff: 10

This is definitely a youth drama I recommend to all and once my kid learns how read english well enough to follow subs I will defiantly show her this!

P.S. The fan subber who subbed this is a saint! I love how they add small comments here and there, not to much to take over but it is (as always that little extra sprinkles on top)

Read More

This was a good drama, watch it!

Prepare of a slightly messy review as I have a lot to say and am not sure how to say it, but I tried to divide it in to sections to make it easier to follow... The drama itself is however not the least bit messy, it a is really well made, has a good pacing, ok cinematography, easy to watch, makes you feel all kinds of emotions and is easy to binge.


The Story:
The story is good it is fun but not silly, the characters are interesting human and they do a great job showing how conventions make people feel bad about themselves and add unnecessary pressure by simply questioning them as well as showing the dire consequences of forcing people to live up to them or trying to satisfy the ableist eye.

Kids are human too:
I am a sucker for people who treat kids like people, hate it when people lie to. kids, force them to do things out of their reach, bully them etc. So I loved how this drama dealt with this issue. I found myself agreeing with those who stood up for the kid and screaming at the screen, just listen to the kid, can't you see you are bullying your own kid... While at the same time appreciating the way they showed the immense pressure parents are under to raise their kids to be "normal"... And felt empowered as a parent who has always been open with my own kid about these things and supported her individual way of functioning as I too have tried do live by the values this drama seems to convey.

The Healing:
Most of the time the tag healing serve like a warning for me to stay away, but this drama does it really well. I can not put my finger on what it is they do here they makes it different, it could be the whole feel to it that does not ignore the problems. It is in no way perfect and well some part of the story may be over simplified at times but over all they show both the problems society creates but also some solutions, tried and error, mistakes are good kind of deal, is all about finding the right context for you, one that will make you grow, but also be were of your limits... and most importantly the value of accepting ones weakness.

" Pandas are able to survive because they accept their weakness"

Also he drama does a pretty good job showing the concept social construction , as it is society that decided to name things and group things the way we do... What makes a bird a bird, does the ostrich know it can not fly?


Eccentric or NPF representation?
The male lead is described as eccentric. I find the word eccentric as a bit off for this drama because though they do not use the word autism or NPF diagnosis it is very clear to see that both the male lead and one of the side characters have to deal with living with autism in an ablest world... However I can not find the words NPF or autism being used in the description or inside the drama (correct me if I am wrong) only that they say that they function differently than most kids. Not using the made up by humans but agreed upon term does bother me because I would like to see these words normalised and become less exotic/eccentric and more like adjective to help us understand and find representation... Am I making any sense here?

To sum it up, it is a good drama with a good story and good representation... There is also a guy who is a lot like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. So go watch it.






I am not a bad mother after all...

Read More

Put things in to perspective, and pretty good, but not very entertaining and hard to rate.

I am confused, very confused... not so much about the movie itself, it is pretty straight forward though it does have some interesting twists and turns pretty good cinematography for a J movie, it is not too hard to follow the story-line. So why am i confused? Well I just do not know how I feel about the message in this movie, and about how they portray this issue. Part of me thinks that it has a really interesting take on this that we rarely see. It is not like they over simplify the issue in hand or something like that, I find myself liking and disliking it at once... and wanting them to dig deeper yet make it simpler at the same time. Yes I am contradicting myself here (that is my point).

What I do like is the people here, the side stories and the side characters seem to have made for a better story than the main one. The characters are relatable, not detestable, most are actually pretty sweet. Some may need a lesson or to in communication but the story would be pretty dull if everybody was perfect.

The entertainment value is not very high, but there are some scenes that may blow your mind and the quality to the production and story are high. And it does help put things in to perspective... In a lot of more or less subtle ways...

Honestly I could have rated this anything between a 6 and a 10 depending on what I focus on and the mood I am in.

Read More

Oddly entertaining but boys need to learn how to communicate...

This drama is very short, I am willing to say too short and shows these two very opposite boys with one thing and one thing incommon only and that is that both completely lack communication skills.

In a way the behaviour displayed by the beautiful boy is kind of the typical bad boy, ,r popular. king... or extremely insecure child testing his surroundings to see if people around him will stay or leave. So basically this guy is actually only crying out for love. Kind of sweet but not very good...

The other boy mr stutter is this super shy, obsessive fan who puts the beautiful boy on the pedestal catering to mr beautifuls desire to be loved. He is also driving by insecurity, and some times it does become kind of creepy and cross the line... However he is actually aware of this and admits to it which is what I do love about this drama.

They actually admit to the faults, they do not ignore the problematic behaviour and actually do show the story around it as well as the problems being put up or putting someone on a pedestal can create. They also show the problems with school hierkis and true friendship, whatever that may be power relations etc...

The second lead is the perfect second lead, he is sweet, kind, understanding and brings out the best in mr stutter.


To sum it up this way way to short but very entertaining and left me wanting more.

Read More

3 minutes...

These are three minutes, that will probably get your emotions started even if you did not watch the original series the music is bound to get to you but if you actually do want to understand or feel something for these 3 minutes then do watch the original drama first, it is really well written, well preformed and has a lovely sound, these 3 minutes are just like the finishing touch, making you feel a sense of longing I guess...

But as I wrote it is only 3 minutes long so I do not really have much more to write here... but it looked so empty without any reviews... thus I took my time to watch those three minutes again to write this review...

Read More

Too short, I want to see more of the main couple but pretty well executed and informative.

What can one expect of a 30 minute short film?

Well apparently quite a bit, this is a way to short portrayal of mainly people with different visual impairments who are part of a photography club. Where they get to introduce themselves showing a variety of impairments as well as ways to relate to having a visual impairment.

I would have wanted to see more of these people day to day life, as well as see more of the main couple interact with each other so I would have wanted this to be full length. I will admit that the entertainment value is ok, but not great but they did have me laughing with them recognising situations as well as did a pretty good job in showing how people who mean well actually can do harm as well as some day to day struggles.

The leads are phenomenal, and I liked that they used A-list stars for this, I also like how they show different aids as well as a slight glimpse into why people who need them may choose to not to use them unless completely necessary to avoid unwanted help. And As usual Han Mins character rocked, she was straight forward, competent, fun and all rownd lovable. Even if the short film focuses a but to much on the visual impairity they did manage to humanise the characters, break some stereotypes and show them as individuals with ability as well as dreams capable of attraction, desire and affection.

All in all definitely worth 30 minutes of your life! And available on YT

Read More

Never has a movie had a name that fit it so well

I do not think I have ever seen a movie with such a wide rage of ratings some love it others hate it so going in to this I did not really know what to expect so my expectations where low. The beginning is sweet and kind of funny, the middle kept me wondering when, what and where something was going to go wrong and then came the twists and while they are obviously not everyones cup of tea I enjoyed them very much and found the ending pretty satisfying.

The acting was god, the OST hit the spot, the romance was definitely sweet and sour and seeing its available on Netflix and only 1 hour and 42 minutes I recommend you watch it and form your own opinion about it will you hate it or love it,

Read More