This review may contain spoilers
Beautiful Drama but too scary at times
I know I am being a scaredy cat here but I am usually not a big fan of horror at all. Obviously this is not a typical horror drama but it does have some lowkey scary scenes that were enough for me to close my eyes (and miss the kiss scene in Room 13 đ)Apart from some scary moments I mostly liked the story and plot of this drama as well as all the diverse side characters.
First of all I liked the concept of this drama. The first few episodes were hilarious and the reason why I continued watching. I was intrigued to find out more about the different stories of different ghosts. Man-Weolâs past story was ofc interesting too but I also really liked the plot of the present time a lot.
The only flaw I have about the story is that it was not exciting enough for me to binge it, or to die out of curiosity. Thats why it took me longer to finish it as I was watching other dramas on the side too (I usually dont do that if the drama is overly exciting).
For the characters I am torn. There were some very remarkable characters in this story which was made even greater by the acting skills of the actors.
1. Obviously IU as Jang Man-Weol. Her character had many ups and downs, depth, layers and very importantly light and darkness all combined in one. judging from her past she definitely suffered a lot. There was some comic relief in there too (her excessivr drinking and shopping, etc)
2. Mago! I havenât seen anyone talk about Mago!!! First of all Kudos to the actress for portraying like 6 different types of Magos with a similar essence to their characters but with slight differences. In general the things that the Mago did and say were very thought-provoking like sending Koo Chan-Sung to the past and making him decide whether he will stay there or go back.
3. Choi Seo-Hee aka the roomkeeper at Hotel del Luna turned out to be more interesting than I had initially thought. When we slowly started learning more about her past and grudges I felt more connected to her and I think het story might have been the first thing that made me cry in this series. I was happy to see how she was able to overcome her grudges and her goodbye with Man-Weol was the most heart-breaking. They were like the mother and daughter for each other that they never had.
4. Last but not least I loved Cheung Myeung played by Lee Do Hyun (The Glory). I kinda knew / hoped his actions were a misunderstanding. At the end when Man-Weol finds out I was hoping she would fall back in love with him and they would leave to the afterlife together. Yes I was ready to abandon Koo Chan-Sung đđđ I was rooting for Man-Wol to get together with Cheung Myeung. Sadly that didnât happenâŠ
Some things I didnât like:
1. Some scary scenes or scenes that seemef more like fillers
2. Overly dragging love scenes where the FL and ML were just standing there, looking at each other romantically with some romantic song playing in the back. Some of these scenes were like 3 minutes long đ€Żđ€Żđ€Ż It was just too boring for me at timesâŠ
3. The Main Lead, Koo Chan Sung was not interesting enough. He was adorable and a nice guy and I guess the kind of guy most women want. But apart from his mother story there was nothing else to him.
4. The bartender Kim Sun-Biâs story was so sudden and random I was disappointed that we didnât hear about it until to the last episode literally⊠His past seemed very sad, unfair and interesting so I wish they had given more time and effort to his background as they did for the othet two hotel staff. His story felt too rushed tbh.
All in all itâs a nice watch, with a great plot and interesting concept as well as enchanting OST. I wouldnât watch it again but I recommend watching it if you wanna see more if IU.
Was this review helpful to you?
Best competition and cooking show ever!!!
I will keep it short as I donât really have any negative things to say about this.In recent years I havenât really watched a cooking competition. Last time probably was when I was a kid or teenager. And tbh I never really liked them. They were either too boring or too over the top. But this one was sooooo goooooodddd!!!! Even if we ignore the fact that it is about cooking. Just as a concept of a competition show alone it was great!!! All the challenges they had were super unique and exciting!!! I loved every second of it!
My favorite was the conbini mini challenge and ofc the restaurant challenge where they had all the mukbang creators come and order food đđđ It was realllyyyy fun to watch that!
Actually watching this show made me regret not having become a chef too (No I never even had the tiniest of thoughts of becoming a chef in my life đ). Watching this show made me wanna try cooking more in my daily life. Even try experimenting more with different dishes or recipes. I even considered looking up cooking classes in my area đ
Each and every chef in this show was seriously incredible!!!! I looked up some of them online and saved their restaurants for my next korea trip(s) as I dont think i can check out everything on one single trip đ
My favorite contestants were definitely Triple Star, Edward Lee and Self-made Chef. The two female Chinese cuisine chefs were incredible too! I wanted to eat all of their dishes!!! I was going crazy watching that show tbh and I was super jealous of the judges đ
Speaking of which, I really liked the judges too. They were a good mix. One focused on fine dining and the other on authentic home made food. I wish I could be a judge too.
I loved this show and I hope there will be a season 2!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The most intense competition
I have heard so many good things about Physical 100 before, even from friends who donât do any workout at all so I decided to watch it as well, especially since I have been hooked on several reality shows and competitions from korea lately I also gave this one a try.And I am glad I watched as it was super intense and mind boggling! The crazy things the human body can achieve is just insane.
I personally really liked the games they came up with. I think they were very unique. I especially liked the sand moving game. It was so exciting and definitely a gane that was gender-neutral.
The ship moving game left me speechless⊠How is that possible??? They literally made the impossible possible! Those two games were the best in my opinion.
Then, the last team game had a very unique concept too with the ancient Greek disciplines. Seeing different people do it was interesting. The only downside to these games was that some of them were quite boring to watch đ i think they should have cut them shorter. The games that have some running involved were definitely more exciting to watch.
Same with the 4 games for the final. Actually tug of war and the flipping game were quite exciting. But the last two games were too repetitive. The finals should be the most exciting games but again I was bored here too⊠đ
The boredom was one thing I didnât like. Another thing that bothered me was the unfair gender gap and how poorly it was managed. Especially in the one-on-one deathmatch games i saw some men chose women to fight against which is soooo wrong!!! I was really upset about it. I think if a woman wants to choose a man then it should be ok but not every woman would want to fight a man so men should have been prohibited to pick a woman. I definitely feel like they should have regulated the rules more on this oneâŠ
In general there were not many contestants that I liked in this one. No one really made a particular impression on me. I was kinda rooting for Tarzanâs team but they were out quickly.
Also I didnât like the way they chose teams either⊠It was very unfair. There should have also been a rule about every team having to have at least one female participantâŠ
So all in all it was an interesting show but definitely a lot of things that need to be fixedâŠ
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Best Romance K-Drama ever!
Usually I am not really a huge fan of movies or dramas of the romance genre. This drama however has been so good! Not only the immaculate acting of Park Bogum and Song Kye-Kyo, but in general the characters of the two and the whole plot was just beautiful! I loved how there was not the typical drama and childish fights between the male and female leads like we see in other dramas. Their relationship was just soooo whoolesome! And Soo-hyunâs story was just sooo sadddd! I actually cried watching this drama and usually most romance dramas leave me cold.One thing I disliked about this drama was that literally ALL the mothers were toxic AF!!!! Like whuat??? I was sooo mad!!!!
But other than that i loved it! So beautiful!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
So much better than Season 1
First of all I really donât understand the people who consider season 1 as brilliant! đ Apart from the first 4 episodes not much about season 1 was brilliant!!!The characters mostly sucked and some of the characters from the beginning never came back which was sad. The story and motivation of the characters was lacking (e.g.: Beom-Seok and why he felt so much hatred towards Su-ho was illogical and annoying which was sad bcs I really didnât wanna hate Beom-seok bcs I pitied him but in the end I hated him so much!)
The fighting scenes sucked too! it was just mindless kicking and loads of âshibalâ exclamations⊠the violence was mostly boring unless Su-Ho was the one fighting.
And then the end: The worst end ever!!!! I was seriously not happy!!! But I couldnât just give up on Su-Ho my boy so I ofc immediately watched season 2 as soon as it came out and OMG!!!! I literally finished it in 3 days!!!! Here is why I liked it better than season 1:
1. The new characters were just soooooo much better đđđI loved all of the three new boys!!! They all had their own unique traits!!! Especially Baku!!! What an amazing character!!! I hope we will see more of them!!! Also Hyun-Tak! Actually I liked the two of them a bit more than Si-Eun đ
Not only the new friends but also the new villains were awesome!!!!! Baek-Jin was brilliant!!!! To be honest I really wanted to know more about him! As well as that hot psychopath Seong-Je!!!! I lowkey wanna see him fight Su-Ho if there is a Season 3!!!
2. The story line was way more intriguing. Ofc it sounds very unrealistic like why would a gangster use high school studenta for his dirty jobs. Also most of them didnt look like or behave like high school students at all xD That was a bit unrealistic tbh and partly the reason for the point deduction.
The ending was almost perfect tho! I did predict that either Baku or Baek-Jin would die and I guess I was rightâŠ
3. The fighting scenes were insane!!! The quality has suddenly improved so much compared to season 1!!! I am so glad they invested more in that!!! Tbh I feel like there were less fighting scenes in total but the existing ones had a higher quality.
Some thinga I thought were unnecessary were Baku joining the Union for a short time and Si-Eunâs accident⊠I wish they replaced those scenes with more background information on Baku and Baek-Jin.
Other than that I loved season 2 SOOOO MUCHHHHH more!!! Hoping there will be season 3 but judging on how it ended i assume there will be another seasonâŠ
Was this review helpful to you?
Second lead couple stole the show
So first of all, this drama started off really fun and interesting. i loved the main actress so much! This was my first time seeing her in a drama and I was totally swooning đ she was so beautiful and cool!At the beginning seeing her hide from her parents was funny too but then het mom beating her up made me feel SOOO annoyed!!! Such a toxic relationship!!! I also just in general hated how ALL the mothers were behaving!!! are they grown adults or teenagers?? it was just ridiculous at times and NOT funny at all.
Another thing I didnât quite like is all the cringy lovey dovey scenes. It was a bit too much tbh.
I did like her wanting to become a chef tho. That was a very pleasant twist. And for me the real highlight was the second couple, The best friend and her neighbor who is the âdadâ of the little girl. That was suchhhhh a wholesome storyplot and I wish we saw more of them rather than the main couple being cringey and over-the-top đ
All in all the drama did have a few good points but in general it didnt excite me much and i also didnât really get much out of it.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A drama full of toxic characters
First of all, I was intrigued by this Drama because it sounded like a Korean version of the Japanese amine Ouran High School Host Club. đ Sadly, it was way lacking in terms of plot and relatable characters.At the beginning, the Drama was fun and interesting, with her trying to live by as a guy and not getting found out. And although there were some scenes where I was thinking to myself âok damn that shit js homophobic as fckâ, I was considering that maybe it was a realistic presentation of how old people might view homophobia (yes the doctor scene).
However it got kinda boring after her real gender was being revealed and even more boring after it turned all lovey-dovey.
Many people were getting annoyed at Eun-chan for keeping her gender a secret for so long and i guess even if it wasnât neccessary in the end, I can kinda understand why she did that in order to keep her job. I found the way that Han-Gyeol was treating Eun-chan way more toxic tbh. Especially when he was trying to manipulate her not to go to italy bcs he stayed in Korea bcs of her so she cannot go either đ€ŠđŒââïž I was facepalming myself so many times! Oh and also Inwas getting mad and annoyed at him for trying to force her into marrying him after only knowing each other for like 3 months, and then the majority of that time was even based on a lie tooâŠ
Also I gotta say: Almost all the men in this Drama were toxic AF!!!! Including the main lead!!!! Getting angry at him/her all the time, bossing her around and trying to control her. He was very manipulative and I seriously dunno why she fell in love with him so much⊠I kinda wished she would have gotten together with Han Sung and Yoo Joo with Han GyeolâŠ
And Yoo Joo herself was toxic in different ways as well. Super egoistic and self-centered, being with Han-Sung but kept on flirting with Han Gyeol knowing very well he had a crush on her! In general their interactions were just cringe af!!! They were literally acting like a couple and at the beginning I was actually confused about who she really loved. I realized it when she found out about Han-Sungâs crush on Eun-chan. And the way she reacted to it. Like I get it what he did was wrong af but what she was doing with Han Gyeol all the time wasnât much more different either⊠And then also after she got pregnant she was still acting like a teenager. Like Why tf are you drinking alcohol when you are pregnant??? Idk but I really had the ick toward herâŠ
However the worst character of this drama was probably Jin Ha-Rim the worst kind of wanna-be fckboy ever!!! He was so annoying and istg he deserved a good beating! i hated him so much!!! like itâs none of your business if a girl has a flat chest, doesnât wear make up or has or doesnât have sex with her boyfriend!!!! Him and Han Gyeol were one of the main reasons I started hating this drama towards the endâŠ
Min-Yeop was lowkey annoying too. A pathetic clingy gorilla baby who then went on and listened to the suggestions of a playboy. And Eun-Sae wasnât better! What a toxic bitch!!! If I had a sister like that I would have slapped her! what an embarrassment! no seriously tho, who came up with these characters??? I have never seen so many toxic characters and relationships in one Drama alone!!!
Seon-Gi was the main reason why I kept watching it and I wished he had more screen time đ„ș
Also the fact that Eun-chan looked like a young Jungkook was hilarious đ To be honest I think she did kinda look like a guy, but more like a 15-year old teenage boy rather than a 24-year old grown man đ At the beginning it was funny how everyone treated him like a kid bcs ngl she really looked like a teenage boy, but it kept on getting annoying when they were still treating her like a child after her gender reaveal. Especially when Han Gyeol was still calling her âkiddoâ while they were dating⊠it gave me the pedophile ick tbh ngl! Even she was still calling him boss in the 16th episode! Like come on girl, he is your boyfriend! But in general Seon-Gi, Eun-chan plus Han Sung were the only characters I liked, but I still couldnât relate to anyone in this drama⊠A total fail!!! would not recommend.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Better than the first one
I finished this yesterday and I still canât stop thinking about this!For me itâs crazy that the second part is actually better than the first part bcs usually second parts of a movie or drama series are not as good as the first one. Squid Game proved the opposite, that with a better story and more amazing characters, you can definitely create a good story.
Here are my favorite things and reasons that made season 2 better than season 1:
1. In this season itâs not about just playing the games. Now Gi-hun is revolting against the creators of the game. And while he is in the games, there are many unexpected twists for example with new games.
2. Gong Yooâs performance in episode 1 alone is worth watching it! From the bread vs lottery concept, to the russian roulette scene, his performance was impeccable!!!! What an amazing actor he is and how well he played the suit man!!! His final scene is the most epic scene of a character in a Kdrama in history!!!! The way he looks into the camera and blows his head off!!! I still cannot get over that scene! How can they make such a brutal scene ao aesthetically pleasing!!!
3. The rest of the drama together with this scene, has amazing cinematography!!!! I feel like it is even better than in season 1.
4. Less gory! I think this connects to the 3rd point. Thankfully they cut some gory scenes and now they focused more on the cinematography! In season 1 there were more disturbing scenes of the victims and how they took their organs out. In season 2 there is only one such scene Thank God! Those scenes were the reason I didnât like Squid Game so much.
5. T.O.P. from Big Bang is playing a drug addicted Rapper names Thanos hahaha so basically he is playing himself!!!! This is genius!!! And his acting skills are AMAZING!!!! He is even cooler than I thought! In season 1 there was a gangster and his minions and that annoying woman who gut fcked by him. And they were both SO ANNOYING!!! Thanos was less annoying and he brought some funny elements into the dark twisted story đ Although he is obviously a bad character, he is one of the bad guys who make a series more interesting due to their unexpected behaviour. I was really sad when he died tbhâŠ
His friend is more annoying and an actual douchebag! The way he killed the pretty girl omgggg! A frigging heartless monster! Thanos would have never done that!!!!
6. In general the characters this time were far better and more interesting than in the last season. Apart from Gihun I only liked the North Korean girl and the Indian guy. The gradnpa turned out to be one of the shittiest characters in the history of dramas!!! This time we have the frontman as 001 who is imo still more interesting than the old man. Then Gihunâs friend is more loyal in season 2 than the friend he had in season 1. That man was a bastard! He literally deceived the Indian guy!!!
Then obviously Thanos is much more fun than the gangsta guy from s1, and the shaman might be creepy but she is much more interesting than the woman who fcked the shaman. Then we have the pregnant gurl who is still a nice replacement of the North Korean girl. Maybe not as cool as her but still good enough. And ofc we have the transgender woman!!! Now this is a thing that is kind of a taboo to show in Korean dramas. The LGBTQ+ community and topics around it are not talked about in Korean society much and you can see that by the way the old woman thinks about it. However she finally accepts her and even saves her life in the last episode. So I see it as a sign to tell the Korean society to be more understanding and accepting of the LGBTQ+ community!!! And seeing how popular this series is not only worldwide but also in Korea, I hope that it will bring some level of acceptance! I think the relationship of the Trans woman with the old woman is very crucial and also smart from the producers! Genius!!!
7. More Korean games!!! In season 1 the Dalgona game was the only Korean game i think. And squid game ofc. But Red Light Green Light, Tug of War, Marbles are all games we know in other countries too. This season they changed most of the games! So far we have only seen 3 games and 2 of them were new but the second round consisted of many games and all of them were Korean, so brandnew for us! Except maybe the spinning top! But the episode with round 2 was one of my favorites as well! And then round 3 was also kind of a new game! We do have carousels but seeing the formation of groups was new to me. Although that game was a bit boring it had some twists as well. Thanos actually made that game more interesting and fun đ
So far these were all of the good things i think. Lets have a look at some of the not ao good things or stuff that I didnât like so much:
1. Less gory yes but they still kept the scene at night where they kill each other with forks⊠That scene was already disturbing in season 1 and was disturbing again in season 2⊠I wish they changed that scene in season 2 and made sth unexpected out of itâŠ
2. They used the opening song of Reply 1988 in the scene of the mini games!!! I didnt like it that much because for me that song strictly belongs to Reply 1988!!! Like how dare they take it and make it into a squid game soundtrack!!! I hope people will forget about that song in that scene. And yes I do think it was a tribute to Reply 1988 as it starts with the Seoul Olympics in 1988, and the second round of 5 mini games does remind of the Olympic Games somehow. I still didnât like it tho. They already paid a tribute to Reply 1988 in a scene when a character says they live in Ssangmun dong, the streets where Reply 1988 takes place. So imo that was enough tribute.
All in all, I really liked Squid Game season 2 and it was more than what I expected!
Was this review helpful to you?
