Brogana Sunfrog

Underwhelming Bro-mance/Family dynamics centric story with alot of crying

I'll just admit it; there are popular actors & actresses that inexplicably I just don't like. Park Bo Gum is one such actor. With that in mind; this series was a boring waste of time for me. It was a great showcase for Park Bo-gum to try out being a villain, a historical prince, a runway model & the boy next door acting abilities. This is a Bro-mance/Family dynamics centric story, with a bland romance & a half hearted loved triangle. All 3 main leads had endless in-family fighting, which led to those characters crying. ALOT. This was an unambitious laid back series, free of most K-drama tropes, almost. Then you are confronted with my most hated trope : the break up and the multi year time lapse before the ending. After putting up with a plodding plot & constant family stress, you get an ending with the 2 leads teasing each other as they walk towards the horizon, which actually only leaves you with the hope that they will get back together. Wow. Underwhelming & not worth the investment.

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Handsome men. Overstuffed convoluted plot that deserves a better ending

Overstuffed convoluted plot & overly long series-would be much better with 10 less episodes. Cast boasts alot of handsome males & a very perky attractive female lead (who seems a bit limited in expressiveness), but then again her character is written a bit flat & narrowly business focused. Ding Yu Xi plays a very similar character as he had in many other dramas & if you're not tired of seeing him cast that way, then settle in & enjoy. The romance makes little to no sense except from the point of view that the male lead's character has a bad judge of character when it comes to women & is married to 2 harpies making anyone less like a harpy more attractive ! Romances of secondary characters start out interesting but their stories end up unsatisfyingly bland or abrupt . Male lead's character is both very hardy ( survives 3 stabbings & yet somehow is also extremely fragile ( suffers nightmares, phobias, fevers, weakness when it comes to physical labor. ) On the other hand, the female lead is stronger mentally & physically.

Spoiler:
there is a 1 year time skip at end (which "steamed my clams")
During which male lead pines away, (not knowing if she is dead-while female lead does not even let him know she's alive as pragmatically decides to keep her distance, even after she meets up with him again.) The trope of singularly job/career/ focused female leads and male leads who are the more emotionally invested is getting extremely tiresome.

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unmemorable

it's one of the first Asian movies I watched, back when I did not know that mydramalist existed, so all I wrote for notes is the rating. I remember the premise (it's the same as the American remake ) but this a better movie. I found the story sad. I enjoyed the dancing & the music. I especially like how there is not alot of chatter for filler, but it lets the story have quiet reflective or other quiet but powerful moments, something American films rarely do. I'm not partial to sad stories, & this was a one sided romance that wasn't going to go anywhere, so it really didn't appeal to me

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Unpleasant Female lead & love story doesn't work

This bite size drama series was just the right length, but the way the female lead was written made me dislike her. Her attitude of; " I'm pretty & entitled & give me, give me " made me not care. Likewise, it was hard to feel much sympathy for the male lead as really, he fell in love with her 8 years prior & hasn't she changed since then (I mean you HOPE so!)? it kind of boiled down to a comfortable, we know each other better than anyone else thing & I can't say that it felt like either of them was in love. Male lead was too easy going & puts up with everything because he's afraid to make waves that float him away from his crush ? Ultimately this romance did not work for me. Plus-there is a time skip...AGH! !! {oh & At first I tried to watch on Disney+ and it was dubbed which totally ruins it. I did figure out, though, that I can change the language setting on Disney + so yay for that !. }

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Satisfying romance with nightmare scary side story

my rating is a bit high considering that the series has a a huge spectrum that swings from silliness to violence.
Thugs act like the 3 stooges in so many scenes that it got on my nerves. Then you have a serial kidnapper on the loose & he is nightmare scary. End is happy & romance is satisfying. You know you've got the right guy when it's the one who appreciates & loves you as a whole person, fully accepting your quirks & talent.(AND isn't intimidated by either), letting you be herself. I will rewatch, but not the very end as family life they depict is so silly it dampens the romantic happy ending they already served up.

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A bit the heavy on the drama, but satisfying romance with Happy ending

I liked that although there were tropes in this series, they were really done well. I'm not a fan of flashbacks, but the way they were done & used here won me over. Poor Lee Jong-suk did SO much crying, which was a bit much for me but I was impressed that he had the acting ability to pull it off well. I liked that the suspense and the heavy drama parts were quickly resolved for the most part. I liked that the resolution for the love triangle was so amicable and that the guy who didn't win the girl's heart was just as good a guy as the other guy, but there was not conflict of interests for the viewer. Leads were good but did not have over the top chemistry (blame it on the way the female lead was written I think) satisfying romance with Happy ending.The premise of the dreams being central & not just limited to one person & the specifics behind that plot devise was really well done. The lack of irritating parents in this series was a relief ! I will definitely rewatch. I prefer romantic dramas & even though there was plenty of satisfying romance so I gave this 1/2 star less for being a bit heavier :so some days I took a break from it as I needed something fluffier at the end of a long day

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pleasant & slow paced turned into tedious & bland

Slow paced, easy going , low drama series that would have been better as a 16 episode drama . Issues get resolved quickly & I found myself smiling foolishly without realizing it. However, every time the female lead bared her teeth in her rabbity grimace of a smile, I wanted to look away. It was not endearing. I had hoped that it was affected and simply good acting, so the smile would evolve into a more mature lovely smile as the character aged; but, no it remained .There were some tedious episodes that I had no patience for. A hole episode about a sick grandmother. Touching, but boring. Episodes of college life with everyone fawning over leads, hoping to lure them away from each other were uninteresting for the most part.Life after college was not interesting either and they inserted a time skip of a year or more. I was wondering what the rating warning about sexual violence was about and it shows up around episode 22 , but it is a boss hitting on a female employee, which was creepy but not graphic. The second leads were very cute. The feel of the second half of the series was a bit bland, that it felt like they were rehashing things, replicating similar moments, just stretching the series out with mundane things that it was over without any wahoo. the proposal was bland & sedate, the wedding was a short montage , then there was there life after marriage. yawn. Cute is only cute for so long when it's in a fish bowl & the fish just go round & round !OST is something I don't usually rave about, but this soundtrack was spot on, it really matched well & I was impressed, especially with the Funky 60's beach boys-ish steel guitar song by Attic performance Paige Summer's 2021 . the first 1/2 of the drama has you feeling like you're dreamily floating down a lazy river on a sunny day, the second half looses the sweet buzz and is like standing in line at the fair, waiting for something to happen

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this series is SO good, BUT Intimate scenes were more red flag than romantic

First let me say that I love this series (AND it has a happy ending) BUT I had to put my review on hold for a couple of months while I cooled off from being angry at how they began to ruin the romance at the end of Episode 14 & proceeded to strip away all the "warm fuzzies" I had for the couple. I am baffled; Is there a cultural or generational thing that I'm missing or were the writers just frustrated males locked in a room too long & they wrote that frustration into the male lead, causing him to be super aggressive & uncontrolled during what should be a romantic consensual scene. The lead female character obviously felt the same because she acts like she's putting herself on the alter to sacrifice herself (like something she's Doing for him, or rather letting him Do to her.) Appalling & unromantic Episode 16 is totally necessary.
I liked this series enough to buy the dvds but am putting a note it the case for next time I watch this

Spoilers:
for a satisfying romance version I should end where the male lead goes to Paris & I should skip ahead & pick up after the kiss (when he proposes)definitely stop at ep 15 time stamp 49:55 when she gets in the taxi & drives away. Pick up at Ep 15 times stamp 50:21

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story rehashing & People don't stay dead! Too many plot twists & turns.

All actors did a great job & I Would have rated it higher if it :
had ended at the end of Episode 12
, hadn't been so intense with more heart palpitating action than I anticipated &
didn't haave so many twists & turns that kept the storyline hard to keep track more often than not. The plot device that was both fun, yet also infuriating was that the characters could change the plot and the storyline retroactively. I was more than ready to be done by the end of episode 12....and if & when I rewatch this, I will stop at there as it's a happy enough ending place, because what follows, is clever, but overstuffed & unpleasantly gut wrenching. They cram in a dizzying amount of twists that really seemed unnecessary. Here's why stopping at episode 12 would have been a good option for me;How many times do the main characters have to end up in jail (doesn't once sound enough ? AND doesn't the amount of time there seem like it should be relatively short ? Apparently the writers though otherwise.How many times must characters die only to be revived ? Female lead's dad (the comic creator) is not really a good guy, but what happens to him & who decides what happens to him would have been better left not being so front & center. They created an impossible plot point.Bad guys who don't stay dead are a tired trope.Second villain's reason for wanting the male lead nihilated is weak at best.Rewrites that have the storyline ending the web series (the comic in the drama) ending it it's past (? yeah, what?)Episodes 1-12 have already given us quite a bit of gruesome violence as well as forced separation of the main couple. Episodes 13-16 just makes for a long drawn out messy (albeit happy) ending. Apparently, things can't end until the villain(s) are gone.The last episodes resulted in just being exhausting , but at least things are explained & some people may like being flung around plot wise yet again.

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Depressing & All the Females are unpleasant. No relationships worth rooting for

AKA; Bo Ra! Deborah By episode 4 I really hated ALL the women. By episode 7 I thought that the sobbing would be done , but Nope, Female lead is still wailing despite the fact that SHE was bored in the relationship ! Conniving women yelling ,blame shaming & being arrogant power trippers make it crystal clear why they are unhappy. they aren't misunderstood or in need of a good man, they are toxic manipulators fixated on an ideal that they pursue like a banshee. I wouldn't be friends with women like that so the idea that any man would want a piece of that is Ludacris !The cheater is obviously a jerk, and I'm not saying that the other men are perfect, but being a clueless idiot is way better than being a scheming, manipulative , angry, aggressive female. By Episode 8 I just felt depressed and sick of all the female's smug, smirky superior attitude. he men :RUN away as fast as you can! I have seen the female lead in other things, and this just ruins watching her in anything again.

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not much of a romance & 1/3 of the movie is not translated into the English subtitles

I watched this because I liked Jang Keun-suk so much in You're Beautiful, but this left me flat and rating is higher than it really deserves . First problem: About 1/3 of the movie is not translated into the English subtitles. 2nd Problem: Female lead is combatative ,hard to get along with,rude & not affectionate. She inflicts all sorts of abuse on Jang Keun-suk, whose long shaggy orangey mane of hair really detracts from his looks. A happy ending is hinted at, but What we are given is an awkward Not sweet or nice ending. To feel good about this series you need to STOP at the the music video that is 3/4 of the way through (at a wedding scene) where they should have ended the movie.

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So tedious. You feel bad for the male lead's character as female lead just isn't worth it

I read the bad reviews & I should have listened. It started off tense & scary yet was interesting. Once the male & female lead start interacting it goes downhill. I got to episode 8 & decided to cheat & skip to the last episode. I will put a spoiler at the end of this review, but let me say that the so called "happy ending"[that happens in the last few minutes of the last episode], lacked in satisfaction. What other reviewers said is true; the female lead is totally unlikeable & don't expect her sister in law to give you anything about her to like either. this should be called : "poor Yong Pal" as the male lead seems to suffer throughout the series .
in case it's useful:
some viewers recommend stopping around episode 16 for a more "good" ending (I didn't have the interest or patience to get that far!)
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spoilers:
the romance comes out of nowhere ! cordial turns into romance in such a way that you feel as if you missed an episode because
suddenly in episode 7 the two leads are crushing on each other...[through some sort of unexplained shared waking or sleeping (?) dream fantasy where there is a montage of them in a sunlit meadow.....very weird! ! About the same time -the female lead is able to use muscles she hasn't used in (3 ?) years & stands unassisted...huh !?

The leads are separated & then reunited at the end....the VERY end of the drama. I'd say the happy ending lasted all of 2 minutes or so

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It's pretty much done by Ep.16

I rated this rather highly for something I'm dropping and something that I will never rewatch. I'm not overly fond of the female lead, (personal taste) & though the male lead is attractive, there isn't much emoting going on ,whether it's because he's written or directed that way, or is simply a minimalist actor. It's a decent enough story & a nice little romance and i felt satisfied by the end of episode 16. I don't care about the female side kick's stories, nor do I care to see the main couple go through yet more difficulties. I can guess what they are going to do with the plot & I'm not into long & drawn out when I get exactly what I want if I stop at the end of episode 16. The only reason I watch historical (?) Chinese dramas is for light fluffy escapism & there isn't anything about the story that intrigues me into continuing

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Not worth the investment. Unlikeable female lead & too much mean spirited bickering

The male lead is attractive & his character is winsome, BUT by ep 5 I was ready for this to wind down as it seemed like a good time to end. I do not enjoying the bickering & meanness between the leads. I'm not a fan of overly realistic storylines, YET I don't like romances with leads that are unlikeable Until they fall in love and then they become nice to each other (though it's an off & on thing). It's especially noxious when that change of attitude is between two lovers. The enemies to lovers trope here is tedious. I began to warm up to the male lead but by episode 12 I still hadn't warmed up to the female lead. I wasn't really sold on the lead actress for this role, so they way they wrote her just added to my dislike. There were TOO many similarities in the lives of the lead characters. It was almost seemed like the writers knew that this couple wouldn't really work unless they forced them together. However the similarities that drew them together on an empathy level doesn't work as a basis for romance.
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Spoilers ahead
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It was jaw dropping ridiculous for both leads to have annoying selfish mothers that they don't like AND they both have Ex's that are selfish , demanding, arrogant, obsessed with them & unilaterally wanting them back without even giving any thought to thier feelings or more importantly how they may have changed in the past 5 years !! The Ex boyfriend & girlfriend continuing to insist on getting back together over & over & over again became tedious & brought the drama down
By Episode 7 I was wondering why I was still watching it. I finally gave myself permission to drop the drama in Episode 12. it's obvious that the leads will end up together, because they are written that stupidly. The way they are written, you know they will be a couple that will bicker the rest of thier life together. Are we supposed to be happy for them? I actually think they would be better off not together.
When I feel this disinterested & also disappointed in a drama's characters it's time to call an end to investing in it as the "pay off" isn't worth all the unpleasantness.

music was annoyingly repetitious & needed some instrumentals to break it up

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