Chrysmas
United States
What I liked
This drama started off strong, hitting all major points of what would be a good drama. Strong female lead, a steady plot, great villains and sweet pacing. The female lead carried the show in the beginning and I was rooting for her to thaw out our main lead and get the chemistry going. ( I really want to throw in a spoiler here...hm let's just say if you like night time romance...forget about it).
After about 33 percent of my time spent watching this show what I liked turned in to
What I disliked
Let's start with repetitive scenes that kept going in a cycle. Once something was resolved, it propped back up again just to start the same story over. The pacing suddenly started to drag and characters actions no longer made sense.
What is interesting is our male lead acting really was awful during the first half of this show, but after the show started going bad his acting suddenly got better...
Do you enjoy watching flashbacks back to back to back??? Well this is the show for you, at least 20 percent of this show is comprised of them.
I am not one to drop a show just because it is a train wreck already, I must see it to the end...so after watching the ending I must say...
Yup the show ended just like this review ended three freaking dots!
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This was a rare find
Although this drama has an Older Female/Younger Male dynamic, I would recommend this one for the grown and sexy. Not too silly, the romance was a slow burn but once it gets started it never stops. Although several years younger than the female lead, and in a different financial situation, the leading male still showed how supportive he could be of her throughout the show. The male lead started liking the female lead early on in the drama, but there wasn't a question as to why...some of these dramas the love is questionable...but it was easy to fall for the leading lady such Rou Xin...The cast was perfect, the secondary couples were cute and did not take away from the main story.
I really enjoyed this one.
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If you are into the boy chasing the girl, this could've been the show for you, if the pacing didn't slow down to a screeching halt after episode eleven.
Cast: Qin Shang Cheng (a pirate) becomes completely infatuated with Hua Rong, even when there is no real reason to like her...which was mentioned during the series. He adores her completely and is utterly devoted to her. He is a character with so many layers...one moment he is dead serious and about his business and the next he is jokingly silly. As a viewer you may be confused about his personality if it wasn't for Yuan Hao slaying this role and making you fall for this odd character. I feel bad that this was his first leading role, because even he couldn't carry this sinking boat (pun intended). As a side note, I want to say that the way he looks at Hua Rong is swoon worthy.
The rest of the cast wasn't as bad as one of the reviewers mentioned...it was the script and maybe the budget cut that made this show a disaster...however,after watching eleven good episodes it would be tragic not finish this drama.
Set/ Props: Although low budget, I have seen worst and I feel like the crew did the best they could with the clothing and props.
Audio/Music: I am not sure if there is just a bad version of this circling around, I attempted to watch this on numerous sites and every single one of them has audio that is damaged to the point of aggravation. Sometimes the audio cuts completely, other times loud music drowns out the dialog and other times it sounds as if the actors are speaking into a paper bag.
As for the music, it feels as if there are two OST's, one which corresponds to the scenes and the other from a 1920's bootleg circus...I don't know where they've gotten that music from.
There is no re-watch value here, but if you want to see an amazing actor in a crappy drama this would be the show for you.
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Slow paced but watchable
I must admit, I went into this with high expectations. This drama received many awards and reviews on MDL is favorable so I was ready to binge, but it took me some time to get through this one.What I liked:
-The cinematography was hands down some of the best I've seen...and in the beginning episodes, the transitions were unique.
-I loved the story-telling in each episode, it was a twist to some of the classics
-Sang Tae's character with autism-I has watched Touch Your Heart right before this and was impressed by the level of skill of Oh Jung Se could bring to the table...there was a different actor in Touch Your Heart that also had autism who did a fabulous job so I wondered if Oh Jung Se got pointers from him? At any rate, I like that he was a heartwarming character with many layers.
-I liked Ah Reum and Jung Tae story arc...I wished they would have expanded on it more ( As someone that's been in a mental institution myself, I know for a fact that patients can find love with each other and the fact that Jun Tae decided to heal instead of throwing all his hard work away was a testament to what people are willing to give up to overcome certain addictions to forge a better life in the future
-I also like the true bondage that PTSD can have on a person and the impact that war has on lives, I wished they would have explored this more too.
What I wished would change:
-The two leads did a good job, but I found myself wanting to skip whenever they were on the screen, it has nothing to do with the actors but the direction...the pacing was slow where it needed to be fast and fast where it needed to slow down.
-It's unrealistic for a patient that is on their death bed to stay at a psych hospital, I am not sure why it was written that way or if South Korean mental facilities are different but most mental hospitals only deal with the brain not anything else. Correct me if I am wrong here..
- I did enjoy Gang Tae and Sang Tae story but there was a lack in the FL character development in my opinion...the idea that love can change a person so drastically was unrealistic (like some suggested in other reviews) don't get me wrong, I thought she was an interesting...maybe even refreshing character, but there was something lacking there...I won't put spoilers though.
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Why did I torture myself?
There must be a reason why I just stick with historical/ wuxia dramas...they typically are plotted well enough to justify a long series. This series is only 16 episodes felt like 40 episodes but should have just been six episodes long. I won't go into the details because I wouldn't want to spoil anything but there are many plot holes and unnecessary plot devices that just did not do it for me. The only thing that saved this drama from getting 1 star is the actors/ actresses. The secondary couples did a great job making you root for them.Watch this if you enjoy fluff...long flashback montages that last more than 30 seconds and a very unnecessary nonstory plot device that was there for...???? Not sure the purpose.
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Being Honest
I put this on my 'plan to watch' list a while back and was ready to dip into the story like a chicken nugget in some ranch sauce until I realized the nugget was soggy. I did not go in expecting much...but I love these Three Lives Three Worlds dramas and I was willing to give it a try. I will keep it simple...What I did not like:
Dragging scenes that seemed to be thrown into fill the time
Dilraba's character at the beginning of the series was hard to take
Vego character in the mortal world and one of his role's in the so-called dream.
The demon princesses role- even though I know she negotiated some deal because she owned the rights to the story
No purpose demonic villain
What I liked:
Wayne Liu- Best character ever...I want them to revive this role for a whole new drama/ give him a better person to love and call it a day!
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No Spoilers since nothing happened
I was looking for something interesting to watch, with a mind-reading plot and so I bumped into this piece of coal that should have never been created.Let me explain.
Story: Is there really a story here??? The synopsis will have you believe that the male lead can read the girl's mind and that is the reason he falls in love but on the contrary, there is no reason WHATSOEVER why these two characters decided they liked each other...One Viki commenter said that the confession was anticlimatic, other comments wondered why the sudden switch...and I was wondering why I was continuing to put myself through so much torture.
There was not a plot...at all, so since there wasn't a plot there wasn't any pacing, this script (which I doubt there was an actual script) was filled with nonsense and many people were confused watching this...I was not confused about anything...I knew all along that there was no plot to be found to be confused about.
I feel so bad for Lee Hong GI....why does he put himself in these types of dramas is beyond me... Everyone who sees him calls him Jeremy from You're Beautiful which came out 11 years ago...the reason he is acting in a nonscripted, non directed drama about school (I say that loosely, this drama is not really about school at all) is beyond me. I hope he at least got paid well enough to act in this nonsense.
I won't put any spoilers...(there is nothing to spoil really since nothing happened) but at the very end of this show, they found every Asian drama trope and decided...let's add them all at once in the last 3 episodes for NO REASON.
Acting: Every once in a while you can get a good actor to pull off a decent performance from a non-plot role such as this but it didn't happen. The actors tried their best but the nonscripted drama was so apparent in everything that they said that there was no saving it. The fact that the actors and crew stuck around to film this is actually a miracle.
Music production: OH MY Chicken...please watch this show on silent if you are planning to torture yourself. The music production was so awful...the worst I've ever experienced out of the hundreds of dramas' that I've watched over the years. Sometimes they would have two OST's playing at once, other times the awful tunes will be drowning out the actor's voice, a serious scene is accompanied by an upbeat track, and the sound effects (especially the clock sound effect that had no purpose whatsoever, will overlap with a ringtone and a track....it's a mess just typing about it).
Rewatch Value: HAHAHA if you watched this one time you deserve some kind of compensation...the only reason I did is that I have plenty of excess time and wanted to see the train wreck.
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You're Beautiful is not for mature audiences, no one really should step into this drama for a compelling and a ocean deep story. This story is all about standing in shallow water looking for something not even in the pond...you would know what I mean when you watch this...just don't look for something that is not there.
Instead you would get a fluffy plot, with funny scenes and all around cuteness.
Thoughts:
I watched this drama three times:
The first time, I really was rooting for the second lead, the second time I really fell in love with the first lead and the third this I came to realize that Jeremy (our 3rd lead) really was the best character hands down...and probably most deserving of our female lead. That bus scene though....Hong Ki did a wonderful job!
I would recommend this for anyone that wants a light story, with unbelievable things happening nonstop and a quick laugh. The re-watch value for this fluff is extremely high for me for some reason.
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A love story or a melodrama...
Pick one.This was a cute enough story but the back and forth between the real world and the novel makes the whole thing draggy. Like many have mentioned, the real world story is just not compelling enough to stay focused and it was a relief whenever the story was redirected to the novel parts.
I do not believe they tied the two stories together to make them blend in smoothly.
Okay.
The acting was just alright in my honest opinion, but that could be because the melodrama parts seemed overdramatic, it played out like a soap opera.
There was an unbelievable scene, something miraculous happened to our main lead and I don't think they've executed the scenario enough to make the audience understand how something like that could happen without permanent consequences.
The main lead's brother and sister ending seemed rushed and not planned out; although who cared about their parts anyway?
Overall, this deserves a 7 from me, which is high enough to recommend watching it, for the novel parts alone...but there is no re-watch value here at all.
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Don't let the episode count stop you...
From watching this amazing drama.I won't go into too many details, but if you want an example of what unconditional love looks like...this is the drama for you. Our leads are outstanding together and deserve some kind of award for their portrayals in this drama.
There are not too many series that would make me cry because it over...Love and Redemption was one of those dramas...tears poured, I learned an important lesson and the acting for this drama was outstanding.
I would like to give a standing ovation to the side cast who added to the story, instead of acting like fillers. The supporting cast did such an amazing job that if you were to cut out the two leads (who were fabulous) there would still be an exciting story to tell.
The reason I did not get it 10/10 is because there were draggy unnecessary parts that were plot stallers...such as over 30 seconds of flashback montages and emotional silent scenes that dragged on forever but it is forgiven due to the satisfying ending.
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The cast was outstanding and well-balanced. When emotions were to be conveyed they did such a wonderful job doing it that it would pull at the hardest heart strings of any viewer.
Mei Changsu planning was meticulous and his way of delving out justice was eye-opening as his agenda wasn't about getting revenge but making things right.
The bromance in this is by far the best I've ever seen...and I've watched a hell of a lot of dramas.
The reason I took off a half a point is because this is really like story-telling, there are some scenes I would have wished to have seen, but instead it was explained away instead.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good bromance, know what you getting into by reading the synopsis and okay with crying a few tears.
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I really enjoyed this drama and watched it in a couple of days. The cast did a wonderful job portraying their characters and bringing to life this fantasy world.
What I liked:
I loved that everything wasn't just black and white and each character had depth which help describe their actions. Although the main characters did a great job, the side stories were very interesting and I wasn't upset when the attention got redirected from the leads. Although not the ending I expected, I am satisfied with the ending.
What could improve:
There was a critical turning point in this drama, which I believe they dragged it...for I don't know how many episodes. I don't understand why they did this, but after this critical time has pass the direction speeds up a bit.
Also, if I could get a nickle every time Little Bone said "Shifu" I could start my own mid size business. I was so glad when she finally said his name...even if the circumstances weren't all that great.
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I do not blame the actor ( I seen Addicted and he was awesome in it)...this was all because of the horrible writing which had no rhyme or reason.
There were more holes in this plot than the streets of New York City. There were some redeeming moments and characters, but come on....the last episodes were unnecessary and most of the story told in the beginning was contradicted! If a season 2 were to come out I would not watch it.
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As of the time I am writing this review, my rating is .1 point higher than the overall average so I agree with the majority of the reviewers that this is a pretty great drama.
The story was baked just right, although there could be room for improvement when it comes to the taste.
What would you feel while watching this show? ANGER! you have one crazy obsessed male lead who does the female lead so wrong. He loves her like crazy but...he really is not deserving of her love. I enjoy this kind of plot because it really makes you question yourself and the morals you may hold true.
The cast did an amazing job, the costumes were top notch, especially in the beginning of the drama with the female lead wearing red...to be honest I do not remember the music so I can't really say if it had an incredible OST or not.
I recommend this to anybody who likes drawn out angst, an obsessive male lead and decent story-telling.
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I'm an ally
I jumped into this drama expecting the most compelling story of all time. The reviews on here are mostly all 10's, and I was ready for the binge monster to kick in....instead I got a cute story, decent acting (considering their ages and experience I was not expecting Oscar-winning performances but they carried their own in my honest opinion) and a social lesson on the struggles on loving as a gay person in the PhilippinesHere is why I did not rate it a 10...
I did not see a problem with the pacing, but there was an issue with the story-telling for me. Just like in Nirvana in Fire, there was more explaining than acting going on. That could be because of the budget, but Karl's story was central to his decision making that a few more scenes with his family could have made a difference in perception. Also, Vlad's story was explained away as well. There is nothing wrong with story-telling but the direction has to pull the viewer in to actually feel the story.
I agree that the chemistry between the two was actually pretty good, but one of the characters ( I won't spoil) was just coming into their sexual identity and the moves he made were incongruent with how he was handling his newfound self...again I feel that this was a direction issue. Many of their scenes together were long music montages, and though I am a firm believer that you do not need dialogue to convey a message...the music montages were a bit too much.
The ending was rushed...and it was obvious...they could have cut out the walking face-time scene with the two girls and expanded on the ending a bit more...I hate rushed endings with a passion...it could make or break an entire drama.
General Thoughts on BL: I enjoy BL stories and am glad to see them moving in the direction to portray realistic situations that the LGBTQ+ community face...however, I also enjoy BL stories that ignore the social struggles and just tell a story of two people falling in love (solving mysteries, crime, mind-reading, vampires...whatever that is interesting) without worrying about said issues. I know some people thought this story was a bit too preachy...I actually enjoyed the lesson in this drama because it showed two different sides of the story.
The for-female-enjoyment BL stories were okay to watch but some people believe they could be problematic and I agree. Most people in my generation grew up with a Cinderella complex (look it up) and the millions of stories about a damsel of distress were reinforcing the idea that women need to be taken care of and saved...not being able to take care of themselves. So GSP was refreshing because they did not add toxicity to their story...creating a safe space for a gay story to thrive and can actually be relatable to a gay audience.
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