Mellow but underwhelming

I know this one is getting glowing reviews but it really felt underwhelming to me. Objectively I think everything is well-written, but I just didn't really feel the spark in it.

To start with the good things, it's definitely a mellow, down-to-earth drama. No conflicts feel overblown, there aren't any purely evil villain characters, and misunderstandings are understandable and realistic. I also think the age gap was handled really respectfully; they talk about it explicitly and emphasize that it began one-sided (that it would be weird otherwise). By the time feelings are revealed, the characters are older and wiser, and the romance is mature and communicative.

Ironically, I think this is one of the few dramas that would've benefitted from having a little more drama so that I would feel more stakes. I don't know if the story with the ML's backstory got as much closure as I would've wanted, considering it was the most interesting part since aside from the romance, SZ unfortunately doesn't feel that well-rounded.

Another thing is that the side characters feel lacking. The best one was Sang Zhi's older brother; the sibling relationship was perfectly depicted and hilarious, but I do wish we knew more about him outside of it. Similarly, we get hints of the friends, roommates, and coworkers of our two leads, but they're not really fleshed beyond the cookie-cutter roles of side characters in dramas (the boy-crazy one, the smart one, the tomboy, etc.), and they definitely felt sidelined in favor of the leads. It's understandable — after all, they are leads — but it made scenes where the leads weren't together feel bland.

I really do think this would be enjoyable to viewers who like romance dramas that are low-stress, mellow, and mature, like You Are My Glory. For me, I think there's an element of liveliness that I really missed, whether it was between the leads or the other people around them.

Read More

Great sismance makes up for a lacking ML

I'm usually not one to harp on acting but the ML here really feels woefully miscast. I watched the actor in Silent where he was sort of the quiet, studious type and I just think his role there fits him so much better. Here, the charisma that he's supposed to have as Mr. Popular just isn't there, and neither is the subtle gentleness he shows towards the FL. The acting just feels forced and awkward; the show keeps telling me about how charming and lovable this guy is, but I don't really feel any of it and I just see him going through the motions.

With that being said, I don't really think the romantic chemistry is there, but it is between the FL and her friends! I know this is a romance but the part that really shines through for me in this drama is the friendship between the three female leads. It's beautiful and heart-warming and any conflicts that they do run into are very realistic. Even the quote-unquote "evil SFL" isn't overly terrible, which is always refreshing to me. All the actresses were perfect (even though the FL is obviously gorgeous and people being afraid of her doesn't make sense, lol).

Overall, the plot is just wholesome; there aren't any overblown dramatics and communication is learned through very well-done character development. The pacing of the side plots goes a little up-and-down, but I still enjoyed them for the simple fact that I liked the 3 female leads.

Simply put, this is a comfort drama.

Read More

So close

This one took me REALLY long to get through, and I'm not sure why. On paper it has everything I love — a strong female character, mental health, tragic backstories.

But I really just couldn't connect to the female lead. Insecurity is something I understand, but when every other line out of her mouth was "did you do this with all your girlfriends?" or "are you breaking up with me?" or "are we even dating?" it just made her very overbearing and unlikable.

I really liked the main plot about JJY dealing with his abusive childhood, but it really could have come earlier. There were some subplots that I felt didn't really add much to the story, and more time could've also been dedicated to Hae-soo's sexual fears, which I thought was never addressed as much as I wanted it to. The second ship was also kind of out of nowhere for me and didn't make much sense.

Because of all those criticisms, I was pretty much stuck on episode 8 for months and just never felt the urge to watch. Once I did, it was the last few episodes where we really fleshed out JY's plot that really had me buy into the drama.

Ultimately, this was still a pretty good watch, though I'm surprised it's rated so highly. My favorite part is undoubtedly the OST.

Read More

Unbearable

This was horrible to watch. I know dramaland has a history of rude/jerk MLs that do nice things behind the scenes, but it is my belief that the latter probably doesn't matter if the former is just that hurtful to the FL — and this hinges a lot on how the FL takes it.

In this one, the weak and whiny FL was annoying, and the ML's coldness was just over the top. It was one of those dramas where jealousy wasn't funny and their entire relationship just seemed very toxic.

Something about the relationship progression with them being brother and sister first just felt very weird and unnatural to me.

Everything about the plot was very cliche, and it was just full of misunderstandings caused by the evil SFL.

Read More

I felt like I had higher expectations for this. Having watched #Alive and Train to Busan in the past year, I had gotten used to zombie movies with fast action — TtB set the bar super high with its social commentary, and I kind of thought Kingdom would have combo of emotion and action. But it had a lot of politics in it, with a lot of administrative characters that I found hard to tell apart and just wasn't that interested in.

Ultimately, I still really like the aesthetics of the show, and there's a twist that I enjoyed quite a bit. I really like the main characters of the Crown Prince, Gun Guy, and Physician — but didn't really click with anyone else. I also liked the zombie plots in general, but overall it was too much politics, too many side characters who I didn't care about.

Read More

Character-driven social commentary

One thing I've noticed about these Taiwanese mystery thriller dramas is that it's not necessarily about the whodunnit or about blowing your mind with plot twists. It's about making social commentary through the eyes of different characters. Copycat Killer did a really good job of that.

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed the mystery element, but I realized I shouldn't overthink the actions of different characters and waste my time trying to figure out who did it. Instead, the drama made me think about the killer's motivations and psychology, and most of all how the media and the rest of the public enabled it.

This is a really character-driven (as opposed to plot-driven) story; if someone keeps those things in mind, I think they'll really enjoy this one.

Read More

Slow burn excellence

I was a little nervous about the leads' relationship — after all, the characters have a TEN year age gap. But this turned out to be one of the sweetest, healthiest, most mature relationships I've ever seen and I can't put into words how much I loved seeing their feelings slowly develop. The chemistry was absolutely there but even individually, both the ML and the FL were given equal time to shine. They were such well-rounded characters with their own stories, and their relationship was built on supporting and caring for each other during those journeys. There were no stupid misunderstanding tropes and the honesty was just so refreshing. The FL is exactly how a strong female lead should be written, and the ML is respectful and kind.

The second and third couples were okay; I liked them as characters also and think the relationships also made sense, but they weren't as fleshed out and sometimes there were developments I wanted to see that I feel like the show skipped over.

But they were still good additions to the cast, and plot-wise the subplots of all the side characters were intertwined with the main one relatively well. It's interesting too to realize that there are really no clear-cut villains in the story. There are some people that are selfish and money- and power-hungry, but ultimately they didn't become "evil" and things were never that black and white. It made the drama very relatable and true-to-life.

I know some people complained that the drama started out slow but the pacing of the entire show was just perfect for me. We got to see what the characters' original lives were like, what traumas they had, who and what was important to them, how they handled conflicts, etc. It makes seeing their development at the end mean so much more.

Whether you typically watch sport dramas or not, this is one I will 100% recommend.

Read More

Comforting but a little boring

I think this drama would be good for people who enjoyed Run On, Because This Is My First Life, and Racket Boys — all dramas that were pretty mellow and comforting, where any romance was pretty simple, straightforward, and honestly a little distant. I do love good communication between characters and I also loved seeing strangers get to know each other but I felt like I never really felt giddy or that invested in them. The relationship is almost too mellow for me (as someone who just wants a little more playfulness and casual banter).

There are also some cliches in the plot that felt a little out of place for 2021, and the pacing was a little weird with not focusing on the male lead at all until near the last few episodes.

I'm also pretty on the fence about the side stories — there are some scenes that were very touching and heart-warming but overall I definitely wasn't that invested in their stories as much and I even found them a little annoying at times.

I know 6.5 might seem like a low rating but it's not and it's really more out of indifference than dislike; I've watched worse dramas that made me feel more.

Read More

Fun action, but not very deep

Overall I still quite enjoyed this quite a bit, but it had the potential to be a lot more. Being a huge fan of Train to Busan, I kind of couldn't help but compare and it felt like the stakes never really rose in #Alive.

There were a lot of mini "deus ex machina" moments where things just seemed to happen and save the main characters, or they just seemed to be able to fight back: plot armor, if you will. And suspense could have been handled better, I felt like the loud music was kind of a giveaway that something was about to happen, and even silence could have had more of a feeling of anticipation.

I liked the relationship between the main characters but the FL was not really developed — I wanted to know things like why she was so good at making those gadgets.

Some things were also just kind of predictable. The social media/web aspect was a little less of the story than I expected and kind of seem unnecessary altogether.

Read More

This movie had a nice vibe and there were some really cute scenes between the leads but I still feel like it was missing something — namely, context/plot. Firstly, I wish we went more into the backstories, and secondly, there was a lot of potential for actual problems to pull the couple apart (which was what the blurb sold this movie as) but each time gap felt like it was pretty much just because they didn’t communicate. It felt like I was waiting for The Big Conflict, and it never really came.

Also, and this was understandable considering how less time a movie has vs. a drama, but I felt like the relationship between the main leads just wasn’t developed enough. They had their cute moments, but in terms of depth, every time they reunited, they just smiled at each other and it was a given that they would be together again; the time gaps just didn’t feel like time gaps because they were basically the exact same people with the exact same personalities years later.

I will say I really appreciated the entire vibe/aesthetic of this show — the lack of slow motion, special effects plus the color palette, transition screens, and not overusing OSTs…it all made the entire show feel that much more intimate and realistic.

Read More

Humor was hit or miss

Right off the bat, I knew it wasn't my type of humor. It's a little like Melting Me Softly or After School: Lucky or Not where the humor is just kind of bizarre and illogical — the type of "omfg lolzor so randoM!!" type of humor that I liked in middle school. Even with this being said though, there were SOME moments that still made me laugh out loud.

Because of the above, I felt like the plot was just kind of boring to me because it felt like there wasn't really anything at stake.

The main couple was the one I was least interested in out of the three, and it felt like the main two characters (and the random second lead) had no personality. I loved Seo-jin and Joon-ki att first — but after she started liking him, all the banter and clashing that defined their relationship went out the window, and Seo-jin's say-it-like-it-is personality did a complete 180. In the end, Du-shik and Soo-ah (who I disliked at the start) became my favorite two characters.

Read More

Heart-warming but bittersweet

I have too many thoughts. It's true that this drama focused less on the romance plotline and more on friendship and family, which I can get behind. BUT—for fifteen episodes, the romance barely progressed, and I honestly found myself thirsting for any sort of development. The triangle was one of those situations where for once I wouldn't mind who got the girl because I loved both love interests so much. It definitely wasn't who I expected at the beginning, where I was firmly on Team Jung-Hwan, but the way they went about making Taek the husband was so natural that I fell for him HARD along the way, and their hotel kiss scene turned out to be my favorite scene. which I've rewatched at least 50 times since finishing the drama an hour ago.

I really appreciated that Deok-Sun fell for him on her own and, unlike the other two, didn't just like the idea of being liked first (in which she was unlikable and had stilted character development); to add, the fact that she lied and didn't chase after him because she cherished him so much as a friend...that broke me into a million pieces. Their relationship was honestly all kinds of natural, and even though everyone treated him so preciously and she did too, she was also one of the few who weren't afraid of wrestling him and treating him like everyone else. Like I said, even though Deok-Sun seemed to have some stilted character development because she was such a passive part of the love triangle for so long and didn't even understand her own emotions after the time skip, I really liked how everything ended up playing out—I just wished her pacing was less bunched up towards the end.

My heart still hurts for Jung-Hwan, especially with all those episodes after the time skip, and I wish he had more development even after it was clear Taek was the husband. But one huge thing I loved about Reply 1988 in comparison to the other dramas was that, even though it was heart-breaking, it teaches that you have to ACT and fight for what your heart wants. Jung-Hwan might've loved Deok-Sun, but he never fought for her, treated her indifferently, said hurtful things, and for once the tsundere-with-lack-of-communication didn't have that hail Mary / miracle at the end and get the girl, which is a much more accurate representation of real life. Jung-Hwan's episode 18 revelation was one of my favorites: when he sees that Taek got to her first, blames the red lights, then finally realizes that he had had all the time in the world and could only blame his own hesitation and cowardice. It can all be summed up in that on scene where Deok-Sun says she has indigestion, JH only asks if she's okay, but Taek follows her out and gives her medicine.

Taek was the one who was always there for her, and even after knowing about Jung-Hwan's feelings and folding his own, Taek still dropped everything for her—not because didn't care for Jung-Hwan, but just because Deok-Sun was that much of a priority.

The time skip in this one surprisingly didn't bother me as much, even though I still felt kind of iffy about it at first, as I do with all time skips. Unlike Reply 1997 where Yoon-Jae and Shi-Won didn't talk to each other for six years, I liked that characters kept in touch throughout the years and still met up, which was why their relationship was so natural even though we could see them growing up.

The ending broke my heart, and honestly I wish it ended at episode 19, where everyone was happy. But since we DID have episode 20, I wish the things introduced in that episode were wrapped up, like their family and friends' reactions to Taek and Deok-Sun's relationship.

I also HATED Bo-Ra at first, because she was rude and angsty and bossy and yelled ALL ThE TIME. But she grew on me, and I loved that her political activism was a storyline. Her relationship with her dad was also a dark horse that I didn't expect to cry so much for them.

One thing I wished we had more of was friendship for Deok-Sun within the group. I loved her scenes with Dong-Ryong which were JUST friendship, and I loved the bromance between the other characters. But since Deok-Sun was the only girl, I couldn't help but feel like she was left out of some of those deep talks.

It took me a little longer to understand who was who, simply because this one had the most adults and family members. At some points, there were some plots that I didn't care for and felt like they were filler, but they really grew on me as the story progressed.

Another thing that really didn't work for me was the different actors in the present day scenes. I liked that it meant we didn't have the guy's face obscured at all times, but I really felt like I disassociated the older characters from their younger selves and just could not get used to the different faces and voices.

Lastly, the 1994 cameos were woven in beautifully. They tied into the message of the episode perfectly. I loved the Reply 1997 characters and their cameos in 1994, but I wish they had the same impact as the ones in this serial.

I honestly would give 10/10 for the last 3 episodes because they had the perfect balance of romance, friendship, family, culture, etc...but overall, my rating would still be 8.5/10. As much as I liked that this one didn't focus on romance, some of the episodes felt more filler, and I felt like some of the plotlines were recycled from previous Reply dramas, like the realize-you-have-to-treat-your-parents-right-after-a-health-scare.

ALSO - give the actress for baby Jin-Joo an Oscar. She was hilarious, adorable, and stole every single scene she was in.

Read More

Give me more of the original cast

So I was sort of middle-of-the-fence about season 1, and I feel similarly about season 2.

To start with the good things — the vibe of the show is on point. The cinematography and set design give, and the effects do a nice job of tying it all together. I particularly love the look of Hyun-su's monster form.

The characters that had survived S1 were all my favorites — Ji-su, Eun-yu, Hyun-su, Yi-kyung — so I was really excited to see how they stories would continue and who they would meet along the way, but I tuned out to have a bit of mixed emotions on this.

I liked Hyun-su's story but I felt like we barely saw it. There were a few episodes where he was completely sidelined and just in general the subplot of him being experimented on ended really fast, which was disappointing because it would've been a much different plot than the "humans running from monsters in the wild" situation we'd seen before.

I was the most satisfied with Eun-yu's story and her screentime. It was amazing seeing her develop into such a badass, and she had really good chemistry with Chan-young, who is probably the only new character that really grew on me this season.

With that being said, I felt like there were one too many new characters that were introduced and I don't think I was that invested in a lot of them. There were a lot of soldiers and some new people who were also just living at the base, and overall I didn't think focusing on all of these characters were necessary. There were several antagonists, some of which I didn't care too much about, and overall with so many subplots I feel like they took screentime away from the original cast. To be honest, I also just found the soldiers difficult to tell apart.

My biggest gripe, however, is with Yi-kyung and how sidelined she felt when she was supposed to be a main character. I've never been a fan of the "special child" trope, and this really reminded me why — a new character comes in and suddenly all our original cast acts like they're the most important and their existing plotlines fizzle out. Yi-kyung was pretty much shown only in relation to her daughter this entire season, and even the other characters like Hyun-su got a bit of this treatment near the end.

It's one thing if we had gotten more time to gradually see the development, but the time jump + flashback method didn't help.

Other than this, this season still ends on a strong note, and I'll be tuning into S3, for Hyun-sun, for Eun-yu, and for Chan-young.

Read More