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Completed
Sh**ting Stars
12 people found this review helpful
Jun 12, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 3.0
Story 1.5
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

All problematic stuff aside, still boring

I feel like I have to discuss this drama in two parts — one covering the problematic issues that it has and one covering it as a drama and nothing more.

On the first part —it's insane to me that in 2022 we're still dealing with the issue of the so-called "Third World" being portrayed like this. The story starts with Gong Tae-sung in Africa for some charity work, and right off the bat it was problematic that they not only kept referring to his presence in Africa (no specific country) as if the continent was a monolith, but also that the charity work that he did was digging wells, building schools, and "bringing water to Africa." I felt like I was thrown back in the early 2000s with this sort of outdated stereotype, not to mention the yellowish filter that was placed over all the shots in Africa, as if the entire continent was nothing but mud and dry dirt.

This all took place in the first episode, and I was grateful that GTS came back, hopeful that there would be no more mention of Africa if that was how they were going to portray it. Unfortunately, there was, and every time Africa was mentioned it just completely took me out of the show. It was always either in the context of saying how great of a person GTS was for his charity work, even saying something super weird like how there was an African child that did not have a father and so GTS "became his father." All of these mentions just felt utterly unnecessary — there are much better ways to show that someone is a good person and I can't believe that all those scenes, with dialogue about how Africa now has water and education because of this savior character, got through the writers, the directors, the actors, the editors, etc. and made it all the way to air.

Now, all that aside, I felt like I didn't connect with the drama at all either. Immediately I realized that there were far too many characters. I rarely like ensemble dramas and this is a perfect example of why. Every subplot felt half-assed and incomplete, and every character felt boring and cookie-cutter. There were several romantic ships and my interest in each of them went up and down; the writing for them just felt boring.

At the start, I was most interested in the main leads — after all, enemies-to-lovers is a great trope when done well, and I definitely liked some of their bickering scenes and their flashbacks to college. But even though the chemistry was quite good, the development for them was awkward and almost sudden. Another thing I really hate is when two characters completely alter their personalities and dynamic with each other after they get together; it often makes the relationship suddenly boring and that's exactly what I felt about these two. No more bickering (not even playfully) and while some scenes were still sweet and fun, it got old very fast.

The two main side ships were okay but I definitely felt like they were just THERE and going through the motions of getting together; I started feeling that way about a lot of side characters individually as well, even when there started to be a backstory plot with GTS's mother and also a friend who had died. Both of these plotlines felt like they could individually take up the entire 16 episodes if the right depth and emotion had been dedicated to them, but it just wasn't and combined with a bunch of anti-fan and drama-filming subplots it all just felt like a big hodgepodge of plots where none stood out.

It's funny because despite how much I was watching for the main ship at first, my favorite part of this drama ended up being a very minor side ship that had all but a few scenes every episode together — Jaehyun and Yuna, the actors from Be My Boyfriend who now play two actors. They captured the enemies-to-lovers really well and I really loved how cute the arc of their plot was.

Overall, I just felt like this drama was really messy. There were some funny scenes and interesting characters but the writing of the plot really didn't allow any of them to shine. Along with the problems that the drama had, I felt like this became something that I just watched without feeling any sort of emotional investment whatsoever.

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Completed
The Master's Sun
6 people found this review helpful
Nov 1, 2019
17 of 17 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 4.0
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 3.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 3.5
Mixed feelings about this drama! It started off with sort of a ghost-of-the-episode style where every episode there was a new sub-plot that was introduced and solved. This was interesting and added variety, but it also reminded me too much of American kids' shows like Phineas and Ferb where the overall plot never moved forwards.

I was invested in the kidnapping mystery and I liked the reveal around it — the way it played out was kind of anticlimactic but the reveal was good. I kind of wish there was even more built up and that the plot was carried better, as I wasn’t too fond of the ghost-of-the-week style and was craving a loot more of this plotlinne.

Other aspects of the drama like the romance fell flat for me. I’m just not a fan of the cold CEO / ditzy poor female pairing and this drama kind of took it to another level. Also, maybe I’m just DUMB but the dialogue between the main leads whenever they talked about their relationship was so weird all the time and always went way over my head.

The last few episodes really felt like they were dragged out longer than they had to be, especially with the addition of a new character and a supposed obstacle to the romance.

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Completed
Duty after School: Part 2
8 people found this review helpful
Apr 22, 2023
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 3.0

Forgotten plotlines, Frustrating people

I was a pretty big fan of Part 1. The large cast really grew on me and I quickly felt emotionally attached to the entire class, intrigued to see how they would face the "new world" together. Part 2 really dropped the ball on a LOT of plotlines, and they did it in exchange for shock factor.

Sergeant Kim, who I thought would have a vital role to play after the events at the end of Part 1, isn't in this at all, and there's not even a name drop or throwaway line that explains why. The lovelines are kind of fun to watch at first but it devolves into nothing. The characters never get anywhere physically, which means you never get to see how the larger society has changed and how our characters would fit into it. It feels like aimless wandering. The hints from Part 1 about the spheres getting more intelligent is not addressed at all — in fact, the aliens are barely a part of these episodes, leaving you with more questions at the end.

Instead, it's a lot more about in-fighting and worst of all, doubling down on that one annoying, selfish character.

Don't get me wrong, I think that character is necessary in survival shows because it reveals the worst of human nature, but here's the thing: you need your OTHER characters to adapt and push back. If you don't, you just get one really annoying person dictating the plot. Essentially, they made the most unlikeable character even more unlikeable, and then they gave this character everyone else's screen-time. Evoking empathy only works if that character is going to develop or at the very least have some redeeming qualities. Without that, it's just frustrating.

The second issue is that shock factor is always temporary. What happens once all the adrenaline wears off? What are the consequences of being alive? That's always the most interesting part of survival shows; I can forgive the drama for starting off with a time jump but I can't forgive it for ending with one. We never got to see how characters might get their strength back after the worst days of their lives. That would've been the most powerful character development, had we gotten to see it.

And part of that is really just an issue of personnel; some of the survivors are the most random, unimportant people (I promise you, there were much more worthy characters to keep). Combined with all the other issues of the time jump and misplaced screen-time...the ending just feels abrupt and you finish the show feeling unsatisfied.

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Completed
Crash Landing on You
8 people found this review helpful
Feb 17, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 5.0
So I started watching this while it was nearing its end, and yes it was because all the hype finally got to me.

To be very honest, the first few episodes were really hard to get through. I felt like the pacing was slow, and I wanted something emotionally harrowing and scary right off the bat. It felt like the drama went for something more light-hearted, and some humor.

But as I kept watching, it became hard to stop. All the characters grew on me, even the side characters, and it was amazing how three-dimensional they all were. Everyone had their own stories and no one felt like a plot device.

I'm also surprised that the drama how handled cliches not in a cliche way. They went for the "these two people were connected in the past SOMEHOW and them meeting over and over again is fate," but it didn't annoy me as much as these types of things usually do.

I'm honestly super torn about the ending. It's not your typical happy ending, and I normally hate time skips, but within historical and cultural context of North and South Korea today, I honestly couldn't imagine the drama ending any other way.

Overall, I honestly am kind of sad that I don't seem to be as into this as everyone else is — and that I didn't shed any tears over it, but I still find myself appreciating the writing and the love story a lot. It's the kind of story that really needs the setting and all its contexts to break your heart, and for me it's the kind of story you think about when it's 4 am and you can't sleep.

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Completed
One Piece
4 people found this review helpful
Sep 4, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

A pleasant surprise

So this show being announced was actually what kick-started to me start the anime in the first place. I'd just finished the Arabasta Saga when this came out and even then there was a little spoiler that I got — they revealed something a little earlier. It's not a deal-breaker, but this is just a note for someone who wants to start this but isn't all caught up on the source material and other adaptations.

Other than that, this was actually a great watch, but I wouldn't recommend it as someone's FIRST venture into the world of One Piece.

The plot moves super fast compared to the anime. On one hand, it's great because I'd definitely felt like fight scenes were too drawn out in the anime. But the downside of condensing them in the LA and leaving out a lot of side characters resulted in the opposite: I don't think all the battles had the emotional weight and physical stakes they were supposed to.

I also think a lot of character development was lost because of it; sometimes characters would change their minds or have motivations that weren't fully explained, or character relationships to each other wouldn't be too clear. If I hadn't already known the details, I probably would've been a lot more confused.

Still, this was a really good live action adaptation. The set design, character design (especially for Buggy!), and cinematography are all fantastic. The acting was also pretty good, though I definitely needed some time to adjust myself and reconcile the LA versions with their anime counterparts.

I absolutely hope they continue making more seasons.

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Completed
Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure
4 people found this review helpful
Feb 6, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.5

Full of heart

This show was hilariously chaotic and funny — but also surprisingly heartfelt when I least expected it. The plot kind of loses itself in the middle — a bunch of random things happen and I'm not entirely sure I can suspend my disbelief during them, but I just kind of had to remind myself that no one is watching this for the masterful plot. The ending is fantastic — and hits surprisingly hard.

But overall I just loved how relatable Gudetama's laziness is. It's hilarious. This series is just good vibes.
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Completed
Time and Him Are Just Right
4 people found this review helpful
Jan 12, 2023
25 of 25 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Romance, friendships, and growing up, together

This surpassed my expectations in every way and it's definitely become one of my all-time favorites. As a light-hearted coming-of-age youth romance...it's pretty much perfect.

The dialogue and plot progression is one of the most natural I've seen in ANY Chinese drama. There were no conflicts that were overdramatized; misunderstandings were extremely understandable, realistic, and were solved quickly and with the best thing of all: communication.

This brings me to my favorite part of the entire drama — the two main leads. The chemistry was top notch and I absolutely loved both their personalities. They were independent and true to themselves throughout the entire drama, both were intelligent and yet fun and chaotic at the same time, and both stood up for their own beliefs and supported each other through things. And yet, they each had flaws and struggles — they were just both very three-dimensional and well-rounded. They went through character development both individually and together and the relationship was really healthy and still gave me so many butterflies. They're now one of my favorite couples EVER.

I honestly just love the entire cast; there was definitely less time spent on their subplots (which is to be expected) but the other side characters in their friend group really grew on me as well. I know I'll miss that entire group now that this drama is over. Best of all, there's no evil second lead, disapproving parent, mean teacher...there's just no villain or annoying characters at all and any interpersonal conflicts they ran into really felt realistic.

Overall, I'd really highly recommend this drama. I'm not one for rewatching things but this is one that I would 100% revisit from beginning to end. And I'd love it all over again.

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Completed
Seasons of Blossom
4 people found this review helpful
Nov 12, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Half a tearjerker

The Somang/Hamin plotline was absolutely beautiful to watch and it totally made me cry multiple times; I absolutely loved the emotional development that we saw our characters go through, and the portrayal of grief and guilt was very visceral.

I enjoyed the other plotline as well, but I don't know if it's just the nature of a more light-hearted school plot, but this plotline really made the drama come across like the webdrama it was, while the Somang/Hamin part just felt like it went into much more depth.

I think the casting has to do with this as well — I had read the webtoon prior to watching the drama and Hamin's casting was really the only one that felt completely right. Sunhee and Somang were okay, but Bomi, Jaemin, and Jinyeong just felt off to me.

Overall, I still think this was a nice watch but part of me wishes it was a full-length TV drama because I felt like it just fell short of the source material.

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Completed
20th Century Girl
4 people found this review helpful
Oct 24, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

The Heartbreak of Nostalgia

This has all the markers of a cliche romance coming-of-age story, but they managed to pull every emotion out of me while doing it.

The chemistry between the main leads was 100% there and I absolutely loved the warm and fun relationship that they had; it truly felt like seeing two high schoolers falling in love, with all the silly things and stressful decisions that usually come with experiencing love at that age, for the first time.

The ending is a little vague and leaves some open questions, but it really doesn't bother me that much when I think about the construction and perspective of the movie; either way I didn't expect it to hit this film to hit this hard but it did and I think it'll go down as one of my favorites.

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Completed
Someday or One Day Extra Scene
4 people found this review helpful
Dec 28, 2021
1 of 1 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Short and bittersweet

There are no words to describe how glad I am that they added this extra scene — though this was implied, I had wanted a more fleshed-out ending and even just 5 minutes did that for me. It's really wholesome and bittersweet at the same time, and I love how they were able to incorporate a running theme (birthday wishes!) in it.

I hear the movie starts with this scene so maybe we'll get more of this timeline as well; that was probably the only thing I wanted in the original drama and this was kind of a sneak peek into that.
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Completed
Professional Single
4 people found this review helpful
Feb 28, 2021
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 9.0

Adorable Slice-of-life

I always feel like these more realistic slice-of-life stories are so underrated, but they're my favorite. It's just so relatable to watch normal teens and college students go through everyday issues like picking a major or dealing with family pressure.

And the main leads are adorable! As someone who loves slow burns and friends-to-lovers, the main leads got together in the perfect amount of time, with so many satisfying jealous moments and awkward tension. The FL is clumsy butDespite the male lead being described as "cold", it's plain as day that he went soft for the FL early — which is just so fun to watch. There's great chemistry and the leads are also pretty straightforwards with each other, so misunderstandings are cleared up pretty quickly and the ML never gives the mildly obsessive second female lead the time of day.

There are some sub-plots they kind of dropped the ball on, but for the most part, there was a good amount of continuity for even the side characters, who each had their own personality.

Ultimately, I'd definitely recommend this as a light-hearted, chill watch and there are definitely scenes I'll come back to. This is a rom-com in its PUREST form.

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Completed
Healer
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2019
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 4.5
Let me start by saying that I'm not surprised by the amount of 10/10 star ratings that this show has—I can definitely see it as being worthy of that, and I certainly started watching it as high on this show as everyone else seemed to be, although it did take me a little longer to be sucked in.

I don't know if it's the amount of mystery/thriller books I've read or what, but the ending seemed a little predictable to me, and I guess I never really got the climactic moment I was hoping for.

I was also a little annoyed by the female lead throughout. She wasn't ditzy or stupid, but I honestly didn't think she was very smart or strong either. It got annoying when the show seemed to be LOUDLY ADVERTISING her as a strong character with dialogue like: "Wow, how are you not afraid at all?" or "Don't do such fearless things." when she always kind of did nothing in the actual moments (and her trauma was something I thought would be part of her character development, but it didn't really). Also: the first episode had her as someone who grew up "with a sixth sense," but as the drama went on, suddenly she lacked peripheral vision and hearing and couldn't even tell when she was being tailed by 30 men in black suits...

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Completed
A Time Called You
7 people found this review helpful
Sep 10, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 5.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 3.0

Feels like an adaptation

Before I start, I do want to say that I have watched the original Taiwanese drama and it's one of my favorites. There's definitely gonna be some bias there but either way, my review and rating will be more about this drama as an adaptation and less about its source material (how the plot is written, etc.).

In terms of the plot...well it already has my favorite type of time-traveling where everything is a singular timeline, and it has one of the most heart-wrenching twists I'd ever seen. I do feel like sometimes it got a lot more confusing than the original did; they left out some scenes of the characters just hanging out, or having important conversations, and overall just paced it differently because they had one less episode. Either way, I sometimes wondered if I would be more confused if I hadn't had pre-existing knowledge.

As an adaptation, though, it really is just missing some of the beats that the original nailed. I felt like we got a lot less time to watch the characters come to term with their emotions. The grief of Jun-hee, the playful innocence between the trio, and the tension over the attacks...everything just felt...less. I never really felt the stakes, or felt the gut-wrenching bittersweetness of unrequited love and all the pain that comes with it.

This is partly saved by JYB's acting, which is fantastic. But I can't help but feel like we only got to see the tip of her acting chops. The acting of the ML (AHS) was pretty good also, the ML is a lot more "cool" in this one and I absolutely missed the playfulness and the life in the original. Both the leads felt mellowed out as a result of both acting and script. Since this IS an adaptation, that's fine — but I definitely just prefer the character dynamics in the original where we really got to feel how much they enjoyed spending time with each other.

I also think the OST is just okay here. In the original, the cassette song was a core part, but really so were all the other songs as well. In this one, the soundtrack really just doesn't give you the same feeling of nostalgia.

The vibe of nostalgia really is missing from a lot of this show. I think the cinematography was really good, but sometimes the different timelines weren't that clear both visually and atmospherically; I don't think this one captured the feeling of the past and all the longing that comes with it.

Overall, I still do think this was a good adaptation but I think someone going into it fresh might appreciate it more than someone who has watched the T-drama. It is pretty one-to-one, which is a double-edged sword for the following reason:

Still, although a lot of scenes were directly taken from the original, the flow wasn't necessarily done well, landing this drama in an awkward position:
- If someone watched this for the first time, I really think they would enjoy it and my 5.5 should have 0 bearing on it.
- However, if someone WANTED to watch this story but hasn't yet, I would absolutely 100% recommend the original instead.
- And if someone had already watched the original and wanted to see it adapted...this MIGHT be a good watch, but personally I'd still recommend just rewatching the original again.

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Completed
My Liberation Notes
6 people found this review helpful
May 29, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Great lines and life lessons

So there were definitely a lot of really beautiful life lessons in it; it was really relatable how the different characters were shown — especially how introverts were portrayed. This is a drama that will make you think about life, about how you measure happiness, about family, and more. The cinematography is also just beautiful and it really made me look around me and be more observant of my surroundings and my place in the world.

Out of everyone, the two main leads (Mijeong, Mr. Gu) were undoubtedly my favorite, even though I felt like I didn't exactly feel that romance was necessary.

I do admit that the drama started to drag in the middle; I stilled like Gu and Mijeong scenes, but started to care less about the other two siblings. Gijeong (the other sister) especially started to grate on my nerves from the middle all the way to the end; I felt like her plot was so heavily reliant on a romance that I didn't really like — either she was with the love interest or talking about him — and her character never really developed aside from it.

The ending is something I don't really have strong feelings about; it's not necessarily satisfying and there are some scenes I wish I saw, but for a drama like this I felt like it couldn't have ended any other way. It's just about a bunch of characters learning to be happy. Life goes on.

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Completed
Who Are You: School 2015
6 people found this review helpful
Jun 8, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers
I felt like they started off really strongly with great backstories for everyone, a perfect combination of romance, school, and mystery...but then shot itself in the foot by focusing so much on the love triangle and simply unraveling at the end.

I honestly did not care much for the romance in this at all, though if I had to choose, I'd go for the second lead (like pretty much everyone else). The main lead just felt TOO tied to the twin sister, and it honestly never felt like he even liked LEB. When second lead found out she went back to Love House, he went all the way there and main lead...did nothing? Seriously — two sisters, two guys. The math could've worked out perfectly, come on.

Instead, I cared a lot more for the mystery part, but it felt like it just sort of unraveled by itself, with everyone suddenly doing things voluntarily and there not really being any repercussions for it.

Another thing I wanted badly was for LEB to get her satisfying ending with her new family and friends, but it felt like we never got the satisfying confrontation between her and the antagonist. Instead, it felt like GEB did all the heavy lifting there — which is helpful and fun to watch, but misses the entire point of LEB's character arc to finally stand up for herself now that she has a strong support system. I never felt like the antagonist hit rock bottom (usually the most satisfying moment) when her character could've had so much more personal growth.

And part of that is that the reveal of the twins to the class which I was anxiously waiting for turned into an "oops" moment. Upsetting, because I'm a sucker for a badass reveal scene.

It also felt like the show tried to handle too much — essentially it didn't FEEL like a school drama, which usually focuses a lot on school issues like day-to-day bullying, cheating, parental pressure. There was some of it but it was all in the side characters and I felt like I was watching two different dramas. There was also a serious lack of teacher-student sentimentality, which is one of my favorite parts of school dramas. I think this could've been explored in the sister of the student who died; her character was reduced to a catalyst in the plot, when I thought it could've been so interesting if she had actually started caring for the students who she was supposed to be getting revenge on and had to feel that internal conflict.

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