There's such a thing as trying too hard

I found out about this show from my mother who I got into Kdramas, she hadn't finished watching it. I watched from beginning to end....now I wish I could get my time back.

At first it was rather interesting for me, I was curious about Rael family, how she was going to get revenge and why that family specifically. This was a let down, we barely see anything about her past with her family, we are told that Rael's father was the next Bill Gate but aren't shown any proof of it, they just keep repeating the same scene of him getting beaten up, of him dead, one with her last birthday and toward the end, we see one where she asks about following her heart. Her mother is supposed to be this really beautiful woman but the actress looked rather plain and by that I mean they didn't bother dressing FL's mother nicely, they have her looking like some broke maid, when we find out what happens to her mother it feels like "Really, that's what you went for?" Overall, we aren't led to care or learn about Rael's family. Then we have the lawyer who is the second ML, he sends FL away to keep her safe but then suddenly when they meet 13 years later he's in love with her but we are not told how he fell in love with her or why, it feels honestly creepy. I will say that I love this quote of second ML "My love for her is sacrifice." Talking about how he was willing to sacrifice everything, including himself, for FL.

FL befriends So Ra who is supposed to be perfect and have everything, we quickly find out that she's rather unstable and that her life isn't as perfect as we thought with a psychotic father and uncle, we also find out her mother was locked away and beaten, why? No idea. I gotta admit I was more interested in So Ra than I was in Rael. She made me laugh sometimes and other time made me angry, I also felt pity realizing that there was no way So Ra could be anything less than unstable when she grew up with so many crazy people around her.

After befriending So Ra, FL is seducing ML who is much older and married with 2 daughters (we never see the eldest and I honestly wonder why she's even written because we get zero information on her), Rael and ML keep talking about tango and she keeps doing tango, honestly, I was freaking tired of the atrocious tango being shown with the screechy music, I forgot the name of the instrument.

After seducing ML, while being a married woman to some guy that was part of her revenge plot and had helped beat her up, and using his kid to get close to ML, she goes on to tell So Ra that she's sleeping with ML...okay, sure. We also get a bunch of psychotic breaks and self harm from FL which I thought was interesting along with how one moment she does a crazy smile and the next she has a flat face, it made her feel rather unstable and I was drawn to it, but then it just gets too chaotic.

There didn't seem to be any actual chemistry between the leads, whoever was doing the make up should be fired and whoever was dressing up FL and So Ra should get banned from the industry because it was so ugly. Da Bi who was ML young daughter, was honestly annoying, all they had the kid do was pee herself and cry like a toddler, it got old very quickly. Most of the scenes consisted of annoying Tango or some lame church that I am not even gonna get into since this review is already pretty long.

After suffering through a bunch of plot holes but hoping at least for a happy ending, we get some BS where ML finds out her secret room that's covered in camera which makes me wonder how he even made it there, every villain starts falling and I actually like what they got. One ends up disfigured, one ends up starving to death and one ends up getting killed by one of the main characters. What I was not okay with and what ruined this drama completely was this BS where ML decides he's gonna drive his car down a rather small hill with his crazy wife So Ra but somehow only ML dies and So Ra doesn't...okay, sure, why not? Its already bad.

I kept hoping until literally the last second that we were gonna get a "Just kidding, he's alive!" But nope, we didn't get to see the crash, we didn't see a death scene and they didn't really explore that too much, just FL wakes up after getting stab and be told by second ML that the first ML died in the car crash and got cremated, because I, as a viewer am just supposed to believe that. FL is such a crappy step mother that she just gives her daughter in law back once she's done using the kid, she's supposed to love ML so much but Da Bi is just left an orphan and FL goes back to Argentina to play more annoying Tango music, that's the end.

I like that they dub Rael voice when she spoke Spanish but to me it sounded Spaniard and not Argentinian, the other characters that were supposed to be native Argentinian spoke terrible, broken Spanish.

This was just a massive let down.

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Felt Rush, waste of time

Red Swan had so much potential if it could have been executed correctly. The story was rather cliche with the whole rich lady falls for her body guard, conglomerate family fighting for inheritance and some mystery murder thrown in just to cover all cases.

I had just finished watching Eve (another disappointment but better than this one) and was looking for my next revenge romance drama. I enjoyed the acting and that certain characters got character development throughout the series, the martial art part was also rather nice...but that's where all of the good things end.

10 episodes made this story feel rush, they left some plots loose, there was barely any romance especially between the FL and ML. Sometimes I genuinely wondered how ML who is supposed to be so good at martial arts would flop in certain scenes.

FL started off being strong will and badass but she quickly became one of those annoying damsel in distress type that spend the whole drama screeching and waiting to be helped. The music...personally for me felt too screechy and like it didn't flow with the drama but I will put that I have rather sensitive ears and tend to not be a fan of high pitch voices to begin with so that part might be my own bias.

I like the fact that they used actual English in scenes, there was some actresses that spoke fluent English (like FL sister in law) also with background characters they spoke rather good English which was rather refreshing to see and different English accent.

The ending...it's a rather abrupt, unsatisfying one. Overall, I'll give this show a 1 out of 10 with 10 being the best.

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A Masterpiece in many ways but had missed opportunities

“The path of an artist doesn’t always involve glory.” –The Host
“My voice is my earth and sky! It’s my everything.” – Yoon Jeongnyeon
“You have to take full responsibility for your choice, even if you regret it later.” – Moon Okgyeong
“I’m not here because I wanted to see you off. I had to see you leave with my own eyes to forget you completely.” – Yoon Jeongnyeon

I came in watching this drama knowing absolutely nothing and right away was hooked. The characters, music, production and design was breathtaking and every episode I felt like I was part of a live audience, watching the traditional Korean opera. This did feel like it should have been at least 16 episodes, towards the end the story felt rather rush and I couldn't feel the passion anymore. The ending itself left me wondering if that was really it and what did I just spend the past few days binge watching if this was gonna be the ending, which is why I cannot give this story 10 out of 10.

Story: This is one of the things that drew me in, the story of some country girl going to the big city with nothing but her voice and then we realize she's a very talented actress at that. Her stubborn yet bright personality along with Moon Okgyeong who is known as The Prince of traditional Korean Opera but have become bored with her position until she stumbles upon Yoon Jeongnyeon. I was also interested about an all female troupe during the 1950s, the society pressure that comes with it and how they were going to overcome it. Overall it was good, especially since we were given different performances to judge how much the characters have grown but what ruined the perfect score, once more, is how rush it got towards the end, leaving a rather unsatisfying feeling and I am not too happy with just how much they deviated from the Webtoon.I also wish we had more backstory about Jeongnyeon's family, they gave hints but sometimes it got confusing and overall it left me frustrated that there wasn't more.

Characters and Acting: This is one of the parts that made this drama a masterpiece in my opinion and this might be my longest part;
Kim Tae-Ri did such a phenomenal job playing our loveable 'prince' Yoon Jeongnyeon, everything from the micro expressions like lips trembling slightly, to those bright eyes that could easily turn sorrowful, slipping into different characters while still maintaining the essence of its YJN acting not Kim Tae-Ri and the singing, I truly hopes she wins the equivalent of a Grammy or Oscar in Korea for this role.
Jung Eun Chae who plays the role of Moon Okgyeong, our tragic 'Prince' thats bored of being on the top and comes back to life after meeting YJN deserves another award, I literally kept forgetting that she was a female and would only snap out of it when they'd refer to her character with female pronounces, I thought her portrayal of the tragic genius who seem weighted down by the role was perfect and honestly Moon Okgyeong became my favorite character even though she felt like a mystery to me even at the end.
Kim Yoon Hye played Seo Hye Rang, the 'Princess' of traditional Korean Opera and one who can't let go of her crown no matter what. I love the chemistry with Okgyeong and while I wanted to hate her character, all I could feel was pity. Her voice was beautiful to listen to.
Ra Mi-Ran played the director of the troupe, Kang So Bok who felt like a firm mother trying to handle all those girls, and while she could come off as rather strict, we also got to see what she was willing to sacrifice for her girls. This is my other favorite character.
Woo Da Vi played Hong Ju Ran who from the beginning was one of my least favorite character because she always felt wishy-washy. I think Da Vi did an amazing job portraying such a complex character that is weak yet strong in her own way, I just wish more had been done with this character.
Shin Ye Eun did an amazing job playing Yoon Jeongnyeon's rival, Heo Yeong-Seo who comes from a famous opera singer mother and sister, which leaves her feeling inferior even though she's actually quite talented. I thought her acting was really good but I can't say its one of my favorites, sometimes I wish she would put more emotions or expression instead of the open mouth, wide eyes that she'd do. I just wasn't able to get fully into this character but she's very talented singing.
My other favorite character was Park Cho Rok played by Hyung Seung Hee, at the beginning she was one of those characters that I would roll my eyes at and grumble over but I adore her character development and the singing was absolutely beautiful, I wish she would have gotten more spotlight, its another reason the ending felt so rush.

Music and Cinematography: I love the music in this drama and how everyone interpreted the same song in a different way, even how certain characters portrayed the same exact song in numerous way according to the emotion needed for the scene, it felt like I was watching it live and left me crying many times, I am looking forward to more traditional Korean Opera. Overall the scenery, costume designs, audio and stage was beautiful but there were some times that the lights felt too sharp and the make up a bit too heavy (especially the last episode where at one point Kim Tae-Ri looked like she had a double chin and bloated face due to the make up, but then it cuts, same scene, and her face looks really feminine.)

There was a lot of hint of girl-love, especially between Moon Okgyeong and Seo Hye Rang who honestly seemed like an old married couple, a kid and big house included but its so subtle that one might think they are imagining it, the other GL hints was with Juran x YJN, Juran x Heo Yeong-Seo, YJN x Chorok, YJN x Okgyeong, YJN x Heo Yeong-Seo, the webtoon is supposed to be GL and this is where the drama drop the ball, even deleting two very important characters from the webtoon, one was Yoon Jeongnyeon's love interest named Bu-yong and the other was Mr.Go who is a women that dresses like a men and is frustrated by the patriarchal and gender discrimination, she ends up teaching YJN the nuance of how to perform male roles, I suppose the closest we got to that character was Moon Okgyeong. The ending of the drama was also a massive letdown, it felt abrupt and like they just ran out of time. Many things felt unfinished, like the story of YJN mother.

Overall I'd give it an 8.5, I'll probably re-watch it in a few years for the beautiful music and amazing acting.

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What price would you be willing to pay in order to get into an Ivy Uni?

I was hesitant to watch this drama at first but due to all the positive reviews I told myself I'd give it 2 episodes...I was hooked on the first episode. This had so many life lessons and many times I could relate with the children and with the parents. I remember growing up being taught that my grades defined my value, I was considered a gifted child since young and always came 1st place until I entered my last year of middle school which is when I first started slipping from a straight A student to a B student. I was taught that if I didn't make it to a top university, that meant that I was nothing by one of my parent, while the other didn't care if I was a straight A or B student so long as I got a good college degree and didn't fail classes. In this way I was able to relate to Kang Ye Seo and her drive to needing to be number 1 no matter what, and also with Woo Joo who parents trusted him and gave him so much love.

There was betrayal, greed, love and defining what success as well as happiness is. It left me reflecting on my life and having conversation with one of my parents about what it was like growing up with certain expectation but asking them also what would be the price that they'd be willing to pay in order to get their child into an Ivy League University.

Story: Without spoiling anything, the drama is about 5 women and what they are willing to sacrifice in order to have acknowledgement and have their child get accepted into a highly regarded Med school (at the level of Harvard, Yale, NYU, Princeton, ect), we also get to see the children life with those expectation where they need to study 24/7 and being defined by their grades. At the very beginning it leads to one of the children breaking all ties with their parent and thus one of the parent deciding to unalive themselves and the other reflecting on how they got to that point. Shortly after a new family moves in that throws a wrench on how things are done and shows that letting the child decide how and if they'll study can also lead to success, we also have a character who had to do everything Themselves, taking care of Their sick parent while getting top grades only to be left alone deciding that the world of the rich owe Them more for their suffering. We have a study coach who has a 100% acceptance rate which we later find out how that comes to be. In the end, we end up thinking about the sacrifices each character made and if it was worth it.

Acting: The acting was topnotch for me, one moment I was laughing at JinJin and her family antics, the next moment I was pissed off with Ye Seo and her mother, the next I was crying in frustration with the twins and their mother, or cheering for Woo Jin and his parents who were his number one cheerleader. What I love the most is the character development and how each actors/actresses brought that to the table.

Music: No...this is where I feel like they failed, sometimes the background music felt too loud and for me personally their theme song "Is this even true(A.N:I think that's the name)" was too distracting and not in a good way, I even found myself responding a few time "Yes, this is really true now stop asking!!!!!!-_-" But I am very picky with my music so it might just be me.

Cinematography: There are times where the shots were absolutely beautiful and so were the outfits as well as house design but other times where I wanted to know who the cameraperson was to sit down with them because it was too shaky, or felt too amateur which took away from some important scenes and had me skipping scenes sometimes, in frustration.

Overall score: Overall I'll give it a 9.5 out of 10, this is one of those that I'd happily rewatch every few years and would recommend, in fact, I recommend that those who are parents, or are going through a hard time, to watch this. There are so many life lessons, the ending also made me wonder if we might be getting a second season.

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Perverse and aimless felt like, ended up dropping it.

This drama was recommended by a YTber that I love watching so I came in with pretty high expectations and decided to watch it with my mother who I've gotten into Asian dramas because she loves the fact that its more sweet and less sexual....this was not the drama to watch. I'll let you guys know right now that I dropped it after episode 3 or 4, it was just dragging on.

Story: I am not sure what the plot was meant to be, at first it feels like they are going to teach us about beauty standards in society, with our first MC feeling bad about her appearance since she was deemed 'Ugly' by her mother and society, yet at night time when she puts on a mask and dances for a bunch of men online, she's treated like a goddess and gets the praise she deserves. The whole 'Beautiful' vs 'Ugly' thing made me feel rather uncomfortable and one of the reasons I dropped this show since it kept showcasing the 'Ugly' people as bad, perverts and so on. This is something I've noticed with a lot of Netflix Original, it feels like they throw it more s3x scenes and dark themes to try and bring Asian drama fans over.

Acting: The only good thing about this show was the acting, I only made it to episode 3 or 4 before dropping it, but the acting was topnotch. I am personally not happy that they showcased so much s3x scenes, m@sturb@tion scenes and overall it felt too perverse without it adding to the story in my opinion. Its why my mother and I dropped it. She turned to me and said ".....What is this show you are showing me? Why is this so perverse?I don't see what it's adding to the story."

Music: It had some good songs but nothing memorable.

Overall: If you are into plotless, shallow, perverse shows who's message seems to be "If you are pretty you can get away with things! And if you aren't pretty, get plastic surgery to fit in!" Then this is the perfect show for you. Just be warn that there is R@pe, lots of sex & m@sterbation, lots of trauma and not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel.

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