Short & Predictable

LIKES:
Locations & scenery were pretty.
Colour pallet, cinematography all good.
Wardrobe well chosen.
Cast suited their characters too.
Writing: I enjoyed the friendship/bromance vibes and the two new girls were given just the right amount of screen time.
OST/music for once wasn't annoying.

DISLIKES:
Writing: I felt annoyed by the ML pining for his ex GF, it lasted too long. Also very predictable ending and I feel they left Hwang In Yeop's Gi Jae Yeong the odd one out at the end of the show. The could've concluded his story line better.
Acting: wasn't the greatest (at one point Yoo Dong Guk while wearing the lensless glasses, put his finger through the "glass" to rub his eye (lol).
Production: Shaky Camera Syndrome [they should've used a film stabilizer] and zooming in too close. Camera work was very amateurish.

OVERALL:
I don't need to rewatch it, but it is easy fluff and a quick story. I want to see more of Hwang In Yeop dramas and hope he has more ML roles. I recommend it for those liking friendship dramas that are short and not very developed.

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Supernatural + light dose of romance= Satisfactory

LIKE:
Cinematography, colour pallet, locations and the interiors of the apartments and funeral home.
Wardrobe was appropriate and in good taste.
The FX for sending the people on to heaven were very feel good.
Writing:
the concept of helping both the living and the dead.
The idea behind why FL was ‘gifted special hands’.
I liked the message of being truthful with those close to you, so you don’t have regrets when they are gone.
Music:
was well suited for the scenes and I didn’t notice it being overpowering when actors/actresses spoke. However I didn’t notice anything standing out or really memorable either.

DISLIKE:
Production:
Shaky Camera Syndrome [Someone forgot to activate the film stabilizer!]
Zooming in too close; don’t need to see their nose hair or clogged by makeup pores.
Writing:
Similar concept seen with Mystic Pop-Up Bar and other shows, so nothing new.
The ML and FL are cute for the first portion of the drama, then ML’s trauma shifts the whole show to be about that, before ending with FL trauma. But don’t worry there’s a happy ending, comedy included! Some parts were rushed and it felt a little disjointed. Could also be the editing though. There was some character growth, but we get no definite conclusion for a few supporting characters that were seen throughout the show.

OVERALL:
Very very slow burn for the romance, but we got a little bit of it. Thankfully the comedy wasn’t over the top or frequent. I would recommend it for a supernatural drama, if you are just starting out in this genre. There are better dramas than this, but it is satisfactory and even young teens can watch it. I won’t rewatch it and there were no moments that I wish to see again.

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Dreamworld for high school juniors

LIKES:
cinematography, location settings, fx were okay too.
beginning concept was interesting but got lame fast.
acting was okay for what they were given.

DISLIKES:
STORY:
Typical cliches and trops for the plot. No character growth from any of them. Harem style of friends. None of their issues were resolved. No back story for the main characters; the girls, the non-binary and the guy in the club.
MUSIC:
Terrible, except maybe the song at the end. I muted it sometimes.
EDITING/PRODUCTION: not sure if this goes in this category but the story starts by saying the blonde boy is that way due to being half white, hence his hair colour. BUT you can see the dye job was done badly because his darker hair is under the blonde and you can see his dark roots. Also it is 2014, you can go back to 1980s and see people colouring their hair, so the concept of him being a loner due to his blonde hair is absolutely ridiculous. All he had to do is dye it black.

OVERALL: Like a manga it had the panty and boob shots from the females, but nothing comes from it. The beginning was okay, middle was dumb and the end unsatisfactory. The concept was very obvious. Too much hinting: (boy and girl hook up) & (potential boy and boy moment with the NB), but nothing happens. It felt like a very unfinished story, not a movie. I wont watch it again and no memorable scenes.

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Bullying + Violence + Triggers = last half of movie

Likes:
lighting even during the darker scenes was okay.
acting was decent.
fx were okay.
Music and sound effects done well.

Dislikes:
Writing:
Plot holes.
No punishment for the two guys who controlled the "finding girls". Bullying had no consequences either. No growth for the main actor and no true conclusion either. Sloppy ending, seemed very rushed compared to the slow beginning. The crying of Se Jun after what he did, seems dumb, because he had no problem doing what he did before the bathtub scene.
Production:
Shaking camera, especially with close ups, they should've used a film stabilizer.
Pacing was extra slow in the beginning, then rushed at the end of the movie.

Overall:
There was no bromance as it is tagged that. What the male leads had was barely friendship even. People read way too much into the two male leads calling it boy love. Not at all. They used each other; one for money, the other to get involved with the uncle that's never shown. Bullying, violence and triggering content that due to the rushed ending, doesn't give a satisfying resolution or conclusion. Even if you like graphic violence, this is on the low end of the decent movie spectrum. I don't recommend wasting your time watching this. No scene grabbing parts, that make you want to watch it again.

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Fujio and Crew Never Disappoint

LIKES:
CAST: as always our favourite characters are back in action! I loved the new additions.
PLOT: yes this is more of an action and street fighter movie, but the theme of never giving up and friendship, is always prevalent in this series.
PRODUCTION: Some shaky camera moments and some fighting choreography was off, but still well done.
OST: fit the situations and was better than most.
FX: Their fight wounds looked realistic and didn't disappear the next day, like in some dramas and movies.

DISLIKE:
WRITING: the bad guy, wasn't as dark and dangerous as he should've been made. Also a lot of this movie had undertones or even concept taken from Crows Zero (1 & 2). The biggest parallel being Fujio and Crows Zero's Genji.
EDITING: the flashback Fujio has of Murayama, they used a clip that showed lines in it like it came off an old reel movie camera, instead of using the original clip. Also some parts were a bit choppy, like scenes were cut out, that might have originally been in it.
ACTING: some of it wasn't the greatest, but they have improved a lot.

OVERALL:
I loved this and how it was tied to High & Low The Worst. I will be watching this a few times. I like this genre of high school fighting. This goes very well with the whole High & Low Franchise. I do recommend it for everyone (eye candy is everywhere and a guy for any taste). I hope they make more movies or series like this one.

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Good Idea ruined by Production & Directing

LIKES:
Chemistry between actors and actresses.
Scenery, like when they went to the “sea”.
Wardrobe: well chosen to show the different stages of maturity for the actresses and tasteful clothing for the actors.
Transportation: Liked that they were consistent with what Badz used in comparison to Kyro.
Nice apartments for Kyro and decent rooms for the students too.
The different restaurants that were shown, without grossing us out due to talking with their mouth full of food (like some other dramas do).
Concept of the show about hiring a boyfriend.

DISLIKES:

MUSIC:
too loud, hard to hear actor & actresses talking, thankfully I read sub titles & could mute the music, which was annoying.

PRODUCTION:
Zoom in too close, cutting off heads and allowing us to see they have zits under the makeup and some times nose hairs.
Smile played by Fon, (acting too over the top cutesy, didn’t come across as innocent, more idiotic) and her extra friend Onnie who was too annoying to watch.

CONTINUITY ISSUES BIG TIME:
One minute Liz has black hair, next it’s red. [Episode 8 all the way to episode 12 (hair colour still switches constantly) Liz is back to having red hair (dinner with fam) (after dinner her hair is back to black.]
Also bruise on Pig tail girl’s face missing the next day., the Gf has black hair again at uni the the next day

LIGHTING ISSUES
Ep. 5 when Kyro is standing on bridge with Liz, near a street light, it’s way too bright, lighting issues to the extreme. It’s like they are standing in front of a spot light.

SOUND:
Lots of background noise like in episode 6, then terrible music played on top of that. Impossible to hear the actors /actresses.

Punching sound effects are late.

Instead of using a boom arm to catch the actors/actresses voices they put the microphones on the clothing of them, so if they hugged voices got muffled and the sound of the moving clothing overpowered the rest of the sound.

WRITING:
Rushed ending
no real consequences for any of the bad guys, and same with the abusive parents (verbally and physically), which really sends the wrong message
Smile was idiotically immature, especially with her voice and nuances, it got old fast.
Making Liz appear a badass singer, but she was almost as immature as Smile who was supposed to be younger than her. Liz always dependant on a guy, maybe due to her daddy issues, but that’s stretching it to figure out why.
Didn’t notice any comedic parts for this to be called a rom-com, because stupid isn’t funny.


OVERALL:
It’s only 12 episodes (thankfully) and I could watch it again, but not sure I want to. I watched it once a long time ago and did watch it again without skipping episodes or fast forwarding, so that I could leave a proper review. I would recommend it for someone starting out in the genre for something that is more teen level romance, than some other school setting dramas. For everyone else, just don’t bother watching unless you like the male actor eye candy.

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Short BL, but wanted more of everything.

This review is based solely on the drama, as I have not read the manga or seen the anime (but I might just do that now).

LIKES:
Acting:
The chemistry between the male leads was great. You could also really feel the anguish of Onoe, when he felt hurt by Kaburagi. Even the supporting characters were well done.
Location shots were all well chosen.
Production:
Considering how short the episodes were and that the number of them were also limited, they got the story of each mission completed. Also the attraction between Onoe and Kaburagi was also finalized.
Writing:
The storyline was interesting, but needed more episodes.
Music: was okay, didn’t really notice it. It never overpowered the voices of the actors/actresses.

DISLIKES:
Production:
Ending was rushed, due to limited time for each episode. That also took away from the development of Kaburagi and Onoe relationship and growth.
Shaky camera syndrome (happened a few times, that it got annoying). For the love of film, please use a film stabilizer!!!
It was so obvious that there was too little funding for this drama.
Writing:
The plot was under developed and felt choppy at times, like there were missing scenes or moments.
Editing/Directing:
Some moments dragged on that could’ve been shorter. Also it’s a boy love drama, but not much kissing and a very limited amount of skinship. Even the relationship of the Male Leads was too short.

OVERALL:
It’s a short, easy watch. I’d recommend it to anyone starting out in the boy love genre or someone looking for a quick BL drama. It’s so short I would watch it again. But because it was so short, I was left wanting more, so I plan on seeing if there is an anime or if the manga has been released in English.

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Slow Paced Teen Rom-Com

LIKES:
Colour palate, cinematography, lighting all good.
Music for the most part was appropriate and added to the scene, especially since the ML Jun-u didn't talk much, even when he should. The music filled in those parts, what he didn't say.
Acting was great for all the teenagers and their teachers, the parents were okay for the adult actor/actresses. The cast was well chosen.

DISLIKES:
Writing:
How anti-climatic and badly written the whole show was. There's one part near the beginning that they had Jun-u get over WAY TOO FAST, that it was laughable and ridiculous. They should've concluded the supporting characters that they built up throughout the show too. Also character growth seemed limited to just Jun-u and it was minimal at best. Since they stretched it out to 16 episodes they could've shown us everyone two or five years in the future, to conclude everything properly.
Bulling, cheating, early motherhood, peer and parental pressure, were just some of the topics covered, but none of them were well developed or handled.
Directing:
Often Jun-u and other character reactions were way too slow. They are in high school and kiss like they are in middle school, not like they are eighteen as the title suggested.
Production:
Zooming in way too close, I hate seeing up people's noses and how the makeup hides their acne or whatever. Also hate when faces are cut out of the screen.
Pacing issues, made the drama drag on in some ways and the ending became rushed.
FX:
The scars for Jun-u and Hwi-yeong, disappeared too fast or they forgot to do the makeup for it. Jun-u's black eye never changed from the pink makeup to a darker tone. If they didn't want the black eye anymore, they could've written that Su-bin used concealer to cover it, to help hide his fighting. And for Su-bin her lipstick often was not even, having half the upper lip missing the lipstick. That's just sloppy.

OVERALL:
Sloppy writing and pacing issues, really gave this drama a low score, only due to the great acting by the students, is why it got 4.5/10. For a drama made in 2019 it should've been better, especially since this theme is from a saturated genre in S. Korea. I would recommend it to anyone just starting out in the student rom-com category of dramas. I won't rewatch and there are no parts that I would want to see again or that truly resonated with me.

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All Ages Can Watch It

LIKES:
Concept of the secret passage way.
The house where the 4 guys lived was a nice set; modern and playful
Chemistry between the 4 guys and the female leads was decent.
Wardrobe was appropriate and some pieces were current street fashion.
FX for the VR and what was used for Xu Nian in the final episode was decent.


DISLIKES:
Writing:
They stole the eye glasses + AI + real guy concept from Holo My Love. Some ideas seem to also come from Cinderella and the Four Knights 2016 (4 guys, one rich house, one girl changes them all).
The “bad guy” was over the top, especially with his punishments, to the point of being ridiculous.
Very childish in terms of the romance, but is suitable for ages 10 and up. Also the “surprising reveal” in Ep. 35, was so predictable right from the start.

Production:
Green screen very obvious during car driving scenes and hot air balloon moments.
Pacing issues, even though the episodes weren’t too long, certain parts were dragged out for too many episodes.
Zooming in too close (I hate seeing up people’s noses) that the actor/actress head is cut off.

Music:
Sometimes too loud and you couldn’t hear the actor/actress voices (thankfully it has sub titles). Also some songs were terrible and I muted them.

OVERALL:
This was a child friendly sci-fi that really wasn’t a new concept in any way. If you liked this kind of genre watch Holo My Love (2020 S. Korean drama) I would recommend that over this. I won’t watch this again.

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Easy Watch

LIKES:
Cinematography, production and lighting.
Motorcycle racing and riding shots. [I’m biased because I also ride a motorcycle.]
Wardrobe was great for the most part, especially for FL. Some of the ML jackets and clothes made me shake my head negatively, same with some of the supporting female actresses, but better than most.
No real FX, but they did make the motorcycle riding moments between ML & FL look much more real, compared to some dramas. Liked that they kept the FL as a competent business woman even after she fell in love.
Casting was well done and same with the acting. Good chemistry between all the couples.
Plot was well developed, with just the right amount of drama and angst, with decent character development.


DISLIKES:
Director: Some moments were way too drawn out and a few times the reactions ridiculously slow.
Production: I dislike when they zoom in so close that you can see actress/actor's pores, nose hairs, and makeup.
Acting: Yan Ran was irritating, her character was like an over reacting 10 yr old and she didn’t dress business appropriate. I know it's the director and writer's fault for making her this way, but they should've left her out of the drama. Better to make him a player; dating lots of women, it would suit his character more, with the same effect of making FL jealous.
Music was okay, but sometimes overpowered what the actor/actress was saying.
Writing: the friend in the coma ending moment was anti-climatic and lame. Perhaps due to having to rush the ending, to conclude everything in time? They could’ve just wrote that the ML was the one who had the accident, hence the impact it had on him mentally.

OVERALL:
This was an easy watch, even with some of the typical cliches and tropes. I did like the C-drama and would watch it again. I would also recommend it to anyone who likes this genre, it’s more of a romance drama than a rom-com.

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Pacing Issues, Good Friendship Theme

LIKES:
Locations, cinematography, use of props, costumes/wardrobe, were all good.
Music was good and appropriate, but again nothing too memorable.
The friendship of the main 5 was really well delivered.
The message of taking action, communication and trust, were strong throughout the show, especially with Ken’s time jump situations.

DISLIKES:
PRODUCTION:
Some scenes the waves or background sounds overpowered the actor/actress voices. Some shaky camera moments too and zooming in too close, (if I can see nose hair it’s too close!). Also pretty lame FXs for the Fairy intervention moments.
DIRECTING: reactions or under reactions too way too long, which is bad directing. PACING: slow, very very slow. They had Iwase Ken (Yamashita) running around way too much, seemed like filler.
WRITING:
They tried to make the time jumps work, but without enough character development, the “changes” fell flat. This had potential and got lost in delivery. Way too repetitive to have real substance.
It’s supposed to be a romance, but there was none; no chemistry, almost no kisses, very little of everything romantic. Every time Ken tried to speak up, he was ignored abruptly. He was actions speak louder than words, but the girl didn’t appreciate anything. So can she really say she liked him? And it was the typical cliche stuff of guy has to ask girl out, rather than having both pursue each other. It’s understandable that he took way too long to verbally express anything, but she’d have to be super dumb to fall for a guy just saying “I like you”! The 5 are supposed to be great friends, but Ken and Tetsuya constantly bully Hisashi. Some scenes they literally threw Hisashi aside and it wasn’t funny. Was that their attempt at comedy?
ACTING: Even from Yamashita Tomohisa was subpar. He tried with what he was given, but didn’t really connect with the viewer.

OVERALL: I liked the friendship theme, but not much else. I was disappointed throughout, even the special wasn’t very good. I won’t watch it again. There are so many other rom-coms or fantasy romance dramas out there, even die hard fans of Yamashita might not make it through all the episodes.

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Easy Watch for a Believe In Yourself Sports Movie

LIKES:
Cinematography, production, choice of cast, colour palate, scene locations, were all well done.
MUSIC for the Japanese cheer team was decent, but nothing memorable.
STORY: Based on a true story, which was nice because I didn’t know prior to watching this that Japan had any form of cheer competitions.
COSTUMES: I liked the Japanese cheer costumes, especially for the JETS.
CONCEPT: Youth sports and dancing, high school pressures, friendships, were all well delivered.

DISLIKES:
MUSIC: They used Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) song to depict the American cheer championships. So many other songs could’ve done the same.
DIRECTING & EDITING: a lot of moments too drawn out, pacing became an issue. Some parts were really choppy.
STORY: They didn’t need the boy crush angle between Mackenyu’s character and Suzu’s character or Ayami and Kentaro. Also it wasn’t a comedy, although there were some light hearted moments. Based on a true story, but even with 2 hours it mostly focused on training and not really the competition, so the end wasn’t as impactful. There was no adult version conclusion for some of the supporting, first string girls like Taeko or Yui, they only showed the future selves of Hikari and Ayano. That was frustrating because they did give some back story of Taeko.

OVERALL:
Easy and light watch, even though it was 2 hrs. I did tear up near the end. I would recommend watching it, however there’s nothing so appealing that I would want or need to watch it again.

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Boy Crush with slow pacing

Review based on Movie alone, didn’t even know there was a manga.

LIKES:
Yuki great in every role he acts
Sensible girl, even if she’s clumsy. Very mature compared to everyone else in this movie.
Handsome lead but not overly hyped up by the writers for once.
Cinematography and colour pallet was good too.
Loved the fireworks.
Music choice was okay and fit the scenes.
Acting was good overall.
End was satisfactory.

DISLIKES:
WRITING
A few hugs and hand holding, but disappointed there was no kisses made by the ML, by high school couples do that.
Ren & Ninako didn’t have any noticeable growth, the characters that had growth were Takumi and Mao.
Ren came across as a bit boring and stiff. Also when the change came for his love interest, it wasn’t very impactful, because he had little time to notice the girl or had limited “special” moments that came across as romantic. Those moments shown in the flashbacks were more ‘let’s be friends’ than ‘I love you’.
MUSIC lyrics were appropriate, but sometimes it was too loud, so the actor/actress voices were over powered
PRODUCTION
Back lighting (the sun/bright day) made seeing their faces sometimes hard because it was too bright
too many flash backs, so it felt like time filler.
Pacing was a little slow in areas. Too much time spent on running around and multiple flashbacks, when only two each would have been enough.
ACTING
No chemistry between Sota and Arisa.

OVERALL: Fast, easy watch, hardly any drama. Watch it if you are a fan of Yuki (Yamada).

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Bad Writing/script Ruined the Rom Com

LIKES:
The actors/actresses were well selected for this show.
Kim Seul Gi as the FL was nice to see.
Art drawing scene with the ‘model’ being shirtless, was an Easter egg moment.
Cinematography and location selection were both good.
A typical Rom Com.

Concept was similar to the American movie Shallow Hal; don’t judge a book by the cover, beauty isn’t just skin deep, Ugly Duckling.
FX were decent, but nothing spectacular [for example: the magic of the ring as it was activated].
Costumes were well executed, especially for the fashion show.
Music wasn’t noticeable, but neither was it annoying.

DISLIKES:
WRITING
They didn’t make the FL ugly, she was pretty, not gorgeous like the real Mi Joo (actress Soon So Hee), but too pretty to pull off the UGLY concept.
No real character development for FL or ML. There was a very little bit, but it was too low key to be impactful. FL doesn’t’ love herself, but just realizes the morality of her deception. Her character needed more time to actually have concrete change. ML had a bit of growth in how he saw the FL, but still needed to change her appearance to realize all the things he liked about her.
The explanation the viewer is given for how the Fashion Design class suddenly accepts a Life Drawing student, is absolutely dumb. Also being able to “sketch/design” clothing, doesn’t mean you know how to sew or produce a completed garment. This concept within the drama was badly executed.
The love triangle was disappointing too.
Due to the time frame of each episode and limited episodes, the characters had little substance and therefore the impact of the conclusion was lack lustre.
The Ending was okay, but was too typical to have impact or even highlight the moral of the story.

DIRECTING
Directing was okay, but definitely had room for improvement [pacing of scenes, some reactions of leads were too delayed].

OVERALL
It was the writing and bad execution of the story that gave this such a low rating from me. Also it needed longer episodes to really develop it. Not all manga’s can be adapted to live action. However it was an easy quick watch. If you like the concept, I would recommend the Rom Com show “A Little Thing Called First Love (2019)” from China. This show executes the concept of ugly duckling, perfectly, although it is really long (36 episodes that are 45 minutes each).

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Explicit with Wrong Message Delivery

Review is based off the show only, never read the manga.

LIKES:
Location filming and cinematography.
Okay music.

Perfect actor/actress selection for the characters portrayed.
A lot of emotions shown throughout the show, and the characters are established enough to complete the story as it was written, which says a lot considering episodes were only 24 minutes long and there were only 12.
The age gap of FL and ML in reality is 11 years, so I think that’s why the delivery is so good, because they technically can relate to the characters (although Wako Taira and Yumeaki Iko had a 16 year age gap). The differences in maturity (and not necessarily age, were very believable).
Kamio Fuju’s acting in this was really good, he delivered the feelings of a 15 yr old, as if he still was one. [In 2018 he was 19 years old.]
Considering the character she had to play, Tokunaga Eri also did a good job. [In 2018 when this was created, she was 30]
The only good thing about Wako is she encourages Yumeaki to chase his dreams of becoming a film creator.
The drama did a decent job of showing the harder and uglier side of becoming an adult and living life.
Production was good, letting the acting carry the drama instead of camera FX. Realism was spot on. Editing was smooth.
Right from the beginning the writer told us they were doomed from the start, when Iko found out an important detail about her life. No relationship can last without trust and open communication.
Considering it was a manga adaption, the ending was satisfactory.

DISLIKES:
WRITING:
Wako Taira is definitely a pedophile. [1- she preys on Yumeaki Iko’s loneliness and inexperience, 2- instead of waiting until he is old enough to make his own choices, she manipulates him. 3- she acts like a child herself to lure him in.]. How she handles the situation with the teenager isn’t love it’s control. She doesn’t teach him about love, she teaches him about control, infatuation, possessiveness and everything negative. [If she actually loved him she would’ve been happy to just hold his hand, hugs and maybe a kiss, until he was old enough to make the choice of being more physical.]
This is how a midlife crisis can become very wrong.
They only mentioned consequences via the TV news, instead of tackling that with Wako. I feel that sends the wrong message.
We should’ve seen the reaction of Yumeaki Iko’s parents to the news of his older woman relationship.

OVERALL:
When I first watched this in 2019, I stopped half way through and then finished it much later. I had to rewatch it all in one siting to give a complete review. So technically I rewatched it. I had started watching because I really like Kamio Fuju’s acting, especially when he tackles complex characters. I would recommend people watch this all the way through, to see his superb acting. Also it suggests that the viewer learn to not let desires override sense and morality.

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