3
1
1
Amastris Dratwka
미국
This review may contain spoilers
100% Crime/Investigation Thriller, Little to No Romance
If you're watching this for the romance, please note that this is the slowest of slow-burn romances, not just for the OTP, but for all the secondary pairings as well. There is very little skinship whatsoever, and where there is skinship, it's very demure and chaste.The romance, in this drama, is in stark contrast juxtaposed to the topic, that can be a trigger warning, of underage human trafficking for sexual purposes, the language sometimes used when dealing with any villain, and all the underlying topics that go with it.
The good point about this drama is the Crime Thriller aspect coupled with the fantasy imagery. It's an interesting story. However, it's gutted by the poor and choppy editing, and a script that finds the most outlandish ways to constantly let people "get-away" from law enforcement. Often in a scene, the characters will act completely moronic, and when that doesn't work, in the editing, you'll find you'll ask yourself frequently, "...she was just right there, how did she get over here? Teleport???..." especially, in the fact, that this isn't THAT kind of "fantasy" drama.
If you can set aside your desire for steamy romance, and having to have everything fit in a realistic manner, this drama is still a bit entertaining. Trying to figure out from all the "clues" given in the imagery can peak your interest enough to stick with watching it, just to know what was done, who did what to who, and what was the end result.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good Skinship Alone Shouldn't Justify a High Rating!
Fang Zhi You's character was wasted on the crowd he was surrounded by, except his little sister. If you've read it once, you've read it five or six times. His little sister, legit, was this drama's best part and stole the show in every one of her scenes.Yuren was a psycho chick until the end, as was Li Zhe, Yuwen's dad, Yiren's family, and Zhi You's dad. These cast members part of the story was tediously boring to say the least.
I'm sorry but, I'm not buying into the last minute redemption arch they tried to shove at me. Vast numbers of the supporting cast were so unreasonable and stubborn for so long, there wasn't even one thing major that should have forced an instant change of heart except the drama ran out of script and episodes after recycling the same problems 20x.
Yiren's best friend and her secondary coupling story was uninteresting to me. Her friend was just spoiled and difficult.
I swear that, while Zhi You suffered from the inability to lie, Yiren suffered from mythomania. It's the only thing that can justify her need to lie about even the smallest matter with no real valid reason or benefit to herself or others past simply wanting to lie first and figure things out afterward in every situation.
All the romantic interactions, and nice skinship, that would have made me likely swoon in any other drama, didn't make up for everything I disliked about the FL and the supporting cast of characters and their stories.
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This review may contain spoilers
Woo Do Hwan loving & caring about Woo Do Hwan is #Life!
I struggled with the thought of 7.5 or 8.0, and stuck with 7.5 because 2 out of 16 episodes boring me doesn't deserve higher, if I'm honest. But the acting in this drama is really good. I loved the entire cast, good and bad. The story was somewhat problematic at times, but still a well-written script with understandable concepts. However, the choice of how to play out the concepts to the end was *somewhat* dissatisfying, but not completely.Pros:
1) It’s extremely disappointing to me that NetFlix & SBS don’t provide the cinematographer’s name from the production studios. I love everything about the costume styling, design crafting, the set coloring, and the feel of the location shots. It brings back the vibes I got watching Mr. Sunshine. Plus, I think these kinds of productions just suit Lee Min Ho’s acting style.
2) I actually get the whole Alice in Wonderland concept and am pleasantly pleased by it to describe the whole parallel universe.
3) Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, Lee Jung Jin & Kim Kyung Nam acted their f'ing asses off in this drama. Well done guys! Lee Min Ho was, well, Lee Min Ho. His character was like so many roles you've seen him play...but that isn't necessarily a *bad* thing because, frankly, he does these roles superb and fits the bill nicely. So he surely doesn't have to work too hard acting his part like the others did...and that's why I praise them more.
4) Woo Do Hwan & Kim Kyung Nam together in a scene is a total #Vibe. Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan together in a scene is a total #Bromance. Lee Min Ho & Kim Kyung Nam together in a scene is a #Mood. Stick them all together and sprinkle Go Eun on top in a scene and it's a total #SliceOfHeaven. LOL! I want to see these guys together again.
5) Woo Do Hwan loving and caring about Woo Do Hwan is #Life! Heck, if I was Woo Do Hwan, I'd love myself too!!! =)
6) The romance wasn't 100% overpowering the story, and Go Eun & Min Ho had outstanding chemistry. They actually looked extremely comfortable with each other, and this is the most mature and likable OTP ML Min Ho's played, that I often thought, 'dang, he looks really cool'. hahahaha.
{{I'm going to be one of these people that argues against some of the complaints about "superficial" or "forced" romance with no proper progression.
**spoilerish**
Please, people, bear in mind, this is a child that believes this person has something to do with helping him out and through the most TRAUMATIC experience of his life and who he has been OBSESSING about into his early 30s, with no significant other.
She gets her world rocked by him in an amazing way.
The times between meetings are extended periods, not days or even weeks. He pulls her into his life over this timeframe, and has her where all she has are memories until he shows up, making her think about him OBSESSIVELY, and WORRY that each time will be the LAST time...
Wasn't that clear??? It was conveyed easily enough that way to me....No, sorry to say, you're sadly mistaken about the TIME SPAN of the drama if you think she was hot for him and kissing him only a COUPLE WEEKS after they met. Not true at all. Pay closer attention next time. LOL. }}
Cons:
1) Too many supporting characters moving around with moving parts, gets a bit tedious to watch. Wished the concepts were portrayed a bit more succinctly as it went on.
2) This cast is so good and strong they're meant to be *together*. Wasting screen time with 1 or 2 at a time for long periods does such a disservice to how I'm vibing this drama. I get into the dynamics of their relationships, only for it to be cut and other stuff dragged out that wasn't as entertaining, imo.
3) I felt like Kim Kyung Nam was a bit type-casted with his character. Reminded me of what made me love him in Come and Hug Me, but I was sad a bit, because I want to seem him in more versatile roles. That being said, he still knocked acting his character out of the park, so it's only a slight compliant. =)
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OTP Incorrectly Billed! OTP/SLC Switch:
This could have been such a great drama but this writer was so lacking it ruined it completely.CONS:
1) If someone set out the task, like they do with lyric distribution for K-Pop idols' music, to calculate how much on-air screen time the Secondary Lead Couple got to the OTP, I'd say that it would be 2:1. This isn't even counting the amount of time the OTP, either as a couple together on-screen, or individually, spent discussing the SLC's issues, problems, life, and not focusing on themselves.
2) For me, it was like false billing where Viann Zhang & Yi Da Qian were actually the true OTP and Zhou Fang/Song Lin couple were the SLC, and the ONLY reason they billed Reba and Johnny as the OTP was because of the Qin Qing/Zuo YuLin story being lacking, and trying to get away with it. Qin Qing's character annoyed tf out of me...and the topic of this couple's issues and problems, and roundabout relationship and work place stuff was so PAINFULLY boring, it ruined this drama for me.
3) The editing wasn't the worst I've seen but it was certainly messy. Too many random scenes, and the OTP meeting in random settings, talking about random things.
4) A LOT of predictable scenes and conversations.
PROS:
1) Reba & Johnny as a couple are the best. Off-the-charts chemistry. Both acted the hell out of their characters despite the poor and lacking script/plot. They were the most natural couple I've seen on screen in a while. So much so, I wouldn't be surprised by eventual dating rumors. lol.
2) Johnny's character was absolutely the best, hands down and he played Song Lin the best anyone could. Reba's Zhou Fang was good as well, and she played her excellent, but, unfortunately, her character was trashed by the writer a handful of times, and it wasn't pleasant and made me frustrated watching it.
3) The friendships, bromance/sismance are really pretty good, even despite not liking some of the characters initially or on/off during the course of the drama based on their actions and boring topics.
The beginning had the seeds of a good story... it's just too bad that the writer decided that the boring SLC's story was better and worth more promoting than the actual OTP. The only time I really enjoyed this was when the OTP were together on screen.
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This review may contain spoilers
One of the Best Makjang's I've watched
The overall energy, aura, and vibe of this drama, along with the OST really moved me a lot, even to the end. This is MAKJANG genre, so I think it's best to watch this drama and mind that fact. I rated this accordingly.Let me say that this one of the most calming, sane, makjang dramas I have watched, despite all the nonsense, thrills, and suspense.
Contrary to a LOT of comments, the OTP's situations weren't really dragged out. There wasn't just one way this couple was "attacked" or "struggled" over their relationship. And each "attack" was addressed, handled, and taken care of in a matter of a few episodes, and then the next "event" would happen. That's not dragging it out...for a makjang to handle its OTP this way was actually delightful because it meant that the pacing and story moved along at a good speed.
Even better is that this OTP never hated each other, blamed each other, fought with each other. There were no TRUE triangles or parent, friends, family interference. They weren't overly obsessed with each other. They respected each other's space and choices, yet, remained true to themselves, and their lives. They were independent, yet shared each other's life. They made choices they felt was for the best for everyone, but not rash or without thought and meaning. They never fell out of love either.
For a makjang, this OTP was extraordinarily loving and compassionate to each other. Jeong Hoon is an extraordinary character. It's hard to find such a balanced and caring ML like him, who has issues and flaws. Ha Na was just pure joy, cheer, and happiness walking in an innocent suit of armor. No, she wasn't childish. She was dealing with immense pain in the best way she knew how, and that she did it with a smile made me love her too. That these two always brought out the best in each other AND those around them made me just love this OTP from start to finish. Their situation wasn't easy, and they worked through it in such beautiful ways. And it's because of all this that I willingly set aside the Jumping the Shark moments of this MAKJANG because it's one of the best MELOdramas I've ever watched, in that it made me forget, most of the time, this was what I was watching... seriously....
If you've never looked up the definition of MAKJANG let me give it to you now:
~per DramaBeans website definition posted circa 2010:
"makjang :: a sylistic, tonal, or narrative element in dramas that chooses to play up outrageous storylines to keep viewers hooked despite how ridiculous the stories become (adultery, revenge, rape, birth secrets, fatal illnesses, and flirting with incest possibilities are some makjang favorites). Shows can be part of a makjang class of dramas (Wife’s Temptation is a makjang series), or they can have makjang tendencies (Mary Stayed Out All Night went makjang toward the end)."
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It's been a while since I watched a C-Drama that I didn't feel like fast forwarding through much of the drama. The length is good, but, people might be surprised to hear, I would have like a few more episodes to fully completed the story.
What I liked about this drama?:
*Sismance is awesome
*Friendships are epic
*Cold ML & his mom are still understandable and likable
*No evil people and messed up people are handled appropriately
*Triangles are bearable and not distracting
*OTP's chemistry is lit
*Secondary characters are fun to watch
*Mystery doesn't head into melodrama
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For the amount of script, and time this drama had to convey its message, it's a complete 10/10. They nailed every aspect of this, and made this such a beautiful little gem!!
Even if the concept was a standard cliche South Korean chaebol drama, the added element of it being gay is the cherry on top. If you're expecting a story that breaks new ground, ask yourselves if KBS, SBS, JBTC are STILL giving you the chaebol cliche dramas??? Then thank your lucky stars that, in a nation that STILL stigmatizes this topic, the producers put this out for you. Let's break the ground first and worry about full length trailblazing screenwriting later!
Baby steps... and, again, for what this drama had to work with, this was fantastic. Best part is that, unlike other newbie LGBTQ actors in dramas, these two newbies have some serious acting chops, and not one time did I feel cringed out by them.
Thank you to the producers for finding this talent and giving us this treat!
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Wei Ying was the quintessential protagonist and I loved every ounce of him from start to finish! Never ONCE did HE disappoint me. That means a lot to me. It's hard to come across a character that you fall in love with this much, and it was as much the actor's ability to transmit all the emotions and dynamics into it as it was how well it was written.
Every other actor played their part beautifully, how could you have any real complaints? Although I still felt Wang Ji was only second to Wei Ying in my book, he was still part of an excellent duo in this drama. Additionally, the other actors/actresses played their parts so perfectly, there wasn't a person who didn't fit their role, be it bad guy OR good guy, and everything in-between!!
The camaraderie and inter-/intra-personal relationships of all the characters are absolutely what makes this drama. This is better than the best soap opera you could find. In fact, as my heart started to sink with every passing episode, realizing that I was one step closer to the end, I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to have THIS be an on-going drama with Wei Ying & Wang Ji & Wen Ning antics, solving problems and NEW mysteries, one after the other!! That's how good this story is, frankly.
The one thing I've always hated about American dramas were their revolving never-ending stories, where every episode people's morals are further set aside. BUT THIS, this is a story that feels like it would be ripe and fit the on-going drama formula. ....but maybe for the freshness of it all, it's best to have a ending... but I love the semi-cliffhanger ending, in that, if they truly wanted to do it...they could have a sequel.... This is definitely one to ponder on....
This was just excellent production all-around.
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This review may contain spoilers
STORY: 2.5/10I usually fast forward past the theme song introduction as well as the ending of Chinese dramas since they are 98% about showing you *spoiler* clips before you've even started the drama. Even so, it's hard to fast forward perfectly that you don't find yourself catching a glimpse here and there that causes you to start into some scenes knowing exactly what will happen. This drama was the exact opposite.
I thought I had an idea how this drama would play out. At the time, the genre tags only listed "romance" & "drama". Boy, was I in for a surprise when those theme song *spoiler* scenes ended up being so different than I anticipated. Oddly enough though, this drama is filled with every type of melodrama trope you've ever come across sans amnesia. In almost every scene it was utterly predictable how things would play out. Halfway through you could start predicting scenes 10 minutes before it happened it was so obvious.
What I thought would be a nice rom-com that taught me a thing or two about the Tea Arts quickly turned into full makjang melodrama. By episode 10, the only thing about tea you found was some life or death competition with everyone betting everything they had on a stupid outcome time and time again. I never knew there could be such intrigue and terror surrounding a Tea House. Halfway through it devolved into characters that become actually quite scary. This verged on hitting Thai lakorn levels of melodrama. So, everything that I wanted to like about this drama faded into nothing, and although I continued to watch episode after sad episode hoping that there would be light at the end of the tunnel and we could come back to just a nice OTP doing nice Tea Art, it never happened. The melodrama was taken to the very end. It doesn't matter whether there was a sad or happy ending, because the predictability left the ending flat.
ACTING: 6.5/10
Zhu Peer was the best part of this drama. He acted his heart out. Great comedic timing and effort to give all to having good chemistry with his leading lady. He made melodrama actually look normal and natural. Acting beside some of the other cast made them look like they were reading a badly written speech, while he was playing along. At times it almost felt ad lib with him.
Pan Zhi Lin did her best to act her part. She maintained great chemistry with her leading man, but when apart from him, she struggled to pull off anything special in her character. She often came across as giving trite monologues clearly written for her to sound like some sort of sage of tea that often didn't go with the situation. She is made in to be this super powerful person who changes people with her tea, but there just wasn't enough invested in that aspect of it to warrant believability. She came here be taught but I don't recall her being taught very much at all. Those relationships and aspects were just glossed over in favor of all the quadrangle romances and scheming. It was a detriment to her character where they gave her so much drama her acting got drowned out by it.
The most confusing acting came from Dai Xiang Yu. If I'm being honest with myself, he did an excellent job in his part for what this drama was asking, but I struggled with watching his character. He has two sides of him and I can't put my finger on it actually other than to come to the conclusion that this guy, irl, is such a good guy that it comes through regardless of the situation. I think because of that, everything else had to be over-the-top to compensate. I'm not sure how to think about his acting because of it.
MUSIC: 6.0/10
The music was fairly cute. Nothing super catchy that I'd download any of the songs, but appropriate to whatever scene was happening. It wasn't overbearing or annoying and there were maybe 1 or 2 songs that could stick in your head later on.
REWATCH: 0/10 <= I gave it a 1 cause I had to give it something
NOPE, ain't gonna happen. Once was definitely enough. Not enough cuteness to even warrant fast forwarding a second watch.
OVERALL: 4.5/10
Honestly, I cannot believe I watched this whole thing all the way through without dropping it. I'll say that it was because of the two lead males that I did. One, because I liked Zheng Hao as a character and, two, because I was hoping for something wonderfully special from Cheng Feng that ultimately never happened. If the acting from them hadn't been so interesting, I'd have scraped watching this story. It was so not worth the price of admission.
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The story was a bit off. One minute confession, next minute denial... confusing where this was going... especially since it was so short.
Kai wasn't bad in this. He needs to work on his focus is all. He plays off of other people's emotions pretty well but he seems to find it hard doing it on his own. It was kinda of funny to watch, because he'd go in and out of character a lot for such short episodes. lol.. He'd be in the groove one moment, then go stone faced the next, then he'd have that 1-2 second delayed reaction, like he was thinking about how he should make his facial expression for the particular dialogue he was about to say... hahaha... It was kinda endearing, bit better than a school play or video.
With D.O.'s debut, you never questioned his acting chops. Kai, I feel, has it in him, but he just needs to work on his focus and not needing other people's acting to coax him into the vibe. For me, I felt like I wasn't watch a character but Kai literally playing a character, because, I don't know why, I started getting curious thinking, "...this guy must have had a charmed life from the beginning, because he seems to be overthinking, and reaching for how to play a person who has struggles, like he's never experienced it in his life, so he doesn't know how to convey the feeling..." lol.. I literally started to wonder if he comes from a rich family background. To start of with, until he develops his ability to act, best to put him in roles that are equal to who he is in real life. I think he'll do well in those kind of roles.
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This is a melo. If you know that, then you know what you're getting into from the start. Stop pretending you don't get it. It's all about the over-the-top concepts and dramatics. You're meant to get frustrated, cry, and get angry... ...a lot...
That being said, one of the most recent melos I watched was I Have A Lover, and I actually enjoyed it. With that in mind, this melo, UF, was much better than that by far. It wasn't overly frustrating. I cried just enough. It kind of felt cathartic because, from the start I knew the end, and I did enjoy knowing, so I could savor and cherish every bit of well-done acting by Woo Bin, who utterly impressed me with himself, for the 1st time I might add. If you haven't watched and are curious, this statement about Woo Bin should be enough to make you take the leap, I should think. I've never been on the Woo Bin hype train. I never found him overly attractive, and actually the first time I saw him in a show it was awkward watching him because I felt like he had a lazy eye and it would distract me from his acting [what he was saying or doing]. I never found him to be a "lacking" actor, just, you know, the typical model turned actor, playing the idol figure in the high school dramas. But this, this show right here is where he surpassed my expectations. I felt his emotions... it felt real to me.. he neither overly acted sick or cool. He had the right amount of everything at every turn....
...and not to discount Suzy, because her role was dark, but not as "meaty" as Woo Bin's role, she still played the shameless idiot who got screwed over all her life and took it in the rear, yet, somehow managed to show a immense amount of dignity caring for her love, Joon Young [Woo Bin]. I was pretty happy with it all for what a melo has to offer. ;)
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This review may contain spoilers
I'm not gonna do a drawn out review. If you read all the other comments and reviews there are many elements in which I agree....I did like the development of the majority of characters. The acting was pretty good for this standard of drama.
I was okay with the paperbag and her acceptance of it for up to episode 10-11.... and I actually enjoyed her perspective and caring. In this regard, the message behind the story was well received.....
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SPOILER ALERT:
However, for all the effort put into it, I was at once stunned at Macchan's slowness to grow up. His reason for wearing the paperbag was now proof that he was always a kindhearted person almost to the point of ignoring himself for the sake of others. So, this mannerism isn't a new behavior pattern because of Yuchan. For everything she did to support him, and yes I know he supported her but in a way that goes with his character not necessarily special, I wanted him to be more willing and eager to give back to her as well.... They never even fully talked about and resolved the fact that Kaori never DID see his face yet Yuchan is left feeling he only cares for her to a point. Her love for him is stronger and she gets that strength from watching Makoto's bravery. Never have I felt a second lead be so slighted for emotional heroism in a plot. He was everything I wanted Macchan to be and never, ever fully was to me. He couldn't run after her, and every "heart-to-heart" talk was provided to him by others efforts.....
... so to not allow me to understand the meaning behind Yuchan's expressions when he finally takes of the bag left me feeling left out of the story. You wanted me to be invested in this, and then you don't even let me understand it fully. Like at one point, Yuchan almost looked disappointed, and it felt awkward because I couldn't make a discernment myself on whether it was because of his "expression [i.e. sad or nervous face] or "attractiveness".... It almost looked like she was disappointed then pulled herself together to show him she'll love him despite being unattractive. ....but that wasn't the point, and I hate being left to feel this way.... the whole point wasn't even "his voice" but the emotions BEHIND the voice. That he was forcing himself to look a certain way to please others even though his emotions didn't match it... THAT WAS THE POINT.... but instead by playing it out this way, for me, it did end up devolving into an issue over good looks versus not so good looks. I just wished they'd shown ONE expression. For me that was the meaning... being able to face the world with your true self and face.
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This review may contain spoilers
THIS REVIEW IS ONLY BASED ON THIS MOVIE, NOT THAT OF THE ORIGINAL WORK.***SPOILER ALERT***SPOILER ALERT***
[If you haven't read the novel, watched the TV drama version, and know nothing of the plot and do not want it spoiled for you, then read no further... if that's not you OR you don't care, read on....]
I'm not gonna break my review down by sections. My review is a juxtaposition of the others and how I felt it compared:
The consolidation of scenes, characters, and information in the movie version was interesting. Not horrible, but definitely not 100% true to the original story. Zhen Shao Xiang's personality being consolidated into a combo of him and Cao Guang was kind of abrupt for me. Or KO being the manager of the internet cafe?? Wasn't expecting that. ..putting Hao Mei and KO's story as filler while rolling the credits was kind of dumb. Without "context" you missed the significance of that and it just became some kind of embarrassing moment for Hao Mei. ..frankly, I think they came at this project with the idea that everyone had either read the novel or watched the TV version. There's so much missing that without knowing anything, this movie would feel incomplete.
This Wei Wei is more outgoing than she's supposed to be. That's the aspect of her character that's really important in her connection with Xiao Nai. She's pure, innocent, shy, humble, and doesn't like to draw attention to herself. In this version, she's really not that way at all. She's much more extrovert and dominant, no where near passive. If you like her better this way, it's simply personal preference, but it's not the true character of her as written in the novel. And just as this Wei Wei is more extroverted, and not so shy, this Xiao Nai is a bit more emo and less hard-to-read, badass, cutthroat who was always 2 steps ahead of everyone else.
...and bottom line, what I really want to say, the BROMANCE and the relationship between him and his "brothers" and Wei Wei was really, really, REALLY, really lacking for me int this movie version. For me, that was as important if not MORE important than the romance between Xiao Nai and Wei Wei. I loved the whole "family" feel and it just enhanced their romance all the more. In this version, I just felt wanting; I felt lacking; I was waiting for there to be more of a close feeling with Wei Wei and the "brothers" but, more than half way through they barely had anything to say to each other. It was sad.
The ending was beyond rushed. Not only did they really let us down with anytime with the "brothers" but the whole 2nd part about their company and Wei Wei and Xiao Nai becoming closer to the point of marriage was basically completely skipped over. Not fulfilling for me at all.
My Best Fangirl Moment:
~At 1:32:00, when the Chinese League of Legends team, Invictus Gaming [IG] gets interviewed by Panda TV about the "Young" company of Xiao Nai. Rookie introduces himself and the team. Rookie is one of those South Korean players that the Chinese spent loads of money to transfer to China to play. Then, from left to right, you have Zzitai[top], Kitties[support], Rain[ADC] and another South Korean player, ending with Kid [jgl]... that means obviously that Rookie is IG's midlaner.... I just simply loved this little moment in time!!
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So, I finally went back to watching it. Still found it difficult, then around the mid-30ish episodes all hell started to break lose. I don't think it was necessarily that the pace picked up as much as it was just so much intricate stuff unfolding over and over you started to be curious how all of it was gonna play out...
AND the BROMANCE really started getting heated up. In vary ways, not just with one single pairing of dudes but MULTIPLE pairs of dudes did I start getting an underlying BL feel but in a very "beautiful and undirty" way. You're not ashamed to "ship" these guys being "BROS". You actually truly appreciate the loyalty and commitments everyone has for each other. Not to discount that there are some very strong females, but, YES, it is a FACT that in this series, pretty much most of the woman are secondary, except for how they can be "used" in a "positive" way to meet the objectives. But, you really do get excited for the bromances overall.
In the end, as I had stated, I never truly felt like I was invested in any one particular person. It's not like the outcome was anything that couldn't be easily predicted. It can, AND it should be predictable. The thing that ended up being unpredictable and surprising to me was MY actual REACTION to the end. I in no way felt like this show was making me emotional. Intrigued, curious, yes; emotion, no. YET, when it came to the last 1/2 of the LAST episode I found myself 100% in utter tears, a sobbing mess, that I couldn't even contain myself and started literally crying out loud, saying, "WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF!?! I HATE THE CHINESE!" ...and I mean that with all deference attached to it...
I've watched a number of Asian dramas in the last 8 years and the fair share of them had heart-wrenching endings... BUT THERE ARE THE HANDFUL THAT ACTUALLY GOT ME TO LITERALLY SOB OUT LOUD! I've cried, but I'm not an easily emotional woman. I don't take to sobbing my heart out... and well, YES, that's exactly what this series pulled out of me, as much as I tried to remain unattached and emotionless through all 54 episodes... it still managed to squeeze that shit out of me against, what I felt, was my will. ...That's some powerful stuff right there.
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The 1st 18 episodes were great. A tough ass mom whose son died who does everything to teach the kids at the school lessons their own parents are failing to teach them, and support them to be happy and successful. But all of a sudden the focus started become more about the Family Feud that was portrayed like a Joseon Historical with princesses lying &amp; scheming, vying for the title of Crown Prince. Every episode was just merely a flipflop of the previous one, with SIL #1 on top then SIL #2 on top... and the men acting like ghosts, except for dad who is an island unto himself. They manage about less than 10 minutes cut into 1:30 segments in each episode with the OTP walking SLLLLOOOOWWWWWLLLLLYYYY away from each other or staring at each other or opining on whether they're allowed to love each other and be happy...
Let's just say that more than 2/3rds of this show, the school children are no where to be found, the very thing that made this story great, and the whole time I'm saying to myself, "I don't give a shit about anyone's family. I just want to see her continue to help the boys at the school grow and mature, and teach the parents lessons in humanity... while knocking heads together." After the lead fell in love she was a wuss and shell of her former self... spent her time getting spoken to and treated like dirt without laying a hand on anyone, crying all the time, and walk around like she's in a comatose state. ....it's like they spent so much time on the SILs being nasty they were completely out of any ideas for their lead.
You know, it's being pulled in for 18 episodes then wrecking my mind for 22 more that pisses me off. I feel extremely cheated by these writers who seem hell bent on being sadistic with their unwillingness to give you what you want.
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