Fight against destiny

“God creates big frame of fate. it’s human who acts accordingly. it’s also human who goes against it. it only takes one thing to change the game. Courage! ” - Courage (ep 16; 1:03:20).

This quote pretty much summed up the whole story with a little twist. ML is a Cupid while FML is a human but somehow their fate gets connected due to prayers and courage (also a deity) in the past. ML is weaken from Cupid to human with some of his power remaining while FML passes away and is reborn in modern days. Then we see them going against their fate to be together. For more details, I highly recommend watching the shows to figure it out.

There are also side stories with others Cupid and killer running rouge which I felt like serve their purposes but stretched out the shows for a bit longer than necessary (plus a little repeated flashbacks). As usually, cops are more interested in people personal lives than catching criminals. Overall, this shows has great writing and amazing ending with good storyline, romance, comedy and little bit of thrills. Last scene was really amazing.

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Wholesome

This drama was amazing, I really enjoyed it from beginning to the end. Although the story can be predicted at time.
Disclaimer: I’m mainly focusing on Kang Hong and his mother but there are also lot of other interesting characters, relationship, and events.

Story:
"The Good Bad Mother (2023)" is a heartwarming drama that delves into the complex dynamics of a family, exploring the relationships between the main characters and the challenges they face. At its core, it highlights the transformative power of love and the pursuit of redemption.

Cast:
Main Lead (ML) - Choi Kang Ho: A very complex character who is initially seen as cold and ruthless character, and holds a lot of resentment towards his mother but is kind, empathy, and hardworking man who is devoted to his family (parents) and wants to take revenge. He carries a burden from his past and struggles to reconcile with his mother's actions.
Main Lead (FL) - Lee Mi Joo: A compassionate and understanding woman who supports ML through thick and thin. She stands as a pillar of strength for Kang ho.
ML's Mother - Jin Young Soon: A flawed and complicated character who is haunted by the death of her husband and being powerless. Hence, she is forced to be very struck with her son. However, She seeks forgiveness and redemption but struggles to make amends.

Two Adorable Kids - Lee Ye Jin and Lee Seo Jin: ML and FL's children, who bring joy, innocence, and confidence to the show dynamic.
The rest of the character were also great and unique in their own ways. All of them were truly relatable characters. The good and bad mother was focus on all of the family in the show

Ending:
As the series progresses, the audience witnesses the transformative journeys of the characters.
Young Soon embarks on a path of self-reflection and seeks to make amends for her past actions (being super strict). Through her persistent efforts, she begins to repair her relationship with her son and becomes a source of support and guidance for him.

The drama concludes with a hopeful note, highlighting the power of forgiveness and the strength of familial bonds. It has a profound message about the complexities of motherhood, the capacity for growth, and the enduring power of love.

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So Meaningful

Highly recommend.

Its a story about a kind and gentle man who is taking of his daughter. A lot of ups and downs but still heartwarming.

Everything is so meaningful in this drama—really awesome theme about the will. The will of a person passes on to their loved one. Shizuku's mother really loved flowers. Then Shiomi Eiji [Shizuku's father] started a flower shop because of Shizuku and her mother. Then Shirato Mio became a florist in the end because of Eiji.

Great father and daughter relationship. Many characters are dynamic; all have flaws but are forgiven in the end.

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Affection || Family || Love || Regrets || Vengeance || Redemption

Story:
1000 years ago, there was a pair of Bulgasal, a monster without souls who cannot die unless both pairs are killed concurrently, living in the mountain and promising each other to always stay together. However, female Bulgasal developed feelings for human children because she couldn't have her own, compelling her to abandon the male Bulgasal couple (other-self) temporarily. As the children grow up together with the female Bulgasal and their human adopted mother, they lived happily even when they find out about the female Bulgasal true identity until they witness a murder happening.

Ok Eul Tae killed his younger brother because his father had lost all confidence in him as he was dying and was attempting to make his younger brother his heir. Ok Eul Tae then discovers the already grown-up human children and attempts to murder them, only to be stopped by female Bulgasal. He realizes she is a Bulgasal and puts the blame on her causing all sorts of misunderstandings to take place. Ok Eul Ta's father and his soldiers try to slay the female Bulgasal, but they are unsuccessful since she is immortal. They intended to decapitate her and imprison her until the male Bulgasal arrived and slaughtered everyone. This led to misunderstandings between the two Bulgasal pairs. The guy intended to protect her from harm, but she despises him for murdering and cursing the ones she holds dear. To stop him, she stabbed her own heart in an attempt to kill herself and her pair but she fails when Ok Eul Tae takes him away to gain similar powers.

The male curse Ok Eul Tae with a dark hole in his chest, and steal his soul in a promise to free him from the curse if he turns his reincarnated human self into Bulgasal. 600 years later, The male Bulgasal is born as a human called Hwal with the Bulgasal curse. As a result, his mother dies and his father abandons him, and he is later adopted by Dan Geuk, a general and Dan Sol's father (Ok Eul's father in the past). Hwal marries Dan Sol after a few years (one of the human child female Bulgalsal raised). Hwal had two children, one of whom was born blind (the other kid raised by Female Bulgasal) and the other of whom died prematurely due to his curse. Therefore, Hwal avoids growing close to his blind son in order to show him love and affection, as his father had done to him. He eventually regrets it. Hwal embarks on a mission to break his curse, slaying all monsters along the way until he finally meets the female Bulgasal who has survived the event that occur 1,000 years ago. Hwal does not kill her the right way because he remembers that she had saved him in the past when he was a kid. However, due to Ok Eul Tae killing everyone to convert Hwal back into a Bulgasal in order for him to keep his pledge and be free of his curse. Hwal believes it was the female Bulgasal who did it, so he sets out to find her to avenge his dead wife and children. Little did Hwal know that the female Bulgasal would steal his soul and turn him into a Bulgasal but she tells with that she will be born again as a human. So the cycle of revenge begins again.

Fast forward to the present time, Hwal meets Sang Min (a female Bulgasal who has reincarnated as a human) to seek revenge but discovers the existence of another Bulgasal (Ok Eul Tae). He also encounters other humans, including Shi Ho Min (his reincarnated wife), Nam Do Yoon (his reincarnated blind son), Detective Kwon (his reincarnated adoption father), Miss Lee (shaman), and others. Then, it's just the process of finding the truth of the past. While they are doing so, we learn that Ok Eul Tae has developed into a true monster who is willing to go to any length to stay immortal and relieve himself of his curse. WE also find out that he has joined hands with another human (monsters in a past life) to kill the female Bulgasal reincarnation so he can stay alive. When Hwal realizes Nam Dong is secretly assisting Ok Eul Tae, he warns him to leave before harming him. He later discovers that Nam Dong is his reincarnated son and that Ok Eul Tae is using him, so he saves him from being killed.

Despite the fact that Hwal has turned into a monster, we get to see a more human side of him. Even though he has avoided being close to Miss Lee because of her past life as a shaman who led others around him to harm him, their relationship is comparable to that of a father and a daughter. When Miss Lee is murdered, Hwal realizes Lee Hye Su is like his daughter and regrets not becoming close to her, just like with his blind son in the past. The cycle of abandonment and regrets continues. There is more to it than resentment and grudge, there is a deeper meaning behind those causes, such as family, love, and regrets. After the past is revealed (this is in the very end but there are a lot of things happening before it's revealed), Hwal makes the decision to assassinate Ok Eul Tea and himself. Many people, including Detective Kwon and Sang Min, die in the process. Then we flashed forward to the future (8 months, 6 years, 30 years, and 50 years) to find that the survivors, Shi Ho min and Nam Yoon, have their own big families. We also see Hwal and Sang Min reuniting in the future, 50 years later, in the old house they lived in with others while searching for the truth. ......my summary ending is rushed just like how this show ends. XD

The actors did a great job executing their roles, and the directors and music director did a fantastic job as well, but the script was rather weak. It started out great and had a lot of potential, but then it got too draggy out, and boom. Suddenly, we get a rushed ending. Overall, Brilliant performances, amazing cinematography, compelling OST, an amazing concept of Bulgasal (curse and reincarnations), and a great blend of genres.

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Dwelling emotions!!

The only characters i like are Tae sang and Chang Lee: true brotherhood. All others are trash. I wanted some random nice girl to pop up at the end for Tae sang. “Don’t let momentary pleasure or happiness confused with real one.” - by who? Me?
This quote summed up the most of the story.
True/pure love destroy by selfishness. Tae sang is a great character that has every qualities people would die for yet he fails in love . He did get together with FL at the end but it was not as before. SFL sacrifice at the end made me like her more than FL.

This story truly sticks to its title. “When a man’s in love”, he will do everything for the girl he loves.

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A touching story!

A hidden gem: great acting by all actors especially child the actor of Geum Bi. If you want to watch a masterpiece, sad, family drama with characters development, this is the show for you. Every line and every scene is beautifully crafted, i could really feel the emotions of the characters and their situation. As much sad it is, its even more hearting warming and endearing. Truly a beautiful articulated drama.

Geum Bi character showed that having willingness to help other will change them in a better way. I love how she changed everyone around slowly. It was great to see that.

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Masterful writing

One of the best drama ever. From the beginning to the end, it was thrilling, suspenseful, and interesting to watch. There was never a moment when I thought this was not a good drama.

All of the characters especially Dam and her friends were super relatable. I felt as if they were living similar life as me but with supernatural elements in it.

I just love everything from the beautiful tune (sound like water drops with nostalgia feeling attracted to it) to the masterful writing piece.

At the end, Shin Woo: “Miss Dam, you were supposed to keep the marble, not fall in love with its owner.”
Dam: “You were supposed to steal my energy, not my heart.” It was great how it ended the way it started.

All of the actors played their role excellently.

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Unique, insightful, and Inspirational drama.

A fantastical drama that truly deserved an happy ending. What a journey it was both for the characters and the viewers. Like any other families , this one had problems and worries but as time flew by, the problems didn’t disappear but through stronger relationship between the families. They were able to overcome it with ease. There are lot of good lessons in these drama. However, 2 of them stood out: true leaders and discipline. To maintain, develop, and prosper a family is true leadership and discipline. Grandpa had it all while other characters slowly grew to learn these 2 things/other facts. This was only one of those long drama that was really worth our time investment.

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Amazing!

This drama was short and sweet, there are 30 episodes but each episode is only about 20 minutes long. The one thing I really love about this drama is consistency. Even though the characters go through their development, their core belief or actions remains the same throughout the story.

Gong Joo Young is a goofy, gullible, and persistent person which can be seen when he falls in love with Wang Ja Rim and pursues her even as he gets rejected. Nowadays, constantly approaching someone is seen as harassment, annoying, or stalking with evil intention but Joo Youn shows use that he purely loves her through his actions which are annoying and cute at the same time and finally wins her over. Joo Young does mature a little bit throughout the shows but he remains the same person as when he first met Ja Rim who is always chasing after her and showing his love gestures.

Wang Ja Rim is shown to be very cold and unfriendly to even her friends sometimes, but she changes by the end. Because of Joo Young, Ja Rim begins to say things she wouldn't say otherwise. Although, she still remains a cold and unfriendly person she is more expensive toward her friends and especially her boyfriend Joo Young. The interaction between Ja Rim and Joo Young was really cute.

Kyung Woo is a character that is shown to be a loyal friend from beginning to the end even though he does develop feelings for his friend Joo Young's girlfriend, Ja Rim. Kyung Woo also tries to build Joo Young and Ja Rim's relationship to become stronger instead of becoming a hindrance. The ending does leave us, the audience with a lot of questions though.

Great drama to watch in a day if not couple of days!

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Thrilling [Edited]

A truly amazing drama that constantly left me wondering what's going to happen once. As much as I try to predict the next episodes, It always surprised me with their unpredictability and mysteriousness. Every character has their unique characterization especially Gong Hye Won, Jamie Layton, & Lee Ji Wook but everyone is outsmarted by the protagonist mostly, Do Jung Woo, and Moon Jae Woong who is the anti-protagonist for the most part of the story until the true villain surfaces. Jung Woo always is shown to be very calculative regarding his plan and is prepared with a counter-measure if anything goes wrong.

I really love it when a story has many smart/strong characters and potential ones while many other dramas intend to have a weak and gullible character especially the FL. Even though everyone gets fool by Do Jung Woo, it's not entirely their fault because he is a mastermind and everyone he fooled has had some form of a deep relationship with him.

Gong Hye Won is a smart and hot-tempered Officer as described in the synopsis but there is more to her character. She is aslo shown to have a feeling for Do Jung Woo who happens to be using her along with the entire group. Gong Hye Won finds out about it but didn't want to believe it until a certain event. But the intention of Do Jung Woo is not that clear as well because even though he seems to be using his team and many others to take down the foundation that started the whole child experimentation. He does seem to genuinely care for his team especially Hye Won and Jamie because the show tries to emphasize that there could be other possible reasons for his recruitments of them other than their relationship to the foundation.

Although the plot is not romance-driven, you can actually feel the intense feeling Do Jung Woo and Gong Hye Won have for one another every time they are face to face or shown to be thinking of each other. The ending also tries to hint it a little bit. I have to say: this drama was simply impressive from the beginning to the end.

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"Bloody"

Just as the title suggests, this drama is really "bloody". This drama is about a weak female lead (Wan Mei ) who gradually matures up and became stronger to fulfill her mission to became a chief so other assassins girls won't suffer as she did. Wan Mei gets used by others so much and ends up being in big trouble throughout the story. The drama also shows the struggles of each character and the reason behind their wrongdoings and every one of them has their own mission.

Although this show is not romance-driven, it is highly appreciated. There is a shadow (assassin's slave) name ChangAn who loves her unconditionally and sacrifice everything for her. The love has between Chang and Wei is so beautiful and pure, even there are some tough misunderstandings like when she was captured and went torture, it doesn't become an obstruction for their affection. They truly show that they love each other from the beginning to the very end and that no one can come between them. There is a romance between other characters but it's either unrequited or a terrible ending.

The ending was not satisfying for me but it was nice to see the character growth of Wan Mei at the end.

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One of the best.

I had been stalling this drama for a few months until I finally decided to watch it. I was afarid that it would be way too similar to other historical drama in terms of politics, betrayal, and the ending but it was slightly different. This story is basically about legendary "face painter" Jing Shu who happens to meet another legendary character, Lue Ying and then they develop their master-servent relationship into lovers eventually. Even though, there isn't that many "face painting" drawn in the drama but when it was done, it did try to highlight the reasons why. I also like how this drama puts a lot of emphasis on the relationship between characters because it was the relationship that either made a character support one another or betray them.

Lue Ying and Jing Shu are one of the rarest couples shown in the drama, they were very cute together and determined about one another barely letting any misunderstanding happening between them. Even though there is a lot of moments or even that can cause the separation between Lue Ying and Jing Shu, it actually rarely occurs.

I believe the drama ends at episode 49 while episodes 50-53 are just flashbacks of Jing Shu, adopted father.

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Satisfying.

One sentence to describe the entirety of this Chinese Fantasy Drama would be: Zhi Zun Bao (reincarnation of Monkey King) travels through time again and again to save his lover but find oneself meeting his fated one without realizing it until the very end.
This drama has a lot of plot holes like time travel to different times which sometimes didn't make sense (no causality) and Monkey King having girls showing up that love him but almost everything comes to pieces at the end of the story. I always love the story of the Monkey King who is powerful and mischievous but this drama really showed me another part of him which was romantic. It also has a lot of humorous moments; I had fun watching them.
I found episode 55 on Youtube which was an extended episode about the modern world, but I don't recommend it because it's kind of confusing and leaves the show on a suspenseful ending which episode 54 (end) doesn't. The very first episode also hints at how the story will end!!

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Decent

The only reason why I gave it a high rating is because it has a lot of slice of life, comedy, and emotional moments. Otherwise, there are a lot of plot holes like the Minister rebelling for a prince who is never shown in the drama [Prince Yeonwoo] and the whole father-son dynamics, like they really need to sit down properly and talk instead of blaming. The romance aspect was very intriguing and it keeps you wondering how it will end till the very end. Both ML and FL are shown to be capable and smart which is pretty rare in drama where one [usually FL] is totally oblivious or dumb. even while knowing everything. I felt sad for the king as his love for FL was sincere and he never actually got have autonomy until the very end but ML and FL deserve one another as they genuinely fall in love over time. Other characters had their own version of a tragedy which was mess up because it feels like the plot was all over the place.

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Thrilling

This was a great thriller drama with so many mysterious elements like Prosecutor Park Woong Joon's fiance, Yeon Hee, disappearing right before their wedding. Detective Yang Shi On, our FL who has the ability to see ghosts, is shown to be extremely smart even though she spent 6 years in a coma and can't seem to recall any events with Detective Lee Hyung Joon who is later revealed to her boyfriend and also happened to be in a coma but is proclaimed to be dead to the world. Detective Shi On makes a lot of dubious descisions just because ghosts are bothering her like walking to the hill in the middle of the night. She is bold but can get killed easily without plot armors. Detective Cha Gun Woo who happens to be at the right place at the right time always chases after Detective Shi On and ends up saving her but Detective Shi On is always leaving Detective Cha Gun Woo in the dark by not revealing the fact that she can see ghosts (understandable) and how she managed to get in trouble and solved the cases concurrently. Betrayal is also massively emphasized in this drama like how someone like Detective Choi Moo Shik chooses to betray people around him especially detective Detective Cha Gun Woo, Detective Shi On, and Lee Hyung Joon even as if he was being forced by his situations or the superior. Its even get more absurd when Detective Shi On leaves Detective Cha Gun Wo who is in a hospital bed after confessing to him that she needs him to be always with him because she finds out that Detective Lee Hyung Joon is still alive form Detective Cha Gun Woo. I get the fact that since her memories were lost and she spent 6 years in a coma so her memories are still fresh after gaining them back but she didn't have to leave Detective Gun Woo like that who has always been there for her. And with the way the story was flowing, it seems like Detective Shin On would not have ended up with Detective Cha Gun Woo if Detective Lee Hyung Joon didn't decide to pass away to the afterlife. I feel like the writer's purposely killed Detective Lee Hyung Joon as he was not the ML but an obstruction to the ML romance with FL. The writer making those kinds of decisions ruins the plot because why bring the dead to alive [in a coma] when you are going to kill him again? But I did like how the writer chose to correspond the last episode to the very episode which was very interesting.

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