It’s beautiful. It’s moving. It’s bittersweet. It’s somehow heartwarming despite the cold setting. There is some indescribable feeling in my chest after watching it. I really don’t know what to say about it. I feel like I can’t analyze this movie or break it into parts. All I can say is that it’s really, really good, and I really, really like it.

MDL wants me to make this at least 500 characters though, so I have to write this little paragraph in an attempt to reach that count. My deepest apologies for this frivolous little paragraph down here that is wasting your precious time.

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I’M CRYING THIS WAS SO GOOD!?!?!
Ahem. Wow, I did not see that coming. This was a short, beautiful, tragic love story. I generally don’t see myself as a fan of tragedies, but there’s something about knowing that a story will end tragically that makes it compelling to see how it gets there. And of course, you’re rooting for the possibility that perhaps fate will change. After all, this is a time travel(ish) show, so surely the timeline can be changed!
I really don’t want to spoil too much of the plot, but it is super solid. I don’t think that this is a huge spoiler… but you essentially have someone continually moving backwards through time. That is, the first time he time travels is closest to present day, and the next time is farther away, and so on. I think this is an interesting and compelling set up, especially because you know this story ends tragically. The romance started off as mostly a plot device for me in the beginning, but by halfway through I was rooting for our main couple so hard. I don’t think the actors have incredible chemistry, but narratively they fit together so well and they clearly care about each other deeply. There is also a secondary couple who are very sweet. The relationships and characters are all interesting and compelling. I really don’t want to spoil anything but I thought it was everything from the plot, character development, and relationships, were executed very well. The only reason this show isn’t a 10/10 is because there are a few small plot contrivances. They are not a big deal whatsoever but do prevent me from saying this show is 100% flawless.
I found this show continually heart wrenching, and yet I still loved it for breaking my heart. Please do yourself a favor and watch it.

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I want to like it more than I do :/

It took me about two episodes to get into this show. It was initially a little too cookie-cutter for me; I've seen bullying and rich people ostracizing less-rich people in a dozen kdramas, and at this point I don't find it too compelling. But the murder mystery kept me on the hook, and I'm glad I watched the rest. The twists and turns of the mystery were really well executed, both in terms of them being interesting as well as their pacing. There was so much drama that was compelling to watch, particularly within the Endo family. The struggles and fights that they had actually echoed some that I've experienced, so while it may have felt overly dramatic to some people it felt realistic to me. I felt so tensed and stressed at various points throughout this show. The writing is clearly excellent, from the dialogues between characters to the unfolding of the murder mystery. It didn't stick the landing for me though. The final big reveal in the last episode really negated a lot of the story for me; it made me question why various things had happened because they didn't make sense with the final reveal. Previous explanations for events turned out to not be true, but those explanations almost made more sense than the real one. The final twist does make sense, in that the motivations and what unfolded seem realistic given the known facts, but in light of the truth the actions of certain characters didn't make sense. It's hard to explain without spoilers. I do think the character and relationship development that happened were well-done, so that part of the finale worked well for me. It's frustrating, because everything right up until the last episode was really good, but... darn, I wish they hadn't done that final twist.

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I've enjoyed a few Japanese murder mysteries (Saiai, N no Tame ni, Confessions, Influence), and when I saw the premise for this show I was intrigued and decided to check it out. A woman who has had three fiances, all of whom have died: is it just a series of unfortunate coincidences, or is there a more nefarious plot going on? She was the beneficiary on all their life insurance policies, but each of them canceled their policies before they died so she never got any money. What then might be her motive? Is she the murderer, or are there other people who may have wanted these men dead? Matsushima Nanako does a great job playing an ice-cold woman such that you're not sure whether she's just putting up a strong front or is truly cold-blooded. Takenouchi Yutaka also plays his role well, as an insurance agent whose obsession with justice becomes an obsession with Egi Touko. The cat-and-mouse game between her and the three men interested in solving the case is interesting to watch (for the record, screw Ujou Takeshi as a character, but his actor is good). Touko and Eiki in particular have great chemistry together. The rest of the characters all work well, with other people who may have an interest in messing up Touko's life. I never felt misled by the show, and instead got to just enjoy the gradual unfolding of the plot and mystery. There was also a charm with how old it is; I felt like I was watching this show on VHS, and the graininess contributed to setting the mood and tone. I enjoyed the reveal of the villain at the end as well, there was some great acting in that scene by that particular actor. It was a really, really solid show all the way through. Especially if you liked Saiai and N no Tame ni, you will like this show.

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This one is surprisingly tough for me to review. The gist of it is that there are some truly amazing acting performances, and the scenes of interviewing serial killers are enthralling, but outside of that I didn’t find too much unique about this show. I’ll be honest: this review is mostly a list of my complaints, since other reviews are so positive about the show I feel the need to talk about some negatives.
Kim Nam Gil undeniably deserved an award for his performance here. The degree to which you believe that this is a man who has seen the worst of human depravity is remarkable, and you can see this heaviness weigh on him and how it increases throughout the show. It is also intriguing to learn about the inception of criminal profiling, although to be honest I have my doubts. Occasionally in the show there were times when I thought it actually didn’t help catch criminals all that much. It’s not that their assessments weren’t accurate, but it sometimes only helped affirm a suspect was guilty when they had already been caught. I also thought it was kind of weird that being trained in psychology or psychiatry wasn’t required, although I’m sure that’s a thing nowadays. Another thing that bugged me a bit was how Kim Nam Gil’s character was a little too perfect. He was not only empathetic and smart, he also happened to be a good fighter. The fact this is adapted from an autobiography probably helps explain the extreme positive light. Speaking of fighting, I don’t love how they handled the one female detective. The kind of weird power dynamic between her and Kim Nam Gil’s character was uncomfortable and I don’t like how they undermined her competency. The autobiography origin of this story also probably explains the overall structure of the story. It has multiple serial killers, so there are basically story arcs with each killer. Since this is a 16 episode show and not a monster of the week type show, I found the pacing a little off. And to be honest, it was a bit repetitive at times. Towards the end I wasn’t motivated to finish because there wasn’t a bit culmination of things to look forward to, just another serial killer among the list of ones we have already seen. Ultimately what I think makes this show great are the amazing acting performances, and the interview scenes with the serial killers were fantastic. I don’t think this show is bad, it’s fairly good, but I’ve seen enough thriller/mystery serial killer type stuff that this didn’t do anything new for me (despite the show trying to do the profiling angle).

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Tbh how are you supposed to review a show that has clearly been split in half??

While I certainly had thoughts about Part 1 of The Glory, I felt like I could not adequately review it since I couldn’t be sure how well different plot points would play out. Having now watched the second, I honestly think the first half is mildly better. For one thing, it features Ha Do Young a lot more, a character I enjoyed and found interesting. While I found Joo Yeo Jung a little tedious in this half, the plot twist in Part 1 regarding his character made me feel as if he had potential to grow darker. Moon Dong Eun had some great dialogue in this half (and rest assured, she stays great, but there some of my favorite scenes of hers are in this half). The cliffhangers are good, including the one at the end of this “season.” On principle I find this whole splitting shows into half for arbitrary reasons annoying (*cough cough* Kingdom) but this isn’t the worst iteration of that strategy, so that’s good. Overall, I do recommend this show, but I definitely don’t like it or think it’s as amazing as much as other people do. If you want to know my full thoughts on the show you’ll have to read my Part 2 review.

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It’s good I guess ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

I have a tangled mix of thoughts and feelings about this show. Overall I think it’s good, and it’s extremely watchable (I binged Part 2 in three days). I’ll attempt to do a pros/cons list.
Pros:
- the writing is overall pretty solid. Dong Eun has quite a few iconic lines of dialogue, and a lot of the character interactions are interesting. The plot is generally well paced and moved quite quickly, which helps keep you engaged. Part 2 delivers on quite a few things that Part 1 sets up, so that’s good. As a fast paced thriller you do need to suspend your disbelief, but that usually just comes with the the territory.
- Dong Eun = A+ protagonist. I love that there is no hand wringing about whether she should get revenge, she is allowed to be dark and go all out on these awful people. Song Hye Kyo does an amazing job portraying the character’s quiet strength but also vulnerability.
- The acting all around is very good. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for Im Ji Yeon, she was truly a memorable and extremely hateable villain. Yeom Hye Ran also gave a great performance. The younger actors were also fantastic.
- Cinematography was excellent.
Cons:
- The romance. It’s so confusing how it just did not work for me. I don’t know at what point in the creative process the male love interest came in, but it felt tacked on. Which is odd, because it doesn’t seem like late addition: the character has an important role in the story and has his own backstory. A big problem might be the fact that the actors have no chemistry, which once again is odd since both of them are good actors. I’m having trouble explaining this, so I’ll use an example: the first time these characters say “I love you” to each other (I hope it’s not a spoiler to say that these two characters say this to each other at some point) they say it in the most bland way, in a scene where it doesn’t feel totally appropriate and there’s no real inciting event to cause them to say it. I don’t know, it seems on paper like this romance should be good but in reality it just didn’t work for me.
- The male love interest has some good lines of dialogue and his backstory is somewhat intriguing but it just never landed for me. Maybe they built too much of a puppy dog image of him initially that I just really had trouble taking him seriously. There’s also just way too much focus on him. In one sense this is a good thing, so he’s not just a one note character and serves no purpose in the story, but the last episode of the show is largely dedicated to him when this is Dong Eun’s story! I just thought that was silly.
- The violence and nudity seemed really gratuitous. I’ll once again use an example to help illustrate my point: there is a good portion of one episode where Hyun Nam is abused by her husband. We already know by this point her husband abuses her, and the scenes were so long that I was questioning why on earth we were still on this plot point when there seems like plenty of plot we needed to get to. The repeated instances of nudity and violence seemed unwarranted and like they were there for shock value, and I found it off-putting.
- Oh also the fact that this was clearly a normal 16 episode show split into two parts just annoys me on principle.
That’s mostly it. Like I said, I think objectively the writing is pretty solid, and I appreciate the unique angle on a revenge story. But the “romance,” main male love interest, and the gratuitous violence/nudity really lowered my opinion of it.

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Do I think this show is perfect? No. But regardless, it is one of the first shows in a while that I have truly loved. So, here's my disorganized attempt to explain why.
The show starts out very strongly by introducing our female lead, Yeo Reum. I find the description here on MDL and viki inaccurate; Yeo Reum's life is not going well from the very start of the show. The first episode is a bit tough to watch, although not terribly so. I think a lot of people can relate to Yeo Reum's life, the feelings of repetitive nothingness going to work every day, being talked down to and disrespected, and not having the confidence to speak up for oneself. Seeing Yeo Reum's very relatable life and problems really made me sympathize with her and root for her, so it was a great relief when she decided to completely change her life and move to Angok. I think there's a relief the viewer experiences in seeing someone break free of the expectations that society puts on us and deciding to go "on strike" from life. I really loved how the whole theme of the show was essentially that societal expectations don't dictate what will truly make us happy or fulfilled.
I loved Yeo Reum's relationships that developed over the course of the show, both romantic and platonic. Her friendship with Bom was super heartwarming, and I loved the two of them acting like sisters and becoming their own little family. Yeo Reum was able to provide support, comfort, and joy into Bom's life, and in turn I think she was able to finally have a family that loved her the same way she loved them. Yeo Reum and Dae Beom's relationship was absolutely delightful to see unfold. It's a love story between two quiet, shy people, and they are so sweet together. I don't think I've ever squealed over seeing two characters texting each other for the first time, but I sure did when watching this show. I liked that Dae Beom also had his own issues to work out, and that he was able to do so over the course of the story. Both Yeo Reum and Dae Beom played important roles in each other's growth and healing.
While there are many heartwarming elements, it's not a universally happy show. There are some heavy issues that are dealt with, including Bom's alcoholic father, Dae Beom's traumatic past, among others. I can't say I love how characters acted in regards to some of these plot points, nor in how the writers resolved them. I wasn't a huge fan of the "graffiti" subplot (dunno what else to call it, especially without spoiling anything), but it served its own purpose in the story. Some people really didn't like episodes 10/11, but I surprisingly did, because it felt like the culmination of plot points that had been building throughout the show. I wouldn't call this show "realistic," but I liked how parts of it didn't give you the happy ending that you might have wanted. I also liked that characters' relationships were allowed to be messy, such as Jae Hoon and Bom's. They're young and immature, so of course it's not going to be flawless. You don't like all the characters in this show, but they had their good moments, and many of them were somewhat better by the end of the show. For example, Ji Young got on my nerves, but she had a character arc of sorts, and so I liked that.
I don't know if this show just happened to touch my heart in ways that are personal, and thus this show may not be objectively that amazing. But I loved it so very much.

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I’ve seen a couple of shows and movies recently that meditate on the idea about what kids are supposed to do when adults fail to protect them. I think it’s an interesting idea to wrestle with, and this show takes it in a new direction: maybe murder is the solution! I am somewhat joking, but I don’t mean to make fun of it. In fact, I think it really works in this story.
I think this show could have benefited from being a little bit longer, but the story doesn’t feel too rushed. The actresses are all solid, and the way their characters’ relationships evolve over the course of the story is interesting to watch. I enjoyed the framing device too. I honestly think the best parts were when they were in high school, and while it stayed solid throughout there were a few things that bugged me at the end. But overall, it is an intriguing, compelling, well-written, and well acted show. The cinematography was nice as well. It’s definitely a solid thriller.
P.S. this reminded me a tiny bit of the novel OUT by Natsuo Kirino, so if you liked that book you might like this!

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Boy, I just love all these characters so much and want them to be happy. That feels like an odd thing to say after watching a show centered around a murder mystery, but it’s just true. None of these characters are perfect; in fact, even the main characters have serious flaws. And yet, of our main four characters, if any of them committed murder, I’d cover for them.
It makes sense that the people who created Saiai also made N no Tame ni (Saiai is the more recent show), because there is that same sense of “even if these people committed murder, I don’t want the cops catching them.” Although even the cop in this case is a sweetheart and had understandable reasons for wanting to figure out what happened. There is the main central murder mystery, and everything in this show is about unraveling it and seeing what lead up to it and then where everyone is 10 years afterwards. One of my few gripes is that I’m a little confused why some characters would just completely lose contact with each other, but no biggie.
While this is somewhat of an ensemble piece, our main character is undeniably Nozomi. The show jumps between moments in time and the earliest it goes is into Nozomi’s time in high school. Asides from the mystery, what really hooked me was Nozomi’s struggles back then. She is so strong and trying so hard, she’s amazing. She’s a super compelling character. Her relationships with the three guys were great too. Shinji was her rock on the island, and they had some amazing scenes together. I loved how Ando and Nishizaki became her mini-family. I hardly noticed there was a love triangle until towards the end, and I don’t completely love how it resolved, but no big deal. This show made me feel things, and it was primarily because of these characters (especially Nozomi and what happened to her).
The mystery was really good too. The reveals were excellently paced, and everything made sense. Having there be so much build up to the event worked well. Additionally, that mystery of “for the sake of N” and figuring out who “N” was for different characters was a good secondary mystery. I liked how the mystery resolved, and I overall liked the ending as well.
It’s a really good show. I was super invested and the 10 episodes flew by. It’s got a good mystery and a lot of heart. It’s one of the best jdramas I’ve seen!

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I really really really want to like this show more than I do and it pains me to give it a lower score :’( The first episode of this show is amazing and completely sold me on it and our main character Umi. The premise of her figuring out how to love herself and develop self-respect hooked me. It helps that Suzuki Airi is a phenomenal actress, and frankly the best actor in this show period. The first few episodes are good. Sure, Umi is initially set up as an underdog in her workplace with her superior not liking her, and it all gets resolved within like one episode… so it doesn’t really feel deserved, but okay, whatever, it’s a short show, and there’s plenty of good stuff in there anyway. Umi is great because she really is able to connect with others and they admire her and it’s really heartwarming to see! I love her bonding with her coworkers and she’s got some good friends and a sister. There are honestly plenty of heartwarming scenes which I loved. All the friend/co-worker stuff was great. Her scenes with Kazao are pretty good, although I’d say it’s really Suzuki Airi who sells those scenes. Aaaaand this is a good time to mention a certain problem: she’s honestly such a better actor than her two love interests and it can really show in those scenes. The two guys aren’t terrible actors but they can be kinda stiff. And this leads into the next problem: the love triangle. It feels forced, and I think unfortunately takes away time from Umi’s personal growth. Kazao does have good chemistry with Umi and his acting is generally fine so I still enjoyed their scenes. Overall my two main gripes with the show are (1) despite being set up as about Umi’s personal growth, I feel like it didn’t get the time necessary to develop that, so at the end I was a little confused about how she had/hadn’t changed and what she still needed to change, and (2) the love triangle, which feels like a very 2008-era critique but it really did take up so much unnecessary space and was kinda awkward and dumb. Oh and there’s this dumb argument towards the end too and I don’t really get why Umi was mad but whatever. It’s really disappointing because there are some really great scenes and the first few episodes are genuinely very good, but the love triangle dragged it down towards the end. I almost didn’t want to finish the show and I’m glad I did because there are some great scenes in the final episode, but I’m still left feeling pretty dissatisfied.
P.S. I didn’t know where to put this but there are quite a few long takes in the show, oftentimes in Umi’s interactions with others, and they’re all really good. It really helps make the conversations seem like they’re real. Argh, I really want to like this show because it has stuff like this that is so good!! :’(

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Well, I binged the whole thing in a day, so I think that's a good indication of how much I liked it. I'm not sure how objectively good it is but it was certainly entertaining. It's pretty different from anything else I've watched recently (or tbh in general). Have you watched The School Nurse Files? If so, you might relate to my difficulty in putting into words what this show is like, because it has a similar off-kilter vibe to it. The main duo are absolutely great in this show. They're just so... weird. Like really weird. They laugh maniacally together, it's their favorite thing. They're two strange, damaged people who fit together really well. The actors have good chemistry and their scenes are all great. I liked their two father figures, and while the Big Bad is extra AF he is entertaining to watch. Given the short length (30 min episodes, 8 ep total) the plot certainly keeps moving along but doesn't feel too rushed. I almost wish the episodes were longer but that's just cause I enjoyed spending time with these characters, not because I feel like they skipped over stuff. Don't get me wrong, the show is bonkers (I mean, its main character is a girl who was trained to be an assassin since she was a kid, you can't get hung up on how 'realistic' that is) but it all works. The first several episodes set up the characters and their relationships really well, which makes you invested when the more action-heavy parts at the end happened. There are some humorous parts of the show, which are "black comedy" perhaps? I'm not familiar enough with it to say. But I think the show is plenty aware of how bonkers it is. It's hard to know how to recommend it. I guess if the premise of "high school assassin trying to keep her identity under wraps while this crazy organization is trying to hunt her down" appeals to you and you enjoy action and weirdness then this show is for you. Oh btw it is R-rated, so keep that in mind.

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I am surprised by how completely floored I was by this movie. I tend to not like stories centered around bullying, as a former victim of bullying myself, but something about this movie really compelled me. That “something” is likely the two leads, who give absolutely amazing performances. I’ve never seen these two actors in anything else but wow, they seem super talented. There’s a scene at one point towards the end with no dialogue, just the two of them looking at each other, and it’s one of the best scenes in the movie. The story is also very compelling, because while the world is against them, these two youths are able to find strength and comfort in each other. The movie highlights the failings of the adults and cops to successfully intervene in these bullying cases. The cinematography is stunning in this movie as well and the editing is great. I wasn’t able to take my eyes off the screen. If you’re sensitive about bullying this might be a difficult watch but I think it is a really good film.

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Beautiful, dreamlike, and full of heart

I loved every moment of this show from the very beginning to the very end. It’s beautiful, dreamlike, heartwarming and also heart wrenching at times. Gosh, this show just has so much heart.

The romance is fantastic in this show. I understand why people say this is a slow burn but holy crap I shipped them from the very first moment you see them interact on screen. I think it builds really well, all of these small moments adding up to a great romance. I personally find immortal being x human being a difficult romance to believe, but I totally did here.

The plot is not super fast paced either, it almost has this slice of life element to it. It focuses on people’s lives and relationships and struggles. I loved the story of Ai Ting and Ai Yu in particular. I also loved exploring the relationship between Tien Ti and her grandmother. I would say I’m pretty meh on Tien Ti’s coworkers but I loved how her work as a tour guide tied into the themes of taking care of nature.

The fantasy and mythology aspect of this show was so fascinating. I loved the beginning animations and how they gave background on the characters, and occasionally foreshadowed certain aspects of the plot. Alice Ko was amazing as Toem, she absolutely killed every scene she was in. Orad was great of course and I loved his story arc. I also appreciate how they made Tien Ti sympathetic to how it must be difficult to be a god and yet not able to help people.

I usually pay literally no attention to the OSTs of shows but this show was one of the only exceptions (the other is someday or one day, funnily enough). I think it’s because the songs are actually a part of the narrative. A song Tien Ti sings in the beginning becomes one of the recurring songs in the soundtrack, so it brings up all these emotions and memories with it.

You may ask why this isn’t getting a higher rating, and it’s mostly because I found the plot twists toward the end of the show a little confusing. But asides from that, I absolutely loved this show.

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A short, well-written time travel thriller that you should definitely watch.

Reset does a good job of keeping things relatively simple: there’s a bomb on the bus, and we gotta figure out whodunnit and how to save everyone. Things keep going wrong, our main duo die or fall asleep, and then wake back up on the bus. They keep living the same day over and over again. Despite all the loops I don’t think it’s confusing, though I did feel my head spinning at a certain point. It was interesting seeing how they handled the time loops differently each time. I didn’t like the cops in this show so I was like “ugh go away, our time travelers are trying to save everyone and you’re stopping them.” Our main duo are absolutely fantastic. I appreciate that they aren’t super geniuses or total dummies. They feel very human; they make mistakes, they’re impulsive, they get progressively tired and traumatized as they experience terrible things over and over. Sometimes they want to give up, as they don’t want to put themselves through it all again. Their relationship also builds and it’s fun seeing them grow closer. You really care about them and want them to figure things out. I appreciate that you get to know the other passengers as well. It makes them feel more like real people, so you’re even more invested in saving them. The villain is also well-written and their motivation makes sense. The progression of the story unfolds nicely, as you do learn more and more with each loop. Occasionally the loops are played for comedic effect as well. I do think this probably could’ve been a 12 episode show as it did feel like there could have been fewer loops, but aside from that I don’t think I really have any criticism about it. The ending is great as well.

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