DramaloverPanda
The Story of Park's Marriage Contract
18 people found this review helpful
Fun and silly ride with a few potholes that make it bumpy
The first half of this drama I really enjoyed. It was light and silly and the strong willed Yeon Woo was fun to watch. Sa Wol was one of the best characters in the show. She was so funny and lightened every scene she was in but also carried her loyalty and wisdom well.Overall and nice watch to pass the time. But there are some things about this show that I found reduced the rating for me. First was the future Tae Ha's unbelievable jerk behavior when they first meet. I know that is a trope of the overbearing boss kind but it bothered me here. When he finally lightens up and starts to accept the situation he does become more likeable. Next is how quickly the women adjusted to the changes. It did not feel realistic with how fast they changed the way they dress and act in a time that was so dramatically different than what they lived in. And finally, is the love story. While it was fun to watch them bicker and find their way to each other then the love story gets a little boring. It almost felt like filler to watch them after that and while I love romance I thought that time could have been cut out for me and just moved on with the plot.
Slight spoiler here so be warned but I also could not stand the ending for the Old Joseon Tae Ha. I was annoyed the whole time I was watching it as the character did not deserve it.
Overall the music is quite nice, the production was done well from sets to costumes, and the parts were acted well. A good way to pass the time but I could also recommend several other shows I would find better than this as well.
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From the beginning you are told rather than shown that King is a player which made it hard to grasp since for the entirety of the show he only ever was interested in Uea. I expected to see an enemies to lover trope but King never seemed to dislike Uea at all. He was charming and portrayed his emotions well through his eyes and facial expressions even though the character was written fairly one dimensional as purely the love interest with not much else to him. Their relationship begins with a drunken one night stand, which I can agree with other viewers that King definitely should not have continued that night knowing how truly drunk Uea was but King had also been drinking so you could say they made that mistake together.
Uea was not a very likeable character at all. The actor did not carry the emotional scenes well at all and I found him primarily annoying and hard to understand. His back story with trauma and toxic relationships also was not done well and was used as purely a shock factor. While victims do often get victimized again, it felt unrealistic especially in the time frame it was portrayed to have happened that he was targeted so frequently. Then you have Uea's treatment of King specifically after King's confession that truly bothered me. He was controlling and arrogant but in a way that King's previous behavior toward him did not warrant. For Uea to go from being a sex buddy to then not allow any touch what so ever felt weird. The two also showed more chemistry and interest as just bed friends than they did as a couple. The bed scenes were also odd and choppy but then nonexistent once they became a couple.
The last episode was also pretty boring to watch as it added nothing to the plot, it was just there to create an ending. Overall while this show is pretty to look at it lacks in substance.
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How a bad lead character can ruin a show
This story is about a 70 year old woman that finds herself not being needed and feeling unwanted by her own daughter after spending her life raising her while running a restaurant. One day after an argument she leaves home and ends up at a shop where her appearance is changed, taking her back 50 years to her 20 year old self. Now in a much younger body she must decide what she will do and if maybe this is her chance to follow the dreams she abandoned long ago.First this show has great side characters. The two male leads are great and fun to watch, the granddaughter is multifaceted, and the overall concept makes the story interesting. The music is also great which adds to the appeal. But, while I enjoy aspects of this show the things I do not enjoy outweigh the things I do. The cinematography is mostly done very well but the repetitive use of the close ups on the faces at a downward angle are really unflattering. It is such an odd camera angle and used so frequently that it is hard to overlook at times. The styling of the show also feels unbalanced making the show that is set in 2024 feel more like its decades behind.
The show's biggest blunder, however, is that it suffers from two major flaws. First is in the execution of the the main character's transmigration. Time travel and transmigration can be a bit tricky to get just right but there are so many examples of stories where leads went back in time or were able to start their lives over that were complete successes and that is due to the way the performances were delivered. As a viewer I have no problem with a 70 year old becoming a 20 year old again and having a second chance at achieving their dreams but for it to work the character has to feel like they are young again. This show gives us Mal Soon/ Do Ri who is taken back 50 years to appear as her younger self but she never once acts young. She continues to behave, dress, and speak exactly like her 70 year old self. This approach feels like a miss to me because I find that I can not connect with the character when she behaves in this way as it never feels like she is trying to achieve her dreams or change her life. She is just trapped in this younger body and instead of actively pursuing her dream of becoming a singer she is being dragged into it. This is also where the romance feels wrong to me. I can accept her falling in love with a man the same age as her appearance if she behaved that way but since she never sheds her 70 year old persona then the romance with a much younger man gives me a bit of the ick.
That leads me to the second major flaw and that is in the way the main character behaves. Mal Soon/ Do Ri is not a likeable character. She is arrogant and stubborn but without just cause to be that way and the way she treats the people around her is selfish. Her not being likeable at first would have been fine and would have shown character development and allowed the viewer to grow to like her. But 10 episodes in and this character is still not likeable. Not liking the titular character of a drama for the entirety does not make it an enjoyable watch. Especially for a show like this that is supposed to be a romance and a second chance at life.
The flaws are made more glaring when you see Park Jun become his younger self and actively accept the change and dress and behave as a 20 year old would. He still gives advice or makes comments with the wisdom of years as he would as an older man but he is believable as a young man and easy to root for. Mal Soon's daughter is another horrible character that you never find yourself feeling pity for because she is just as awful as Mal Soon. Even with the reveals that give some reasoning behind their actions I find that they are given too late in the show so there is no impact. The change in the characters occurs far too late in the series and is rather sudden instead of the gradual build up throughout that would have given the viewer more attachment to the story.
Could have been a good story but ultimately fails to capture any of the magic and 'what if' energy I usually get from watching transmigration stories. The last two episodes are touching but also confusing and ultimately underwhelming ending the series with many unanswered questions.
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Lacks the chemistry, intensity, and heart that made people invested in the story
Having seen the other two adaptations and read the novels I can say that this drama loses all the excitement that made the material worth being adapted. It is actually fairly disappointing in the sense that this is a Thai drama without all the restrictions that were placed on the two Chinese adaptations and yet they managed to make this version the most boring.The novel has some toxic and abusive behaviors in it so leaving that out actually improves it for me but what this drama lacks is the life that the novel portrayed. The basis for the relationship is centered around the obsession that, in this drama Hero, has for Pop. The obsession comes out of left field for him in a time when his life is at its most unstable. His father just remarried, wants him to join the military, his new step mom has a son that he is constantly being compared to, and she wants that son to move in to his house. In an effort to find some semblance of control for his life he runs away to a new school to avoid it. By chance he meets a boy that at first reminds him of the stepbrother he was being compared to but his background of also not having a mother makes Hero feel sympathy and kinship for him that then grows into an obsession. Even after finding out that they are stepbrothers the pair is so incredibly drawn to each other that they cannot help themselves. Even in the source material Pop is more resistant to this pull and to a romantic relationship initially but he is still unwilling to push Hero away or sever the friendship. What the chinese versions did better is the incredible chemistry between the pairs that this one lacks. This adaptation falls in the realm of it being cute and the actors are doing a good job acting but it lacks the draw toward each other that is needed to really make the show.
While all the actors here are also very attractive and the cinematography is also stunning their are other flaws that are jarring as a viewer. Editing often is abrupt and awkward and the fake kisses are too obvious. I never had a problem with the age gap between the actors because this is a job for them and its not like for them in real life the romantic scenes are actually romantic because there is a whole crew of people around them. But Stay with Me had no kisses at all and was pushed as more of a bromance and yet their relationship felt much more convincing so kisses are not needed to get a point across; fake kisses however definitely pull the viewer completely out of the moment. The other big problem is the parts of the story they decided to focus on. With only ten episodes and so much information to convey they needed to be intentional about which parts of the story to show and they did not choose well. They chose irrelevant parts to maybe make this much fluffier and focus on the romance portion of it but it ended up just feeling more like it slowed everything down making it boring. So much screen time was spent on trivial scenes that added nothing to the story.
It is also unrealistic to make a third adaptation of a novel and expect to not get compared to the others. If you are going out of your way to make another copy of something it needs to be better than what came before and this did not do that. It also will likely leave on the same cliffhanger that both its predecessors did which means that this drama really brought nothing to the table.
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Super women vs. useless men
I was really hoping to love this show and get the same emotions that I got when watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon since this is a spin off of that show. Unfortunately I do not get any of the same emotions and it does not arouse much of my interest. Comparing the two is inevitable since this is marketed as a spin off and even has a brief appearance of the original couple. What drew people in was the amazing chemistry that the parent show had. The three main characters in it had unbelievable chemistry that left you often laughing or swooning effortless. The episodes never felt long and the story was well managed and paced.This show, however, does not meet any of that same criteria. It also does not focus on Nam Soon either. The focus of this show is centered around the 3 generations of women in this family that are strong. But some of the principles you learned about the gift in the parent show is ignored in this show. Even overlooking that aspect Nam Soon is essentially a super hero while all of the men around them are reduced to ridiculous and useless characters that carry no significance at all. It is practically an extreme feminist reversal of gender roles. Then you have the love triangle with the main antagonist, who carries most of the interest in this entire show, and the 'good guy' cop who both fall in love with Nam Soon. Personally I don't see the chemistry in either pair. You are just told by the writer that these men like her but as a viewer you have no idea why since she behaves like a middle school girl and shows no interest toward either man either. There is nothing about their interactions that convince you that any of these characters really like each other which could primarily be because the story follows so many different characters that there is not enough screen time for them to get you invested as a viewer. The mother has more screen time than Nam Soon whom the show is named for.
The story line and pacing for this show is also poorly done and not well flushed out leaving you often bored. You will find yourself wanting to skip significant portions fairly often. Personally I think that all the scenes with her grandmother could be completely removed and instead could have been used to better acquaint you with the main triangle. I have continued to watch up until episode 12 and have found myself utterly bored with this. I will most likely finish this by skimming the last few episodes just to get the gist of how it ends.
I do not recommend this if you have seen Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but if you are going into this never having seen the prior then you may find it more interesting. Just go in with low expectations.
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The story is pretty lackluster and not something overly new or exciting. Im Sol wakes up to find her entire life changed as an accident had caused her to lose the use of her legs. In her most desperate moment Ryu Sun Jae gave her the spark she needed to keep living. This spark carried her through her days and years as she fan girled for the one that saved her. But when Sun Jae unexpectedly dies her despair and a magic watch take her back in time where she can rewrite his history and save him. In the process of trying to save him she realizes things she did not know before and it takes her several attempts to try and change the fate they seem to be entangled in.
What this drama did best was the chemistry of the cast. I will never not fall in love with Ryu Sun Jae and Kim Tea Sung. Im Sol's interactions with both male leads are so much fun to watch and this cuteness is what attracted me each week wanting to watch them again and again. While the plot had its holes; such as no explanation for the stalkers obsession and no established rules for the time travel; this drama was a solid 9.5 rating for me until the last 4 episodes. In the final stretch this drama does lose its charm but still provides the happy ending fans were wanting.
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Beautiful visuals with horrendous story writing
Oh man has this become a bore. I have hung on for 10 episodes expecting it to pick up once the plot got its momentum but it has not and I do not have it in me to keep trying anymore. This show is about an obsessed ghost that attached himself to one woman and followed all of her reincarnations until one was finally able to remember him and he can kill her as revenge for her having killed him in her past life. This gets a bit messy when he finds himself drawn to this woman that is so much like the version of her he fell in love with. We have seen this same premise done over and over again lately so this show brings nothing new to your screen.First, the cinematography and production teams did a great job as this is a beautiful drama to watch and the main couple is stunning. But that does not make up for the unremarkable story. The reincarnated lovers is something that has been seen a lot lately, as well as enemies to lovers. I have no problem with either of those tropes if the story is told well and keeps me engaged but this just does not do that. The characters are boring, both in modern time and in the Joseon period, there is no chemistry between the two to make you believe they are lovers and no engrossing story to keep you interested in how they end up. The show keeps regurgitating the same past story over and over again as if you have the memory of a peanut and can't recall what was seen the previous episode. And the snippet they repeatedly show jumps around in time and isnt even interesting or complete so seeing it over and over again is fatiguing as the viewer. They flash back frequently to their past life but not in order of events so even three quarters into the show they have not actually given you any information beyond what you found out in the first episode.
Then you have modern times which started a bit more interesting but has no focus either. The female lead is an amazing firefighter but only for the first two episodes, then she becomes some weak damsel in distress. The male lead takes over the body of a famous actor who has landed an important part in a drama but then that plot is dropped as well. A rival actor tries to run down the female lead and then is killed in a car accident which is ruled as suicide because of a note with no investigation. The problematic second female lead is just there to be obnoxious and comes and goes as the writers seem to need her to push the plot. So many storylines that are picked up and then abandoned. It's just all a jumbled up mess with no clear or logical direction which most viewers could put up with if the main couple had amazing chemistry but they do not, even the kiss seemed like he was kissing a dead fish!
Even the acting is not great. I loved the male lead in Shooting Stars but here he is lifeless and dull. His actor alter ego was annoying but far more interesting and that unfortunately only lasted for about 15 minutes of screen time. The biggest issue however is the female lead. I don't know if it is the character or the actress that sinks this for me but either way she really tanks the show. Her reactions either feel far too much or far too little and she shows no affection toward the male lead at all. The main antagonist, whom really does not present himself until about episode 10 is easy to hate but there is not enough reasoning for me to believe that this person would hang around for 1500 years for revenge.
Do yourself a favor and skip this one.
edit: after having skimmed the last 4 episodes I am completely confident in my earlier review and highly recommend you skip this one
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Addicting first half that manages to flounder in the middle just to drown right at the finish line
When the Phone Rings hooked us with its trailer and the expectation of a suspenseful thriller that appeared to boast of intense chemistry and exciting action. And those first 6 episodes? The did deliver a good portion of that. The chemistry between the main cast, the riveting characters and their secrets, the well paced and engaging movement of the plot. It was all there and kept me as a viewer addicted to the screen waiting for the next episodes to appear. But then the show pivots from the thriller we were enjoying into a romance that morphed the characters, slowed the plot, and threw logic out the window. Ultimately leaving a bad taste in your mouth by the end of the finale.We begin with Baek Sa Eon, a high profile political figure from a prestigious family, marrying the youngest daughter of another prestigious family. For the selectively mute youngest daughter, Hong Hui Ju, the marriage is but a cage where she is the replacement for her sister and used to connect the families for political reasons. She is told never to reveal that she is married to him and he treats her with a cold indifference while living in the same home for 3 years. But someone becomes aware of her existence and attempts to use her to threaten Baek Sa Eon by kidnapping her. This is where the plot really begins. While Hui Ju manages to get away from the kidnapper she also takes with her the phone that he used to call Sa Eon and ends up using it to try to escape her marriage thus unknowingly beginning to unravel Sa Eon's true nature and intentions. Now caught between learning more about her husband and being used by the kidnapper threatening him Hui Ju and Sa Eon race to find answers and undo misunderstandings.
Beautifully shot, well styled, well acted, and with a great OST this drama had the beginnings to become a really great drama. Then the second half began and this is where you see both characters fall in love and we lose the interesting, intelligent, and cold Baek Sa Eon to the fool for love version of himself and the strong, independent, snarky, and determined Hui Ju to the stereotypical damsel in distress. The reveals are predictable at this point and the plot dissolves into a bit of nonsense. The antagonists aren't given enough development to make their movements and motivations completely believable and the last two episodes fail to bring any excitement and instead deliver more annoyance than anything. The final episode was the last straw as the first 40minutes offer only ridiculous choices made through motivations that make no sense and could have been completely removed to only see the last 20minutes.
While I did really enjoy the first half of this show the second half managed to remove all the original good things about the show and ultimately delivered a disappointing, nonsensical mess.
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More style over substance
One of the first fantasy cdramas I have managed to actually complete in a while that is a decent watch with nice costuming, good acting, and enjoyable comedic moments mixed with mostly likeable characters. This drama has elements that I truly enjoyed like the complex demon Zhu Yan that gets more interesting the more you learn about him as well as Zhuo Yichen and his stoic but righteous heart. These two characters definitely carried the show for me as well as the curiosity to uncover exactly why the antagonists made the choices they did. But there are some things that kept this from being a great drama.First let me ask why in the world these characters cry so much? Every single episode had multiple characters with tears in their eyes. There are so many ways to express empathy, sympathy, and sadness without needing to cry but because they were directed to have tears at every occasion it cheapened and lessened the emotional impact the truly big moments could have had on the viewer. It was so frequent that I began to wonder how many bottles of artificial tears this production went through by its completion because none of the scenes felt genuine. Seriously, how could you make these strong and incredible fighters that fight and kill demons regularly and have experienced intense and heartbreaking backstories cry at the drop of a hat?!
This production had a habit of dragging out these boring and insignificant moments but then glossing completely over seemingly important developments. For example we got several instances of these drawn out slow motion, multiple camera angles backing away at the end of winded monologues where they try to extent emotional responses to sad revelations but then major fight scenes would skip over any action and just show the end with bodies strewn about and the winner standing tall. They even condensed what seemed to be important moments that would have added gravitas but instead ended up making things feel too easy. Like when Wen Xiao spent 300 years alone growing a branch of a divine tree that they needed but she was in and out within two minutes of screen time. More expansion on this would have truly added weight to the idea that these ingredients they needed to save everyone were nearly impossible to get and were hard fought and won by our protagonists. Instead you are left feeling like it was so trivial. And many more instances like that happened where things were talked up to be so difficult but played out and appeared so easy lessening any impact those moments could have truly had.
Now lets talk about the action, when there is any, where the characters primarily stand and pose while the camera moves and pans in slow motion to get close ups of everyones faces. We get the occasional great movement shots where they are twisting and turning their bodies especially Pei when she fights but they primarily relied on CGI for fight scenes and they often did not last long with main characters very easily knocked down pretty quickly so we just get to watch their faces as they lay or crawl and watch the rest of the fight unfold. In truth this style of editing can be useful and pretty but it also was very repetitive and ultimately made me feel nothing. It did not help that the plot movement began to feel less and less logical as the story progressed. The first half of the drama was interesting and even pretty funny in places but then by episode 20 you see a decline in the story telling where the reasoning and choices began to not logically make sense and instead things were just happening to make the plot convenient and move the story forward. There were many instances where I often felt like I just skipped a scene because something was missing or instead of showing things in real time they chose to only give information in flashbacks or to try and confuse the viewer they would try to make some scenes misleading but that just ended up confusing the narrative.
This may sound like I did not enjoy the drama when in truth I did like it much more than most other CDrama's I have seen as of late but it still falls far below some other dramas that are very similar but have better pacing and more coherent plot movement.
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Will sweep you away
I binged this until far too late into the night because of how addicting this story was. A mini series that does not feel like one. Interesting plot with stellar production from the costumes, sets, and choreography for the fight scenes. I was gripped by the twists and turns and unable to stop watching until I finished it; and at around 10 minutes per episode in only took a few hours to complete.The story follows Yun Qi who accidentally comes into possession of a book called Book of Fate. She finds it silly and upsetting at first but as events begin to unfold exactly as was written she finds herself desperately trying to change her ill fate of being the wicked side character doomed to die horribly. There is a romance element to this story but it is a side plot to the main focus of her trying to beat her fate. The actress that portrays Yun Qi is phenomenal as she expresses the character's fight, despair, and cruelty.
Such an underrated and hidden gem of a story. Once you start the show you will find yourself completely swept into it. Highly recommend.
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When a show is made purely to capitalize on actors popularity and the plot doesn't matter
It actually pains me to see these actors in this poorly produced drama. This show premise has a lot going for it. Two brothers, Fadel and Bison, are hitmen due to their traumatic past leading them down a path of revenge and carnage but find themselves entangled with two persistent and magnetic men that begin to melt their cold exterior and make them wish for a different road. Kant, who meets Bison by chance during a one night stand, is forced into trying to expose the brothers in order to erase his own shady past to protect his younger brother. In his pursuit of Bison and evidence to damn him he enlists the help of his best friend Style to seduce Fadel and pave an easier open for Kant to sneak his way in. While not originally aware of who Fadel really is, Style pursues and wins over Fadel with his tenacious heart. But trouble brews when the brothers realize they have been played leading to a crossroads of how to handle their lovers as their anger and their heart are at war.With a strong idea and competent actors this series should have been a home run. Unfortunately this show fails to realize any of its potential. From the beginning it is hard to believe that Fadel and Bison are in fact professional hitmen. The pair are likeable and entertaining but the poorly planned and executed 'jobs' and the lack of backstory do not give them credibility as professional killers. Instead the show focuses only on the chemistry and relationship between the pairs without creating any true coherent plot line. It becomes solely about the 4 main leads love story using flimsy story arcs to move the story forward.
Shot with a very small cast this show appears as low budget often with the characters being the only four to appear on screen. Budget wasn't even afforded for enough extras in the hospital or public areas to make any of the story feel real. Sadly I do not recommend this show and suggest you use your valuable time on something else and wait for better projects from these actors.
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Spicy in all the right ways
I started this show not really knowing what to expect and that first scene was a huge surprise! Especially for a show from S. Korea. And as I watched the more I enjoyed this. It was tastefully done, oh man did the cinematography crew blow it out of the water, and had a well written and executed story. This is one of those shows you start on a whim and quickly realize it was something you did not know you needed.Definitely marketed more toward the female viewer this show follows two female lead best friends in their early thirties as they navigate sex, love, and relationships. One friend is anti-relationships and only wants sex partners while the other has been in a five year relationship but is wondering if it is giving her everything she needs. These woman feel real and their predicament will hit home for many other woman. The podcast that the show centers around where the woman work also brings in many very real feelings and stigmas surrounding sexual pleasure for women.
The show did a fantastic job of keeping you engrossed while also not making you feel like you are watching a XXX movie. If I had to complain about anything it is that the cast is too perfect, the men are all dreamy and everyone has the perfect body. But really is the eye candy that big of a complaint? It also in a way superficially explores relationship building here since the primary focus is finding pleasure for the women. This is not a long show so it was an easy watch.
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Did we watch the same thing?
I was reading other reviews after having finished this and am honestly wondering if I even watched the same thing as many of the other reviewers. I watched season one of Sweet Home a couple months ago so this show was newer to me than for those that watched it 3 years ago when it first came out, still I was excited when I saw a second season coming since the first left on a cliff hanger.The first season was not shy about killing people off and I was actually frustrated that almost all my favorite characters had died while the ones I did not like; the selfish and useless ones, were the ones that survived. All the trailers for this season had Hyun Soo as the focus so I expected to find him as the main focus. But he was not, nor were any of the other survivors from season one. The show honestly did not have a main focus at all, it started so many subplots and answered not one by its conclusion making this this season only a prequel for the next season which is utterly frustrating. Kdramas are rarely given second seasons let alone third seasons mostly because they are able to complete full stories in the typical 16 episodes. SO having a second season that did absolutely nothing for the show feels odd.
The acting here was fine and the actors did great with the script they were given but from episodes 4-8 I found myself fast forwarding through more than half the episodes out of boredom. They decided to focus on new characters which would have been fine had they picked a couple but they jumped and skipped to what felt like irrelevant characters that you never had any time to build any attachment for so their scenes were just boring. The only two characters that seemed to stand out from the new bunch were Chan Young and Chief Ji, as well as the psycho doctor. But again, there was the beginning of a subplot with no follow through or conclusion so all you are left with is confusion and questions. I suppose that is what they want so you will pick up the next season but it does not make for a good show.
My advice would be to wait and watch this with season 3 when it comes out and you might find this more appealing but if you watch it now you'll be frustrated and annoyed. Characters you were attached to from last season are either sidelined or killed in ridiculous ways, the monsters go from being interesting and unique to carbon copies of each other that look like blobs of cement, and there is a one year time jump and nothing is explained about that year. Just wait to watch this when they decide to give you an actual story and not this weird in between.
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solid and engaging first half with a muddled second half
This drama starts off very strong. The first episode was very well done and gives the two main characters a dramatic beginning that sucks you in to both their worlds leaving you wanting to see more. This costume drama delivers in so many ways with the production value, set and costume design, character growth, and plot movement. It gives you that small sprinkle of a fantasy element where the female lead has lived or dreamt of a life but then is able to change it by going back in time. While some circumstances can not be changed she finds that she herself can be. So she becomes strong, witty, and independent. Determined not to have to rely on a man and live a life where she has no choices of her own.The first half of this drama is very engaging with excellent pacing and movement of the plot. Character motivations make sense and interactions are enjoyable. Then comes the second half of the story. And this is when it begins to unravel. Too much screen time is given to side characters just for those characters to end up not impacting the plot much or at all. Several of those characters could have been completely removed from the drama and it would not have changed the movement of the story at all so giving so much screen time to them, and for those scenes to be boring on top of it, really was a miss. Everything also slowed down quite a bit. While the first half gave us quick wit and strong presence from the main pair the second half sidelines them to focus too much on side stories that do not hold the viewers interest.
By the last ten episodes I felt like I was forcing myself to just get through as I was increasingly less interested in how the drama ended. While the pieces of the plot do fit together for a coherent story, there are so many unrealistic choices made as well that detract. The OST was also unmemorable.
All in all I would say it is an okay watch but would probably recommend something better with similar storylines or aspects instead of recommending this particular drama.
Warning for slight spoilers below.
It was nice to see the change in the sister from the first life to the second and her still ending up with the same person due to fate pieces the two lives together nicely. However, once the story paid more attention to Dou Ming and Wei Ting Yu the pair become less relevant to the plot and the interactions wholly uninteresting. Such wasted screen time on these characters for them to do absolutely nothing and essentially mean absolutely nothing. Then you have Song Han and Miao Ansu where they have no chemistry and their relationship again really meant nothing to the plot. So all their screen time was wasted and just ends up exhausting the viewer. It was also very unrealistic to see the changes in Song Han whom they made go from a quiet, frightened, and easily manipulated boy to a ruthless and reckless villain. His entire involvement really could have been given to any other character and it would have had the same effect on the plot as they just needed another person aiming for the main couple for no real reason.
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a touch of something different but with incredible chemistry
Am I rating this a bit higher than it probably deserves purely because YinWar's chemistry is just so dang good? Why yes, yes I am. But to be honest the two of them are the only reason I tuned in to watch this show in the first place and their performance did not disappoint. Alone they each carried their characters with strong masculinity and incredible depth of emotions that brought the two men to life and made you as the viewer root for each individually. But man together, those two delivered so much magnetism where even scenes where they were fighting felt like flirting. The show is tailor made for them and their acting ability shines in these two roles that portray them in more mature characters than they have done in the past. The emotion they carry in their eyes and their ability to really make you feel what they are feeling. I am in love with these two actors and this show will be popular purely because of them.Now for the plot and other characters. The show begins really strong with the presentation of their respective backgrounds and initial meeting. The first episode is one of my absolute favorite among any shows I have seen. At the end of the first episode you see what led the two characters in the directions they went and are greeted 5 years later in the second episode where the remainder of the show takes place. Joke, who accidentally incriminated Jack after making a bank heist immediately sought to rectify his mistake by turning himself in. After five years in prison he comes out determined to make it up to Jack by apologizing in any way he can. Those five years have not been kind to Jack however and he is now a debt collector for the shady Boss of his home town where he must do things and behave in ways that goes against his character.
The explosive first meeting between these two after five years begins to crack at Jack's facade and cement Joke's determination to help bring back the gentle Jack he met many years before. This determination will lead Joke to another heist to try and free Jack from Boss. And this is where that saying "the best laid plans' comes in to play. Where no matter the effort there is bound to be problems.
The show makes an effort to highlight different aspects that you don't see in other dramas right now. The portrayal of extreme poverty and the toll it takes on people and community. How it snuffs out dreams and will undoubtedly lead to behaving in ways they may not have chosen if given any other option. Like Tattoo who despicably cheats his friends in order to get himself out of debt not once but twice. His desperation to leave his situation is seen in most the characters of their community. And then on the complete opposite side you have the Four Horsemen or the wealthiest families that lord over the common folk and treat them as pawns in games they invent. Their over the top behaviors showcase their complete lack of humanity because of their wealth and privilege. And then there is Boss who is the main antagonist in this story. Greed being his driving force that makes him lose touch with reality and continuously become more and more unhinged.
As an overview and understanding of what the writers wanted to portray I do get it but I also think that the show was not completely successful in actually doing that. Most the characters have no real character growth (with the exception being Rose who began to see her privilege through her interest in Jack and started to change as she was exposed to their world). Many of even the supporting characters also felt cartoonish and over the top making the heavy subject matter not hit as well as it could have such as Hoy and Lompran. These two characters were practically the same just on different sides. Hoy is the uneducated and dopey for the commoner side while Lompran is ridiculously overconfident and silly for the elites.
Slight spoilers below:
The plot holes also become very apparent the further you get into the drama and by episode 11 you are rolling your eyes a bit. While the show touches on serious subject matter it tries to do it lightheartedly with silly humor which felt forced and cheapened the story a bit. I think by removing some of the more ridiculous storylines towards the end then this would have been an absolutely brilliant drama. The harm of a child and the sidekick friend groups plans A through E were used as plot devices to create tension and then give comedic relief but both scenarios could have completed the goal if done differently. Exposure of Joke's betrayal by stealing again could have already created the division the plot wanted between the two main characters without Toi Ting and the sidekick scene could have been removed all together in lou of an actual well thought out plan from Jack or Joke with them instead that would have felt more realistic and flowed the story better. Boss's power play also felt very immature for a supposedly lucrative crime boss that had been at it for many years.
All those things aside I still enjoyed watching this show and applaud Yin and War on their performances and will probably rewatch many of their scenes throughout the drama. While there are plot holes and over the top storylines this is still a better drama than many others I have seen both from BL and from Thailand even with its low budget. Kudos to the whole production for that.
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