How to escape toxicity and self-loathing in the midst of (b)romance

This very short BL series brought me a lot of conflicting feelings. I really enjoyed the ending of the story as it showcased the growth of both main characters. Some steps were taken towards less toxicity and self-loathing overall and that's clearly a win in my book as I was really afraid of a conclusion lacking nuance and realism.

On another side, I kind of wish the series would have been longer because even if the point of the scenario is very clear, the fundamentals of the relationship are a bit brushed off. There are a lot of elements that felt rushed and the storytelling definitely was more about a bromance than a romance to me. I indeed think that to go into a more romantic territory, the chemistry would have needed to be bigger and the scenario did not really provide a lot of opportunities for the actors to get there.

I love the opening generic of the series: the drawing effect in addition to the song was a winning combination. Overall, the production value was okay. The budget was not there but it had a strong indie feeling perfectly fitting for the drama.

I would recommend this to people looking for a more serious BL story. Rather than being about a romance, it is more a bromance to me and what makes it really worth it is its realistic and nuanced ending. I wish there had been more time to develop the romance but I appreciated the overall take of the scenario regarding the evolution of the characters.

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A beautiful journey to heal yourself thanks to music, brotherhood and 1990's vibe

This youth drama with a fantasy twist and set mainly in 1995 provides a great nostalgia throwback feeling as you follow a group of high schoolers starting a band together. The drama approaches in a wholesome way profound topics about friendship, family, as well as differences and disabilities that overall resonated well with me as the characters grow and learn. Though both romances were pretty cute, it is the brotherhood within the band and especially the father-son relationship that really got me invested.

In terms of storytelling, I truly enjoyed the set up and introduction. However, I cannot help to think that the conclusion would have deserved more time to reap properly all the rewards of the set-up done in the show. I was expecting the way it ended, there was a lot of satisfying emotional payoff but it could have gone deeper on the aftermath for all the characters following one of the major event happening in the last episode as well as regarding the evolution of the main protagonists and their relationships (especially regarding the female leads where it felt a bit short).

Overall, the quatuor of main characters work very well together, and I am pretty satisfied by the performances of the ensemble cast (especially for some of the more secondary characters). Choi Hyun Wook delivers a consistent and reliable performance in the role of the frontman of the band. I loved him in Weak Hero Class 1 and I love him as well here. The only little flaw I see is that his character tends to be very shouty. I think it is both bound to the role as well as to some of the directing. It is not at all detrimental to the story but it prevents some range in the acting as the character is always at 100%. Despite this, he (and his character) was clearly my favorite part of the show.

The filmmaking is pretty great with a colourful and boyish atmosphere perfectly fitting for the scenario. I love the soundtrack with its "older indie rock" feels. Every song done by the band is super catchy and the musical scenes each time delighted me.

I would recommend this to people looking for a very solid youth drama set in the 1990's. If you enjoyed movies like "Back to the Future" and dramas such as the "Reply" series, you will for sure immensely enjoy it! If you are a fan of musical genre shows, this one is also clearly made for you. I personnally really loved it despite some issues with the pacing of the script and the way I would have liked a bit more development on some elements, especially towards the ending.

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Too bad the storytelling around the stakes and the editing hindered my enjoyement

I was quite disappointed by this action movie. More specifically because the most interesting aspect of the plot (with the submarine scenes, all involving a deep and gutwrenching psychological aspect) is only coming up past the 2/3 of the movie. I'm left to wonder if I would not have appreciated much more the film if it had been edited in another way around rather than creating a false suspense regarding the identity of the antagonist.

The performance of the casting was overall good but not stellar. At the end, surprisingly enough, it is two of the guest roles (played by Cha Eun Woo and Lee Min Ki) that grabbed the most my attention. I wish that Lee Jong Suk would have been given a bit more room to shine and do more in terms of dialog as well as characterization. Once again, maybe a different edit of the story would have allowed to have much more powerful stakes for the story.

Regarding the production value, it was pretty good. There are some rather thrilling action sequences and good ideas in terms of directing. There are a lof of variety in the dangerous situations faced by the main protagonists. The soundtrack is quite absent from the movie, not that memorable but there is a pretty sorrowful that I enjoyed during the ending generic.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people as I did not particularily enjoyed my watch. My main issue with the film is coming from the scenario and the way the story is building up the characters. I did not manage to engage with the main roles and in an action movie, rooting for the good guys and understanding from where they are coming from is critical to really get me invested and care about the story. Here, I started to care much too late and felt that the 2/3 of the movie was not as exciting as I would have wished.

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Loved the intention of the story, the main actors chemistry...A bit too short to conclude solidly

A bitter sweet BL story where two former high school lovers meet again in their thirties after breaking up in quite ambiguous circumstances. I truly enjoyed the intention behind the script: to go the nostalgia and bitterness of young love to the passion and uncertainty of love at adulthood.

Given the short duration of the series, I felt the scenario managed to accomplish a lot in the development of the relationship, at least until its last episode where I felt the resolution of the external conflict a bit too easy. I would have prefer they kept the issue and evolution mainly internal to the couple because there were clearly not enough time to conclude properly on what felt as a last minute external obstacle.

I liked a lot the two main actors as well as their younger selfs counterparts. I found both iterations of the couple had great and palpable chemistry. The secondary roles were less convincing to me, they were either transparent (e.g. the office coworkers) or too caricatural (e.g. the "antagonists/rivals").

I enjoyed the original soundtrack, it was very slice-of-life, not that original but very pleasant and completely fitting the story. The production was quite standard for the genre with not a lot of variety in the sets and decors. There was obviously not that much budget but it was not detrimental to the storytelling.

I would recommend this to people looking for an adult BL story, which manage to bring together an innocent youth love with a mature romance when they reunite. It is a bit of shame that the last conflict and the conclusion are less solid than the introduction and middle part of the series but it is overall a very enjoyable watch.

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Uninspired BL movie: banal story + bad acting

This BL movie depicts a quite banal romance. It had some cute moments but honestly I could not get behind the romance. I felt no chemistry and I really think the way they set up the romantic elements make it difficult to support it. Too much "destiny" stuff preventing any real character development. Destiny is pushing them together (-at least we are told so) but there is not much else there to show why they would develop mutual romantic feelings. It feel very surface level despite the fact that the film address some concern faced by the protagonists regarding their sexuality and their acceptance within society.

Unfortunately, the actors skills are pretty weak. Most of the dialogs felt super flat though strangely enough, there are also so many over-the-top and overacting moments. I cringed at so many scenes, which I am pretty sure was really not the purpose.

The production value was overall ok, it felt like your standard / middle-of-the-road high school series. The saving grace of the movie was a couple of songs sang by one of the main character. It was nice without being very remarkable.

I would not recommend this to people as there are much better BL highschool romance out there. It is only the second production from Philippines I watch and I must say that so far, I'm not convinced about what I have seen. I still want to discover more from this country because I think I might just be not lucky so far with my picks.

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Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji stole a place in my heart ~~~

The story is beautifully built. Each of the narrative arc is interesting not only for the storylines but as well because they participate so much to characters development. There are a lot of clues spreaded through the script that results in highly satisfying payoff. The characters are very well written: they remain consistent during the whole saga and their motivations and actions make sense, which given the length of the show is quite an achievement in itself. The pace of the series was very good, you feel immediately compelled to watch the next episode. There might have been a bit of overexplanation scenes toward the end (it can feel slighlty repetitive, especially if you guessed some of the revelations like I did)...But at the same time the ending offers so many rewarding and great moments for the viewer that I was really happy with it.

The acting was really good. Especially regarding the actors playing the central protagonists: Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji. Wei Wu Xian was my favorite character and Xiao Zhan portrayed him with a lot of charm, candor and charisma...The variety in his acting game really seduced me. Wang Yi Bo who portrayed Lan Wang Ji had a difficult job as his character is very cold/reserved but he managed to do a lot in terms of micro-expression and you can see the evolution of his character as the series progresses. The secondary cast was also very convicing in incarnating the support roles (such asJiang Cheng, Jiang Lan Yi, Wen Ning...so many interesting parts who shined through with amazing and emotional scenes.) Overall, the ensemble cast was very good with maybe some weaklinks on a few very secondary roles.

The production value was good but lacked in some way. I'm probably nipicking because I loved this series very much but I truly wish they had a bigger budget for some scenes (the battles ones), the fights in small numbers were good and special effect were okay in overall. But clearly there were some obvious limitation when showing scenes in an impactful / big picture way, the grandiosity was not there (or at least not as much as I feel the story deserved). I wish the special effect make up would have been much better because it was frankly not good. The music was lovely: mainly the musical themes, as some of the characters plays instruments to fight, the soundtrack theme was of utmost importance. It was very nice and pretty.

I would strongly recommend this to people looking for an historical saga splendidly built, with amazing characters and relationship developments as well as some great acting. It is an adaptation of a Chinese BL novel (which I have not read -yet) and despite the censorship in China regarding those, they manage quite successfully to make the viewer understand the subtext behind some of the relationships.

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Lack a point of view, too middle-of-the-road screenwriting making it rather bland despite the topic

This movie is kind of an adaptation of Cinderella fairy's tale but involving Little Riding Hood and centred around the resolution of a crime mystery...I unfortunately did not enjoy this film but it might be just a case of "it's me...not you".

In terms of fairy tales adapations, I think it is lacking a strong point of view. It is sweet but not much else. I wish they went darker but the scenario went for a middle-of-the-road tone that I found a bit boring. There are too much comedy / overacting to take anything seriously, so the ending with the "life lesson" felt totally flat to me. At the same time, they are adding grim touches with the crime itself and some of the elements relating to the characters, but it is done superficially and it never get even midly frightening...

I was not impressed by the acting but the production value was alright. Special effects were overall well executed and costumes were really pretty. The music was not memorable at all but fitted well with the movie.

I would not recommend this movie if you are looking for a darker take on fairy tales. It is really a matter of taste and expectations. Personally, I enjoy a lot Kaori Yuki mangas where she often revisit in a very dark and grim way various fairy tales...I would have wished the movie to take a similar approach. Here, it is more a family movie with a mystery for which I found the resolution pretty clumsy as well.

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Despite its short length, this series still felt like a loss of time...

This short length series (26 episodes for a total duration of 3h42 minutes) follows the relationship between Yan Zhen (acting as CEO of the company instead of her husband who mysteriously disappeared while trying to invesigate some corporate issue) and Chu Ze An, the twin of her lost spouse. Does it sound bonker but interesting with a lot of soap elements ? Yes. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my time watching this series, the writer chose the safest and blankest way to develop the plot.

I wish they went crazy with it but sadly enough, it remained all along very timid and safe...In addition to that, none of the choices made by the characters made a lot of sense...All their issues could have been resolved much more efficiently, the scenario makes a point to tell us how smart they are, but honestly their actions are dumb most of the time...I must admit that the heroine is the smartest of them all, so it alleviated a bit my frustration with the scenario.

The acting was very bad. There were so many "WTF" moments where the actors almost did not react...I did not feel the chemistry between the leads and separately they were not able to carry any of the dramatic moments. I know they were not helped at all by the writing but I wish they would have at least made some minimal effort to emote any kind of believable emotions...They were really generic all along the series. The secondary roles were not portrayed in a more inspired way and the actors playing them had also what felt as limited acting chops.

The production value was average at best, which I expected given the short lenght series format. The soundtrack was pretty nice, a bit repetitive and overpowering given the length of the episodes but overall probably the best part of the series.

I would not recommend this to people as there are much better dramas out there. Even if you are looking for some soap, brainless series to just entertain yourself, there are for sure more fun and better things to watch. It felt like a loss of time, the story was really uninspired, boring and overall badly acted.

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Despite frustrating ending + writing flaws, worth it for the butterflies that the romance provides!

I have watched the previous chinese adaptation "Addicted" of the novel and was curious to see the newest adaptation and how the director and screenwriter will be able to build up this BL relationship while meeting the censorship criteria. Fortunately enough, I think they did a very good job regarding the development of the relationship.

They choose to develop the story in a less toxic way. I liked how toxic it was in the previous adaptation, but here they made it something else and it is as interesting and much more wholesome and candid. They managed to handle the censorship very well: the relationship between the two guys is clearly romantic and with a lot of chemistry despite not being able to show much. Everything is in the subtext, which I really enjoyed.

The downside of the story resides in the last third of the series with a not very inspired resolution to some of the familial conflicts as well as an abrupt ending that felt very much open and which was to me super frustrating. It seems that once again an adaptation of the novel is stopped in the middle of a narrative arc. A season 2 would be more than welcome to conclude better the series but sadly enough, I don't think anything is planned in that respect.

The two actors casted as main leads were really good. They had a great chemistry together and I totally believed in their characters' strong feelings for each other. They managed to convey so much with just their eyes, the looks they were throwing to each other as well as each of their very innocent touching. That's impressive to express so much with so little skinship: every little hints they gave regarding their affections and even more felt like a precious gift to the viewer. The secondary cast was more of a mixed bag in terms of performances.

I enjoyed the production value of this drama. There were a lot of very pretty and memorables scenes between the leads showcasing very well sweet moments between them. I also enjoyed the soundtrack: I liked less the opening song but the other three songs were very solid and such a vibe fitting the romance very well.

I would recommend this to people looking for a Youth BL that really put the focus on developping in a wholesome and believable way the relationship between its main leads. The scenario might be a bit wonky at time as well as the actions of some of the side characters but the main relationships (as well as the two actors acting as leads) is really worth the time invested. Be aware that the ending might be frustrating, but the journey of the romance really offset this point to my eyes.

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Disappointing, tries to do too much in too little time / do not convey a convincing BL story

This BL drama is centred around the encounter of Toki, delinquent highschooler and Sahara, his homeroom teacher for which he develops a one-sided love...The premise of the series was super interesting and there were quite a few good ideas in terms of characters background and even regarding a storyline for secondary characters that was super promising (another rather taboo romance that went regrettably nowwhere).

Unfortunately, the overall scenario is a deception at several levels. First, they really embraced a comedical tone for the first part of the drama instead of really deep-diving into the more taboo aspects of the various relationships...The writing and directing wanted to keep things light and relatively surface level which is clearly not the direction I wanted the show to take. Secondly, the series tried to do too much in too little time. We get a lot of background story on some side characters or on the past but in fact it is to the detriment of the build up of the relationship of the main couple.

I was utterly unconvinced by the relationship between both main male leads. They had no romantic chemistry. Separately they were a bit better (especially Hachimura Rintaro who managed to make his character rather endearing when he could have been very annoying) but sadly it was very difficult to feel engaged into their relationship...The others actors playing secondary roles were quite okay overall, nothing really remarkable but nothing bad neither.

The production value was rather poor, you can feel the limits in the budget with the repetition of the sets and decors, as well as the limits in the directing (fight scenes were just cringe). The music was forgettable but I enjoyed listening to the opening and ending generic.

I would not recommend this to people as there are better school BL out there. This series had some really nice tropes but completly failed to exploit them. I wish they would take the two same storylines (teacher/ student as well as the other side romance) and make it very gritty and dark...I wish they focus solely on those two relationships and give them enough room to develop and be believable. Anyway, too many wishes...It could have been really special but was rather plain instead.

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Societal critic supported by a strong cast and impressive storytelling: very deep and impactful!

A beautiful movie very impactful and that made a deep impression on me upon watching. The scenario is one of the strong point of the movie: it almost felt like a theatre play in several acts. Every question find an answer, every element showcased at one point of the script has an importance for the rest of the story... The film approaches some very important societal topics and provide a sound critic of Japanese society without being preachy and with a lot of subtlety.

The cast is really great: the characters are multi-faceted and the actors and actresses manage to provide plenty of nuances to their roles. There are a lot of angsty and emotional moments that are played with expertise for the adults parts and candor for the children parts.

The production value is good, I loved some of the decors as well as the editing which really enhanced the various storylines intertwined with each other. The soundtrack was not overly present but there are some critical scenes involving music with a very interesting set up.

I would strongly recommend this movie to people looking for a film providing a critic of Japanese society, discussing important topics and very well acted. The ending made a very strong impression on me...I will not spoil it but the message behind it really moved me deeply. There are some triggering aspects to the movie but it is not too graphic, a lot happens in subtext and is understood as the story unfolds itself. If you are looking for some fluff or slice-of-life movie, it is not the film for you. But if you are ready for some great and poignant storytelling, give it a shot!

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Solid drama with great acting: some of the incarnations stole the show !

Death's game is a series about a man who decides to kill himself and is therefore forced to play an horrific game with Death herself (or at least a personnified version of it) as a punishment for insulting her while committing suicide. He will be reincarnated in several individuals facing imminent death circumstances and needs to find a way to survive in order to win the game imposed on him.

The idea of the series as well as the visuals and production value are really great. You are totally immersed in the drama and it is super interesting to follow. The soundtrack is not overly present but I enjoyed a lot the songs ending each of the episodes.

The cast is fabulous. The incarnations are played by good and different actors, each bringing his own touch and nuances to the role with their characters' own unique background. So far, my favorites stories were the ones of the 3rd, 5th and 7th incarnations. And the most traumatic for me was the 6th one...I really was impressed by the way the stories are somewhat interconnecting within each other, making the bigger picture more and more intriguing.

The series is not totally without flaws. I personnally do not like as much the parts that are set in the limbo with the main male lead and Death chatting and bickering. Those parts are critical for the set up of the story, as well as to see the evolution of the main character as he goes through failures...But I think they are missing something to make it as captivating than the incarnations scenes. I would have loved also to be more invested in the romance side of the story but the ending of Part 1 improved on that.

I would recommend this series to people that are looking for a thriller with a fantasy twist. Given the topic, this drama can be very triggering and is super violent. There are some elements I wish would be better developped but it is overall a very solid show which manage in only four episodes to keep you on your toes...It is never easy to review a series at the halfway mark, I hope the second part will successfully manage its landing because Part 1 raised my expectations.

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Painful to watch, I had moderate expectations and was still very disappointed and annoyed

This BL series is a sequel of Bed Friend but focusing on the side character of "Jade" and his romance with his new intern "Mai". Unfortunately it was super disappointing, Bed Friend was full of flaws but rather entertaining. But here it is really catastrophic, I was pretty annoyed during my watch.

The biggest issue with the drama is coming from the shift in tone vs its parent series. The director has chosen to make The Middleman's love a really over-the-top comedy. The story feel simply empty and the main character "Jade" is written as very dumb and not likeable at all. The character just does not feel like a real human but rather a caricature.

I was really not impressed by the acting of Yim... In the role of Jade, he is overacting a lot and screaming most of the time, making his character properly insufferable...To his defense, he was not as bad in other dramas I saw him playing side characters in (even when playing the exact same one in the prequel of this), so a lot of it might have to do with the director choice. To be honest, I'm not sure if another actor would have done a better job given the material to play and the overall tone of the series for which the director seemed to want to go for. The other characters felt a bit transparent compared to him and are not interesting. The main couple of Bed Friend has almost nothing in the scenario to play with, which makes them unfortunately kind of purposeless.

The series remain very platonic with almost no advancement for the main relationship during almost 7 episodes. The two main male leads are just running in circle...There are some hot scenes in the last episode but even though they were well filmed and that the chemistry between the actors Yim and Tutor is pretty good, I did not manage to be invested and believe in it. It did not feel organic or in line with the characterization done so far...

I would not recommend this to people as there are much much better BL series out there. Unless you really like one of the actor and/or over-the-top comedy as well as you do not mind overacting, I would suggest to do yourself a favor and avoid this at all cost.

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Incredible side characters & secondary romance that stole the show to the detriment of main couple

This BL drama is about the encounter of emotionnaly closed-off almost 40 years old Jim (the owner of a Hainanese chicken rice diner) and charming late twenties Wen. There are multiple storylines as the drama follows the evolution of their relationship as well as the ones of their entourage.

I had some issues with the pacing of the scenario as well as the distribution of the scenes between the various relationships. I truly enjoyed most of the secondary stories but it was to the detriment of the main relationship of Jim and Wen. I love the ensemble cast but clearly some of the secondary storylines interested me more than the main one. I particularly liked the Li Ming and Heart story: they kinda stole the show for me. I also found myself caring a lot about some other sides characters: Kaipa, Alan and Saleng...much more than the main couple.

Regarding the main relationship, Mix managed to make Wen a likeable and endearing character. He is beautiful and sincere that you can completly understand why the other male main lead would fall for him despite his messy arc. The opposite was less true to me. Jim is a hardworker with seemingly good intentions but he is really closed off and has big walls (for good reasons). However, it is really difficult to root for him and to understand why Wen is so smitten by him. I wonder if the script would have given more room to them, it would have made a difference in making the growth of the relationship more romantic. Here, it felt that the relationship was working thanks to Wen hard work, in a rather unilateral and sometimes frustrating way.

The whole cast did a good job. Khaotung is once again very impressive and full of nuances: even in a side role, he made me care so much. Some of his scenes are gut-wrenching and I know that it is thanks to his great skills that the emotions flowed through so well. I also found First amazing in a very different and difficult role : he carried it very well given the context of his narrative arc. Fourth and Gemini chemistry continue to be really excellent, they had the best romance.

I liked a lot Mix performance but I wish that Earth would have been more charismatic in the role of Jim. He was not helped by the script but still, he was clearly the weakling in terms of acting skills among the main cast. I also wished that the age gap thing would have been better adressed. Here, it was a bit strange as Earth does not seem to have a 10 years age gap with Mix (in real life, they are only 4 years apart and are both still in their twenties)...Earth's character is supposed to be going on forty but sometimes his character talks like he is 70+ years old and that any change is impossible like he is at the end of the road...This creates clearly a disconnection in the story because you really need to suspend your disbelief when you look at Earth attempting to play that part...

I loved the cinematography despite some editing hiccups between scenes...Sometimes, there are jarring cuts in the music when switching from one scenes to another...The soundtrack is rather average outside of the generic which is very nice because of the song as well as the images displayed with it.

I would recommend this to people looking for a more slice-of-life BL with nuanced storylines and very good ensemble cast. The cinematography is good despite some editing hiccups and there are some really memorable scenes in terms of acting and stakes. The pacing could have been better and the main romance is a bit lacking story-wise (especially compared to the other storylines) but the series has enough qualities despite its flaws to be worthwile.

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Found family and friendship matter far more than blood ties, series brought up a lot of emotions

This is simply a great family drama. A story where found family and friendship matter far more than blood ties. I loved-to-bits the relationship between the three youngsters as they grow up, between themselves and with their father figure. The various arcs of the series were well-built and developped, with maybe a less inspired last act which could have been better balanced than a succession of misfortunes.

I loved the main characters and the actors and actress really brought likeability into their roles. They had a good chemistry together and you felt the change and shift in their relationships over time. It was very pure and satifsfying with a lot of looks and attentions from both boys toward the girl. The cast playing the older generation did also a good job, I really disliked some of their characters which mean they did a good job portraying them. The "villain(s)" of the series are really ennemies you hate, I could not manage to gather an ounce of sympathy for them as they were (or at least one of the "antagonist") unredeamable in my eyes and not worth of any redemption. Some of the secondary roles were more averagely played but it was ok in overall.

I enjoyed a lot the production value. There are a lot of cooking scenes that are very appealing as well as some striking and memorable moments for many of the relationships. The OST is beautiful: it is sad and nostalgic but very pretty at the same time, it is tugging your heart strings. The opening and ending generics are great and unskippable but you really need to listen to it without watching the images in order to avoid spoiling yourself (which I managed to avoid fortunately).

I would recommend this to people looking for a great family drama. There are quite a lot of characters and they take their time to develop each of them. It is a very satisfying watch which can brought a lot of emotions. The ending was a bit tiring in terms of scenario for the last arc and a bit too quick at the same time. I would have loved a smoother landing but I was not disappointed in any case.

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