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Despite interesting set up and idol context, underwhelming
This drama focus on a defense attorney that find herselves defending her favorite idol accused of murder. I loved watching Kim Jae Yeong acting in this : he is super hot and credible in portraying the brutal downfall of an idol. I also enjoyed all the tidbits of idol life and fan experiences that were highlighted through the series. I even wish there would have been more of it because it was the most interesting part.Other than that, I felt the investigation was super empty, with everybody being dumb just for the sake of dragging the plot. The legal aspect was very minor making the trials feel very superficial. At the end the resolution felt half-backed with not much legal work but rather luck...Writing was poor overall with male lead making dumb choices and his touching moments were not enough to not feel just frustrating. The female lead was smarter but her dialogs were very uninspired. If I'm honest, I found the acting quite average for most of the cast. It is probably due to the scenario, but despite finding the male lead very hot and convincing for some scenes, the chemistry with the female lead felt limited for the romance.
The production value (directing, making, effects...) felt super cheap for a South Korean production and the soundtrack was also very mid...For a show set up in the context of idol, I expected much more, at least from the music.
I would not recommend this to people unless you are a fan of Kim Jae Yeong or another cast member. The legal aspect of the series is pretty poorly executed and the romance is also rather average. The series felt very slow with not much happening. The most interesting part of the series for me was the Entertainement industry set up but it was not exploited enough.
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Even adorable baby could not save this drama
This drama is an example of love triangle done wrong. The story was engaging in its first episodes, featuring two in-laws hating each other in a forced cohabitation to take care of their nephew. However, instead of focusting on this storyline, the script devolved into an insufferable love triangle that made the second male lead the central figure of the romance...When the heroine is going into more dates over the course of the series with someone who is NOT the hero, you know that it is a disaster for any kind of proper romantic build up.The cast was a mixed bag. The adorable kid (Park Yu Ho) playing the role of baby U Ju was an incredible casting choice. Bae In Hyuk, as the male lead, was quite good but Roh Jeong Eui was insufferable as the female lead. None of her scenes touched me, and I got more and more annoyed with the character with every episode passing. Not all the blame can be put on the actress though, as the script was really not doing any favor to her character. Park Seo Ham, as the second male lead, felt also pretty mid but once again, it might be more due to the writing (forcefully pushing this secondary role instead of the male lead) that made him unlikeable.
In addition to the big disappointment that was the overall story, the production value felt in overall pretty low, even if the camera did a good job capturing baby U Ju cute moments.
I would not recommend this to people as it very much did not succeed in terms of rom-com nor family drama. The heroine growth was non existent and the overwhelming presence of the second male lead did not leave enough room for the male lead to shine much. The baby the leads had to care for became less and less central part of the plot, leaving the viewer with nothing much too look forward. Overall what's started as a cliche / full of well know tropes but quite nostalgic watch remindering of older Kdrama, devolved into a frustrating watch.
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Production team must have been very happy to have that much content worth several reunion episodes
This sequel to Single's Inferno Season 5 feature a reunion of the cast members. Three episodes are typical reactions episodes with the cast being splitted into 3 groups according to what was their most relevant storylines. It also provides some answers to the aftermath of the main show. Are the "couples" formed on the island now together ? The remaining episodes features dinner and trip with part of the cast as a last get together, to wrap up the overall experience.Overall, it is very entertaining to watch. As somebody that truly enjoyed the Season 5, I'm very satisfied with the reunion episodes. If I totally expected / hoped the outcome for most of the couples highlighted, I had also so much fun watching the cast react to the episodes. It was cathartic, hilarious but also cringe and awkward, all in the best way.
I would recommend this to people that have enjoyed Season 5 of Single's Inferno. It does not revolution the genre of reunion episodes and the budget is pretty minimalist, but it is also very fun and enjoyable to get back in touch with the participants and to see where the various relationships stand. Some might be disappointed by the outcome, but it was not the case for me. With a bit more of innovation and budget, as well as better organization to make sure everyone of the cast can participate to the full process, it could have been even better.
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More a comedy with some sincere moments than a romance
This quirky rom-com (featuring an aspiring pâtissier possessed by a demon and a jobless guy) is much more focus on the comedy aspect than on the romance which is never very deepened.However, I did not mind at all that is was not really a romance. On the contrary, I liked that the writing put the focus on the demon / human relationship. The ending opened the doors to more and even if it felt a bit abrupt, overall it was a nice watch.
Yoona really did an excellent job showcasing diametrically different personalities while giving the male lead (played by Ahn Bo Hyun) full whiplash effect.
I would recommend this to people looking for a comedy with some heartfelt moments. The romance is really not the main aspect of the story but I think it is worth a shot as I found the storytelling around the fantasy elements super interesting with some very well made background regarding the curse.
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Tepid romance but great friendships and some compelling storylines
Far from a regular rom-com, this cozzy drama is foremost a slice-of-life ensemble series featuring quite tedious legal cases. If the romance felt very underwhelming, I was impressed by how they established and further developed the frienships and professional relationships. I also liked the approach taken regarding the different cases : rather than focusing on big thrills in court, they really showed the hefty background research work and preparation done to defend their clients. I loved the huge amount of time dedicated to watching the 5 lawyers eat delicious meals and speak about very mundane things.The acting was solid overall but the romantic chemistry felt lacking between Lee Jong Suk and Mun Ka Young. They also hold less interesting roles than Kang You Seok, Ryu Hye Young and Im Sung who each had very interesting and compelling storylines in comparison to them. Their romantic relationship definitely felt more like an afterthought than anything else.
The drama esthetics was also a very strong point and compelling aspect of the series. Like the storytelling, it was quite subdue all in sepia/greyish tones showcasing the dull and tiring office life while still having a lot of mouthwatering foods shoots and enjoyable bits of OST forming a cohesive picture.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a legal slice-of-life series. It never felt boring to me, but it is clearly a series that might not be for everyone given its anticlimactic pacing. If you want ultra dynamic trials or swoony romance, this will likely not be very satisfying and even feel pretty slow because the series takes its time. But if you enjoy relationships build up and characters growth, as well as heartfelt friendships, this could be worth a try.
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Got super boring : disappointing jiejie-didi romance
Unfortunately, I had some issues / things that interested me less with the way the series was written : the double timeline removed a big part of the angst and thrills from start...then it started to get boring to me even more until the last 6 episodes which I had trouble to finish.Best part of the serie was the set up, the beginning with them getting to know each other, the jiejie-didi relationship. However then I truly had issues with how the couple got together : it felt too fast paced and anticlimactic. Overall what I liked the most was when they were not yet in couple, so that's a bit a downer for a rom-com...there were also big pacing issues...We got so many fillers scenes/episodes towards the end.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better older woman - younger man romance out there.
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The swoony romance made me forgive a lot
The romance in this drama took me by surprise by how swoonworthy it was. The episodes 1 to 16 were simply amazing with some of the most butterflies inducing scenes I have seen in dramaland. I will definitely remember it for a long time. I must admit that the second part of the series was less good with some noble idiocy trope that I wish could have been avoided. However, even if this is one of my pet peeve, I had much more leniency for the main lead that I would usually have...Proof that I was completely smitten by He Yu. Indeed, I totally fell under the actor's charm.I am not sure that I would have loved as much the main lead as a character if he would have been played by a less charming actor, the role was reaĺly swoony but also kinda reckless and selfish, even when doing things to "protect" the heroine. He did understand stuff by the end and still was amazing in many romantics scenes but still, I know that I would have probably nitpicked much more usually. The combo of fighter / car racer / obsessed gege was definitely the winning combination to make me forgive everything.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a swoony romance and that do not mind noble idiocy.
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A family story around Tapei night market
This movie grabbed my attention thanks to its original storytelling and filmmaking as we follow 3 generation of women/girls from the same family : mother - sister - daughter, adult - young adult/teen - kid, it is fascinating to see their interactions as they are resetting their life in Tapei night market.The market (and Tapei) are characters in itself. The way the director is filming it, so buzzy with noise and people feels super real. There are a lot of interesting scenes where the camera put itself at the level of the 5 years old daughter navigating the bustling with life market that are truly immersive. It just feel real and raw at so many levels.
Acting was quite good with the young actress Nina Yeh making an excellent job as the adorable 5 year old daughter. Ma Shih Yuan and Janel Tsai complete the family in a very believable way. You feel the love, the rebellion, the fights and the disappointments in their relationships.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a familial movie which rather than leaning on the wholesome aspect goes into greyer sides of poor & women-only family.
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Lengthy but quite entertaining overall
Even if not produced by the same company, this survival show is clearly inspired by the various "Produce" show. There are a couple of twists but overall it is pretty similar in the way it dedicates a solid chunk of time on the participants and the relationships with each other around practices and challenges, as well as during the elimination announcements with extra "filler" content showing the guys playing games and interacting.The show started with a whooping amount of participants : 200 guys with a vast difference in terms of skills and training. The audition part was really fun and served to skim off half of the number, allowing the viewer to focus on a more manageable size of candidates. I really enjoyed the cas t : some participants were known to me from other survival show but I appreciated to see them under a new light, while some were totally fresh faces. I also liked a lot the coaches (again some I liked already from other shows), they felt all invested and committed to the program and providing advice to the participants without artificial meanness to foster drama. Lee Soo Hyuk, acting as the MC of the show, did also a solid job with his soulful voice and gravita while seeming genuinely interested in the young talents and creating a nice soothing atmosphere for the cast.
Despite all of those positives, pacing and episodes length could definitely be improved. The survival announcement episodes as well as the final arc leading to the finale, the finale in itself were ultra long ! Do we really needed a +4 hours finale ? I don't think so. Other than that, the first half of the survival was the best part with all of the teams "arrangements" formed for each missions but it could have been more innovative in the concept itself and the last part definitely copy-pasted the "Produce" way of doing it, letting the concept of "assembly" feel more like a gimmick than something truly influential. Contrary to some survival shows, the performances were good but not that memorable to me, with very few I would rewatch even if I did enjoy the overall show and the outcome of it.
I would recommend this to people that like survival shows. The participants are really likeable and the storytelling is good without too much artificial drama nor evil edit. It is a pretty lengthy show that require quite a bit of time commitment because of the duration of the episodes and just the sheer amount of candidates. If you are nostalgic of the "old school" Produce shows, you might definitely want to check it out.
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More episodes were needed to conclude properly
This dance survival show from Mnet features dancers specialized in either Contemporary Dance, Ballet or Korean traditional Dance, all three genres rarely showcased in that kind of competitive program.The beginning with the auditions and ranking of the participants, each showcasing specific techniques from their respective genre, was really enthralling. Even if I wish there would have been more focus on relationship and personnality, I still was able to discover enough of the participants to get some favorites dancers I rooted for during the competition and I found super interesting how the techniques were evaluated by the various judges.
Despite having a quite good cast with the dancers, the bad pacing of the various arcs of the competition, as well as the way the format evolved to reach a very anticlimactic conclusion, really undermined my enthusiasm for the series and made it difficult for me to want to finish it. The last challenges felt short compared to the beginning ones and I got almost the feeling that the show was cut short. Instead of spending so much time on survival annoucement, I wish the storytelling would have focus more on the relationships, team work and practice.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a dance survival program featuring rarely seen genres. Despite the bad pacing, boring announcement episodes and the anticlimactic finale, there are some beautiful performances that are worth a watch.
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Twisted family, twisted relationships
This short movie managed to do a lot over the course of 21 minutes. The story in itself was intriguing with the "eleventh" brother of a really dysfonctional family. I think there is enough content in this interesting premise to make a full fleshed series or movie about it. There is for sure definitely a part of me that wish it would have been longer, even if I like the grey area and the flow of thoughts the ending left me with.Casting was alright, nothing outstanding if I'm honest but nothing too detrimental to the story itself as well. The production felt of course super indie and the music did not leave me a strong lasting impression as it was pretty much absent from the movie.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy short movie and psychological titles. Far from being a classic BL romance, it is more about mystery and dysfunctional family and worth 21 minutes of time despite its flaws.
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Gripping intro, felt repetitive and flat halfway through
After a compelling introduction and exciting first arc, the series fell apart. Scenario started to feel more and more repetitive, plot armor more annoying, dynamics between good guys and bad guys shifted but in a way that felt uncompelling and not deserved. Overall the drama got draggy and felt lacking. I'm left to wonder if the series could have been better under a 8 episodes format, with a tighter scenario.Throughout the series, the most interesting character was An Yo Han, played by D.O with his insane relationship with his governess played by Jo Yoon Soo. The dynamic between both characters would have deserved more screentime. Overall, casting was good and Ji Chang Wook did a great job as this hero seeking revenge and having great fight scenes. It is clearly in his wheelhouse and he nailed it. D.O. also raise to the occasion and performed incredibly well and in a chilling manner his machiavelic role.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a revenge action thriller. The beginning is amazing and if I am disappointed by how the second half went through, I feel if you are a fan of Ji Chang Wook and/or D.O, it is worth a shot to watch their performances.
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Cute but...not really memorable
I quite enjoyed this movie which features high-schoolers in the 90's navigating friendship and romance. The overall vibe is vibrant and fun, with the heroine being a very lovable character. If I enjoyed the period era in which the movie is set up, I had trouble believing in the heroine "ugly duck" problem with her hair as she was just peak adorable.Acting was good with Shin Eun Soo shining in her female lead role but unfortunately, I felt that the main male lead role was miscast. Gong Myung acting was alright but clearly I could not buy him as a high school student, even one repeating a year. That gap between the cast and the story was a bit an hinderance in my appreciation of the romance, even if there were a lot of sweet moments.
I would recommend this to people looking for a sweet 90's youth rom-com. It is not very deep for sure and it did not leave me with a strong lasting impression but I had a good time watching it despite thinking the main lead was a bit of a miscast.
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Same flaws as part 1 but worse because of the liberties taken with the source material
If part one was disappointing, part 2 was worse. There were some differences with the source material that really further impacted negatively the overall interest of the story.I was glad they avoided the childhood connection trope but truly disappointed at how they handled the Sun Ho (aka Kanda Shun) and Seo Joon (aka Igarashi Yu) storyline. The band twist did not work as well as what happened to their bandmate. It dramatically reduced the stakes of their relationship, and I would truly have preferred they went the idol road, like in the source material.
There were other poor scenaristic choices : all the storyline around Kanda Shun mother did not work, especially because of the clunky acting of Watanabe Keisuke who had chemistry with no one, making neither the romance nor the bromance work nor the painful family aspect. The way they concluded the romance was also a mistake in my opinion...The many writing issues, combined with poor acting and mediocre chemistry, really made the second part of this adaptation annoying to watch.
I would not recommend this to people as I don't like how they dumbed down the plot...Not saying that the source material was without flaw but I think it was an error to adjust the background stories of the male lead and the second male lead. Unfortunately, the heroine felt so bland that I struggle to find anything worth mentionning regarding the character. To be transparent, I am influenced by what I know from the original material and from the South Korean drama, if you haven't seen / read it, maybe you will appreciate it more than I, without the disappointment factor.
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Detchiage: Satsujin Kyoshi to Yobareta Otoko
1 people found this review helpful
Memorable and gut-wrenching story with an interesting structure
This movie took me on a wild ride : I felt physically sick at some point because of the events unfolding on screen. The fact that the story is based on real life events is just heartbreaking and the social criticism raised by it is really worth a watch. It left me with a very profound and resounding impression.The unreliable narrator angle took by the film is very interesting in itself and has a clear shock factor. I wish a longer epilogue would have exploited it even more, especially to get more details on the outcome of the story. I also wish a third view would have been set up to define even better the media role : the part of Kamenashi Kazuya could have been developed more, even if in itself it did a solid job showing the brutal impact of media targeting. A better pacing and and a longer epilogue showing the various sides would have been perfect to round up the movie.
The acting was excellent : Ayano Go as well Shibasaki Ko who hold central roles, were both scary and painfully touching depending the angle you were looking at the story. Miura Kira played incredibly well his traumatic part and overall, I hope to see him grow into an amazing career, as kid role can sometimes make or break a movie, and here it was really well acted.
The production value was pretty good: very grey and anxiety-provoking...With images that are leaving me with lasting torturous feelings.
I would strongly recommend this to people looking for a crime thriller with a very interesting point of view. The movie can be pretty triggering so you might want to have a look at the tags. However, I feel the best way to enjoy this movie is to go in blind, not knowing what it is about. I had no clue what the story was about and it really impacted my watching experience in a positive way as I was dumbfounded and grasping with a lot of feelings.
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