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A gut-wrenching youth drama! The "Weak Hero" trope done right!
An excellent drama carried by brilliant actors with such a good and realistic acting. The story is portraying the strong friendship between young people confronted with the violence of the world around them...whether at school or in their entourage.The episodes are short (about 40 minutes) and fast-paced; and yet at the heart of the action are more contemplative moments, full of sincerity with a sensitive OST giving an almost "old-school" feel. The brutal scenes are filmed skilfully and seamlessly, the strong images leave an impression of discomfort, the story is simply gut-wrenching: be prepared for a turmoil of emotions!
The trope of the hero who gets his ass kicked, the narrative of the weak who confronts the bullies, and who gets up to face adversity are here highlighted in a masterful and credible way. The spectator can only tense up in the face of certain situations and fears (often rightly) for the safety of the protagonists. The uncertainty regarding the survival of these characters to whom the viewer has become attached is one of the greatest strength of this show.
I would recommend this to people who like to read GTO or The breaker, love well-built youth drama and that are not triggered by topics such as bullying, domestic abuse and scenes of exacerbated violence.
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Cute behind the scenes, with a fair share of fan service
This SP is a compilation of various behind-the-scenes of the series Revenged Love.I do wish it was more complete and encompassing the entirety of the show, however it seems to focus mainly on the first half of the drama. Hopefully, the production release more of those snipbit of the shooting process but I would not hold my breath for it as the drama suffered during its run of a lot of external pressures.
That being said, those BTS truly showcase the strong chemistry of the cast as well as how fun it was for them to film some of the scenes. I would strongly recommend this to people that have enjoyed the drama and are curious about the making.
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A feast for the eyes, epic tale not without flaws but worth it for the journey it will take you on
I was expecting a lot from this Chinese Wuxia drama : the fact that Tian Jia Rui had one of the main role in a series directed and written by the very talented director Edward Guo really hyped me. Overall, it successfully managed to keep up with my high expectations and likely set the bar super high for any other future Chinese wuxia drama I would watch.I loved the story thematic with the narration focusing a lot on the concept of dream and reality, it was truly an epic tale supported by an impressive production value. In the middle of a lot of action, mystery and investigation, the heart of the story is foremost about companionship and found family, as well as different kind of love. The evolution of the relationships between the characters (especially between the two main male leads but also with some of the secondary roles) was probably my favorite part of the show.
The costumes and the cinematography were impeccable. A real feast for the eyes, with a lot of details and superbly impactful. Every set felt so real, rich and purposeful with a minutiae that I rarely encountered. You can really feel the director vision and specific touch when watching the drama and that's something that completely fascinated me.
The acting was another strong point : the cast was pretty good with a great dynamic with each other. This for that matter can be witnessed in the ending generic of episodes which consists of them dancing together on a choreography on one of the main song of the drama. I was once again super impressed by Tian Jia Rui : he got even better than in "My Journey To You" despite the challenges inherent to his role, from "Didi to Gege", very different from his debut one. I got very attached to the main characters (and even some of the more minor ones) and it is a proof of the overall good performances of the ensemble cast. In addition to Tian Jia Rui, I will keep an eye on the future work of Neo Hou and Yan An. The acting of this trio was on point, together or separately in addition to be such eye-candy.
Of course, the series is not without flaws. I wish the lore and powers were more consistent and that there had been less magical objects conveniently appearing for the sake of the plot. I also found the shift in tones a bit jarring: especially in the introduction arc, there is some over-the-top humor that felt a bit flat and strange in the middle of the angsty parts. It fortunately got smoother and more balanced as the story unfolded. The script also took time to set up the stakes, with some situations and storylines being a bit repetitive in the first part of the series.
Other than that, some of the fight sequences lacked of rhythm and dynamism: they were all beautiful but sometimes to the detriment of the pacing (or even the logic) of the conflicts. Editing could also have been better regarding transition between scenes or even between episodes. The OST was quite good (with maybe one of the song being overused) but music was a bit abruptly inserted into some sequences. I'm pointing it out because all the remaining of the production was so flawless that those minor flaws were even more striking.
I would recommend this to people looking for a Chinese Wuxia drama with a super strong cinematographic vision and high production value, good acting and gripping story featuring different kind of love. Shift in tone was a bit unbalanced at first and introduction arc could have been better paced, but once the set up of the relationships between the characters is done, you are in for a captivating journey that will tug at your heartstrings.
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Way too predictable mystery, same flaws as the series but beautiful context + location
The story is centred around a singular mystery and I appreciate the fact that there was enough content in terms of plot for a full length movie. I also really enjoyed the context and location in which the characters are evolving.However, I anticipated all the revelations of the scenario, nothing came as a surprise and the resolution of the mystery was super expected from the get go, which tempered heavily my enjoyment of the story. I found the teaching moments provided by the main character interesting in their content but it was too heavily given without any subtlety, for me to really resonate with it.
Acting was okay for the main roles but with some really weak points for some of the support parts. I also regret to have seen almost no Garo, as it is the interactions of this character with the hero Totono that were the best part of the drama to me: it was totally lacking here. I am super happy to have found back Hagiwara Riku in a support role and I am curious to see more of Hara Nanoka as well.
Soundtrack was okay, with the generic song that I like from the drama, very slice of life in a way and less overpowering than in the main series. Production was very good with some beautiful landscapes.
I would recommend this to people that loved the drama Don't call it Mystery. The qualities and flaws are consistent between both series and film. Therefore, if you enjoyed the drama, you will likely enjoy the movie as well. On the contrary, if like myself you had already lukewarm feelings for the drama, the film will definitely not change your mind.
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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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Very cute in some aspects but lacking too much in storytelling, pacing and developments
The premise of this BL story was pretty interesting with one of the male main lead needing any kind of physical touch with the other main male character to "block" the supernatural element of the show. It has been done before but not necessarily in that context and so I was pretty intrigued on how the relationship was going to evolve starting from there..Unfortunately, I found the overall story a bit boring, it remained quite superficial in a way with lot of questions not really addressed. I must admit that one of the protagonist was really written as pretty dumb (in an annoying and not -at least to me- endearing way), making it kind of difficult for me to understand why the other was so whipped for him (and also so quickly).
Despite those flaws, there are cute scenes that are worth the watch, there is a really good chemistry between the main actors with quite good acting...Some of their kisses were simply beautiful in a stiring way. I quite enjoyed the introduction as well as the last third of the story (even though the ending felt clearly too rushed) but there is clearly a saggy middle which dragged down the story for me. It is a bit of a shame that I felt there was so many issue in the pacing and storytelling given the short duration of the show.
I enjoyed the soundtrack, it gave some fun and almost cartoon / spunky vibe that created a good atmosphere. It will not necessarily remain in my memory but was really nice to hear during the show. The production value was standard for a university romance. They could have pushed more the horror vibe but decided to go for a comedic tone which I understand given the storytelling they were going for. I would have prefer the choice to be much more angsty to amp the stakes but it is a question of preference on the direction I wanted the show to go into...And it did not happen.
I would recommend this to people looking for a short BL romance with a fantasy element and cohabitation trope. If you have enjoyed drama such as "The Master's Sun" or movie such as "Marry My Dead Body", you might enjoy this because they share some similarities (either in the concept or the humour). I find it lacking in terms of story as well as relationship development but there are quite a bit of very lovely-dovey moments.
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Queer chronicles of a gay guy living and loving in the big city of Seoul : a raw and poetic journey
This is clearly one of the most qualitative BL that I have seen so far, not necessarily one that I would easily re-watch but one that really left a strong impression on me. It is drastically different from what I have seen in the genre, as it provides a deep dive into the life the central character of the story, almost like a chronicles of his life. It can be seen as a slice-of-life with a lot of dramatic elements put in a realistic but at the same time poetic way.The main character is a writer who in a way narrates his life to the viewer, which really give it a different flavor to most series. His relationship with his mother as well as with Kylie were central pieces of the story to me. The romantic interests in the series were more like passing boats into the hero's life, not the main focus but bringing up so many thoughts as he evolved through the various relationships. The ending felt bitter-sweet and made sense given all that happened to the hero and the way the storytelling was built from the start. I would not have minded an additional episode to better round it up tough.
Casting was very solid overall with the main actor clearly being the strongest part of the series. I really hope to see him in other works because it is his performance that elevated the watching experience and made me care that much for the character he portrayed. The cinematography was pretty good: the apartment of the hero was a character in itself evolving with him as he went through various life events, the OST was also very fitting to the drama and there were quite a lot of very memorable scenes that were filmed super impactfully.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a different kind of BL story. It is more of a chronicle of a life rather than a standard romance. Of course, I have nothing against fluffy and butterflies romance or angsty tales of passion but here it is a different proposal both in terms of content as well as storytelling. The good writing, the very deep topics relating to what's happening in real life as well as the interesting arc of the main character arc strongly resonated with me and make it worth your time. If you enjoy BL such as 'I Told Sunset About You' and 'The Eighth Sense', I think you should give it a shot.
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Fascinating !
This movie really positively surprised me, it was quite popular in Japan and the hype is deserved. It is apparently the adaptation of a video game, which I did not play, but after watching it, I can definitely picture how good (and angst inducing) such a game could be.In addition to having a great production full of details, the minimal cast does a great job providing an immersive experience to the viewers. The story might feel repetitive to some but that's the point of the movie, making its characters and the viewers as well going painfully into a loop. The ending is very smart in leaving room to interpretation.
I truly recommend watching this movie blind as it relies a lot on a surprise effect. The movie is very angsty, purposeful and with a great cinematography. If you are looking for a very good brain scratch, this is definitely the watch for you.
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Underwhelming romance despite an interesting angle
This drama is about the romance between a top actress and an interpretor as they travel together in the context of filming a travelling and dating variety show. Or is it really ? Soon enough the series take a turn which I found interesting on an intelectual point of view but which failed to really captivate me. I had real trouble to remain invested in the romance as well as the other aspects of the series, and I am quite frustrated at how the ending handled off screen one of the most important storyline point. The pacing felt sluggish to me and the plot overall repetitive.The acting was quite good and if I really like both main leads : Kim Seon Ho and Go Youn Jung, I found their chemistry quite underwhelming...I was never as invested in the romance between their characters as I would have wanted, partially because the characters were written quite unlikable to me, partially because of the lack of chemistry. The secondary romance was much better on both aspects. I also really enjoyed the character played by Fukushi Sota, a great discovery.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a psychological kind of romance. It is not really a rom-com, not really a psychological thriller or a slice-of-life. It is a bit of a mix and doing so, it missed the mark for me but I still think there are quite a bit to love. I personally really enjoyed the travel vlog aspect , the various countries and languages, the dating show set up, as well as the introduction and the production value. Too bad that romance was a miss for me and that the resolution felt rushed despite the overall sluggish pace of the drama.
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Youthful and sweet : loved the friendship aspect
This high school BL is quite classical in its storyline : it is all about the budding romance between introverted Hioki Asahi and popular Watarai Tsukasa that start with a school trip in the beginning of their second year of high school. They go together through all the cliche milestones of Japanese school romance but it is done in such a lovely way that it hits all the marks.The romance was really cute and fluffy : it was a very appeasing watch, devoid of angst and full of green flags. What I loved the most was the group friendship : seeing introverted hero grow in his own skin and feel comfortable with those seemingly unapproachable "F4-type" guys was really satisfying. I loved how the friends acted regarding the main couple romance, it was a breath of fresh air to see them all so open and cool about it.
Acting-wise, I particularly liked Fujimoto Kodai who played Hioki Asahi. He acted well the innocent side of his character with his relatable inner voice. Sometimes that kind of role can be annoying but here, he really found a nice balance, never feeling too weak or wishy-washy. I have more mixed feelings with Kan Hideyoshi who plays Watarai Tsukasa. Sometimes, his fixed glaring eyes on Hioki felt more unsettling than lover like (even if I guess he was aiming for obsessive vibe, it felt a bit forced). Chemistry was alright but not amazing, most of the story is very platonic in itself and sweet but I wish the steam would have been increased as the relationship progressed rather than remaining at a very mild temperature level. Not necessarily because I wanted NSWF scenes but I think the progression on the way they looked at each other peaked a bit too soon and that it never really leveled up as the story progressed.
I enjoyed overall the production value, it was quite standard for high school romance dramas. I liked a lot the opening generic song from DXTEEN, such a earworm.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a sweet high school BL. It is cute and fluffly, while very classical in its story, it hits the right marks and provide a satisfactory viewing experience.
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I had low expectation and this S3 still felt like a let down...
Did the world need a sequel of Squid Game ? Since the ending of S1, I have been adamant that it was unecessary and I definitely maintain my opinion after watching the conclusion of this series with the disappointing Season 3. In terms of writing, the script definitely a less strong point of view than S1, I feel that a lot of the "life lessons" from the original show were lost. The surprise effect was not there and even if there were a lot of impactful scenes, I felt that most of the characters made irrational decisions more for "the gag" of it all than driven by proper scenario build up.In terms of characters storylines, if the police officer was the most useless one, it was the "hero" journey that disappointed me the most. I did not feel the character growth and I was pretty underwhelmed by Lee Jung Jae's acting in this season 3. It felt very one note. To be fair, it is probably more due to the poor writing, preventing the actor to demonstrate any range of acting because the lack of room for growth with his character... Next to him, the other main cast did a solid job, especially Yim Si Wan, whose character's storyline was definitely the most interesting of this season and whose acting deeply impressed me.
The main positive of this season resides in its strong production value and overall visual. The layering of the child games and the bloody murders are as striking as ever with deaths litteraly wrapped in black boxes with pretty pink bows. I was amazed at all the details in the decors and the way some of the games were featured.
Despite all its flaws in writing, I would still recommend this to people that have watched season 2. If you have just seen Season 1, better stop there as it can live perfectly well as a standalone...However, if you have watched season 2, it is kinda a must to watch season 3 as those two are immediately connected and probably splitted in two for commercial reasons rather than anything else.
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Unrequited love with a lot of miscommunication issues : deeply flawed but I liked it...
Usually I'm not a big fan of clueless characters and of miscommunication issues...Here though, despite its many many flaws, I quite enjoyed this series. Could it have been better ? Certainly. Did I like my experience watching the drama ? Yes.The writer took a beloved trope of mine : "friends-to-lovers", and mixed it with another painfully enjoyable one "unrequited love". This mix is an enticing one to me, pretty fitting for my angsty preference in terms of romance. Unfortunately, the writing never managed to really hit the mark with its storytelling. There were so many missed opportunities in terms of narrative arcs, as the writer seemed to not know what to do and kept the characters stuck in the same place for most of the series.
In addition to featuring beloved tropes, the drama made me discover Jung Je Hyeon who played Ji Hun, one of the main three characters. It was his debut role and he is clearly the main reason I enjoyed that much a series that otherwise could have made me mad of frustration. Here, I was fully onboard, even with the character being seemingly pretty obtuse. He played him in a smart and layered way, and I'm very curious to see what's next for this actor.
The biggest flaws of the series to me was not even the lacking writing but the bad and very repetitive editing. There were so many repetition of scenes. The production crew seem to think that the viewer had a goldfish memory, making them repeat ad nauseam the exact same filmed sequences already showed in previous episodes. It is a shame because a series of 8 episodes of about 25 minutes does not require that many flashbacks and repetition in the editing. Using the episode time better, either by developing more the characters, or just adding angst / fluff / jealousy, would definitely have been a wiser choice.
I would recommend this series to people that enjoy unrequited love stories and that have a high tolerance for communication issue and painful unnecessary longing. I honestly enjoyed myself quite a bit despite the big writing and editing issues thanks to the beloved central tropes of the story and my fondness for one of the character.
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Completely missed the mark in terms of romance & chemistry - disappointing
Unfortunately, I did not adhere at all to the romantic aspects of this rom-com...There was so comedic moments that I enjoyed but also a lot that felt flat to me and after the chaotic introduction to the main characters, I never went on board with any kind of romantic feelings they had for each other.I blame mostly the story itself rather than the cast as I like a lot Kang Ha Neul and even more Jung So Min...On paper, this pairing looked so good but in reality, their chemistry was very average mainly because of the set up of their characters themselves...In any case, that suck that I was unable to enjoy any of their skinship as I was truly confuse at why those two characters would ever fall back in love...It was really unconvincing.
It is also disappointing how unlikeable most of the side characters were... The only exception were the mother and sister of the female lead (respectively played by Jo Min Su and Hwang Se In) who were both the most enjoyable part of the movie with a great comedic timing.
I would not recommend this rom-com unless you are a fan of one of the cast members. I feel that really the romance was completely lacking with an ending that felt like a cope out. There were some fun scenes that I enjoyed but some comedic aspects felt also strange in the context of the story.
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Not my type of show but I learnt interesting stuff, pace of stories could have been better
It took me almost 7 months to complete this variety show. I must preface this review by admiting first that "Mystery concept" variety show are not necessarily the ones I gravitate towards the most. I always have trouble to get into the reenactement of crime/mystery because even if the stories are interesting, cast reactions (or rather over-reactions) often leave me with an uncanny feeling. It is also quite odd when they play games right in the middle of it.Indeed, the viewer knows that everything is fake, so it is a bit cringe or strange to see over-the-top acting by members of the show. The idea might be to immerse the spectators as if they were watching a theatre piece, but unfortunately it often produces the opposite effect as I feel quite distached. The rythm of the show was super strange: each episode felt king of sluggish, especially in the middle. However, they often managed to have good endings with some rush and thrills at the end of a lot of the episodes but not enough to make me anticipate the next one.
That's said, and despite all the flaws that I perceive and point out, there are positive aspects as well. First of all, I especially liked the fact that I learnt quite a bit regarding contemporary history and various South Korea news items from different period of time. There is an inherent repetive aspect to the mecanics of the show but I also found that they managed to bring enough variety in the stories to not feel too monotonous. Guest cast members (to be fair mainly Choi Yeon Jun who I like a lot) were also a good way to change a bit and renew the dynamic of the episodes.
I enjoyed the main cast: they had a good chemistry together but it somewhat lacked in terms of balance. I started this show for Lee Jung Ha but honestly the whole actors gang ( Lee Jung Ha, Cha Tae Hyun and Oh Na Ra) were my favorites. The others members Yoo Jae Suk, Yang Se Chan and Jennie do the job properly as well. It is clearly more a colleagues relationship and felt not as genuine as some other shows I have seen.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy Mystery Variety show concept. If you are fan from one of the member of the cast or if you are interested by miscalleneous news items you might also want to give it a shot despite its shortcomings (repetitive mecanics as well as relatively bad pacing of the episodes).
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Despite writing flaws, swoon-worthy romance with a touch of sorrow carried by super strong cast
Given its screenwriter and its main cast, I was expecting a lot from this drama. I overall really enjoyed it (especially in its first half) but I must admit that the writing and pacing let me down in its second half (and more particularly in its finale act). I'm always looking forward to the new work of screenwriter Park Ji Eun: I tend to really enjoy the way she builds her romances, with a lot of details, dramatic elements and fated lovers' narrative. Here again, she writes what I think is an iconic love story with a touch of sorrow, which is really her trademark.The premise of the series is super interesting as it hijacked the classical "male chaebol & poor hard working girl" trope. I loved so much how lines that are usually said by male lead are done by the female lead and vice versa. The series is really playing on the usual tropes of romantic comedy and diverting them, it is excellent on that aspect. However, the ending did not totally hold its promises : the plot got crazier with an overwhelming amount of coincidences, the villains losing their strategic edge to go into full madness territory. As the story unfolds itself, there were also much less gender reversal of dramaland tropes and it went unfortunately back to a more classical romantic dynamic between the two leads. Still cute, but much more expected.
The acting was the best part of the drama. Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Ji Won and Park Sung Hoon are actors/actress that I really love and once again, they showcased incredible performances. Even when the writing became clunkier, they made it work and made a lot in terms of making digestible some of the more bonker elements and rhythm issues of the last act. The chemistry between Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won was off the charts: their characters' relationship went through so many phases and they managed to sell every step of it. Park Sung Hoon's darkening and brooding face was incredibly chilling even when his character fell apart in terms of writing.
The production value was super high. There were some very pretty sets as well as incredibly swoon-worthy scenes (the helicopter one, the lavender field, the castle,...). The making was beautiful and above all, the soundtrack was amazing. With the acting, the OST did a lot in exacerbating feelings for the viewer. I will likely go back to listening to many of the songs of the drama which is clearly a sign of its addictive quality.
I would recommend this to people looking for an emotional love story. Given the episodes length, It is quite an investment in terms of time and there are some issues with the writing in the second half of the series. However, despite its flaws, I truly enjoyed the drama thanks to the incredible acting, great OST and iconic romantic scenes.If you loved other dramas from this writer (such as My Love From Another Star and Crash Landing on You), you are in known territory and should like it as well.
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