Was recently doing yet another rewatch of this drama after almost one and half year so might as well write a review. If you're looking for a family drama which is wholesome while also having a bit of chaos in it yet not too exagerated—then this drama is perfect for you.

The first time I watched this drama I was drawn to how relatable the Cha Family story was, especially when it comes to the youngest son, Cha Dalbong's story. Well, to be fair... most of the drama characters do feel relatable since they do reflect the struggles of people just trying to make do for themselves—and to people who watches this drama can find their own comfort and consolation while watching this drama. For me, personally, the more I rewatch the drama the more I relate to the life and challenges of the Cha family, considering like Dalbong—I'm also a third child and also felt the same insecurity about myself and the future that I would have. And I have to say, that the drama also helped me cope with my father's death last year. To which, while it wasn't exactly similar... helped me to come to terms about stuff regarding my own father.

That aside, Park Hyungsik as Cha Dalbong was very adorable and lovable and I couldn't help to want to root for him from the beginning to end. Yoo Donggeun as the Cha Sunbong was really the best kdrama father you'd ever see and I love how throughout the drama you can just see how much love Cha Sunbong had for his family, especially for his three children. And yes, these two father-son combo was the main reason that kept me to wanting to rewatch this drama over and over.

Words of warning though, if you're the type to cry easily over things... do prepare lots of tissue before watching this drama.

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Considering that this drama were led by two of my favs Oguri Shun and Nishiyama Hidetoshi and written by Kaneshiro Kazuki, it shouldn't be surprising that I'd be drawn to this drama. XD.

As was common with dramas of this genre and one that focuses on the Public Safety division, it should be expected that the drama will have some pretty grim storyline. Yet, considering that we do have Oguri in the lead it's to be expected that there'll be some unexpected light-hearted moments that can brighten up the grim plotlines.

That said, I love how despite the plot was full of conspiracies and the dark sides of humanity there was still a glimmer of hope and good in between; which makes the story not be too depressing at times. I love the camaraderie between the Special Security Squad and I love how their relationship with each other as well as personal struggles gave the drama a heartwarming feel and make the characters be so human and relatable.

Then again, this was a common theme in Kaneshiro Kazuki 's writing and I'm glad that I manage to encounter this drama. But gosh, Kaneshiro Kazuki's pension in ending things with cliffhangers I tell you.... never cease to catch me off-guard.

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Soohyuk finally playing a lead character!!!!

I told myself I'm gonna support the hell outta any new show if Soohyuk gets a lead role and lo! This mini-drama exist!!

Overall, the drama has great storytelling. It was a great concept to have the mini drama to focus on Wobeun, a deity who has been dispelled from Heaven, being tasked to make clothes for humans in order to console them. It was interesting to see him slowly changing in his views towards humans and how he; with his powers, would help heal the emotional wounds of his customers who came to him to ask him to make clothes for them as he learned more about human emotions.

It was quite a heartwarming and healing story as we get to see from Wobeun's POV, as he tried to understand the humans coming to his shop and to learn how to become more emphathetic. And because the episodes were really short, the plot wasn't bogged down by unnecessary side plots and drama that might distract viewers from the main focus which was Wobeun trying to help heal people with his special abilities. Though, while that itself was good... I wished that the mini drama could've gone for a bit longer since I really love this story between Wobeun and Sarang and want to see more of it. Well, the ending did provide a possible reason for a proper kdrama sequel so who knows?

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Have to say that this drama was a blessing in more than one way. It's sweet, heart-wrenching, funny, exciting... and you can't help loving (almost) every character whether they are of the good side or bad ones. And it's also a drama that reunites Kim Namgil and Lee Honey ever since their last drama together which was Shark aka Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus. And have to say, that their chemistry was as good and even better together.

I love the fact that as much as the series does have a fair share of serious plot from the beginning till the end, there was also a good amount of comedy slipped in between to balance everything out. And while it might not be related, I find it refreshing that this drama somewhat broke the 'tradition' that almost always happen to any serious themed Kdrama that Kim Namgil starred it. As in, his characters ending up dying in the end. (Well, I'm not counting his role as Heo Im since that one was of a completely different genre. But then again, I might as well count Heo Im as well since he did still end up dying a lot of times in the series anyway.) While Hae-il isn't your usual revenge-driven character that Kim Namgil often play, he does have quite a bit of his own dark past that clouded his present life. And because of that, you can't help finding similarities to Kim Namgil's past characters. So yes, I'm really happy to see Kim Namgil character surviving the end of their series lol. Cos seriously, most of his characters that have serious plot always end up dead in the end. The ones that didn't were usually those that are quite comedic. Live up to Your Name was a good example.

I first got to know of Lee Honey from Shark, and as much as I love both her and KNG's characters in Shark; their love relationship was mostly one-sided. Yet I still love the two of them together in this drama as they did have great chemistry together. In which, seeing them together again in this drama was great. Even if their characters still didn't end up together, they do still work well together. Honestly, I love how much Kim Hae-il and Park Gyeongseon work well together and how much the two of them really care about each other. In which in the end, influenced their choices and paths of life. Gu Daeyoung's character also turned out to be quite endearing as well. While at first, he started as a comedic character being paired up with Hae-il, bit by bit he started to change due to Hae-il's influence.

I truly love the writing of the drama; and how some of the tiny pieces of seemingly unrelated details in the drama would somehow turn out to be important later on. The writing was very solid with serious and dark themes while also occasionally make us laugh at the most unexpected situation. This drama is definitely one that I'd want to watch and rewatch all over again for the lovely plot as well as the endearing characters.

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I started watching this because of Nishikido Ryo tbh. That aside, a mystery/crime drama with the forensic scientists as the main focus? Count me in. Though to be fair, this was the second time Ryo played the role of a forensic officer after JOKER.

Have to say, when I first started watching the series I wasn't really expecting to really grow attached to the characters. But hey, that just means that the series did well at casting the right actors for their respective roles as had their personalities written well.

That aside, I love how the drama dealt with the romance sub-plot regarding Mano and Sawaguchi subtly without taking away the focus from the main plot/theme. Then again, that could also be credited to Nishikido and Araki for being able to bring their characters to life, and Dokkun's really is good at playing these kinds of roles XD. That aside, I really love the whole casting of the forensic team. Like I love how at first they're not really so close-knitted, yet near the end you see them becoming more like families and that was partially due to Araki's character.

Other than that, have to say that the plot was well-written. Loved the fact that each episode kept me guessing and made me want to pay close attention to the clues that were revealed in order to unearth the crimes involved.

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Since this is Joo Won's first kdrama since his military enlistment I'm pretty excited to see how the drama will unfold. So far, Joo Won's character in Alice reminded me a bit of his character in Good Doctor, in which due to the circumstances of their birth they ended up living a life quite different than other people. Seeing Joo Won's performance in Good Doctor made me curious as to how he'll play Jin Gyeom and it was indeed interesting to see how much Jin Gyeom had grown throughout the series.

This drama had the theme of mystery and detective drama, added with time travel. While the detective theme at first appeared to be main thing that moves the plot of the story, eventually the scifi part starts to kick in and we can see how the time travel aspect with influence the story. And indeed, as the story moves forward we can see how the past, present and future started to mix together. It was interesting to see the drama dealt with the problem of paradox involving people from different points of time meeting each other at different stages of their lives. To which, it might end up very confusing for people who aren't quite used to the scifi genre, especially ones that involves time travel. In before I start quoting Doctor Who but I won't.

While some may have trouble watching some parts of the episodes due to the impression they may have regarding the doubtful relationship between Taeyi and Jin Gyeom, it may help a bit if one stayed open-minded while watching the drama by not immediately assuming that every single melodramatic scene in the drama to be a romantic one. Since the drama will involve a lot of paradoxes as people from past and future inevitably gonna cross each other's path, some emotional scenes may not be as straightforward as it appears. And love can be of any type aside from romantic feelings, so its better to not be so quick to assume the relationship that we see in the drama. Not to mention that we do have a character who had a disability in that he was not able to recognise emotions and understanding the meaning of said emotions.

As a scifi drama that dealt with time travel and parallel drama, I have to say that the plot of Alice was quite decent. While there are some parts that were still left vague and not executed well, overall it wasn't that bad a drama. With genre like this, it helps to have no high expectations and be open-minded to the many unexpected outcomes resulting from the timey-wimey.

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I've been feeling a bit let down with A Superior Day as of late, so I was glad that this drama finally start airing. Before, there was quite a few dramas that had a similar plot of having the main character going back to the past in order to change their fates so it was
interesting to see how this drama would unfold. Also I checked the webtoon out, and it's pretty well written too

By now Lee Joonggi was no stranger with regards to action and thriller dramas. After Two Weeks and Flower of Evil, safe to say we can expect great performance coming from him. Kim Heewoo was quite an interesting character as a rightous prosecutor who might be a bit too overzealous in doing his job. And the more we get to know him, the more I find Heewoo to be quite an endearing character. And it was pretty exciting to see him trying to redo the events in his past to change his fate as well as the fates of his family, friends and many other victims of Cho Taesub as Heewoo attempt to take him down.

There was quite a lot of mystery remaining unknown to us with regard to who was it that saved Heewoo from death and sent him back into the past, as well as the true nature of the main villain in this story. The writing had been pretty solid so I pretty much enjoyed the show. And for the drama, the ending differed a bit from webtoon... which was pretty understandable considering the few bits of changes made throughout the drama.

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So this part 2 did expand the world building and it really do look like the drama was making use of the Jejudo myths, but to what extent I have no idea.
Still, as much as the writing could've expanded better, the plot did progress further and we finally get to see the main villain Gungtan in action. I mean, it would've been lame if the story ended with the main bad guy not really showing his full capabilities.

From the first part we were given a big twist about Yeomji actually allying with Gungtan. And we're finally getting more details on what truly happen in the past and how it could've affected the present outcome. Not to mention we're also given a third party who seemed to have a hand in many things happening... the we never actually get that fair and this plot ended up being open ended.

To be honest, with so many new details it make me wonder if the story could be wrapped up in just six more episodes. But it did and the final episode did provide possibilities for future continuations, should there be plans for it. For a story that was based on a webtoon, I'm happy to see quite a number of pretty anime-ish and webtoon-ish scenes. So in that sense I'm very satisfied. Plus, Kim Namgil plays a half-demon demon slayer, dude... and Eunwoo finally get to have some jedi moments! Rather than dwell on stuff that the drama did not show, one might as well enjoy the pretty visuals we did get.

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A very human story

If you want to see a supernatural drama involving evil spirits and possessions that leads to people commiting unforgivable crimes, well you've come to the right drama.

The Guest is a very human drama about a young psychic and two others as they inevitably had to deal with a strong evil spirit that has set its goal on one of them and proceeds to terrorize everyone who ever come in contact with them. It was a scary journey as well as dark one, yet in a way it was quite healing as we watch how Hwapyung, Yoon and Kilyoung try their absolute best to try saving as much people they could while also trying to hunt down the evil spirits as well as the corrupted people that calls for it.

While the supernatural and criminal aspect of the story could be quite dark and scary, the fact that our trio were able to counter the obstacles and save people who were being possessed carried a healing message of hope that good can defeat evil. And that was quite healing, in a sense.

That said, I love the soundtrack. The main theme Somewhere have fully captured the emotional turmoil of Yun Hwapyung and his internal struggle for being the one targetted by the evil spirit. The song was quite haunting and filled with a sense of loneliness. Yet, there was still a hint of hope as you can hear a plea for help slipped in between the song lyrics.

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This drama reminded me of some of the older series like Shark, Nice Guy, Bad Guy and Master of Revenge so I might as well take a look. Got to say that it was a refreshing take on the old revenge kdramas and quite well-written at that. While the school bullying plot wasn't really a unique plot, it was actually an interesting setting for a revenge drama to be based on.

I like how well the writing of this drama has been done. I like how the events of the past and present were written in a way that wasn't just a massive info dump and flowed naturally to keep our attention rooted. And I like how the drama, while fleshing out Dongeun's back story and plan on how she will be conducting her plan; there was barely any backstory given to the perpetrators to justify any actions that they've done or allow any hints of sympathy given to these characters. Gotta say that this is the few times that I like the shorter number of episode format since that means you barely gonna get any filler scenes that may sidetrack you from the main plot. And as much as it wasn't really that obvious, I like how this first part showed us Dongeun's revenge strategy that was quite like her own baduk strategy where she first started putting her pieces around and bidding her time.

As much as the bullying scene was a bit more violent than what had been shown in past similar-themed kdramas, I like that the drama did not focus too much on the gore but showed enough why the act of bullying someone was really bad. And I appreciate that as much as this was a Netflix drama, scenes that involve sex and nudity weren't really done excessively. The montage intro for the drama was also done well to foreshadow the coming plots.

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I've heard about the general plot of this drama during SBS Drama Awards and to be honest the setting was quite interesting. Though I never thought that the story would end up being so cute!

I knew about Ahn Hyoseop from Red Sky so I expect him to be great as the main lead. But dang, if I thought he was such a charmer before... I can't even describe my thoughts about him now. Taemoo was really an adorable character and Hyoseop really excel in bringing out Taemoo's many charms as well as inner turmoil. I never thought this drama could be so adorable with all the chaebol tropes as well as the many cliches but here we are.

I've seen quite a number of dramas Sejeong was in, and I have to say... it's about time we see her in a proper romcom. Like the last time I see her work was I wanna hear your song and that was more a mystery thriller rather than romcom. I love the fact the Hari was written to be so quirky since that kinda traits fit Sejeong's character so well.

I really enjoyed the story and the comedy and I have to say, I wished that the drama could be longer. Like the two main couples were very cute and easy on the eyes and the grandfather was cute and even Youngseo's cousin was charming. And I love how the drama also include a makjang parody which was quite in contrast with the main romcom storyline. I wouldn't be surprised if Hyoseop gonna win Best Couple this year for the third year in a row www

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I guess it's a fine remake

Since I was on a roll and found out that Blind had a remake (actually there were two more but I haven't watched the Chinese or the Hindi one), I thought that I might as well watch this remake as well. Since I'm no stranger to seeing remake of Korean movies or dramas into Japanese (and vice versa) I do get curious as to how the remake would turn out. Especially as Japanese remakes do try to give their own spin to the shows they were based on. But since I've already seen the original, it's unavoidable that there will be some comparison to the original.

Like the original movie, Blind Witness also deals with a serial kidnapper who killed unsuspecting women and crossed paths with a blind woman and a young boy who ended up witnessing his deeds. Safe to say on that level, the original and remake share a common trait. But aside from that, this movie was as different to the original as it was similar.

For starters, this remake showed us a bit more of Natsume's former life as she undergoes several trainings as an officer. Unlike Soo-ah who we're already introduced as a police officer in-training, we barely get to see what she's like before aside from a childhood memory and a past recording of her university admission with her family. In contrast, the remake didn't really show much about Daiki before he died aside from Natsume dragging him home from an outing with his friends and the sequence leading up to the accident. The relation between the two were also different. While Soo-ah and Donghyun weren't actual siblings, Natsume and Daiki were. The same can be said for their mother. The accidents that killed the younger brother was also different. The accident in the original was much more traumatic and tragic to Soo-ah but in this remake the accident played out to be much more simplified. In both cases, Soo-ah and Natsume blamed themselves for their brother's death though Soo-ah was expelled from university while Natsume quit.

The circumstances in which the witnesses cross paths with the killer were also different. Unlike Soo-ah, Natsume wasn't targeted by the killer; and instead of a hit-and-run case, the victim was already being kidnapped in the car as Haruma ended up being the one who was almost hit by a car. While in the original the police had reacted much quicker after finding out that a missing case coincide with a statement given by Soo-ah, in this remake, the realisation that this is a criminal case happened much more slower due to the different setting in which the missing cases were unknown to the public. Social media also was much more prominent in this remake as the original dealt with a much more conventional method of gathering information as well as conventional media reporting. Unlike the original, Natsume and Haruma did a lot more investigation by themselves instead of aiding/leaving it to the police. And the biggest difference of all would be the kidnapper himself. While the general MO of the killer still remained the same, the identity of the killer was different. The murders were different as well: in the original it was a typical serial kidnapping and murder while in this remake, the murders were actually a copycat murder from another closed case involving kidnapping and ritualistic murders.

Nevertheless, there was still some elements and plot devices that remained the same. Although the order of events and outcomes were written differently, there were still some familiar scenes. Mainly the killer's attempt to kill the secondary witness, the confrontation between the killer and the first investigator, the chase at the subway station and the final confrontations between the killers and the two witnesses.

Regardless, this remake had its own charm too. Though if you have seen the original movie, this remake may feel a bit underwhelming for you. In any case, it's been a long while since I saw any of Mahhi's recent acting works since his Gaim days. so it's a pleasure to see him in this movie.

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This movie was amazing! Having watched Midnight, I had more interest in looking for other stories that feature a similar scenario. And lo... this movie came to my attention. And considering the movie also feature Seungho as one of the leads as well as this movie turned out to be Bogum's debut work... well I have to say that my interest was captured.

I have to say that this was the first time I'm seeing Kim Haneul in a crime thriller and I'm really loving it. She really did a great job portraying a blind person who used to be a police cadet. I have to say the same regarding Seungho. While I think I recall somewhere about him feeling that his earlier acting works weren't that much good, I'd like to say that I disagree. I like his character here as Giseob. And I also like the dynamics between Kim Haneul and Seungho as two unlikely witness to a crime in progress who later grew closer in a sibling-like relationship.

There are quite a few things that I really liked about this movie. First thing though, was the fact that Soo-ah had not given up in readmitting herself to police university after being expelled for breaking rules and using handcuffs on her brother (which leads to his death). I like the fact that the people around her (like her head mother, Detective Jo and later even Giseob) were also supportive of her, believing that her disability was not a weakness and that it was those words of encouragement that kept her back on her feet when she almost lost belief in herself. I like how the suspense element and conflict were written in a very realistic and believable way.

The mystery and suspense was quite thrilling as our witnesses and attending police officer join together to identify the serial killer. Any fans of psychological thriller would be able to enjoy this movie. And this movie, like Midnight, also gave us a glimpse of how people with disabilities live their life and deal with the challenges that arise from it. Aside from the crime thriller element, the writing on the characters were done well and allows you to relate with their life stories and plight.

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Every few months, even after finishing the series as it aired years ago and so many other dramas that came after; I'll always end up going back to this drama and rewatch it from the very beginning. This drama, really continued to be one of my most favourite sageuk drama I've ever watched.

As much as the series was supposed to be inspired by the Game of Thrones, being unfamiliar of the series I can't quite relate to it. But I guess all the political in-fighting in this drama kinda mirror the same scenario. The whole scenario of the crown prince having to hide his face behind a mask and ended up being switched with a fake did remind me of Alexander Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask novel. And that kinda setting being reworked into a sageuk story was what attracted me to watching this drama.

Lee Seon was quite a charming character, and Yoo Seungho really manage to bring out his innocence and strength of character as the crown prince attempts to investigate the reason why he had to hide his face. It was heartwarming to see how much the crown prince grow as he attempts to overcome his trials and tribulations and strive to retain his kind heart. That said, Kim Sohyun who played as Han Gaeun did very well to portray the noblewoman who fell from grace due to the manipulation of the evil Pyeonsoo group. As much as the character did seemed to be just a damsel in distress character, Gaeun turn out to display a different kind of strength as compared to the crown prince.

This drama was the first time I'm seeing Kim Myungsoo playing in a sageuk drama and he did quite well in playing the character of a peasant boy who happened to have a similar sounding name as the crown prince and ended up being forced to become a puppet king. Yoon Sohee as the granddaughter of the leader of Pyeonsoo group, Kim Hwagun was also a great character. It was nice to see how much Hwagun had grown from being just a selfish girl from an evil group into a much more courageous person who decided to oppose her own family in order to protect the person they love. It was really intriguing to see how the dynamics and relationship between the four start changing as the four were being dragged into the political situation.

This drama truly felt so special to me. Having known both Yoo Seungho and Kim Sohyun from their earlier child actor works, it really felt wonderful to see them both playing the leading characters of the drama. Not to mention the amount of other child actors involved in this drama as supporting and background characters, Ruler really felt like a drama series that intend to shine light to the many great acting talents of child actors and former child actors.

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Was rewatching this drama again so that I might as well write my thoughts on it this time. If you don't mind watching a love story while knowing that it'll have a sad ending, well this drama would be good. I mean, the story did open up from the moment Lady Shin was about to be killed by hanging so that should be hint enough, right? Mind you since this story will involve some very heavy political strive, it might get really hard to watch those bits happening in between the love story.

That said, the love story between Lady Shin Chae-kyeong and Prince Lee Yeok was really so sweet and pure... and later on becoming painful as the battle to secure the throne comes between them. It was really sweet seeing how their love story started from childhood and later rekindled after they grew up and reunited after being separated for so long.

Having watched quite a number of Park Minyoung's work, I have to say that her role as Lady Shin was one of her best roles to date. Yeon Woojin as Lee Yeok also was amazing as he brought out all of the complicated emotions faced by Lee Yeok for having to struggle between protecting his love and the throne.

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