This review may contain spoilers
I cried lololol
Finally I finished watching this movie omg and I love it. While the story wasn’t really THAT unique if you wanna compare to like many other space scifi movies that came before, it's really an impressive movie. Not to mention it was the first made by Koreans and starring Korean casts.Never really expect a story about some junk scavengers would spiral into a race to save the Earth but there ya go. I really love how the back stories of the main characters were gradually revealed... not to mention how Taeho turned out to be like Yoo Sijin in space lol. I had lots of tears of sads and happiness throughout the movie I never thought I'd get hit with so much feels in this movie!
And another aspects that I really love in this movie was how much multilingual this movie is like everyone of different ethnicities were a lot of times communicates using their own languages and everyone could understand each other using a universal translation gadgets that they all have. That was really rare to see in even Hollywood movies. I had so much fun watching this movie, I really love it so much!
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Interesting story... but wished it's longer
Found out about this drama by chance and really liking what I'm watching. Plus there's Kim Namgil as one of the main leads so that's one plus point. Plot reminds me of many anime series that involved demon slaying with people creating half-demon warriors in order to gain advantage over the enemy.Overall, the plot is interesting and the pacing is okay. While I could see some argue that the pacing was slow, I didn't really have any trouble with that. The pacing right now was fine to allow people to know the basic setting and establishing the characters. That said, I do wish that this first part was a bit longer. While the plot between Van and Miho was so far pretty solid, I feel like the writer kinda neglecting Johan's character a bit. As in, a lot of time he was shown to be doing something in the background and we didn't really know anything about it until the last two episodes. And it felt that the involvement of the Vatican (?) exorcists was like a side plot to the main story since Van was the one mostly dealing with the lust demon while Johan not really functioning much aside from trying to oust Van from his protector role. While I do appreciate the occassional flashback to explain the origin on how Van end up being a half-demon, I do wish that there was a scene in the present where they address the issue. Especially when Van didn't become a half-demon by choice. And I wish the writers actually spend more time to explain to us what exactly is the lust demons and what it has to do with the opening line in the first episode. So far it does look like the show was making a lot of reference to Jejudo's own mythology, it felt like a shame that we don't really quite get enough worldbuilding over it.
Anyway, I like the casting. While Eunwoo was pretty cute as an exorcist priest, my attention was mostly on Kim Namgil as the emo half-demon Van. Gotta say that Van was giving off a bit of Bidam vibe that it felt somewhat nostalgic. Lee Dahee is pretty okay as Won Miho/Wonjeong. Since her character was a reincarnated person who was supposed to be a key person for fixing the barrier to seal the lust demons from running free, it was pretty understandable to see her in panic and in confusion when she end up being targeted by all these monsters. Frankly she's doing well playing a character who was suddenly thrust into an unbelievable situation. And boy, she's really good at running on high heels a lot ❤
Since I'm used to watching tokusatsu shows, I'm fine with seeing all the CGI at work in the drama. And the monster makeup were quite decently made. I have to praise the action coordination as it really pumps you up when watching the fight sequence. I like the ost track as well esp the main theme with the haunting and sorrowful vibe.
I usually tend to get distracted while watching dramas when a show try to info dump too much on the first episodes or drag the plot on unnecessary things but I didn't get sidetracked on other things while watching this drama. So I gotta say that so far the writer was doing a good job on keeping my attention on the show. I'll be looking forward to see the part 2 once it release next month.
Was this review helpful to you?
Because of that, I had a renewed interest in this drama. Since it is an interesting scenario where someone could have developed such illness due to some extreme conditions and how one could try to heal someone from it. In that sense, it was actually logical to think that having an android that looked like a real person could help someone who could easily die from a simple touch. It's also an interesting scenario on how AI and robotics could be use to help people in need of help.
I really love Yoo Seungho in this drama. It really felt like he's a perfect fit to play Minkyu and it's hard to imagine someone else who could do this better. And Seungho was really good at playing socially awkward characters to the point of fondness. You just can't help being drawn to his character and sympathising at the kind of lonely life he had endured. And I like how his progress in getting better was written in a way that it was believable and wasn't sudden. I also love how it was depicted like a modern fairy tale on how love helps in healing an illness that was influenced by the mind.
Chae Soobin was really great in this drama, playing the human Ji-A, alongside the android Aji-3. Like you can really tell the difference when she was playing a person and when she's playing a robot. Uhm Kijoon was great as the scientist who created Aji-3, Dr Hong. Since he tend to end up playing villain roles a lot more times than he plays good characters, I really appreciate him not being a villain in this drama lol.
Have to say that as much as the corporate plot was secondary compared to the main romance plot, the former didn't feel like pasted on as some irrelevant background setting. Both of the story plot was pretty balanced and enjoyable.
For those who love the science fiction theme on how robots and AI would want to learn more about humans, this drama was a fascinating watch. As much as the android Aji-3 didn't really do much in the drama, the android was still shown to still be able to learn through the input given by Ji-a, who pretended to be Aji-3. It was interesting to see how all of the accumulated data that Aji-3 then leads to it deciding by herself to choose to return to its rightful home instead of allowing itself to be taken by bad businessman who seek to use her technology for military purposes.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I really love this series so much!The first impression I got from this drama was that this show was about a vigilante taxi driver out to serve justice to the bad guys as revenge. And then after watching the drama this is like the Korean version of Knight Rider lol. That said, I went to look at the webtoon that was what the drama was based on. Though have to say that the only thing that was similar between the original webtoon and drama was the concept of the revenge taxi service and Rainbow Taxi. Though to be fair, that was fine with me as the webtoon was more violent and gory and had fewer actual taxi battles. I love how the drama incorporates the whole Knight Rider feel to the whole revenge taxi thing. That was cool. And I love the fact that the drama had Prosecutor Kang Hana's character, which didn't exist in the webtoon but adds an even more depth into the story to include the narrative from the side of the law enforcement people.
Loved the ost and the bg music. The Eurobeat tracks really fit in with the show's movie-like atmosphere. And I love how Kim Dogi and Kang Hana's character being written. And I really love the dynamics between Lee Jehoon and Esom in the drama.
I noticed how halfway through the series the writer was changed to a different person though I'm glad that the change in writers didn't feel so noticeable in the drama. For one, I like how Kang Hana's character started becoming more prominent and become as important as Kim Dogi. Because it'd be a shame if her character becomes underused despite Esom being the main female lead.
I really love how the writing not quite romanticising the idea of vigilante activities yet also admitting that the law might not be fully perfect, to which one might have a need for some kind of vigilante 'hero' to fix the flaw in the law. The overall tone was hopeful and healing and I love the journey from the beginning to end. This is one of the webtoon adaptations that I'm glad that it took a different narrative and give us a great story in return.
Was this review helpful to you?
Considering the events in Ishi no Mayu and Suishou no Kodou, we as a viewer had been given lots of glimpse into Masato's past and the case that changed his life forever. Given that kind of past and complicated relationship with Kisaragi Toko, there was still a lot of things that were not known about Masato. Not to mention that despite his criminal ways, Masato still retained some kind of values and had stuck with it throughout the last two series. And I'm glad to have Aku no Hado revealed the events that occurred a year prior that jumpstarted the path that he ended up taking during the course of Ishi no Mayu.
If there's anything I'm dissatisfied about this series would be, I wished there'd be more callbacks to some of the key events in Ishi no Mayu. As well as what ended up happening after the 2014 serial murder was solved and how the case was handled that would have elevated the distrust Masato already have towards the police force.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This movie was so surreal... and wacky lol
Ngl I seriously didn't know what I was expecting lol I thought the plot would be simple but lol there so much twist... also wtf that cliffhanger ending?To be fair... the initial plot seemed promising but since there's too many wild attempts to capture Hana by every single opposing party that seemed to have gone mad, it felt like the punchline never arrive. Just when you thought there would be a happy outcome once Carter completed his mission, there goes the cliffhanger end that make us question whether or not Jung and Carter's family survived...
But seriously though, the movie did do well in portraying a world where people go mad after having a portion of the population got infected with a crazy virus, with one side fights to find a cure and another plots to take advantage of the virus for their own benefit. It's kinda like Busan but not really because the 'zombies' in Carter wasn't quite like the usual undead zombies once infected and it's possible to get cured if you managed to get the vaccine administered quick enough. But dangit... those 'zombies' can use guns and stuff lol, and instead of eating people they just mindlessly attack people. Still, since those infectees are still quite alive, they're not as scary as the usual undead ones and can be shot down if worse wome to worst and they'll stay dead.
Gotta say that the cinematography and cameraworks in this movie was pretty wild it felt like watching a continuous RE gameplay and can get pretty disorienting at times. The stunt work was crazy too and while there's a lot of CGI action being mixed in as well, at times you really can't tell which was which. Smh I wonder if the initial nude scenes at the opening part was really necessary because as much as I wanted to enjoy the action... the nudity was just...uncomfortable. Kinda like the fanservice fight in K-1. Oh yeah... the gore scenes were crazy too.
Not really fond of some of the choices of background tracks esp the ones that had lots of cymbals and brass instruments that always made me think of scenes involving shamans and stuff like why?
Not really sure what to think of this movie. Like on one end whoa... Joo Won doing more action unlike what he's done before! Yet the plot din seem to have a proper conclusion and poor Hana to kept being tossed around just because she was the human cure for the virus and ppl are losing their minds to 'own' her.
Was this review helpful to you?
Kamen Rider Geats: 4 Aces and the Black Fox
0 people found this review helpful
This review may contain spoilers
A really fun light-hearted movie
When the trailer of this movie was first released, I had assumed that the the movie was set in between the last few episodes of Geats. Imagine my surprise that the setting turned out to be set after the series end!I had already anticipated a lot of laughs from the movie, especially with Kan-chan playing 4 different versions of Aces but I hadn't expected the way the plot end up leading to that point. Yet it was still interesting to see and have different versions of Ace interact with the rest of the cast, it which surprisingly matched with some specific qualities of Ace and the other players.
And I love the core theme of the movie which was basically about asking the question of what's the most important qualities of a hero.
I love the casts. Kan-chan really doing his best to bring up a lot of comedic acting that he really didn't get to do much in the main series. And I love how Ryuga's acting was so on point in support of Kan's (alongside the rest of the casts) and made the movie really enjoyable to watch. Some bits of the villain plot and the general plot might've felt to be moving too fast... but I had fun watching this.
Was this review helpful to you?
We already know the original story of the Red Riding Hood, yet this movie was not about the young girl's trip to visit her grandmother and encountered the Big Bad Wolf. Akazukin has set out on a journey, yet along the way encountered an incident that led to the discovery of a murder! And it's up to Akazukin to identify the real culprit.
Akazukin met with Cinderella, and decided to help her to go to the ball. Yet they ended up involved in a murder investigation. And the truth later on end up unlike what anyone could've expected.
I totally didn't expect how Gintama-like this movie end up being. And Sato Jiro playing the king just brought back the old Kagura-Henpeita banter that always amuse me. And seriously I love the different take on the 'fairy god mother' trope in which in this movie was just an old witch who's a bit bad on magicking people's shoes and her niece who's a bit better at it.
I really enjoyed this movie, and it's a pity that it's not a serial drama. I would've love watching what other kinds of adventure that Akazukin would encounter.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A satisfying and great end, which is quite rare for revenge dramas usually.
Honestly I didn't know what to expect for this drama to be concluded, but I'm quite enjoying the ride Part one let us witness Dong-eun planting her seed of vengeance all around and preparing her ultimate revenge. So part two is when we're finally able to see how Dong-eun utilize everything that she have planned!Have to say that I really was so excited here, since part one had been leading us to the climax and the climax in part two managed to keep the momentum going without faltering. And something that is worth to note in this part two was, that so far as much as she have been planning this revenge for so long... her side hadn't really taken any active aggressive actions against her enemies and instead use her opponents weaknesses and arrogance to cause them to lead themselves to fall to ruin. If that wasn't brilliant, I had nothing else to say. But seriously I'm enjoying the mind games. It's nice to see that as much as Dong-eun barely committed any illegal acts aside from stalking people, instigating and manipulating people's actions to suit her plan; she still managed to get her revenge plan going. It was pretty clever, like I know revenge is bad and all that jazz, but dang... technically it'll be hard to prove that she have committed any wrongdoing (cos ultimately the ones who ended up doing the deeds of destroying her enemies was not her.) Real world moralities aside, who would not enjoy a story where people who do bad things be punished and getting their just desserts? And in this story, we're seeing stuff like victims of violent abuse taking charge of their lives and taking back their honor and selfworth.
And as much as there's no glory in doing bad deeds or even of committing acts of revenge, I'm really glad that this drama had a happy ending for Dong-eun. I mean, in the past, for revenge dramas that aren't daydramas, we usually don't often get a real happy end... and the MC tends to get sad endings after their revenge was completed. But this trope didn’t happen to Dong-eun. And as much as this part 2, still have some loose ends left wide open... it's still a pretty good conclusion to the story. Got to say that the whole cast and production team really did well to make this drama so engaging.
While some might say that it's dissapointing that Dong-eun's revenge didn't end up becoming more violent, I really like this outcome since despite the fact that the original five bullies did bad things deserving of violent punishments, there are still innocent people like Yesol and Doyeong. And I'm just happy that Dong-eun's revenge did not end up consuming her and allowed her a chance of a happy end (to which many other MCs of past revenge dramas didn't get. )
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A story of first love and of one true love, suppose we could find plenty of such kinds of stories being written throughout the years. As much as everyone would've at least experienced love at least once in their lives, what are the odds that your first love would be the true fated love for you? Chances are that the odds of that coming true could be one in a million or may be more. But what it such a miracle could happen to you?First Love: Hatsukoi was such a love story yet it wasn't quite a full fairy tale love story. Unlike love stories in faity tales our main pair didn't quite get their happy ends so easily. Through a fated encounter, their lives started to change. And as they strive to reach out achieve their dreams, they encountered many obstacles along the way as their lives took a detour into different directions before crossing paths again in order to reach the end.
As much as this drama was a love story, it can also be considered a coming of age series. At first Namiki Harumichi's life didn't seem to have any specific direction, but after meeting Noguchi Yae he started to have a dream to which he aimed to achieve with everything he's got. You can't help noticing how Harumichi and Yae start to shine as they strove to achieve their dream. Yet due to an unexpected accident, both of their lives took a different turn. The two parted way afterwards and that seemed to be the end of that relationship, but what if fates decides to give them a second chance? This drama basically try to explore that possibility.
The drama had a very beautiful and cinematic visuals and it also had a unique storytelling where past and present intertwined to tell us the story of what shaped the lives of both Harumichi and Yae. And because of that, it made this story pretty refreshing despite the recurring theme of first love as well as amnesia as a plot twist.
One would argue that the story could've been better if Harumichi and Yae's circumstances were switched but I'm glad that it wasn't. Since the plot would've been a bit too similar to Winter Sonata and I wouldn't have liked that.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Long time since I've seen Rain in any dramas so I forgot how charming and funny he could be. I certainly didn't expect to really love this drama which was basically a medical Rattatoulle drama with coma ghost instead of a rat.Rain is really so lovable as the genius cardiothorasic surgeon Cha Youngmin. He really embodied the character description of being like a viper on the outside but actually a softie inside. Kim Beom was unexpectedly adorable as the cute chaebol resident doctor Go Seungtak. I totally didn't expect to be endeared to the childish Seungtak who seemed out of place at a hospital when he didn't actually have any skill besides being studious.
Rain and Kim Beom really did well in potraying the mentor-rookie relationship between Youngmin and Seungtak, even when this relationship didn't actually start on the right foot. Between a kind-hearted doctor who had worked hard to achieve great skill that could even be called genius yet ended up becoming jaded due to some twists in life and a resident whose merits was only on his vast knowledge he learnt but never did any surgery work due to the trauma from his childhood as well as his ability to see spirit causing him to be scared of doing surgeties, it was interesting to see how their life started to change when the two of them meet and forced to work together. It was interesting to see how Youngmin start to recover his old self and to see Seungtak becoming more determined to overcome his fears and become a real doctor.
That said, Uee and Son Na Eun were great as the romantic interest of both the male leads respectively. As much as most of Youngmin-Sejin scenes are quite melodramatic, there are still some cute parts in between and Sejin does still have parts where she had to remain strong. The same can be said about Soojung, and I love all the comical and heartwarning interactions between her and Seungtak.
While there weren't much romance in the drama, I love the fact that the actors were still able to subtly bring out those elements and show that these characters really do love each other. Like as much as we barely see Youngmin and Sejin interact normally aside from the flashbacks, we can see how both of them struggle with their sorrows as Sejin tried to find ways to revive Youngmin and how Youngmin couldn't do anything but watch her suffer because of him. There's really a lot of melodrama in Youngmin-Sejin pairing that it make sense why Youngmin would've wanted to reset that and made it a romcom. Soojung and Seungtak pairing was also cute seeing how the pair tend to support each other in their own way, which made it even more interesting when we get more revelations on their relationship beyond just being childhood friends.
Tae Inho's character reminded me about another similar character he played in Descendants of the Sun, but hey, every medical drama do need its villain and he seemed a perfect fit. Gotta say it was interesting to see Sungwon's relationship with Seungtak and compare it with Youngmin.
Sung Dongil was amazing as the resident ghost that still haunts the hospital and still occasionally helped out with things at the hospital. It was really heartwarming to see Tess calmly watching over the living and those stuck in limbo for 20 years at the hospital, even more once you find out about his real identity. Honestly, with every episode we receive tit bits about Tess's true identity and I just can't stop feeling amazed at how the little pieces of the puzzle just fits together.
As much as the drama was medical and supernatural in nature, one can't deny that it was also a family drama. This drama was really heartwarming as it reminds us to be kind to people as well as more thoughfull to others. I wasn't expecting to be drawn towards the stories about the patients and doctors beside the whole premise about a ghost doctor who continued to save people by possessing a living person. It was really fun watching this drama from the start till the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I hadn't been aware that there was a Chinese adaptation of the novel and seriously I'm surprised that this movie somehow slipped my radar lol. But since I was rewatching Perfect Number, I ended up finding out about this movie.This is a very interesting take of the novel, in which the plot more or less closer to novel but 'Yukawa' is now a professor at a Police University and also a Police Consultant. As much as I had mused what an adaptation of Devotion would be like with the original setting, it was a pretty unique experience to see Professor Tang as a police consultant who also still somewhat well-versed in physics.
In terms of adaptation accuracy, this Chinese one was like a merge of the Japanese and Korean version mixed together. I could see parts that are similar to some scenes in Perfect Number (the circumstances on how the initial murder happen, the extra interactions btw the teacher and single mum, how the math teacher end up having himself be arrested) as well as parts from Suspect X (the mountain climb scene, Ishigami/Shihong's attempt to 'kill' Yukawa/Tang Chuan). I'm also amused that the movie also used a bit of reference from another earlier Galileo plot (murder using a sonic device to cause accidents) to add a different twist in the movie.
Still, of all three movie adaptations, I have to say that this one was the least emotional to me. The lack of Higashino-sensei's touch despite the movie was based on his novel was really telling, the movie did feel like its soul had been missing. The plot, as much as it follows the novel much more closely compared to the original Japanese adaptation, felt like it was moving too fast to really allow you to feel anything for the characters. And it still feel weird seeing a 'Yukawa' who willingly helped in police investigations. I guess you could call it a personal bias, since the biggest emotional impact that I love about the original story was the struggle that Yukawa felt trying to investigate the case on his own while also wanting to protect Ishigami and helping Kusanagi to solve the case. When that important element is gone, it just felt weird.
Nevertheless, this was an okay adaptation. Like I did at one point mused about wanting to see how it'd be like if there's a movie adaptation that follows closely to the novel (without Utsumi), and well... here it is.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Haha... after so long I ended up rewatching this old thing, but this time a bit more properly than before. For someone familiar with the Tantei Galileo series, it's hard to not watch this movie and see how the Korean adaptation would adapt the novel compared to the Japanese liveaction version.Well, to sum it simply... this Korean version followed more closely to the novel compared to the Japanese movie. In term of the overall plot at least. But of course, this movie do still have some parts that are changed. To describe it in one line, this movie is what would've happened in Devotion if Yukawa Manabu hadn't existed and instead of him, it was Kusanagi who had been close friends with Ishigami and being the sole person who had to break the trick created by the 'suspect x'.
Got to say that it was an interesting take on the novel, tho there was one con to this. That we didn't have the confrontation between two geniuses, math vs physics, and instead we get the basic detective plot trying to break an alibi trick created by a person who made use of blind spots in logic. Still it was interesting seeing this movie, that we get to see some parts of the novel that wasn't shown in Suspect X. It's also interesting to note that in this movie, the mother-daughter relationship of Yasuko and Misato was changed to aunt-niece relationship for Hwasun and her niece.
The first time I watch this movie, I haven't really paid attention to the casting. But now I really loving it. It's interesting to see Jo Jinwoong play the Korean version of Kusanagi who was played by Kitamura Kazuki. It felt so fated, seeing how later on Kitazuki-san end up playing the Japanese version of Jo Jinwoong's character in Signal. I was reminded of Masha's quote about having a KOH+ song to accompany every Galileo adaptations, and I gotta agree... it does feel like something was missing in this movie when there's no KOH+ song playing in the credits.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
So far I've watched several dramas featuring autistic characters with Savant Syndrome trying to tackle a certain profession in which normally one wouldn't have expected people with severe autistic traits to do. I gotta say that an autistic detective with a Savant Syndrome was something I haven't expected to see. In a way, this was a very interested take in the usual detective genre.That said, as much as the series tackled with cases that was referred to as 'discarded mountain' or cases that tend to be discarded once it was determined to not be criminal in nature, the series itself tend to not be on the serious side and more comedic at times.
The tone could also be intentional as well since I do note how at times certain scenes somewhat contain a parody of other shows (like the Galileo references) or real life (like how there's the running joke on Sawa being a divorcee, which may be influenced by the fact Kitamura Kazuki had divorced with his wife the same year). The show even in some instances broke the forth wall.
Overall the drama was really fun and quirky. Gotta say that the characters really start to grow on you after a few episodes and that was one of the reason that it felt easy to keep watching the rest of the episodes till the end.
Was this review helpful to you?