Wow...this was like exercise for the brain & in the end I appreciated/enjoyed the drama for what it offered & what it lacked. Woo Do Hwan's acting brought me sheer happiness.
Mass opinions (especially worldwide) that form a general consensus are closer to reality than a group of elected judges. In my opinion Lee Je Hoon / Taxi Driver was totally shafted. Luckily platforms like MDL, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, etc can filter out some of that suspected "hand greasing" BS.
In a good vs bad I think this drama had more good than bad. I did have road rage feelings every time the club owner had a scene. He needed to be beaten to a pulp for his selfishness/greed & the Rex actor had a blank stare a lot that conveyed nothing. However, the love square was interesting to me & had me unsure of who would end up w/whom in the end.
Liked & disliked Seasons 1 & 2 equally. Each offers something different. Romance for season 3? Even though Go Eun is a character I like a lot, I don't feel like she is the right girl for Kim Do Gi. They should stay in the friendzone. If going military/political season 3 maybe a cameo from taxi driver in "A Taxi Driver" movie or creating a character related to one of them.
With all the heavy themed dramas (revenge, zombies, lawyers, doctors & cops shows) being mass produced, this feels like a breath of fresh air. Enjoyed Sung Joon's portrayal of a broken ML character.
Wow. I put this one off for a long time because BL is not my thing. What a mistake. It's thought provoking , the acting is amazing & that kiss scene..... A prime example of never judge a movie/drama by it's cover or.... tags.
^The commander totally knew his wife would need to have an affair to have a kid & save his pride as a man that's why he left for an assignment for a month. ^The commander handpicked ML ^FL expecting a pregnancy outcome from affair
Loved the surprise of ML's acting skills & choice of this movie.
Glad only 12 episodes. Movies can tell a great story in 1-3 hours, so 16 episodes isn't going to fix a drama/story that isn't well executed. I really enjoyed the humor, lead actors & story potential, but a mishmash of storylines, lackluster romance, & some not so good acting of many support characters I had to give it a 7.
"Shut Up Flower Boy Band" caused me shock & ugly crying. It's interesting no matter how much time passes the drama deaths that stay with ya. Loved your list.
Would love to see an "Actor's Retreat" reality show with the casts of each "Reply" series reuniting for a friendly competition between each drama series. It would be another opportunity to see Park Bo Gum....he attended the "Love in the Moonlight" vs "Itaewon Class" vs "The Sound of Magic reality show.
It is interesting, I normally choose a drama based on the actor/actresses that have been cast vs the theme, but recently I have found what you discuss in this article to be happening to the actors/actresses as well, theme seems to be more important. For example, Choi Si Won is an actor who I consider possessing that Krama "magic" naturally & I would watch whatever he was in. I watched Legend of Hyang Dan, She Was Pretty & Revolutionary Love created 2007-2017 all with that "magic". His most recent Love is for Suckers (2022) pales in comparison/has very little KDrama magic which he naturally possess. Unfortunately, I don't think he is alone in the cookie cutter/modern dark themed drama formula of today. Here are a few (okay I went overboard) suggestions:
[2020 - 2022] --Cheer up --Her Bucketlist --Fanletter, Please --Jinx --Gaus Electronics --Let Me Be Your Knight --Good Job --Love Alarm --Love in Contract --Our Beloved Summer --The Fabulous --Birthcare Center --Twenty-Five Twenty-One --Do do sol sol la la sol --Yumi Cells --Kiss Goblin --Dali & the Cocky Prince --Lost Romance --Start-Up --True Beauty --A Beautiful Life (loved the Chinese version too)
The Magic is still there it is just a little harder to find these days. =^.^=
Recommend: WATCH DRAMA 1st. The movie was better than drama. The kids in the end confused me a bit. I think they were the same kids from lecture. The boy finding the ring + giving it to his girl in the present signifies that ML/FL's love will go on in the future in a different path. However...ML had fixed up the hut, but it seemed to be dilapidated when boy found ring, suggesting some time had passed, so maybe 1 of 2 kids was theirs?
^The commander totally knew his wife would need to have an affair to have a kid & save his pride as a man that's why he left for an assignment for a month.
^The commander handpicked ML
^FL expecting a pregnancy outcome from affair
Loved the surprise of ML's acting skills & choice of this movie.
[2020 - 2022]
--Cheer up
--Her Bucketlist
--Fanletter, Please
--Jinx
--Gaus Electronics
--Let Me Be Your Knight
--Good Job
--Love Alarm
--Love in Contract
--Our Beloved Summer
--The Fabulous
--Birthcare Center
--Twenty-Five Twenty-One
--Do do sol sol la la sol
--Yumi Cells
--Kiss Goblin
--Dali & the Cocky Prince
--Lost Romance
--Start-Up
--True Beauty
--A Beautiful Life (loved the Chinese version too)
The Magic is still there it is just a little harder to find these days. =^.^=