Nicholas louie
Canada
Not my cup of tea
As a fan of the webtoon, the webtoon ofc establishes the characters and their motivations much more clearly and in a timeline that makes more sense. I haven't read the web novel so I'm not sure how much they pulled from there vs the webtoon. But I'm honestly unsatisfied with the changes they've made to the story at least from what I've read and known from the webtoon. It feels like they watered down a perfectly good plot and characters into something much more generic. Like the source material was great, handed to them on a silver platter, and they chose to make unnecessary changes like adding in this rival (Yura) for Jiwon, watering down Jiwon's character into someone much less resolute or ruthless with her desire to really take the reins back on her life, involving Eunho much more than needed to in order to exacerbate the "love triangle", taking away the accomplishments of the other FLs such as Juran and putting them all on Jiwon instead, etc.It just sucks because it's honestly a nice empowering narrative of independence and confidence in yourself and your choices, while also still sharing a message of the power in not being alone and being able to truly depend and have people who actually care for you. But all this was kinda watered down into a generic revenge plot.
A positive I can take away from this kdrama though is that the portrayals of the villains was perfection, Song Ha-Yoon and Lee Yi-Kyung deserves a lot of credit and recognition. All that said, while I highly recommend the webtoon, the kdrama might be a hit or miss especially if you're watching this coming from the webtoon.
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Worth Watching
This was pure joy to watch. I know it was also sadness, frustration, fear and a lot of anger and heartbreak, but it had all the good feelings too!It is of course a very passionate and sweet love story, one of those epic love stories that transcends time and space and no one can't stop from happening, but it is more than that.
This series is about a deeper kind of love. A deep love with that feeling of longing, of wanting to live the best things in life with the people you love, to share with them all their problems and worries and being able to give them hope and care for then when they need you the most.
That love that you need everyday to keep you going. The love that gives you that very warm feeling of belonging. It was such an amazing story full of learnings and beautifully written. The cast is perfect and all of them had amazing chemistry with each other.
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Healing
One thing is annoyingly becoming common in romantic comedies which is a love connection happening when leads are growing. This may used ignite spark at the beginning but now it is the biggest turn off. This is the biggest loophole for Sam Dal and Young Pil story. They have been unconditionally and irrevocably in love only to break up at the age of thirty. Love does not fade and enmity does not make them sour. You know what's going to happen next.The story is a perfect amalgamation of love, enmity and humor. The friendship of the five who gets along even after staying apart all these years will tear you. Even though it is a love that we know, watching the journey through various nooks and holes makes it a beautiful watch. The pain, the relief, the healing, the joy and absolute love all around. A warm slice of life drama about home, family and relationships.
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High expectations led to disappointment
You know what’s crazy I know these actors can act. I’ve seen Jung Hae In provide stellar performances before, and I’ve watched Jung So Min have so much chemistry with Seo In Guk in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes that they make guest appearances together in new dramas years later. But this isn’t hate toward the actors, it’s hate toward the script or directors because the episodes are just too long and too slow. It feels like nothing is happening and everyone is running around in circles. We got so much of Seunghyo’s pov so we know how much he likes Seok Ryu. But we hardly get any perspective of Seungyho from Seok Ryu’s pov.We are shown one glimpse of her when she was a kid saying that she liked him, but that's genuinely it. Like their confessions lacked sincerity and if you’ve watched enough dramas I feel like you can tell they’re just following a script if that makes sense. There’s no casual skinship that a normal real couple would have. And jumping to marriage when we’ve barely even seen them date just feels jarring. It looks like Seok Ryu is just reluctantly accepting his feelings and only confides the truth when something huge happens to Seunghyo or when it’s convenient for her. Like her confession to this boy that’s been in love with her for years, is simply “I realised I’m bored without you for like a day so we might as well date”. And the main thing is NOTHING IS HAPPENING IN THIS SHOW. The plot doesn’t move forward and no one learns from their mistakes.
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Happiness
I can't believe it's over. For the past few weeks, this drama has been such a source of comfort and anticipation. Each upcoming episode felt like something to look forward to, but sadly, all good things must come to an end.What really drew me in was how deeply I connected with the characters and their emotions. Their journeys helped me better understand my own feelings. The show beautifully conveyed the importance of self-discovery and keeping promises to oneself before reconnecting with the people you love.
It also showed abandonment and the experiences of orphans, highlighting how much they deserve love and belonging. And, in subtle ways, it provided thoughtful insights into good parenting and responsibility. The layers of emotion and life lessons it offered made it an experience I won't soon forget.
The writing is sharp, with moments of humor and poignancy that resonate deeply. The supporting characters add richness to the narrative, each contributing to the main themes of perseverance and self-discovery. The production quality is excellent, with beautiful cinematography that enhances the storytelling.
Overall, No Gain No Love had me screaming, giggling, kicking feet in the air for the cute fluff romance, laughing out loud because of the comedy, but at the same time warm my heart as I look through the bonding and relationship between all of the characters.
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Deserves all the praise!
A very heart wrenching plot. The title said "Queen of Tears" exactly, we all were in tears while watching each episode. This drama had taken me on a emotional roller coaster, with each passing episodes, from feeling heart broken for Baek Hyun Woo, feeling loved over how a women can admire her partner secretly to the extreme, feeling hatred and sad at the same time for the antagonist who finally died without getting an ounce of love he yearned for. I would watch this drama over and over again as I might never get tired of it. The chemistry in loving, misunderstanding, fighting and even waiting for each other, between the main cast has been the cherry on top, serving every emotion we needed. Sure gonna miss them as my weekend will never be the same without them, but let's hope for another masterpiece like this in the future. A story of love, family, reconciliation, friendship, character, sacrifice, perseverance, patience, selflessness, humility and so much more.Lessons I learned from watching this drama - Cherishing every moment with your love ones because not all the time, they will be with you, you will part ways for sure so cherish every moments that you have and spend time with them as much as you can before it’s too late.
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WOW
WOW is all I can say for this Kdrama. The acting, the writing, the production, the cinematography was just WOW. Amazing job to the entire cast and crew. Song Hye-kyo has proved once again why she is a famous actress of Kdramas, love how her character could show so many emotions without actually showing them. This series is quite good for binge watching, as you'll get hooked on the first episode.The story of a woman who suffered severe school violence in high school and also how she's risking her life to complete her revenge. The plot is really good and the characters are well portrayed. One of the best dramas I've watched, as the message behind it is so real and affects a lot of peoples lives both childhood and adulthood. The bullies must be taught a lesson. Stop school violence and give others a chance. Some people try to play God and make sure others will never smile. Trauma us also heavily focused on this show. I can't wait till season 2 comes out!
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Masterpiece
'The Good Bad Mother' successfully blends elements of family, romance, and suspense to create a captivating and emotional viewing experience. With Its engaging storyline, well-developed characters, and stellar performances, this drama manages to keep viewers hooked from start to finish. One of the strongest aspects of 'The Good Bad Mother' is its ability to portray the complexities of motherhood. The series also excels in its portrayal of human relationships. The chemistry between characters feels authentic and natural, particularly in the romantic subplot involving Kang-ho and Mi-jioo. However, while the series does an excellent job in creating suspense and emotional engagement, there are moments when the plot feels slightly contrived and predictable. Some twist may not come as a complete surprise to season viewers of the genre, but the strong performances and overall execution compensate for this minor flaw. In conclusion, I highly recommend this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Heartwarming
‘May I Help You?’ Was a very emotional drama to watch, that I nearly cried every episode. The ending was definitely bitter sweet, but I ended up being fine with it. Honestly speaking this drama wasn’t the best, but it’s good. The expression of love, guilt, fear, will to live, selfishness was so properly portrayed. The whole cast did such an amazing job. I just wished we could had seen more sweet and cute moments between the leads, it looks like the writers forgot that this was also a romance drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Give it a shot
This Kdrama is truly underrated. Cliché, love triangle, may be the reason why a lot of people will overlook this drama, but I'll tell you this that's not the issue. Min-ah is probably the reason why I'm watching this, but I'm truly surprised how good Chani's acting is. OST is simply amazing and a gem. While you'll have a good laugh watching this drama, it has a more serious/deeper message behind it than what people think. The life of idols and how difficult their lives can be. Overall good Kdrama but slow paced, should be better because all of the episodes are uploaded.Was this review helpful to you?
The hype was all for nothing
Expectations were low because of past experiences with overhyped dramas, but I still ended up being disappointed. Started out extremely good then everything went downhill after episode 3. For the most part the cast didn't have any chemistry. The Bullies punishment wasn't served well, it was a slap on the wrist at best. The plot twist were bland/underwhelming. Focused way too much on romance and not enough revenge.It's a shame because I'm a big fan of the main cast, but the drama was too flashy that it ended up being boring. It completely lacked suspense and excitement. Unless you have absolutely nothing to watch, save your time and skip this one.
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Overrated
I can honestly say that this drama is overrated. There are better options than this.Same old same old. The ML is a rich boy with zero personality or character depth. The FL is okay, but just okay. Typical characters, zero innovation (or even one original thought) by the writers. Felt that this drama was made in a factory - along with its cast - with how overdone & robotic everything plays out. The comedy was forced and nothing was natural. They have background sounds to force it even more which was cringy.
They def copied many ideas from Business Proposal, yet nothing like it. Can't even compare. I am sure the high reviews are for SNSD's Yoona and 2PM's Junho. Not worth the chance I gave it.
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Better than season 1
Normally when Kdramas have another season they usually end up being a disappointment, but that's not the case with Taxi Driver. Everything from the plot, to action and comedy were done perfectly. This season had a different dynamic than the first, the cases, although they didn't seem like it, were connected, and the culmination came in the last two episodes. The whole cast did such a fantastic job, especially Lee Je-Hoon who showed what it means to be a versatile actor in this series. Lastly, I just want to say that this is easily one of the best Kdramas of the year so far. Just a high standard drama that I highly recommend.Was this review helpful to you?
