Nicely Balanced Slice of Life Murder -Mystery with a Dash of Romance

This is a story about a girl who got tired of exchanging her time and self respect for money and honestly just needed a break... So she sold pretty much all she owned and decided to take a much needed break acting pro actively before it would have been to late and she would have hit a wall...

Having pretty much 0 obligations (ok one annoying older brother), she could basically go wherever her very tight budget let her and ended up in a town by the sea with a library and a mystery to solve... It was of course not her job to solve that mystery but living in a murder house for the sake of being able to live on her budget kind of put her in the middle of things.

On her way to figure out just how little she wanted to have in her life she found a family, friendship a running partner and some slight romance.

So if you are looking for a bubbly, steamy romance you may want to look pretty much anywhere else with the genre romance... as the most intense romance is probably provided but the teens in this show and not by the leads. However if you are looking for some really good friendships, growth and life is neither black or white and definitely not always easy... truths can change, trust is complicated and domestic violence is also complicated. And a slight murder mystery that is highly predictable but will keep you on your toes... This is a good place to find it.

I must warn you thought that there are a bunch of cringey monologs, annoying elements here and there, loud crying and drunken scenes that are just off... There is however also a really cute dog, Im Siwan running, a lot of running as well as him in a wet t-shirt, as well as great umbrella and rain scenes all around it.

There is also a decent message telling viewers that what is good for you may not be good for the next so stop judging people by your own standards... The drama has a pretty good balance between entertainment and quality so it is an easy binge with lots of lovable characters.

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Big Mess (in a good way)

This is one of those dramas that is a bit hard to rate, the story is overall good, the production amazing and the actors are all professionals who know what they are doing. Teaching viewers never ever to drink, well anything while driving, to not trust anyone and that it only takes one moment to make a fatal mistake that will kill you...

The story is some kind of combo Mouse, Prison Play Book, Big Boss and Erin Brockovich with a twist... And a couple of plot holes. It started. off trying to portray Big Mouth as a guy who is slightly pathetic, happily married with a great found family in his father in law but kind of a looser, and well though Lee Jong Suk does do a good job trying to portray that guy, I could not really buy it and did not really enjoy seeing him that way... However I assume that was there to make way for the rapid character development that followed. Beside that first episode of pathetic Big Mouth. The rest of the characters and their characterisation was done really well, they were all divers, complex and mysterious enough to make me suspect more or less anyone as Big Mouse during that first part of the drama. All good things that had my head spinning in. a good way.

There are also quite a few great pebels of romance, that truly add that something to this drama, and though it is not in any way a romance, those pebels where a lot better than many scenes in pure romcoms. Me a romance junky would have loved to see more of those... Maybe in a drama special...

The villains in this are as corrupt and evil as it gets, while I would say I have seen quite a few evil rich and corrupt people portrayed in dramaland... I found that the villains here actually managed to beat quite a few of the previous evils I have seen. So I would say the villains here are defiantly among the top villains of dramaland.

There were however a few draggy parts in the middle, some a bit to predictable parts and some stuff that where clearly only there to confuse us. There where also a few social issues mentioned here and there such as domestic abuse, and doctors ethics but they were not really explored...

At some point the drama changed direction, while some may not like this I really enjoyed the shift and found the second part really interesting, and while I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed I was kind of impressed over how they wraped it up.

So people, do not drink anything and drive... heck why not avoid contact with liquids all together... But if you do enjoy watching evil, corruption, eat the rich type of stories and do not mind a few plot holes here and there this may just e a good fit for you.

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A drama that uses weather to make a mess out of the romance...

Relationships should probably not be like the weather, but apparently forecasting love is as hard as forecasting the wether... Or in this case it seems kind of hard to forecast the twist and turns but the experienced drama watcher will probably be able to predict most of it anyway... or well we may not know exactly when it will start raining but at some point or another it will rain and the umbrellas will take over... Or something like that, this may seem like the average noona rom com with well known tropes etc but is more of a slice of life, weather Mello with some steamy romance on the side.

As it deals with a lot of relationships, parenthood, fatherhood, marriage, infidelity etc.

The second couple in this drama start off as these lower than lowest, conniving, impulsive, cheaters... Painted as the lowest scum on earth in the firs episodes but then take a turn and get a lot of screen time, as a second couple there to teach us about the struggles of newly weeds. A part of me enjoyed the way these got to be more than evil stereotypes and did actually like the second female lead. However I did find it a bit hard to truly get past the way they were portrayed in the beginning making it really hard to root for them as a couple.

The third couple with the sister involved was highly predictable but kind of sweet at times annoying other times.

The FLs mother is as nosey, needs a bunch of lessons in boundaries and you do not own your kids.... and is annoying as annoying gets, well acted (so no hate to Kim Mi Kyung).

The MLs dad... is one of those you want to send to jail and hope he never comes ear his son... And while I did enjoy watching the dysfunctional parent, I was so annoyed at his character as well as how the writers felt with several situations that it did drag down the score.

The side characters struggle as well as their family situation was interesting and aded flavour to the drama but it did also take away a bit to much focus from the leads.

I was expecting a cold FL, but got a busy lovely Park Min Young, with chemistry and sunshine inter eyes... and not so much cold.

The drama does manage to convey the importance and challenges the wether service has which was at times interesting but it did get to be a bit to much... To be honest there are a little bit too many distracting elements to truly root for this couple. or get invested in the romance, which was a bit of a shame. I was debating if I should give this a 7,5 or an 8 but rounded it up to an 8 because it does show an interesting, yes distracting, but still interesting pallet of relationships and wether + great visuals to give that little extra push towards an 8.

Bingeabilaty: 9
Annoying elements: Medium

An ok drama, but could be better...

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Interesting twists and well casted

This drama start off pretty mediocre having not much interesting happen during the first episode, not really reeling in the viewers, but as the story unfolds it becomes more and more interesting and less and less predictable leaving each episode with the feeling of wanting more, and not having the slightest idea of what is to come, ok some parts where a bit predictable, like pateley order of death but the rest seemed to literally jump out of nowhere. Keeping me on my toes from episode 2 and on.

The story is certainly interesting to watch and had my otherwise heard to get to watch dramas husband taking initiative to both start watching after we left off and keep going in to the night.

The cast here is plain brilliant, all do their job well, the characters are over all well written, no one is just there as comic annoying type comic relief. The main characters are complex beings allowed to show both a tough and soft side to them making them more human. There is a slight mix of issues, cuteness, ethics, politics, and dooms day feel to it mostly well balanced adding to the plot without making it too confusing (with a few side steps but they are forgivable) . The cinematography is also beautifully done. but I must warn you there are some pretty grose scenes as well...

So all in all this drama worth a watch for those who want to be kept on their toes while enjoying some pretty good acting and visuals.

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Soju wrapped up in a show...

This drama is about 50% drama, 50% soju commercial. Sometimes Soju will be fun and sweet while other times it will taste bitter and if you drink to much at once it will just not be fun... But this will not give you a hangover so it is a lot safer than actually drinking soju.

While the bingabilaty is low and there are a bunch of annoying high pitched elements, and some really awful crying scenes the show is fun, has great food shots, it is fresh shows great friendships while sneaking in an issue or three to the mix of episodes without having to much depth...

All in all an enjoyable watch and I am in deed looking forward to seeing a season two of this. I hope they will talk a little bit quieter and not have to cry as much in the next season though.

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okay, painful for the ears but has a bunch of sweet moments too

Some dramas seem to be made to be watched in 1,5-2x speed and well so is this one, the story itself is a tad confusing (could be the double speed, but I do not think so) some parts are rushed others take forever and some even seem slow in double speed... The drama does however not have one single overly annoying character making you want to skip scenes, the dialog has a whole lot of great gems and the characters are mostly lovable...

There is a great bromance that at times made me wonder how they got thru Chinese censorship seeing there was obviously something there even if they where in denial.

The male lead made one of those mortal sins in my eyes so he lost a whole lot of points even if even the drama has a pretty healthy take on unrequited love and does seem to be able to differentiate overly persistence from flat out stalking. The female lead is pretty cool most of the time and I did like her. And did enjoy the moments of sweetness between her and the male lead.

I also enjoyed the pets, the friendship, the grandparents and the huge amount of balloons used for this production as well as the aesthetics of the umbrellas and the stage.

A lot of this drama seems to follow other logic than human logic, can it be that it follows some kind of opera logic that I am not aware of?

The sound of the Chinese opera is part of the story, but my very sensitive ears did not appreciate the sound as much as the story... So for those of you who are like me I would like to point out that the mute button is your friend (sorry opera lovers). The other OST was actually pretty decent, so was the filming (ok it was sllllooooooowwwww) but the aesthetics in this drama are just gorgeous.

All in all not really my cup of tea but an okay drama to watch.

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Fluff meets gaming

This drama has allot of sweetness, cute animals and some interesting issues. The characters seem to grasp the notion of consent, the only toxic people are some mild side characters, fans and the media it is pretty low conflict with allot of interesting fun moments great one liners. this drama also deals with some interesting issues so why only 8 stars?

I was actually debating 8,5 but decided to give it 8 stars because well it did not really excite me, do not get me wrong I found myself looking forward towards every episode something in the female leads character bothered me she is not annoying or overly stupid or anything like that but there is something about her that kept me from falling for Smiley ;) the male leads actions where at times odd, being in desperate need of a lesson in communication as well as ownership... but he did redeem himself and had this great charm to him that definitely left me wanting more of him. He also seemed to have had allot of bottled up sexuall frustration seeing once he started kissing he never seemed to want to stop,,,,

When it comes to side characters the second couple was adorable! The the male leads brother was annoying in the beginning but grew on me. A side character named Fatty was way to stereotypical and though he was very sweet there was quite a bit of fat shaming in this drama. Yes that is common in may dramas and yes it bothers me. Fat people are people too and more thaan snack eating punchlines. The teammates where allot of fun and did a great job assisting the couple as well as lighten the mood with some great singing. And then wee have thc pets! Sweet, fluffy adorable pets that definitely stole the show and where allot of fun to watch,

So all in all worth a watch but not WOOOW this is the beast thing I have ever seen...

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Like a mixtape of classic dramas with an unique lead couple

Nothing really screams romance as much as a woman in a wedding gown surrounded by a SWAT team… yes beautiful men in black and big black jeeps...

At first, I thought this was a mixture of Decedents of the sun with, Love is sweet and my little happiness. Then I realized that the creators of this drama must of had allot of fun brain storming classic drama plots to call out or just twist and turn. I assume it sounded abit like this: so where can we put in an evil childhood lover and what can we do with it... and how many close to death encounters can we fit in to this drama? I don’t know if it was meant to be funny but I definitely laughed at them.

The main couple is probably one of the sweetest c-drama couples out there. They make you wonder if it may be worth being taken hostage if it means you will meet a guy like him, but then he was the only one like him in his team so I wouldn’t take the risk if I had a choice... They truly evolved as a couple and had this great awkwerdness at first that turned in to this fun and mature relationship with allot of humor such as:
Ml - my sister will skin me alive!
Fl - what are you worried about I will stitch it back on for you.

Though the male lead did have light stalking tendencies in the beginning it was more of a I want to help you without you knowing because otherwise you won’t accept my help, and not a I’m going to find out everything about you so I can own you kind of stalking so I forgive him.

The male lead actually never forced himself on the female lead not even the classic kiss her in her sleep or when she is too drunk to remember kiss. Though he did make the classic mistake of listening to his dumb friend he was otherwise a truly amazing guy who didn’t mind showing his abs…

The female lead is smart, funny, self-aware and really kind without being overly naive. A truly lovable character.

The side characters have their ups and downs some of them are awesome others mid annoying to sweet at the same time and one was truly a nuisance, a good looking nuisance but still a nuisance.

To sum this up this was a fun drama, with an adorable couple and lots of everything

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Cotton Candy Costume in the Clouds... With Thunder

Come away with me.... and will kiss... Watch this drama and get swept away to a fluffy worlds high up in the sky gorgeous colors, flying whales and flowers as far as the eye can see.

This is a drama that you start watching and without noticing you have seen 10 episodes and long for more. The plot has a lot of well known and well loved tropes and cliches, and can feel a bit rich a costume dram made light and highly accessible making it a dram that fits both new comers and people who have seen a lot of these, as far as I understand, me I am more of a newcomer but not a complete nube.

What I love about this is the pace, the visuals and the rare fact that no one annyd me to the extent of me wanting to skip scenes. Do not get me wrong there is one annoying character and a whole bunch that had my blood boiling. But the annoying character was manageable and got less annoying with time. The blood boiling types well they kept my blood boiling throat and in a good way.

The female lead is a naive one, but not to naive and though she may not always be my cup of morning dew at the end of the day she has some pretty powerful scenes, and delivers her character/s really well.

The male lead is just perfect, not in a ooh I want to date this guy but in a entertaining, cute, romantic at times, cold as an iceberg other times. Acting is spot on and the chemistry between the two makes not only fierworks but makes way for a lightning storm or ten...

The Second male lead and second female lead (if that is what she is) are also this rare commodity of lovable but not to lovable. They will not give us SLS but not make us want to throw them in to a pit either.

There is also a pretty good balance between suspense, fluff, intrigues and humour. I for one could not help but laugh every time the cold male lead smiled.

And then there is this whole body swap thing, that always has had some parts to it that have gotten on my nerves in other dramas, but did not in this one so an extra point for that too,

I am in no way saying this drama is perfect, but it is just so pretty, entertaining and definitely worth a watch. It is also a lot shorter than many other dramas of its kind and to be honest I would not have minded another episode or 20.

P.s. This is deffinetly a drama you will want to binge so make sue you have the time for it when you watch it.

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Some good moments but mostly highly questionable... everything

This is one of those dramas that is purely there satisfy all your wrist grab aloof CEO needs, with a sweet, cool, talanted superwoman female lead and a hot n cold, jealous, stalkish narcissistic completely obsessed male lead, He is also extreamly competitive, childish and while they seemed to try to make him come off as this guy who strts of cold but becomes a big old sweet teddy bear. The guy actually collected more and more red flaggs as the plot went on instead of dropping them.

Offering such great 'moments as

"With my help she should be able to grow in to a good lawyer" - not as good as him or better, and not due to her own efforts or anything like that...

Making me wish that the female lead would choose single life, the other female lawyer in her firm, her senior who had about 5 minutes of screen time... Just anyone else but the male lead, not the sisters ex but other than him pretty much any other character would have been better.

While part of the message in this drama had moments of progressiveness and he female lead does have her strengths . I did feel that most of the gender roles conveyed in here belonged somewhere in the past... way back, like in the 50s or so.

Basically: Man should protect woman, woman must cook and be soft, man strong and hard. Woman work both home and office man work office protect woman...

The pros: Good female lead, the plot was draggy at times but I did feel like making it to the end, hoping for a break up, still I did not have the urge to drop it. And the while I do not understand why this amazing female lead falls for the male lead,. And she does frustrate me at times. I still loved her and the other female lawyer (Chen Hao Lan) at the firm. The parts that where a bit progressive where actually really good letting the female lead express quite a few issues really well and has some pretty amazing lines such as:

" Whenever we discuss respect, you cant hear me"

Making it an okay watch, honestly just skip everything else and focuse on the female lead, the cute dog and Chen Hao Lan, who deserves a lead role ASAP.

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An easy binge, fun characters and interesting takes on marriage

An easy binge that shows a whole lot of relationships and ways to approach the issue of marriage... Be it facing the pressure to get married, finding ones own path or the whole system of marriage.

To be honest it does get a bit preachy at times and seems to have a very clear agenda telling the viewers to question the restrains the institution of marriage often brings.

It also has a whole lot of interesting discussions about healthy and less healthy relationships as well as the diffrence between slight jealousy and possessiveness driven by male rivalry. While slight jealousy can be cute and may have elements of love possessiveness does not. There is also an interesing show of different perspectives to the same situation. And while a lot of western shows will show women desperate to get married it is kind of refreshing to see men try to hold on to the institution of marriage while the women are the ones to try to oppose it.

The characters in this are lovely, while there are a lot of "eeeh" the over the top comedy is held to a minimum.

The found family, friendships and ways they talk about life in general can get to be a bit draggy and is not what I would say revolutionary but it is pretty ok and holds an okay balance between fluff, prechyness and just a slice of life in general.

A decent watch, that even htough it has some episodic elements is still easy to watch and has a decent red thread that runs through it...

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“Flowers make no sound, yet they contain words that can convey many feelings”

I started watching this drama and before I knew it, it was already over, as it mangaged to captivate me from the start and just kept a hold of me with interesting characters, connections, fears and dare I say one of few dramas with a whole lot of helaing elements that do not make me want to fast forward or throw a shoe at the screen.

The characters are human, real humans with real emotions struggling with love, life and dealing with the world around them all in their own way. Lovable most of time but in need of a lesson or ten in making their own decisions instead of making decisions for others.

I am not sure if I love teh main couple, the siblings or or the best friend, female leads mom or the sign language teacher the most as they are all so different yet so lovable.

I love the dialog, the symbols, gazes, the way they do show a bunch of issues without becoming preachy or pitiful, even the tears in this are well done. And while there are a bunch of stuff I admit could be done better the overall feel of this drama is positive making me overlook the less great parts and giving this a well deserved 9.

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It is all in the shades...

This is a morally ambiguous story about a naive man who moves to Hong Kong to seek a better life for himself and his girlfriend but finds himself changing as fast as the city and well... ends up taking all kinds of turns that may or may not give him and the girl a better life but also throw him on a journey of change, lust and falling in love with someone else than the girl he was supposed to seek a better life for.

There is a strange realism to this story playing with shades of morality and taking us away from the one true love many seem to adore.

Our female lead is really fun, cool and great at speaking her mind while still showcasing some kind of voulnarabilaty and the ability to keep two ideas in her head at the sam time.

There are some interesting lines and schenes that show about relativity and change.

A pretty decent film

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An interesting take on society

There is something about this movie that reminds me of My mister, not that it gets near to the mindblowing dialog and content that you get in 16 episodes but more of a preview, My Mister with the same feel and a bunch of pretty good lines. A movie that offers a mist of My mister that covers a movie about found family, prostitution and above all adoption.

Through the characters of this movie could be deemed in somewhat extream situations the moive offers is a an odd familiarity, day to day... beige feel to it.... Not at all out of the ordinary yet still really out of the ordinary all at once wich is pretty cool.

There is a great show of character development and change of discourse throughout the movie that highlight a whole lot of important issues and the importance of safety nets and or support systems and how it is all connected.

First we let social wokers have their go, and when they fail it is the cops turn to swoop in...

The actors did a great job, the cinematography was dark and depressing (which fit the movie really well) and the story is one that needed to be told.

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Poetry at its darkest

This is one of those grey movies that tackle a very serious issue or maybe even several serious issues by looking at them from bystanders point of view. With very low entertainment value but high artistic, depth and I guess emotional value. An in-depth window to the value of the less affluent female population of the world.

This is a mans world, a world obsessed with the third leg... A world where that third leg can be used to completely opress someone else ln the name of boys will be boys or in the name of a mans got needs...

Like poetry every word is a symbol in this movie every shot seems to symbolise something, nothing in this was left to chance from the color of the flowers to the direction of the wind.. Though there are a lot of flowers and somewhat colorfull patterns they all seem to be shown though a filter of grey... and the only light that seems to be in sight is the fading memory of our female lead...

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