Slow, depressing, aggravating but amazing friendships indeed...

This drama looks all fluffy and sweet on the outside with its flowers and smiles but ones you get near the characters the fluff disappears and you get some pretty real humans, that you find yourself wanting to throw off a cliff...

Ok maybe not all of them and maybe not a cliff but still... There is something about most of the characters that just got under my skin and even if most of them also had good moments and interesting stories very few of them where actually lovable...

On paper this drama is prefect, the cast is amazing and well casted. The acting is flawless, the OST fits, the cinematography too,.. there is some pretty good and powerful dialog, and I would say the writing and directing feels real and high quality in some way... The story touches some pretty important issues too. So part of me would love to say this is just the perfect drama... It is divers and finally tells the stories of elderly people, stories that are seldom told and I want to see more of. Also showing some pretty admirable and amazing friendships that have lasted for so many years...

But no matter how great this drama is when I try to look at it objectively. it failed in entertaining me and making the story relatable for me. Or was it I that failed?

No matter how much I loved parts of it and wanted to love this drama I could not do it. Honestly I found myself pissed of about 90% of the time, feeling bad for some and wanting to shake some sense in to others... + just say run away, run away... Though I could relate to some of the stories told, the way they handled it got my blood boiling . the pace is slow and I honestly think you could watch part of it in 1,5 speed without noticing.

Another thing that kept bothering me was that the story was told about these women from they writers perspective and not so much their own, I guess I would have wanted to hear more from the elderly and the people with disabilities that are shown in the drama.

Also The main mother daughter relationship shown here is really toxic, and just terrible, the drama would have been so much better without it.

Even though this has a lot of elements that bothered me, I still think this drama is worth watching and therefor do recommend it.

Read More

Life is such sweet sorrow... Death too... heck it is complicated

Have you ever wondered what would happen to Romeo and Juliet if they where to meet again? Just that here it started in the late 80s, in Thailand and both are men.... but even the drama itself makes reference to the shakespeare so I am pretty sure that was part of what the writer was thinking when writing this drama. To be honest I find this one so hard to rate that it is ridiculous,... jumping between anything from an 8.5 to an 11.

The story is really interesting, playing with a well known classic and a very delicate subject, in the beginning of the drama I almost feared that this drama was a little bit too positive towards suicide but as the story progresses it becomes more and more clear how complex this issue is, and one may start to wonder if it is a happy or sad thing to meet again... and regain all those painful memories from ones past life... I can not stress enough how deep they dive in to this and what a great job they do showing this in a respectful way. However the sobbing and constant tears that follow did become a bit to much at one point. I could understand the need for it but at some point it became slightly tiersum... However I do not know if that is a good or bad thing. Also it does become slightly far fetched..

The characters in this drama (both past and present) are really lovable, interesting, well preformed and I would say pretty well written.

Phram is this sweet delicate soul, tormented by the trauma from his previous life. He is such a sweet little kitten (scaredy cat) making you want to protect him from all harm. This boy seemed to have no middle ether he is this cheerful bright guy or terrified and covered in tears.

In (past Phram) is such a sweet bundle of energy and joy, kind of like Phram could have been if he had not been tormented by his past life.

Dean is also very lovable, some may say he is kind of cold but he is actually a very warm caring teddy. The type to be there and make you feel safe. Though he does have a few issues too, he shows a lot of respect towards Pharm and seemed to understand the importance of consent (most of the time).

Korn (past Dean) is also very lovable, except for the whole killing himself in front of his dad and lover... (first scene of the drama) he comes of as this calm, wise and kind older brother.

And the rest of the characters are (mostly) easy to love, show development and fit their purpose well be it for product placement of Lays or make up... they just fit in so well.

Other strong points of this drama are the desserts and swim team... Also it has one pretty great umbrella scene!

This is definitely a drama that will keep you interested and have you feel a whole range of emotions and therefore a drama I highly recommend.

Read More

Attention! You will need patents... also like love shapes

This is one of those hard to rate dramas, while it has a whole lot of pros it does have some cons too. But if I where to describe it I would say it is a cross between A Love so Beautiful, with a dash of Playful Kiss.

The female lead here is strong, fun cool and in need of direction. She is in touch with her emotions without coming off as pathetic but has trouble understanding her worth and seemes unable too see the male leads shows of affection by deeds instead of words.

The male lead is a bit a psycho, though he takes waaaaaay to much time to admit to his feelings as well as trus his self worth. He does actually use words to talk with the female lead. Not always the words she needs to hear but still they do use words and that is not bad, not bad at all!

The second male lead is the perfect mixer to spice things up and keep the story interesting instead of just frustrating (at times).

And then there is Angelina, a girl I wanted to choke in the beginning of the show but had this amazing energy making me completely fall in love with her by the end of this show wishing for a spin off or gust a series of Angelina's takes on life... or I do not know Attention sisterhood of for the girls in this drama.

Greg Hsu character was however so extremely not worthy of Greg Hsu, Greg did of course do a great job but I do not know what the people who casted him as a looser here where thinking.

There are several other interesting issues that get some (very little) space as well as complex and interesting characters done right.

It was also nice to see so many familiar faces from great dramas as Someday Or One day and Rainless Love in A Godless Land... in small roles, again done well.

The plot is not really mind blowing and some twists are more fun then others, some twists even seem boring and unnecessary but it is still worth a watch. To be honest I would probably have appreciated it more if I had seen it earlier in my drama career since the first time you see a trope often means more then the tenth... However it is well done and a lot of fun!

Read More

Sweet, odd and interesting

This drama has just a little bit of everything in it with a steady pace, lovable characters interesting twist and a pretty decent story.

It may not have a lot of logic, but hey it is a supernatural mystery so it does not really have to make any sense, However I did find myself a bit confused at times and while I may enjoy being confused sometimes this was not really the good type of confused... Other then that this is an easy to watch easy to binge drama that will most likely keep you interested and just want to give them all a big hug.

There are very few big issues here and the homophobia and other stuff is kept to a minimum showing a mostly accepting environment while still mentioning common situations that will make it harder to come out to friends and family.

I also like how the lead had a heart condition but was also human with more attributes then just having a heart condition.

All in all not a masterpiece but a pretty decent watch.

Read More

Perfectly balanced mix of all things K-drama that is both good and entertaining at once.

what can I say that has not already been said, probably nothing and I have actually not read most of the reviews for this on here but this is just one of those few (ok not few) dramas that have all the reasons one fell in love with K-dramas in the first place with heart fluttering romance that will make you go all ohh and they are just so cute.... it has suspense, will keep you guessing just enough, and make sure to address some pretty important issues on the side without any of these taking over or distracting from the main attraction of this dram which is the romance.

I once wrote that all the great love stories start off with someone being vulnerable... and well here the screenwriters made use of vulnerability in such varied and creative ways that I regretted not waiting with my article till after I had seen this... But then there is always room for a part 3... anyway besides the 20 shades of vulnerability shown the drama does a great job talking about family bonds, distribution of wealth, social mobility, power relations and shows very clearly moetery capital vs cultural capital in a fun and easy to relate kind of way the leads come of as pretty interesting characters that complete each other perfectly having different types of capital, different types of intelligence, different needs and a whole lot of love and respect for each other. ok yes there is the classic wrist grab and some other stuff but the male lead can actually back off if told to back off, SHOCKING but true.

The female lead is portrayed as lacking in some ways but extremely booksmart, capable, caring and fun. I have seen Park Gyu Young in several dramas, all very different, in this drama she does a great job showing that she indeed is very talented and can pull off a variety of roles.

The male lead is portrayed as an illiterate uneducated cokey pretty boy that only knows and cares about money and food but is shown pretty competent and caring as the show progresses and is just the cutest little teddy bear. That actually does say some of the wisest lines in the whole drama. Kim Min Jae delivers his line beautifully as well as gets several chances to show off his very well sculpted body.

The side characters are mostly well written and fun and are very well casted, but the male leads family was a bit too much and annoyed me, I felt bad for the actors of these parts because I know they are otherwise good so it was not them it was the writers... That family is what pulled down the score of this otherwise close to all I want in a k-drama, drama.

All in all definitely worth watching, easy to binge and just an all round good and entertaining K-drama done right.

Read More

Cute roller coaster ride in less than en houer...

This drama or short web series or well whatever you may call it has the sweetest couple making me smile from ear to ear when i see them interact. But it would not be drama without trouble so in a short period of time these gals take us on a little roller coaster ride giving viewers a small glimpse in to some of the thoughts one may have when trying to decide on what life one wants to live and how openly out one may want be.

The couple is a tag awkward at times bubbly in other situations one of the gals is really honest and a tad impulsive but both are lovable, and so is the side character it is kind of hard to think that most of it is filmed in a small apartment but while the environment may not be that exciting the girls personality males up for it.

I chose to rate this a 9,5 for the content, the chemistry, the sweetness bearing in mind that this is a short low budget production so do not expect miracles but I do recommend people to watch it, is is short enough and available on You Tube so honestly there should not be a reason not to unless it is gone again, and hard to find... so I guess I am telling you make sure to watch it before it disappears here is where:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PLuUQH5CiOw6n9Z0O5ytuQY2EFuvbF_7DX

Read More

Sweet and real... with a touch of sadness

Dealing with life is not always easy, the choices we make the lies we tells others and ourselves to try to hold on or protect people probably work out better in real life than movies... However this movie did have a new take on lies spinning out of hand with a beautiful story of friendship, moving on and I dare say love with a hell load of pain done well!

I loved how this movie took a slightly different approach to puppy love than many high school dramas and even though I know nothing about electronic music, they almost got me sold on it after watching some of the scenes in this movie.

All in all this may not be a feel good movie, and it does leave some questions unanswered but it is beautifully made, touching and will make you feel for these slightly lost soles.

Bonus, it is available on Netflix where I live (rare for c-movies) and a powerful scene marked spoiler.

Read More

Meaningful and complicated

The first couple of episode felt low budget, with some powerful comebacks/one liners from Vlad but other than that nothing really special but as the show progressed I almost forgot that they barely leave the apparmen and we get to see the characters grow, fight, respect each other's boundaries and struggle with their fears and feelings.

This drama feels a bit like an educational drama for allies and for those struggling with internalised homophobia without the educational vibe and without the violence. this drama brakes several stereotypes while respecting and making way for stereotypes too. Handling the process of coming out as well as the importance to come out in ones own pace while still showing the complexity to the process with some pretty good entertainment value as well.

The chemistry between the leads is fenomenal, and every little detail seems to have some kind of meaning.

The main couple is really sweet, the OST and filming fitts pretty well but even though I do not know the budget for this drama it is rated according to content and meaning rather then high quality filming.

Read More

Sweet and inviting

A great mix of good comedy, cuteness, puppylove (including puppies) some pretty important issues and a great message of friendship, sportsmanship and working with each others strengths so to reach a mutual goal.

The first episode showed really well how childhood poverty affect children as well as how many children purposely stay at home or hide charges for activities from their parents to protect them. thus showing the importance of making activities free of charge (or heavily subsidised) so that children can participate no matter their parents walet.

This drama has a wide range of great relations between, found family, neighbours, teammates, parents etc... all go through quite a bit of character development and are just some the sweetest bunch of characters on screen today. The puppy love is also sweet and innocent, abit heteronormative... but we are kind of used to that (they do insinuate the appearance of a gay couple, but only slightly). Anyway the way they interact did make me feel all fluffy inside and reminisce of childhood days... if I was to complain about someone then I did get annoyed with the dad once or twice but over all his daddy awkwardness made me reflect upon myself...

Another thing i loved about this drama was their guest cast including Kim Seul Gi (and allot of other familiar faces) as well as made references to BTS and Jung Hae In (my favorite actor) both by saying his name and one of the sweetest kids ever being named Yoon Hae In... The kids here as a whole are pretty awesome and put us parents to shame without mimicking the grown up world or acting to mature for that matter.

To be honest not being a big comedy fan myself, I ha this on the Ill see it when I get to it list... But having my friends here on MDL constantly write about it pushed me in to watching it as soon as it became available on Netflix in my region (we often get shows a week after they end airing). My friends deserve a thank you because this show rocked!

So for you who are not sure if you want to see it or not, just go for it! It is allot more than the average fight to achieve my dreams kind of drama and fun to watch for most...

Read More

Nothing says I love you as much as being forcibly kissed (this is a bad joke)

I came for the lack of consent, and I was not the least disappointed. Had I come for the romance then this would probably have me running by the first assault. This is a short and intense drama with high pace and and not a dull moment. The leads acting is superb, while some of the side characters could use an acting lesson or two with very few side stories if at all. I found all the characters interesting but in need of allot of emotional guidance.

The drama is called Addicted-heroin, it has very little to do with the actual drug and more with a (several) persons addiction to another person sending them to make some pretty bad decisions (I will write more about those as a comment wit a spoiler tag).

And tells the story of an extroverted rich bad boy who (unknowingly) falls for his stepbrother an introverted poor yet super smart good boy icicle and douse all in his power to own him. While still having a girlfriend and denying his sexuality. Both leads seem to have connections to having (had) girlfriends with an addiction to them who need to learn to let go.

All in all an interesting watch, just be prepared for sexual and physical assault, and most importantly what ever you do not have this as relationship goals, or in any way accept this kind of behavior when seeking a partner.

Read More

For those of you who want to feel angry, emotional and nervous.

This was definitely a ride... some parts may have been a little bit unnecessary and felt more like fillers to keep the drama going or it could have added depth to how heard it is to break loose from a cult. The way the cult was portrayed reminded me allot of prayer-meetings I was forced to attend as a child and where therefor very entertaining for me. The series really takes prayer-meetings to an extreme... which is it's genius!

This series does not sugarcoat anything, the adults are plain evil and while other dramas would have you get your hopes up by finding all sorts of clever unrealistic solutions this one keeps you hoping...

I have loved Seo Ye Ji from it's okay not to be okay so it was no surprised that she would be brilliant but had only seen Woo Do Hwan in Tempted which I dropped so wasn't really impressed by him earlier but am now fully crushing on his smile.

The drama definitely kept me on my toes from the first episode all the way to the end.

Read More

This is probably one of the most important dramas I have ever seen, while constantly keeping me on my toes.

I loved the way they portrayed motherhood from different angels and are not afraid to show uss that not all mothers are naturaly good mothers. But are not shy to show the role stigma and lack of saftynets have for making and attracting predators thrue several generations wile showing that there are different ways to react to thease sercumtanses and the possibility of growth.

I also loved how realistic this drama was, even though I some times wonderd how the child could survive which gave a die hard feel to it while still staying realistic.

I also loved all the different relationships that where formed in the drama, and how many people it takes to survive on the run. Not to mention things one may encounter on the run.

Read More

Fallen star done right

This is another one of those dramas that just draws you in and before you know it it is over...

To be honest we have seen this type of story before in several dramas, all rated highly by me, and all loved in their own little way. This drama does not have a lot to add to the lot of dramas of this type story wise even if it does have a slightly different angle and has the star fall a bit deeper than most other dramas do.

HOWEVER it does have Suzys amazing acting, singing and all round awesomeness.

It also has really beautiful cinematography a bunch of lovely friendships and extreamly few moments of annoying.

The biggest downside of this drama is it leaving me wanting more, as well as the high age of the actors supposed to play 21 yearolds (not very believable, sorry). However the acting, chemistry, kissing, emotions are all spot on and I loved pretty much every second of watching the interactions between the leads and the second female lead.

Definitely a drama worth watching for all those who can appreciate watching falling star dramas and can handle some darkness and spunk.

Read More

Roupers in the House...

This is one of those dramas that is a little bit hard to rate as it has a lot of good but is cluttered by annoying characters and low, really low humour that at times made me cringe as well as could be interoperated as a bit offensive.

As the drama has lots of gossipy over the top characters . those who like the tenants n Vinchenzo, and the village people in Hometown chacha chat will probably love these too. I on the other hand get really annoyed by them. And my oh my there is so much gossip in this dram that you may come to the conclusion that the best move in life is moving out to a desserted island to live alone...

However I do like the Gilmore girls dynamics between the mom and the oldest daughter. I especially love the daoughters stubborness, coffee addiction and the way she interacts with her male lead.

The dog is cute as a button,

While I say I like the daughter the most all 4 leads as well as the relationships, flirting, dynamics and what not are relly, really good... Give or take, as a few moments that made me a bit mad and oh how I wish to see someone stick to the hate... but overall these are not bad,.. not bad at all.

Read More