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Lies in the vally
While I admit there is love in this drama and indeed some clouds, there are just so many more mountains, vllies and lies in this to make me fully agree with the title.The leads are extremely smart yet oddly oblivious and a blast to watch or at least most of the time, they also have quite a few frustrating moments as well as oh that turned fast... chemistry and gases are decent and so are the kisses. Their spirit animals are adorable too.
The second male lead had such SLS potential but the writers did him wrong, yes it did forward the plot and stand fore some of the twists but honestly cut those parts out and the drama may have been shorter but it would also have been better.
The other side characters are fun to watch and if we ignore parts of the secound male leads plotline there are no annoying characters, not a single really stupid cousin that shows up to ruin the mood.
the first 23 episodes are better than the last 13 but the last 13 are still highly bingeable.
All in all a decent easy binge
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Eventful dark fluff
This drama really has a little bit of everything, friendship, magic, evil, suspense, hidden identities, double identities, depression, sports, romance and bromance... and a cute ghost dogWith a cute bubbly female lead with a hint of bad ass and slight lack of intelligence. A cold to obsessed male lead and a second male lead that is just so cute I got some type of combination SLS and hoping for them to either skip the romance or build a thruople/forple with the ghost where they live happily ever after in a house full of ghosts or letting the secound male lead end up with any one of them as he truly was the brights character in this show.The first half of the drama was a 9 the second a 7 making this a solid 8.
Not a must watch but a decent entertainment, Id say purely entertainment way to pas your time that is sure to grab your attention and keep it occupied.
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Nuance
This is one of those stories that is sure to grab your attention from the start and keep you both guessing and in suspense until the vey last scene.As we meet Yuri, a girl that at an early age already lives with regret and does pretty much all she can to compensate the regret of her childhood. Trying to become a better adult than the ones she met as a child by getting rid of the problem and making sure the predators wont be able to act agin . Some would call it a vendetta, other murder, self defence, protection others defence works too.
However unlike many other vendetta stories out there this one comes with a bunch of messages, consequences, the guilty conscience and a whole lot of nuance and suspense.
We also get a window in to lives of her two friends/non friends (its complicated) . Those who kill together may not always be able to physically stay together, but no bond is stronger than owning crucial evidence of the crime.
Watching this you may wonder how many people will get killed by the end of the story, but it is not the numbers that count but the suspense of not knowing who will kill (and why) next that keeps you in suspense (plus a bunch of other stuff) .
A powerful story, that is easy to binge but not so easy to handle.
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Cringe Up
This is a sweet drama that has the typical hard working poor female lead meets rich guy who only has eyes for her and other aloof guy in a sweet triangle of cheer giving lots and lots of people sls.The cheerleading squad looks like something brought straight out of the 70s disco, making me wonder ABBA is that you?
The female lead has more mood swings than red flags in an old k-drama. She spends more time crying than actually cheering up, she has her moments but after cry number 999 I kind of stoped caring... There really is no middle either she is bubbly and bursting with energy or low on the ground crying.
The friendships are slightly predictable but sweet and most of these characters are indeed sweet and dare I say lovable and at times even fun to watch but i guess not enough to make up for all the cringe and meeh twists in this drama. Nothing is really wrapped upp wall either leaving with a bland taste of I will forget this.... Not even Bae In Hyuks dimples could save his boring character. And for those of you who have seen those dimples you probably know that they are what saved this from getting an even lower score.
I am not saying it is all bad, a 7 is still an okay score but it is just not that interesting...
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Not so Much Love but Winter
This was a decent Thriller, Mystery , Drama not so much Romance but decent couples and a buch of obsessed psychopaths here and there.Our villains are okay portrayed one being a combination of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone meets Saw with a dash of Him... The other just our everyday obsessed bully.
Our leads are of course purer than pure, sweeter than sweet okay they may have some imoure thoughts here and there but they do cater to the one and only deal and ignore all others no matter how much time passes etc. All done in a pretty playfull manor with some really good kisses and decent all round chemistry.
The female lead is actually pretty smart, not when it comes to emotions but other stuff and so are the resto fo the women in this which is kind of refreshing for a C.
The other couples are okay, some better than others and while some of the side characters have moments that make me wonder what happened to their brain. Most of the time tey do thir jobs well and that is good enough.
The level of Protect our heros, Chinese propaganda is also kept under control, and the pacing is also better than a lot of other cs. Mmaking it an okay watch that could have gotten an 8,5-9 but there is just a little bit to much cringe and immature men in this to make it all the way up there.
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Beer n Healing...
This is a story about a bunch of very different people brought together and brought down by the less fun sides of society... or something like that a show of opposites attract and united by barely and maybe wheat toasts.The female lead is cool and fun to watch most of the time, she has a bunch of diffent sides to her : sweet, tough, hard working understanding, kind... But lets face it she is there to show a different way to be a woman
The male lead is soft n cold, sweet n fragile... and tries to show us the dangers of gender conventions and toxic masculinity.
The second couple is there to show family and flaws, playfullness and tthe dangers of fragile felinity.
And the third and fourth mains seem to balance between hetero and non hetero vibes without reaching the gay the whole way...
The amount of annoying elements, characters and slapstick contrast moments are a bit overwhelming at times but htey are not as bad as the preachy educational tone the drama gets from time to time reminding to stay away from any title that has the word healing amoung its tags. Seriously what was I thinking...
That said there is enough good in this and I did love enough of the characters to give it a 7,5 but if you too are allergic to healy preachy and annoying village people you should probably run away...
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Queen of Ks
The K for K-drama is strong in this one.... offering us everything K- from the Cheobols, psycopaths, revenge bickering, hate to love, love to hate, amnesia and leads who are willing to take at least one bluet for the other.... Illnesses hidden, murder... countryside folks, evil parents, kind parents, soft tears, screamy tears You name it if it has been seen in a popular K odds are you will find it in here somewhere.While I do love my K's it also has my old nemesis healing, leads talking about stuff as one making me cringe just a little bit too much so though I did enjoy the story with all its more or less predictable twists it is the cringe that had me lowering the score but for those who can handle the cringe all the power to you!
Enjoy, for those who rather keep things clean and fluffy without the regular K-drama mess this is not a drama for you so I advise you to watch something else.
I also have to mention that Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won make a great hot and could couple and that Lee Joo Bin was phenomenal in this. The rest of the cast was pretty decent too.
P.s. None of this should be a surprise considering who wrote the script....
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Kind of meeh
The male lead and his ax are really really cute the rest of the cast is kind of sweet, the food is mouthwatering lovely and there are a lot of scenes with half naked sweaty men in a sauna but that is about it.The acting: over the top from most
The kisses: meeh
The build up: meeh
The chemistry: better with the ex than the ml
But it is an easy watch that can be easiely binged in a the asame day
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I can see why everyone would love this
This is a sweet, fluffy, easy watch that offers so many miss-understandings it becomes ridiculous yet stays oddly entertaining. If you are looking fo r any kind of substance, realism or I don't know healthy relationships... This is not the place to find it but if you can overlook a bunch of stuff and can enjoy predictability, cliches, misunderstandings and bickering this is a really good place to find it.While the misunderstandings are never ending, and here seem to be a few attempts of including depth as well as a lot of, lets show the world that China can create... with its own culture... You know the usual patriotic stuff us c-fluff viewers have learned to ignore most of the drama is a easy watch and a display of people playing with gender roles, double standards and damsel in distress vs. volgar bad ass like it was 1995... Making me feel all nostalgic inside.
Our male lead is another guy who at times lacks communication skills, and indeed can get a bit macho over protective at times while being the type that can appreciate having smart active women around him... which is kind of nice. He is also portrayed by Lin Yi with all Lin Yi has to offer so for all those who can appreciate Lin Yi this is not a bad place to watch him.
The female lead has more mood swings than number of clicks a on a keyboard in a gaming tournament. And while her characters action should lead to a bunch of second hand embarrassment, she did not really get on my nerves even once (wich is really rare),
The side couples and side characters (including the parents) are lovely too (most of the time).
All in all making this an entertaining watch... Or at least the first 19 episodes or so, the attempts of plot and depth towards the end where kind of meeh...
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Dark and Disturbing... When Parasite met Poetry....
" As I watched the sunset in the dessert, I felt that I too would like to disappear as if I never exist"This movie on the other hand is one of those that will most certainly not disappear silently, and makes sure you know it existed. As it is a highly acclaimed movie and it did have me thinking what am I. missing here, what is actually happening and will I understand this better if I watch this a second time? As there are quite a few moments of confusion planted there to make you question pretty much everything in this movie, including the meaning behind it. making my mind make loopholes so much my head hurt.
There is quite a bit of absurd extremely dark humour here and there .Some pretty deep lines and extreme tension in silence.
I also feel like i must warn you that this movie gives new meaning to the word greenhouse and you may have trouble looking at the Nam-sham tower (or any tower) the same way again.
And while some parts are kind of extreme, there seems to be quite a bit of social criticism, if I was to compare this to Parasite I would say that they share some of the same issues but this one is more psychological, young and most certainly more raw than Parasite. Catering to the critics rather than to the popular audience, something that adds brilliance and depth but removes some of the main stream entertainment value that i must say a peasant like me can adore.
However compared to Lee Chang Dongs (the director of this movie previous movie Poetry, this one has more action and entertainment value making me understand that a lot can happen to a director in 8 years... So on a scale of Mainstream/entertainment to Artistic depth this move is right between Parasite and Poetry
Defiantly a movie worth a watch and worthy of all its praise
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Short, Cute and Funny
This is such a sweet short series, I loved seeing Kim Hye Joon at the beginning of her career, the girls acing may not have been perfect here but it does show what a long way she has come since this was recorded.The story itself is fast, odd, funny with lovable characters, and lovely kisses... there is not much in here that makes any sense but who needs that when you get magical fluff... I think this could have made a great full length comedy if lesbian content had a stronger position in the entertainment industry. That said I am happy for what I got!
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Oh My Cringe!
This was a quick watch, boys over whatever meets 1.100000, meets BL. An inspirational, be positive quote fest of the worst type in some ways yet adorable in other ways... Making me both mad, sick to my stomach but also kind of fall in love with the leads (thanks to a few added bonuses).The good: The leads opposites in every single way, and adorable each in their own way. Giving us a whole bunch of romantic, humorous, positive scenes. Had it not been for a bunch life lesson mumbo jumbos that ruined it I would have loved them even more. At the same time I could actually kind of relate to Nikko, as he is the type to laugh off all the crap. Elis character was a bit ruined by the bad boy to get attention cliche he deserved a better story! Also Nikkos acting was spot on! I am impressed.
The other people around them are pretty decent, they could need a lesson or two in acting, But they ended up lovable in a way and being a fan of clices this kind of works even with the bad acting.
Though the ending does not necessarily call for a second season, I am hoping for one that will save up all that will take a better turn from using people with illness as inspiration to showing them as equal humans...
Here is for hoping!
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More about the Queens than the Umbrella
If you are in it for the Umbrellas chances are you will end up disappointed as the drama starts off showing amazing umbrellas during the first episodes but after that they are pretty much no where to be seen. However that does not make this drama any less good.The drama itself has a very much female centred plot as the boys lovely as the may be are more or les there to give the viewers interesting side stories that support the development of the plot but are not the main attraction of this drama. As the name may entail the Queens are the main attraction, while not so much the umbrellas but the queens and concubines of this drama are what makes this drama stand out. The woman's interactions, scheming, ways of figuring out stuff will keep you guessing, intrigued and make you feel a bunch of stuff.
The story is indeed deep, dark and complicated just like any other political historical drama. However the princes and princesses existence make way for a lot of humour, eye candy and soften the pain every step of the way. Giving this very much political drama the balance it needs to keep you from going under in complicated plot twists, darkness and what not.
Through the show of extreme parenthood of trying to raise kids in a palace setting, we are invited in to timeless parenthood issues (and other issues), tossing us from hating the parents of this drama to loving them back to hating them to loving them basically teaching us that parenthood is tough... Luckily most parents do not have to be terrified of others trying to kill their kids at any given time, however finding a good balance between pressure, caring, paving roads (over others) and survival is indeed a task most parents will probably be able to relate to.
The drama also teaches viewers not to trust anybody especially not to trust your grandparents, doctors, schoolers, maids, politicians, siblings, parents... And be careful what you put in your mouth too...
Making this a drama with a little bit of everything, there are even some tiny (focus on the word tiny) pebbles of romance... that the romance lover in me would have wanted a lot more of as all the potential romance side stories where really good leaving me wanting more of them and less of other stuff...
The pacing is decent while the first episode did not captivate me the second one got me hooked, making way for a good pace of escalating interest for the first half of the show or so before we reached a plato of still interesting pace but just not as interesting or with the added interest the previous episodes had. Giving it a slight down hill before it got back up to captivate me again.
The plot twists in this actually did take me relatively by surprise, I admit some where more more obvious than others but over all most of them took a while to build up to keeping me on my toes for most of the drama. The cinematography is really good! the amount of beautiful shots is almost overwhelming at times.
Bingabilaty :high,
Feels: Medium to high
Quality: High
Annoying characters: not really but a few to many annoying "ooh choohaas... " that got on my nereves.
Cute and lovable characters: a lot
Characters you will want to choke or shove of a cliff: a lot so well balanced
Relevant issues: yes and done well
Humour: not as dark as I had hoped but I did laugh a few times.
What keeps it from reaching a full 10 is:
1. It lacks some closure, as some parts dragged out others where rushed.
2. The middle parts where just not that exiting
3. Some of the logic did not really hold up all the way thru
4. Lack of umbrellas, I felt like the name of the drama and first episodes gave me high hopes that where not completely fulfilled
5. A few to many flashbacks
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3 minutes of fluff 30 seconds of fright
This is just so peaceful and pretty... letting the scenery, looks, and gestures talk for themselves watching this is like a dose of calm... ok the calm music gets interrupted by painful silence... But there is just something about how they used all but words in these to convey so much more and make the viewers feel stuff... So I guess I am impressed and will probably revisit this every once in a while when i need a short dose of calm and a few seconds of angst... because you would not wan to much calm now would you.... As life is all about the balance...Ok enough with my blabbering, Lets just say these 3,5 minutes were well though of, well preformed and defiantly worth both the time I looked for it, watched it and wrote this review.
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Decent but draggy second part. to a decent but draggy drama
The second part started off very promising, the female lead felt all grown up end empowered the male lead had also gone through a whole lot of character growth and the slightly annoying characters had little to no screen time...While most of the characters seemed to have more lives than Bruce Willis in Die Hard there seemed to come a point where peoples who died actually stayed dead, and unless there is a 3ed season the meaning of life and death may actually seem... well meaningful... odd for this type of drama but it could actually happen here (I am not gonna tell you who though because that may actually spoil it). There are some really good scenes here and there, great lines about catered and power..
Such as " The more you hate Spirits the more you can do for me"
All very good indeed...
However some of the twists were a bit too predictable (even for the inexperienced viewer), there is a lot of unnecessary draggy dialog, boring fight scenes... poor graphics, the type that look like an old computer game from the early 00s and while the syrup kept flowing, there was some point where it felt like someone had a thing for vampires, as most of the looked like newly fed vampires just a little bit to many times...
Still I did love the leads.. could be a bias towards the actors, could be that they had lovely chemistry and nice dialog between them, So I guess they are the reason I kept watching and rated it an 8 instead of lower. I wish the plot would have focused more on them and given them more playful and romance time for these two, I also wish the plot made more sense to me...
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