A sweet preview
This little short two episode series/short ilm feels like a great preview ro what could have been a decent drama, short sweet a series that offers lovely chemistry and probably one of the best kissing schenes I have seen in a long time.Yes I wish this had a bigger budget, more episodes and just more of everything but considering how short this is they did a pretty impressive job. So hats off, and if you have about 20 minutes that you are not sure what to do with, watching this would be a pretty good use of that time.
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Hot n meeeh
This is a drama that takes you on a journey of insecurity and dives in to the minds of the two leads with kind of theatrical affects making it at times hard to distinguish between the inner and outer world...The supporting characters in this do one hell of a job supporting the main story, and saying what the audiance is thinking. And the tension and physical scenes between the leads is hotter than pyrolysis... or I don't know a car left out in a dessert during a heatwave... But between those scenes I find myself feeling nothing... As if something is missing without knowing what is actually missing? It could be a loack of build up and interactions between the leads, or jumping from one relationship to another type of deal... or maybe it is the lack of communication... or all of the above plus something more.
That said the drama was indeed a J-drama a bit different than most things I have seen, an easy binge... Also the styling of the whole cast was lovely!
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Crash Course in K-dramas
This is a story that basically tells us that the rooftops of Korea are a bit to easily accessible while hitting the top floor in society is d*** hard.It is a true K-drama with a sure way to get bingo in a game of K-tropes and cliches... So if you have seen a drama or two before you are bound to recognise the twists ahead (with a few exceptions). So to love this you must be the type who loves cliches and well luckily I do.
You must also love watching slow paced romance, found family and the wide range of bad parents found in dramaland as they truly have gathered bot the supportive, the selfish, the insane, the corrupt the pavers... yep pretty much every single parent I have ever written about is in there (except for the same sex).
There are several couples in this drama, all good and frustrating in their own way, several issues are addressed a long the way while the main theme is indeed student pressure and inequality you will find some more stuff in there as well done pretty good but also a little bit inconsistent in build up vs wrap up as some parts of the story may build up for 14 or 16 episodes will be wrapped up in a short 2 second scene never to be spoken of again.
Binge ability- high
Heart-flutter medium ,
Predictability- high
Cuteness- high
Frustration- high
All in all a decent watch for those who like to mix genres and do not mind the predictability of the plot,
A beginner to K's may find this more exiting and is sure to be kept on their toes, so I think this is a really good introduction to K-dramaland so if you ever find yourself wanting to lore someone into K-dramas this is a good place to start.
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Lust, Love and this pain engraved here in....
This movie depicts one of those moments in time, and it does it painfully, bruttally and beautifully. The story is that of a boy who is struggling with himself, his surroundings and living in a world that treats people like him like dirt. Can he dare to love? Will the one he loves love him back? If So will ha dare to love him back in a world where men who love men are beaten, arrested and not oney treated like***** but also taught that they will go to hell.The pain in this movie is so powerfully conveyed that it went straight to my gut:
As this boy finds himself in so much pain that he practically beggs the "father" to be sent to hell:
"Don't all homosexuals deserve to go to hell? Maybe more people would understand me in hell"
These lines are accompanied by beautiful cinematography, well thought of accompaniment music and a variety of shots of happiness, youth, pain, insanity, hope, violence, pain, more pain. As well as a very clear depiction of the difference between Lust and Love as well as people crossing, no crushing other peoples boundaries.
The intense way of showing this boys struggles is very well made but I must warn you that some of the scenes here do cross the line between acceptable longing/loss of control and what should be seen as non consensual behaviour/assult, actually this movie has what one could understand as several scenes with different shades of sexual assult . So beware!
As you may guess this movie will probably make you feel something, it will not make you feel good, or have your heart fluttering but it will probably make you feel something...
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Some of dreamlands sweetest male leads...
Juggling three boyfriends may sound like a dream but is pretty hard...To be honest I can hear all the voices saying if this were a man we would all be saying he is such a jerk but since it is a woman people seem fine with it... Well I like seeing women being portrayed as jerks and even if the story had its ups and downs this was overall a pretty entertaining drama with a pretty interesting and I dare say unexpected twist... And Well that is all I am going to say about it...
The acting could be better, the characters and drama are surprisingly simple yet complex and all the male leads are adorable and sweet and just the cutest little kitty type men that you just want to hug and squeeze their cheeks...
There are no annoying characters, but some more easy to love than others... It is short pretty okay to binge and I guess just good enough...
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12 varied cups of coffee
This drama is one of Dramalands mot fitting names. Each episode is just like a cup of coffee for the coffee lover, but I am sure you can convert it to tea if coffee as a whole is not your thing. Most cups are just perfect and a must that will wake you up or give you a nice moment but the first cup of the day is the best and once you have had 2 or three you feel like it´s enough for the day. You still want to drink coffee later on or the next day. And so is the show, It will leave you satisfied but not wanting more right away.Again much like different people like different types of coffee not all of the episodes where my type of coffee, while some had the perfect balance to suit my taste. Others did not.
Character wise there are a few slightly annoying guest characters but overall the cast is well fitted. The relationships shown are varied and almost as sweet as the confectenaris made in the bakery down the street.
The use of umbrellas is subtle but well made, guesting some pretty impressive and unusual uses for umbrellas (in a drama, I do not know about seul) and with great symbolism enhancing some of the dramas most beautiful scenes.
I highly recommend people to watch this, one episode a day or so, that way it will last longer and you will be able to enjoy each cup to the fullest.
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Bad yet oddly entertaining
The Female lead- Has really sweet mimics and a nice smile, but damn the girl yells som much that I had to turn down the volume/hit the mut button at times.
The male leads only talant is his smile and ocasional shower scene, the other male lead had moments of okay acting but also moments of bad everytthing going down a slipppery slope... of wtf
The women are EVIL as EVIL gets or Kind ad KIND gets...
The story makes no sense what so ever and lacks proportions kind of going more or less between OH you lied to me once DIE! I WILL NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN... Oh you tried to kill me, make me loose all that is dear to me, tried to kill my sister, his cousin, kicked a puppy, schemed with my nemesis.. Shake it off, those things happen all is forgiven let's go eat cake... And the amount of cheese towards the end should be enough to create the worlds larges mac n cheese pizza.
The acting - Bad
The chemistry- OK
Yet somehow it worked, I was hooked and binged most of it in one go... Making the first 9 or 10 episodes fall under the catagory so bad it is good but the last few just bad...
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A lot of Our´s and a whole buch of blues...
This is a drama that deals with a whole bunch of relationships, a true exploration of relations, regret, sorrow, pain... anger and so on. As they gather some of South Koreas greatest actors and actresses to deliver characters and stories far beyond how we are used to seeing them.The first 3 episodes where kind of meh though they lay some of the ground work to understanding the characters they may put people off this show which would be a shame. As episode 4 was really good, 5 great and then it goes a bit back and fourth with how good, powerful and interesting the episodes/stories are. While some of the episodes could easily score a 6 , others 10 and well more or less anything in-between. However the way this is intwined and the way things progress, the way the writer keeps us on our toes at times, as well as those really good stories ultimately made me give this a 9.
The acting was spot on, the OST may not always have suited my personal taste but it was well fitted with the story and cinematography all there to make people feel things. Well balanced, well made and yes they did make me cry once or twice towards the end.
What I liked most about this drama was how the characters are shown as real human beings, while some indeed needed to be sent to anger management and got on my nerves more than once none of the characters or relationships where made flat, no one was just whatever typecast one would think they could be. No matter gender, age, disability, and hardships the people in this village meet they are shown to be more than just that story. This is done with the use of flashbacks, scenes where they meet prejudice, monologues... We get to see their hopes, struggles, solutions, and what not all shown all in a lovely mix. At times giving the viewers the blues, other times giving us hope... Some times plain pissing us off.
While I am a sucker for romance the romance in this drama is definitely secondary, do not get me wrong the romance here is lovely and gives us a break from the heavy and painful life parts. But the stars of this show are the friendships, family ties and relationships over generations.
There are a few stories I would have wanted to see less of, other stories that left me wanting more. There where several parts of this show that did not sit right with me at all and had me questioning the writers motives. However The fact that this writer makes place for all these different stories wins over the bad.
This is not a romcom, or a feel good drama, the few comic relief parts felt pretty unnecessary. So if you are looking for inspiration or feel good this is definitely not it. But if you want some good cinematography, human nature, painful and honest dialog this is a pretty decent place to find it.
Heart-flutter medium
Pain: high
Bingabilaty: medim
Anger: medium (with high spikes here and there)
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Interpretive sensual dance?
This 5 minute spin off was more of an artistic interpretive dance... A slightly insane dance that seems to show Noahs way of understanding the word, whereas the series focuses on Wu Zheng perspective.Here we see people in masks, wether looking a bit like a combo of the playboy bunny with BDSM in an ever spinning world where fear lives and the color of the light changes. Extremely artistic and wild as apposed to series which is very calm and low key everything.
comparing the two makes this series seem a lot deeper, better ads a whole other dimension making me re-evaluate some of the parts from the series if this makes any sense in any way, so if you watch Innocence make sure not to mis the (not that) innocent.
Also I love the title for this part...
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Dr Cringe
It could have been a 9 or a 10 from me with a great cast that combines playfulness with bickering and lots of found family and love. The characters are over all interesting and there is just enough suspense and drama to keep it interesting.But then came the never ending cringe, to be honest it was there from the start with this story telling voice that I could ignore but got on my nerves more and more as the episodes flew by.... The playfulness, rivalry and fun slowly started to turn in to some kind of Bong Soons sweet moments done wrong, over the top and childish that I again tried to ignore but as the episodes piled up I just felt annoyed . Still I could deal with all this until the over done annoying healing tropes showed up + a bunch of my pet peeves leaving me with the over all feeling of meeh. . There was just no saving the 9 or 10 I had hoped it would be and while I tryed to hold on to the memory of the good I had to let go and accept that this show would end up a 7 or 7,5...
Tragic- Yes ! But I have come to accept this outcome and am now ready to start over with another drama
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A good sequel, left me wanting even more
The first season had a beautiful cover this season has a beautiful intro (the cover is ok too) that I actually watched for some reason, which I otherwise avoid. , It is also really good depiction of how frustrating it can be to be in love with a person with extremely low self esteem plus a bunch of other stuff...This was yet again way way to short and less entertaining than the first season as our former jerk is no longer a jerk but more frustrating in an interesting kind of way... While the first season had this fun opposites attract, oddly entertaining openly jerk and creepy obsessed misfit to lover type deal... Surrounded by 1000 misunderstandings. In this season we get to listen to the boys inner thoughts, frustrations and miscommunication that leads to frustration type of deal.
The self awareness of the past has become more of a aware meets oblivious guy. Mr aware former jerk still has his issues with himself but has come a long way since the first season and tries to figure out how to approach mr oblivious low self esteem and get him to understand that he is not in a one sided love.... One would have thought living together, sleeping in the same bed and so on would have been enough for the guy to get a hint... but nee not this guy.
And well while mr oblivious (and others like him) may think they are being considerate towards their partners not wanting to overstep or take to much space. This type of behaviour is actually called out as hurtful in the most beautiful way. But it also had me thinking about dynamics, power and the less talked about pros of being submissive and happy to worship someone else, as well as the burden of being worshiped... Showing us some nuance instead of a pink and blue world..
I really love the character development that Mr Jerk of the past had towards becoming this open and aware guy, trying to change, trying to be honest about his feelings while still staying cool and a bit mysterious. He had some really good lines and was just a pleasure to watch. And while season one made me want to protect mr oblivious season 2 made me want to protect mr aware instead, and yes I love that about this show that it can make both the viewers and characters develop and see things from different angles in so little time. It is actually pretty impressive.
There are pretty pictures, a lovely moon and of course the yes the yellow rubber duck is indeed back too.
All in all a good sequel, that was way to short and shows a rare story that needed to be told.
P.S. I am sorry if non of this makes any sense it is Friday afternoon and I have had a long week...
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Someone will probably Die in Spring
This drama is one of those that has a lot of potential but is dragged down by some kind of preachy life lesson inspirational crap and a never ending dialog that is inconsistent and just boring...It also has a lot of death, crying, screaming, agony, people taking out thir anger at the wrong person and wrong time. giving us such great scenes as man attacking doctor at the hospital screaming save my mother.... mmmm yep attaking the doctor is sure to make it easier to operate...
Our leads have some fun banter, at times lovely characters, great chemistry and sp, so, so much potential... most of the characters are okay too and the siblings are just adorable. It also offered a lot of other things that could have made me give this a 8,5 or 9, I really wanted to rate this higher but I just could not as there is just so much that makes 0 sense and to top it off episodes 20 and 21 happened, and made me just go why? what? seriously are you taking this path? is this a drama or a click bait?
Other things worth mentioning that it is impressive how C-s can turn any occupation in to heroes as well as the abilaty to compete in pretty much anything so hats off, I am indeed impressed, slightly mortified but indeed impressed.
So if you are the type who loves romance, bantering, fun family, and can handle annoying twists and some kind of carpe diem, do not loose sight of what is important and praise the mortician you may actually enjoy this.
As for me I wish I could have plucked out the good parts and ignored the other 75% of the show.
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So good but yet so cringe... and badly paced
This is a fun drama with a whole lot of good (mostly Shin Hye Sun) and a whole lot of cringe... and some of dramalands oddest/worst pacing.The drama starts off all fun and sweet with some darn good acting and what one could say as a gender fluid theme... While one could think there would be a lot of second hand embarrassment the writers of this drama managed to dodge most of these and built up a really bad ass lead. With a whole lot of interesting lives and people around them.
Our lead has had several ethnicities and genders throughout their lives, learned a whole lot of interesting traits and grown up to be a seemingly care free person with a slightly one track mind... Making way for som pretty good humour... Having a gambling addict as a father our lead knew that life number 19 was not going to be easy...
Our male lead, is ok, nothing mind-blowing about him but a nice mix of sweet and cold... The friends and found family around the two are lovely in every single way not at all annoying as some may be. And I especially loved the dramas take on biological family... Saying some times a former anamy becomes ones parent in the next life in those cases it is better to cut them off...
I also really liked the mysterious guy with bells, however his character got way to little screen time and felt cut short in a lot of ways.
The OST is amazing, cinematography lovely and there are a lot of fun lines.
All things that could have made me give this drama a high score as it was also an easy binge and entertaining most of time... Had it not been for what I have to say next this drama could easily have gotten a 9 or a 9,5.
HOWEVER
Pacing- At times so fast you do not understand what just happened other times so slow you wonder if you are watching the drama in slow motion.
Cringe- The characters are often seen side by side with other versions of them selves...
Anticlimactic-The feeling of "was that really all there was to it " took over me several times while watching this drama. So much build up for nothing.
So all in all an ok drama that could have been a lot better but is still entertaining to watch.
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Highly addictive
This is indeed a story about hidden love as it offers several spaces where the love seems to be hidden. How well it is hidden is however kind of questionable and made me wonder how oblivious the people in this story are.The story itself offers very little new, girl meets her older brothers roommate, gets a crush on him and tries to hide it. things happen, people grow up... Girl is smart, mature, straight forward with pretty much everything (except for the hidden love thing). There are a few episodes in the middle where she goes immature and takes a turn out of character but other than that I she is definitely one of the most fun to watch female leads in all of C-dramaland.
Boy has had a life full of difficulties but somehow becomes superman, good at school, good athlete, great work ethics.. and even though girls keep whispering "what a handsome guy he is" he is not really the type to flirt around as he only cares about his work and found family... The guy is extremely kind... and playful oh so playful. He even seems to have basic communication skills that go beyond wrist grabs.He is said to have a good moral compass (he says that over and over until the audience is sure to believe it. He is overly protective of his best friends little sister and though he is the sweetest guy ever he does have a bunch of flags here and there, and while some would think it is because of the age gap, I say the age gap is not the issue bere. the guy is pretty jealous, and seems to forget to lack the ability to include others in his process of making decisions.
These two grow in a beautiful way and make tasteful, playful fireworks... With great dialog. lots of cheese.. and I mean a lot of cheese... so much cheese it may make you cringe.
When it comes to the side characters:
The girls brother is 80% sweet and the audience voice 20% annoying, but I am now intrigues by this guy and would love to see more of him.
The friends and found family in this are lovely (except for one but she is there to forward the plot) and the supporting characters do their job well. the fat friend is unnecessarily portrayed as a guy who eats like pig... and yes that bothers me quite a bit. Some twists are a bit meeh, others good the flow of the story is decent and highly addictive so even with all these flaws I could not give it less than a 9.
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Light Historical that deals with a lot of interesting stuff
I'm not so sure about the blooming youth but this is an easy to watch well balanced historical drama.The story is complicated, but not nearly as complicated as many other historical dramas, and while some twists are more predictable than others I did enjoy the level of suspense as well as how the story tied together.
The main villain of this story is the perfect villain, so greedy, smart and evil that there is no way i hell anyone would ever wish for anything other then a slow and painful death to this person, however that person is not the only villain in this story, and that is what I love about this that even if we get some pure greed and evil we also get the "It's complicated" side to this plot.
Park Hyung Sik is the perfect prince, vulnerable, smart (a bit like his character in Suits but with power and fame), he thinks beyond himself and even acknowledges that women are not object, odd but true (which kind of makes this not so realistic after all), His acting is spot on, his charm is all over the place and yes I may be bias but I had been looking forward to seeing him in this and was not disappointed.
Jeon So Nee (the female lead) got a really lovely character to portray (most of the time), smart, funny, forward, had great lines and though there where some inconsistencies with her character (she could be impulsive and stupid at times) I truly loved her character. However acting wise I think Pyo Ye Jin (the female leads maid) as well as the princess (Jung Da Eun) did a more convincing job.
Overall I would say the female characters in this drama may not have been very realistic but I fell for them all.
There where some annoying overacting parts in this but they did not take over or diverge from the main plot of conspirecys, greed and equality. As the crossdressing is used in an appropriate well written way. As a girl no one will tell you "try it, you can do it, go ahead... + Hiding... As no one could ever guess these very feminine looking people dressed as women are actually men... (yes I am being sarcastic)
The romance is beautifully subtle yet slow and by slow I mean painfully slow (for obvious reasons), so for the romance lover out there you are going to have to be patient, really, really patient and you may just may have to settle for the subtle hints of romance you get or I assume you will find yourselves kind of frustrated.
I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend this to those who want to watch an historical that is kind of light without being a ridiculous mishmash pop culture historical. If you want something more heavy I would recommend you watch something else like Under The Queens Umbrella or maybe The Red Sleeve...
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