desire-for-madness
Wonderland
Okay drama if not for the 2nd lead couple
The reason I'm writing the review already, even though 2 more episodes will be aired this week, is because I want to bring light to the 2nd lead couple.The 2nd leads - Choi Jae-Joon and Oh In-Hyung - are a very good visual example of a psychologically abusive relationship. If any of you has a partner that treats you the same way Jae-Joon treated In-Hyung, please talk to someone.
Some of the signs, that also show up in this drama, are:
- Partner is overly controlling / jealous. (Shows up in foreign country just because another guy is around, you can't excuse that no matter how much he hates the guy, this is not normal)
- Not listening or believing you, twisting your words to fit their storyline
- Insulting you or your career, belittling your accomplishments
- Public embarrassment (like purposely showing you off to your friend)
- Threats, Financial control, Lecturing
- Sudden outbursts of anger or emotion
- Sudden emotional guilt-tripping when person has had enough "I need you / I can't live without you"
- PHYSICAL ABUSE (No one should hit anyone out of emotions, never!)
- So many more signs were in this drama. If any of these speak to you, please, please take care of yourself.
Honestly, in the beginning some of the things the main lead did to the female lead were also NOT okay.
This was very important for me to mention, as I have been in similar situations before. The rest of the drama is okay, the other couples and characters are great, the acting in this drama is very good, even the actors who play second lead did a great job on making me want to call for help. The storyline is pretty cliché at times, but that's expected from this the "anti" storyline.
The music was very nice, the main singers songs weren't great so I lowered the score a bit.
I don't know how the writer will end the 2nd couple, I really had been hoping for In Hyung to break free and take control of her own life. The main thing I don't want, is for this relationship to be romanticized, especially not to give them a happy ending. This would be a great visual example of an abusive relationship, a warning for viewers, if accented.
Please take care!
<3 your fellow drama lover
Was this review helpful to you?
I originally didn't want to watch this drama, since the trailer didn't appeal to me, but since I heard so many people talk about how much they loved it, I decided to watch it.
This drama offers a more mature look at life, with three females, each facing their own issues and three potential love interests. Each character is well written, having specific personalities and different fears. The more I watched it, the more I got into it. I really did enjoy the beginning of this drama, and thought it would be unique. I also enjoyed the humor and the I absolutely adored the cat.
What my downfall became to be was that it became a typical drama, and after having watched so many, it simply lacked intrigue by the end.
Now that I look back to this drama (that I finished four hours ago), its a drama about 3 women who are picky and have a difficult situation or choice to make, and 3 perfect guys that basically fall head over heals and just adore them. Every time a girl acts out, they apologize and adore them. It's very rare where the girls actually pay attention to what their partners want, instead it's all about them and how they haven't done something. I enjoyed the struggles the women were facing, since it's very relatable. This drama was created to be mature and focus on real life issues, but what about the issues men have? It just seemed like the men were not there to build up their characters, but instead for the viewers to anticipate kiss scenes.
Looking at the main couple, Ji Ho and So He, at the end the girl took off for no reason with no explanation, which was very unfair to the male. But afterwards, he immediately forgave her and she just stayed exactly the same. Ji Ho was an interesting character, whenever faced with work or friendship, but as soon as it was about the relationship, she almost became a plain doll who didn't have any development. I liked these female characters, I simply think some of the reactions were unexplained or simply unnecessary.
I finished the last episodes loving all the men (cause they were flawless) and disliking the women for taking advantage of them. If the men had been more flawed there would be good balance, or if the women appreciated the men more, there would be more balance. Now I simply think two of the men deserve better partners. But this is just my opinion. My favorite couple was Su Ji and Mr.Ma. They were the most balanced, both pulling and pushing at times. The rest just did one or the other.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Should have stuck to my first instinct
I never really had the urge to watch this drama. When it first came out, I watched the first three episodes and dropped it, but recently I ran out of things to watch and decided to give it a shot because the rating is 7.8 on the list. I regret it. I skipped all of last episodes just to get a gist of what happens.The actors were amazingly picked out for this project, and my high score in the acting section goes to all the non-main lead actors who portrayed their roles oh so well. With the main couple, rather than it be their acting in general, but I think it is more the screenwriters fault for not making the characters more consistent with little nicks and things.
The murder/mystery plot was most interesting, the love line just seemed so... forced? As in they really tried to put in some history and character changes, but it just didn't click. The actors acted super cute, but the personalities in the beginning and afterwards were so different. It just seemed like ok, now we need the two characters to get together. Then they get engaged (when he was oh so recently engaged??)
The biggest disappointment was the lack of exploration of the main theme. More back story, more unique reasoning, the distinct and surprising changes of treatment, character, maybe trying different things since body and face is different like different styles or so on. Instead, the characters just got used to it super easily, only excused things like plastic surgery and more. It was really disappointing, the main characters were already lacking and the lack of appearance exploration just makes this more apparent. Not to mention even the bad guy's "scar" bwahah.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Story: I enjoyed the story-line. I liked the normal social standing and the rich social standing between the main characters. The triangle was also a must have, since every drama has one. Reason, why I gave it a low grade, was because of the age difference. I disliked that a guy was running after a girl who is much older than him. He's only in high school, she's not that young to allow such a thing. In many countries she would have been arrested. I'm not criticizing the idea of age differences, but I would have rather fallen for a younger man with better qualities.
Acting/cast: I like the actor Jung Il Woo, and I think he portrays the character very well, and also Lee Ki Won. Again, I disliked the main actress. Both men looked much younger than her, and the way she acted, I just couldn't find such amazing qualities, that would make them fall head over heals for her.
Music: Music suited the type of drama this was. Although I didn't hear any songs that made me want to find them, but I enjoyed the music.
Rewatch Value: I couldn't even finish this, much less rewatch this.
I know that many people are gonna go all out to prove me wrong and fans are gonna dislike this, but this is my own personal opinion, trying to reach people with a similar drama taste.
Just so everyone knows, I have watched You're my pet with Jang Geun Suk and thought it was wonderful. It's hard for me to accept dramas with such big age difference, but I really enjoyed that movie, because I thought that the actress, had true qualities, that would make him truly head over heals, whereas this drama made me very doubtful.
Was this review helpful to you?
It's perfect for the time it had!
I think this drama deserves a higher score than it did, especially when compared to the very recent reseased "Cherry Blossoms after Winter". I honestly don't understand why it's score isn't higher, and here's why:Music: This show had really smooth production for the time and genre it had. Usually a lot of Korean BL's are under funded, which means they lack in music, some nice camera shots or angles, extra takes etc. This drama had really nice music that I even caught myself humming to (which happens so rare for me, cause either the hits are in english or really bad quality) but ma boo (song title), were these ones nice. There also weren't many long moments with no music that's common in BL's, at the moments it needed there was music, when it wasn't necessary, there wasn't! Overall, I was so surprised by the music in this!
Story: The episodes were extremely short, even for the regular Korean BL standards, being barely 10-15 min each episode. But for the time it had, I thought it was very balanced. It started off a bit slow, gave enough time for main AND side characters (the cute assistant chefs, business lady all had a personality and that was highly appreciated). It had a "issue" (cause all drama's need drama) and it was resolved within the alloted time. Honestly, they gave just enough for everything, and the best part of it all, they actually made us see their professions! Instead of just using it for some "background info", we got beautiful shots of cooking, eating, people peeling and cutting shit, etc. For me that was really important. The relationship between the leads also developed quite naturally and evenly, it wasn't a sudden "I love you, can't live without you", but more of just a slow from dislike - to you're ok - to I like your company. Ticked all boxes in my own personal list.
Acting: I thought acting was also on par, one is an easy going slightly arrogant chef, the other a more reserved, slightly threatened chef. People saying this is just two hot guys and that that's all this drama is good for, but almost all BL's and Korean drama's give blatant fan service (cause yes, this is aimed at girls). Compared to others, we didn't get unneccessary over-sexualization, no wild make out sessions, even when one actor was shirtless, the other one wasn't as it wasn't their characters personality. And if the fact that the two actors are good looking makes you look down on their effort in acting, well then that's just being prejudiced about looks. The way they looked at each other, interacted with each other seemed very natural, not too forced. Not all love stories require a love or die type of romance. Sometimes it's just a warm cozy feeling :)
I really really enjoyed this. I'd place this in my top BL's with Semantic Error, Bad Buddy, 2gether, To my star and We are Best. It's a very short, sweet, not overcomplicated watch. If that's what you're into, give it a try ;)
Was this review helpful to you?
