autumn carrot

Well how the turns have tabled....

Heh...yeah, I actually ended up watching this after all! For context: I dnf-ed this back when I first discovered k-dramas in 2020. I hated the male lead so much, I started hating the actor as a result. I couldn't stand him, I couldn't stand the show and just avoided both. Then I slowly watched him in other stuff and ...okay! I admit...he doesn't suck! Whatever! *eye roll* And then I sort of ended up watching this with my family and they loved it so we kept watching it and...yeah, okay, this was actually good. It was watered down and dragged longer than necessary, and nothing will make me ever warm up to those slow-mo music video style edits that Kdramas shove into every other episode. But I loved the lore and the whole concept of unfinished business after death and the grudges that keep our souls company. That was just so genuine and authentically explored. IU's character was tons of fun! I loved her brattish petty behavior and I was very curious about her past, though I feel like the payoff was lackluster. I was expecting something more dramatic? I don't know. It was also fun to see a female character have multiple proper love interests who aren't in competition for her attention and I also like the somber ending.
The ensemble cast were good too though I disliked the side-character romances...weird...and uninspired!
Overall, I love that this uses Korean mythology and beliefs in its plot. It was FAR better than the new kdramas we get these days which are bland, boring and lack the spirit that these older shows have. I also can't believe I'm calling this "old" it's from 2019! That's like....yesterday! The fact that it was still far better than stuff we're getting now shows how bad things have gotten lately...
Anyway, watch it! We need more stuff like this.

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cult classic

I think at this point, either everyone born in Asia has already watched this show or they will watch it at some point in their life! Watching this show is basically a rite of passage! An absolutely iconic classic, this show has started whole terminology and lifestyles. "Be like Oshin!" is a real threat and advice.
So how do you rate a show which is more than the sum of its part, that has had generations of people grow up watching it that that they will swear by Oshin, she is like...your long lost impressive rich aunt that everyone in the family loves and will kill for.
Fun fact: did you know Japan intentionally exported this show to help reinvent its image after their imperialist ambitious came to an end?! Kind of puts a damper on the enjoyment of the show if you think of it as an intentional propaganda drama....so let's not! lmao! Oshin is too iconic to mess with and also the show is not at all in favor of the government so I don't see why I would punish it for the crimes of others.
The most impressive thing about this show is Oshin, herself. This character is insane. You will only get it once you finish watching this and try watching the other dramas of the same production company which are more or less imitating this show and you will realize that it wasn't because Japan is just unnaturally good at historical storytelling. Oshin is just iconic on her lonesome. This woman is beyond impressive. Her character is so meticulously designed and written that she genuinely feels like a real person but also so unnaturally perfect. She's like a real life version of a mythical creature! The second most impressive thing about this drama is how well it holds up almost 60 years later! The show just looks good. It doesn't look as perfect as modern drama, obviously but it is so well-made and it spans such a long and impressive era of time that you can't help but be impressed with what they pulled off. Shoutout to the make up artists who aged the characters, especially Oshin's mom because WTF??! Those make ups looked way too real! I still gotta laugh at how they probably hired a 45 year old man as a 20 yo just so they could keep the same actor for the next 60 years of plot! That was perhaps the most offensive act of the production team. lol
The plot...is infuriating. I have never felt such violent emotions towards a farmer, a feudal's wife, a fabric selling merchant, and a child...though the child in question is already a grown up man at this point... these characters, these situations are so unfair, irritating and just...so upsetting(?) that you will basically hate every character but Oshin. Gosh, they sure knew how to rage bait back in the day. We might be living in a hell where hit tweets by @fartsforlife are giving you migraine spirals but people in the 80s were getting those exact same headaches thanks to that devil-spawn mother-in-law of Oshin. So I guess that's how generations connect.
Just go watch this show. You will understand so many more Asian conversations once you know who Oshin is and why she is so beloved.

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Cute and simple

I'm glad I was able to finish this drama. For a moment there, it seemed to be an impossible task and I was heartbroken but I finally had the chance to finish the remaining episodes. So I first thought this was going to be 10 episodes then someone said it was 8 episodes which made me sad but we ended up with 12 which was exciting but on second thought, this should have been 8 episodes! It was actually too long!
So this show is very simple and average. There is no huge and revolutionary events in it. It's the epitome of average. I liked the beginning better as it started very funny and mysterious but as it went on and the romance developed, it became more like a sketch of a drama rather than a fully developed one.
The acting is just alright for them to get away with it and the production and music and everything else is just enough too. If you want to watch a BL which isn't just a romance and has plotlines that exist independently from the romance but are still not too complicated, then this show is a good choice. It's a really light watch.

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Romantic and tragic

I watched this version of the Butterfly Lovers per AccentedCinema's recommendation. It's such a beautifully tragic story and I think this movie was a concise rendition that neither dragged the story out nor diluted it by over-simplification. There were attempts to add humor and depth to the relationships and I consider both done successfully.
The actors did a good job and while I'm not used to listening to Cantonese since I rarely watch Hong Kong films, I really loved the way they spoke. It just sounded so melodic and nice to the ears.
The production quality is alright....until they try to do special effects! hehe...it was very basic and when you remember this was 1994, it gets a bit awkward but honestly, it didn't redact from the emotional impact of the story.
The actress looks so beautiful in the costumes. The scenery is so gorgeous. The music is melancholic and touching. The whole story has such a romantic air to it. In fact, in many ways, they don't make movies like these anymore where the most important element of the film is the elevation of the human interactions that are being commented on. I wish they made more romance movies like this. It felt cozy and ethereal at once and I honestly enjoyed watching this more than films with much higher production value but vapid stories.
If you can find it, it's definitely worth a watch.

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A basically perfect urban fantasy about grief and obsession

I'm so glad I came across this show when I did. I had seen it around but to be honest, Taiwanese dramas haven't been on my radar much so I never looked into this, even though I saw a few mdlers watching it on feeds. I'm glad I found this through Avenue X. One thing is though she hates on a lot of shows in an exaggerated manner, she's at least reliable when it comes to recommendations. This show is nearly the perfect modern drama with an interesting plot, engaging narratives, great characters, humor, lots of emotions, and a professional production to boot.

Summary: The story follows Yiyong who's a descendant of some reincarnated demon or something and that means he's really good at calligraphy!!! But while this seems like just a random skill, it proves to have extraordinary connotations when he wakes up from a two-year coma and discovers an ability to communicate with the dead.

The Plot: The story develops very naturally. I don't think this is an adaptation and kudos to the writers because they've come up with an amazing storyline. Each plot connects very neatly to the other. The plot twists are thoughtful and surprising only when they need to be. I also love the fact that this is ultimately a story about grief and they manage to bring that up in such a beautiful, poignant way. The character developments are so well placed but...and it makes me wonder because these character developments are there but they could also go on? So I wonder if there's a sequel at work... The chemistry between the characters and the way each relationship develops (from Yiyong and his mother to the vengeful ghosts and the grandfather and everything in between) is very naturally integrated into the way that the plot progresses.

Acting: The acting in this show was really well done. I thought the humor landed well and everyone's timing was perfect and the three mains had great chemistry which made their friendship all the more believable and lovely. And did anyone else think Tseng Jing Hua kind of looks like Arthur Chen? They look so similar to me. He did a great job with the emotional beats and made me cry a lot. What's impressive is that the supporting cast are also very good. So good that you easily develop emotional stakes and start to care for them, deepening the investment in the show.

Music and Production: The music was fine. The production is great. The set designs and the outfits are very character-specific and tell us a lot about each character's personality. The camera work and lighting is not just good, it's actually way better than most East Asian shows I have seen. 100 times better than Cdramas...The CGI was so good!!! It had a lot of those and they were all done so well. So good.

Negative: There's a gag about how low the ML's IQ is and while I get the reasoning for it I didn't love it. It was a bit in poor taste.

Overall: Highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good urban fantasy story and mysteries. The show was an absolute delight with a balanced amount of humor, sadness, mystery, and whimsy. I wonder if there will be a sequel. I'm fine if this is it as the arcs close neatly enough and there isn't much need for a second season but given how the format is sort of like cases that change every episode, I can see there being more and that the show may develop more on what was already set up. I'm fine either way. 2nd seasons are usually bad anyway. But really!!!! Watch this! It's very good!

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Fix-it Fanfiction (featuring cooking puns…it just happened idk)

I was very excited about this show. For multiple reasons. The most important being that it paired up two actors who previously portrayed one of my all-time favorite couples in any Cdrama ever. The other is the concept of Royal Kitchens which reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Korean dramas: Jewel in the palace. Suffice to say...it did not deliver on either front...sort of.

The plot: Similar to The Story of Yanxi Palace, Royal Feast uses the excuse of the harem setting to make a commentary on the commodification of women. From being buried alive along with your husband, to a woman’s life being treated as less important than a barely formed fetus (something that is ironically still fresh news in our time). The show doesn’t really have a clear or concise plotline. Instead, it’s made up of slice-of-life episodic stories that each capture a new horror or tragedy of being trapped in the Palace. That said, either through bad editing or bad writing, but most probably from a combination of both, the attempt is sloppy and not as impactful as the graceful scene that was drawn in Yanxi Palace. Characters are raw sketches of what they could be, the passage of time is extremely precarious, and stories are not properly developed and end abruptly, with little impact or consequence for the rest of the plot. It’s really hard to connect with the characters because it feels like instead of getting to know them, we are swiping through an album of pictures with faces that rapidly become familiar in motionless snapshots, without much knowledge of their personality, unique voice, wants or needs that would help flesh them out as believable human characters. Overall, the show feels like a script that needed to be worked on. It’s like a dough that hasn’t properly risen yet.

Acting: I think everyone tried...but their characters were just boring. Right off the bat, I think Xu Kai was miscast. He has the looks of a free-spirited youngster and doesn't have the gravitas of a crown prince or emperor. He does this "puffing of the chest" acting and it just didn't work for me. I don't think it's his fault. I just think he was wrong for the role. I don't like the agist, sexist takes I've seen about Wu Jinyan's looks in this show. She's a good actress and that's the only aspect I care about. Sadly, she was given the bare minimum to work with here. The only standout in the cast was He Rui Xian who injected as much unique flavor into her character as she possibly could.

The production: The production is beautiful. From the artistic food arrangements, and the opulent sets, to the extravagant dresses and the saturated cinematography, the show looks expensive and high quality but all the world’s professionalism and money can’t buy a show any credit if its all just fodder for a story that doesn’t utilize the ingredients it has at its disposal to the fullest. A real waste.

Music: Did this show reuse Yanxi Palace's music? It sounded just like that and somehow less magnificent too... how did they manage that?!
Rewatch: No. Despite the moderate episode number, the show still managed to become really boring after episode 30 and that's being really generous as many would argue it was boring all the way through.

Negatives: There is something really wrong with the post-production of this show. The editing and flow of narratives are all over the place. There is at once too much time wasted on every arc while also everything is underdeveloped and not thoroughly thought out. The romance is instantaneous, the friendships and rivalries are not given enough background to feel genuine, and the political plots are there but it also feels like the show didn't want to waste time to develop any of it so it's just "So problem existed and um...emperor had to solve it...and then HE DID!YAY!"...very weird! Every character is super bland. No one has proper motivation or any charisma. I just kept waiting for someone, anyone, to develop some interesting personality trait but it was all for naught. Plus, the show tries too hard to be inoffensive to the point that all the villains are misunderstood or secretly really tragic. None of which lands at all because every villain was super stereotypical and common. Like I have seen similar idiots in at least 10 other shows and books.

Overall: Once the novelty of seeing my favorite couple living out their best Alternate-Universe-fix-it lives wore off, it just became a task to finish this. The plot was kind of better when the kitchen stuff was happening; though this was nowhere near as well-thought-out or exciting as Jewel in the palace, and once the main character moved to the harem, the plot just straight-up died. This was the blandest harem ever. And I sat through The Sword and The Brocade! Not a single interesting person in that palace! Everyone was like those caricature village people in games.
This wasn't a hate-watch though. More of a pity-watch or a mercy-watch. That is like mercy-kill but more painful and took much longer.

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It takes a whole tower to exact justice

I started watching this show one hour after finishing Goodbye my princess and I thought to myself, what would make me feel better about the tragedy I just watch? A show about a girl dying at the young age of 28, of course. The perfect follow-up to GMP!
As I had predicted, with just 16 episodes, this show is one of the easiest shows to bingewatch. I watched the entire thing in two days and barely got tired. Masquerading as a whodunnit, this show is actually using the excuse of a murder to tell a story about the silenced victims of crimes that are not as big or as flashy as murder and therefore go unnoticed, unavenged. I won’t say more so as to avoid spoilers but I would say this: If you are here for a smart and snappy murder mystery with heavy police work and use of deduction skills, then you’re in the wrong place. The police work in this show is actually abysmal! They don’t even make a timeline of events. Their study of the murder scene is very superficial. I noticed things just by comparing it to other detective shows I have watched before but none of that really mattered because I kind of caught on early on that this isn’t the point of the show. The show deals with a very sad and real fact that sometimes law and justice fail those who need it the most and the worst kinds of crimes go unpunished because the gray areas are just too complicated to maneuver. If that doesn’t tickle your interest, then I don’t know what will!

You should still watch this show if you like:
1.Agatha Christie novels and their adaptations
2.Mysteries
3.Feminism
4.Female friendships
5.Tragedies
6.Stories that appear like one thing but then it turns out something else is going on
7.Good productions.
And if you can handle:
1.Violence
2.Abuse
3.Upsetting concepts in which bad people hurt innocent people including women and children
4.Murder
5. And other things that are definitely spoilers

Summary: The story starts when a young and beautiful coffee shop owner dies in her apartment in Horizon tower, a tower that is a very symbolic clash of class and culture. What appears to be a crime of passion becomes more and more complicated once the detectives on the case discover more details of the victim’s past.

Plot: This was a high-tension, mystery with a considerably big ensemble cast whose roles fit together like puzzle pieces. Every episode became better and better in my opinion. The weakest link in the show was probably the characterization of the victim which was basically “beautiful and perfect in every way” which…eh, boring. The more you learn about her, the more refined her character becomes but I honestly think she’s the least developed character in the story. It’s not that she’s not complex, it’s just that putting the label of “perfection” and “angel” on a character in a show that is meant to be realist, kind of makes it seem childish. Anyway, to me the further the show steps from its façade of a murder case, the better it got. It might not be a seamless web of cunning plotting, but you will hardly notice in just one watch. The main point is that it’s an exciting, provocative story with a satisfying ending and also just a very progressive message. It’s a bit of a heavy watch, since injustice against children comes up in it and these kinds of topics are always hard to watch but I think the overall effect of the show was very satisfying and totally worth it.

Acting: The ensemble did a really good job. Because of the nature of the story, you don’t get too much of anyone besides the detectives and the victim but the supporting cast really did a great job in this one. They all used the limited time they were on screen to communicate their character’s particular behaviors and it was great. I’d heard Angelababy is terrible…I don’t know she was fine here? Very muted and calm performance without any overacting. Her crying scenes were a bit fake looking sometimes but I think she was fine. I haven’t watched her in anything else, I don’t really have a point of reference. I was expecting her to be terrible but really, she held herself up against a very good ensemble. And her voice is not high pitched. I really appreciated that. (I know it’s not a choice but still.)

Music: This show had a very generic but well-executed English pop ballad and standard mystery music. It was fine. It worked well for the show.

Production: Now the production here was great. The sets look great, the costumes helped the characters define themselves. The cinematography and editing were great. There were no weird jumps unless specifically done for artistic reasons. The lighting was atmospheric and everything really looked professional. I think a lot of modern Chinese dramas maybe lack this level of production value unless they’re a Lights On series show. Those are great.

Rewatch value: I wouldn’t say no. It’s super short and very easy to get through and there’s enough foreshadowing and mystery to maybe go back and try to find more clues once the whole thing is solved.

Negatives: It’s not really a murder mystery case show in the traditional way. If you’re somehow one of those people who have beef with modern society striving to do better socially and culturally for equality of men and women, then you might get your panties in a twist over this. (Side note: don’t care. Block me if you really have anything against the message of this show because wtf is wrong with you?!) Some say the “villain” is ridiculous or unrealistic... I don’t think that was the case. I think it was a choice to make him seem like a bigger threat than he was to highlight the trauma of the victims. As in, he *seemed* that big to them because they had weaknesses that he was exploiting. It was actually a very poetic choice. I do have some doubts about how the show depicts laws concerning SPOILER BUT ALSO CENSORED BECAUSE I’M SURE THAT WORD IS ON SOME KIND OF WATCHLIST SO NO THANKS, I WON’T SAY IT ALOUD. I mean I assumed the whole world had some kind of law against *that thing* that protects victims but the show kind of never addresses the consequences of having SPOILERS of SPOILERS. (Sorry. These sentences are helping no one.) What I’m trying to say is, there’s a bit of a loophole to the show’s overall logic if you want to be nitpicky but I doubt anyone would notice because the show is very thrilling and viewers will be too busy biting their nails to realize the plot could be solved in three seconds. (Spoilers in the comment.)

Overall: I liked this show. It was a very high-quality production which a great cast and an engaging and IMPORTANT story to tell and it wasn’t dragged out and it had some serious ideological concepts to chew on and I really appreciated that. I felt both thrilled and emotionally touched and I highly recommend this show.

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I give it six months!

The initial review I wrote for this show when I was only a third of the way into it, was a much more positive one than the one I’m writing, now that I am done with this show. To be perfectly honest, this show is very cheap. Not just in the sense of its budget, but also in content and quality. Yet, it has some redeeming qualities. The main character is a rather likable blank canvas, the show is not as sanitized and prudish as the more popular and well-produced shows, and there is certainly a charm in its simple yet entertaining plot that manages to seduce the viewer into keeping up with it. So as a result, I am deeply conflicted in my review of this show and in my assessment of whether I enjoyed it or not.
It would be a lie to say I hated watching it. It would also be a lie to say I found the romance irresistible or nurturing. The best way I can describe this is perhaps to say that it feels a LOT like someone turned a 13-year-old girl’s Mafia-romance fanfiction into a semi-watchable show. It’s watchable because it tickles the nostalgic sentiments of a naïve and long-gone idea of romance that a lot of people harbored in their new young adult phase. As long as you take it lightly, it’s a short and entertaining watch.

You should check this show out if you like:
1. Mafia AUs
2. Short and concise shows with little Drama
3. A good time without much brain-usage
4. Modern Bodice rippers (Lots of sexy times. For a cdrama. It’s like kids’ play in comparison to western shows, though)
5. Summer aesthetics
6. Bestfriends shipping the main couple
7. Happily ever after

Summary: Five years ago, Ruan Nan Chu accidentally wanders into a gang territory and is taken hostage by them. In order to protect her, one of the leaders, a man named Lee, takes her into his custody. As Nan Chu spends more time with him, she begins to fall for the man. Then Lee helps her escape but seemingly perishes in an explosion. Despite that, in the following years, Nan Chu has maintained the belief that he is alive. Then unexpectedly, she actually runs into a man who looks exactly like Lee, named Li Teng, at a party. Drama ensues.

Plot: The plot is weirdly simple! In some ways that’s good. They don’t take 20 episodes for the characters to reveal their true identity and 30 more for the love triangle to develop and another 10 nothing-episodes before they will get an exhausted, long overdue happily ever after. The show’s run is short so things move forward rather fast but also because the main question of the plot is resolved in 5 episodes, the show still feels a bit too long. I used the fast forward button rather generously. In addition to the simple plot, there are some seriously questionable narrative choices made by the writers that left me both amused and confused. Almost no effort is made to make the romance seem like anything remotely plausible or sustainable to any extent! The two barely know anything about each other, their interest in each other seems purely physical, the male lead is honestly creepy most of the time with controlling and jealous streaks, and that’s the level they stay at. They never once have a meaningful conversation or evolve into better partners. It’s a stagnant dynamic that is bound to burst once their honeymoon phase is over. Or when Ruan Nan Chu will report Li Teng for domestic abuse. Whichever comes first! The second couple is no better. The SFL is clingy in a not-cute way and very immature. Her male counterpart seems to be hassled into the relationship by intimidation and a sense that it would be rude to reject her. With the romance so lackluster, the mafia plot should’ve been a bit more interesting but that was also sloppy and rather easy to resolve. Despite the atrocious romantic dynamics, and the pedestrian mafia subplot, the show has this charming x-factor that gets you! I was invested. I wanted them to succeed. The best thing I can say about the show is that it had no delusions of grandeur. It was self-aware. The plot was simple and so matters were resolved easily. It also has a dual-edge of both being feminist and forward-thinking (sexual agency, focus on the FL’s career, etc.) and being deeply problematic and backward (Li Teng is a controlling love interest and it definitely will digress into an abusive archetype at the flick of a finger).

Acting: The acting is not great. The only one I was really impressed with was the female lead but I thought the male lead fell short because he was constantly carrying this brooding smolder expression that was interrupting the authenticity of his performance. The sexual chemistry between them was great and there was plenty of steamy kiss scenes to highlight that but when they were not kissing, the acting was just not good. Everyone else felt like fodder as well. The only balanced performance belonged to the female lead who honestly deserves better projects where she can shine.

Music: Generic pop ballad that repeated over and over again. Overall, like every other cdrama out there.

Production: They maintain a certain aesthetic throughout the show. The costuming is very consistent with the female lead having a clear style throughout the entire show, a rarity when there’s ample chance to flaunt flashy fashion choices. The whole show has a special color grading which makes it cold and clinical. I didn’t love it but it did make the summer heat of the coastal setting seem less painful at least. For such a small budget show, with barely functioning anything, the fight scenes were seriously well-choreographed and created a nice hype.

Rewatch value: It’s short so it encourages that. I won’t rewatch it though.

Negatives: Evil femme fatal, tired trope! The gratuitous second prospective love interest in the Shixiong. The weird love triangle towards the end. The child character being annoying almost consistently throughout the show. That one female character who went mad because her husband died (wtf kind of 50s sexism is this?! Not to mention the weird implications about how mental health works). I’m still not sure what Lee’s job was prior to the bodyguard business. Was he in the military? Another gang? No idea! And to top all this off, there were those ridiculous shampoo ads implemented into the plot. It was hilarious but also just so absurd. There are a lot of questionable plot points with holes and just sloppy planning but if you don’t take it too seriously, then it’s more fun to watch.

Overall: I don’t regret watching it! Every time it became too stupid, I just laughed it off. When it shows genuine moments of sincerity, I enjoyed them. It reads like a fanfiction that is not particularly well-written but it is a fun time, anyway. In some twisted way, I want to recommend this show, actually. Just don’t watch it with high expectations.

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Almost the best show of 2024

I can now say with clarity that 2024 was an abysmal Kdrama year. It was one disappointment after underwhelming show after trash fire show after another! All the shows that started with great hype and massive potential *cough* lovelymarrymyrunnerhusband *cough* ended up with weird third acts or just bad plotting or shoehorned actors...everything was BAD! Everyone's favorite 2024 drama worked like the strongest sleeping pill for me! I fell over my computer on 4 different occasions before I gave up on it! It was basically impossible to find a good show! The late entries of the year that I ended up giving 10 stars to, were on par with previous years' 8-stars show but given the depressing landscape of 2024, I was desperate to give them some good ratings and they ended up over-complimented in the process.
And then, When The Phone Rings started airing.
I had no intention to watch this, like most shows I watched that year. It just sort of happened. I tried the first episode and it was so tense, addictive and mysterious that I immediately went for episode 2 and then I was craving for episode three! Sure, you need to lowkey turn off your feminist brain for the show to be enjoyable and there's still a lot that is questionable/unexplained in the plot but overall, it was good at keeping the tension high and building momentum for the upcoming episode. Add to that the steamy but subtle chemistry between the leading actors, their complex personalities and the ambiguous dynamics they had which bordered on unhealthy but never quite tipped into toxic territory and that kept the show fun to watch and also added a little spice to boot. This show was fun! Was it high quality? No...no, the production is really actually bad! The set designs are so basic, you can tell they had a low budget but they kept it classy. The acting wasn't good across the board either. For the most of the run, I thought this one guy was a secret villain but it turned out that the actor just...has an intense gaze, he he (awkward...). The mother characters looked really fake and just uncomfortable when they did their crying scenes. So it wasn't perfect in technical aspects and the plot was cheesy and slightly off at parts but the overall storytelling was so enjoyable and entertaining.
There was also sweet separations from the norm, the SFL isn't vengeful or jealous. The SML while still a SML (So like, how good can he be?!) was still less pushy and didn't overstep. The characters set up to be jealous and cruel were just supportive and neutral. The villains were not omniscient gods. They were sh*t at being villains like you would expect normal humans to be sh*t at stuff. The FL, though mainly a damsel in distress, showed unexpected spunk and fire and managed to save herself a number of times. The ML, is the main reason everyone watched this, was SO HOT! And though he was gloomy and broody when he was grinding on that miscommunication train, he was at his sexiest when he started to learn communication. Love to see it! This was the kind of show that was so fun and good to watch in small doses!
And then, around episode 8 it started to get a bit slow and I found episode 9 and 10 to be less enjoyable than previous ones though they still wrapped it up nicely. But then...episodes 11 and 12 were awful! I have never seen a show ruin itself so magnificently! My god! I can't believe I'm saying this...this show did not need 12 episodes!!!! They could've wrapped this up in 10 episodes! 11 at most! The pacing was slow in 11 but in 12, the pacing was high on drugs and tripping on freaking clouds! It was confusing, it made no sense. WHY???? Why would you do this to your show?! omg...you almost had the perfect show, goddamit!
So yeah. If this was to prove anything, it proved that nothing about 2024 was good and redeemable! This was the last chance to have a perfect 2024 show but they fumbled the bag.
It's not even a mini-problem! They spent 10 episodes setting up a character who learns communication, only for him to just forget all about that character growth and just regress to "I know what's best for her" nonsense. How can you undo everything you so meticulously set up for 11 episodes, in just 67 minutes?!
And it dragged. The most boring episode of the show. Made no sense, was all over the place, suddenly we get a voiceover explaining random conclusions to plot points, the filming technique looked like daytime sitcom shows, the acting was stilted, the plot was out of the left field. And then they give you the cute resolution in the final moments but it came after the most bizarre and random episode that I didn't even enjoy it well.
Almost. It was almost the best show of 2024. What a pity.
I don't regret watching it but it ended on a really sour note and I redacted 2 points, at first but then, for the sake of all that I had enjoyed in this show, I returned one point.
Could've been a ten...but it's not. What a waste! What a pity.

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UGH! Can we stop now?!

I'm so sick and tired of these ridiculous action shows. Enough already! I'm so sick of this and I hated watching this and I would've already stopped if Lee Dong Wook wasn't in this but goddammit he's so sexy! UGH! I genuinely just watched this awful show because he's hot. I don't even have an excuse. That was it. I barely took in the plot, mainly because it was jumbled and not very good to begin with so it was very difficult to feign investment in what was happening but also because the main point of this show is to drool over one (1) sexy man and then just...feel dreadful worry for the good guys as these tank-like VILLAINS just piss you off for FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHT freaking minutes!!!!UGHHHHHHHHHHH

Summary: Hot uncle dies. Niece comes home and then for some reason that gets explained WAY too late into the show, a bunch of psycho murderers start attacking the house, trying to kill her. UGH! WHY?!

Plot: This plot was just mediocre. Was it horrible? No. But it's just not worth all the fuss.

Acting: Actors were very good. Lee Dong Wook is hot... I don't know, that's like 80% of what I registered. Sorry, a bit one-track-minded over here.

Music and production: Again, good production is worth horse dung when the plot is boring.

Rewatch: No...but I'll probably watch season 2! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Overall: This was an action show. I don't like this type of show. I just accidentally got attached to the characters and had to finish this.

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Well, look at the bright side: at least it's over!

I recently spent some time watching older Kdramas and now I'm sure Korea has lost its touch because the worst shows of 2020 were far better than the star-studded ones we are getting nowadays. I have to say, I'm really sad about this one. It started out so funny but there wwas simply not enough plot or personality to this show for it to go on for 12 episodes. I know! I'm shocked! Usually, 12-episode dramas are a safe bet, but this one was so substance-less that even 12 episodes were too many for it! This show had a premise that could cover 4 episodes of its runtime. That's it! Maybe they should've made a movie instead...

So funny, the show is supposed to follow a career-driven FL who doesn't have any interest in marriage, but sick of having to give congratulatory gifts to all her friends and family who are getting married (and to advance in her career), she decides to hold a sham wedding to receive some money gifts. Now, I don't want to get stuck on the technicalities but that seems like a bad idea because the cost of holding a wedding is simply not worth the gifts. What if people give little to no money?! Or don't show up at all? A risky plan. Plus, she had to pay her fake husband, too! None of this made sense.
But whatever. It's a kdrama! We accept some silliness.
Okay, but that plot ended in like 4 episodes?! And then that was it?! The rest of the show is just boring, unnecessary drama. And then they had to whitewash a shrew female lead by making it sound like she wasn't even after the money at all, and it's like...okay, you couldn't tolerate an economically ambitious woman for 12 episodes?!

To add insult to injury, this was a bland pairing. No chemistry at all and then the show barely has them go through any shenanigans together to build a connection. Their level of romantic potential was below zero. I mean, why? Why would these two like each other? They were incompatible and not in that cutesy enemies-to-lovers but make it silly and light way. They were simply two people who made no sense together in any shape or form. Their personalities, where they are in life, their issues and hang-ups, none of it was compatible or complementary. And the show doesn't even try to sell it. They just want us to accept their lackluster tropes as an explanation of their love. Seriously, writers need to stop abusing tropes like this. A shorthand for sexual tension doesn't actually invent sexual tension. You can't play a sexy song while shaking a cabbage at the camera and expect people to get horny (idk, maybe that's someone's niche kink but they're the exception here...) My point is, you have to actually work for it. Create a romantic connection. No. Childhood connection is NOT a romantic connection either jkbd,welkwe
I am so mad...the humor was good at first, but that dried up too.

And pathetically, the best part of this show was the second couple. That's just atrocious! Like they had a nice dynamic but the show isn't even about them...

I feel like the main actors failed acting-wise. It's a shame. I don't dislike these people but they looked as in love as two doorknobs. What was that?! If they had good acting moments, then I no longer remember them. Only the bad stuff linger.

The rest...it was a bad show. Skip it.

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This is why I have trust issues

Why is this show so popular?! It was trash; basically. I'm not trying to be cruel, it was just a very badly made melodrama. I would have dropped this but I watched it with my mother and for some inexplicable reason, she was obsessed with watching this to the end even while complaining that the show is terrible...so we watched it, all the way to the end. I think maybe part of the issue is that this show is just very old and from a time when Kdramas didn't always try to be good. But this was just so cheesy! And it wasn't like Moon Lovers, that show is so obviously cringe, I mean the first time we meet the princes they're bathing! That show was so unserious and in your face with its awfulness that it was fun to watch it but this show was almost good! There are so many strong actors, the plot is serious, and it's like it's trying to be taken seriously but it falls short, my god it falls very short!
So first off, the plot here is convoluted but also underdeveloped, with a bit of tweaking this could have been so much more interesting. How? Some mystery would've been nice! The audience knows every single mystery of the plot the whole time (minus the one in episode 19 but by that point, you know these characters so well you will never fall for the plot's tricks.) So basically if we knew a bit less, it would have been so much less tedious to watch characters find out about stuff 10 episodes late. Secondly, this romance had less substance than cheese puffs! Why are these characters in love? Meeting twice and having three interesting conversations is a good build-up but it was just not enough for the epic romance this was set up to be. Also, the plot seems to have given up on using brain cells the moment the characters reached adulthood. The childhood era was actually nice, it tricked us into thinking the show is good. But then, everyone is suddenly dumb as an adult, especially the female lead who was so sharp and intelligent as a child. I get that that's what the amnesia plotline does to any respectable woman so I guess I just hate amnesia plots then. ._. And that's the other thing, the female lead is so passive. The literal moon that is in the sky and is shown, frankly too frequently, was more proactive in this plot than her. In fact, despite being the female lead, she barely has any role throughout the story. She's just there for everyone else to act around! Then there's the fact that events have no consequence as long as the female lead is involved. In fact, a major issue is how hard the show bends logic to protect the female lead's protagonist's halo. It's so frustrating. It was all so frustrating. I was either falling asleep from boredom or rolling my eyes from frustration while watching this.
So the casting...it's really good?! But why is everyone behaving so weird?! I don't know why but these really class actors were delivering absolutely no emotional impact. I could not care less about these characters and the acting made me so uncomfortable, everyone was so cheesy. I only liked Jung Il Woo, he was surprisingly a very strong actor and seemed a bit wasted here. The female lead was a nightmare and I bet Kdramaland unanimously sighed in relief when she married and gave up acting 'cause YIKES! what is that?! It was like she was allergic to expressions and having a personality...though the second one is probably the writer's fault! Everyone else was over acting. I like Fl's mom though. She was in Jewel in the Palace and I just like this woman a lot and her crying scenes were the only emotionally touching ones.
Music....do not even ask...
Production was terrible too but that should go without saying.
And I will not rewatch this, I barely wanted to watch it!
Overall: So many shows are popular on this website for no logical reason! Maybe they made sense 15 years ago, barely any of them hold up now. And I know there are good old shows but none of them are as popular as the bad ones! At least, so far in my experience. I'm gonna watch Goblin and hope for the best...

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What a devastating turn of events

I needed a few days to sit with my emotions before I could talk about the absolutely tragic series of events that led to the present situation: me, mourning the cancelation of an 8-year-old show!
So, in case you are reading this from the future, this is from the summer of 2024 when the book "Are You Addicted?" received its third adaptation into a BL drama; this time the attempt is by Thailand. I had heard about the first adaptation aka the present title) but I was told that the show was: 1) Bad. 2) Heavily censored and canceled before it even ended.
So I naturally never even considered watching it but with the new adaptation coming out, I became intrigued and decided to check out the new adaptation. But for *reasons* I ended up sort of hesitant in approaching the series, and as it continued to air, I saw fans of the previous adaptations complain about the quality almost non-stop. So between my new-found interest and the complaints and other reasons...I finally took the bait and watched this one, instead.
Reader, I was not ready. *ugly crying*
First of all, a big flipping-bird to the misleading masses who said this was bad! I went into this expecting it to look and behave like some cheap, homemade p*rn video, with terrible acting, bad lighting, overall abysmal production, and little to no comprehensible plot. That's not it at all!!!!! This is a proper show. And let me just burn all the bridges right here and say that a low-budget, first-project, basically-put-together-with-glue-and-determination-of-the-crew Cdrama is STILL miles better than a high-budget, well-supported Thai drama. What goes on over there?!
Anyway...
Yes, the show looks very cheap. The lighting in some scenes is pretty bad too and that does unfortunate things to the also very humble make-up work BUT the show makes up for all its shortcomings with amazing acting, a great script that follows the book to a T (well...the little bit of the book that I read), and sincerity.
This is perhaps the best that one could expect from a Cdrama, when it comes to a faithful adaptation of a heavily explicit gay romance (and also just an overall great adaptation in other regards too, actually). They clearly cut the parts that needed higher budgeting but the dialogue is almost verbatim from the book. Each event is followed so closely that it's almost uncanny! I really appreciate the fact that they didn't turn the adaptation into a farce just because they had no money. Like, I love me some (no, I don't) Go Princess Go type of absurdist, camp adaptation that makes a mockery of both itself and the source material (I have no idea how that show worked out but it only just barely got away with its bs) but it's just something else when the show has a low budget but they maintain their dignity enough to treat it seriously and do the best to make the finished project a respectable, acceptable product.
I was won over by the sincerity of this project more than its weird-ass plot (it's really weird), or its salacious romantic scenes (idk if some people's boat floats that way but honestly? I was not wooed. Like, never would I think "oh yes baby, throw me against the wall like that..." but we will get to that part later...). What stands out in this show is how every single person present on the screen and also every single person working behind the scenes was totally committed to making it work. And it worked. (Kinda like Untamed but if Untamed was, like, REALLY broke.)
Both shows had a lot of heart and they did all the technical things as correctly as they could to make the show work. I respect that. I LOVED that.
Now, the other thing that worked? The acting. Holy Meow! I genuinely thought I was going to deal with abysmal acting. Like constipated faces, vague statue-like expressions, and maybe a bit of self-effacing embarrassed acting. I thought they would just be trying hard but looking awkward...Reader, there was none of that! I am an instant fan of these boys. In fact, I am emotionally attached to these young actors who put their careers and futures on the line and then committed 100% to the characters they were given and acted the pants off of them! These characters feel more real than 90% of what you see in Cdramas and maybe 50% of Kdramas too, actually (100% more realistic than those you see in Thai dramas, and the numbers are out for Jdramas 'cause they swing back and forth between silly anime acting and proper acting, idk). These felt like real boys. And it really helped that the voices were recorded on set and thank goodness that the guys were so good at talking and following the script. They felt raw. Real. Human. And it's ironic because a lot of their behavior makes 0 sense. Like, any and all characters could be in jail or mental hospital, if they pulled one of the many shenanigans they pull in real life but somehow because the actors are such great actors, they made it work. So you see the most bizarre thing on screen and you can actually can comprehend why this very real human boy would do that action in that moment. Even if out of context, two seconds away from the screen, it would cease to make sense. I am so impressed by Johnny Huang and Timmy Xu. Too impressed. I don't know. I'm a little speechless (Shocking, I know. I've been blabbering nonstop but I really want to say more but feel like words are failing me) They were so raw, guys...They just did so well and I think the supporting cast did very well too. I would only say maybe one or two actors are weird or gimmicky but thankfully by the time they show up, the romance brainrot has taken over both the viewers and the two main leads so we literally do not care. Like, all we want is for the pesky supporting cast to leave so they can...wrestle a bit more. I wish the best for the actors. They did too much. They literally were too good in their chemistry, it got the show canceled! *ugly crying* But that's the price we all paid for excellence, I guess. (Ok, I'm talking it up but this was their first project and it was risqué and controversial and demanding and they both did so well. I feel like they deserve the confidence boost)
Music-wise...they use such beautiful classical pieces..with literally no context. There would be a jig while the characters are crying! It made no sense. Whoever did the background music work must've just put their Spotify on shuffle. The only music choice that works is this one scene in episode 15...which was unfortunately too explicit and the whole scene was cut and it's a very unfortunate situation...yikes!
Plot summary: Gu Hai's dad is marrying his mistress and Gu Hai is super bitter about it. The stepmother in question has a son and when it's suggested that the 4 of them should all live together, Gu Hai finds this to be too much and bolts from the house. He's a rich boy so he goes across town and lives alone in his loft apartment and attends a new school where he meets Bai Luo Yin. Love knows no reason and also has one brain cell, apparently. Because Gu Hai is immediately 150% obsessed and he also has the social skills of an octopus in a dog's body so he expresses his feelings as eloquently as that and I don't know what to tell you! It's just that! Oh! And Bai Luo Yin is THE stepmother's son! lol
Negatives: I'm just gonna say it straight up. This show has r@pe. A lot of it. In fact, the concept of consent is extremely murky and undefined in this narrative. And I could sugarcoat it and come up with excuses....it's r@pe. Okay? And I know why it's in there...it's plausible deniability. As long as it's not two-sided, you can get away with showing some sexy action, and yes...the ONE time the show had consensual, two-sided, enthusiastic (well, actually...one was drunk still, yikes, so not 100% consensual but we are beggars, and the show literally gives us no choice, so...) the show got canceled for it. -_-
Yes, reader...you read that right *ugly crying* This show was Icarus! It flew too close to the sun!!!!! And it was burned to a crisp, I tell you! *ugly crying* We were left hanging in the middle of the air! Never to fly, never to fall, just levitating, wondering how it could've ended! *ugly crying* Woe is me! What is this tragic nonsense?! We're in the 21st-century, ffs!!!!
Anyway, the show has weird romantic dynamics. You know it's supposed to be slightly more consensual than what we see because at a high point, the character's argument is "Stop! My dad could see you from right there" So like...if he was bothered, he could literally scream for his dad to come save him from the octopus-man but no, he's just worried they would get discovered. Which is not great but I guess it's a bit of consolation. STILL, if you can't handle SA, don't watch it! It will upset you. I was fine because I don't necessarily assume the situation I am watching is supposed to be morally appropriate and because I don't have that expectation from my lead characters, I can still enjoy a show even if the mains are terrible people who do terrible things. But if you feel uncomfortable by that or it might trigger you, be kind to yourself and don't put yourself through it...or I guess you can skip? But at some point, you would just be skipping the whole show.
Overall: Reader, it was love at definitely-not first sight. It took a few episodes for me to warm up to this but just like how Gu Hai becomes this obsessive mess, I too, eventually became an obsessive mess when watching this show. It was just a good, though not high quality, show that captures your heart with its sincere heart and then just as you are freefalling into its rabbit hole, it ends on an inconclusive note. An unfinished sentence. We will never know how this was meant to end and that's heartbreaking. But the fact that the cast and crew paid the ultimate price and were either banned, imprisoned, or forbidden from working takes the tragedy from a 10 to a hundred. It's in respect to the sacrifice they made that I think it's good to see so many love this work and keep its legacy alive. If you prefer a more family-friendly version of this plot, Stay With me, the second adaptation of the book is also available. The Thai one has its own issues...I'm not gonna tell you, go find out about it yourself. But if you can handle the controversial bits, this show is so worth the heartbreak. Yes, the heartbreak. You will be heartbroken but you will also be thankful for it. It's all gain and all loss.
P.S. (because I didn't talk enough): One thing I love about this show is how both characters are such macho men. They're like...big, manly man types! Which is very rare in BL? I have never seen it like this, to be honest. And it was just so refreshing! I don't know, I liked how they were both big, strong men who could punch each other and cause actual damage! hehe he he he...I don't know, I guess we all have issues?!

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I think I just found a new favorite Kdrama!

Sometimes, a hyped show is overrated. You keep turning it up and down, trying to figure out what others see in it but it makes no sense. Then sometimes, the show isn't bad by any means but it's definitely not as good as others say. But on very rare occasions, the show is actually as good as everyone says it is! Twinkling Watermelon is definitely one of those rare stars in the night sky. Sure, it's a musical and that is a bit irritating, but the show makes up for it with a very creative plot, amazing cast with natural chemistry, effective humor, and so much genuine emotional anchoring that not watching this show would be an absolute loss.
Now, obviously this has time travel and I think they did it in such an interesting way and we're not gonna over-analyse the logistics of it...anyway, I thought the way that this works out which is sort of similar to "Back to the future" was so cute. It's just so emotional when Ha Eun Gyeol, the main character, meets his parents for the first time.
The plot is complex, very complex, but the show doesn't fumble and it wraps it up so well. And I'm so surprised to be saying this but I think this show could've had maybe an extra 20 minutes to explain some bits from the ending even more! (I know, asking for more time when usually 16-episodes shows drag, already! WILD!) The whole thing is heavily relying on the relationships between the characters and these characters are just so easily lovable that watching the show is just so fun. I didn't totally love our female lead as she caused a whole lot of drama but the actress is a personal favorite and she did a good job and despite the frustrations, it's all a part of her character growth so I think it wasn't a bother. My favorite characters remain Ha Yi Chan and Chung Ah, though. And of course, nothing beats the relationship between Yi Chan and Eun Gyeol. It was so touching and I just wanted them to be happy. :(
I've already expressed my love for the four main actors but the supporting cast were wonderful too. Everyone was just right in their own position and they all did such a good job. Kudos all around.
I wanna gosh more about just the plot and the perfect humor and the fact that despite a little hiccup between episode 11 and 12, this show manages to escape the curse of epsidoe 12 and the show doesn't lose the narrative momentum in episode 12. Despite the fact that it could've ended at that point, the story does find an excuse to keep going but at least here the excuse they use lands well for the plot and facilitates the existence of some of the most emotional moments of the whole show in the final episodes. Overall, I'm just so impressed with the writing in this show. It stands out among the sea of repetitive (if still endearing) and overwritten shows that keep getting made. And I think this isn't even a webcomic adaptation, right?! An extra star just for that!!!!
The production is very good here. It's nothing revolutionary but there are little affects used here and there that just make the show quirky and unique. The story is mainly set in 1995 and the fashion is just the right amount of vaguely retro that it isn't offensively modern and still conveys the 90s aesthetic. At least they don't have a 30 year old woman wear a 2024 trendy hairclip!
I might rewatch this actually. I loved it.
Final comment: This show deserves its place at the very top of Top Shows list. It was a delight to watch and I recommend it to everyone!
P.S.: If anyone knows who the singers for the main characters are, please let me know! Thank you!

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Could be gayer?!

Warning: This movie is for 18+ viewers ONLY.
A year ago, I came across this movie but it wasn’t available anywhere so I read the summary on Wikipedia and gave up! Now about a week ago, by complete dumb luck, I found the movie on a website and thought I’ll watch it, anyway. It’s a good movie. The production, the story, the acting, etc. were all nice. On top of it all, it has a well-executed love triangle of the type I like. So it was a shoo-in for 10/10. It’s just…I liked the first two-thirds but the third act was kind of…meh? I wanna say it was a total sad surprise but I kind of could already tell I wouldn’t like the ending when I read that summary a year ago. No, it’s not negative bias that affected my judgment. Because when I started watching the movie, I expected to be underwhelmed but the movie surprised me by how good it was. Then the third act happened!
I’m really conflicted over this film. About how I felt about it and what to rate it. I said I’ll give myself some time to think it over but a week later and I’m still none the wiser.

You should check this out if you like:
1. Historical fiction
2. Tragic endings
3. Love triangles
4. Internal conflicts
5. Betrayals and moral ambiguity

Summary: The king of Goryeo is gay. He’s been sleeping with his chief of guards (whom he may or may not have groomed since childhood) for a long time. The problem is that Goryeo is now a vassal state of the Yuan dynasty and if the king can’t provide an heir, his country will basically get taken away from him. So, the king has the brilliant idea to have his queen and lover provide an heir for him…because that would still be in the family, right? Well… wrong!

Plot: Love triangles get a bad rep because these days we are sort of sick of them and also because they have turned into formulas that are uninspired, repetitive, and stale. Back in the noughties (The author of this review was on a noughties drama nostalgia bender at the time of watching this movie and reviewing it!) the trope wasn’t done to death yet and people still had the guts to go really wild with their love triangles. That’s the kind I love. Like here, where all three points of the triangle are involved with each other romantically and everyone is simultaneously in love with the others and jealous of them. It’s a MESS! And believe it or not, love triangles are only fun to watch when they are really bunkers. If you can already tell which side will end up together, then it’s not a love triangle. That’s two people in a relationship and a stalker. Anyway, this movie really impressed me because, for two-thirds of it, it delivers all the delicious, terrible feelings of being in love with your love rival and feeling hella conflicted and guilty about it. The final act though was rather tonally different. It was still great. The best of the acting happens during that time and it’s packed with plot and action but it fails to deliver the satisfying emotional punch that was building up in the first two acts, for me. Because while things seemed ambiguous and uncertain before, the last act tries to deliver fast and concrete answers to those questions and it cheapens the story that was told before.

The acting: It was great. I wasn’t super impressed with Jo In Sung here. His expression began to meld into the same two after a while. (But then I watched WHIB right after this, so I think he’s great anyway!) Joo Jin Mo was really good though. A Standout. Everyone else was fine. I wanna pour a drink out for the female lead who had to do so many explicit scenes though. Girl, I wouldn’t wanna be you. That looked so awkward.

Music: Great music elevated the emotional scenes in the film. It set the sad and somber mood perfectly and was also pleasant to listen to.

Rewatch value: Probably not. It’s a tragedy and has too many explicit scenes.

Negatives: For the record, yes, it does matter if the story has gay romance or not. The whole conflict exists because of the issue of sexuality so there’s no way to think about the plot by pretending the tension would still exist if the love triangle wasn’t set up the way that it was. Because the thing that makes this movie interesting and watch-worthy and the thing that sets it apart is the fact that it is known for the relationship between the king and the guard dude. If the guard was just a friend, the story would immediately be way less interesting. That would be something they would make nowadays. Not the noughties!!! With that said, I think the story was a bit conflicted in itself. Like they hesitated to lean into the implications. It didn’t know if it wanted to be about the tragic gay couple or the star-crossed straight couple and that hurts the last act because a lot of the nuance disappears as the king and the guard take the shape of stereotypical rivals more and more. The thing is, by modern standards, the straight part is not a love story at all. It’s just a physical relationship so there’s just no charisma to it. I couldn’t root for the guard and the queen to save my life! They have nothing in common except their physical desires. I can’t fault the story though. In a historical setting, I can understand how that was as good as either one could wish for. It’s just that their romance became the main drive of the last act and that was just not a strong enough romance to carry the plot. So it’s a bit less interesting to watch than when everyone is in love with everyone or married to them and they have all these feelings of lust and betrayal and confusion that they don’t know what to do with.
There were also way too many explicit scenes! Omg, just…so many! Why?! I fast-forwarded most of that because I just couldn’t stomach it. It almost looked clinical. Really disturbing. I felt so sorry for the actors…just YIKES!

Overall: The film has such a perfect set-up. When we meet the characters, the king and the chief guard seem to have a very good and intimate relationship. Same with the King and Queen who though obviously not romantic, still get along. The queen and the chief guard have this mellow rivalry which is very polite and respectful in appearance and the political unrest is interesting. Then the stuff happens and the conflicts are deliciously tantalizing as we see the three characters torture themselves and each other with their silences, with the things they keep from each other, and the stuff they want but can't have. It’s just such an interesting story to tell. The ending is still good even if it doesn’t live up to its potential. The beginning promises an epic fallout and we do get one. It’s just that it could have been an even BIGGER fallout. I think it’s worth a watch. It’s a very well-made movie.
Sidenote: If you think about it, all the problems would be solved if Hong Rim could just identify as a bisexual.

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