Emotional movie that touches on life and death

If you've seen the trailer, you may think this is a mystery/horror movie but don't be fooled. There are two arcs in this: first half fools you into thinking its horror and the latter half is emotional and a real tearjerker.

Basic rundown of this story without spoilers: the female lead notices her neighbors being weird and tries to find out the reason. There is also a strange light shop down the street that she is suspicious of. She works with her boyfriend to discover the truth. The director does a good job using color to portray the mood of the scene- using dark contrast for the "horror" and warm tones for other scenes. Additionally, the metaphor of using lightbulbs to represent human life is the heart of this movie. Characters enter the light shop to get their lightbulb, others don't have one, and some choose to give up their lightbulb.

You can tell they had a good budget and spent a lot of effort and time to create this movie. The transition between scenes and flashbacks was so smooth, you get pulled into the story even more.

There were a lot of familiar faces in this: Zhang Ruo Nan, Bai Yu Fan, Zheng Kai (cameo), Sun Qian, and Liu Yi Jun. They really embraced their characters. Bai Yu Fan and Zhang Ruo Nan's emotional scenes especially broke me. I was bawling at the end of the movie.

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Slice of life drama with tight storyline, raw emotions, and relatable moments

I decided to try this drama after hearing about its high ratings on Douban, and boy am I glad I did! I went into it not knowing anything about the plot (the one on MyDramalist really spoils quite a bit of the storyline) so I was really blown away by how it started. It pulled me right into the plot and dragged me along for the ride. I unconsciously started a binge and caught up to ten episodes in a matter of days. If you don't already know, it's about three friends who deal with the aftermath and grief of losing their best friend while going through the ups and downs of their lives in the big city of Beijing . There are focuses on several topics relevant to many of us today: romantic relationships between an older woman and a younger man, interpersonal relationships in the office workplace, and mental health. That's all I'll say to not spoil.

Moving on, I definitely have to talk about the acting of this cast. The producer really did a stellar job in casting. Everyone embodies their roles to the point. Zhou Yu Tong is amazing with the raw emotions she conveys at her work and when losing her best friend, Jing Jing. I only saw of her in another idol romance drama and that didn't impress me BUT in this drama, she is perfect. Her crying scenes get me teary-eyed. Every. Time. Her romance line with Bai Yu Fan is super duper cute and I smile every time they come on screen. Then, I have to applaud Ren Su Xi because she cracked me up multiple times and her emotional scenes were just as impactful. No wonder she's a well-known film actress. As for Sun Qian, she was good as well, though her character did get on my nerves many times (guess that means she's really embodying her character right?) Also, I can't end this without mentioning the actress who plays Hu Jing Jing. She doesn't have as much screen time as the rest of the cast cause her character passed away, but she really conveyed the emotions of Jing Jing that I felt for her. The personality of being strong even though she was having a bad day herself. I hope these actors get more recognition after this drama.

Overall, this is a drama with concise writing and plot development as things never got draggy and they split the screen time well between the three arcs. They not only show how each of the lead actresses face their work and love lives, they also slowly reveal the secrets of Jing Jing and what led up to her death. I am so glad it's a 12-episode drama and hope more works like this will be made in the future of C drama world.

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"When water meets ink, is it the water's fault? Or the ink's?"

Beautifully designed costumes with emotional soundtrack (one by Fox Hu! Who sang for The Story of Minglan) that really matched the scenes and made them come alive. You can tell they spent a lot of effort on these areas as well as the location/sets and cinematography. Some parts did look really CG but others were really nice.

The leads were all unfamiliar people (to me) and they appear to be rookies after looking at their profiles, BUT their acting took me by surprise. Better than expected! I really liked how much they embodied their characters- especially Cheng Jing Mo with how easily he teared up and cried during the emotional scenes. His expressions really showed the angst and torment at the horrible situation he was stuck in with the woman he loved. I could see the pain in his eyes. There were times when the actors were stiff but overall, a well done job!

As for the plot, pretty unique and not your typical romance development. Who would've expected the female lead to marry the male lead's FATHER? And be stuck as Jing Mo's aunt for nearly the entire drama (season 1 and 2). That was heartwrenching to see them have to hold back their feelings because it would ruin the Cheng family's image. The pacing was incredibly fast/ not draggy at all, which is good and bad in its own way. I wouldn't have minded more development in them falling in love before the marriage as well other parts. Besides that, one bad thing I noticed and didn't like was the editing of the drama. There were some really awkward shifts from one scene to the next without any smooth transition. The music would just stop and suddenly it's another scene. Maybe they were short on time/money so they couldn't develop that scene as well or transition smoothly? Other than that, I followed along nicely and enjoyed the journey with how our "Shui" met our "Mo"

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Really beautifully done movie! It really showed the harmful consequences of bullying and the mindset of those bullies who think that what they did was "just a joke" or looking back as adults, they just "forgot" what happened. The scene where Yi Yao yells at her classmates from the seaside, telling them she knows her murderers, was left such an impact.

Even though some people did bring up how some scenes seemed a bit rushed, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The cast did a superb job at bringing their characters to life. Their facial expressions were on point- I love the actor who played Gu Sen Xi! That smile, that attitude, everything! I especially love how at the end, he changes how he defines his name to the "Xi" is from the sun rising from the West. LOVED IT. The actress, Ren Min, who played Yi Yao was just as great! She brought me to tears with her scenes. I can't believe all these actors are rookies??

Besides that, I can't forget to mention how AMAZE-ing the OST is. They really brought the sadness, all the emotion, in certain heavy scenes to life, making them even sadder. This one lyric from one OST really touched me. "Youth is like an IV drop, slowly dripping away."

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How criminal profiling came to be in South Korea

"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

This drama is based on a nonfiction book written by South Korea's first criminal profiler. Given this, most of the cases (all except one in which I am unsure of) are based on true cases in S. Korea. The storyline is straightforward and goes in chronological order, like a documentary, and has several time jumps to show the years passed. There were a handful of slow moments but with only 12 episodes, they weren't too bad. I overlooked them for the tight story development, superb acting, and perfect OST and BGM. Some people complain that it's too slow but this is based on true events- the writer of this drama can only dramaticize it so far. I'm glad they stick to the facts to stay true to the true cases while adding some thrill/suspense in catching the killer. While the characters don't go deep into psychological analysis of the criminals, we can still tell they are paying attention the personality characteristics of the killers and using them to study and prevent others. The production paid close attention to detail in recreating the horrid things that occurred in the crimes especially the Raincoat killer and Southwestern serial killer. It was quite informative to learn how criminal profiling came to be accepted in criminal investigations in Korea. Who would have expected them to start in early 2000s?

I cannot leave without commending Kim Nam Gil who is amazing as Song Ha Young. I have no words for how he portrayed the disgust and anger from having to interview serial killers in jail. His breakdown later in the drama was heartbreaking and I shed a few tears for him in empathy. The rest of the cast were all great too. The bromance between Ha Young and Chief Kook (plus Woo Joo!) was cute and lightened up the otherwise super dark, heavy drama based on true crimes. I really ate up all the rare interactions between Ha Young and Chief Kook. Do give this a shot if you love crime dramas!

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Written pretty well, wrapped up nicely~

1. Plot: Very well paced (not draggy at all) to develop each of our three female leads' lives- their careers, family, and romance. The friendship between the three is really touching and cute too. It gives enough screen time to each female lead as the plot develops in each episode and then wrapped each of their lives well. To give more detail on each of the three best friends- Tian Lei is a lawyer who is strongly independent and does not believe in romance/men; Shiya is a manager of a beauty shop who is hopeful of having a relationship with her boss she's crushing on; Cheng Lu is a scriptwriter who is figuring out if she really wants to get married while facing pressures to get married since she is already thirty four. The drama follows these three women who are all in their thirties as they navigate their lives.

2. Acting: ALL the actors are well chosen. I never seen most of them before but they are all good- I can feel the experience of many of them and every one of them seem to embody their characters from what I've seen so far, especially our leading ladies. The boss of the restaurant the leading characters frequently dine at is another actor who stood out since he pulled off some very funny jokes and is overall comedic. Another good thing about the leading cast is that many of them used their OWN voices! No weird dubbing that doesn't match the person's appearance, none of that so be rest assured.

3. Production: Nice combo of animation plus regular footage for the opening song. The entire drama oozes professionalism as you can see the camera angles are well done with nice sets and props. As PPLs are pretty obvious in Chinese dramas, they were thrown in almost episode BUT the writers and actors were able to subtly tie in the product to the scene so it wasn't painful to watch. The outfits matched the personality of each characters and weren't repetitive (good variety of changes). Transitions between scenes were pretty smooth too. The OST is very very good! Fits the mood of the scene, serving well to strengthen the feeling they want us to feel.

Please do try if you're into a female centric drama with good pacing, great lines, and story line. There are life lessons as well as romance and a pinch of comedy as a plus :) It's pretty worth to watch but 40 episodes is a bit much to rewatch.

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Fast-paced slice-of-life....?

This drama follows Yu Huan Shui, a typical man in his thirties who is having problems both at home and at work. After his motorcycle accident 10 years ago, his life is spiraling downhill and his self-esteem is at an all-time low. His wife wants a divorce and his boss at work treats him like dirt. He's a pushover with a bad habit of lying in uncomfortable/confrontational moments, which makes it hard for anyone to really tell if he's telling the truth. Then all changes when he finds out he does not have much time left. He becomes more daring and more outspoken, not afraid to do anything. As he navigates this, the drama tries to raise questions about staying true to yourself?? And/or possibly self-redemption as he realizes his problems and works to resolve them. I honestly could not really tell what the message of this man's life was supposed to be, which made me feel quite lost as I watched on.

There were some comedic scenes that worked spot on because it was just so preposterous and ridiculous. I would burst out laughing because I just didn't know how else to react to such absurdity XD Guo Jing Fei is a great actor who embodied the role of Yu Huan Shui. The anger, sadness, frustration were all seen in his eyes and actions. Other actors were just as great. Glad there was no voice dubbing- everyone had their real voices!

Music: The OST was nothing special, but catchy nonetheless. Just one song (I believe) that is the ending song. There was a BGM that was played during sad scenes, which effectively depressed the mood, so I liked that instrumental.

The ending was rather an open ending- not much was explained. No epilogue that answered the unanswered questions, which was a bummer. It did leave off with this quote-

"If there is no tomorrow, life would be much simpler. All the pain and indecisiveness people feel is because there are many tomorrows left."

So perhaps with that line, the message of the drama is to live every day to your fullest as if you have no tomorrow? And Yu Huan Shui's story is supposed to be a demonstration of that?

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"When water meets ink, is it the water's fault? Or the ink's?"

Beautifully designed costumes with emotional soundtrack (one by Fox Hu! Who sang for The Story of Minglan) that really matched the scenes and made them come alive. You can tell they spent a lot of effort on these areas as well as the location/sets and cinematography. Some parts did look really CG but others were really nice.

The leads were all unfamiliar people (to me) and they appear to be rookies after looking at their profiles, BUT their acting took me by surprise. Better than expected! I really liked how much they embodied their characters- especially Cheng Jing Mo with how easily he teared up and cried during the emotional scenes. His expressions really showed the angst and torment at the horrible situation he was stuck in with the woman he loved. I could see the pain in his eyes. There were times when the actors were stiff but overall, a well done job!

As for the plot, pretty unique and not your typical romance development. Who would've expected the female lead to marry the male lead's FATHER? And be stuck as Jing Mo's aunt for nearly the entire drama (season 1 and 2). That was heartwrenching to see them have to hold back their feelings because it would ruin the Cheng family's image. The pacing was incredibly fast/ not draggy at all, which is good and bad in its own way. I wouldn't have minded more development in them falling in love before the marriage as well other parts. Besides that, one bad thing I noticed and didn't like was the editing of the drama. There were some really awkward shifts from one scene to the next without any smooth transition. The music would just stop and suddenly it's another scene. Maybe they were short on time/money so they couldn't develop that scene as well or transition smoothly? Other than that, I followed along nicely and enjoyed the journey with how our "Shui" met our "Mo"

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Only 18 eps, at 16 minutes per episode! Very fast-paced and good romance!

As an 18-episode drama, this has incredibly fast pacing, and this is not meant in a bad way. The writer does not waste time at all, moving from one main plot point to another. The scenes move very smoothly with good transitions between scenes. The soundtrack is really nice and the editing team did a great job adding them to certain scenes.

The storyline is more so focused on Shi Qi hiding her true identity rather than the political plotting to get the Crown Prince title. Romance-wise, there are plenty of cute/heart fluttering moments between Shi Qi and Xiao Han Sheng. I highly recommend trying if you're into the forced marriage and secret identity trope. Plus the I-met-you-before-but-you-don't-recognize-me trope? (if that is even one, lol). The mystery element of this drama would be finding out why Shi Qi got her face swapped. When the reason is revealed, I was a bit surprised, which is good cause plot twist! I do have to say I lowered my rating a bit because of the finale. I'm not sure how rational it was for such an ending.

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I was excited when I saw there would be a spin-off for the drama Because of Meeting You and started the first episodes with expectations... that were not met by the end of episode 2. The main leads are fairly unknown actors and their acting was awkward to say the least. I could tell the writers were desperate to use the phrase from the title but it was just way to cringey to use in their scenes. It seemed forced like a puzzle piece not meant for the missing spot. The OST was fairly enjoyable on the other hand and the effort made to have a quality set, costumes, and jewelry. If only, the acting and script had been done better, this would have been a fairly good drama (even with the cliche plotlines we see in most dramas). No rewatch value as I could not even bear the torture of finishing it.

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The plot of this drama sounded very interesting with themes of rebirth and reincarnation BUT it just made less and less sense as I kept watching. It felt as if the writer just gave up halfway with character consistency and plot development?

Plot:
Jung Ha Eun was this nice innocent character and she started off believing in Gong Ji Chul’s innocence but she suddenly just changed her mind when she visited in jail. Jung Sa Bin was even worse, hating on Kim Soo Hyuk for shooting Chun Jeong Beom to protect her and forgiving JB who basically stalked her. SB went back and forth between the two men who cared about her. ?The ending and epilogue made no sense and was disappointing where Sa Bin chooses Jeong Beom with no explanation whatsoever on how they survived their respective heart condition and brain condition. The crime part of the drama was just crazy where it was solved too quickly at the end. There were some scenes where they touched the evidence/corpse WITHOUT any gloves which is not logical since that’ll obviously contaminate the evidence/corpse.

Acting:
The actors did a fantastic job though despite this messy script- especially the three leads. Lee Soo Hyuk and Jang Ki Yong really showed their wide range of acting either with crying, anger, etc. Hoping they’ll pick a better script next time. ???

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Already with a funny trailer, I went into this movie thinking it'll be mostly comedy, but boy was I wrong! It had comedic scenes, definitely, with Jo Jung Suk especially, but there were also tearjerker ones. Or at least to a sensitive soul like me. I love how selfless Yong Nam and Eui Joo were, giving themselves to help others. Yong Nam's dad going back with other ahjusshis to save him was so touching. And the heli-cams that all appeared when they were giving up was just...

This movie shows what one is willing to give up and risk for their own family and I could really see that with Yong Nam's actions. I love how the career that wasn't helping him get jobs in the beginning allowed him to save his family's lives as well as his own. Don't look down on a career!

Big thanks to Jo Jung Suk and Yoona who brought their characters to life and the rest of the amazing cast who brought me laughter and tears. I could see how hard they worked to get ready for their roles- my fear of height was really tested with all the risky jumps and all.

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Cannot be compared to A Little Reunion

When they started releasing information and pictures of this drama, I was excited and hopeful. Could it be as good as A Little Reunion? I sure hoped so! The trailer seemed good and the actors seemed experienced. However, it was quite disappointing.

Plot: There are two primary focuses in this drama- schooling and complex families. Tian Yu Lan's family is strict on pushing the kid to tutoring sessions after class while Nan Li is the opposite and lenient on her children. It raises questions on how hard you should be pushing your children so that they can succeed in the future and whether you should be constantly comparing your children to others. "Do only smart children deserve to be loved?" is a question raised. In contrast to A Little Reunion, the children are in primary school (5th/6th grade) and their parents are worried about the middle school they're going to enter soon.

Then, the topic of complex families is shown with Nan Li being the biological daughter of Nan Jian Long and Tian Yu Lan being his step-daughter. Auntie Cai was the mistress that caused Nan Li's parents to divorce, which causes rifts between the two women. The drama begins right away to show you how they cannot get along with another and you'll see how this is resolved later on. Be prepared for lots of drama when they have a showdown at the dinner table or wherever. I would say the plot development and pacing is decent but it could be better. There were some areas that were not as smooth when switching between the two topics.

Characters: They were all alright, but not really relatable. It felt more dramatized for entertainment. They didn't feel like real people that existed out there. It's not to say the acting was bad, but it felt like they were characters- and not people. Tian Yu Lan and Auntie Cai got annoying at some points of the drama. They acted self-righteous and like the whole world wronged them and deserved better even though they did break up a family. They resorted to some extreme (and quite embarrassing) lengths just to get Zi You into a special class. And talking about annoying characters, Huan Huan was a spoiled kid. She got low grades but would rather play than work hard to improve. She has some moral/character issues as you will see near the end of the drama through her actions toward Mi Tao. I felt really bad for Mi Tao who was told to suck it up and be the bigger person.

Acting: I enjoyed most of the acting, except Huan Huan's. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the casting of the younger characters, especially Huan Huan. She was annoying and I couldn't help but cringe whenever she cried or yelled back at her parents. Her eyes didn't really carry the emotion of the scene, so when she screamed, it broke the tension/mood of the scene. Maybe I'm just being picky with her since I am no expert. The other young actors were fine though. I truly emphasized with Mi Tao. It's the sad reality that introverted people lose out to the extroverted ones in this society. The main cast, excluding the children, were seasoned actors that I have seen before so I didn't have any problems. There were some emotional scenes that made me cry, so they did convey the lines well for that to happen.

Music: The only reason I rated it so high is because I love Zhou Shen's voice. He sang the ending song and it's amazing. They play it throughout the drama too, and the high notes are beautiful. Check if out if you have not already!

Rewatch Value: Sorry, I do not usually rewatch but this will definitely not be worth it. 42 hours would be better spent on A Little Reunion instead. I had to speed some scenes up because some scenes felt too slow and some were just scenery with BGM.

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"This is the story of us three. To be continued."

First time in a while that there is a decent contemporary Chinese drama that didn't lose its footing and get all draggy and boring. Even though it's a 43-episode drama, you can hardly feel it and actually want more! I love its focus on women and how it distributed screen time to develop the story line of each of our leading ladies.

Plot: The drama raises good questions and awareness about the expectations put onto women in their 30’s. It is clear that every character has their own flaws and that's what makes them realistic characters. As I watched, I slowly saw each character's personal growth, especially the three leading ladies, in their career and love life. Xiao Qin's growth was especially evident after her divorce and experience with dating a young (clingy) guy when she realized her own mistakes. I anticipated the cheating and betrayal of Xu Huan Shan since I read the synopsis, and honestly, it took longer than I wanted for Gu Jia to find out. Other than that, the plot went on at a good pace throughout the drama and wrapped up well for each character. Most of the loose ends were tied up, in my opinion.

Production: The drama had high quality production and filming that can be seen through the opening song and the nice sets and clothes. The PPL wasn't too terrible or annoying either- pretty smooth. It was just the usual like in most other Chinese dramas. The main characters are all using their own voices too (no cringey dubbing!!)

Cast: Our leading ladies did such an amazing job with their roles that I have only good things to say about them. They delivered their lines and conveyed the emotions spot on and quite naturally (in my opinion), which does not surprise me since they cast well experienced actors. I especially loved Tong Yao who played Gu Jia. She successfully embodied the heartbreak when she found out her trash of a husband cheated on her and showed the growth of her character when she overcame this hurdle. I loved her story line the most, though Man Ni and Xiao Qin's story line were pretty interesting as well.

Music: Nothing really stood out at first, but the ending OST grew on me as I heard it over and over again whenever I finished an episode. The lyrics struck pretty deep and I really like it now. As for the rest, they weren't bad but I wouldn't listen to them after I finish this drama. I did notice that the same singer sang most of the songs (all but one) so that's probably why the songs all sounded pretty similar to me.

Rewatch Value: I don't usually rewatch dramas, especially Chinese dramas (since they are so long) so I just gave it a random score. It was still a good watch for the first time around though.

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Better than expected!

I was a little hesitant to start this movie since it was Hong Kong and TVB dramas haven't been as good as they used to be BUT this movie was much better than I expected. The trailer was a bit confusing, so I basically went into it blind without knowing much of the premise. I only knew there would be hypnosis involved and a court case with a jury, and I personally think knowing less was better in this case.

Plot: Well developed. Pacing was smooth. No scene was useless. I followed along pretty well with the information that was gradually given. It didn't feel like they just dumped information but it was slowly fed to you as a viewer. Nothing was weird, everything was pretty logical. The "plot twist" wasn't that surprising (I expected something like that) but it was pretty thrilling and satisfying.

Cast: All actors were great! It was lovely seeing the familiar faces of Hong Kong actors from my childhood as well as Han Zhang who I expect would be in it until I saw the poster and trailer. I love how his voice was not dubbed, keeping his Mandarin in the entire movie. Besides that, every actor carried their lines through with the right emotions and authenticity of their roles. A+ there.

OST: There wasn't anything spectacular about the music. Mostly dramatic BGM. The song for the credits was pretty good though.

Overall, if you enjoy Hong Kong movies and like thrilling crime movies, you may like to give this one a go. :)

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