Sweet noona romance in a familiar drama-verse

Opening statement: Some reviews focused on this show not being a continuation of the GGS1 story and so it was a criminal misrepresentation. I don't find that to be a problem as it was a good standalone drama as it is. To be fair, it did share the same GGS1 universe and some support cast played significant roles in this drama as well while the leads from GGS1 both made cameos. There are timeline issues which I shall leave to purists to explain but the ending brought both shows to a satisfying conclusion. So my review is purely based on the show as presented with no strings attached.
On the whole, this was a good c-drama. Good production value and decent CGI driven robot combats. The OST was also well done with references back to GGS1 OST where appropriate. The OTP had good chemistry and skinship. It helped that we are dealing with mature adults. Furthermore, I loved the FL, she looked like she was really in love when she gazed at the ML and some of their CP scenes were swoon worthy. The ML was just a love sick puppy most of the time but that's his role in a nutshell. The 2OTP was quite interesting and they were a complete counterpoint to our leads. Their relationship began as love at first sight and it was more about passion and feels while the OTP focused on longing and falling in love gradually with your soulmate. It was refreshing to see both FL's were older than the ML's.
The support cast were generally good, especially the older actors. The grandpa was a gem in both GGS shows. Someone need to talk to the FL's father about his hairstyle . . it was a bit cringy. The K&K team members were all well fleshed out characters. Two of them also acted as comedic foils to good effort. There was definitely a Band of Brothers vibe.
So far so good, you say. Yes, it would have been if we only looked at those criteria. Where the show dropped the ball a bit was in the storytelling and overall length. The honest truth is that the show was too long. There really wasn't enough material for 38 episodes. The middle section was a lot of team management mumble-jumble and the last 2.5 episodes (after the world championship) was basically one gigantic fan service. Nothing wrong with fan service but some scenes were just fillers to pad out the episodes. Some reviews also commented on the robot battles being boring. I don't agree with that as it was at least fast paced and tactical. I have watched a whole c-drama based on archery and do you know how boring archery competition is? Even the competition in GGS1 was just a lot of people banging on keyboards and staring at flashing screens with the commentators going crazy in the voiceover. What I did find wanting was the lack of love for the 2OTP and a lack of tension within the OTP relationship.
The 2OTP started strong and even had a psycho ex-GF to keep things spicy. Unfortunately, once the ex-GF issue was resolved, the writer just seemed to loss interest in them. They are still around and do the odd CP thing but mostly stuck in a holding pattern. More subplots involving them would have made the mid show drag less telling. Ditto the development of the OTP. I have no love of the "drama for drama sake" trope but it was a little disappointing to see that the 2ML being hamstrung at every turn regarding the FL. Sure, he was a real gentleman and bow out of the chase with good grace but the show seemed to be determined to shut him up before he can even open his mouth.
It was lovely to see the OTP in love but it was also a long stretch of cruising on auto-pilot. I don't like to make direct comparisons but I can't help but be reminded of "My Little Happiness" which I watched recently. It had a similar 2 CP setup but that show was only 28 episodes long and the pacing and plotting was better. Quality over quantity is a truism.
In the end, the use of the GGS moniker was a double edged sword. No doubt it heightened the initial interest in the show and allowed them to milk the IP a bit more. This they succeeded up to a point. The setting, central idea and casting were all good but by extending their reach too far, they exposed their own Archie's heel.

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A fourth wall breaking period rom-com

What a delightful little fantasy/period drama (it is not really historical as it is not based on any recognisable history). It is light-hearted and fast paced for a c-drama. Lots of cute and funny moments. While the plot is almost farcical it was acted out with a lot of energy and heart. The plot is not new but the fourth wall breaking set up allow a lot of in jokes. The FL is relatively new but did a great job. My only complain is the 2FL was never punished for her bad deeds. While the show gave us the happy ending we wanted, the execution was a bit rushed and contrived.

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More depth than the first series but still prone to overacting

I watched the two shows back to back and while I enjoyed this one a bit more than the first series, I do find the first half of this show a bit annoying. Don't get me wrong, it is a fun watch and there is more lovey-dovey stuff than LiT1 but I don't like how the story kept setting Kotoko up to fail to get some laughs. That coupled with the overacting made some scenes cringeworthy. You saw it coming and she pulls all the faces and contorts her pose to put on even more emphasis. Seriously, she is suppose to be in her twenties and training to be a professional and her performance in college and in her work place is just so poor that how can they not dismiss her. It is not like she makes one mistake but it is the total opposite. She fails constantly but comes good for 1 test and she passed?! Both their families are so nice and loving.
I did find the secondary plots along the way to be more engaging at times.

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Light, easy to watch rom-com

I think what sets this c-drama apart from several other "girl dressed as boy" type of rom-com is the pirates setting. It takes you to a different "world" right away and that is refreshing. The plot is ok but can feel a little disjoined as it is structured like book chapters with an overarching backstory. Ultimately it is the usual revenge story with romance and pirate shenanigans thrown in. The OTP has good chemistry and a decent amount of skinship. The funny thing is that the skinship was more on show in the earlier part when the ML was wooing the FL and he is constantly teasing her and trying to steal a kiss here and there. After they declared their love, it was more subdued. The fight scenes where decent, more stylised than dramatic though. The support casts are generally good where most of them have exaggerated comedic roles. No terrible love triangles (they do play up the jealousy angle a fair bit which can get old) . There are a certain amount of misunderstandings but cleared up fairly quickly. My overall impression of this show is probably best summed up as uneven. Nothing horribly wrong with it and when it is good, it is a fun romp but it does have its awkward moments, especially when it is mixed in with a good dose of cliché. Likewise, the FL swings from cute and clever to annoying (oh, the screaming...). Thankfully, her character does mature and grow and becomes more enjoyable as the drama progresses. All in all, not a bad rom-com with low angst and cute/funny moments.

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Illogical, tropey, toxic relationship. Say no more.

It is no secret that the rom-com genre is trope heavy but some shows make it work. This show did the opposite and it is hard to enjoy because of its many issues.

Let's start at the beginning. It was a slog to get through the first 5 episodes. The whole meet-cute was stretched to breaking point with the FL disguised as a man to get her dream job. They tried to milk the setup for laughs with all the cliché twists like going to the wrong toilet, picking a fight with a caveman, having her period while in the middle of the office, etc, etc. They are so obvious that it is just a cringe fest. Then we have to deal with the biggest plot issue. I'm sure an edict of not hiring any female programmer is straight up discrimination. I don't know about Chinese laws but I'm sure it can't be legal if it is a stated condition of employment. That whole set up just does not hold water but the writer pushed through with it and logic be damned. This led to many plot holes that are just painted over or ignored.

It did get a bit better once she came out as a girl in ep.6 and thank god for that because she was totally unconvincing as a guy. If you want to be generous, she might pass as a tomboy but most of the time she just looks like a girl with a short haircut and speaking of the short haircut, they tried to say that a short hair wig can hide a full head of shoulder length hair. Not likely. Once she is a girl again, a hit parade of tropes were dumped on us such as contract marriage, co-habitation, hiding their relationship from the world, etc.

As I mentioned in other reviews, it is important for us to want to ship the CP in a rom-com but the further the show progressed, the harder I find any motivation to ship them. A lot has to do with the portrayal of the main characters. The ML is a man-child who has low EQ but he is also selfish, rude and manipulative. The main CP's relationship is abusive if not downright toxic. He goes through cycles of being angry/jealous -> taking it out on the FL -> feeling guilty afterwards -> ham-fisted attempt to atone -> a) succeeds and we get a few moments of CP bliss or b) fails (which is often) he gets angry and take it out on the FL again. This is a destructive spiral and it wears mighty thin when it went on and on. BTW, the 2ML is a constant source of his jealousy but the 2ML is so beige that there is little chance of second lead syndrome.

The FL, on the other hand, is a top university graduate but has this crush on the ML for years and she will do anything to be with him and worshipped the ground he walked on. She ended up being his wife/slave/victim. Any crumbs of attention or affection from the ML will have her doing a delusional happy dance but she suffered so much more. This is an odd portrayal in this day and age. She also refused to let him see her face in the beginning of the show until she started dressing as a man. Why? Who knows.

Speaking of manipulative people, the show is full of them. The ML's mom is a classic schemer, the ML's father is a one trick pony which always gets his way with the ML by threatening to cut off his funds. His sister is a woman-child who manipulates everyone. Of course, no tropey rom-com is complete without the scheming ex-GF. We are in for a rough ride once she entered the scene on ep.11. This is why we need the CP to become a team so that they can push back against the antagonists and we can get behind them. What we have instead is ML being childish and annoying, their relationship precarious and unhealthy. I want to say to the FL, "give up, girlfriend."

And gave up, I did. The returns are few and far between. The dodgy paint by numbers script didn't help. It is not terrible but it didn't hook me. In a sea of tropey rom-coms, I needed something more to make me commit my time. I watched 12 episodes for free on WeTV. Maybe when all episodes are free-to-watch I'll speed run through to the end. I have no doubt that they will engineer a happy ending but it would be a looong march to get there.

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This movie makes 50 Shades look dirty and depraved . . . oh . . I see . .

First of all, this movie is not as challenging to watch as you'd think even though the subject matter is BDSM. Yes, there are graphical scenes but they are not gross nor exploitative. The fact that both leads approached their relationship with open minds, set boundaries and formal consent left the viewer with a clear understanding that this is not about gratuitous violence nor evil purposes. This is BDSM done by the book, probably an university text book.

Otherwise, this is just a lovely contemporary office rom-com. The leads played their roles well and they have great chemistry. The CP fell in love organically and they went through the usual CP trials before confessing their love for each other in one of the best scenes in the drama. It was the level of care and consideration for each other that made this a surprisingly sweet love story, much more so than shows that heap on the artificial sweeteners without much appreciation of what love truly is. The BDSM was a plot device used with care. It was not done for shock value nor exploitation. There is also a streak of humour running through the show and it is not crude at all.

Pacing is steady and the plot moved along with little drag. The support cast is generally interesting but they don't distract you from the OTP. The production value is good with clever use of lighting and sets. They walked a fine line between erotic and sexy. They managed to give off a lot of sexy vibes while keeping their cloths on. That takes skilful direction and good acting.

The writing is very good and sensitive subjects are handled deftly. I particularly liked the way our CP turned the table on the naysayers. Always remember, the pen is mightier than the sword. ;)

All in all, an enjoyable rom-com (if you have nothing against BDSM) which managed to be sexy and pure at the same time. Not a bad combo if you can pull it off!

So, is this movie realistic? I don't think it was the intention of the movie creator to make this a reflection of reality. Just think of it as a romantic fantasy and try not to dream of collar and chains. ;)

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Heavily scripted drama that will give you a whiplash

I can see why there was so much hype around this k-drama when it was first released. It was quite different to your typical parcel of k-dramas being released and the main leads definitely got the netizens talking. However, watching the show a few months after it finished its run, the rose tinted glasses cannot hide all its rough edges.

On the positive side, the ML is handsome and overflowing with charisma. Whether you believe he is a Mafia consigliere is your decision. The FL was flamboyant and matched well with the ML so the OTP's chemistry was signed and sealed. There were quite a few stylistic moments and quotable quotes just right for memes. Action sequences were generally well executed and impactful. Production value was high. OST more than serviceable with classical music taking a prominent role.

When observing the show from a distance, like war and art, you start to notice a coda that ends with the death of a key character (and those were obviously marked for death). The odd thing is that in most cases, the in-between space was filled with comedy, sometimes slapstick and quite farcical. This swing in mood did give me a bit of whiplash. I don't know if part of the problem stems from the drama being 20 episodes long and each almost 1.5 hours in duration. If it was trimmed down to 16 episodes, it might be tighter.

Most of these comedic sequences were supplied by the occupants of the Plaza. They were a motley crew with hearts of gold. In that sense, I was disappointed that they were largely used as comic relief and had little growth. They reminded me of characters in the movies "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and "Kung Fu Hustle". A bit derivative, to be honest.

Oh mama mia, the overacting. There were so much overacting. The main villains were racing to see who is more evil and the said support cast amped up their traits to the max, most of them became caricatures. Subtlety was the main casualty and there were more than just gallons of blood on the floor. Ditto the violence. It is over the top and the impact waned over time.

Now we come to the biggest problem for me. There are quite a few plot holes and some illogical story telling. The show started well and we have the lone wolf arriving to help the beleaguered "village". I can accept that Vincenzo is an anti-hero and very grey when it come to the definition of good and evil, it does add spice to the proceedings. However, the longer the show went on, the more problematic the story telling became. There were lots of shouted intentions but mostly just milling around until we hit one of the key event I mentioned before. Scenes like the ML fighting 3 mafia hitmen and was saved by Inzaghi, reward for good deeds? The scene when the ML confronted the Interpol officers, one sequence was shown at the end of one episode and when the next episode starts, a completely different scenario was played which contradicted the earlier scene. The role of the Guillotine file which was supposed to be the ultimate deus ex machina but it sort of works but eventually watered down. The gold plot went rogue, why a bed and does it really ends there? Sometimes the plot twist were clever but a lot of the time you can sense the writer-nim's hand on the steering wheel to make sure the show stay on a given course. Several times during the show, it could have ended "logically" but it just kept going.

Vincenzo is handsome and oozes charisma, the show is enjoyable in parts and it will pull your heartstrings from time to time, the found family trope can be cute and heart warming. There is no question about the chemistry between the OTP (I do wish they devoted more time to them). A grand opera of revenge can be sweet music. However, the inconsistencies will pull you out of immersion. Personally, I find Itaewon Class a superior David vs Goliath drama but nobody ever goes to watch a James Bond movie for empathy and sensitivity.

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