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This review may contain spoilers
Sometimes, Bad is Bad
I tried this Drama once, made it to 10 before rage-quitting at how unspeakably AWFUL, really VILE the ML was. After a few months, I tried it again because so many Wu Qian fans said it was a great role for her and that she shone. After reaching 30/44 with ZERO improvement in the utter dchebag ML, I gave up for the second and final time. I kept hoping for improvement, but there was NONE. And I do mean NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZILCH.The final straw for me came in episode 26/44. That's SIXTY PERCENT done, by which point most tsundere MLs are starting to show signs of being vaguely human, giving SOME reason to accept that the FL might fall for them. NOT THIS ONE. In episode 26, after she was doing her job as his agent by giving him sensible advice related to his career, he stopped the car in the middle of nowhere and ordered her out, leaving her to find her own way back to the city. When she was picked up by a creep who tried to rape her, the ML blamed HER, and refused to accept that it was all his fault.
As awful as that was, it's actually fairly standard tsundere behaviour, but what made it even worse, besides being so late in the Drama, was her reaction. After having been almost raped because of his childish petty rage and utter selfishness, she "fell in love" with him because she discovered that he's bought a stupidly expensive t-shirt for her. ACTUAL HEADDESK MOMENT!
After 26 episodes of being her own woman and putting up with all his ENDLESS cr*p, verbal and physical abuse, being treated like a slave, and his infantile possessiveness, she falls for him because he bought an expensive shirt? Sigh! Also, GOODBYE.
The moral of this story? When you drop, trust your gut and LEAVE IT DROPPED.
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Sweet, loved up FUN
LOTS of sweet intimate moments for the OTP but even more genuine humour. So many laughs in this one, from humour that was self-aware but not ironic. The proposals were a great stunt and the bonus scene combined a humorous swipe at the female lead actor with an era-appropriate dose of the requisite State propaganda, in a way that fitted.Was this review helpful to you?
A dark and depressing diamond of a detection Drama
one of the best murder mystery dramas I've seen with credible competent police investigation shown. The acting was top notch, with no duds & the 3 leads - Luo Jin in a dual role, Wang Zi Wen as the victim/catalyst and You Nan as the single-minded intelligent lead detective, all shone.The drama was very downbeat, but realistically so. That realism showed in the color palette, the cinematography, and even the makeup. No chance of a Foundation General scandal here.
The twists and turns the story took kept me guessing, the raw emotions driving the characters, and the very matter of fact, low key smarts of the police team were all outstanding features of this excellent Drama
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Noona-dongsaeng done VERY right
This is my new favourite noona-dongsaeng romance. Or maybe that should be jia-didi romance. In the end I scored it a 10 because there was nothing substantially wrong with it, and it delivered a near-perfect blend of emotion and realism that left me feeling completely satisfied at the end. No makjang (often a plague in TW Dramas), minimal histrionics, and lots of real feeling. Several times it skirted landmines I expected it to hit, impressing me each time.The Chinese remake Sunshine By My Side was very good, but completely different and lacking almost everything that this drama supplied. If you want a Drama almost exclusively focused on a woman succeeding professionally despite toxic Confucian chauvinism in both her personal and professional life, and with dialogue that ruthlessly skewers that mindset, watch the C drama. If you want a not dissimilar message presented more quietly and with the addition of emotion, warmth and romance - and quite a lot of humour - watch the original.
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RUN AWAY, SAVE YOURSELF
This show is REALLY old in its whole ethos - glorifying suffering and misery as a sign of inner purity and espousing the virtues of unquestioning filial devotion (to one's actual biological parents).At one point, I was thinking about how Confucian the show's message seemed as the FL's awful mother continued to suck her dry and she continued to bear it heorically (with PLENTY of tears, ofc) when the mother ACTUALLY SAID "Like Confucius and Mencius said, support your parents"
The focus on enduring extreme, endless misery being proof of a person's good character was also very wearing. The non-stop shouting in the first 20-25 episodes was also incredibly hard to take, and another sign of the old school feel of the Drama. That kind of high decibel screaming and shouting was clearly intended at times to be comical, as it was/is in daily dramas.
It's worth stressing that this show was not very makjang in its story elements. Only light touches of makjang, but a whole lot of misery for our super-suffering FL. There have been wekenders in the past few years that shun this archaic formula, but this one embraced it enthusiasticall. The final irony is that in a Drama called "Live Your Own Life", everyone EXCEPT the FL got to do that for most of the show, while she finally did so only in the last 20-30 minutes of the final episode.
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Kaettekitazoyo! Kotaro wa Hitori Gurashi
1 people found this review helpful
Wobbly start, stunning finish
After watching Season One yesterday, we watched Season 2 today. The first couple of episodes were a bit meandering, lacking the tightness of Season 1. The final two episodes were very powerful, and for most of the final episode I was fighting back tears. Kawahara Eito delivered stunning lead performances across both series, but the final episode took his character to new emotional depths and he rose to the challenge magnificently. The first season had the edge in cohesion, and was much lighter viewing overall, but the emotional punch of the final 2 episodes of this series redeemed its wobbly start.Was this review helpful to you?
Less really is more
"Kotaro Lives Alone is an excellent example of all the reasons why #JDramas long ago became my favourites. Emotionally moving without sentimentality, addressing a difficult subject with unflinching directness and sensitivity, a lot of laughs and doing so in ten 23-minute episodes. Imagining a KDrama version is a frightening thought. The episodes, despite being short NEVER felt rushed, just complete and dvoid of bloat. The emotioal impact was real, but unlike so many K Dramas, it was delivered with subtlety and understatement - often greatly increasing it's impact. All the actors delivered, but Kawahara Eito was AMAZING.Was this review helpful to you?
Hīkari hits another homer
This was my first Asian Drama after a break of a year or so, and what a winner! I watched it for the beautiful and talented Mitsushima Hikari, and she did not disappoint. Her performance was superb, especially the complex, nuances of the relationship between her character and her character's son. The growth and healing of THAT relationship was almost the "second couple" of the story, a love story in its own right.Of course, it was the reconnection with the eponymous First Love that made the Drama the sweet and beautiful experience that it was, and rather than try to dissect or analyse it, I will just say, "watch it - right to the VERY end', as other reviewers have noted.
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PARFAIT
The word "parfait" means "perfect" in French, and refers to a sweet dessert in English. This means it fits this very short, VERY sweet Drama "perfectly"There was really NOTHING wrong with this Drama. Even the length was right. Seven super short episodes was just right for such a frothy, sweet, cute Drama, one with no "drama" in it. No angst, no bitterness, no clouds of darkness, just a sweet cute couple being sweet and cute together. I was originally going to rate it around 8/10 but upgraded it to 9.5 because it is a basically perfect example of a "dessert Drama". If you need a sugar hit, and want one free of toxic chauvinist tropes like tsundere ML gods, this one is just what the doctor ordered
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Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu Tokubetsuhen
1 people found this review helpful
Again, with feeling
This was a truly fascinating SP. It added emotional depth to the Drama it followed, and was truly sweet watch. It made me wish we could have seen grandfather and granddaughter working together. It also ended in an intriguing way. The FL was uncertain about something, but I for one was very uncertain exactly what it was that she was uncertain of. I'm sure this was by design, and sine the Drama and the SP were both released this year, perhaps we can hope to see more of the world's cutest alibi breaker. ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.Was this review helpful to you?
There were some inconsistencies with the way the lead's character was presented in terms of her metereological education and experience, but overall the show was very enjoyable. In terms of the human relationships, kept hoping for one outcome at the end, yet the way the Drama went was the way I expected it to, precisely because it was the less conventional, less neat and tidy option. That raggedy unfinished feel persisted right to the very last frame it seems.
I did love that the female lead was shown to be superior to the male lead, but that he was also shown to have his own strengths, including a goodness and decency of character which it could be argued went not only unrewarded but was actively punished. Another episode would have been nice, I think.
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There's nothing to dislike about this piece of Xmas fluff, even the Xmas setting was low-key, a plus for a devout hater of Xmas like me. Overall, an inoffensive timepass, and another step forward in the development of a young actor whose work I plan to keep an eye on
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A down to earth delight
Historically, I've dreaded the tradition in Taiwanese Dramas for a massive makjang meltdown between halfway and three-quarters. This one had very little, thankfully.I ended up raising its score significantly for the way the final episodes showed the outcome for every character's choices. It wasn't about karma or punishment for those who chose to use and hurt others. Instead it just showed that decisions and choices people make through life have consequences.
I love that in the very final episode, those people whose choices were negative, and for whom the consequences were similarly negative, barely featured at all. The entire last 20 minutes was a celebration of the outcome of making positive choices. And the real-life married couple who played the leads were outstanding together from beginning to end.
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Mikaiketsu no Onna: Keishichou Bunsho Sousakan Season 3
0 people found this review helpful
Better than Season 2
I was very hesitant to start this season when I realised that Haru wasn't in it, but I'm glad I did. First, they used Haru's character superbly in cameos to help setup the continuity. More importantly though, this season had MUCH more emotional depth than Season 2. I didn't really enjoy season 2 that much as I felt it was a bit ott comic/cartoonish.This season started off with a run of "revenge/vigilante stories and by episode 4 I was hoping for a chage. I got it. Several of the stories in the last half actually made me tear up a bit, something that never happened with season 2. That's why I'm giving it an 8
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