My review is probably not going to be of help to anyone, but I just felt the pulsion to let this impression somewhere.

What can I say about Singing Along that would do this drama justice, probably nothing. I had this drama on y plan to watch for the last 3 years and every year I kept starting episode one and then putting back on hold. But to quench my thirst of waiting for Legend of Fuyao I picked this drama up again. And man that was the best decision I ever had. I binge watch this drama from all of Friday to now without sleep. Why you may ask well because it had been a long time since I had been so invested in characters struggles and victories.
Yin Li Hua and Lui Wenshu truly deserved their titles of beloved pair. But the beauty of this drama doesn't simply lay in the romance that will surely make you wish you had something similar. But the love and camaderies between family and friends is one of the reason this drama stand so tall. Your heart will break at the reality of war that is portrayed here. I have nothing but praise for the all cast. The lead truly lead and the supporting cast truly supported. Like I say I just need needed to give my two cents on this drama. I going to go to try to collect myself back and mourn the end of this drama and all the tears that I shed then I will go to bed.

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Love is not always Fireworks!

I didn’t really want to write a review, and truth be told I’m really not writing one. I just wanted to leave this here for people that may get discouraged by all the negative comments in the comments section. This drama may not be the niche for everyone. But if you are someone who actually want to root for the mundane then this is for you. Because this what this drama truly was just a mundane thing, that truly reflected the times we are living in these days ( Pandemic) and all. There is no moment where you will go man this is far fetched. On the contrary you may actually go yep I have a friend like this. Reb reminded me of one of my friend who we always blame for being overly optimistic and sickening a hopeless romantic. And we like to remind her that she be that way because she truly hasn’t live yet. And in the same group we also have our JM, one who been so burn by love that she had wall so high that even though we love her it can be painful sometimes hanging with her and we let her know too. And just like JM watching her fell in love a 3 third time was a mess and we almost stop being her friends. Because hurt people hurt other people. And overly optimistic people like Reb can be so overly annoying l, you like applaud the fact that they can remain so sunny, but then you also resent the fact that you feel that they haven’t truly lived. Then you calm yourself and are grateful that your friend is spared that hurt because when you truly love someone you don’t wish them to be hurt. So to me I loved this little gem and truly hope they get a second season. Where we can see some of the sun that Reb spread shine on JM, while some of JM caution can be transferred on Reb. But that probably because like JM I love a calm, peaceful and mostly uneventful love. I’m not saying that I’m against fireworks. But I find that slow, steady and mundane love withstand more.

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Story:Well I seriously don't know if there were a story , all I saw were a few dialogue and sex , then more sex and sex again, it was as if they were trying to make a adaptable okay for general audience porn movie that would not shock too much.

Acting: Well they play they part well in the generally, let's bored the public kind of way, and I'm saying this because I have seen dramas and other movies with the two leads, so I can calmly say that yes they pulled it off, they even looked bored when doing there business, it was well boring.

Music: Fits the let's go to sleep motion this movie was going into.

Well I don't much for the rewatch value , maybe if you are extremely bored and that you think that watching porn is too offensive or you want to kind of delusion yourself in the though that you are pure of thought.

Overall it's a somewhat controversial type of movie, that actually breaks the need for a storyline. If you are the type of person who just want to see two person going on with life with no regards what so ever of how the world around them see them, then it for you, and there's also the all not too much dialogue thing. With a little time to myself I did realize that this movies was not really has boring or bad that it may have seem because at the end of the day you realize that It's kind of mind blowing the way they try to portrait to a fault the deterioration of love among average people and it's kind of crazy that what we see in the movie can be apply to any society today, the sex is real, the characters are maybe a little too bronze but then again they have to be to remind us that this is still a movie. At the end of the movie a man would have to be really stupid to not to develop some notions of respect, especially for himself. And I can say that in some twisted level women will find a reaffirmation of false stereotypical lofty ideas about themselves and perhaps even be swayed into emulating them. All those failings of ordinary beings apart, the movie is a tremendously accurate rendition of modern day sex and love. There is no pain more sapping than the loss of excitement and respect for someone with whom you thought you had the most exclusively beautiful thing going on in the world. Watching the credits at the end can be a painful experience for anyone who has been through a relationship like this. The woman is extremely kind and fake when she tells him they're both alike. The intensity of the fornication may beguile you initially but in the later half the movie it's explores more with a platonic brutality the effects of expectation when two people are mismatch. The form this incompatibility takes will wipe out the remotest semblance of eroticism experienced in the first half for almost all women and the men who've cared to nurture a holistic view of their desire and its implementation. It's kind of a wake up call that actually make you pose and open your eyes to the reality of were our modern society is taking us.

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Wow what to say about this movie that no one has already said. I guess nothing to those who loved secret we all agree that this movie was simply beautiful with magically beautiful music.

For one I had never heard of Jay Chou (well that until I check that I had watch one his movie before , see how unaffected I was,) before this but I can say with confidence that he's someone that I will keep on checking, When looking at him perform you can only tell yourself wow the man's brilliant.

But why am I babbling about him only, when there his a movie to talk about. Secret is just a sweet magical note that will take you on for a ride and when you finally think that you have gotten to the bottom of what the true is, BOOM you are sent on an opposite direction.

Secret is a simple romantic movie, with a splash of pang because you get to easily identify with the characters , even thought there's a fantasy twist to it.

So if you just need a easy little romantic movie, then it would be nice to pick up a nice seat and lose yourself in secret. And Well if you are a classical music lover than the better for the music in this movie is just simply perfect.

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I mean after you read what is available of the manga, you wonder is there an drama or live adaptation! Well then you stumble upon this and at first there's many moment where you go WTF !! the Lead actress just scream too much, the guy playing Naoki is not even trying and the girl playing the the interference between Naoki and Kotoko just tries to much.
This adaptation was just very bad especially compare to the other show that came later on. I mean it's a good thing to watch on a rainy afternoon when you have totally realize that your computer is dead and that there's nothing worth to watch on T.V. Seriously it's good that they tried to be somewhat original but they just went totally out of the manga, the only thing that may be recognize is the characters name and just probably the fact that they family are somewhat the same too. I found this reviews that I wrote in 2010 and I was so struck by the fact that today in 2014 I still feel the same about this drama.

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This movie was hilarious and deeply heart-felt at the same time.

It's about a transfer student Na-Mi (Shim Eun-Kyeong) who comes from a small town in Jeolla Province to her new school in the capital city of Seoul.She is nervous, her small town dialect comes out and she is bullied by others. Coming to her help are a group of girls Choon-Hwa (Kang So-Ra)who is known for her strong sense of loyalty and fighting skills, Jang-Mi (Kim Min-Young) who only wish is to have plastic surgery to get double eye-lids, Jin-Hee (Park Jin-Joo)who excels at spewing profanity, Geum-Ok (Lee Yeon-Kyung) whose biggest interest is literature, Bok-Hee (Kim Seon-Kyeong) who only dreams of one day becoming Ms. Korea and Su-Ji (Min Hyo-Rin) who is always arrogant and the girls pretty face mascot. Na-Mi quickly becomes part of their group.

This movie is mostly a reflection of what 25 years of life can do to you and the power of friendship. It's a walk on memory lane. You will feel touched by the acting of the younger cast as much as the older one. I did not except this movie to be about older woman when I read the synopsis. But there's nothing that I have to complain about with this movie, it's just like the title a "sunny" movie.

So if you are looking to walk down memory lane with a smile on your face. This is a must and you may learn a things or two about treasuring your friends.

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Ok I can see all the people out to kill me but because I was not totally happy with this I gave it a 8 overall rewatch value. Why because even thought you can totally say that it's a pleasant comedy about two people who are heavily involved in the dating scene, they are both experts at snaring members of the opposite sex. They then meet in each other their match. A particular strength of the movie is showing what they really think while they say whatever they think the other one needs to hear. There are two shortcomings to this film. The first one is a mild one, which is that there are cultural nuances which Westerners might not catch. This is minor and I think with repeated viewings, one might understand. The other is a major one. With the man, one knows what his object is: obviously, sex with the girl. With the girl, it is unclear what her goal is since she confides to her girlfriend that she finds him attractive, yet she leads him on and on and on. She is supposed to be a seductress, yet she avoids many opportunities to bag him. Oh, well, still a pleasant comedy.

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Although it is not a really knew subject that was brushed on in this movie we have to admit that it's simply fascinating to watch all those people with culinary skills do what they do the best. This movie just makes your mouth waters from beginning to end. Although It was not set to be a romantic movie I still deplore the fact that any love story here? was not fully developed subtly hinted, but we may have to applaud the director flawless superfuge in making it still subtle enough to make the viewers understand. The cooking skills are what definitely would have made me give this movie a full 10 out 10! if only I had found so much similarity in the plot has in the Drama Gourmet ,thought I have to admit that for a movie the plot hole were nicely filled. Seeing how the combination of ingredients are being mixed, chopped,give the viewers enough imagination to actually makes you imagine the taste!
The rivalry between the 2 chefs is also well presented. The lunacy of the grandfather is another mystery. But this entails the loving and tender care showed by the grandson. oh my… then the sufferings of the coalmaker - Han and his story with his mum. Then the story of Chef Ho and his grandfather and Sung Chan & his grandfather. In clear this movie should actually get full mark on it's ability to nicely transpose three different story into one story.

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When the story gets away from the writers

A nice premise that got away from the writers. I mean I have rarely seen a drama fell on its ass as hard as this one did. It just became a bundle of great plot ideas that actually never went anywhere. and unless you are planning a 2nd season this may be the worst ending ever. Leaving so many questions unanswered.
The only enjoyable things about this drama are quite frankly only the acting and the scenery. The OTP was so weak that it was easier to get invested in other characters.
The music is also forgettable. It's quite sad that this drama introduces us to so many good characters only to have them all have the same fate. Yet it truly doesn't deliver a satisfying resolution to all the problems that got raised during all drama.

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An Ode to self-righteness

I would like to arrogantly state that this is my opinion and that it's not intended to hurt anyone's sensibility and that in regards is anyone intended to treat my opinion as the holy grail or anything. I also like to say that I pride myself as being fair to the drama that I invest my time in, and am quite picky. I'm a pretty committed person and rarely do I drop a drama. And knowing that taste and colors are an individual choice and adhering to the rule that "one individual trash, is another treasure, " I tend to keep my opinion to myself and don't usually post reviews. But this drama upset me enough that I felt the need to write one, so my rant would be on record somewhere.

I avoided watching the original this drama was based on for the longest time, then when Viki and youtube kept putting this drama in my recommendation I decided to give the original a go first before diving into this to have a frame of reference. As someone who likes to read, I am well aware that it's ludicrous to expect an adaptation to stay true to the original. And this drama is quite the best example of that because the pet peeves that stop me from giving the original version a 10 were amplified in this drama so much so that he sucked all the fun out of the watching experience. If I listened to my anger and just rated this drama based on that anger this would get a 1. But I still gave it a 5 because although it was not out of the ballpark I was quite satisfied with the acting and some aspects of the side stories.


Story 3.5/10
The story somewhat tried to follow the original material since one could easily recognize some of the stories that were told but somewhat tweaked to I imagine fit Chinese aesthetic more. And that to me was where this adaptation dropped the ball. Granted I was quite glad we got to see more of character development for each of the characters. But it was also that development which in the end killed the drama. Why do I say that? Well, I will only talk about the 4 main leads.

Where Etsuko overconfidence and her ability to just sprout everything that came to her mind was slightly annoying because she mostly reminded you of that one friend that you have that is extremely bad at reading social cues. Li Xiao simply comes off as an extremely brash sheltered kid that has no regard for anyone but her own self-interest and extremely narrow view of the world. She is opinionated and immature, to the point that she does not even realize that she forces her opinion on people. To me, this was evident so many times throughout the handling of her work, where she foolishly ignored the recommendations of seniors who have been at it longer than her. But it was even more flagrant in her interpersonal relationship and the way she approached things, there could only be one view to things and it was hers. She came out sounding self-righteous and unaware of her own biases. She literally threw a fit at the guy she liked because he first said he wanted to quit modeling, but then he got into it, and it started to encroach on her view of the world she threw a hIssy fit.

Where Yukito just came off as a weird character, who seemed to have no real spine and mostly went along with things. Li Mo came off as a man-boy with serious mental scars. From the start of the drama to the end the most we saw of Li Mo characters was him going through the motions of what others were planning, getting depressed, and throwing Hissy fit. And I was so taken aback with the turn that his character took with his obsession about becoming famous, something that so did not fit the framework of the character he had during the first half of the drama.

Where Morio came off of emotionally close off and a mooch. Xia Fan simply came off as mentally unstable and manipulative. The all drama the only person she was truly looking for was herself. Not that putting yourself first is a bad thing and I did have my moment of sympathizing with her by recognizing the amount of stress she was under. And I truly felt for her because I would be morose too if I had a friend like LI Xia who is constantly under the impression that she walks on water and everyone else is beneath her sanctity.

Where Kaizuka mostly comes off as a selfish comic relief. Wu Yu was downright as wretched as Li Xiao felt to me, the high horses these two characters were riding on were just on another level. Every single time he opened his mouth to talk to Zimo I actually wanted to punch him. Yes, he actually did give a few good advice to Li Xiao but the way he treated the people that were supposedly his authors was just disgusting.

I don't even want to start ranting about the lack of chemistry among "romantics" pairing of this drama from the one shoved in our face to the cameos. None of the characters had a healthy relationship that may make you go oh I'm rooting for you.
This story was supposed to be an Ode to the forgotten heroes that make it possible for us readers to enjoy the book we read, and may I even simply say all the forbidden and overwork heroes that are quietly working behind the scene so that we can enjoy all the comfort we take for granted. Got turned into a self-righteous, piece of propaganda for filial piety and a world where everything is black and white. To the point that you forget to root for the heroes. The all-time I was watching these I felt like elders were shaking their finger at me going this is what is wrong with your life. And sadly I make the mistake of watching this drama on Viki with the Timed comments on and the numbers of self-righteous ignorant invalidating some of Zimo I believe deserved tantrums were even more infuriating. When the only sound of reason in a drama is a child actor you already know how wrong things are. And oh lord do not get me started on the level of unprofessionalism going on in this thing.

Although I said I was only going to vent about the mains, I must say what on earth were the writers thinking when they replaced Yoneoka character with Liang Hu or whatever is name was, okay I can swallow my bitterness at the fact that his character got axed 100% because he was gay. They could have kept the character and changed his sexual orientation, instead of the trash that they added. Liang Hu did nothing but sleep, eat, and be immature.

The original drama had a positive vibe around it, that made you appreciate what you have. But this one had so much negativity floating around.

Acting/Cast 8.0/10
The Acting was stellar on the part of the supporting veteran's actors, who were the actual reason why I stuck with this drama. Because no amount of my love for Xing Zhao Lin could have saved his character, although I did feel bad for him at time. And although I enjoyed watching all the outfits An Yue Xi was thrown in, her acting left me old and unimpressed.

Music 2.0/10
other than the opening and closing number I don't remember hearing anything worth going on there was music being played.
Rewatch Value 1/10
Unless I'm in a situation where the only thing playing no one is ever going to catch me voluntarily watching this mess.

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Wow it seems that this drama make it 3 for 3 of me writing a review this year. But this drama got the first 9.5 I have given this year we’re the highest score I have given has been a 8.5.

This review may not be quite cohenrent because I’m a total mess right now. But I feel like I should pour this out right now.

Coming into this drama you should prepare tons of tissues. Trust me I’m not a cryer but this drama has me in tears ( granted I just gave birth so I may still be quite hormonal. )But don’t dismiss my warning you need tissues. I really want to go to Korea and kiss Noh Hee Kyung for her genius and her ability to hit the right cords with slice of life dramas. If you don’t believe me you should try a few of her others works like Dear Friends, It’s okay, that love, that winter, the wind blows or Padam, Padam or even The world that they live in to cite a few from memory.

Writer-nim has just knows that perfect balance to just draw you in and make you feel for her characters. What to say about Live. Forget all the pretty boys and the young characters love stories or whatever. This drama which I believe was supposed to be more of an ensemble drama got truly dominated by the veterans cast, yes the veterans in this just shined and outshine the young crew. The ply of the new recruit is hard but you kinda easily get stuck on what annoys about them, like Sang Soo irrational need to be complimented and that annoying ways of feeling like the eternal victim that the world should revolves around. Kwang Soo did impress me in his first serious type of role but he did not draw me in. I didn’t feel for his character even thought I empathized with their circumstances.


What truly pull me in was Oh Yang Chon a good and mostly overzealous cop and his family and his circle of friend ( excluding the new recruits.) that truly made you cry, laugh. Oh Yang Chon and his wife Ahn Jang Mi truly make you go wow being a civil servant in South Korea truly is a thankless job. I mean in the climate in wich we live these days in the west you get a lot of the law enforcement protecting it own. But you don’t see it in this drama this family of cops is incessantly thrown under the bus by their higher up and the thankless public. I truly loved that the writer and the director didn’t try to romanticize the jobs they were doing.

Truly I’m feeling too emotional right now so I may edit the review later when I have calmed down. But for now I tell you don’t dismiss this drama go watch it. And truly if you see and of brave law enforcements unsung heroes say thank you.

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So What to say about this one, if that it's really not a drama that should be compared to Coffee Prince , because in my opinion they have nothing to do with one another. Don't get me wrong I like 1st Stop Coffee Prince , but I have to admit that the story line in this one is better. This is probably not one of Ariel best characters but there's no doubt in my mind that she's a really talented actress, for that her and Wilson make you come back week after week to find out what they are going to do next. In time with you is really one of the Best Taiwan Drama I have seen so far , and probably one of the best Asian drama I have seen this year. And seriously the ending was just perfect, it was really worth all those weeks of frustration. But this Drama is totally recommendable because it as the perfect balance of wistfulness, drama, humor and it's really childish yet mature. A real regal for the senses.

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