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Completed
Cross Fire
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 25, 2021
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

What it means to be a champion

A drama worth your time. Best in its genre of e-sports.

Great pacing, great characters, and the music so “hot blooded” that the music stays with you long after the show ends.

As many have said, you need to suspend your understanding of science for this drama. It’s not really a show that is about time travel or technological advances. Instead, it’s a drama about pursuing your dreams and having the mentality of a winner, and using these plot devices such as time travel to deliver it to us. Never accept defeat, and do everything possible to become a champion but not at the expense of doing the wrong thing or hurting others.

There are a lot of things packed into these 36 episodes - from friendships to romantic love to family, from many social issues like domestic abuse to self acceptance to societal views of gaming. Lots of wacky and humorous moments. I cried through a number of episodes too.

In life, we must get up again after we fall, and we continue on. This was the core theme of the show.

Excellent scriptwriting. Whoever wrote all the inspiring speeches should get a raise. Of course no drama is perfect. There are a lot of unresolved minor plots that didn’t get addressed at the end (as viewers you just assume these scenes happened offline) but it didn’t interfere with the overall message that the show aimed to deliver. Solid acting across the cast and all of the action shots must have been very tiring, but exciting to watch the finished product.

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Completed
My Dear Guardian
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 15, 2021
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.5

Love between two adults

A very good story that showed how two people grew and fell in love with each other. Mature, adult relationship. No silly misunderstandings or drama for the sake of drama here. The secondary relationships, such as the one between the doctor and the widower was also well done. Quite a bit of justice was given to the careers of special forces and military doctors. I enjoyed the various arcs where the ML and FL had to resolve problems at their work. The action scenes were also well done, and gave excitement.

The failing aspects of this story lie in the way the villains are depicted. I am not able to resonate with the villains at all. They tried to add some depth to the villainous second male lead but either due to the bad writing or acting I was not able to get any of it. The drama tried to depict the female lead’s friend as someone imperfect with flaws but again, failed to get the viewers to like or even understand her.

Music was so so, nothing that I can remember now that I stopped watching.

I very much enjoyed the performance across the cast. Watch it if you enjoy watching adults find love while pursuing meaning and value filled lives!

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Completed
Moonlight
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 12, 2021
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Charming, with a takeaway lesson

Super cute drama, with lots of fluff. Solid acting across the cast. Decent storyline.

Female lead is well done, as you root for her every step of the way. Even though she may act cutesy, you see she is not a dumb girl and she works very hard to advance her career.

Second male lead is super attractive!

The colleagues are the main points of conflict in the drama and while annoying, the plot lines do wrap up by the end of the drama.

The overarching plot about publishing novels is also a refreshing one, and a great setting for a fluffy enjoyable romcom. Highly recommend.

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Completed
Never Say Goodbye
1 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 12, 2021
47 of 47 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

A little bit of everything and nothing

If you want to assess this as a undercover cop drama, it doesn’t pass as a high quality one.

If you want to assess this as a romance drama, forget it.

If you want to assess this as a bromance, well, there is some.

I have mixed feelings about this show. It was watchable and fast paced, as you continue to see how each plot point unravels with the male lead’s hard work as the undercover who worked his way up and taking down each of the drug cartel’s leaders. I didn’t fast forward, which indicates there is quite a bit going on in the story.

However, as you keep watching, you wonder how is it possible the cartel was taken down so easily by some undercover cops. Which makes the story too unbelievable. And you will need to suspend any notion that these cartel leaders have half a brain.

Additionally, the characters are too one dimensional. Everyone only cares about their job, there is little to no scene about the motivations and inner thoughts for any of the leads nor the supporting cast, beyond what is needed to move the plot forward.

There is little to no romance. If there were more romantic scenes between the two leads to show how the male lead changed in his feelings for the female lead before he found out her identity (ie falling in love all over again) it would have been a much better show.

The brotherhood between the undercover cop and his friend in the cartel was good to watch, except to be reminded that this brotherhood was built on 3 years of lies.

The music is also also average/ subpar. I was disappointed in the ending.

This is a very plot driven drama with zero character development. If you are into that, then watch this drama.

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Completed
The Wolf
3 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Nov 30, 2020
49 of 49 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5

Engaging story

I binged this show over a week. It was very watchable and the plot moved along relatively quickly without any fillers.

With that said, there’s a number of scenes that don’t make sense. The story is about a boy raised in the wild by wolves that later become a prince, so there is a fantastical component in there in the male lead having wolf like capabilities. That part is expected and delightful to watch. But expect plot holes. I read that the script is based on a novel that had different characterization, so the novel probably made more sense.

The acting by the actors were all on point. I was especially impressed by the male lead, as he demonstrated both child like innocence and animal instinct ferocity quite effectively. The characters also all were reasonably developed throughout the story. All very easy on the eyes as well.

The music was great, and certain characters received their own little soundtrack intros when they appeared on the scene. I’ll be listening to the OST for a while after this viewing.

All in all, very enjoyable watch (and binge) if you are in the mood for some star crossed angsty romance. Just be sure to turn off your inner sense check. After all, this show underwent quite a bit of editing for the last three years. I’d argue the writing and production from three years ago are of a much better quality than now (2020) and it certainly shows when you compare this show with the web dramas that are so common now in Chinese dramaland.

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Completed
The Legend of Jin Yan
1 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 27, 2020
34 of 34 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.5
This review may contain spoilers

The actors did their best

Of the various web Cdramas that are now all the rage, this one is watchable, for the nice set and music.

However, watch out. The story spirals downhill after the ML’s wedding.

There is very little character development and a number of unaddressed plot holes.

Throughout the whole time I’m thinking if this ML exists in modern times he’d be a real jerk, hardly likeable. None of the characters are very likeable, except for the ML’s second in command, who coincidentally is also the best looking actor on set.

For some reason, the scriptwriters did not write any real villains in the story, just a lot of annoying characters. This meant that the real conflict of the story is the series of misunderstandings and lies between the ML and FL. This gets old after the first few episodes.

If you want to watch a ML that gets jealous and subsequent cute romantic scenes then this is the show for you.

I did make it until the very end, which I can’t say for most of the other web dramas out there. For that, I want to acknowledge the actors, who did the best with the story that they had.

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Completed
Hello Monster
3 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Oct 1, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
I judge how good a drama is based on the emotional payoff at the end of the series.  If not for the terrible ending, I would have given this series a higher rating.

The drama spent a lot of time exploring humanity and choices, and how our choices can affect who we become in the future.  Unfortunately, for a drama involving criminals, police, and profilers, there is very little about justice and the consequences of those choices.   Some villains from the beginning of the drama were never mentioned again.  

The romance in this story was unnecessary and awkwardly included in the drama.  A sign of poor writing.

The acting across the cast was excellent.  From the child actors to the main male leads, everyone did a great job and conveyed complex emotions properly.   Watch this drama for the eye candy, and enjoy their acting while you are at it.  Seo In Guk did a great job, as did Park Bo Gum.  Unfortunately, I really couldn't understand either of the characters nor could I understand what the writers wanted us to feel from watching.  I don't think anyone could be like Seo In Guk's character and be as levelheaded as he was, even when facing murderers.  Were we supposed to feel pity for Park Bo Gum?  I agree with many reviews that the true chemistry is between Seo In Guk and Park Bo Gum.  When both of them were on screen the screen sizzled.

All in all, it felt like the drama was trying to make us feel more and think there is some hidden message.  But it was not well written enough to properly convey whatever those messages were meant to be.  At the end, you got a serviceable crime drama with an element of melo (hidden identities and such).  The good acting made the drama worth watching, but don't expect this to be a masterpiece.



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Completed
Time Between Dog and Wolf
1 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 29, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This drama still holds up after 10 years!  Writing this review in 2017.

Obviously don't expect the same levels of cinematography and production value since this is a drama from 2007.  Technology is also dated.

Plot is well-paced.  Nowadays the plot is usually very fast moving.  In a way, it's nice to watch a story that develops at a reasonable pace.   Enjoy this like an aged wine.

Lee Jun Ki's acting is on point.  I thought his acting was ok, until halfway through, when something happens and he takes on new personas.  And then, I was pleasantly surprised!

The relationship between Mao and Kay is interesting in this.  Father-son relationships  (even the adoptive, pseudo kind) are always more intriguing than brotherly relationships.  

The female lead's storyline is a bit annoying, especially in the last few episodes.  The bromances in this drama could have been further explored, but wasn't, probably at the expense of poor writing.

All in all, an enjoyable watch!

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Completed
38 Task Force
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 28, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
A drama about scams within scams.  It keeps you guessing at who is on who's team until the very end.

The story was well constructed.  The scams were always clever.  Use of music was very effective.  A good cast.

However, despite not having any complaints about any individual aspect of the drama (acting, writing, directing were all solid), it was hard for me to be invested in the drama.  Because the story was very fast-paced (a lot of time passes in the drama) and there are many players, it becomes hard to be invested in the success of any individual character.  It almost felt drawn out, like a 2 hour movie stretched to 16 hours.   Something just feels missing.  Perhaps the villains were too one-dimensional, or the supporting con-artists were treated like plot devices that moved cons along.  

Seo In Guk and Ma Dong Seok were great.  I enjoyed Seo In Guk's acting as he pulled off multiple characters as a con-man.  

I am impressed with the overall premise and how the story played out, yet I am hesitant to recommend it unless you enjoy movies like Ocean's Eleven.  No romance in this.  Subtle bromance.  

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Completed
D-Day
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 27, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
D-Day is a plot driven story.

While there is character development, and the characters do a good job portraying their various roles, the show focused largely on revealing the many sides of humanity as they face a natural disaster.

In this drama, you will see the many sides of humanity revealed:  the selfish, the survivor, the helpful, the self-sacrificial.

There are also plenty of frustrating characters bent on misunderstanding our protagonist.  And one-dimensional villains.  Sometimes I don't mind these types of antagonists but after watching so many kdramas, these types of characters get old.

As far as disaster dramas go, this is the first I've seen in a korean production and I was impressed with what was filmed given the production value.  As far as medical dramas go, this is an average drama.  There are lots of cute between the two main leads, but never progresses too far (and for good reason, they are focused on saving peoples' lives in the midst of disaster!)  Story moves along at a nice pace, could have been cut to 16 episodes though.  

Overall, a decent drama.  Watch if you want to watch disaster scenes.  If you love medical dramas, then this is okay too, but there are better ones out there.

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Completed
Cruel City
1 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 26, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.5
Uniquely executed, well-developed characters, fantastic acting.

Jung Kyung Ho made me fall in love with Doctor's Son.  Like many of the reviews already said, what a refined, elegant, brooding, and beautiful character!  

Rather than saying the story was well constructed, the pacing of the drama is what stands out.  Each episode built upon the last.  There are stakes, for sure.   There are villains that needed to be taken down.   There are plot twists and lots of secrets.  Instead, there might have been too many plot twists that the twists themselves no longer become surprising at the end.  

But it is the characters that really draw you in.  You love the bromance between Jung Kyung Ho's "Doctor's Son" and Yoon Hyun Min's "Soo."  You are enamored with the love that can only be built with time between Doctor's Son and Kim Yoo Mi's "Lee Jin Sook."  Kim Yoo Mi's acting also added elevated tones to what could have been a very shallow and contrived female character who just looks pretty and sits around on beautiful furniture.  Even the romance, which came out of nowhere as a result of poor writing, became convincing between Jung Kyung Ho and Nam Gyu Ri, due to the tortured, brooding looks by JKH.

Excellent action scenes.  Beautifully shot with fantastic color schemes across the set.  The outfits worn by the characters also highlight their roles.  

The ending made me mad.  Other than that, expect a great ride along with the characters in the drama.  It is truly worth the time to watch!

I watched this in 2017 and I'm still blown away.  So far, have not found any role in dramaland that can replace such a charismatic and complex character.  It'll be awhile until I find the next best drama.


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Completed
Misaeng: Incomplete Life
2 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 24, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Misaeng is a gem in a genre of its own.

Excellent writing, acting, directing, and cinematography.

None of the characters are perfect. They are real people, just like us. They face the same worries. They experience the same office politics and the reality of the unjust working world.

No kdrama cliches in this drama. No makjang plot devices. Just a simple story about an average guy entering an office, and working hard, like many of us do today.

Happy endings are not always possible, because we don't live in a fairytale world. But we can create our own versions of fairy tales, as we pursue our chosen dreams.

In the office, you might face sexism, unfairness towards junior talent, nepotism, unsound business practices, people taking credit for your work, and more. You might have to question your own ethics as you pursue success. You will also meet mentors and rivals. With each project, you will create precious memories with comrades, which become the foundation of close friendships and mutual respect. We don't live a perfect world, but it is full of color and richness as we deal with both the good and the bad,

The entire drama is a work of art. There are a lot of subtle moments, which is refreshing compared to many korean dramas that just "tell" you what's going on. The use of music is meticulous. The way it has most of the scenes without any background music is more comparable to that of many American films.

As you watch, you become completely invested in the characters. You want them to be able to overturn all of the injustice they face in the office. While some injustice is dealt with and some are not, the leads still live on bravely. At the end, you still feel completely satisfied, as you experience some pretty incredible character development across the ensemble cast.

As Senior Manager Oh said, "To win is to endure." And so, we continue to endure on, in the multifaceted and colorful real life that we live in, to be the winners of our lives.

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Completed
Good Manager
2 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 22, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
A truly unique drama.

What happens when you introduce a thug with heart into a corrupt corporation? This is the premise of Chief Kim.

What made the drama shine? Rather than the story, the drama shined because all of its ingredients, the acting, the writing, the music, all came together beautifully like a wonderfully conducted orchestra.

This drama has one of the best depictions of love-hate bromances you will see anywhere in kdramaland. There are also multiple bromances and mentor relationships. It also has many characters who were fully multidimensional. Sometimes it's common to see only the main 2-3 characters be fully fleshed out in a kdrama. However, everyone in this drama has unique personalities.

No romance here, but it's really not needed. You don't always need romance for excellent chemistry to spark between cast members.

All of the comedic effects were on point. Be prepared for lots of laughs and simple enjoyment along the wonderful OST.

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Completed
Dr. Romantic
9 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 22, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
This is how medical dramas should be done!

All of the medical cases were weaved into the story seamlessly. Excellently executed. Great characters. Master Kim embodied the righteous teacher you would want to learn from, who had made mistakes and had learned from them. He was such a mentor to the younger doctors in the hospitals. He inspired them. He also stood up for them, in many satisfying scenes.

I've seen a number of Korean medical dramas, and most of the time the surgery or medical cases only served as plot devices to move the story further along. More often than not, it was difficult to be invested in the cases. However, with this drama, each medical case really brought along a lot of emotions and drama, as you learn not just from the doctors, but also from the patients.

This drama especially reminds me of early days Grey's Anatomy. Lots of heart. Lots of tension. Satisfying to watch when injustice is overturned, which the doctors face on an almost daily basis.

The romance, while light in this drama, is well done for its realism.

Watch this if you are in the mood for a medical drama and you will be drawn in by the doctors at Doldam Hospital, who put saving the lives of their patients above all else, as true modern day superheroes. Be prepared to drop some tears!

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Completed
Beautiful Gong Shim
0 people found this review helpful
by Irene
Sep 20, 2017
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
This is an example of "if it ain't broken, then why bother fixing?" Looking at you, storyline!

Super predictable plot, yet well executed, if all you are expecting is a cute rom-com. The rom-com moments had me laughing and smiling. Featuring a super adorable couple, you are rooting for them every step of the way. Great chemistry between the two main leads.

Namgoong Min is, of course, the MVP of the show. Ahn Dan Tae was a very well written character, and Min pulled off the character perfectly with his comedic acting. A little bit of swagger, a lot of heart and empathy. Gong Shim was also the perfectly written female lead. She's sweet, capable, and bold. Even though she has insecurities, she doesn't let her past hold her down and she pursues her dreams with vigor.

I almost didn't watch this because of Gong Mi's character, which is super annoying. She had no redeeming qualities, which is a waste on the writers' part. Joon Soo was a forgettable character, but thankfully his character did develop throughout the course of the drama.

Some other highlights beyond the adorable lead couple (they are seriously goals!), are: bromantic moments between the ahjusshis, great OST and sound effects, hilarious daydreams, and fun outfits worn by the cast.

I have mixed feelings on whether I liked the pace of the drama or not. On one hand, it dragged, especially towards the end. On the other hand, I loved all of the slice of life, fun moments from the main couple, which we were only able to see and enjoy because the drama is 20 episodes instead of 16.

All in all, don't have high expectations, and you will be pleasantly surprised and be able to fully enjoy this fun and lighthearted rom-com!

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