Carmen
Toronto
This review may contain spoilers
Overrated, just watch Liar Game. Here's my rant...
YeaH... this was pretty overrated. The production, cinematography was great but... The "VIPs"... omg their dialogue was soO cringe. These are some fake a$$ rich ppl if I've ever seen any. LoL.The motivation behind why the game came to be? Yeah not very convincing...
Also, was pretty disappointed that there were soO many predictable moments. Especially with the old man doing a "Jigsaw".
And what happened to the daughter? Was the Gi Hoon soO depressed that he just gave up on her even though she was the damn reason he went back to the game?!
It seems that they set up the beginnings for season 2... But with the foundation being season 1, I seriously can't imagine watching.
Omg one more thing, when Gi Hoon was having a serious heart-to-heart dialogue with Ali... Wtf was that sh!t? LoL. Conversation literally was:
Gi Hoon: "So why are you here?"
Ali: "Money"
Ali:"What about you?"
Gi Hoon: "Money"
Well damn.
I sure hope so, cause this ain't no slumber partY.
D:
Sorry this was much less a review and more of a rant. But I can't help it. It just— it could have been soO good. It could have beenN something. But it wasn't. And that to me, is maddeninG.
Please abandon ship and don't make a season 2 lol.
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If you are here for the story... move on, if you're here for romance...
(Note: the review was written at the time of completing 26th episode. I've added the updates and have made the necessary "reevaluation" after having completed the drama.)To begin, I really regret having watched this so soon. I've been getting heavy withdrawal and constantly checking back to youtube to see if anybody has added in the much appreciated english subtitles. (I can actually watch it without and understand 60%...and I have... but I still very much would like some english subtitles) It's clear that this has become obsessive. So my PSA to everyone is that my rating will definitely be biased! And also: don't watch until after Aug. 16 if you suffer hard from drama withdrawal.
Story: Wows, it is surprisingly keeping me interested. And not just the romance aspect, but the politics of the martial arts as well. It also touched upon many philosophy related questions in life, all the while maintaining a light-hearted tone throughout. At the same time, don't expect this to be a "deep" drama. Lol, I was just a little surprised that a rom-com drama can still have soommme flushed out details that I wasn't expecting... never-mind a WEB SERIES/DRAMA rom-com drama!
Acting/Cast: I actually started watching this drama because I found out that Zhao Lu Si was the FL. I always loved her comedic acting and her facial expressions incomparably hilarious. I had no doubt I was going to enjoy her performance. This is the first drama of Li Hong Yi's that I'm watching. So far, I am pretty shocked how immersed I am in his acting. Every single time he's on screen, his character makes my heart race. I'm excited to watch more of Prodigy Healer once more english subtitles come out (has both ZLS and LHY). As for supporting characters, I don't love them or hate them, mainly because this story (I feel) more focuses on ZLS and LHY's as well as June Wu's story. However, things can change in the coming episodes... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Music: I absolutely adore the music. It's all the more impressive when you know that the main leads sung the opening and closing OST. I also love the pop genre of music they decided to go with for the opening, ZLS sounds so cute.
PRODUCTION: Costumes were great, the sets were good. There were however moments where I noticed the "lace front" for the wigs when they shoot a close up for LHY, and tiny makeup malfunctions but it didn't take away too much from the drama imo.
Rewatch Value: So far I'd rewatch it (I've already been). I really hope they stick the landing because it's been super promising, and from the previews I can tell that episode 27-32 will be just as amazing. They have all the right ingredients and a strong foundation to hit it out of the park!!! I really hope they do~~
(UDATE as of Aug. 18, 2019: The very last episode felt very rushed in my opinion, really hope that they do season 2 because there's a lot of unanswered questions in my head with respects to the female lead's world. But this show has definitely been a good time. Wished the ending was a bit more upbeat like the overall drama was. Nevertheless the ending was still good, it could have been much worse! I am still really blown away by the drama because it was pretty enjoyable. I've got to mention again that this was a WEB DRAMA! Wasn't expecting it to be pretty, have good music, have pretty artwork/poster, that much of a decent story, stellar cast (Except for ZLS, because I did watch it for ZLS), or even that great of chemistry between the main leads. But everything was either checked or much better than I thought. Not exactly the BEST drama ever watched. But I've got to say... Lately China has been stepping it up a notch with their dramas. I'm definitely now more willing to look at other Youku dramas.)
*cough* like the Prodigy Healer that stars both of the same leads... but hopefully it'll be subbed because after the 11th episode w/o subs I'm so lost with what the story is anymore T_T"
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CHARACTERS/ACTING: Characters and cast were great, I don't have anything negative to say about it. Chemistry between the lead characters were imo, realistically palpable. You can tell there's admiration but due to circumstances their duties to their profession naturally made them forces at odds with one another.
MUSIC: The ost was really good! Definitely played into the vibes of a masquerade ball. Very mysterious, grand, and thrilling.
PRODUCTION: 10/10 would recommend. Beautiful cinematography...Beautiful hotel. I actually thought it was a real hotel at one point and googled it up lol. It definitely reminded me of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Wes Anderson's obsession with symmetry.
OVERALL: I'm still processing whether I actually liked the film or not... just cause I'm a big whodunnit fan and the story was spoon-fed to me... And also during reveal, they did not go into detail of the killer's... (trying very hard not to spoil) accomplices... I did however enjoy the comparison of a masquerade ball and what was described as a "first-class" hotel. Especially when the female lead expresses that their jobs are to "imagine the guests' true faces", but should never think of peeling off those masks. That particularly, was very interesting. Because of that, and the feast-for-the-eyes that is this film, I'd say that I'd give it try if you're bored.
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From the synopsis alone it's easy to dismiss the story as a long-winded drama about a women that just could not see that the perfect guy was right beside her all along. And yes it is that, but the drama does a good job at not making it feel too dragged on and boring. To begin the premise begins with the two leads making a bet that before the age of 35 (in 5 years), the person that gets married first receives a red pocket of $20,000 ($700 USD). Thus begins the race!
On a little more serious note , the core theme of the drama is really relatable to many young females' minds and hearts about their biological clock. The urgency of having to find their other half because people around are already in a relationship or married with kids. I was watching this when I was in the 11th grade, no relationship whatsoever, but felt strong resonance with the female lead. The struggles and worries of not finding somebody able to accept our weird strange beings is, s o, r e a l.
At the same time, the drama also looks at the beautiful Unrequited-Love-King! LI DA REN! This character really reinvented the wheel for unrequited love as well as introduced a new type of male lead. Li Da Ren becomes the face of passive, sensitive, smart, calm, and collected male lead. It's quite a refreshing break from the usual alpha male leads. And do not worry about it being too melo or sad. Yes, it definitely has those moments, but with downs there are always ups! And this I mean the comedy. The drama does a good job in not being too crazy and exaggerative with their comedy (which can go overboard easily in Taiwan dramas). In addition to the much appreciated comedic reliefs, the place setting of the drama is shot in a many variety of places which gave the drama a bit more individuality compared to the other usual Taiwanese Dramas or C-Dramas.
The casting was perfect. I absolutely LOVE Ariel. She's a goddess. She is so pretty in this drama~ And Bolin Chen is just perfect for this character. I'm not a huge fan of his and I've not seen him in many things but I do feel his personality and acting was logical fit to play Li Da Ren. I am really glad too, that Bolin was our Li Da Ren. In retrospect, I can't imagine another actor playing this very beloved character.
And if all that does not entice you to watch the drama you should just watch it for the OST. It's quite amazing. It really complimented the drama. There's definitely gave a healthy amount of what I like to call "brooding moments" when the main leads need to be sad and brood. I really appreciated these moments for times of good reflection for us.
Overall, this drama is not just a great drama in my books. It's definitely a drama that I have and would come back to rewatch all over again.
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STORY: I think the story can still hold its own even today. I don't think I've watched a film/drama that's remotely similar in plot. Furthermore, if you're looking for a plot twist, I'd look no further!
ACTING/CAST: Wonderful cast.
MUSIC: Was one of the reasons why I grew up loving Sammi Cheng's music.
OVERALL: I really enjoyed watching this film again. It always stuck to me as a memorable film just like Beetlejuice. And like Beetlejuice, I think it does well with exploring the subject of death. All the while, it takes a step further to look at grieving period for loved ones... and the time it takes to eventually move on. It's easy to say that I definitely shed tears rewatching this film again. All in all, it's a movie that's worth a shot.
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This review may contain spoilers
It seemed like a fail-proof drama to watch...
This drama had so much going for it. Great casting, relatively good soundtrack, and an interesting premise to hook us in.But my god, it was quite a mess wasn’t it? I don’t even know where to start.
It was really frustrating and confusing to watch especially because it felt like the story shifted from the perspective of Dan Oh to third person. WTF??? OMG that confused me a LOT. Don’t even get me started on the wasted time spent on rewatching a really bad parody of Boys Over Flowers/Meteor Garden/Hana Yori Dango. I understand that they needed a cliche story in the background to contrast our ML/FL as extras and is part of “world” created but it very rarely contributes to the plot. And my GOD, why in the world did we have to watch so many scenes of it?! Also— and this is more of a personal, and very much a subjective opinion, but why is Dan Oh so OBSESSED with Haru? I wanted to puke blood by the time it was the 14th and 15th episode and I realized that very little answers were given on anything. This made the whole experience of watching the drama VERY frustrating as it went on. More questions/interest were piqued till the we are now nearing the last THREE episodes, and then you finally realize, IT WILL NEVER BE ANSWERED. O_O” Lastly, there were many scenes is the drama that were wAYYyy too repetitive.
All in all I feel like a took away very little from this drama. The world is a very interesting concept and I would love a different take on it with a different story. But the jarring shift of Dan Oh’s perspective to third person perspective, parody drama running/competing with the actual story, the annoying FL obsession with the ML, bucketloads of unanswered questions, and repetitive scenes make it too hard to give this drama a decent recommendation.
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A lot more hype than what it really was...
Perhaps I am a little biased with my review... I went into watching this with a lot of expectations. And could you reeeally blame me though? Casting looked great, interesting premise, interesting genres, and a pretty good trailer as well. It seemed like a foolproof recipe for success. But... It kind of wasn't. For me, at least.STORY: It definitely started off being interesting. And don't get me wrong, overall, it was. However, what missed the mark for me was that they could've gone further with the backstory of the apostles and spiritual father. In my opinion, that really lost me. I could forget that the pacing was so bad, it took til like episode 9 to finally start picking up, I could forget that they stretched 8 episodes out senselessly (when it really could've been like 4 episodes), aaanD that it took til like episode 14-15 to get the FULL picture of the backstory of the apostles and the spiritual father...
I could forget ALL of that.
But to not at least give us what we really wanted, the backstory of how these characters came to be.... Well, that was absolutely unforgivable in my books.
CASTING: Cannot complain, casting was good.
MUSIC: Did the job right, made me feel anxious, in suspense of what's to come. It wasn't particularly memorable tbh.
REWATCH: Verry unlikely to rewatch.
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CHARACTER/ACTING: Sometimes a character really carries the entire story and this rings true for Daytime Shooting Star. I was-- and still in complete love with the female lead. Truly wholesome, pure, and oh so innocent. She's definitely not one to be a pushover either if that's what you're thinking! I've definitely become a big fan of Nagano Mei as a result of this movie. I've watched a lot of dramas (Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese) but I rarely watch Japanese productions (maybe only 30 titles) and even rarer... movies. But... there's definitely something genuine, and interesting with Nagano Mei's acting. It inspires me to try watching more Jdramas and even Jmovies. The rest of the cast does a great job as well, I've even gotten quite a 2nd lead syndrome for ... a certain male character (watch to find out who!). Nonetheless, the character that Suzume ends up with made most sense for her, and the story. I am very content with the ending.
MUSIC: Nothing I'd really want to add to my collection of OSTs... Not great, but not horrible... Still leaves a lot to be desired if I must be honest.
PRODUCTION: I was content with production. Cinematography was beautiful. It really matched the whole innocent, fresh vibes of first love.
OVERALL: A fresh, innocent, fun, not necessarily all fluff, type of romantic comedy. Would rewatch again.
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