One of the best ongoing dramas of June 2022. The plot is extremely intriguing, and though there are mystery elements and intensity (emotional), the humour is on point too. The pacing of the story, the timing of the humour, the characters — all so well done!

The acting is one of the strongest points of this drama. I don’t see which other two lead actors could have picked it up so well. Yeo Jin Goo is a talent personified and I’m so glad to see him choosing scripts which highlights his emotional acting. Minute emotions are so well portrayed!

It’s a typical who dunnit, a small neighbourhood community where every single person is suspicious. It’s fun to watch while speculating it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from binging it entirely if it had been completed.

Edit: This drama falls to the curse of sixteen episodes dramas stretched entirely too long. I had hopes that the writing would stay consistent as you can read from my ongoing review, but unfortunately the last episodes get too dragged out. I did enjoy the characters and the acting immensely but some plot points are just too repetitive.

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Trash and completely trash

Earlier seasons of SI were bad too, but this ones takes the whole cake. At least with the previous seasons, they were still fun to watch and you could binge them and enjoy the cast’s bonding. However, this season was plain focused on one toxic man who wasn’t even entertaining . It was frustrating to watch a 36 year old man go around gaslighting these women and treating himself as a prize. If you want to learn what red flags are, watch this, else it’s not worth it. The season was so painful to watch that I really didn’t care who would end up with who and decided to drop it. I’m not interested in any more seasons of the show either.

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Promising start, weak middle, good last stretch and a hurried finale. Bad and Crazy is a crime thriller with a ML who has split personality. About two episodes cover one mystery arc which is all related to each other, it’s almost like you’re connecting the next piece in the puzzle. I think the plot is one of the weak points of the drama - of course it’s not unwatchable - but there are points where it feels quite mediocre and unbelievable. The best part about this drama is the acting and the dynamics between the characters. Very few shows good character development despite weak plots, B&C is one of them. The only thing I disliked character wise was how the only female character was written - quite one dimensional compared to the male characters.

Overall, this is a fun drama with lots of bromance and a little bit of mystery and plenty of emotional scenes. Trigger warning: child abuse, few mental health issues.

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Visuals and Vibes Only

So everyone gets a redemption apart from the evil incarnate assistant whose arc isn’t even properly closed. When does she appear in the story? Only when it seems like Cho Sam Dal is seemingly happy and not having a visible breakdown every single episode. The story focuses on the downfall and the eventual big comeback of a well know photographer, but everything feels so half done. Many times the plot and subplots felt so forced. The small town portrayal of the village folk didn’t really pass, the trauma arcs were dragged for too long throughout the story. Sometimes it made me wonder if they are actually almost in their mid-30s.

The humour was quite slapstick at times. The only positives for me were the scenic visuals and the leads who are amazing at what they do. The storyline is weak, and the execution is underwhelming. If I wasn’t watching as it aired, I would have probably dropped it.

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Meh.

The only good thing about the show is the dynamics between the leads. The plot of the story is pretty much nonexistent and survives on cliches. It gets dragged after a point, such shows would do better with 8-12 episodes max, but the writers drag it until 16. The SML is super annoying throughout, all he does is hinder the FL. And even the kiss that he initiates when she’s drunk which she ends up for apologising was ridiculous. I want to see PMY in a good drama, but I guess this was definitely better than her previous drama. There were some good comedy scenes, but for most part it falls short.

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Beyond your expectations.

Wow. Do you ever watch something so good that it puts you in a daze and takes over your mind entirely? Well, Beyond Evil is perfectly that. There are so many things about this drama that were a hit that I don’t think I will be able to cover it in this review. Most of the things are observations and emotions that you feel with each passing episode. How can every episode manage to be superior than the previous one? They seemed to have done it in this!

One of the best things about this drama is the acting — every actor/actress has given it their best. And Shin Ha Kyun? What an amazing actor. So worthy of the Baeksang he won! And Yeo Jin Goo, despite his young age manages to give back to back hits and bring characters alive like no one else done. Considering his offline personality, he has hit Han Joo Won’s portrayal out of the part. Apart from the leads, the supporting characters have done an incredible job as well. All this wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the well written script — if the characters weren’t layered and realistic.

Plot wise, this is an absolute thriller. From the first episode we are drawn in, given details and made to suspect almost every single person in Manyang. One thing I absolutely love was how the plot was laid down so well and wasn’t dragged. When something is revealed, it is acted upon! It’s fun to watch this if you are analysing and theorising on the motives and wondering about the plot. Perhaps this experience has made it more memorable for me.

Music wise the drama manages to bring out all the right emotions. The way each scene has been filmed — such brilliant camerawork.

I’m in awe of everything about this show and looking forward to more projects from the people involved in the making and acting. Beyond Evil is an experience that will remain a beautiful heartbreaking part of you. One which you’ll want to go back to watching while knowing all you do. Please don’t disregard this drama for the hype, it is worthy of all the praise it has received.

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Watch it without any expectations and you won’t have a problem with it. While the show has some of the most promising production crew and a stellar cast, if you look at it with scrutiny expecting to come out of it feeling satisfied, you’ll be disappointed. Most of Jirisan is a love letter to the mountain and the rangers who protect it. The on the side mystery is intriguing, but towards the end, especially the very end, the constant guessing/misleading kind of ruins it. If the killer had been properly revealed even just an episode earlier and they had stuck with it, it would have been better. The time I enjoyed the episodes was when it wasn’t wholly influenced with the main plot and there was interactions between the characters.

***************Spoilers here***********

One thing that really put me of the idea of happy ending giving to the main leads. Hyun Jo wakes up — yay — and this was expected, for some reason it was just taken as the norm that he will not be killed. And Yi Kang suddenly has no more disability? Her disability was simply for the plot to make sense? That it wouldn’t be a happy ending if she had remained in a wheelchair?

As to the final reveal of the killer, I really liked how his backstory influenced him, but the way it was dealt just didn’t feel right. The whole the mountain dealt with him while Yi Kang was just some distance away without getting hit felt anticlimactic.

***************Spoilers end***********

Go in with zero expectations and just enjoy each episode without being too into it, you will like watching it!

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What a beautiful, heartwarming, inspiring drama!

Navillera is the kind of drama that tells you that your dreams are valid, no matter how out of reach they might appear, Navillera tells you that if you give it your best and hold onto it, you can return to them and fulfil them one day.

Adapted from a manhwa, I felt that the creators did a beautiful job portraying both the characters and the story. From a well written plot to complex characters whose relationships with each other are filled with growth and hope, we have it all. My favourite character was of course the seventy year old lead, Deok Chul. Such a positive, hopeful man always empathetic and understanding of everyone around him. He was such a comforting personality to be around — especially to the younger generation around. I absolutely loved his dynamics and friendship with Chae Rok (his young ballet instructor). These kind of dramas are hard to come around, and I’m so glad it was made.

Having read the webtoon before watching this, I was a little nervous about the casting, but they chosen actors were perfect for their roles! From main characters to the supporting characters, no one felt out of place or incomplete. I also loved the OST, it perfectly went with the story and added onto the emotions.

Finishing this was a sad feeling, saying goodbye to these beautiful characters was hard. But I came out of this experience with a lot of comforting thoughts. In the end, this drama is a warm hug that everyone needs.

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Can see why it’s a cult favourite and though it has plenty of feel good romance, humour, memorable OST, it’s not quite a hit for me. The reason I picked this up was because I wanted cliched romance, and cliched romance I got. But sixteen episodes of all of it and each episode the length of an average movie made me feel lethargic towards the end. The first ten episodes are very bingeable, it was fun to see the North Korean setting and the constant is she going to escape safely or not keeps you hooked, but once we cross over that arc things gets monotonous. Overall a fun drama which many missable scenes towards the end.

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Cute but overhyped

This has been on my watchlist for an really long time and I finally got around to watching this, and I’m sorry to say that it was quite disappointing. The only good thing throughout the show is the adorable romance between the leads and the ML gushing over the FL. Apart from the romance, there’s quite a dark subplot which I felt that started off well, but as the story progressed it gets all over the place and the last five episodes are such a drag. The drama consistently jumps between light and dark and it feels a little discerning.

There were also plenty of problematic things which I felt were passed off as humour — to start with: the entire focus on the lead being gay, or the stereotypical way in which the LGBTQ community was represented, almost always being the end of slapstick humour. I also didn’t appreciate how the FL’s mom’s abuse towards her family was passed off as humour, it wasn’t funny at all.

To sum it up, without the extremely wholesome fluffy chemistry between the leads, there isn’t much to love about Strong Girl Bong Soon. Majority of it feels like a filler after a point, especially towards the end.

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Why don’t you cut your heart out instead?

This drama, I don’t know if I’ll ever do justice describing what I feel for it. When I began the drama, I knew it would be angst, but I wasn’t prepared for how much of it would play a part throughout the series. Even until the end your heart is in constant pain because of what the leads go through. What sets it apart is how brilliantly it’s depicted. The characters are going through traumas of their own, born of a shared traumatic event, and their way of dealing with it similar and yet different. After nearly a decade, they are brought back together to face their fears head on. The kind of events they go through, the pain, at times it feels so overwhelming that you need a break. In form of Moon So and Gong Doo, we see cute romance under whose layer lies a backstory that can both make or break you. It was their beautiful interactions that kept me going because at many points the angst felt too much.

The cinematography of this show is beautiful. So much is said in scenes which have no dialogues (I love it when dramas do this!) the OST is something you can listen to on repeat long after you’re done with the show. The story is so well written, the characters are perfectly flawed, the supporting characters grow on you and everything about this draws you in. I hope I’ll be able to go back to this one day and rewatch it.

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Lacks impact and lore

If you’re in it for the world building, you will find this sequel to be entirely unimpressive. Light and Shadow is filled with parallel scenes from the first season, and while the interactions and appearances of our favourite characters are fun, the lack of fantasy elements which the first part had is missing in this one. A lot of the story revolves around the amnesia plot which gets too dragged after a point. The whole soul switching but single body element with Master Lee making episode wise appearances to give us cryptic comments was frustrating. The main antagonist remains from the first season, but he’s really not that smart or amazing to be taken as a real foe for our leads. The story could have been much shorter because by the time we get to the actual lord part, it’s just a rushed closure.

Overall it doesn’t quite live up to its initial promise, but is a decent watch if you decide to give up on consistency. The best parts about this drama was the acting and the interactions, could have been amazing but falls short of it.

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Great potential dragged out pointlessly

Okay, firstly this drama shouldn’t have been sixteen episodes at all. I don’t think we would have had so many emotional arcs if it was 12 or so. I enjoyed the first Episodes quite a bit and then the charm fell off. While the FL is bright, cheerful personality, it doesn’t naturally come off. The writers intention to portray positivity in a workplace seems almost one dimensional. Any character who struggles to enjoy their work and sees it simply as their means to make money is pushed into a direction to feel for it. But this isn’t the biggest issue I had with the story or the characters. What annoyed me the most was how abusive characters were given so much leeway! The abuse they inflict on other characters is seen in an almost sympathetic lens. I’m sorry I don’t care if they have a sob story which justifies their behaviour. It doesn’t matter because their actions are horrible towards others. Especially with the employee who nearly gives up her dream, and the artist Shin and his abusive mother. The latter was the last straw, I simply couldn’t get behind the forgiving arc they were playing for her.

I wish the drama delved more on the plot than emotionally connecting the characters together, would have been so much better if they focused on healthy ways of healing instead of pushing the abused characters into forgiving the abuser arc. If you want to watch something without this emotional abuse romanticised, do give the Japanese version a watch. That’s so much better than this adaptation!

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A dating show that doesn’t feel like a dating show

What in the kdrama is this but also feels so organic and refreshing? I haven’t watched many dating shows because they doesn’t usually give, but Transit Love 2 is such a good surprise. From the very first episode, the cast holds your attention and you begin to get curious about them. Their interviews are fun to watch and one thing I love is how interesting their dates are. There’s awkwardness sometimes, of course, but it feels very natural. There were few cast members I ended up cheering for and I’m glad that they found their happy endings. For some others we get to see how they change, and no all words in their interviews show in their actions. So honestly it’s up to the viewer to analyse the subtle behaviours despite the editing to frame the story.

Few things to take away from? Noona love can be cute af without being overbearing, and introverts selectively enjoy doing things with people they like and those don’t will probably never get to see their personalities, it’s easier to be a toxic partner and still be a good friend, toxic traits in relationships are not noticeable when you’re the one in it,

I tried watching the first season after this and it didn’t quite hit the same, I don’t know how the next season will top this. Added an extra star for the final few episodes and the story execution. How massively difficult it must have been to wrap it all up!

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