kokokolo

i'm intrigued, but this description is pretty poorly written

i didn't love how melodramatic and makjang eps 12-13 got with the comically evil ex and the breakup, but ep 13 and 14 recovered it well. ep 15 and 16 were so hype, i was screaming and cheering at my tv. it felt like the glory s2 finale again.

i need season 2

i don't really understand the entire eunho inclusion too. i thought he'd be kind of a one-off character so i'm confused why he was so prominent as a whole love interest when he's (so far) been pretty inconsequential to the plot. and i love gikwang, it's just funny cuz every time he's on screen i feel like his eyes are popping out of his head like he's always in utter shock.

that being said, i lowk wish they set up eunho and huiyeon more. they seemed cute together.

still watching ep 12 atm but the whole comically evil ex fiance melodrama misunderstanding and returning estranged mother is kinda annoying. it's def feeling a little draggy atp, like they don't have enough content to fill 16 episodes. they're just throwing melodrama tropes in now.

gyeongsong creature was a decent drama. it starts off quite slow in the first three episodes, unsure if it's a sadistic thriller or a historical comedy. it picks up around ep 4 when the storyline really begins. afterwards, i think it was a thrilling and intriguing watch. the horror is not the creature, but the monsters who created it. even more tragic to be based on real events. i'd say some of the imprisonment, violence, torture scenes can be a little much for some viewers, especially due to its real life connotations, but nothing inherently too graphic.

i personally didn't love the romance aspect. it felt forced with no real evidence of them meaningfully bonding. i understand why they may have needed it in the story's context, but they should have developed it further. the cast were good. there weren't any personal standouts imo. one of the main frustrations i had was the consistent plot armor the main characters had. some situations were a little too unbelievable and took me out of the setting on multiple occasions. overall, it was an intriguing and tragic watch with some lacking aspects in its writing. decent drama i'd recommend, but probably not the best drama you'll ever see.

i really enjoyed the porn star's storyline (and i thought most of the stories would be grey like hers). a lonely girl who found connection through manipulation that ultimately led to murder. it's such a great morally grey case. i guess i was just kinda tired of it always leading back to the yakuza instead of exploring more morally grey cases like that. or even the first one with the hit-and-run turning out to not be a manslaughter case.

also, maybe i missed something but how was the senior center will case a defense case? was that not a prosecution case considering kujo was going against the perpetrators aka his mentor?

i think it was a decent watch with occasional interesting stories and good acting, but as a package it felt a bit flat for me. it was difficult to truly connect with any of the characters or their relationships/bromance, as all of it felt underdeveloped in favor of the yakuza plots. by the end, it no longer felt like a meaningful exploration into good vs evil, the grey area of law, why defense attorneys choose to defend, or the most interesting characters: kujo and mibu. i also thought it was a little strange how they continuously painted prosecutors and detectives in a bad light. they wanted to highlight that there's always a grey area to people and not always "good" or "bad," which i find intriguing. but then they'll specifically show yakuza torturing, robbing, and killing people and have the mcs specifically say "i hate prosecutors/detectives because..." so i just kept wondering who are we even supposed to root for?

that being said, i cannot call this jdrama "bad" by any means. the production quality is great, there were a lot of exciting moments, and the actors did a great job. it's a 7/10 for me.

i just finished watching myself and you summed up all my thoughts perfectly wow

most non-korean dramas on mdl are generally rated much lower. most jdramas on here are 7 most likely due to the difference in watchers. kdramas have a lot more viewers and tend to average out higher because fans often give easy 8s, 9s, 10s. i've also noticed they sometimes attract non-jdrama watchers who tend to rate it lower because of culture shock or lower production quality. a 7.6 is not low for a mdl jdrama and it certainly doesn't reflect its popularity, success, or even rating outside of mdl.

do you know of any that actually work for netflix? i've tried some before but they didn't actually work.

it's okay, i'm not looking to pay for a vpn when i'm already paying for netflix.

it didn't bring anything fresh to the genre, but it was still a decent watch. fantastic action sequences and pretty good acting, especially from ikuta and higashide. don't expect any deep, meaningful story or message, but do expect some thrilling action.

emphasis on higashide !

also huge props to the chopper team and the vfx for translating him so perfectly into a live action. he's adorable

this season got me starting the anime lol

you could always just move onto the second case if you're bored by the first. i won't spoil, but i'll let you know that the games do continue. if it's not your thing, the other two cases are definitely more exciting.

i really like where they took the overall story with xin/nix and the natural evolution of the overworld concept in this season. gabee was a really fun addition. i was a little hesitant at first because i'm not usually a big fan of cast changes, but she brought so much life and positivity into the mix (while still having great ideas too).

the cases themselves were entertaining. i wouldn't necessarily say they were better than s1's cases, but i think the team shined so much more after all they've been through together. their chemistry and teamwork felt much more evident. my favorite part of this season, and a critique i had on s1, was they FINALLY showed their reactions post-case. i'm so glad they did cuz they were some of the highlight moments for me.

overall, i think it's a solid and fun watch. definitely an improvement over s1 while still keeping the same charm.

one thing i really wish they did was show their reactions in the aftermath of each case. they had such good chemistry as a team so it was such a letdown for the team to escape and they show no footage of them celebrating or reflecting on wtf just happened.

it was a nice, fun, easy watch. i wouldn't say it's the best show in this genre, but entertaining nonetheless. the cast has great chemistry with solid problem-solving. i actually quite liked how seriously they took the game which helped keep the immersion in the stories. a solid watch altogether.