Finding The Strength To Be Different

Let me say that I’m not a fan of the storyline, but because this is from Taiwan and the team/platform behind the project, I’m choosing to believe they mean well with the story.

Characters
Personally for me, this is where the film shines -- its characters and the actresses who brought them to life.

Yi-Ming
We have Yi-Ming who grew up being the “apple” of her parents’ eyes. Basically, she is the model daughter that any Asian parent would be proud to have. Unfortunately, accepting and carrying on that role is also her downfall. She believes everything she was taught to believe without question even in the face of an opposing reality. Once you understand this, her actions for the rest of the film will make a lot of sense to you and maybe hate her a little less. Not to defend her actions or say they are right of course.

Ting-Ting
Then we have the seemingly carefree Ting-Ting who unlike Yi-Ming, doesn’t seem to live up to anyone’s expectations but her own. A little more brave. A little more open to following her heart and what makes her happy despite society telling her otherwise. We don’t find out until some time later that Ting-Ting has been living with her own struggles of self-acceptance. When I found out, that made my heart break for her and Yi-Ming on some deep level I didn’t know I had.

Lessons From The Film
If Yi-Ming and Ting-Ting has taught me anything is that being different is what makes you who you are and sometimes being who you are can be difficult in a society that tells you that who you are is wrong, abnormal, a sin. And when you go against yourself to conform to the way society wants you to be, then you might end up going down self-destructive paths unless you learn to accept and embrace yourself.

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Krachao Seeda

I'm so glad I gave this a shot after hearing the OST covered on The Wall Song (Thank you, Third from Tilly Bird). Initially, I thought it was the typical married FL gets cheated on and she gets with a better guy which it is about but it's actually much more than that, too. Finally, there's smart and rational leads and a story that redeems the antagonist.

Usually, you see the protagonists and antagonists go at each other until the antagonist gets their dues in the end, but the writer went a different direction here and I love it. I haven't given a Thai drama more than an 8-8.5 in a long time, but I gave this one a 10 for the character buildup/development and keeping me invested in what would happen to everyone until the very end.

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Sky Castle Meets Cinderella

I related to many things in the story and characters and so was completely absorbed in what would happen to them and how they would overcome their obstacles. I smiled, I laughed, I cried and then back again until the story ended but will always live on in my heart. This is one of those stories that comes along once in a long while. Everything about it is perfect. A wonderful and meaningful story, an exceptional cast, great direction, and all done in six episodes. Thank you to Netflix and the Sound of Magic team who came together to work on and share this magical story.

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The overarching story is actually really good, but the execution and how it’s told isn’t as engaging as it could be.

This is a pretty ambitious project with many well-known cast members which is also kinda its drawback. Because the faces/characters are constantly changing, it wasn’t really enough time for me to be invested in any one of them. It wasn’t just their face that was constantly changing, it was also their personality. I think it may have worked better, if they decreased the number of characters and allotted more time to the flashbacks that are integral to the story.

Since we’re seeing this story from the MC’s POV, the story feels and looks like you’re inside a maze, not knowing what it looks like. You’re going to hit a lot of walls in search for an exit and could feel lost for a good portion of the story.

I liked the ending, because I feel it's realistic given the story. Just the execution could have been better -- they ended up telling viewers what has been happening and its solution instead of showing us.

Overall, I think the story itself is really great but unfortunately, the execution wasn’t quite there for me personally and needed more oomph. It's a good attempt though. I'm glad they took the risk in telling this story, and the issues involved, in a different way than what we usually see in Thai dramas.

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What a beautiful and heartfelt drama along with great characters who I became very attached to.

I haven't been able to enjoy dramas quite the same after watching Tomorrow. The drama raises the bar in terms of characters, story depth, meaning and execution. Around ep5, I was totally hooked, and by the end, I was sad to say goodbye but at the same time, also happy to do so as well. If you watch it, this will make a lot of sense to you lol.

Each story involves people who are at a point in their life where they want to end their life. There is also the major story arc that gradually unravels itself. The stories do get a whole lot darker, heavier and more personal for the main characters. The ending to each is really special and precious. The pacing and order of the stories are well thought out.

"Someday, Because of You" made me bawl my eyes out, followed by "Spring" which was the saddest to me.

This is easily one of my top 5 dramas that's gonna stay with me for a really long time.

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I think this is an okay watch. With the premise and start it has, it definitely could have been better. A guy who was this powerful family’s loyal lapdog to only get betrayed by them, and he gets a second chance at life being born again into that very family.

The best thing about this drama is the cast and characters. Every single person owned their role. No matter what character was on screen, I was interested. That’s not something I can say about many dramas.

I also like the historical aspects of it. Getting to see historical events unfold in the drama, and how the MC used those pivotal points to further his plan to take over Soonyang.

What I think could have been better is the revenge itself. It was lacking some oomph. In the first half, it was like the MC was playing the revenge game on easy mode. Things were fairly easy for him, since he knew the future. Without the other side being able to give him some obstacles, it makes the revenge less interesting. By the time they do get back at him, it felt like such a huge cop out. Like that’s it? After all the MC did over the years, and that was all they had to do to take him down? It felt cheap.

And then the ending story arc. I feel like it could have been better, if they had started it a couple of episodes earlier instead of leaving it for the last episode. It felt sudden and somewhat out of place given how important it was and yet given so little time to evolve.

Lastly, him not really spending any time with his real family. I thought that was odd. His dad and brother had so little screen time.

Overall, I think this is an ok watch. If I had known everything that I know about it now, I’d still watch it. The characters really are well written here, and I enjoyed watching how the MC used his knowledge of historical events. Watching the Soonyang family implode on themselves was quite satisfying, too.

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Alice in Borderland is a dystopian series that combines elements of the battle royale and survival game genres. This second season is significantly better than the first, with more interesting games and well-developed characters. While the first season showed the darker sides of humanity, this season showcases more positive traits such as determination, camaraderie, selflessness, empathy, and hope.

The ending felt like a whole a season onto itself. So much happened in that last episode. It was tempting to go from the previous episode right into the last one, and I’m glad I held off to watch it the next day. It’s really a lot to mentally and emotionally unpack.

While I initially wanted to give this season a perfect score, I can't support the portrayal of sexual assault and the justification of the perpetrator's actions due to his past experiences with bullying. His attempts to rape the female lead and his reasoning that "because people are bad, he will be bad" is not acceptable. The whole time he's portrayed as a victim of his past, and the way to save him is to show him kindness. That is fine, but the problem lies in him never acknowledging his harmful behavior and never showing remorse for them either.

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This was a fun watch. Some of the games were clever. I think there was only one game early on that I felt was out of left field, and mostly involved fighting to be the last man standing. There really was no thinking involved with that one.

There were a few things that I felt could have made this better. They tried to provide the backstories to too many characters with the limited time they had. More time should have spent on the MC’s backstory and some other main characters. It was so brief that you kinda just get a glean into the reason why he didn’t live a life until the games.

Then there was the last game. The more people and killing involved doesn’t always equal better. The game itself was underwhelming for me personally compared to the rest of the story. What saved it was the introduction of two strong and intelligent female characters, more depth into one of the intelligent male characters, and the race to save MC. The ending was a bit average to me compared to the beginning.

Despite the drawbacks, it is entertaining filled with characters whose survivals you’ll care about and well worth the watch. There is a lot of potential for an amazing Season 2.

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The story is great. The acting is exceptional. Most, if not all, the characters were solid. They all had their own compelling story arcs that makes you care about what happens to them. Not like in other stories where support characters are either just there or annoying as all hell.

There are two things that I really liked about the story.

Better Female Representation

Finally, we're getting female characters who are RATIONAL, strong, walks away from people who betray/disrespect them and who fight to get back up on their feet when they fall. Watching these women, regardless of socioeconomic status, band together to fight back after what was done to them was so satisfying. Pooklook, Ann S and Organ are the dream team I never imagined together, but they work magnificently lol.

Antagonist

Damn. This lady was like a brilliant chess master with 9 lives. She honestly was quite impressive. Deplorable but impressive lol. Every time people thought they had her, she reversed UNO their asses. This is my first Cheer drama. I honestly thought she was just some beauty pageant person and really had no expectations for her acting. Jesus christ, she owned her role.


I can't believe I slept on this. Thank you to the people who recommended this on the other dramas. Y'all doing god's work.

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The Power Of A Mother’s Love Amidst Predatory Behavior, Exploitation & Gaslighting

The ending makes this story a little tough to rate. Although the ending is good (7.5-8/10), can it make up for the other 70% of the story that is total garbage? Was it really necessary to focus so much on the sleaze (even promoting it extensively) and to give the mom, whose story this belongs to, so little screen time until the last 2.5 episodes?

Jaron and Rose did not need all those scenes. I understand story build up, but the way this was done felt extremely exploitative. It honestly could have been done in a more respectful manner. It’s possible. I’ve seen it done. "Motherhood" from ThaiPBS as a more recent example.

I would have preferred more time spent on the aftermath with the moms working hard being single parents and doing the best they can raising their daughters. Instead, we just get a short narration and a 1 minute scene of it. Like I sat through at least 6 hours of garbage, they could have at least given me a 5 minute montage of the aftermath.

I think a 6 for the story is fair. I'm adding another 0.5 for the ending's message showing that the best thing a mom can do for herself and her child is to leave an oppressive relationship/marriage. I feel that many people stay in unhappy marriages for their children, but that isn't necessarily the best thing to do especially when it involves infidelity, violence and or an overall lack of respect and human decency. To each their own of course. Everyone's situation is different.

I wish the story could have been told better. There are important themes here like single parent households, LGBTI youth in dysfunctional families, why patriarchy is bad, gaslighting to name some. Had they spent more time tackling those themes better instead of trying to attract viewers with the sleaze, this could have been an empowering story worth watching and discussing .

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Cast
Such a great cast here. They all did a great job including the supporting actors. I’ve dropped a fair number of dramas where they will do a great job casting the main actors but then drop the ball on the rest of the cast. It’s even worse when the main actors can’t act. So when the entire cast are on point like in Happy New Year, I really appreciate it and will point it out.

Pace and execution
Great direction and execution. Well paced. One of Club Friday’s strengths is that they have less episodes than the typical full length Thai drama. So the important points of the story are told without things being dragged out and eventually losing the viewers' attention.

Story
Club Friday consistently establishes the foundations of telling a story well. The storylines are what’s hit or miss with them, and Happy New Year is somewhere in between depending on what’s important to you in a story. For me, it’s whether I enjoy watching it, am I invested in the characters and what’s going to happen to them and most importantly, the messages the story tells. Happy New Year easily meets all my criteria but the last one.

The story is about different people’s beliefs about love and how their beliefs shape how they approach their relationships. While the two couples are there to contrast each other, many people may notice Winit’s nanny but also pay attention to View’s dad. This may be why although View and Winit are kind and forgiving people, one knows how to set boundaries while the other doesn’t. View can love someone while not accepting their bad behavior towards her. She cares about Ploy but also consistently calls her out on her bad behavior. She loves Ek but doesn’t allow him to continue down that slippery slope of using drugs as a coping mechanism.

There are really good messages to take from the story like the one just mentioned, but I also can’t overlook the problematic messages the story romanticizes and idealizes as well which is why I’m dinging this to a 7.5.

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The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Everything about this show is terrific – the writing, direction and acting. Each story is told for you to take your own lessons from them without being patronizing and or depressingly traumatic. Every time I watch a drama with at least one of the issues dealt with in this show, they usually do it in a way that's at least one or the other.

I watched this over a couple of days and after every story, I had to take a break in order to let everything sink in before I moved on to the next story. And this is what makes the show great for me. Is that it makes you think and leaves an impression on you.

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Why did I put off watching this for so long

This is, by far, one of the best things I’ve watched in a long time. It held my attention from beginning to end. Well paced, great characters and storyline. The right amount of action, thriller and the well timed comedic relief. Not many dramas are able to have this amount of characters without the story being all over the place, but for this drama, it actually made sense and they were all correlated.

The only thing that could have made this better is if two of the characters had a showdown – the main bully and his female victim. I honestly feel like it should have come down to them at one point given their relationship to each other.

What a fun watch this was, and I can’t wait for season 2! Netflix + Asian dramas is one of the best things to happen to the drama world lol. Thank you to the writers and the All Of Us Are Dead team for making such a great series.

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All at once heartbreaking and hopeful

"It was something beyond my imagination."

A story about a family who seem perfect on the outside but are actually slowly crumbling on the inside. A man comes into their lives and turns it upside down. You get the feeling that he means well but his unconventional methods of helping the family makes you wonder why this random stranger cares so much.

I just finished watching it, and it is just wow. Clever and terrific writing from start to finish. Although hints were sprinkled throughout, I still didn't expect to learn about what happened in the main character's past until it was revealed towards the end. They really made all 10 episodes count in telling this story.

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