FINAL ROUND AND WITHOUT GAPS...

The title "Red Swan" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the main character, Oh Wan-soo. Just like a swan, she is seen as elegant and graceful on the surface, but underneath, she is fighting intensely, represented by the color red, which is often associated with anger and revenge. Therefore, the title "Red Swan" reflects the main character's emotional journey and the central themes of the drama. Could that have been the intention? It might have been, but the execution was far from it, we had a helpless and passive heroine played by an actress with few acting skills, she made some really cheesy faces. Her reaction to her brother's death was the same as receiving a credit card bill.

As for the drama and the plot itself, I really enjoyed it, the villains and their motives were well outlined and constructed, with a standout performance by "Rain" who, as I mentioned, I only knew as a mentor and judge on reality shows for boybands, he delivered a solid performance. I had doubts if the drama would be able to wrap everything up in 10 episodes and they did, everything was nicely concluded without loose ends, overall I liked it, no major complaints.

Read More

A Política Coreana & Conexões

Esse foi um drama político muito bom. A cada episódio, era uma guerra de cão e gato entre Dong Ho e Soo Jin; às vezes, ele vencia, e em outras, era ela. Fiquei impactado com a forma como ele decidiu resolver tudo, sacrificando sua vida pela verdade. Como ele mesmo disse, a verdade tem que vencer a mentira, pelo menos uma vez. A relação entre os dois foi autodestrutiva e recheada de rancor e ódio desde o início. Foi interessante ver Dong Ho testando os limites da inescrupulosa ex-militante estudantil que se tornou uma mulher com sede de poder e com a intenção de proteger a própria biografia, seja a dela ou da sua família.

Merecem elogios a atuação da veterana atriz Yeon Suk, como a chefe de gabinete, e, logicamente, os dois protagonistas, que mais uma vez se mostraram acima da média e do comum. O drama tem uma premissa simples e tramas bem emaranhadas e construídas. É incrível como, na Coreia, ter conexões é muitas vezes mais importante do que ter dinheiro.

Read More

BEST WAY TO FINISH...

I don't know the history of the BL in which this drama was based, however, although I criticized in previous posts that the drama should have followed the original story to the letter, now I understand and agree with the means and ends to reach this slightly exciting and simple ending. It would be very uncomfortable to have a middle-aged man have a romance with a teenager, even with the mitigating factor that he was in the body of another teenager.

That being said, it was a very low-budget drama, but it showed a well-written script and a premise built in detail. I found the last episode to be quite slow and lukewarm, but the closure was good, where the one who had the desire to live, will live and the one who was exhausted from this life, will rest. In conclusion, I commend the performance of Yoon Chan Young, an excellent protagonist.

Read More

The stomach of Japanese politics.

The premise of the drama is very good and it is exactly how I think Japan and its politics and society are, where everything is appearance and the true war occurs behind the scenes in a fierce, discreet, and camouflaged way.

As for the performance, Min Tanaka was masterful and managed to convince us that the power of the "owl" lies more in meticulousness than in the imposition of forces. On the other hand, his co-star, Mackenyu, had little screen time throughout the drama, but his performance was quite mediocre. I have said several times that it seems like he feels uncomfortable acting and speaking in Japanese.

Now, we wait for a hypothetical second season. The Japanese have a habit of leaving open endings and simply forgetting about the drama.

Read More

Simple films with a clumsy protagonist.

It's a movie with a simple premise and a well-known cast. We have to praise Yoo In Soo's consistently exceptional and well-developed performance as the villain in this film. Everyone knows that this actor usually plays comedic roles, but whenever he portrays villains, he transforms himself. In other words, he's an actor with great stage presence who can seamlessly transition from humor to drama and vice versa.

Now, it's necessary to mention that Yoo Sun Ho's performance as the film's protagonist is very lacking and stiff. It seems like he's holding back. He portrayed a very monosyllabic and emotionless protagonist.

The film has its flaws, for example, what's the backstory of Da Young's "stalker friend"? In three minutes, that could have been explained and developed. It felt somewhat random. What's the significance of that epilogue? What important post-film finale factor does that scene have?

Read More

FINAL WORTHY, BUT DULL...

The last episode was out of sync with the others, it was a dull, slow episode with no great depth to the story. I think episodes 9 and 10 could have been combined, the makeup of the old and bedridden Anjin made me laugh, which is a shame because it was the only technical slip-up in this remarkable drama, and it didn't even impact the logical experience of the drama, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

The story, development, and pace were well done and detailed, we had competent art direction that accurately studied Japanese culture at the time. As for the story, I was a little frustrated because I thought we would have the war in the last episode, but instead, we had an excessive amount of dialogue and the closure of some character arcs. I still want to reflect on whether we had an open or semi-open ending because we now know that he managed to return to England and took memories with him, but Toranaga said he would never leave Japan, yet as we observed, he did leave.

The highlight of the acting and deserving of award nominations for best actress goes to Anna Sawai, who played the unforgettable and masterful Mariko.

Read More

IN SEARCH OF THE WONDERFUL WORLD...

I think the best way to praise this drama is to say that it was a competent and well-built drama. None of the episodes were irrelevant or unimportant; all episodes were complementary to each other. In other words, we had an excellent execution here.

The conclusion was very conclusive and without loopholes. My last doubt was regarding the gate video and what an irony of fate, it was the controversial Soo Ho protecting his wife from the certainty that he had closed the gate. I found this explanation excellent and very consistent.

I will praise Cha EunWoo for accepting to play a character completely outside of his comfort zone and I confess that I saw positive acting points in the last episodes. I hope he continues on this path and challenges himself as an actor.

In a final analysis, the drama taught that the WONDERFUL WORLD is built daily and with small achievements. After all, life is not built only of victories and happiness.

Read More

Uchikawa Reo was the biggest highlight.

It's necessary to say that Uchikawa Reo's acting level (Satoru - child) is much, but much higher and better than the performance of his adult version, which isn't exactly hammy, but falls quite short. Uchikawa managed to show us a protective Satoru, someone who seeks to fill others' voids without worrying about his own life and setbacks, someone who from the initial episode dominated the drama from start to finish. It was a pleasure to get to know this actor; it's a shame he hasn't acted for years, but he is fantastic. Also deserving of praise is the actress who played Kayo in the childhood phase, she managed to convey sensitivity in all her scenes and scenic care in her lines, it was another pleasant surprise. From the adult cast, although he had very little screen time, we have to praise the Kenya played by Shirasu Jin who did very well and in his few scenes gave an emotional and sincere tone to his character.

A well-rounded and flawless drama, I liked it a lot. I watched it because of a friend's recommendation and it was a beautiful suggestion.

Read More

A FORGETTABLE DRAMA.

Before anything else, it is necessary to say and repeat a thousand times that Park Ji Hoon is a beast of acting. At just 24 years old, he dominates the scene and has a striking voice when he acts, unlike colleagues of the same age or similar, whose ham acting is totally evident. I only watched this drama because of him. After this brief preface, let's talk about the drama itself. It's very easy to talk about this drama because it has an excellent synopsis, but the execution was terrible, with quite lazy narrative resources, to say the least. The use of the memory loss trope by the protagonist was quite anything, and the screenwriters did not use creativity to create more innovative situations in Korean drama. Another fact that bothered me a lot and was quite exaggerated were the excessive screams and shouts of the protagonist. In episode 14, for example, it was 60 minutes of just him screaming and writhing. The villains were all well below criticism. Personally, I can't see Hwang Hee playing villains. His comic and charismatic character in "Tale of the Nine-Tailed" mentally marked me, but that's just me. What annoyed me the most was that in the initial episodes, the screenwriters treated us to a cunning, intelligent, witty, comic, and fighting Ak Hee. However, to maximise Sajo Hyun's protagonism, they turned Ak Hee into a greedy and childish idiot. Anyway, it's a drama I'll forget after typing this review.

Read More

I WILL NO LONGER FEEL PAIN! NOTHING WILL TURN RED ANYMORE.

I thank MBN for showing that a drama with a modest budget, but with a good script, well-developed and implemented clichés, well-executed plot and direction, can indeed be successful and win over the audience. This drama has demonstrated that it is possible to achieve this feat. The ending of the drama, in my opinion, presents all loose ends properly tied up, with a clear and conclusive conclusion. The explanation for the characters' second chance in life was simple: "God wanted it, and it's all right."

Of course, this drama has become one of my favorites on MDL, being an incredible experience to follow these twelve episodes. I hope MBN produces more dramas with the same atmosphere.

Now that the drama is over, I can say that, in the webtoon, there are three characters who go back to the past (the protagonists and Kim Jae Won). I believe that not including this plot for Kim did not harm the development of the story. If MBN wanted to, they could have extended the plot to 16 to 20 episodes, but it's all right. It's good to end things at their peak, which helps preserve good memories.

Read More

ESQUISITO E INCOMPLETO...

Ontem à noite decidi assistir a esse filme e o começo parece bem promissor, as bases iniciais do filme são bem apresentadas e o enredo se mostra bem interessante e inovador. Afinal, a Coreia do Sul é um dos países que mais se preocupa com a opinião pública e muitas vezes as grandes corporações e pessoas com poder decidem manipular as redes sociais e a mídia para controlar a dita opinião pública.

Entretanto, a reta final do filme nitidamente estava desconexa e confusa, além de que os cortes de edição foram mal feitos e horríveis. Quando finalmente há algum esclarecimento inteligível, nos é apresentado que o garoto era um mitomaníaco narcisista que manipulou um jornalista que já estava em desgraça com o público e a imprensa, motivo? Sei lá, para os roteiristas pouco importava na verdade. Uma pena porque o elenco era muito bom.

Read More

Is innocence synonymous with freedom?

With the imminent premiere of the Netflix drama "Queen of Tears", I decided to watch Kim Soo Hyun's latest drama, which is "One Ordinary Day" from 2021. I confess that I was surprised that Soo Hyun had been on hiatus for almost 3 years and only returned now with the Netflix drama. That said, I deeply regret not having watched this drama when it was released. The technical and scenic quality is of a unique excellence, with everything very well developed. The Korean justice system is once again called into question, and here, as is routine, we see that vanity and ambition are put first in relation to the suffering of others.

They took Hyun Soo's life, and there is no way he can go back to the starting point where his life was abruptly changed. Everything is in the past, and there is no possible reparation. The designation of ex-convict will always be with him, and Korean conservative society will judge him every day, regardless of his innocence. Of course, Hyun Soo was guilty of omission of aid, and his selfishness led him to where we are, but the hell he lived is much more the responsibility of the justice hyenas than anything else.

Finally, Seung Won deserves praise, who plays this lawyer who lives in a state of full dermatitis. I confess that I felt disgusted at first, but as the dermatitis evolved, the case became denser and more complicated. When Hyun Soo was released, the lawyer's dermatitis eased. Kim Sung Gyu, playing Ji Tae, was above criticism. He knew how to be the escape valve for the psychological pressures that Hyun Soo suffered, although in a very twisted way, but he was a protector.

About the ending, I had two feelings: the first that he was going to commit suicide and the second that smoking that last pack of cigarettes would be like saying goodbye to all the hell he lived. I loved this drama so much, impeccable.

Read More

O maior amor de todos é: Amar a si mesmo!

Antes de qualquer coisa, é preciso reconhecer: os atores mirins chineses são os melhores do mundo, ponto. Não importa se são crianças ou adolescentes, o nível de entrega e talento é algo fora do comum. Agora, vamos ao que interessa.

O drama em questão tem uma pegada bem infanto-juvenil, e isso transborda também para o romance, que ficou restrito ao nominal. Os protagonistas, que já haviam trabalhado juntos antes e têm uma química de dar gosto, limitam-se aqui a declarações de amor que nunca se concretizam. No máximo, um abraço tímido ou um beijo na testa. Sou alguém que espera um romance cheio de pegação? Claro que não, mas quando o sentimento apresentado é tão gélido na tela, fica impossível ignorar a oportunidade desperdiçada de um casal que funciona tão bem junto.

E falando neles, é preciso um parágrafo à parte para Esther Wu. Teste de paciência e saúde mental, essa é a definição perfeita para a atuação infantilizada dela aqui e em outros dramas. O que me irrita é saber que ela pode muito mais. Quem assistiu My Journey To You sabe que Esther Wu entregando uma atuação séria e madura é outro nível, algo realmente irretocável. Já Ding Yuxi, por outro lado, faz o que sempre faz: apresenta uma atuação sólida e consistente, algo que me agrada bastante.

No conjunto da obra, o drama cumpre sua proposta e, se emociona, é porque tem algo a dizer. A mensagem central, sobre se amar primeiro para poder proteger e amar quem está ao nosso redor, é bonita e bem trabalhada, culminando na cena final da sessão de autógrafos. Ali, o roteiro finalmente brilha com uma criatividade de alto nível, encerrando a história de uma forma única e memorável. O sucesso do drama na China é merecido, ainda que existam tropeços no caminho.

Read More

Inicio promissor, porém....

Um drama que começou com um brilho promissor nos primeiros episódios, entregando uma narrativa bem construída e cheia de potencial, mas que na passagem de tempo tropeçou feio. O ritmo acelerado e a edição desleixada acabaram comprometendo a experiência, deixando as construções afetivas tão rasas que quase passam despercebidas. O casal protagonista, SanHa e JuWon, foi praticamente jogado junto na reta final, como se os roteiristas tivessem entrado em pânico: "Vamos juntá-los agora, ou não dará tempo!" O resultado? Uma química que beira o inexistente.

Por outro lado, me deixei cativar pelo casal HaeJun e Dal, mas a execução da relação deles conseguiu ser ainda mais desastrosa. O texto, especialmente em momentos cruciais, era de um nível quase embaraçoso. A cena do pedido de namoro é o ápice do constrangimento: HaeJun diz algo como "Meu sentimento por você não é tão forte quanto o seu por mim, mas vamos namorar mesmo assim." Sério? Que tipo de ogro acha que isso é uma boa ideia para um momento tão importante? Alguém precisava dar uma pausa no chá de cogumelos alucinógenos da sala de roteiristas.

No campo das atuações, o destaque absoluto vai para Choi Won Young. Mais uma vez, ele mostrou por que é um dos melhores veteranos em atividade. Seu desempenho como o pai de família foi impecável, talvez o personagem mais bem construído de todo o drama. No balanço geral, foi uma obra com um começo muito promissor, mas que perdeu o fôlego no final. Um bom drama, mas com ressalvas que não dá para ignorar. É isso.

Read More

Expectativas não correspondidas!

Criei uma infinidade de expectativas para essa segunda temporada, e a frustração veio de forma quase descomunal. Imaginei que seria uma oportunidade perfeita para aprofundar a origem dos julgadores monstruosos e demoníacos, entender por que esses julgamentos começaram e explorar detalhadamente os pecados dos julgados. Queria respostas sobre se o arrependimento genuíno ou o perdão sincero poderiam salvá-los em vida. Mas o que recebi? Mais um drama coreano arrastado, com aquele ritmo tedioso e previsível centrado em seitas religiosas na Coreia do Sul – um tema que eles insistem em revisitar à exaustão.

Ainda assim, devo destacar a atuação de Kim Sung Chul como Jin Su. Mesmo não sendo o ator da primeira temporada, ele conseguiu tomar posse do personagem com uma entrega impressionante, dominando cada cena em que apareceu. É uma pena que esse talento tenha sido desperdiçado em um enredo tão apático e desconectado das questões intrigantes que a série poderia ter abordado.

Perdi meu tempo? Talvez. Mas uma coisa é certa: este é um drama que me deixou sem absolutamente nenhuma vontade de conferir uma possível terceira temporada, hipotética ou não.

Read More