An underrated gem hidden from the international viewers indeed. Though to be positive, it must be somehow popular in Japan to the point it could renew for 5 seasons. If you want a break from the dramas that are plot heavy, this drama I suggest you to watch.

This drama is like Nichijou (an anime), where the show focuses more on characterization rather than plot. The issues the character have is realistic and almost always makes me sympathize with them as a character. I loved the Master's character as this calm and sympathetic person.

This drama is like an unscripted variety show, where you truly feel like you're one of the bar patrons listening to others' frustrations and gossiping with them as well. The actors did an excellent job of preserving that vibe throughout the whole season.

The characters also have natural looks, meaning not everyone is eye candy like what kdramas usually cast. The fact that the characters look average makes this drama even more real to me.

If you haven't watched this drama, please watch it! This is truly an underrated gem that deserves more international attention.

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[Contains spoilers for this drama and a tiny bit for Tell Me What You Saw, although I will not reveal names, I will just leave implications. But that still counts so proceed with caution.]

So I watched this series under the recommendation of a friend, and so I did. It's not that I don't like it, per se. It's just.. I don't know what the hell is going on! I made episode recaps on a notebook where I jotted down every information necessary so I could try to predict the plot of the story, but that didn't work, because I couldn't predict anything.

I gave up writing the notes after episodes 11-12 (Episode 6 on the 12 episodes format) because it was pointless to try to predict this drama anymore, and that's a good thing! Unpredictability should be a sign of good writing, and the writer of this drama should be praised for their hard work.

Even after the culprit was arrested, they keep putting plot twists on our face, and you'd think I'd be tired of it. But no. I wasn't. And that's genuinely surprising because I can't even count how many plot twists happened throughout me watching this entire drama. 12 episodes filled to the brim with plot twists and tense moments.

However, I would like to criticize the reveal of the culprit. It was lame. There was no motive or grounds on why they committed the murders, simply put, "I killed because you're all going to die anyway, so I figured it was my destiny to kill you all off"
I'm not especially fond of thrillers where the killer have no motive at all and are just doing it because they're aroused by dead people, and they don't even give us backstory on them, they just killed because they felt like it.

Tell Me What You Saw did better with the psycho killer, as they fleshed their backstory a lot. So for me the true culprit for Tell Me What You Saw was more believable than this one.

Acting wise, nothing to criticize. Everyone did well and it looks like I have more favorite actors now! Character wise, the bonds between male lead and his team in the police was lacking. As they barely show them interacting together or bonding besides the usual teasing, jokes, or during any lighthearted moments this drama has.

Male lead and female lead has good synergy though, I'll have to say. And I can forgive the lack of better interactions between male lead and his team because this drama only has 12 episodes so they won't have any time for those types of moments.

Final verdict? I enjoyed it. Don't rewatch unless you're trying to see what you miss, plot twists don't really work if you already know what happened.

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Wow. I don't know what to say about this drama, especially as someone new to watching K-Drama. It was just excellent in every way imaginable. Heavy spoilers ahead, do NOT read this AT ALL if you haven't watched this hidden gem.

It was pure thriller. Something which another thriller drama (*koff* The Game: Towards Zero *koff*) lacked. It doesn't waste your time stringing you into character romance, but rather strings you with layers of character backstory, even for characters you can consider minor.

The characters are amazing themselves, on some episodes, I could even feel the synergy between Hyun Jae, Sooyoung, and Ha Young. But let's not forget to credit the actors who did well with their role, even the child actors! I was really disturbed by the main villain's backstory due to the young actor portraying the insanity in the character really well.

Their synergy was especially amazing at the last few episodes! I could feel the bond they have as police officers/investigators, the trust they have towards each other, which sparked into them risking their lives to save Hyun Jae and Ha Young in the last 2 episodes.

Wondering why I left rewatch value on one point? It has no rewatch value due to how good it is. You get so thrilled watching them solve crimes and identify perpetrators that it wouldn't be fun watching it again because you already know what's going to happen. This is the magic of good thrillers, your excitement and sense of wonder is sated to the point that trying to experience it again wouldn't feel as satisfying.

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Not good, but not bad either.

I have to admit, the synopsis for this movie pulled me in. I am a watcher who does not care about which actors are playing in a film, as long as they can act well. And I have to say, the acting in this movie is quite good in my opinion. Superb acting from the child actor who portrayed Liu Di, and good acting from Fei Li's actor as well as actors for the other characters.

But one thing I'd like to criticize is the story.

I seriously didn't understand why he (Fei Li) had to treat Liu Di horribly. Yes, it's probably to ruin the image Liu Di has of Fei Li, but the kid still doesn't care anyway, and it's heartbreaking to see. Because in the end, all children want to do is love their parents AND to be loved by their parents. Liu Di's love and care for his father is so pure, yet it frustrates me so much that Fei Li simply cannot see this!

The lack of communication between Fei Li and Liu Di is also quite jarring. In the later parts of the film, it is revealed that Liu Di ALREADY knew that his father has a terminal illness even though he merely overheard it. The poor kid was only trying his best to help his dying father only to be shoved aside and treated so horribly.

One more issue I have is that the film makes no effort to counter my stigma about Fei Li being a very horrible parent even if that's what his intentions truly are. This is because there are barely any scenes of him showing his love towards Liu Di, only Liu Di showing his love towards his father, which actually made me fell in love with his pure, loving, and innocent character. This could've been done through flashbacks of when Liu Di was younger, or perhaps through subtle actions (show, not tell) to show that what Fei Li is doing is out of pure love for his son.

No explanation was ever made as to why Liu Di is mute with an exception to that one scene when he sang a song near the end of the film. A form of autism was mentioned in the film but it was never explored any further, everyone (I mean, EVERYONE) just doesn't mind Liu Di not answering back to them verbally, simply regarding it as shyness. So I have to say this is one hole to Liu Di's character, but overall, Liu Di is a well fleshed out child character despite barely speaking, instead letting his actions speak for him. I don't see well fleshed out children in movies too often.

All in all, the film was quite emotional at times, though it didn't bring me any close to crying. It was not a happy ending, but that doesn't matter as it stabbed incredibly hard anyway.

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I don't know what to say about this drama, it was simply heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. It just makes me feel so warm to see Akira surrounded by so many good people who support him 24/7, 365/12. Says a lot about living in the countryside, everyone DOES know each other well. It is extremely heartbreaking when heavy moments occur: little Akira being lonely, kid Akira questioning on what happened to his mother, and so much more.

Yasu's outbursts are sometimes childish, and I immediately associated the word tsundere with him. This was the first time I've seen a male tsundere in a live action drama so I was a bit surprised to say the least!

I really like how Akira's portrayed realistically, even when he's being rebellious against his own dad it's portrayed in a way that's realistic, not just the usual "teenage characters must give their parents attitude 24/7!" and that Akira has his own motives and issues that's causing him to act like that.

The side characters are so good that they feel like main characters than side characters, Yasu's "dad", Shoun, and Taeko. They contributed so much to the plot that they shouldn't be disregarded as side characters, as they helped Akira be the man he is in the present day. So much life lessons thrown out by them, helping Akira and Yasu improve themselves.

I'll be feeling empty for a while, never have I seen a drama where the side characters are so good like this!

Also, Ken-chan is just too cute! I wished they gave him more time in the plot, since an arc focusing on him was only done in the last episode unfortunately.

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This drama in my opinion needed more episodes, 10 or 12 should be fine with the runtime it had (~44 minutes). The characters were fleshed out, but you simply can't tell a story about cancer in just 220 (~44 x 5) minutes.

Cancer is much more than that, and it truly does suck. It's cruel and unforgiving once it has metastasized. The ending left me feeling empty, as we didn't have enough time to fully sympathize or empathize with Toko's suffering and fight through her illness.

Despite the other characters being well fleshed out, including their first child, Ai, and even Kenichi's work colleagues who just made short appearances. Their second son, Yuu, lacks depth to his character. He's just the usual innocent and cute boy characters you see in dramas where there are child characters, while Ai (the first child) feels like an actual character since she had her own issues and suffering through the runtime of this drama.

I dislike saying this, but you can remove Yuu from the story and it'll play out the same, that's how lacking in depth he is. But to counter, the other characters are really well fleshed out for a drama this short. Toko and Kenichi's parents, his colleagues, boss, etc. for example.


Verdict: Not good, not bad, just mediocre. Watch if you want just some perspective on cancer patients' suffering.

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In my opinion, the drama got downhill for me when it started to incorporate the revenge and chaebol aspects. I couldn't even watch the rest of the episodes without fast forwarding, that's how downhill it got to me.

Of course, I loved past Jisu and Jaehyun moments like nearly everyone else but the plot was so convoluted with these subplots that wasn't even needed! I hate it when a drama that could've been good without chaebol and revenge plots suddenly has them, I just hate it. The first few episodes were really good until Jae Hyun's wife decided she would be a total bitch, even teaming up with Jisu's bastard ex-husband.

The flashbacks were the things I really enjoyed as it showed how deep of a scar their break up left on Jisu's heart, making me understand why she was so cold towards Jae Hyun in the first 6 or so episodes. And helps open up the characters' past, the drama did flashbacks so well.

This drama could've been a really good romance drama if it didn't turn into a damn revenge-thriller in the later episodes. Honestly disappointed, I enjoyed the first 4-6 episodes and I truly wished this drama would've just been a normal drama about two people slowly reconnecting with each other after long years of not seeing each other. But nope, someone had to take a picture of the two kissing in episode 4. Of course this romance drama needs a subplot like this! Definitely!

Music was a saving grace to this drama too. Remember the music that played when episode 2 begun during the "Found you, Yoon Jisu." scene? That brought tears to my eyes. And so does the rest of the pieces this drama used. Just wonderful and pleasing to my ears. That's the only thing I would give a higher rating than the rest of the drama's aspects.

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