michelleoc

I'm angry that they made a second season!

I loved AOS #1 up through episode 19. Then they had to go the historic tragedy cliffhanger route to justify another season. So, I'll admit my review is based upon my feelings. PLUS, I felt the script really diminished Uk's love to "love the one you're with" and that irritated me no end.

As with #1, AOS#2 was well-filmed, though granted, a lot darker than the first one. Great CGI, beautiful music.

STORY: Repetitive, with more of the same from #1. How the evil guy, that everyone KNEW was evil, continued to get away with his evilness was just frustrating. My biggest beef was the way the romance was written. Uk fell in love with Cho Yeong before knowing that she was Naksu. That might have been fine if we had some sense that he was struggling with his feelings, considering that he was supposedly so in love with Naksu. I didn't get that impression at all, though. Also, I didn't particularly care for the way that Cho Yeong/Naksu was written. Her personality was just so completely different than Naksu, I didn't get a feeling for Naksu's strength at all. She just seemed clingy to me, coming up with excuses to be with and touch Uk.

ACTING: So good.
Lee Jae Wook as Uk. I was believing his mourning until he met Cho Yeong and then that went out the window. I don't know if he lost weight since the first season or if it was makeup, but his jawline was so sharp it could have cut glass. It was a good look for him. I also liked him wearing black throughout the drama. It was like he had "graduated" from colors to being serious in black.
Go Youn Jung as Naksu/Cho Yeong. She did a good job with the writing that she was given. She is absolutely gorgeous. I've not seen her in anything else I don't think, I'm going to need to check her filmography and watch her in something else.
Hwang Min as Seol Yul. He, again, was my favorite character in this show. He figured out she was Naksu pretty early on, and you really got the sense that he could just FEEL that it was her. He did such a wonderful job with his longing for her.
Shin Seung Ho as Go Won. We got to see a little more understated comedy from him this time around.

CHEMISTRY: The kisses were so good, but I didn't feel the chemistry between them. How is that possible?

I have to say, I'm not particularly caring for the current trend of making multiple seasons of a show, unless it's an exceptional show like Hospital Playlist. Otherwise, it feels like they are just milking the drama, causing a lot of draggy parts to extend the drama length.

Bottom line: If you like darkly filmed dramas with multiple good fight scenes, good CGI, and you really don't care about the romance anyway, give it a try.

Read More

Please, for the love of all that is holy, pick a genre and stick with it!

I'll start with what I liked:
-the kisses. Let's call them for what they were, "fire"! After watching multiple shows with open-eyed, slack arms, dead fish kisses, these were exactly on point. These are the scenes that I rewatched, and the only reason I actually gave this a rating of 5.
-the acting was good, for what it was. I loved Park Gu Young in Dali and the Cocky Prince, and I liked her in this as well, though I didn't really love her character that much. When she kept trying to get him drunk (I'm so tired of drunk scenes), I found her to be irritating. Cha Eun Woo was basically like he's been in everything I've seen him in. Quiet whispery voice, serious. You could play this show and True Beauty side by side and get what I mean. Everyone else did an okay job.
-family and friendships
-happy ending

Then the stuff that I didn't like.
-Thankfully, I waited for all the episodes to be released before I tried watching this. If I hadn't, I would have given up early on. I think the programmers did a disservice to this show by making it so long to be finished, between an episode once a week, to pre-empted episodes. That being said, this show was entirely TOOOOO long and very repetitive. My Viki showed it as having episodes 0-15. Episode 0 and episode 15 were the same, basically a recap of what the show was about. After watching episode 0, I kept having feelings of Deja vu while watching episodes 1-4. Then there was the recap at the beginning of every episode, and the mini recaps throughout to remind us of what has been going on.
-This show shifted and lost its footing halfway through. Started out as a comedy, with the potential to be cute and quirky. Then it shifted to bullying and its effects, then it went to revenge melodrama with the mountain god. It should have been either a comedy or a melodrama but should not have tried to mix the two. I don't think it was successful.
-The whole mountain god storyline was completely unnecessary. It seemed so over the top melo after watching funny scenes. This storyline took up a lot of screen time, and I didn't enjoy it, especially since he had cursed this family and done terrible things and there were no consequences for him. That REALLY irritated me!
-This scene really stuck out to me, and I had a hard time getting past it - whenever the woman turns into a dog, her clothes drop and she has to have friends get her clothes to her because she's naked when she turns human again. In the scene where he kisses her and lifts the curse, she turns human and is completely dressed. Why?! This would have been a great opportunity to throw in some comedy by having her be naked as usual.

Normally, if I like a show less than others, I'm usually in the minority and say give it a try, you might like it. I have reservations here, unless you make the FF button your friend. I can't remember the last time I watched a show that was so repetitive.

Read More

Not nearly as good as season one

I was tremendously disappointed in Season 2 of Stranger. The friendships that had been developed in Season 1 were gone as if they never existed. Now, the police and the prosecution were at odds about everything. I SO missed Shi Mok and Yeo Jin solving crimes together.

And this is just my personal opinion, but there were just too many corrupt people! It seemed like it was everyone other than Shi Mok and Yeo Jin! In a move to make the majority of the people in the show corrupt, they had to create multiple convoluted cases, most of which I didn't care about. Everything was too long and drawn out.

I also didn't care for the ending, too open for me, without adequate consequences for a few of the people.

However, I will say, it was worth watching the second season if only for Shi Mok's smile at the end!

Read More

Take a relaxing vacation with the Wooga Squad

This show had a different feel from the BTS In the Soop. Sometimes, I felt that here, they didn't know what to say and how to act, and that feeling came and went for me. In the first episode when they were talking about showing themselves in a good light on camera, that concerned me. I wanted to see real, not scripted. And I think that is ultimately what I saw. There is something relaxing about watching others relax. In their matching sweats and their matching pajamas, sitting around talking about how they met, what's on their bucket lists, what makes them sad, it really calms the mind and warms the heart.

One thing I continue to be amazed by is the respect that Koreans have for each other. They kid around a lot, but it's always around love and respect. Sharing grocery shopping and housekeeping tasks, each person kind of fell into a perfect place, so they all had a job and worked cooperatively. I also appreciated that they were supportive of one another, praising each other personally and for their careers. In a world that seems to revolve around trying to tear each other down, this was nice to watch.

While in the car, they talked about if they would be able to take a camping trip together. I hope that they can get their schedules to work to be able to do this, it would be a treat for us!

If you enjoyed watching this, I can also recommend Young Actor's Retreat, that Park Seo Joon is also in.

Read More

8/10 for content, not my enjoyment

I can see why this got high ratings. My rating, strangely, is based on how I SHOULD have felt about the drama, not how I ACTUALLY felt (more of a 6.5-7/10). The fact that I could rate it this high when I wasn't feeling it is due to Kim Seon Ho.

What I loved:
1. Kim Seon Ho as Kim Rae Wan. I love him as an actor. He was excellent in this. I could feel his patience with her behavior (I knew before he did that he was in love. Only someone in love could put up with her.), as well as his vulnerability. He did a great job of portraying someone that is coming to terms with his feelings, and once he does, he's brave enough to verbalize those feelings.
2. The song You Drive Me Crazy. The scene where that was being sung was so special and Kim Seon Ho just blew me away, yet again.
3. His house. Sure, it has nothing to do with the storyline, but I loved it nonetheless.

What I hated:
1. The character of Han Eun Seong. Lee Yoo Young did a great job to make me hate this character so much, but the fact that she was self-absorbed, inconsiderate, bossy, fickle, and had issues with alcohol really ruined my enjoyment of this show. I have to like SOMETHING about a character in order to root for them, and I just felt that he was so much better than her and he was better off when she left. And after the obligatory time jump, she appeared to not have improved at all, as evidenced by just boldly letting herself into his house. It felt like she knew he would just be waiting for her. It made me mad.
2. Pervasive use of alcohol. Everything that happened, happened as a result of being drunk. Emotions are not real or reliable when clouded by alcohol.
3. Time jump. I understand that she was afraid, but she didn't seem like the kind of person that would be true to a man (especially since she never admitted how she felt about him) for a year. So, for me, the idea that she might have been with someone else while she was gone really lessened the love in this love story. (I know I'm projecting here, but that's what I kept thinking as I was watching this.)

I realize that most people are not as judgmental as I am, so my suggestion would be to give it a try. It's only four episodes.

Read More

Beautiful actors, but...

For me, this was a long drama with not a lot going on. There is slow in order to build a story, and then there is slow to draw out the episodes. I felt that this definitely fell in the latter category.

Riley Wang as Shu Wei - man, is he ever fine! And those dimples! But, I'm sorry to say, his acting really leaves something to be desired. His movements are wooden and he has basically one expression - he's supposed to be brilliant and anti-social, but to me he just always looked mad. When he was supposed to turn to look at the female lead, it often looked like his neck had some kind of ratchet-gear to make his head turn...turn a little stop, turn a little stop, etc.

Rosy Zhao as Er Duo - I love this actress. She was brilliant in Dating in the Kitchen, and here she has somewhat the same cute, innocent vibe going on, but I got so tired of everyone dumping on her all the time. She was always in trouble with someone.

Chemistry: Seriously lacking. Open-eyed fish kisses, then multiple times that she is trying to keep him from kissing her, like she's scared to death. It's so unrealistic in this day and age. And then they admitted their feelings for one another and I really didn't care.

Second lead couple - they were a big old mess and it was as if the writers had no idea what to do with them. And what they ultimately decided to do made no sense.

Ending - obligatory separation/time jump - stupid, as usual, but since I didn't buy them as a couple it didn't really matter anyway. The ending was very abrupt.

Read More

Very intriguing

I always wait until a drama has all the episodes available, but when reading all the comments about how good this show was, I was almost certain to be disappointed. But it was just as good as all the comments I read. Yoo Yeon Seok as Sa Eon and Chae Soo Bin as Hui Ju were excellent. I hated him at the beginning, as I was meant to, but once a couple of layers of the mystery were revealed, I loved the character. Chae Soo Bin doesn't have much facial expression (perfect for I Am Not a Robot), and that also gave me pause, but they were both perfect in their roles.

ML and FL had amazing chemistry. One thing that really stood out to me was the way they always highlighted his wedding ring. That was my first clue about how he felt about her.

This is the first drama I've watched in a while that I did not fast forward through any of it. I was able to just enjoy it for what it was and not pick apart any logic or lack thereof. I looked forward to each episode, anxious to see what was going to happen next.

I have to say, I didn't care for the casting (or maybe it was the acting) of the SML. He had an odd look about him and I couldn't get past the feeling that he was a bad guy. Also, I felt that the role of In A, Hui Ju's sister, was miscast. She seemed entirely too old, more like her mother.

I don't give out a bunch of 10 ratings, but this probably would have been one of them, if it weren't for Episode 12. What the heck?!?! I couldn't suspend disbelief that far. Did they give a third string writer a chance to write the last episode? It had nothing to do with the rest of the show, was sloppy, and irritated me. If the main couple had managed to get together in episode 11, I'd just tell people to skip episode 12!

Read More

Boring, and it was only 10 episodes!

The first couple of episodes were them fighting. I wasn't feeling that they were a good couple to begin with, so when she was trying to make a deal to save him, it just didn't make any sense to me. Why were they together? I didn't believe that they were in love, due to the circular storyline (break up, make up, repeat), the lack of chemistry and the fact that they were "broken up" more than they were together. I felt that the writers were trying to create a thought-provoking drama, and granted, the potential was there, but if you can't see the love between the couple, the rest of it just doesn't make sense.

Read More

Mature romance without stupid breakups

If you want a fun, mostly light show with a wonderful romance without the usual nonsensical separations/breakups, I could not recommend this show more highly. I'm getting so weary of the shows that go on for 16-24 episodes and the main couple only spends part of one episode together, the rest is filler, and they tie everything up in the last five minutes. This is far from that. That's all you need to know. If you are so inclined and want further thoughts, feel free to keep reading.

There is so much to love about this show. I must say, this is my second time watching it, and I upgraded my rating - maybe I'm looking for something different in my romances these days, but this one ticked all the boxes for me!
ACTORS:
Park Min Young as Deok Mi - I have loved her in everything I've seen her in. She is so classy and beautiful. She has the most beautiful hands, and they take many opportunities to show them. I found her very irritating and immature as a fangirl, but that was necessary for the story. My only complaint was her hair - through most of the show the style they had her hair in was NOT attractive, messy bun, shorter hair hanging down in the front, parted in the middle, flat with no body. But aside from that, her character was lovely. A career woman with a secret life.
Kim Jae Wook as Ryan Gold - I've not seen him in anything before, and I'm going to be on the lookout for him in the future. He was wonderful. His character was strong, yet approachable, with hidden things in his life that you find out later in the show.
Park Jin Joo as Deok Mi's friend Seon-joo was, as usual, lovely. She's so cute and seems to always play the supportive friend. Ahm Bo Hyun as Eun Gi was excellent.
I must give a shout out to Kim Sun Young as Uhn So Hye - the boss that was removed while being investigated for embezzlement. She is such a versatile actress, and she played this part in a way that bordered on charicature. Between her terrible haircut, her breathy/creepy voice and her over-the-top clothes, she was a hoot!
SCRIPT- Wonderful. This is a romance-lover's romance. They start out antagonistic toward one another, with a slow buildup to a relationship. I LOVED that once they were in a relationship the drama came from elsewhere, not from them breaking up for any ridiculous reasons. They had a wonderful, mature, loving, supportive relationship. Their conversations were real, raw at times. Their apologies were heart-felt, short, sweet and to the point, and they were mature enough to move on and not hold grudges. Every character was so well developed that I didn't feel there were any extraneous people that should have been left out. The character of Eun Gi, Deok Mi's long-time male friend, was absolutely wonderful. I just watched this for the third time and realized that his character touched me more than everyone else. I found myself shedding a few tears on more than one occasion when he was involved.
CHEMISTRY- Oh my gosh! The chemistry between the two leads was exceptional. The looks, the almost kisses, the kisses, the hugs (it got me every time they hugged and he settled in and closed his eyes - like he'd finally found his home)
FRIENDSHIPS - the relationships between the friends was a joy to watch. What happens when one friend crosses that invisible line to attraction? This was handled so well!
WARDROBE- Kudos to the people that dressed the cast, especially the leads. She wore classy, sometimes edgy outfits. His clothing especially, impressed me. Loose silk pants, boxy jackets - they really dressed him to emphasize his attributes. Plus, he always seemed more approachable, since he wasn't wearing typical suits.
SOUNDTRACK - there were two songs in particular that I really liked. The music went along well with the storyline.
ASIAN CLICHES THAT THEY DID/DID NOT USE - I don't remember seeing an arm grab. He grabbed her hand a lot, but it totally went with the storyline. Thankfully, there were no evil parents trying to keep them apart. The second leads/romantic rivals were short-lived and made sense. There was, happily, a shirtless shower scene. There was only one drunk scene but he was so precious in it I actually enjoyed it. No fish kisses - their kisses were oh so good! They did do a time jump, which I didn't feel made any sense and they could have done without.

This is a show that had so many scenes that needed to be replayed just because they were so lovely. I'm glad I re-visited this one!

Read More

Be patient...

Wow! This isn't my usual genre (I don't like to be scared), but the list of excellent actors reeled me in. The writer took the subject matter and turned it on its ear. This show was like reading a novel from the back of the book to the front. The first few episodes make no sense. We get no back story or explanation, just a gripping storyline that keeps you coming back for more. It was amazing to me that I could care so much about these people and not have a clue why I was feeling like I did, especially considering that this was only eight episodes. Every second of every episode was well-crafted.

Light Shop is a mystery in the truest sense of the word. Props to the cinematographer - the use of black and white, muted colors, pops of bright light were very visually effective.

For me, this drama was also thought-provoking. Seeing the decisions made, would I have chosen the same way?

Because I'm a big chicken, it took a few days for me to finish this. I could only watch the episodes when it was light out. Turns out that heightened my enjoyment as well. It wasn't just a passive watch, each episode kept rolling around in my mind. I can highly recommend this drama and also suggest that you don't binge watch it.

Read More

Loved the villagers

Things I liked:
1-the villagers. They were fun to watch, and I loved seeing them work together to kick butt.
2-We got a wedding!!!! Thankfully this wasn't rushed past, as K-dramas tend to do. The whole thing was beautiful and was only made more beautiful by Jung Hae In's glorious smile.
3-Jung Hae In wearing a suit.

Not so much:
1-Jung Hae In as a gangster. Completely unbelievable.
2-The actor they used for the ML teen years. I don't know if it was the way it was filmed, but all I could think of was how much taller he was as a teen.
3-The FL. She seemed uncomfortable. She wasn't portraying vulnerable, like you'd imagine someone with amnesia would. I couldn't figure out if it was her or the writing, but I didn't care for her. And she seemed too worldly against his innocence.
4-Writing issues. Things that always bug me. 1) FL is in danger, you take her to a small town but don't even tell her she's in danger, so she's running around to Seoul and back. 2) People are absolutely attached to their phones, but whenever you need to contact someone, the phone is either not with them or the battery has died. 3) He's sending you to Japan to save your life, but you're going to do what you want. 4) Amazing how she knew how to ride a motorcycle.
5-The romance just seemed too uneven to me.
6-The length of the drama could have been shorter; there were long periods of nothing going on.

So, my search for a satisfying rom-com continues.

Read More

This would make sense in a dystopian world...

There was good about this show, and some not so good. I struggle watching anything about bullying, but when reading a lot of comments saying it was so funny, I decided to give it a chance. I didn't find it funny. There were some humorous lines, yes, but the subject matter was very dark. It was well-done, and I realize that most people will enjoy it, which worries me a little. I would like to think we are not becoming desensitized to violence and profanity.

It was well-acted. I had a difficult time watching the ML, because he looked so much like John Cena! He's attractive, but I kept wondering why John Cena was in a Korean drama.

The premise of the different stories for each episode was good. I also liked how they addressed the problems with teachers and parents as well as students.

However, the thought that adults can come into a school and beat up kids is just too far-fetched. Bullies terrorize those weaker than them. You are saying it's wrong to bully, but yet with adults it's okay? I did, however, really like how the ML dealt with the crazy stalking parent.

Must there be so much cursing? Has anyone ever watched something and said, "Boy, I wish there was more cursing in that."? The innumerable times the 'F' word was used - more often than not translated for a lesser curse word being used. It's a Netflix show, I get it, but it bothers me.

I'm aware that most will disagree with my thoughts. That's what they are, my thoughts, so please don't come at me.

Read More

It would have been a "10" if I'd only watched the last episode

My review is strictly based on my enjoyment of this drama. This show was well-filmed and very well-acted. What a stellar cast! That being said, I find it difficult to watch abuse, whether it be physical or verbal, and I tend to try to steer clear of corruption stories. I didn't care for the ML's treatment of anyone, especially his mother, there was no excuse for the way she treated him (though the story would try to get you to believe that her reasoning was viable and acceptable). I don't think they really redeemed the mother, other than in a roundabout way.

The villagers were all so odd, I felt like I was getting whiplash between whether they were supposed to be funny or be taken seriously.

However, the final episode was excellent! The emotions of all the people were laid bare. The ML just broke my heart and the villagers finally seemed like a cohesive family. The acting was excellent, especially in this episode.

Read More

Fun, but the editing was problematic

I started watching this for Jin, and he didn't disappoint. Thankfully, he didn't come off as the "Worldwide Handsome" guy (that gets old). He was at times shy, sometimes funny, but the thing I noticed most was how hard he worked. Cooking, cleaning, getting people settled.
Ji Ye Eun was somewhat irritating in the first couple of episodes with all of her shrieking and screaming, but she settled down and then I enjoyed watching her.
Kian is, in a word, odd. His vision for the B&B was fun and strange. Blowing your nose on your sweatshirt - who does that!?!?! However, it was Kian that brought out the inner thoughts and feelings of the guests, and this is where the show really shone. The dad with cancer visiting with his two sons, and the conversations Kian had with him were heartfelt. Then there was the VERY shy, guy that came by himself, and he turned out to be a North Korean defector. The stories he shared were special, and by the end of the series, you could tell that this B&B was healing for him.
I absolutely loved watching all the guests, hearing their stories, and seeing their reactions to the B&B and its rules. I cried along with Ji Ye Eun when the last guests left. If there is actually a season two, I hope it's a different environment, not a repeat of the same B&B.

My only complaint is that the editing needed to be tightened up. Midway through the series, there were a lot of slow scenes, you could tell that the guests were uncomfortable, and I suffered from second-hand embarrassment.

Read More