michelleoc

If you are looking for a healthy relationship, you won't find it here

Let me begin with what I liked – the ending was really cute. I also liked cameo appearances of some of the actors I’ve seen in other dramas. And the music was good. The acting was okay, which I will cover in greater detail under CAST.
WRITING: I felt that the growth between the two characters was sorely lacking. The only time they communicated was when they were drunk, and they were drunk A LOT. There were too many unlikeable/pitiful people, and sadly this included the lead characters. There should be someone at the beginning of the story that you want to root for, and I didn’t feel that way about any of the characters. The show was rife with the standard K-drama tropes - wrist grabs, drunk confessions, bullying (sorry, but it’s NEVER acceptable for a man to hit a woman), parent troubles, brother troubles, misunderstandings due to lack of communication, best friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming lovers, crooked CEO’s, tragic medical conditions, love triangles, time jumps, rushed endings. You name it, you’ll find it here!
What stuck out most to me was how dysfunctional the relationships were. Granted, this show is about three years old and was just released, but even three years ago I would hope that writers would start to address the importance of honesty, respect, and communication in a relationship.
MAIN COUPLE: He was a mess, and was not nice to her in any way, shape or form at the beginning. Jumping to conclusions, emotional blackmail, and shutting yourself off from someone that you supposedly love to disappear and handle problems on your own, are not signs of a healthy relationship. Sadly, K-dramas use the time jump in almost every show, and it just doesn’t ring true that when you’ve been desperate to win the love of your life that you’d disappear for months/years at a time to “resolve” things and then just show up out of the blue without having contact with your significant other. In this age of cell phones, texting, social media and FaceTime, this is definitely an overused ploy. She was a mess and a doormat. She was pretty much treated badly by everyone, and she just took it. Get a spine!
SECOND COUPLE: Just no! This was the epitome of a toxic relationship and the police should have gotten involved.
CAST: Choi Tae Joon as idol Hoo Joon. I didn’t feel that he was strong enough to carry the role of male lead. He lacked “presence”. I found myself watching everyone around him in the scenes he was in. I’ve seen him in other things and enjoyed his acting, but this wasn’t a good fit for him.
Choi Soo-young as Lee Geun-Young. I had more problems with the way her character was written, rather than her acting. She is a beautiful woman, and there is an intrinsic sweetness about her that was a positive addition to her character.
Chansung as JJ. As an abusive, possessive, jealous boyfriend, I felt that he was a bit much, but it was the way he was written. However, I will say that toward the end, when something happens to him, that is where his acting really shone. He did a wonderful job of displaying the fear, despair, and vulnerability of his character which actually made you somewhat change the way you thought of him.
Han Ji An as Oh In-hyung. Of all the characters, the writers fell down on the job most with In-hyung. She was spineless and an emotional wreck and I couldn’t believe that anyone would fall for her or that she had the strength to take on being an idol star. Add to that Ji An’s acting, and I felt like it was a bit of a train wreck. Her facial expressions were flat throughout the show and her doe eyes just screamed “poor me”. There were a couple of scenes where she was walking away from the actor she had been talking to, and even her gait was unnatural.
Again, the ending was the saving grace.

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Not for me...

Just my opinion, move on if it bothers you.

All of the actors were excellent.
Kind of a slow, slice of life story, but it didn't work for me.
I must say I did love the last episode.

-I didn't like the FL at all. She was so self-absorbed.
-ML was a doormat.
-The haenyeo were constantly bickering and fighting, I could have done without them.
-the makeup on the leads was too brown. So show that they were tanned because it was Jeju?
-too much going back and forth in time.
-there seemed to be many characters that I didn't like, which made it difficult to stick with it.

Almost everyone else in the world loved this, so I'd say give it a try. Don't go by me!

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2 episodes that left me with questions

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

It was kind of like reading a book, skipping the middle, and then have the ending make no sense. The FL spent a lot of time screaming, and you didn't really get to see her working through her grief.

The ML was cute, but they didn't know each other? I got the idea of trying to pull her out of her grief, but had he escaped from the hospital, since he wore hospital clothes almost throughout. Brief mention of him being in the hospital for testing and treatment, but no specifics.

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I thought their bucket list items were really stupid. And why all of a sudden does he want to help her.

My biggest question though...the three of them were together at the end of the show. How did that work?!?!?

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Satoh Takeru...enough said

Personally, I liked this version better than the Korean version for a couple of reasons:
- Only 10 episodes
-Satoh Takeru
-good chemistry between leads
-Satoh Takeru

Offhand, I can't remember a role that Takeru played where he smiled as much as he did here. And believe me, that's worth the price of admission! He's got that cold, unapproachable thing down to a science, but when he smiles it changes everything. I LOVED how he had liked her for so long. It was sad when he was talking about being an extra in the story of her life, blurred in the background, with no lines to speak.

This version gives you all the information without all the convoluted stuff that the Korean version used to bloat it out to 16 episodes.

I thought the 2ML was really overacting through the whole thing and that threw me off.
I would have liked to see a wedding.

But I'm so glad I watched this, especially after the Korean version.

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Just my opinion...

What I liked:
1) Yamashita Tomohisa. I love his acting, and I really liked his character. Very serious, kind of dry.
2) Deguchi Watsuki. I like her. Her character started out as dumb as a box of rocks, though.
3) The "bad guys" who came around and were all in for saving lives.
4) The concept. I thought the idea of meteorology was interesting and fresh, especially after just having been through a hurricane.
5) The characters all worked well together.

Not so much:
1) I didn't think the concept was well-executed. It was a lot of telling us very technical terms.
2) Some of the characters weren't well fleshed-out, which made me not care about them too much.
3) As is the case with numerous Japanese shows, yelling and over-acting.
4) ***SPOILER***The big dramatic loss - I felt it should have been someone else, not someone with a young child. I felt like I was being emotionally manipulated. ***END OF SPOILER.

So, there is a lot to like in this show, but I just wasn't impressed enough with the end product.

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Chaotic fun

If watching this doesn't cheer you up, nothing will!! Jimin and Jungkook (and a couple of episodes with Taehyung) traveling to different places in the world - exploring, trying new things, and lots of eating!! Even more than the eating was the laughter. The camaraderie between the BTS members was what first drew me to BTS, and they are never not fun to watch. Watching them tease each other, support each other and love each other is a definite mood booster! Their chemistry is a joy to watch. I really appreciate all the HYBE and BTS did to ensure that we have content to watch while they are in the military.

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Frustrating watch for me

Personal opinion here. I say, give the show a try for yourself, because I am definitely in the minority here. The storyline had potential, but there were so many red flags that I couldn't get past. Plus, I felt like the writers threw a bunch of stuff in and didn't develop things fully. My biggest problem was the ML. Immature, petulant, rude, obnoxious, violent, disrespectful, angry. It was toned down by the end of the series, but I didn't see growth in him. Cursing at his grandmother was what put his behavior over the top for me. Being mean to others because he was "bored". I lost count of the number of times he called the FL stupid.

The older brother, first love story didn't really have a place, especially with him currently being involved with the villain of the story. If someone is going to be stuck on his first love, I'm sorry, I want him to be pining for her.

The ex-husband. No backbone and he was just a little on the creepy side.

The villain. Let's be honest, she was a cheeseburger short of a happy meal and all was forgiven at the end. She needed to be locked up.

The FL was gorgeous and spirited. She didn't put up with any bunk from anyone yet let the ML walk all over her. Why did she like him? He had done nothing but be mean to her. I just felt like she had a glaring blind spot concerning him.

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Almost wore out my fast forward button

What I liked:

1) Cui Yi Xin as Quan Quan. What an adorable little boy!! He was absolutely the highlight of the show. I didn't like his tendency to call his parents by their first names, but his interactions with them were cute.
2) The main couple, when they weren't fighting. They were sweet together, not fire chemistry, but no fish kisses.
3) We got a wedding!

Not so much:
1) Wow! So much extraneous stuff. I didn't care for the two side couples. This one went on entirely too long
2) The sleazy sexual predator males.
3) All three women seemed like they took turns "playing" their boyfriends. Stupid reasons for breakups (2nd couple), stalker (3rd couple), the FL decides arbitrarily that she doesn't want to see the ML anymore for no apparent reason and makes him jump through hoop after hoop to try to win her over.
4) Dubbing. A couple of the ladies sounded like Minnie Mouse on helium.
5) The doctor has liked Min Hui for years, then suddenly he likes the irritating woman that has been stalking him.
6) Small, yet irritating thing. They weren't wearing their wedding rings in the scenes following the wedding.
7) He went to another country for six months to have surgery, but she didn't go?! However, their reunion was cute.
8) Way too much "we're together", "we're breaking up", we're together.

I realize I'm in the minority here, but I can't recommend this one, except for the little boy.

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So many twists and turns

I'll start by saying that I'm not big on corruption stories. Give me a romance and I'm all over it, but watching a show about many, many people being bad and doing bad? Not so much. However, for me, this show was excellent. It requires a lot of attention, and I wouldn't advise binging it. I was exhausted and my brain hurt after every episode.

ACTING: Excellent! I have to call out Cho Seung Woo especially, as prosecutor Hwang Shi Mok. He had brain surgery in the past to control his violent temper and now doesn't have the capacity to feel emotions. We've all watched actors where they have to convey emotions only with their eyes or their body language. Here, he had to display NO emotion. I was fascinated by this character. I could feel his loneliness from being out of step with absolutely everyone else. Everyone else was good as well. There were some obvious villains and some surprises as well. The relationship between Shi Mok and inspector Yeo Jin was really interesting to watch, and I liked how they worked well together and came to depend upon each other. And, I don't say this often, but THANK YOU for leaving out the romance!

MUSIC: The music was good, there was music that really brought out the tenseness of the scenes, but it didn't crowd out the dialogue or the action.

CAMERA AND MAKEUP WORK: The coloration they used was slightly blue, which really gave the impression that these people basically lived in the office and had no lives. They also showed a lot of closeups, and they didn't make much of an attempt to cover up flaws. That contributed to the gritty feel of the show.

I can highly recommend this drama. Just when you think you've figured it out, in comes someone else that's corrupt!

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Inspiring

The man is so talented, and he absolutely glows when he talks about dance and what it means to him. This documentary about J-Hope's dance journey was very well-done, old footage interspersed with the new, hearing from him about what dance means to him, him working with many of street dance's famous people, and Hope on the Streets filming in iconic neighborhoods around the world.

I turned the sound of during one of the dances, and his artistry and power seem to shine even brighter without the distraction of the music. His dancing is so grounded, yet he seemed to hover above the ground as he moved. He was born to dance.

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Getting to know BTS

This documentary was full of information about the things that BTS have gone through and continue to go through. I'm glad they made this, it's a chance for those new to BTS to know more about them. When watching it, it's hard to relate to their discussions about their struggles, but I can't even imagine the feelings that they must have, wondering if they can keep up the momentum, or if they even want to.

The only thing missing, was more about their friendship and camaraderie together. Also, more about how they lived at the beginning and how much they practiced. They are an amazingly talented group, but, for me, what draws me to them even more than their performances is how they are together. After living together and practicing together for years, their bond is tremendously strong.

They acknowledge that it's time for the next phase in their lives as they prepare to enter the military. That being said, I so appreciate the fact that they all stated numerous times that they hope BTS stays together for a long time.

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Maybe I'm jaded?

For me, this was one of the worst shows ever. One of those dramas that at the end I'm mad at, because I'll never get the time I wasted back. Perhaps I might have felt differently if I had watched it when it was first released, and I was new to K-dramas. However, after having seen dramas done very well, this was hard for me to watch. I have to cut it a little slack because it is old - the production value was seriously lacking, and I think there have been developments in film value, etc.

I thought this drama was extremely slow and drawn out. The overused "misunderstanding" trope went on entirely too long. Romance was lacking, seriously. And can someone please slap whoever was in charge of the costuming? The worst.

I'll give my usual disclaimer, since I appear to seriously be in the minority. These opinions are just mine and you might enjoy it, but you will really have to get past the fact that it hasn't aged well.

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Just my opinion...

I know I'm going to get heat, but I REALLY disliked this drama. Kim Min Jae - I've loved him in everything I've seen him in, but what the heck? What was it for me, lack of chemistry? Bad writing? I don't know, but the secondary storyline certainly was more interesting than the ML and FL.

Add to that, in historical garb all the men look alike, and all the women look alike. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what was going on. I will be the first to admit that historical dramas are not my "go to" but I have watched a couple that I've really liked.

This drama had entirely too many episodes, apparently to fit in all the unnecessary ancillary storylines that they felt the need to inject into it.

In closing, even though I didn't like it, I'd say give it a try. Maybe I was in a bad mood while watching it, maybe all that satin was giving me some kind of trauma, maybe the beads on the hats made me think of abacus, which made me think of math, which sent me off the deep end. Remember, it's just my personal opinion.

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Just why!?!?!

To me (and it's just my opinion), this was trying to be some kind of deep art film, full of symbolism, hoping that there would be in-depth discussions about the characters and their lives. I don't want to talk about these characters, and if I can manage, I don't want to ever think about these characters again.

There is slice-of-life, and then there's time-I'll-never-get-back. This fell firmly in the latter. I could have been rearranging my sock drawer, or having a root canal and it would have been time better spent. It was soooo slow! Everyone appeared to be depressed, and they were trying really hard to ensure that I felt the same way.

Positives? Portugal. Lovely, lovely place. Seo Kang Joon - I love him, but even he wasn't reward enough for me to spend my time on this. I did love the geeky younger version of him.

I have to say that I never was able to relate to or feel for the FL. I didn't think she was a very nice person, and boy, she loved to live in her misery. When I FINALLY got to the end of this drama, I was so glad it was over. I liked the secondary couples, but the misery and depression of the years wasted by the leads overshadowed any enjoyment I might have had in the show.

SPOILERS!!
Then, (now I'm on a rant) they met, dated, broke up, dated, multiple times over a 12-year period. She married someone else, and he was engaged to someone else, and after ALL THAT no one ends up with anyone! I never saw why he liked her in the first place, and was their attraction just physical? Because they had absolutely nothing in common, they were constantly disagreeing, constantly breaking up, constantly yearning for the other. At some point in time, some serious counseling would have come in handy. And the way the drama ends, I felt like they were in a continuous spiral and would keep up the same make up/break up routine. So tiring!

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