As we all know, Bomb isn't exactly the greatest actor in the world but I would say he did a decent job with this role. Playing a camp gay ghost gave him room to try out some facial expressions, which he mostly succeeded with. He could sometimes look creepy when he was meant to just be smiling, but Bomb is Bomb, lol. The rest of the cast was generally satisfactory, nothing really leaps out at me as something to be picked on.
I'd say the fantasy aspect of it went a tiny bit haywire nearing the end, but it did make sense for the most part. There were no unanswered questions about how exactly this happened or why, which was appreciated. And there wasn't so much possession that you were confused over whether it was Cin or Mark that Mate actually loved. The possession was also rarely awkward to watch. It was usually just funny, and you didn't feel too much second hand embarrassment for Cin.
Overall, I'd say this is one of the better Channel 3 offerings in the last year, and was consistently funny and cute and sweet right to the end. I'm not sure it's a drama you would rewatch but it's definitely worth watching at least once.
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I would say that it's not an overly original drama but that it doesn't feel cliched in a bad way.
Now, there are characters you don't even need to watch. I fully admit that once I got to episode 6 or so, I just started fast forwarding straight past the rich mother/father pair (who were meant to be humorous but all of their scenes were either the father cheating on his wife, or the wife screeching about something), the douchebag and mistress pair, and even sometimes the evil witch and his cronies. It's the kind of drama where seeing those scenes at triple speed and not reading every single subtitle is fine because there's nothing you can't figure out when Ton and Vana are next on screen anyway.
The special effects were about what you'd expect. I've definitely seen worse.
I would rewatch this but just Ton and Vana's scenes, just to watch them stare into each others eyes and look beautiful. Those actors had chemistry, I hope I can see both of them in more dramas to come. It helps that they're both very attractive.
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There are some very very cute scenes and some great kisses. The younger guy/older girl couple are frustrating a lot of the time (well, it's mostly her) but when they're not being frustrating, they are so watchable, so adorable, so natural, so giffable. The other couple have some sweet scenes but they have a very different type of chemistry than the other pair do, namely due to her age.
The editing could be a bit choppy; sometimes I felt like a whole bunch of scenes had ended up on the cutting room floor but that was mostly in the first 6 or so episodes. It felt smoother after that.
I think the cast did a great job for the most part. Again, it was March and Namcha that carried the show, and then the others came in behind them. Bie has room for improvement but he has the ability to make you forget that with his smile. Pearwah is freaking adorable. I really liked Dao's friend Dew (Tay), he was a really lovely secondary character, necessary but not, at the same time.
It's rewatchable but I think in a rewatch, you'd fast forward all of the non-cute scenes. Skip the PPL, skip the school scenes, skip the 'Kook being annoying or stupid' scenes, skip the ex-girlfriend. If I was rewatching, I'd probably just watch all of March's scenes plus some of Bie's when he's smiling.
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As other reviewers have said, it starts getting more serious and losing the humour as the drama goes on, and it loses some of the shock factor as well. But it's still enjoyable for the most part.
The acting of all concerned was fine. Jinyoung surprised me, I wasn't sure he could actually act. But nope, he was great.
Now, technically, this drama was all over the place. The editing was jumpy, there were odd time skips, they would randomly drop plot points, characters would just change their minds about things without actually showing the audience why or when that happened... But they are all things that you just come to accept with this show. It's not perfect, but it's very funny and sweet, and well worth watching.
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The acting is good, I really liked the soundtrack, and the basic storyline was fine. But I still found it hard to get emotionally invested in the characters.
There were some very cool fight sequences though.
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The music was very pretty. There was one song that played during the scenes between the two leads, and it was very fitting. Not necessarily the lyrics, but the music. It just seemed right.
They had a lot of digs at the Korean entertainment industry. And I mean, a lot! After all, it's set behind the scenes of a TV drama, and boy, do they milk everything they can from that! I loved all of the references to little things we have heard about, but haven't seen criticised so heavily in a drama before. Like the end of year awards going to the actor/actress/show with the highest rating, not the person/show who actually deserves it.
I think the extension got to them a bit, and the ending was maybe a bit... silly and predictable (although not unexpected). But overall, a good watch.
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The kids were fantastic, and the mystery and story set-up of their episodes was enough to draw me in completely. I was waiting impatiently each week for the next episodes. But even with the adult actors being who they are (I was very ready to love this drama, with just the actors alone), that couldn't stop the drama from dragging its heels for all of the middle episodes, because they apparently only had one very thin plot point to go on (first love). The show was so focused on the main pairing that everyone and everything else fell by the wayside.
It was a very pretty drama, and got better towards the end, but I think this was one of the most overrated shows of 2012, and did not deserve to hit 40 in the ratings. It wasn't a bad show, not at all. It just wasn't as good as it could have been, or as the reviews and ratings suggest it is.
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The acting: Minho and Sulli were... satisfactory, in as much as they weren't as bad as they could have been. Sulli was great in the scenes where she was supposed to be having fun. But if she needed to have some kind of emotion show on her face, that was where she faltered a bit. Sometimes i'd look at her and think "what exactly are you supposed to be emoting right now?" It was the same with Minho. He wasn't bad, but he has this smile that just looks fake. His face kind of looks like a statue, and he's being forced to move his lips. Lee Hyun Woo was definitely the best actor, but then again, he did have the best character (EunGyeol).
Overall, I gave this a 5 rating, because I did watch it until the end, and there were some very cute scenes. Plus, the dorms were amazing, and aesthetically, the drama was beautiful. But i'm fairly sure nothing at all happened in the last half of the series. They just went around in circles. JaeHee just never had a good enough reason for being there, and quite frankly, if any guy is attracted to her crazy stalkerish ways, i'd be a bit concerned for them.
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I do think Joe Cheng has some room to improve, acting wise. I know the character is supposed to be cold and taciturn, but sometimes when he was supposed to be cold & taciturn while still showing some other kind of emotion, he failed. You could tell that something was supposed to be there, but his face just wasn't expressing it well enough.
But apart from that, he did a good job. When he needed to be loving and cute and protective, he could do that fine. The rest of the main cast was mostly fine (Tiffany Hsu is beautiful, although maybe add her to the Needs Improvement list too), and I do find Ariel Lin impossibly adorable.
30 episodes is always a bit long for a TV series. As someone who watches far more Korean and Japanese dramas than Taiwanese, by the 30th episode, i'm generally pretty happy for it to be over, no matter how much I've enjoyed it. But with this, while I was still happy for it to end, I'm still looking forward to watching the sequel. I like these characters, and i want to see them through their marriage.
Definitely worth watching.
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The acting was mostly great, although there were some supporting cast members who maybe could've been better. And Joo Won when he was supposed to be happy, didn't necessarily smile with his eyes, which he should have been doing. Sometimes when he smiled, it looked like Joo Won the actor smiling because that was what the script called for, not Lee Kang To smiling because he was happy about something. But in the dramatic scenes, and when he needed to be upset, he was fantastic. I cried along with him.
The action and fighting sequences were awesome and fantastically choreographed.
The ending wasn't as epic as I expected, honestly, but it wasn't disappointing. There were some beautifully sad parts that i appreciated. It doesn't end in an ambiguous way, as such, but it doesn't tie everything up, which you wouldn't expect in this kind of show anyway.
The only reason I gave this a 6 rewatch value is because i don't rewatch shows, and if i do, they're comedies. A show like this, which can be depressing at times, isn't one you can watch over and over again.
Awesome show, definitely worth watching. Reminded me of City Hunter as well, which i think is a good thing because I loved City Hunter. Joo Won looked so young when he smiled, just like Lee Min Ho.
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I quite liked the music in it, and Hello to Myself has became a favourite song of mine. But JB as an actor is pretty bad. He's adorable, has a lovely smile, a decent singing voice, and can clearly dance. So for an idol, he's perfect. Just don't try acting again, JB. Jinwoon and JiYeon did a decent-ish job, as did Kang Sora. I mean, there were no spectacular actors in this show so at least they didn't have people comparing them to each other. They all got to be mediocre together.
I don't necessarily think I wasted over 16 hours of my life on this drama, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
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It wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. I mean, it was sad. And I cried a lot. But for some reason I had expected it to be a lot worse. And I don't watch sad shows, so the fact that I loved this despite the fact that it made me cry, means it was exceptional.
All of the relationships and the characters were so well done, and brilliantly acted. Brother to brother, brother to sister, boyfriend to girlfriend, friend to friend, mother to daughter, mother to son, father to son. So many relationships, and so many problems, and even with the sometimes soap opera-esque staring and the occasional bad editing, they made you feel for them with every bone in your body. Every character had something about them that made you want to keep watching them, even if it was because you hated them so much you wanted to watch them die. And trust me, there are several characters that you hate with every fibre of your being.
I didn't really notice the music that much. Which is a good thing. Nothing worse than those dramas where they play the same song so much that by the end of the show, you want to buy the record just so you can smash it into pieces.
It did get quite depressing in the last few episodes. Not as many funny scenes. I can't believe it was a 30 episode series, and I actually enjoyed the entire thing. Usually drama's that go for more than 16 episodes tend to drag out the ending and get a bit boring. But this show, even at 30 episodes, never did.
Credit to the writers, actors, director, and everyone that made this show possible. I'm so very glad I decided to watch it.
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