Thrilling, fantastical… murder?

This was a genuinely fun watch. Even though I think they kind of liar the plot in some of the middle episodes and it seemed super compressed due to the short run time, I thoroughly enjoyed some parts a lot.

I think many of the stories of the victims of the victims of Lee Tang’s murders had their story told phenomenally, in an extremely touching way. The narrative did a great job of getting us on people’s side, getting us to see things from others perspectives. Some of the stories were enough to make me tear up a little.

What I did think lost a little of v the magic was the chase sequences, simply because I think we could have embellished our fine detective with more than just a wonderful amount of facial hair. We only see the detective’s inner working mind and thoughts in the later episodes, and I would have loved to see far more of him.

Roh Bin was an interesting character. I was extremely surprised when Song Chan’s flashback sequence actually had me seeing things from his viewpoint.

All in all, enjoyable. I did thoroughly enjoy the ending sequence.

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Confusing

The best part of the second season are the flash backs. Tbh, there were just so many things that the show didn’t b explore, like the evil white robed people, father/butler jang’s past on the island, and honestly, half the show.

I do feel like they assassinated any interesting points about Gungtan. Honestly, I really feel like the character would have been played well by Shin Sung Rok, simply because he plays crazy villains really well, not that the original actor did a bad job, but he would have been way better.

The best part about the show was hands down Van. I love him as a character, and he deserved nothing but sunny rainbows all day long. Kim Nam Gil truly is fantastic in his role and he has a lot of chemistry with the female lead.

Overall I am still so impressed with how much I actually like Won Mi ho as a character.

The show had way too many plot holes, the pacing was off and honestly could have used a traditional screen episode run time,

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Boring

This show was neither good nor bad. Though it started out with an interesting premise, it quickly devolved. There was no depth to anything of the characters, not the male lead, or the female lead or the so called villain.

It was increasingly obvious who the murderer was from around the seventh episode and the rest of the runtime ended up being filler.

There were a lot of things the showrunners could have done to make it more interesting. One thing I didn’t understand is if they were going to make it so easy for the female lead to regain her memories, why did she need to lose them in the first place? We came to know the whole truth behind her death in the first three episodes itself.

A let down, since this really sounded promising.

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Flaming pile of… well, s***

This drama started off great. The first two episodes were intriguing, eye catching. Everything that Bang Da mi suffered was painfully, painfully drawn out and illustrated in a wonderful way. This was a revenge story, makes sense. I even don’t mind the plot twist, I just think the handling of the storyline after that sucked.

And then, in the middle of the runtime, the quality of the show starts to deteriorate- not in sets, or costumes, but just the writing. Everything gets more and more elaborately over the top ridiculous. Things stop making sense. Some characters are forgotten. People stop acting like themselves. Everything goes to hell.

The strongest part of the drama v was the characters, and after a while those got stale. Instead of making Nam Chul woo and Cha Juran and Go Myeongi cringy comedians, they could have elaborated on their evil nature, how they came to be the way they are from the most respected professions, a police officer, a doctor, a teacher.

And now, as this is spoiler free, let’s discuss the characters they got right: Han Mone, Min Do hyeok and Yang Jin mo.
My personal favourite is a toss up between mone and Yang Jin mo. I loved how they slowly introduced his dad side, and his relationship with Noh paeng hee.
Han mone was such a great character. I loved her. I hated her. The acting was on point. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Min Do hyeok was good, if a little boring.

My advice? Watch the first eight episodes. Forget the rest.

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Drifted into a tree

The first episode of this drama was phenomenal. And everything went downhill from there. While I do love the moral position played by the series, it’s kind of terrible how the entire plot is just one thing repeated over and over again, an endless loop.

However, Da Il was a phenomenal character, and the actor did a great job portraying him. Jung Yeo Wol started off intriguing, but the last two episodes were very boring considering her role, though the actress playing her did an incredible job. Gil Chae Won was a wonderful character, but I do wish she had a larger role to play.

Funny how the best performance over all was the villain of the show. Hye seonwoo played by Lee Ji Ah was a larger than life villain, absolutely felt undefeatable. Her arc was wonderful, and I love how the story showed us how she has also suffered.

Overall, really needed only around 10 episodes. The first episode was the best, and honestly amazing, so the series had wonderful potential they didn’t use.

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Wonderful thriller

Good thriller, even better acting. I do feel like there could have been more resolution to the plot line but I really loved the performance of Ha Seok-Jin in this drama as Ryu Sung hoon. Ok taekyeon was also phenomenal.

The female lead in my opinion is just the best character ever. She is strong, has a great sense of morals and just. One of my favourite kdrama female leads.

The story was very dark I feel. What the children of this story endured was extremely sad.. and their situation was extremely difficult as well. I hope the real life victims of such abuse also escape these circumstances.

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Best historical of 2023

This title certainly did not disappoint. Woo do hwan as Kang Han soo is phenomenal in his role. He is a great actor, playing both serious and emotional scenes and scenes of a funny and goofy nature in a charming and amazing way.. Some of the scenes where he is crying are done so so well, I can almost believe that it’s happening in real life. The relationship between the main leads is amazing as well.

I also somehow liked the female main lead as well, So Won. She was a strong character, even if she was naive at the beginning , comes into her strengths nicely.
The second male lead is phenomenal as well. Such a well written character.

The villain was also surprisingly good. He was menacing and well written, though I would have liked to see more of his backstory.
The flow and overall progression of the story was well thought out, there were several little cases that gradually crescendoed into a showdown with the big bad.

Good writing, stellar acting and honestly, for someone who doesn’t really notice background music, they did a good job with the score.

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The redeeming plot point? Shin sung rok as Jayden Lee

This drama was okay. Again, suffers a bit from way too long and this must be stuffed with random unnecessary plot points, and has a touch of over dramatics once we entered the second half, but decent, solid.

The female lead in my opinion didn’t suit the role well. Though she showed a great emotion in her role, I do feel like she always looked rather blank, but she was enjoyable.

So ji Sub’s character Han Yihan was predictable, Jack of all trades. We never really got to see inside him (here I am comparing him to the other characters) and he totally loses to…. Jayden Lee, played by Shjn Sung Rok.

I can’t stress how I enjoy every single one of Shin Sung Rok’s acting roles. He is simply phenomenal, a larger than life personality if it is demanded by the plot. His acting is seriously something I love. I rely want to see him in more. He brings a much needed touch of lightness to this drama, and a little bit of crazy. I love it. I also thoroughly enjoyed most of Kim Tae Gyum’s character, Michael and hope to see him in other productions. However, I do feel like the way they handled Jayden as a character was… iffy towards the end.

Yuna was a pleasant surprise. She was more enjoyable to watch than I originally thought.


Overall. Decent drama held together by Shin Sung Rok.

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Waste of potential

Never before have I seen a movie with such unnecessary plot holes and honestly, this required a full 16 length drama runtime.
Nothing was explained. I originally thought that the villain is a demon but it turns out that he is just some dude? The female mc is the most useless person I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t do much the entire story and I’m not sure why she even exists.
The male mc’s past was undeveloped as hell. The fight sequences were pretty nicely done I feel though.

Overall, required way more attention to the characters and nothing made any sense.

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Full of potential but unfortunate execution

This title I honestly had high expectations for, as I do for any production that Namkoong min is a part of , as he is a wonderful actor, picking scripts with emotional flair and fun scenes and is someone I would say this role is perfect for.

The show started off with great promise. But honestly, it required a 16 episode run time. After a while, we stop seeing any episodes of actually legal drama, which is what the show is about, and the product placement is somehow the worst I’ve seen thus far.

Not to mention, the entire past flashback sequence was incredibly out of place and contrived. Post flashback story was rushed, and I didn’t think they’d wrap up the story until half way through the twelfth episode, which is the last. It was handled poorly as well.

Now as for things I liked, namkoong min, obviously. His performance as always was stellar. Baek Ma-ri was a fun character, as was her mother. I really liked prosecutor Na Yejin, and I thought Seo Minhyeok was a good character as well who deserved if not more screen time, then at least more character development.
I also was unreasonably in love with the opening intro song and the accompanying animation. This would have been great as a long running short animation tv show.

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Love triangle hell

Nothing can be more infuriating than a series that was great losing its potential due to a long drawn out love triangle, and also a 16 episode run time instead of a 12 episode run time. While I love Seo Dal mi, Nam do san and Han Ji pyeong all as characters, some of the way that the story has been handled was extremely unsatisfying.

I also believe there should have been more about Seo/Won in jaw in the story- the parts of the female lead making up with her sister were probably the most compelling in the show. I also feel like she should have been given a larger screen time.

I would have liked to see the series end with Han Ji pyeong moving on from the female lead, but it doesn’t.

The story is decent, but I don’t feel it’s the masterpiece that everyone has made it out to be. At least two episodes worth of material could have been shortened.

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Plot twist… revenge?

Everytime I think I’ve watched every genre of Korean revenge thriller, they make a new and more exciting one.. Namkoong Min is simply phenomenal in this title as the main character. Although I struggled with some of his decisions morally, it was an intriguing and excellently executed drama.

There was never a dull moment with this show. Each character was grandiose, larger than life. It was akin to watching a chess match between two grandmasters, with each twist and turn outdoing the last.

One thing I love about Korean shows is the focus on the character development and plot. Namkoong min as Na I Je had a phenomenal run, going from a sweet doctor, to a cold and calculating morally grey man… but who somehow still made you root for him. Director Sun’s constant backstabbing was a treat.
If anything, one plot line I wish was better handled was Han so-geum and Han Bit’s.

Lee Jae-jun, the big bad was creepy, larger than life and wonderfully acted. He managed to make me feel a wispy sadness and regret for him, all while scaring me with his actions.

All in all, a phenomenal drama.

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The age gap distorts a otherwise heartwarming experience

This story was actually wonderful. To everyone concerned about the age gap, not much romance actually takes place between the two characters, explicitly but there were some weird moments for me personally- for example, the male lead saving the child female lead when he was fully grown- sparking a ten year long crush… and a couple more.

There is not actually a lot of romance stuff that goes on from the male lead’s side, as he is pretty passive in the relationship. I feel like this would have worked better with the female lead moving on in the end, and going forward with her life.
One thing I dislike is that they fail to go into detail about the past- for eg, the story of the female lead’s father and How he met the first and second male lead, etc…..


Overall a decent show, but the extreme age gap was unnecessary. 8 years could have been 4 at max, and the story wouldn’t have changed at all.

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Glory is the way to live

This was a wonderful drama. I usually avoid watching Chinese dramas but this had an interesting synopsis so I caved…. And I couldn’t be happier. This was definitely not a waste of time and honestly thought the series is so long at no point did I feel compelled to watch simply because I had started watching.

The plot lines and character development is tip top. My one critique is that Ye Xiu was a bit of a Gary Stu, a little too perfect, and we never really in the first 30 episodes see him doubtful or have any negative emotions- but what was unexpected about it was even so, Yang Yang as Ye Xiu was probably my favourite character. I loved him on screen.
Tang Rou was a nicely developed character, as was Wei Chen. Personally disliked An Wengyi’s character plot line, but I adored the show.

I wonder how much the show spent on visual effects, because they were marvellously good somehow, it was easy to tell the difference between all the player’s avatars, not just by their clothes, but even the facial features resembled the actor counterparts.

Sun Xiang, the primary ‘antagonist’ was a little over dramatic in the start, but I loved how he developed as well.

Some people may find the drama cheesy, but I loved it and am looking for more of the same.
I did like the ending, and honestly could watch more of this show, for at least another season.

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Warm, cozy comfort

This is such a fun sports drama. I’m usually not a fan of sports dramas, but they really outdid themselves with this. It had a good pacing, and was rather insightful and motivating, not to mention that the story was great.

I had a lot of fun watching this show. The main badminton plot was interjected by the stories of the lives of everyone in the village, which was a welcome respite and somehow didn’t take away from the show at all. My favourite villagers have to be the city couple, watching them grow and bond together with the villagers was extremely sweet.

This is a show about growing up and getting better, about outdoing yourself, sportsmanship and class.
It was wonderfully written and executed.

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