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  • Location: Indiana, USA
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pktljames

Indiana, USA

pktljames

Indiana, USA
Completed
Honey
15 people found this review helpful
Oct 8, 2018
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 10
This might be my favorite Japanese Movie thus far. Definitely in my top 3. The acting is very well done, but the thing I liked best was the "realness" of the story. That's not to say that I would expect to see all the situations happening in real life, but that within the confines of the drama, nothing seemed forced or out of place.

The story is sweet, but not so much that you feel like you've gotten a cavity. The "bad guy" is horrible, but he's not so prominent in the story that you hate seeing him on screen. It's really one of the few shows (dramas or movies) where I wasn't tempted to fast forward through every part with the villain. The reason for that I think was that his time was limited, but important, so you felt like you needed to see that part of the show. Most of the conflicts are just "life" type things that people generally have to figure out and I LOVED that aspect of the movie.

It's a school movie and they do a good job of making it seem like the characters are students instead of some story lines where it feels like "adult" situations but the "adults" are actually students (like a teen who is supporting their family, or the teenager is basically fending for themselves). The main characters both had adult family members who were parenting well, so the teens got to be just that...teens.

I loved this show and I'm sure I will be watching it again in the future.

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Completed
Sweet Revenge
12 people found this review helpful
Sep 1, 2018
22 of 22 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
I binge watched this series in one evening. It's short and cute. The characters are easy to like and the acting is good. I was concerned at first about the premise of "getting revenge" because I was afraid it would be taken too lightly. However, though I'm not one that thinks "revenge" is always the best choice, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they use the concept in a way that seems reasonable.

One thing I thought was very well done and hadn't really seen in a teen drama is the story line that follows someone with a true mental illness. It's only in one episode and I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say more than that except to say I was impressed that the topic was even brought up and that it was faced so "head on." Thumbs up to the writers on that part of the story for sure.

There were two things I felt were a bit off about this, but I don't want to use spoilers so I'll be vague. However, when you watch the series I think you will easily understand and then I'd be interested to know if you agree...

1) There was a character that I thought I would see more of, but didn't...and it seemed like the story line for that character was left a bit in the air. I found it a bit annoying that there wasn't closure for that person...or at least a proper connection to the end of the story.

2) There is one question that isn't answered that I really wish had been. Perhaps it is answered in the 2nd season? I don't know. It's not a deal breaker thing, just something I found myself wondering about and wished an answer had been given.

All in all, I really liked this series and I recommend it for anyone who just wants a bit of light drama.

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Completed
It's Okay to Not Be Okay
60 people found this review helpful
Aug 25, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

Loved parts, but couldn't get past others.

First let me say that I love that this drama shined a light on so many types of mental health issues. The autistic brother was my favorite character and I loved his story line. In fact, I really enjoyed all the story lines in the show. The acting was top notch and the entire drama was visually striking.

My main issue was the Female lead character. Let me try to explain...
If you knew of a person who had stolen the money from a bunch of elderly people leaving them destitute with their lives in shambles and that same person later decided not to do that anymore...at least not as much, and even built a Senior center, but never made amends to the elderly they had hurt and in fact didn't even think they had done anything wrong to those elderly, you would find it hard to see that person in a positive light.

That is how the the Female lead character felt to me. In the first part of the drama we see her cruelty to animals, her self centered attitude and lack of empathy. She does two attempted murders and two kidnappings in the first few episodes. Plus the emotional blackmail that she often uses is just horrible. Her temper flairs and she gets violent any time she is contradicted. And this part of her personality never changes. Though we see her soften toward the ML, his brother, and a few others, she easily and quickly reverts to her previous ways as soon as she is challenged. Even when she had the opportunity to make amends for destroying her publisher, she makes him choose whether he will repair his business or not when it wasn't necessary for him to do so. Effectively making him choose to stay destroyed and have to rebuild everything when SHE is the one who caused the destruction. I found her character exceedingly uncomfortable to watch and was always wary that the male lead would get hurt or that she would just turn on him at any given moment.

There is a scene where she talks to her mother and says something to the effect of how she "almost" became like her Mom. I was literally thinking...no...you are exactly like your Mom except you have yet to succeed in killing anyone (not for lack of trying) and though you are unempathetic at times, you are not necessarily evil in your intentions.

I like the two brothers and her together, but at the same time I found it uncomfortable to cheer for because of her character. It felt wrong to want the brothers to get entangled with such a person.

Without her character, the story would not have been the same, but because of that character, I had to rate the drama lower. She was just too uncomfortable to cheer for. If the character has shown remorse (beyond saying sorry for stabbing the ML...twice), or really even seemed to change, I would have felt differently but not as it was.

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Completed
When the Camellia Blooms
41 people found this review helpful
Nov 23, 2019
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
This show is very well acted and has an interesting story line. Lots of people LOVED this show and if you are a fan of cute romances, quirky characters, and a mystery plot as well, you might really enjoy it.

However, for me, there are too many of my pet peeves that are a big part of this show. Now these are MY pet peeves so it no doubt influenced the way I saw the show. they may not bother you at all. But below are my thoughts.

I'm not a fan of bullies who don't learn to stop bullying, people who consistently doubt themselves or whine, and irrational parents. This show has all three. Thankfully there wasn't any Noble Idiocy, so that was indeed a plus.

For example, There is a group of women who are terrible bullies to the FL. I mean horrible. Later in the show, they stop bullying her, but they don't actually change which means someone else could and would fall into their bullying. They don't have any consequences for their actions and they practically try to destroy the FL before they ever try to be nice. It's simply not ok. Also there are two characters who resort to blackmail in very cruel ways and who also don't seem to ever see it's wrong. And yet, we are supposed to care what happens to them. One even dies and I still couldn't find myself empathizing with her situation...I even found myself annoyed to see her in flashbacks sometimes. We are supposed to see all these people as complex humans where they grow and learn...but they don't really grow...at least not where you could tell. They all had seriously rough lives and you're supposed to understand how they came to be who they are now, but it doesn't work for me. It feels more like instead of changing, they just adjusted their focus to NOT being a pain for the main characters anymore. Like if a bully gets beaten up by his prey, so the bully quits bothering that target and finds another target. The bully doesn't change though.

There's a male character who seems to be the only person who actually changes a little from being a horrible human to a decent person, but even he seems like he could fall back into his old ways easily...though you are given hope that he won't. I did grow to understand the FL's Mom and I could empathize with her because she really does seem to try to make amends and be better.

The FL is a great actress, but the character ended up bugging me. She was mousy at first and then she'd get strong and you'd want to root for her, but then she'd fall back into her old pattern. Back and forth, back and forth. UGH! Just stop. I wanted to shout at her, "Yes, your life was miserable and you were given a LOT of hardship, but look, you survived and things are getting better...stop dwelling on what you never had!" I got very tired of her whiny side.

I did like that they used voiceovers to tell part of the story. It was an interesting aspect of the production. They also did a good job with interweaving the backstories. Though I didn't particularly like most of the characters, I did understand their connections a bit through the backstories and that was good, but in some cases (like with the ML's Mom) instead of helping me like her more, it made me even more frustrated with her character.

As I said, LOTS of folks loved this show and it could have been that it just hit all my pet peeves for me. You might love it.

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Completed
Love in Time
8 people found this review helpful
Feb 7, 2019
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
This show is pretty similar to Groundhog Day or One More Time in that the characters keep reliving the same day over and over trying to prevent something from happening.

The Good Stuff: The characters are the same as in the prequel so it was nice to already be familiar with them. The cast acts well together and the leads have decent chemistry.


The No So Good Stuff: The story is a bit strange and you are never quite sure why there is a time slip to begin with let alone why these characters are in it. Because of that it's hard to fully invest in the story since you are not quite sure of the story.


Since it's only 6 episodes it's an easy watch so if you would like to pass some time this might work for you.

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Completed
Are You Human Too?
8 people found this review helpful
Aug 21, 2018
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5
First of all, let me say that Seo Kang Joon is AMAZING in this series. He pulls off both the roles with an amazing ability to separate the characters and give them each their own personalities. The entire cast was great in this, but I was really impressed with Kang Joon's acting. Doing one role well is difficult, to do two this well is indeed an accomplishment.

As for the story...the plot is interesting and keeps you wanting to watch. My favorite scenes were with the two lead characters because they played off each other so well and I really liked that the female lead (played by Gong Seung Yeon) was strong and impressive in her own right. She teaches the robot Nam Shin how to be more human and it's fun to watch him grow. I also really enjoyed the scenes between the robot Nam Shin and his right hand man, Ji Yeong Hoon (played by Lee Joon Hyuk). Their growing friendship was also a highlight of the show.

The only thing I have a bit of a gripe about is that the ending felt a bit rushed. Though it pulled all the pieces together and you didn't feel like it left you hanging really, but it was like it needed another 10 minutes to really finish the story properly. But other than that, this is a solid drama and well worth the time to watch. I recommend it.

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Completed
Romance Special Law
10 people found this review helpful
Jan 17, 2019
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
This web drama is only 6 episodes and they are 20 minutes or less long. It's not high drama. It's not heavy. It's just cute and sweet. I needed a cute, fun and short drama after several heavy ones in a row and this was just the perfect fit for me. I enjoyed it. No angst. No horrible villains. Just light fluffiness with a bit of an ad for some judicial things along the way. The second lead is adorable and a bit annoying all at the same time. I also enjoyed the "older brother" figure that the head judge plays. Along with the male lead, the three of them make a neat little found family unit.

I recommend this if you are looking something just for fun. This one is super short and sweet. I liked it.

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Completed
My ID Is Gangnam Beauty
14 people found this review helpful
Sep 16, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
This show takes an interesting perspective when it comes to plastic surgery. It deals with the "after" of plastic surgery and how changing a person on the outside, doesn't change them on the inside. It's interesting to watch Mi Rae deal with the world looking like a new person while still feeling very much like the old person (prior surgery). I also love that her love interest in the show knew her prior to surgery, so it's an neat perspective that he has as well.

The acting in this is great. The only slight quibble I had is that Cha Eun Woo is noticeably younger than Im Soo Hyang even though they are supposed to be the same age. He's even supposed to be 10 days older than her. However, it's not a big enough issue to affect the show, it was just something that I noticed. Both of them did a great job with their roles as did all the cast. The two creepy guys in the show are exceedingly creepy and the evil girl is horrible, so those roles were filled well too. My favorite characters though (aside from the two leads) were probably the second male and female leads. I loved their relationship and enjoyed any time they got to be onscreen together...or even separately. They were just good characters who were fun to watch.

The music in this is really good too. It was catchy and fun.

I absolutely recommend this show. And if you enjoy a sweet romance, I think you will too.

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Completed
Reply 1988
8 people found this review helpful
Jan 17, 2019
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
First let me say that I did like this show. It's got a lot of great parts to it and the cast is fantastic. I thought the Female Lead ended up with exactly the right person and could not see her with anyone else. Not everyone agrees with this, but I felt like there was no other person that they were actively connecting her with than the one she ends up with. It was great! The friendship between the 5 leads was the best part of the show and anytime they were together were some of the best scenes.

My only real issue is that the episodes are SUPER long. Each one is at least and hour and a half and some are longer. There are a lot of family story lines that were simply not needed and if they had been left out the series would have had much more manageable episodes. Don't get me wrong...all the parents and side characters are needed for the series, but not all the story lines connected to them. They gave a well rounded family story, but for me, SOME (not all) just made the series too long and didn't really add anything to the main stories which is where I wanted to focus. Since there are already 5 main characters, their stories alone were a lot to keep up with without the superfluous ones.

Overall, I liked this show fine, but it won't be on my top ten list or anything. By the end I was longing for it to be over because it just felt so long. As I said though...I'm in the minority.

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Completed
A Ticket to India
5 people found this review helpful
Nov 20, 2020
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

It needs a 2nd season...

This show is cute, but it literally feels like the actual story just started when it ends. I'm hoping that there is another season or something or else it will feel very unfinished.

I was unfamiliar with the actors/actresses, but they all did a good job. The ML and FL were fun to watch together, but that didn't really happen until about the last 2 episodes and felt like their story was only beginning.

If there isn't a continuation of the story in some way, then I can't really recommend the show because of unfinished feeling it leaves, but if there ends up being a part two then I think it's worth checking out.

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Completed
Go, Back Diary
6 people found this review helpful
Jan 22, 2019
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0
Even though this show is very short (only 4 episodes that are about 9 minutes long), it managed to surprise me with the direction they took the story. I won't say more than that so as to stay away from spoilers.

The actors/actresses did a good job, though the wig (at least I hope it was a wig) on the second female lead was a bit distracting at times. The second female lead was an exceedingly terrible character and it was impressive that the actress could convey that in such a short time span.

I'm not sure if I should recommend this one or not. It was not my favorite drama, because I wasn't a fan of the way the story played out, but others might like it. It's around 40 minutes for the whole drama, so if you don't like it, you've not really wasted much time and if you do like it, it's a quick little journey.

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Completed
Busted
6 people found this review helpful
Jan 19, 2019
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.5
I like all the people in this variety show. They are fun to watch and I came across some games that I really want to play sometime. However, the plot is rather silly. They are solving "murders" and they are so bumbling that it's quiet cringy to watch sometimes. That being said though, since you knew from the beginning that it wasn't supposed to be real in any way, that makes it possible to overlook.

I respect the actors/idols in this so much for making scenes that had to feel embarrassing at times, look like a lot of fun and they made you want to join in with them. Their reactions are always so awesome even when you just KNOW they are not surprised at all at what they are seeing.

I'm sure that I'll watch season 2...especially if the same cast (or most of it) is a part of the second season.

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Completed
Vincenzo
8 people found this review helpful
Mar 24, 2022
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 1.0

Just...what?

I know this show was super popular and let be start with the good stuff:

Amazing acting. Seriously...all the actors/actresses are great in their roles and some are playing very different characters than we have seen them in before so that is impressive all on it's own.

The Look - This show looks amazing and was filmed really well.

The not so good stuff:

Story - Interesting at first, but then got super violent and hard to take at times. Started out great, but got really over the top and cheezy a lot of the time. Also it was very hard to watch the villians be so awful. I mean, I know you are supposed to dislike them, but it's really just too much and instead of wanting justice for their crimes, I just didn't care about seeing them at all. And the violence...it's way way too much. Especially in the last episode. That was just a horror show that did not need to be seen. It was awful.

Characters - Disliked literally every character. Even though they were well acted, it was hard to root for the "good guys/gals" and even the side characters were just too over the top most of the time. My friend and I watched this show together and we decided the only "good" character is the pigeon. So there is that. I mean it's hard to cheer for even the "heroes" when they are willing to murder and be awful humans as well. Some of the characters started out likable, but by the end, I was ready to be done with all of them...except the pigeon. Him we could see more of. :-)

So, I can't recommend this drama. It's just extremely violent and hard to take.

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Completed
A Love So Beautiful
10 people found this review helpful
Feb 21, 2021
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10

So good, and made positive changes from the original.

First let me say that I was a bit nervous going into this drama because I had liked the #Cdrama original, and was afraid it might not be quite the same. But, for me anyway, this version was even better because it improved the things that I had found lacking in the original. I even went back and rewatched part of the original to see the differences.

1st: The pacing is so good in this version. Both the #CDrama and the #Kdrama are 24 episodes long, but the #Cdrama episodes are about 45 minutes long and the #KDrama episodes are about 22 minutes long. That helped speed up the pace of the drama and got rid of some of the things that I felt made the story drag in the #CDrama. However, it didn't change the story much and in fact seemed almost the same. A few plot points were slightly adjusted, but nothing major or anything that changed the story.

2nd: In the #Cdrama, I liked the female lead, but she was just too immature at times. This female lead keeps all the cuteness of the original, but lets her be an adult as well.

3rd: The Male Lead is cold and aloof in both dramas, but I found myself smiling more at the lead in this version. It's like the director made more of a point about allowing the audience to see the ML's feelings even when the Female lead is totally clueless. He's not cruel in any way (where in the #Cdrama, some of his choices can seem that way)...he's quite simply awkward and it's fun to watch him trying to figure out what to do...even when he makes a poor choice, once he figures it out, he tries to fix the situation if he can.

The one thing I wish had been given a bit more focus is the Female lead's love of drawing. It's important to the plot later in the drama, but not included much in the majority of the show. So when it becomes a plot point, if I hadn't been familiar with the #CDrama, it might have been confusing. In this version, her talent is shown at times, but more in the background...which was a bit disappointing.

Overall though, I really really enjoyed this drama.

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Completed
Wind-Bell
6 people found this review helpful
Feb 6, 2019
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This is the first Kdrama I've seen that deals with adoption where the person who was adopted didn't necessarily have a better life with their new family. Because the drama is so short there is a lot that they don't get into, but the plot is interesting and the actors/actresses all do a good job.

Actually, it feels like it's the prequel to a full length drama. It's fine on it's own, but it lays the groundwork for what could be a very interesting story later on as well...at least that's what if felt like to me.

It's an easy watch and it will leave you with some thoughts about children in the foster care/adoption system...at least it did for me.

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