sasharama

a never ending agony

the premise looked fine. I love this kind of Chinese dramas. war, magic, love and beautiful costumes but this one is not really a gem.

at the very start the first episode is particularly cringe. the cgi is questionable and looks like a show for kids. the dragon and his pals animations almost made me stop watching but I endured and it got a bit better along the whole show.

unfortunately the bad cgi is not the only problem.
the characters are frankly uninteresting or particularly unbearable. this only one I really liked is the shadow demon. he was funny, a bit ambiguous and a good mix of bad and good. the other characters are all forgettable, even the main leads. the male lead character (go watch love in the clouds!!) was the "standard" archetype and the female lead was unbearable at times and annoying at others.
I will admit that the characters improve mid drama compared to their "cartoonish" self in the first part.

the drama set up is probably the main culprit.
40 episode were hard to shallow. I skipped forward like crazy for the last 10 episodes.

there was a lot flashbacks, repetitions.. one character states something and then another one repeats the same exact thing.
"they say you can find the dragon in the valley".
" so.. you are telling me we can find the dragon in the valley".

the audience is not brain-dead. no need to treat us like that.

pathos was a big issue as well.
we are supposed to be immerse in a very convoluted scene, life treating scenario and then puff... 3 seconds later everything is fine, those who died are alive again.
this show is unable to create suspence... everything feels weightless.

the music compartment is also a big "what the hell".
in the first half of the drama the wrong songs are playing at the wrong time . you are in the middle of a somber scene, the music is playing a festive theme.
I think they also added the pornhub intro in the funny skits.. but Im Not sure it is the same.

as well for other things mentioned before, it actually improves in the second half.

I wouldn't recommend this one. there are better dramas out there especially if you have to invest 40 episodes!!!

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i liked it very much but I wish I liked it more

hotel del Luna was on my watchlist for a while. finally I decided to give it a go reading the wonderful review and let me tell you, It was worth the watch.
even though I liked it some things still bothered me.

first of all... del luna hotel. I know Italian and some Spanish... del Luna is definitely the wrong preposition. but this is just nitpicking for the sake of being annoying 😅

the story is really compelling. a bunch of resentful soul run a hotel helping other souls with their departures and unfinished businesses on earth.

the characters are pretty much all likeable, even the grim reaper who made me laugh out of the blue with his expressions. I don't know why. I just love him.

the staff member were initially marginal but got more flashed out towards the end. the last episodes I cried like a fountain.
unfortunately during the series they don't get that much depth. only the final episodes give us the real juice about them.

the main star is obviously IU. great performance and marvelous outfits even though I sometimes struggles identifying her angelic face with a 1300 old resentful soul. she looked too innocent.

the human manager was ok. I didn't dislike his character but I didn't love him. he was very Plain in my opinion.

i liked their initial relationship as manager and hotel owner/mentor but I didn't completely bite their love story. they didn't have THAT chemistry. they looked more like pals than lovers.
I think the love story, which we get literally crumbs of, was completely unnecessary to the plot and that's coming from someone who watches mainly romance.

the other characters were just there. especially the best friend Sanchez. we know nothing about him and then bam... he gets strucked by tragedy. i don't know.. they could hace done way more with him or others.

the manager mother story was also kinda meh. why bring her up anyway?

speaking on the drama itself I must say that the music choice was great.
the aesthetic was pleasant.
the only thing that annoyed me a bit were the long ass transitions. too many effects, camera changes etc.. a hug would last 1 minute. I skipped a lot.

end....
I was emotional but not gut wrenching as goblin. I compare the two because they have a similar Story/vibe
they both leave you with a somewhat open ending but goblin was just better.

this drama leaves you also with many questions.

why does the hotel need to disappears? do they have to build everything from ground? who will be the next owner?

if a resentful soul stays too long on earth the entire staff of the hotel should have become an evil spirit...
etc etc.
it is a good drama don't get me wrong but I wishing we got a bit more.

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Absolutely loved it!!!

I didn't know what to expect cause "martial art" dramas are usually a hit or a miss, too silly or too serious but this one is a gem.
I loved every minute of it and never got bored. The adrenaline is high until the last episode. Not getting filler episodes or endless flashbacks felt so refreshing.
The acting was good especially the main FL. The ml was a bit stiff but I think this was his choice regarding the character more than a lack of talent.
Music was funny, entertaing.
The story revolves around rong, a martial art prodige who get kidnapped and later saved by a misterious man. She manages to get back to her home but while kidnapped she lost her memory and hires this misterious man to help her out while gaining back her lost memories.
There is a twist because our protagonist is actually someone from our time but that doesn't impact on the story that much until the very last episodes.
This drama is the perfect mix if you are looking for action, a bit of comedy a cute love story and pure entertainment.
Definitely recommended.

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dropped after 2 episode...

Dropped after 2 episode
I get that this kind of drama are expected to be silly but I really can't keep seeing the same cliche over and over.
Girl gets dumped by her boyfriend, guys is looking for a girl to show off to his parents in order to be left alone.
They start living together thanks to an offer from the real estate. A free rent house in exchange for some ig posts. Who wouldn't say yes?
But then we get to the weird part. They obviously sign a contract because this is a fake relationship. As expected the guy tried to sound cool and states "don't fall for me girl".
So far so good but then... The same night he starts kissing her and asking when they are going to have sex because even though this is a fake marriage, somehow he expects to have sex.
She is a bit reluctant but then agrees. This guy is a creep. She entered this relationship because quote"she is sick of love and doesn't want to suffer anymore" but ends up overthinking about this guy and if he can fall for her.
Of course she is the usual damsel in distress.
Not funny, not cute, doesn't make sense. Just skip it

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this is ridiculous.

this drama makes no sense. we got two guys that are so madly in love they yell at each other because they don't know how to express their feelings.
first male leader is a doormat. basically he doesn't care about being bullied. he has zero self estime and ends up "falling in love " (obsessing) over a guy for basically no reason.
he thinks this guy helped him out in some way but that's just in his mind.
then we have the cool kid. he's an asshole, a bear only capable of yelling. they basically develop a slave/master relationship.
there is zero development between these two but we are suppose to cheer for them?
they obsess over each other for years and end up together like magic.
I don't know. in the last episode I laughed my ass off cause it was just so cringe. the guy licking the other one finger was really weird🤣
no romantic scenes, no kissing.
if you are looking for that kind of stuff Feel free to skip this drama.
Totally not worth it.

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don't watch if you have a brain

I watched this drama for basically 2 reasons:
1) I wanted some japanese listening practice
2) I am a masochist.

if you reached season 2 you probably already watched the first one and let me tell you... they are basically the same thing.

we meet again naochan and ueharakun and nothing changed.

NAO is still a dumb, selfish obsessed girl that acts like a 10 years old kid.
uehara Kun is still a bear incapable of expressing emotions, still treating NAO like shit and caring only about himself.

I get that these two are the main characters but I find them so unlikable. everyone is in lobe with them for some reason and surprisingly everyone is a better match for them than the other lead.

NAO has no live. she only thinks about uehara Kun. even when talking to other people the things she says are said bevuase ahe is thinking of uehara Kun. basically, she doesn't care about other people's lives unless is something she can apply to herself. she has an idea of how a romantic relationship should look like and uehara Kun, unlike other characters, is unable to give that but she persists for some reason.
she is basically fixated on her first love and that's it. there is no other reason for her to like this dumbass.

uehara Kun is incapable of having a romantic relationship. he struggles to show affection even after almost 2 YEARS OF DATING.
he never thinks about NAO unless someone is getting closer to her and remembers she exist. basically it is a possession thing.
he only treats her kindly when she is already on the ground and other people tell him NAO is struggling.
at least unlike NAO she seems to have a resemble of a life outside of nao.

the other characters have little screen time but could potentially be more interesting than the main couple.. but sadly... they get involved with these 2 dummies.

the drama is boring, repetitive and the most annoying part is that there is no doubt they will end up together even though it doesn't make any sense.

I know I know, it is a shoijo manga and I'm not the target audience. I get it. but I still think there is much better stuff out there for young kids. this drama is just dumm and frankly far away from educational or being a "coming of age story". there is nothing to learn from these two.

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this drama...made me mad!

I was really enjoying the first half of the series.
it all takes place in a school where Bek ho rang, our protagonist, is an "insta celebrity" and has many eyes on her. she doesn't seem to be that approachable and often spends time alone while her peers idolize her or just straight up criticize her out of jealousy.
one day, someone from her past start threatening her to reveal something about her past and she freaks out but decides to join the school radio club to find out who This person is.

so far so good. the series starts hinting at something really "horrendous" that happened in Bek ho rang's past but when in the last 2 episodes the truth starts to come out.... I got really mad.

spoiler:
Bek ho rang was the victim of a bully.
and that is where I got mad.
first of all the "bullying" was not cool , of course, but is was not so horrendous as described.
during the series she meets her supposed bully and doesn't fling a bit.
admitting that she was bullyed would save her sooooo much trouble but she just lets people's mind run wild about what happened. so much so that people think she is the actual bully.
I get to a certain degree that it is humiliating to admit something so personal but Bek ho rang brings it to such an extreme that it made me mad.
she pushes away her only friend and stops talking to her because of that, she lets everybody talk shit about her, believe that she is a bully, she lets her comments online run wild which is insane since she is an actual Influncer and has contracts and cherry on top, people usually get expelled for this kind of behavior..
I don't really get it.
the second bully (yeah there is another one) is bat shit crazy and no one does anything to stop her.

at the end, the drama is not that bad but it's not that good.
I'd say the best characters are actually the secondary ones.
it's a cute story about a girl becoming more welcoming towards others but .... it's nothing groundbreaking.

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mmmm... not exciting.

from watching the first episodes I was anticipating something really spicy, scandalous. rich people with nothing to lose and lot of power to create scandals but I was quickly disappointed.
the drama really kicks in 3 episodes from the very end.
I ended up skipping a lot of scenes and flashbacks.
we all know the plot. bad guy tries to seduce an innocent girl because of a bet he made with his childhood friends but ends up falling in love with the girl.
nothing new but also nothing wrong with it. the fact is that I was expecting more depravity from these "tormented" characters but the story feels really teenager level of drama.
I wouldn't recommend it but I don't to bash it either.

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UNWILLINGLY FUNNY.

This is drama that takes itself to seriously and by doing that achieves the exact opposite. this was unwilling funny. I laughed my ass off at the absolute ridiculousness.🤣

PLOT:
A girl meets a man and falls in love with him just by listening to his voice. She then traced him down and start courting him. Will they end up together?

THE ROMANCE:
The ridiculousness starts right from the very beginning.
This girl meets a man in a hair salon. He is washing her hair and chit chatting with her.
She is suddenly so mesmerized by this 2 minutes long interaction that she literally stalks him, finds out where he lives and keeps showing at this unknown man's place.

He isn't any better though. this little girl shows up constantly and instead of sending her her way, he basically "tolerates" her presence for no reason.

She even keeps showering at his place many many many times.
She is thirsting over this man constantly and the drama emphasises this by showing little gestures, like he drinkinkin a beer, with exaggerated appeal.
I kid you not , he drinking a beer looks like a fricking commercial.🤣
Moving forward it is clear that these 2 like each other but there is actually no reason.
She tells us he is a mysterious man which he is not. He is just a quiet dude and pretty boring to be honest.
She on the other hand wants to be taken seriously by this guy but dresses and behaves like a 5 years old.
In my opinion he is kind of a creep. In the drama many AGE APPROPRIATE women show their interest in this man but he chooses the most childish, barely adult one... Kind of sus if you ask me , especially because he emphasises he wants someone "willing to stay and not date him out of a wimp". Sure. I am positive this 5 years old looking 19 years old is absolutely adamant and has her life all figured out.😬

THE DRAMA:
As said before , the drama takes itself too seriously. Never ending shots of these 2 longing, crying.
Some "artistic choices" made me laugh. In one scene the main guy is looking at fish in an aquarium and by the way the camera moves, it looks like he is making out with said fish. I couldn't hold it🤣🤣
Later on we see a painting she made of him and it was so cringe I laughed once again.
THE CHARACTERS:
What to say. He main lead is boring as hell and the main girl is basically an unlikable brat. She has guys falling for her left and right, but she treats everyone like shit. I bet if she was ugly noone would talk to her because she is very rude to everyone. Her mom, her nanny. Her CHILDHOOD FRIEND. everyone.
The actors:
I didn't like the characters but the actors were fine. At first I had the feeling I already knew the main guy and later I figured out he was the guy from the first METEOR GARDEN. what a throwback guys.
Conclusions:
I am dropping this drama mid way because there is nothing that interesting to keep me watching. Sure, I might find other hilarious stuff, but 11 more episodes of this might be the end of my already thin patience.

Should you watch it?
Give it a try. You might find the story compelling or surprisingly hilarious like I did. You never know

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plot twist for the sake of plot twisting..

I'm probably the only person unable to appreciate this drama.

is probably all on my side but I just can't.

This drama looks perfect on paper but I just can't get into it and I don't know why.

There is everything :Good actors, ,Nice costumes ,Good fighting scenes ,A decent looking plot, nice visuals, good CGI.
But I just can't feel involved.

The first episodes are basically an Agatha Christie story. Our protagonists find themselves in a house and have to solve a mystery.
Each of them is basically lying or conceiving their identity which also serves as a "plot" twist I guess.

Something that is putting me off is the fact that they try too hard to be cool and "modern".
"Modern" sounding music is nothing knew to xianxia but this techno music piercing my ears in fighting scenes is really putting me off.

They also really push about the Fox demons being sexually alluding. We get it.

So far the only scene I really liked was the one where our "Pinocchio" finds out he's not a real boy.
Man, that scene was heart wrenching.


Maybe I am still in my mourning period after finishing "till the end of the moon"😅 and need to take a break.


New characters keep spawning from nowhere bringing along their somber backstory and adding some "mystery" and it's starting to be irritating.


So far I'm on episode 12, trapped in this "catching the stone" timeline which looks like an escamotage to only further push the romance.


Maybe I'm bored because there is no real sense of urgency. Technically nobody is really aware about what the dragon god wants, there is no danger. These people are all demon hunters but we never see The demons outside the main cast do anything. We went basically no where. So far we saw the first house, the sect, the moon and this phantasy world.

These " inside the stone" episodes are boring, complicated and sometimes non sensical.

I'm done. Dropping this on episode 15.
They are adding plot twists for the sake of plot twisting.

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this drama made me nostalgic!

I love rom coms... unfortunately when I want to watch Japanese ROM coms I always end up disappointed. if you click on any modern title you get a bossy ceo, a naive office lady and a super boring drama.
watching this reminded me of the good old days Japanese dramas.

this is a funny , cute and romantic little story.

ironically even though time has passed this feels way more modern than current drama. people talk freely about sex, homosexuality, cheating.... it was liberating!

of course there is also the downside. this product it's clearly from a different "era" and some jokes are straightly misogynistic, but this comes with the territory.
it wasn't so bad because the characters are portrait a some "old school" dudes and in the end they are not as bad as they seem.

the female lead is cute, goofy and has a heart of gold.
I really liked the friendship she has with her 2 besties and through their plot lines we explore divorce, cheating, the burden of being a care taker and so on.

for such a small drama there are a lot of themes to explore.

on the romance side, I loved the relashionship between Sakura and hirito. they are really cute together and I am happy with the ending.

unfortunately along the way I learned that the actor for hiroto has passed way. it was very sad to read about it but I'm happy his work is still being appreciated.

the characters are engaging, enjoyable and feel real.

if you , like me, struggle with modern Japanese dramas this will probably bring back good memories.

definitely recommended.

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Is this drama boring? YES, CHEF!

PLOT🗯️🗯️
our story opens up with our poor shin su. Our girl died 3 years ago and is about to turn into an "evil spirit". In order to leave the earth peacefully she has to let go off her grudges, in her case dying as a virgin.
To reach her goal she possesses the body of na bong, a shy cook.
The plan seems to work out until they both fall for the same guy and some inconsistencies about shin su's death arise.

Premise🗯️🗯️
Definitely interesting. Following both a human and a ghost as their "lives" merge was interesting, at first. Primarily because shin su is hilarious.
I liked her character very much.
She is funny, resilient and has a heart of gold.
We grow attached to her even though we already know she is dead and we'll have to let go of her.

On the other side there is na bong.
She is a very timid girl with only her grandma on her side. She wants to follow her dreams and become a chef even though her self esteem is on the ground.
She is connected to the spirits which she sees since forever. That influenced her upbringing and the way she interacts with others.
Even though I understand where she is coming from, I couldn't care for her. She is just so bland a nervous ball.
She looks afraid of both humans and ghosts. For a screen character she is not much Interesting.
Even her love for the chef isn't that much moving. I don't even know if she likes him or just admires him. Seeing her writing about him in her diary came out of no where to me.

The male interest in the drama is this cocky chef. He is a good guy at heart but a bit irritating.
When the love story takes off I felt bad for him, na bong and shin su. That love story doesn't feel real because when he bonds with na bong, she is actually possessed by shin su. Basically he is falling for the ghost without knowing it.
Talking about him specifically I didn't feel any type of way. He's kind of annoying and to bland to move the needle.

The love story🗯️🗯️
To be honest I find the love plot the weakest point of the drama. I wished they focused more on the mystery, the underworld etc.
As said before, the love story didn't feel authentic because the chef is dating the ghost without knowing it. Na bong is boring as hell and he only starts having feeling for her when she is possessed by shin su.
The love story itself was kind of boring. At the very beginning there is this sort of hint at a love story between the chef and his old friend. It felt quite useless to me.
When the chef and na bong get together they feel like father and daughter. They interactions Never scream "unresistable love" even though they talk about liking each other sooooo much and solo deeply.

I'm currently on episode 12 pondering if ditching this drama would be the best thing.
The only thing keeping me interested is the actual mystery around the police guy.

There is also some plot inconsistency.
The spirit lady can see shin su at every corner but doesn't realize the police guy is an evil spirit nor does shin su. She meets him multiple times but never suspects anything.

At the end of episode 12 they address the fact that the chef fell for the ghost. Good for you na bong.

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3 episode were enough...

let's me start by saying that I ve nothing against this genre. I watched plenty of coming of age/ love in highschool drama and they are usually cute and light-hearted.

this is no exception, but I just can't bring my self to watch the same stuff without something interesting to latch on.

frankly speaking I'm kind of tired of the "we met in kindergarten for 3 hours and I cannot forget you" trope.

what's so romantic about? I just don't get it.

the ml is probably 17, looking obsessed with a girl he meet eons ago. I get it. your life went downhill and she is probably a nice memory from the past, but his attachment to her right away give me the hick. she is different person now, times passed.

to be honest he creeped me out. If the soundtrack would have been different, he would have looked like a stalker to be honest.

the FL was definitely my favourite part. bubbly, outspoken and a bit stubborn.

her friends looked alright and not as paper thin as other characters in other dramas.

moving on there will probably be cute moments etc but I just didn't find anything to look forward in these 3 episodes.

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cringe, cute but too BORING!

the first episode of this drama is too cringe to be truth. I was so ready to drop it right away but I waited a bit longer and it got WAY better.
unfortunately "better" is not enough to watch 24 episodes.

plot:🗯️ a dumm actor hires a tutor to prepare for a role but ends up catching feelings for his teacher.

the plot is simple and that's totally fine. this is not a complicated drama.
overall it is pretty cute to watch, even TOO cute sometimes...

I can say this is a bad watch but it is painfully slow. fortunately the ml is a great comic relief. I saw that some users found him bad, I couldn't disagree more. I think the comedy is the best part of the drama. the ml, his nephew and the agent are my favourite.

this is basically a rom com but that's my least favourite part due to the FL.

the actress is really sweet but her character is so boring. I couldn't care less about her.

I was more interested in him pursuing her than them actually falling in love.

If your really like sweet stuff with some comical moments this should be right up in your alley. Prepare to be patient though 😅

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DROPPED IT NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!!!!!!

PLOT:🗯️🗯️
A bubbly girl and a cold guy end up living together. As time goes by they end up developing feelings for each other.

I watched this drama in the past, dropped it and picked it up a second time just to see if anything would change... It didn't.

This drama is cute at the very beginning. I like how they slowly fall in love but after episode 14 everything is so flat and boring. The second time I made it till episode 18 but nothing is really engaging.

When the romance is the main driving force, once the couple is established the drama just dies.

I like me some cute stuff but when "cute scenes" is everything you get I'm out.
I can't stand endless episodes about dating, eating together, hugging etc.

The sub plot in this drama are basically non existing.

The ml is supposed to be a researcher with a fierce competitor in the same project. In the beginning their banter is fine but in the end it gets so repetitive. They say the same stuff over and over.

The other characters are paper thin which means outside the main couple there is no one else to focus your attention on.

The main leads aren't the most interesting people either especially once they get together.
They are frankly annoying. I particularly disliked how the FL treats her bestie. I know that you just got a new boyfriend but your friend is sad, she just need to vent a bit and you treat her like an inconvenience.
You live with with your guy 24/7, is it too hard to spend some "girl time"?

The ml isn't any better. He has no empathy for anyone, is obsessed by his girl and spends his time googling solutions to the most mundane stuff. Annoying.

The actors are fine I like them unfortunately, I don't feel the same way towards their respective characters.

I would recommend this drama only if you really are into couples spending time together without a strong plot behind them.

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