KAZEHAYA THE ULTIMATE GREEN FLAG I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL

Wow. This movie was such a pleasant surprise. I have to admit that I watched most of it with bated breath and I really shouldn't have because all my nervousness was self-inflicted; all those Asian dramas and cliches had trained me to recognize all my most hated tropes: evil second female leads, misunderstandings...and it turned out that this movie didn't have any of those stupid issues.

This movie actually wasn't dramatic at all — it's really just a heart-warming, adorable story about a shy girl who comes into herself, makes friends, and happens to fall in love along the way. There are no evil villains, the side characters are kind-hearted and fantastic, and the development just felt natural; I kept thinking that if this was a full-length drama we could've gotten even more time dedicated to character development and the forming of friendships (meaning I'll probably be watching the anime soon).

Speaking of which, the way they emphasized friendships in this was so refreshing as well. One of my pet peeves is when romance is treated as this "personality fixer" and I absolutely loved that it was friendships that started to bring her out of her shell and not a crush.

Honestly, Sawako as a main character is still much too suppressed and shy for me; I don't really relate to her and at times her social interactions and decision-making got very frustrating, but ultimately I understand it and the way she started standing up for herself and communicating was delightful to watch. She's quiet but not weak by any means.

And now...my favorite part of the entire film. KAZEHAYA. I loved his character so much; this is one of the moments where I wish we got more about his backstory or development but at the same time I don't even mind that we didn't because it was perfect the way it was. The way he not only treated the FL kindly in secret but also openly stood up for her and spent time with her...he was so respectful and it was beautiful to see the part he played in Sawako's story.

Anyways — adorable movie, I suggest watching this film with a light heart and optimism.

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College sweethearts against the world

I had been a little nervous going into this as I very rarely enjoy dramas with two timelines — usually the huge trigger event just feels so unnecessary and avoidable with some communication, and the part that comes after is so chock full of angst and uneven knowledge.

That wasn't the case for this drama at all; of course there were things that happened but I felt like all the development was very in line with who the characters were and I especially loved the female lead, who was perfectly written as someone who grew up pretty sheltered and protected but started to come out of her bubble and have her own opinions and dreams. Even when she was left out of plans there was this element of trust and insightfulness that she had that prevented the sort of frustrating misunderstanding I usually hate seeing.

The chemistry between the leads was top-notch and was hands down one of the best part of the show; the banter was hilarious, the tension before they got together was great, and overall they were just so natural with each other they were one of the few couples that I didn't lose interest in after they got together.

The OST fits the scenes perfectly and I think this has quickly become one of my favorite dramas of 2022.

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Tension-filled story with fantastic cinematography

I'm a sucker for anything time related and this was no different — I think they did the time rift thriller thing perfectly; the speed at which the timeline would change was so fast and it really instilled a feeling of high stakes. There are some questions about how time works and potential plot holes if you think more deeply but this was really one of those fun tension-filled films that I just immersed myself into, and the ability of the movie to make me suspend my disbelief is really just a testament to how it was made.

The cinematography was really great as well. I absolutely loved seeing the different timelines being differentiated through color filters. One of my favorite watches for this October.

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Inspiring, and definitely a slow burn

My favorite part about this was undoubtedly following Chu Li from the second she joined the publishing house as an intern and her development onwards. No matter what your career is, it was really inspiring seeing how she handled entering a new environment, dealing with the ugliness of (very relatable) office politics, and overall just being very dedicated and passionate about her work and persevering to get there.

For the most part I also really enjoyed the romance, but it's definitely a slow burn for both the couples. The main leads took a long time before they even realized they had feelings for each other (which I had no trouble with). The second ship was a case of exes-to-lovers and they also took a long time to deal with the reason they broke up in the first place. Both of these, I didn't have a problem with the pacing because it felt as realistic as the progression of the FL's work was: like life, but just a little more exciting.

With that being said, there were some parts with the romance that was either frustrating or simply confusing. First, it was like they kept telling us that there was a love triangle but then hinted that there wasn't and then went back and doubled down on it; either way, I kept trying to understand what the characters were feeling and kept feeling this disconnect.

Second, I wasn't a huge fan of the way the male lead acted sometimes — meaning that sometimes the reason the drama was a slow burn was because the male lead was being pretty dim and immature; there's some things I would definitely change with how some arguments were "resolved" but overall the character development is there (albeit slow).

Nevertheless, I was glad that the romance never got overdramatic and that once the main leads got together, there were no more annoying break-ups or misunderstandings.

One thing I also liked about this drama was that there are few purely evil and obsessive characters — there are annoying people in the office, but anyone who has ever worked knows that you'll really run into those kinds of people and seeing Chu Li (who I really liked as FL) deal with them was almost cathartic.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this drama for any cdrama rom-com lovers out there.

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Natural Acting, Great OST

I had seen the FL actress in The Big Boss before and her acting really still holds up in this drama; she's just really natural at showing every emotion — I felt everything she was feeling from the very start. I just really loved the development of the main female lead's professional career; after getting her dreams dashed, we followed her around as she tried different jobs and it felt like a really relatable and natural journey. Even though you might think that being a singer or fashion designer isn't very common or relatable, that wasn't the case at all. This was actually a really inspiring drama and I loved seeing her overcome all the obstacles she ran into. She's bubbly but not stupid, hard-working but not a doormat.

I think the chemistry between the main leads is definitely there. The banter and skinship all feel super natural and I liked how the male lead was labeled cold but actually very logical and straightforward in his thinking. With that being said, however, I felt like the plot had some holes missing. There were repeated miscommunications that I felt like they never talked out — it was like the relationship and story moved forward and got over it and any clearing up either took place off-screen or they just didn't bother doing it.

I also think some parts of this drama were problematic in regards to consent; there was a moment where two side characters slept together when one was clearly drunker and I did not like the way they addressed it. Other than that, I enjoyed the more casual dynamic of the second couple as well even though I didn't like how they also had communication issues that took very long to solve.

Overall, I still think this was a really nice drama to watch, and the OST is really great. It's light-hearted and touching in all the right places and I think a lot of people who usually dislike c-dramas for the dubbing and hate how FLs often have to act "cute" would actually appreciate the main character in this drama.

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Heart-warming but has its hiccups

When I first started this drama I thought it would be high school to college. It turns out, however, that the drama starts in college where everyone is split up and then flashes back to high school. And for some reason, that made all the difference. I know this is an element of personal preference here but for me it just meant that I constantly felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and that every time someone had a line about "being together forever" it was like alarm bells.

I still really liked the innocence of high school and how it did what c-dramas do best — which is balance the different themes of studying motivation, following your dreams, family pressure, friendship, and first love — really well. Even though there were some parts where I disagreed with what the "message" turned out to be (in terms of parental subplots it was because I was raised in a more Western, more independent household, or there were also moments where I disagreed with the outcome of an argument between friends) I still really liked the growth and character development that the characters underwent.

The time jump and big lapse in miscommunication which I knew was coming was understandable but still not very enjoyable; it really made the FL turn into someone who just seemed to follow the ML around and not have her own thoughts — which was unfortunate because something I had previously appreciated about this drama during HS was that the FL was not a genius but she worked hard and had her own goals, despite falling victim to a very common thing in dramas — where the ML is a genius in one specific subject whereas the FL isn't great at school but has a bunch of small quirky things she's good at so she doesn't seem useless. Still, I appreciate that this was something they ended up addressing directly.

During the college days, I liked that the romance took a bigger role. It makes sense, because they'd grown up. But everything that I loved about the balance in the high school days seemed to fade away. In a new setting, the new roommates and friends that the leads made in no way matched up to the old characters we'd grown to love. And like I said, the plot of the FL making her life revolve around the ML, and then the ML being mean to her still, just all felt very frustrating.

I felt like they inserted some conflict into the second lead couple too, and while I thought this was necessary, I felt like the way they did it with a time jump instead of slowly showing their progression (because the story wasn't following them during college) felt kind of random and awkward and almost too similar to the way the main couple just randomly cut off ties.

Overall, I still think this was a fun watch and I really liked how there was really a sense of nostalgia and inspiration as we watched them grow up, but as much as I love romance I prefer it as a subplot in the earlier episodes.

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First half > Second half

So in the first half of this drama, I would have flat-out rated it a 10/10. Considering it's from 2014, the production quality might be a little low and the humor and timing a little awkward, but I was willing to overlook all that because I really loved, above all things, the main female lead. She was independent, strong-willed, confident, work-focused, and walled off romantically — everything I felt I could personally relate to. Kai Qi is precisely how I want strong female characters to be written, flaws and all. And I felt like the male lead was the perfect counter-balance. His personality was softer, quieter, more caring, and compromising, having grown up as the bullied younger sibling. They meshed perfectly and the storyline was stressful in all the best parts (I had no idea that a cooking show could stress me out so much!). The childhood friends backstory was integrated well too, as was the second lead's history with the FL.

Even after they got together, I really liked the romantic dynamic that was still fun and allowed the better parts of their personalities to shine through.

It was about an episode after that, that things started to go downhill. The plot started inputting random tropes (spoiler: a kidnapping plot) and character decision-making (the FL especially, who had always been straight to the point), started to make no sense. Of course, there was an obligatory break-up, and for two characters that had begun communicating so well before, it all just felt very dramatic and forced. The sudden extreme of the plot really felt like they just pulled random tropes and inputted them into the story.

It got worse because they just dragged this out so long, until the end of the drama, where it felt like there were no obstacles for them being together, other than the female lead just saying no for no good reason, for reasons that they had discussed multiple times.

The female lead had always been a straightforward character, and a lot of that was lost. This isn't limited to the main ship either, but also to the second couple — but I was wondering why there were so many episodes dedicated to coming up with elaborate schemes to get people to meet coincidentally or be part of random competitions to trick them into getting together when they could just sit down and talk things out like normal people. There was basically no plot, just the ML chasing after the FL again.

While all this was happening, the second lead's personality started to shine through more, but there really wasn't time dedicated to his character or a full plot for him at all. There were a few side plots for supporting characters and while I don't really have a problem with that, I felt as though the acting was mediocre and the writing was not really fleshed out enough for me to even care about them or see how they were relevant.

All in all, there's still a sort of nostalgia when I watch something like this, especially because there's some over-acting and it made me cringe, as old dramas often do. All that aside, I still do like the set-up of the female lead. The second half, however, is probably something I'll purposely overlook.

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Amazing unconventional male lead

The drama has a bit of a slow start but it really quickly grabbed my attention with the serial killer mystery. The writing is really well thought out in terms of plot development and how all the mini-stories tied together to be part of a bigger event. I admit I think I enjoyed the first half a little more just because I loved the intensity of the chase, the scariness of not being one step behind when there was one case happening after another. But I do understand and I knew that the story would turn to a bigger focus on the ML's family and the overarching backstory.

The best part of this drama was undoubtedly the dynamic between the male lead and the female lead. Right off the bat I really loved how unconventional the male lead was and how he was portrayed — as a character with Asperger's it was really interesting to see how he dealt with social situations with coworkers and suspects as he tried to find out what happened with his daughter. It was this, and this dynamic with the reporter female lead, that was really my favorite part. She was his opposite and his foil in every way, but they were brought together by a similar goal. Their dynamic and how they complemented and clashed was super interesting, especially with how subtle but impactful the character development was.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this! It's not exactly a heart-pounding story, but it's heavy and it deals with a lot of social topics well.

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Heartwarming but...

I felt like the first half was a lot better — it was a lot of the main leads getting to trust each other, one of them being so used to be alone and the other thrown into a situation that just made no logical sense. Their dynamic was really cute and interesting, and this did stay balanced throughout the entire movie; I really loved that there were no stupid misunderstandings and that any issues they had with each other were discussed. I loved the acting for all the Woo-jins, and the cinematography was unique and worked really well.

With that being said, however, the ending just felt like a cop-out; it felt like it was very much created for the hopeless romantic, the one who believes that love triumphs above all. But for a movie I loved for its practicality, it was disappointing. All those times the movie brought up things that made me go "Whoa, I hadn't thought about that" and suddenly it was like they couldn't think of an answer and decided to just drop the subject altogether.

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Heart-warming and with a vengeance

I could tell this was a good movie — the relationship between the pawn shop man and the little girl were undoubtedly the best part of this movie and I kind of wish we had more of their scenes. The fight scenes are cool and overall this is just a really satisfying vengeance movie.

Unfortunately, however, something just didn't click with me when it came to the villains. I've seen plenty of organ donation villains in Korean movies and just kind of felt meh about the ones in this movie — other than the scenes with the kids, I felt like the villains weren't very scary and were almost cartoonish at times, so I'm not really sure if I felt the high stakes there.

Overall still a really good watch esp. if you're in the mood for the revenge genre!

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An unpredictable sort of cliche

They say hindsight is 20/20, and in hindsight I really don’t think this movie offers any new plots or characters. But for once, that didn’t affect my viewing experience at all and I actually didn’t see the story coming, despite a lot being revealed in the first five minutes of the movie.

This movie was a tearjerker for sure; I was really surprised at how many emotions I felt even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the female lead in particular and probably wouldn’t agree with some of the decision-making.

There was some explorable opportunities for the second leads, both of which I felt were left behind and kind of just served as plot devices, but other than that, this was a really beautiful friends-to-lovers story and it really tugged at the heartstrings.

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A little cliche but still heart-warming

For a 2011 movie, this was pretty much what you'd expect. It was heart-warming and I could see it being a tear-jerker for some, but it also just doesn't provide many new plots or characters compared to similar movies that I've seen.

The pacing was quite nice in the first half — I'm a sucker for the way they did the slow burn — but the second half had a lot of plot development and not much of the same patience dedicated to them. This is one of those movies I wish was a drama because maybe those backstories could have been fleshed out more and the characters could have more conversations with each other, especially once the conflicts started kicking in. I especially felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

Other than that, this was a really wholesome movie for the most part and I had a good time watching it.

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Beautiful

I didn't know this was going to be such a tearjerker going into it. But it was, and I thought that all the timelines and the characters were thought through so well — especially the two leads, who just had the best chemistry and relationship dynamic no matter where or when they were.

This is one of those dramas I just wish was one or two more episodes longer, because there were some timelines (modern day and ending, specifically) that I wish were more fleshed out and let us see more of the relationship between the characters.

Other than that, I have absolutely no qualms here; the story was complex, the OST was beautiful, and I absolutely adore the characters. Really looking forwards to the movie.

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Fun and well-balanced

I was so pleasantly surprised by this one, as I don't think I've ever seen a crime/mystery drama where the overarching plot and the episodic cases were balanced out so well, especially in the first half of the drama.

I have a few bones to pick with certain scenes — while the law enforcement abuse situations were understandable considering the time period and the situation, the way the drama turned it into comedic relief was difficult to sit through; there were a few scenes where it got serious but I really think they could've gone into that further.

Other than that, the humor was great, the gang's banter was heart-warming, and I just really loved how everyone had their own place in an ever-progressing story.

I have to admit, though, that as someone who likes answers, the ending leaves some things to be desired. It's left a little open-ended, which sucks because I was super invested in the premise of the universe and wanted really much to have different types of closure.

Nevertheless, this was a really good watch — the characters really grow on you and make you love them.

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