1
2
Two great ships in one fantastic show
Look, I’m usually not someone who likes the one-night stand trope because I prefer the gradual development of feelings and two people getting to know each other. But omg. This was so good and we still managed to get that.I really loved Jim and Wen and seeing how they started learning about each other’s lives and helping each other grow and make hard decisions, and that’s not even mentioning that the chemistry was off the charts both in terms of physical and emotional intimacy. They completely sold their characters, and it couldn’t have been done without the great second leads that were Alan and Gaipa.
Heart and Liming were also a fantastic second couple. As a foil to Jim/Wen, both of who were somewhat jaded about life and romance, we saw a much more innocent first love situation as two people started spending time together. The commentary on deafness and communication was really beautiful as well. They stole every scene they were in and between these two ships I found the show not having one boring moment.
It was actually so refreshing that there were no villains and no terrible misunderstandings between any of the couples. I was so impressed with how much JimWen and HeartLiming both communicated, and having the story focus on the theme of parenthood was also really powerful, between seeing Jim/Liming’s relationships, to seeing Liming’s mother return, and more.
I really do wish this was longer because the plot developments felt kind of thin sometimes when it came to Gaipa’s mother — who I didn’t really see enough of go get emotionally attached to — and also when it came to the chicken diner and the corporation that wanted to buy the land. Despite what we learned out about how the diner started, the place itself never really had “personality” after the first episode, if that makes sense, and I didn’t feel the high stakes of losing it.
Nevertheless, this is a comfort drama for sure and it just might’ve changed my mind about the “one-night stand” trope.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Hilarious main romance, with some other blah stuff
As a rom-com, this is awesome; I love how chaotic both the characters are at the start and seeing how they went from that to gradually enjoying each other’s company.As a more slice-of-life drama, this show hits the spot as well. The theme of motherhood is really powerful, especially seeing the “found family” aspect between the main female lead and Hae-e. I also loved seeing the different types of families and seeing how academic pressure played into familial expectations in different ways.
And then we get to the other genre: the mystery or thriller or whatever. This part of the show didn’t work for me at all. I don’t think the show was very good at switching between tones, so it was jarring to go from a rom-com scene to seeing a random murder, especially because it felt like show often forgot about its murder subplot; there would be few consequences for things that happened so the tone of the show never balanced itself out.
Other than that, I think there were almost too many threadlines sometimes, and the show sometimes dropped the ball on them, or there were smarter ways to tie storylines together that the drama didn’t think of. For example:
- When Hae-e wakes up, the entire murder plot is already over. It just makes everything feel pretty anticlimactic.
- Su-a, whose arc is about academic competition, should’ve played a much bigger role in the Sun-jae/Hae-e accidental cheating arc. Instead, she just disappeared during these episodes.
- Su-a, who started getting hallucinations about hurting Hae-e, could’ve also played a role after Hae-e’s accident, like not being sure if she’d been involved or not. Instead, her hallucinations just randomly stopped in the penultimate episode.
- Hae-e’s mom comes and causes a rift between Haeng-seon and Hae-e, which they never resolve through communication. Instead, Hae-e’s mom leaves of her own accord and the problem just goes away. I felt like this could've been a really good opportunity to highlight the motherhood theme again.
The second couple romance also feels really out-of-the-blue — it comes in halfway and by then ’d really much rather have the show focus on the familial relationship between him and Haeng-seon and Hae-e, because most of the time he seems to just be…there. There’s no chemistry or depth between him and his love interest, so I think the show should’ve either built up the plot more from the start, or not have done it at all.
Overall, I still had a fun time watching this. Even with the murder aspect, it feels generally low-stakes, and is a light-hearted watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
Stranger Things, but darker, grittier, and bloodier.
Ko Ja Yoon is a fascinating main character, and she makes the film intriguing despite the world-building being sort of thin and the plot being generally predictable. I think the most impressive thing is that nobody in this film is stupid. When strangers are creepy and weird, characters — both side and main ones — recognize it and act accordingly. It was refreshing.In fact, I'm pretty impressed with the more down-to-earth elements of this film actually; the dynamic between KJY and her family and friends were really interesting, and I want to give a special shout-out to Go Minsi, who really sold her role as the spunky best friend.
On the other hand, while Kim Dami and Choi Wooshik have fantastic chemistry together — the fight scene between them is one of the best moments in the film — I feel like I didn't feel fully convinced by the main scientist or the other "powered" people. Going back to the thin world-building, I think the environment of the government facility, the motivations of the people in charge, and the backstory of other experimented people were just not altogether there.
Overall, it's still a quick, engaging watch and I can see why it got so popular.
Was this review helpful to you?
Mixed Feelings on Yuri
I was really excited to start this season knowing that there was a new character and an ensuing overarching plotline with them, and it was really cool to read the theories about how Nanno and Yuri each represented the different types of karma. After watching it, I still really liked the throughline, especially seeing more of Nanno's past and character development, but Yuri's character did not work well at all for me, even though I loved the episode about her backstory.My main issue is that every single episode's arc seemed to come to a screeching halt every time Yuri stepped in. Nanno's actions actually almost always make sense, and the plot device of Yuri coming in to mess things up actually gets extremely tiring once its used for multiple episodes, one because Nanno's subplots don't seem to provide the same satisfaction, and two because Yuri honestly isn't charismatic enough for me to enjoy her random presence.
It's also so difficult to paint a clear picture of Yuri's personality and punishment method when she's only depicted as a fly in Nanno's orbit the entire time. I genuinely think we should've gotten an episode where we start seeing karma happen, then we find out the instigator is Yuri and not Nanno, and then we see the episode play out per her karmic methodology — this way we'd get a clearer idea of her worldview before she started officially clashing with Nanno, and her character would also be able to stand by herself more.
Overall, I still enjoyed this and I actually liked the topics it covered too — there's a lot less girl-on-girl hate in this one which was good to see. My favorite episodes are Pregnant, SOTUS, and maybe Yuri. When Season 3 drops, I will definitely still be tuning in, and I hope the newer characters are given more chances to shine without diminishing Nanno's impact.
Was this review helpful to you?
Didn't connect much to it
It was overall a pretty comforting watch overall, especially with the cooking theme. I loved that the sisterhood as well and seeing how each of them had a different dynamic with their father, but wish we saw more of it.I'm honestly not sure if we got too much or too little of the romance subplots — I didn't see enough about it to really care about them, but I would have also preferred more family scenes. In general, I didn't connect to this film as much as I wanted — I really appreciated the father-daughter themes but felt more neutral about each of the romance plots.
Was this review helpful to you?
Wished it was braver
As a youth movie it's nice but underwhelming. There's the very typical family issues, and I'm actually just glad there's not a huge focus on studies or school life. This movie felt very freeing, in a way.As LGBT commentary, however, it's so coded (censored?) that it can't make much of an impact. But it really is an interesting take on the fake dating trope, and I love how friendship-focused it was.
The ending is a little abrupt — I wish we had seen more of the two families — but I think it wraps things up decently.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good themes, okay ending
Suda Masaki's performance as Hiiragi Ibuki is by far the best part of this drama, and the mentor-mentee dynamic he had with every single one of his students was really great. I loved seeing how all the students went through a range of emotions as the drama progressed, from laughing at him at the start, to feeling betrayed, to finally starting to listen, trust, and look up to him.The female lead is one of the students who definitely plays a larger role than her classmate counterparts, but still doesn't play a very active role throughout the show; with different episodes focusing on different students, sometimes she feels fully sidelined. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but it definitely feels like there's just one main character.
I think the individual themes in the show are really strong, especially when there is a main focus on a student for each lesson, but I'm personally not a huge fan of the final message, of the "killers" being internet bullies. While I understand the message of thinking before you type and not hiding behind a screen, I also feel like Mr. Hiiragi speaking to "the general public" not only doesn't have the same emotional impact, but also feels so broad that his perfect plan starts to feel a little leaky, especially when I think the same lesson of "think before you act" was already given earlier specifically to the class of students, and it worked better then.
Was this review helpful to you?
Moments of silence
To nobody's surprise, my favorite scene is absolutely the reunion scene; it's also an amazing example of effective silence, because the film absolutely took its time and you could feel the characters' disbelief and nostalgia with every passing second. That was when the wave of emotions finally hit.This is a warm movie (ironically) with a relatively simple plot. I don't know if it has to be as long as it was, especially since a lot of the screentime was given to the daughter and her boyfriend, who were cute but didn't really feel relevant compared to the mother-daughter relationship.
Was this review helpful to you?
For CQL Fans
Between Fatal Journey and The Living Dead, this is definitely the better spin-off movie, but it's still missing some cohesion. I watched this mostly because I wanted to see Nie Huaisang's perspective as he started his grand plan, but the story really focuses instead on the actual ancestral tomb incident and the jump to the mastermind prequel is really sudden and feels tacked on at the end.I think Nie Mingjue is the most true to his character in this movie, and it was wonderful seeing the relationship between the brothers, but on the other hand...Nie Huaisang actually feels kind of out of character. He was always characterized as someone who didn't want to take on responsibility and just wanted to enjoy life — until he was forced to act. There were several moments here where he became really courageous and outspoken about justice and it just didn't really feel like him.
I do think this was good fanservice and as a huge fan of CQL it made me happy to see everyone again (even (especially) the villains).
Was this review helpful to you?
The Perfect Ending
I'm so glad I made the decision to watch this after Season 2 because it was such a palette cleaner and I definitely prefer to think of this as the ending. There's the perfect balance of nostalgia and nervous anticipation for what's to come, and you're able to see how much the characters have grown through the events of season 1 while also acknowledging that they and the world around them are constantly changing and that ups and downs of their relationship will come with that. The cinematography is beautiful, as expected.Was this review helpful to you?
The TENSION
This is by far the most mature BL I've ever watched and it was absolutely beautiful. The skinship simultaneously feels the most natural and the most tension-filled, and the angst is just immaculate. The kiss scenes are few and far between but when they happened it truly felt like the entire world stood still.I know Teh got a lot of flak for the way he acted but I forgive him for all of it; instead, this drama really depicted the fear and pressure of a teenager trying to find himself and coming to terms with his sexuality — it made the story all the more heart-wrenching. And Oh-aew is just perfection.
The friend group and side characters get just enough screentime; they're obviously not the main focus but they add so much to the drama's feeling of youth and nostalgia.
There's still some parts of this that feel really dramatic, or some developments where I wish we could've spent more time on to explain why the leads or fighting, but I understand that it's just a side effect of only having five episodes. Overall, I don't mind the pacing at all because I think this drama did everything else right, including just having absolute gorgeous cinematography.
Was this review helpful to you?
A very good plot with decent social commentary
Okay, before I get crucified for the 6.5, I still did enjoy this. The three leads were fantastic, the social commentary was good, and as a lover of all time-related media, it was really exciting to see how everything was tied together.But I think my expectations may have been a little too high.
While the first episode did grab my attention with the mystery and tension it instilled, the pacing slowed down afterwards. I was most interested in the points where the stories were personal — the first case, the kidnapping reveal, and the overarching disappearance of Lee Jae-Han. While the social commentary was decent and well-written, it really does just scratch the surface and kind of just iterates the same commentary about corruption and power. As a result, I enjoyed the other cases but think they could've been shortened, which would have given us more screentime for the main plot about Lee Jae-Han and more importantly, more time to wrap up the story.
With that being said, I think my favorite part of time travel and time manipulation stories are moments where you get to see alternate timelines, and I don't think the show ever explored the possibilities to its fullest potential, opting instead for small changes. Instead, they did that common kdrama thing where they have the big plot point happen in the penultimate episode. It was only until the 15th episode where I finally saw what I wanted to see, and I didn't get nearly enough time with it.
Now, with THAT being said, the ending. I found myself, unfortunately, watching the clock the entire last episode, wondering how they would be able to wrap it up in the little amount of time left. As the minutes ticked by I started dreading that they wouldn't be able to. And yep — the ending unfortunately left a lot to be desired.
Ultimately, I didn't really emotionally connect to this story as much as I wanted, though I still definitely give the actors and writers all their flowers. Like I said, the three leads were great, but I didn't really feel the sense of camaraderie between the entire team (which I loved in other dramas like Tunnel and Life on Mars), and as someone who cares a lot about endings, it feels less like an "open ending that lets viewers use their imagination" and more like the show was missing an episode.
Overall, still a good watch, and if they do a second season, I'd be completely down for it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Mystery > Romance
This drama's strong suit is definitely its story, doing a great job tying together subplots and side characters, and also changing the timeline just enough to keep it interesting. This is one of those rare cases where I actually cared much more about the mystery than the romance.I really enjoyed seeing how the main leads would take advantage of their time slip, while also needing to hide such a sticky situation from the other people in their lives. It made for a lot of good humor. The best moments, however, are when they do succeed at changing the timeline and end up having to deal with the consequences of the butterfly effect.
The male lead was also great; he was intelligent and straightforward, and he felt like a driving force for the plot much more than the female lead did. The acting was also fantastic — you could tell which Ke Zhen Yu was on screen simply from his micro-expressions and how he carried himself.
On the other hand, I didn't really care that much for the female lead, who was often misguided in her stubbornness, making it frustrating to watch.
I also think the ending leaves some more to be desired; there are some character interactions I wanted that I didn't get, and I felt like the climax and the fallout from it didn't get enough screentime or explanation. I think I just wanted more time for everyone and everything to come clean.
Overall, this was an okay watch. I was interested but not captivated, and the budget/visuals look low. The best part, though, is the story for sure.
Was this review helpful to you?
Wish it was longer
Review is for the Special Edition. The way I feel about this one is similar to how I felt about the first one — everything about the leads is great (the chemistry, the tension, the banter) except for how much time we actually got to spend with them. I'm glad the misunderstanding wasn't dragged out, but it also made it feel like drama for the sake of drama between the two seasons. I also thought the side characters' story was decent, but once again, there were so few episodes that I would've preferred getting more of the main leads instead.Ultimately, I still think I prefer season 1 over 2 for its innocence the campus setting, but this is still a satisfying ending to the story, and the OST is beautiful.
Was this review helpful to you?
A badass FL and the perfect balance of thriller & romance
I went into this one kind of nervous — I thought it would be pretty soapy and I'm not a huge fan of dramas about catfights between rich people.BUT. Wow. I was so impressed right off the bat with the FL's personality. She's strong, straightforward, and stubborn, and most importantly is proud of who she is and stands up for it. It was so refreshing, and the drama did an amazing job of making her still seem human and flawed, susceptible to temptations. I couldn't have asked for a better protagonist or a better actress; Park Gyu-young absolutely KILLED it.
I also found that this was just the perfect balance between thriller/mystery and romance. Their scenes fit seamlessly into the plot and of course they're the scenes I'll always go back to rewatch.
Plot-wise, this was just so bingeable. There are annoying side characters but they never overwhelm the plot (or our main lead), and they're actually given each given a bit of backstory as well, which also never seemed out-of-place.
I do think there was a trade-off to be made with the 12 (instead of 16) episode format. On one hand I really loved the fast pacing, but I also wish we had a little more time to handle the final conflict/mystery. There are some more confrontations and reunions I wish we got, some more conversations I wish we saw. But it's small potatoes in the grand scheme of just how much I actually enjoyed watching this show.
Overall, I'm still really impressed with how they wrapped up the ending. It's immensely satisfying but I wouldn't be opposed to a season 2 considering the suspicious final cameo we got...;)
Was this review helpful to you?
