sharreb
That should suffice to hint what is the strengths and weaknesses of this drama.
Tong tong is really cute and adorable both in appearance and the sweet things he says to the mum. It is testimonial that a child brought up with love even though they lack in material wealth blossoms to a lovable person.
Wu Tong character is quite pitiful. I really cry during the first mom-child separation. Too often in real life the kid is given to a parent who seems more capable.
Jerry Yan's character is cold calculating, cynical and does not know how to love thanks to his mother. Wu Tong shows him the bettee side of humanity and also digs out the warmth inside him and his capability to care. So far this plotline looks good. But then theres the annoying famous girlfriend, the horrible mother and step brother who is also a love rival. I dont even know when the brother became Wu tong boyfriend. The flow of the story is a bit off.
Jerry yan has improved alot since him Meteor Garden days but in scenes where he is sad or about to cry he twist his mouth, seems to pout like a petulant child so i dont always feel him. You can actually see scenes where he's good and scenes where the acting is unnatural. Chemistry wise with Wu Tong is there. But i didnt like how they write the characters behaviour the last third of the drama.
I love all father and child, mother and child bits. I also like the Secretary. Focus on these bits and the drama is quite good. But theres also a lot of tedious scenes to skip.
Ive finished watching this over a week ago and instead of reviewing straight away like i usually do.. Hmm i guess this drama is quite forgettable. And definitely not rewatching.
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The characters are on the extreme end. A rich successful and prideful Lee Gun and poor normal office worker with big heart but pushover Kim Mi young. Lee Gun character is supoose to push the limits of theatrical and over the top n hence the trademark laugh which you either love or hate. What really works is casting Jang Hyuk and Jang Na ra. I almost couldnt imagine anyone else. They reunite and showcased brilliant chemistry and ooze feelings both spoken and unspoken. In fact Jang Hyuk said his character was hard to potray and it wouldnt have worked if he didnt stare opposite to Na Ra.
Back to the story the middle parts meander into melodrama territory. Again i never really like the noble high roads male otps take to spare their heroine and ended up giving more heartache and noone is happy. Ep 17 to 20 picks back up and gives me all the good feels.
I really love the press conference scene. It is my favorite. It also showcased how much growth Mi young have to be brave and speak in front of the world. If you watch it you will know what i mean.
Again i pity the second male lead. But i also love when they are not selfish. I dont care about the second female lead and am thankful her scenes arebt too much like the Taiwanese version.
Song wise the ost of the taiwanese one is actually better. Here the korean one is ok. But not as addictive or emotional.
When i have time i may rewatch the good bits but not high on my list.
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What works well with this drama is a good cast. No one single actor carries the weight of the show. All the main and supporting cast were elemental is bringing the story to life. Jong Suk and Shin Hye are very suited for their roles and most importantly they have good chemistry. In fact Shin Hye was very natural starring opposite Jong suk. Her best so far and they also haf better kiss scenes compared to her previous costars. They were cute and adorkable. Big props for the writing on In Ha's character. Her Pinocchio trait means that she couldn't lie to Dal mo or even herself. If she did her hiccups would give her away. I was pleasantly surprise when she calmly and maturely stated her feelings. Even Dal mo did not see that coming. I like how the script was consistent that in spite of the past or working for rival broadcast stations, In ha's mum's role in Dal mo's childhood tragedy, In ha always prioritise him first. Their relationship although the young love type was steadfast and beautiful in its honesty. Back to the cast, they were great actors all round from Lee pil mo as the sunbae in reporting to Gyun Sang as Dal mo's brother to Young Kwang as Seo Bum Jo who also had interest in In ha. Bum Jo's character grows on you. He had one of the greatest growth in character and was never selfish in his love (or like?) for In Ha. The baddies which are the mothers were really good in their roles too. And i love grandpa and papa In ha who provided all the homey love to balance the negativity
My qualms with the drama, perhaps a matter of personal taste it wasnt engaging enough sometimes. I did not marathon it even though the episodes were available. I watched a few episodes , on hold and came back a few days later. So clearly something is missing for me. Theres no big bones to pick or faults with the drama. Perhaps the pace and writing wasnt exactly suited to my style but i must mention i appreciate the light shed on world of reporting and broadcast. It was an eye opener and if you are a fan of Shin Hye this is her best work so far. Definitely showed improvement in refining her acting. I also think Jong Suk seems smitten and attracted to Shin Hye in real life.He was that transparent at times. (watch behind the scenes of their final shot in wedding attire and you will know what i mean)
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Big kudos to Wallace Chung who really brought his character to par and pull me in as a keen observer to the romance between him and mo sheng. I dont dislike Tiffany but they are some scenes she seem flat or come off as one dimensional.
the major fault is too long too draggy. A better editor would have seen that it needs serious editing and removing redundant scenes and too much flashbaks. i also find alot of time wasted on characters i dont care about or worse, characters we all love to hate.
Im still happy i finished but seeing as its too draggy and im too impatient for this type of drama, rewatch value is really low for me
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Successfully Woo-ed me
This was a drama that when watching really grabbed me by offering sth different to most of other Kdramas on offer. Woo Young Woo reminded me of Han Geu Roo (of Moving) in many different ways. Gifted, poorly understood by masses, loved by their dads, fixated on things, socially awkward but have so much to give.I was a champion of WYW even when I don't always agree with her decision and thought making process. I come to love her for who she is, faults and all, I attributed to Park Eun Bin's ability to make the awkward WYW so adorkable.
Society and its trials are present for every working person but more so for those special ones like WYW. They dont get the same opportunity and are expected to proof themselves even more. It's rather unfair but also the sad truth. We get that in the Good doctor too. I love that it's shown realistically in this aspect in the drama. Then there's Kang Ki Young's Jung Myung Seok, a fairy like character for WYW. He was more than just a comedic character, I love all the times he supported her and give her the leeway even when the stakes were against them. He was my 2nd fav character, on par with the ML.
ML, Lee Joon Ho, is characterised as a green flag character. He's so smitten and interested with WYW. He has a very open, and unjudgmental personality. Their scenes were all so fluttering, cute and romantic. And this is actually rather difficult, given that WYW is so awkward and clueless and has alot of restrictions. Case in point, girl hates hand holding. So she's not the easiest person to date.
The friendships were beautiful. WYW and her bestie and also the unexpected friendship with colleague Choi Soo Yeon. The episodic nature is nice, different cases based on different clients and their trials. We have a lot of range in their clients which was nice.
Lastly if I had rated and reviewed this earlier like immediately after watching, the rating probably would have been higher (but also more bias). Now in hindsight, this rating is more fitting. There are some issues with the plot. I dislike Kwon Min Woo's character and felt the last arc of him and Choi Soo Yeon was not believable nor acceptable. I also find WYW's mum hard to digest. There were just a lot of bits and pieces in the last quarter of the drama that didnt seem as good as the first three quarters.
I'm happy we have dramas like this. And I'm happy too for the recognition for Park Eun Bin, it was very well deserved.
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Vanilla
Perfectly palatable romance drama missing some zest.ML is nice and cordial. He falls first bt is a more passive personality with some hidden black belly character. But overall if you are to define him as a flavor: Hes mild.
FL is one track mind and comes off as a lil clumsy. Overall she gives off a cutesy vibe. But theres something missing and I had a hard time forming a rapport with her.
The nephew/ god son: hes the gem. Truly adorable similar to his other drama. His cheekiness translates through the screen. Hes the one adding fuel to main couple's engine
Other loveline: sister's story was nice, good juxtapose to MC and also written to be linked to ML's backstory.
Overall plot and flow: Mixed reviews
The good: Started well. Desserts are beautiful and created with story and meaning. ML finally lead his own drama, he has this gentle boy next door vibe and his acting never came off obstentacious. FL is new to me, she did fine, some minor overacting.
The Hmmm: The way its written wasnt engaging. Meanin I watch a few episodes, didnt felt the need to bingewatch, watch something else and after awhile pick up when i remember. Acting wise, FL also not reciprocating enough onscreen so the im-deeply-in-love with you vibe is missing. Hence the chemistry does not come off as that strong. After you finish you realise theres nothing that memorable about this drama. Its jus vanilla, nice, kinda sweet but lacks any punch.
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Reap Real Friendship
This season was markedly different from previous seasons. For one it gave a more steady environment and time for the house members. There werent too much upheaval or drastic last minute introduction.Then coming to the people. Suffice to say dont judge a book by its cover. My initial perception of some of them were not accurate. Evyone had more sides and layers to them. Some took time to warm up. Some are so straight forward, they came off as pushy. But again only a small part of them. Everyone had lots of good points yet to be slowly seen.
The most beautiful and heartfelt are the friendships. I like how everyone is more cordial and some are extra considerate and thoughtful. Very confrontational character stresses me out and Im glad it wasnt too bad here.
The promise of romance more or less delivered. But this time around theres 1pair that I wished were more impulsive and less logical. Theres peeps who loves the feeling of falling in love. And love seeing other people find love. I count myself and Annie Yi among them. Il be back for the next season and hope the selection of cast and house members would be as awesome as this season's.
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Abysmal plot; Good cast
Writer chew more than she could handle.There were two distinct parts of the story: fantasy romance of 2 realms and palace drama. From the moment she decides to mix the two that's where disaster starts to brew. The transition from fantasy part to just historical palace defies a lot of logic. There were gigantic plotholes in how ML goes to present, how they seesaw between they can and cannot touch each other, how someone else could hear ML, how if he sleeps he can choose not to dream of her of which he would enter her realm. And then how wishing on a special lunar phenomena transports her to the past in time to see another female of the same face passing away. And she conveniently assumes her identity. The amnesia bit was ( ༎ຶ ༎ຶ ).. All this gave me a headache in digesting and then choosing to suspend the logic thinking part of my brain to continue watching.
My biggest issue was how it then became a solidly palace drama full of scheming females and inciting unrest in the backpalace and discord among the princes. Worst of the lot is Ming Hui who has a huge grudge against Ming Wei of which Xiao Wei of present shares the same face. This palace bit starts from about 1/3 in to the drama and lasted til ep 39. So I'm telling you if you dislike palace politics like me it means a lot of skipping of scenes.
As to why i still gave a solid 7.0 scoring despite my huge grievances with the drama. Its because of the cast. Both Li Lan Di and Wang An Yu are super young but sparkling in this drama. They deliver depth where possible and their banter were pleasantly cute and sweet. There's that good push pull, action reaction when you get a CP with chemistry. Its only the plot problems that cause IQ cells of Xiao Wei to dwindle when she went back into history. The last 20minutes also gave the show some bonus points.
I wouldnt recommend this drama. I started it when going through Li Lan di's pastwork and decided to give it a go. It doesnt sticks with you like Scarlet Heart does and i dont think its fair to compare.
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Charming & Condensed
The writing is the bane and the boon.On one hand its so fast paced theres no room for dillydally. On the other skipping scenes to scenes i wish for better continuity. You can say the writer is on steroids.
If you like time travel this may be your cup of tea. Despite being a budget drama, costumes and actors were on point. And despite the story being rushed the first and second third, it manage to be cohesive and deliver an emotional rollercoaster of a drama.
Lastly theres no hanging ending..much to be my delight.
Bonus theres a sequel with the same leads.
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Action-packed but fail to resonate
Action with disaster of different settings, satisfactory cgi and stunts. But storyline, characther building, camaderie and emotional payoffs lacking.I havnt reviewed a movie in a long while. Watched this on a weekend with my kids. They were entertained in the rescue scenes. The ooohs and ahhs over helicopters, blast, sinking rig, aeroplane disaster etc etc.
There is also a need for suspension of belief. Personally I dont thk in real life situation rescue missions are carried out when it is deemed too risky, jeopardising rescue mission and endangering the entire team. So in 2 of the missions i did not agree with their call and that they would be given the greenlight to go ahead realistically.
The intro of one of the rescue member (played by Wang yan lin) and his fiance/wife and also male lead (eddie peng)'s son was part of the character building and part and parcel of setting up emotional scenes in second half and the climax. However the flow as well as the lack of depth in writing fails to give the audience enough time to form emotional attachment to them. The storyline is busy from the get go, original pilot leaves, new female pilot enters with her assistant co pilot, then assistant co pilot wants to leave too... blah blah. They com and go and failed to be important to me. The cutting and editing between mission scenes to dailylife scenes were also jarring. At times it felt like two different movies with similar actors trying to mesh together. The poor execution felt like you are forced to buy in with a promise of emotional payout that never comes. Even the ending mission also felt anti climatic. I do appreciate the peptalk and highlight on courage. But that's about it.
You can watch if you are an Eddie Peng fan or if you're in for an action flick on a rainy weekend. Just dont expect too much.
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Entertaining and also irritating at times
Acting: Eleanor as a FL was very natural and easy on the eye. She could emote. Shes also a great singer and i love the ost she sang. Connor was the weakest link. He was horrible in Meteor Garden that i was so shock hes headlining a new drama as the main lead but the MDL ratings push me to try. I can say he did improve but hes just mostly awkward on screen. Even if its a scene wheres he's standing or walking, he looks so ill at ease. His character was suppose to be charismatic and he just doesnt deliver. The only plus point is that you can still feel chemistry between the MLand FL.Story: The premise was good and NuanNuan's struggle transitioning out from a failed idol group, and starting from zero into a working culture was something fresh and yet realisticaly potrays the lives of many trainees hoping to make it big and be the next star. That and the story of finding her talent in things outside of singing kept me interested. But the romance direction wasnt so good. The pace and the setting and how the leads handle themselves wasnt as enjoyable as i hope it would be. The secondary couple although visually cute but were amateurish. I keep wanting to feel more depth about everyone and yet finding little. So theres a real issue in both the writing and the directing of this drama. Han che was also not utilised properly imo.
Rewatch. Not for me.
Note for those who are sort of interested but cant be invested to watch the entirety, you can opt to watch a FMV clip, just chk on youtube. It can be sufficient and feels you didnt miss that much anyway.
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Recapping by characther:
-Jin Myung):Season 1 i felt the most affected by Senior Yoon (Jin Myung) and by Season 2 i really felt shes come a long way and grown. Love it when i see her chef bf- wish we had more scenes of them together)
-Ye Eun had the most drama by the end of season 1. Season 2 shows a realistic and sometimes painful road to recovery. It's not easy being a survival and a victim of violence.
- Ji Won - the most animated housemate. We mostly saw her antics in Season1. Finally in Season 2 theres more on her story, And dont get me started on Sung Min. Both of them are adorbs and the chemistry together is really off the charts. (Praying drama Gods let them reunite in a drama again)
- Eun Jae - same character but recasted - in my opinion they should have written out EunJae and let the actress Ji Woo inhabit a new character. Its too confusing to see her as EunJae when you still have Park Hye Soo's face in mind. Further EunJae' story arc here is also the least impressive
- Jo Eun - new gal played by Choi Ah Ra - refreshing character and her backstory and her story arc with Jang Hoon (played by DOTS actor Kim Min Suk) was cute
The writer and pd maintains the mystery n intrigue vibe throughout the drama. Hwa Young also guest role in her sassy character of Kang Yi Na.
Keeping the episode capped at 14 was great. Story, flow and pacing was spot on. It was a lovely ride to check back in with the girls of Belle Époque.
* Fans wanted a Season 3 and i think chances are slim. I'm quite satisfied with how we were left off and hints of what's in the girls' future.
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This review may contain spoilers
If you watch the previous lanling, its completely diff with the exception of character names. This is more a love story of the females past self with lanling and her new romance as her present amnesiac self with Yu wen yong. This adaptation only inserts more of fantasy elements and looking for 2 magical items linked to Qing Shuo.
I first started watching due to many who praise the chemistry between Qing Shuo and Yu Wen Yong with the later wonderfully potrayed by Peng Guan Ying. His character seems to fill the screen more than Lanlingwang.
I find the title of this drama misleading. Thats the greatest hint/spoiler i can give you.
I would have dropped the rating to 7/10 because i did not like the ending. But for all the sweet moments of the show i maintained a 7.5. Also i fastforwarded many scene of other characters that i do not like. I always do that with long C dramas- this too doesnt escape from the need to be self edited.
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Ariel Lin was such a cute actress that really make xiang Ching ooze with adorableness. It's also the first time I noticed her as an actress. Joe's character of Zi so was the aloof silent type. A great departure from when I saw him in The rose. But the best thing was our two leads have great chemistry so much that people start shipping them in real life (although she's married now)
The story follows closely to original Manga which perhaps reduce my enjoyment of the drama. Because all the comedy side is really over the top. And sometimes the actors have to do alot of exaggeration to fit into Manga theme. So this makes its less realistic. I find I only enjoy when scene are quieter and more mellow to connect emotionally.
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