Weak Rehash
The good:- The main character gives a great performance.
- The music is well suited to the rich emotional themes of this series.
The bad:
- Most of the charm of S1 is left behind. No mc fight strategies. Characters are not very unique. Conflicts are not interesting.
- Netflixification: 8x 30 minute eps is just not enough time to flesh anything out at all. To make it even worse, most scenes feel like they are intentionally milking the clock. You wont see anyone even reach for their phone until it rings 3 full times. Everyone talks incredibly slow, which at first seems to be for dramatic effect but at some point its just not done well, and gives the impression they are just filling time.
- Nothing new or original at all. Especially if you watched S1 and Study Group and any other basic bully dramas then there is absolutely nothing new in this, and nothing done especially well in comparison to other dramas.
- A new friend group is just inserted without much premise, and immediately just have the same camaraderie as S1 friends, which feels forced. Nobody in this season feels real/interesting.
- Highschool students played by fully adult actors is jarring.
- Bullies and thugs are all flat cardboard cutouts.
- Not a single female character in sight, other than his mom.
- Relationship with his mom is touched on but not explored at all. Barely any backstory or context for any of the characters.
- Most new characters are terribly overacted, somehow both cartoonish and also bland.
- The new friend played by a major actor is very forced to try to fill in as Suho vibes, which just feels derivative. We are also supposed to believe he is some kind of powerhouse, but he just looks like an idol.
- The fights are all just brawls, where everyone keeps their hands at their sides and just trade hits to the face while refusing to even try to block. I guess they don't need to block since punches to the face barely faze anyone
- This whole season feels like its mocking the mc whenever he fights. He will grab so many pens and just get them taken from him and endlessly whiff. He actually seems to have gotten much worse at fighting, so the entire season we just watch him get beat down. I don't think there was a single satisfying "hero" moment in this entire season.
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Great FL performance, mediocre mystery
The good:- The FL performance is excellent. A unique and interesting characterization, just tons of aura
- The FL wardrobe is also excellent. At times it felt like he sheer number of wardrobe changes she goes through in the early eps was unnecessary, except each outfit was so good we just say thank you and ignore the plausibility
- The FL and ML relationship in the middle arc was pretty good
The bad:
- Everything about the mystery in this is both very obvious and handled super heavy handedly. Just every beat it feels like the writers are yelling at you "ISNT THIS SUSPICIOUS!" Just a total lack of subtlety
- Something about the broader cast felt weird, I am not sure if it's a result of being a disney production, but it felt like a lot of the bigger named actors in support roles were trying too hard to like "be an amazing actor". I am not sure how to convey this quality, and it may have been more a result of the directing trying to emphasize those side actors and imply maybe we should suspect them or something, but whatever it was kept taking me out of the scenes.
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Sweet and cute and pretty funny
Overall I enjoyed watching this. It was sweet and cute and fun to watch.Absolute best sister. <3
Vicky is a genuinely interesting character. One of those characters that even the slightest difference in the portrayal could make her a very different character. But to me, she ended up being quite compelling.
The only real criticisms I have are that the camerawork feels a bit more web-drama level than polished. And the writing is a bit clumsy at times.
But it still tells a pretty sweet story and the story and emotions involved are actually pretty interesting, the history, the insecurities, some actual thought put into the emotional beats.
Oh and for some reason the OST is all like 90s sitcom style soundtrack? LOL not saying its bad but it is ...weirdly specific in the vibe that it brings.
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Cozy and visually stunning
THE GOOD:- Everything is gorgeous. The sets and cinematography are going all out to create beautiful, magical, cozy, warm experiences
- The plot is cozy. There are conflicts, but they don't drag on and they always feel warranted and realistic. Some angst but nothing terrible.
- The character motivations make sense. This shouldn't even be praise; but after a lot of shows lately, it stood out that this show actually provides plausible character motivations for each character action. Each thing leads to the next.
- Good chemistry, nothing feels awkward or forced. (Except when its supposed to)
- Hilarious side characters. I always love side characters, and the coworkers in this really delivered
THE MEDIUM:
- The theme song is not very good, and is also overused, but also the sound engineers did a good job of how it was used? And also adding diversity by using some variations of it. Some effort was put in, but the song itself has a gratingly circular melody.
THE BAD:
- For me, I would have liked to spend more time in the period before things are "out in the open". That is a very fun period of light misunderstandings and flirting, that was finished too soon. A few things about the pace move on a bit quickly, but we are trying to tell a full story in 8 eps so I guess we gotta keep moving.
- Too much focus on intimate scenes. It's fine if that's what you are looking for, but that isn't why I'm here. One would be sufficient.
- Tons of PPL. I have grown to accept a lot, but it was pretty jarring at times they are like a jump scare as we cut suddenly to a product.
- Some plotlines felt a bit undeveloped. But I mostly forgave that, because they didn't sacrifice their actual purpose to fit the space they were given, they just could have been fleshed out a bit more.
- The parents were pretty awkward while also being focused on too much. They also had a somewhat vague or handwaved setup -- everyone is living in what looks like a very wealthy neighborhood, but both single parents don't seem to be working. Meanwhile financial matters are also a central plot conflict as though we are a low income family. There was some dissonance in this part of the premise.
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Mixed review
Flash review--So apparently if you are a fan of the source material you have to hate this. But if you aren't then you may have fun.
THE GOOD
Pretty fun action
Some interesting setting/story stuff. Some very creative things, and calling it "scifi" or "superhero" doesn't seem to encompass that aspect well enough. Perhaps pushing into creating a new subgenre or at least some new ideas for scifi
Some of the emotional moments landed well. This actually is the big difference for me between it being bad and having been worth a watch.
THE BAD
Way too much CGI, and the CGI looks cheap. Regularly stuff doesn't even look like it belongs in the scene, it is more like its just animated on its own and laid on top of a background.
A lot of the action doesn't even make sense. Just punching stuff because its cool to watch bricks flying, without considering if the character has a reason to punch that. Maybe this aspect is "fun and cartoony" if you are just eating popcorn
Way too rushed. This is clearly an episodic plotline, with separate plot arcs that happen in each location, that should have been an 8 episode series, but just forced into a 2 hour runtime. We could have actually cared about these side characters a lot, but there isn't space to flesh them out enough
That forced pace was also costly when this includes a lot of unique setting things, and its all just kinda forced at you or mentioned in a gestural way without actually establishing anything. Without clarity about the "rules" of the setting, it is hard to feel like overcoming any conflict is "earned"
Yet another kdrama that thinks a bullying plotline is the greatest way to build a hero. But of course it doesn't even handle it well.
Oh and the final fight is corny as hell, empty calories of CGI fighting
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Great characters and disappointing writing
The characters in this are really enjoyable; vibrant and expressively portrayed, I really found myself caring about so many of them. We get something like 4+ romances so we get an assortment of types of couples. Unfortunately the writing and pacing are just really rough and the vast majority of time is spent avoiding real plot and just circling misunderstandings and lying and hiding from each other.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Maybe not for me
THE GOODThe supporting characters are written in such as way as they are rooting for the main couple, as stand-ins for the audience, and its fun.
Din feels pretty authentic.
THE BAD -- BY EP2
Falling in love happens way too soon. Din has essentially always been "i would die for you" in love with her. And she immediately can tell. We don't get any of the fun flirting and actually falling in love with who a person is.
The "romance" is all just sound effects and drawn out gazing shots. Very little substantial interaction.
One of the FLs is like completely helpless. Multiple scenes are "escalated" just because she acts like a damsel instead of saying something simple like "don't touch me" or "I don't want to go with you". The entire bodyguard angle is also just based on this weird choice "pick between your neighbors who will take care of you" like what, she is a grown ass woman. If she needs security, then go buy / arrange it? Never speaks for herself, and it becomes such an assumed reality that many scenes just come across as if everyone's top priority is catering to her.
That princess dynamic is even more uncomfortable as the secondary characters are all treated like servants and it's weird. And not just that FL's supporting characters, its on both sides. Like your auntie that raised you just being a full time maid for you, when you live alone as a full adult, is crazy work. And all of her labor is taken for granted, just constantly asking her to do trivial things.
The secondary characters constantly give all credit to the leading characters. It is very heavy handed and overused. Just every single thing they do (which is always as servants) is stated out right "I did this but Din was the mastermind".
Antagonists behave like villains for no reason. Pretty much the whole initial premise that there is a threat to be protected from, is just the villain attacking her for absolutely no reason. Their interest is to marry their families and gain ownership of her land. In what way does trespassing in her home, assaulting her servant and ultimately physically forcing her into a car? Not only are those all crimes and they already know cops are watching them, but also she definitely isn't going to marry you if you do that? How does kidnapping her get you the deed to the land? Shouldn't you be romancing her? At least maintaining a cordial relationship so you can maybe buy the land? But no instead just random assaults. That /conveniently/ are not recorded.
It is all only possible because we have to pretend technology is just not an option the whole time. No video security on her farm or home, the only answer is to move in with your gf. Nobody can ever have a phone on them because pulling it out and recording would end these scenes immediately.
In theory she is already working with a cop, and investigating *human trafficking* and is still making zero effort to obtain *evidence* for crimes that we know they will commit with such certainty that we are going to move in together, that Din is going to carry a gun -- so many plotlines are relying on this premise to support. We will do everything but record them doing crime on us.
We ended ep2 with a motorcycle that for whatever reason already tried to run them off the road (so we definitely are on alert), stop in front of them and point a gun at them.............she is driving a car. A pretty big one too. Am I supposed to stop so that you can shoot me and not be run over in the process? What is the thought process of these cartoonish villains.
EP3
2 guys on a motorcycle chase an SUV because... that makes sense at all. Openly demonstrate that they are hostile / trying to kill them. At any point we could have just run them over and this is over. Instead they get in front and shoot at us from like forever away. Again we don't run them over.
They give us a flat I guess? Even with a flat we could run them over, they park right by us, it wouldn't be hard.
We also JUST established that Din keeps a gun on her because of all this stuff. But she gets out of the car with no weapon.
He doesn't shoot her immediately because... he has to say something nonsensical about her asking for it. His lines literally make no sense, and his method of trying to kill her has not made any sense and now he's not doing it so he can say nonsense. Just how many layers of a scene can make no sense?
The answer is at least one more because oh this was all a sting. We just really wanted to arrest a... hired gun for some reason. I guess they will interrogate him into rolling over, at this point I don't know what they can get from him that is worth this "plan" where she VERY EASILY COULD HAVE DIED (and should have, since she didn't run them over). Like damn, bullets were fired, they didn't miss "because you had it under control" you were just lucky. And he had a gun pointed at her in the end, and all it would have taken is 1 squeeze...
Freen walks up "I had it under control" (literally didn't) "I had to wait for him to incriminate himself" (he literally didnt do anything different right before then, he had been pointing a gun at her and shooting the car already)
And destroying any premise that Din is smart. Her plan is to block the antagonists by marrying her first, but she doesn't explain a single thing and just proposes. In what world would she do that? And then to still not have a clue that she skipped explaining something important. At some point you are lying so much that you don't even have a grasp of your partners POV is pretty bad for a romance story. But this is just played for a laugh. A proposal before they even have been open with their feelings at all.
EP4
...who could have predicted that people would expect you to kiss at your wedding. We really are going to act like this is a surprise. And then have a whole conversation about it while people are watching and chanting to kiss... But we did discuss that convincing people it was legit was important (for some reason? i forget)
EP6
We start the ep and a doctor looks at dad with a flashlight once and turns to just say "no, the movement didn't mean recovery it was just". Guess he was very sure immediately.
Yep, continuing to act like they don't have people that want to kill them. Let's sleep in separate buildings alone.
Everyone stop Rose! There is nothing we can do! We have to scream at this building instead of break a window so someone right there can climb out.
Aaaand, Din just appears. Who needs to know how or why! Moving on!
AAAAAA THEY STRAIGHT UP ASK ABOUT SURVEILANCE. Nope! She never bothered to. Despite having multiple attempts on her life. I am dying.
Rose making it all about her. Din was just in a fire, is apparently receiving no medical treatment, and has to facilitate the authorities. And she's still checking on Rose T_T Why is Rose so self absorbed.
hmm we took pictures of some people in hoods ..somewhere. but they just raid the house and of course find nothing. Gee I wonder how they will get out of this. Maybe the lack of any evidence they were involved?
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Solid run for this subgenre
You pretty much get what is on the tin.The production value is better than most shorts, feels more like a proper cdrama.
The eps are shorts though, so it stays focused on the main plotline and sees it through to the end. Not too much unique, but sticks to what it is and does it well. Pretty much just a well executed run of the usual tropes. Nothing special but not too bad either.
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Very mixed bag
THE GOODAbout half of this show is well written and treated with respect for the viewer. It actually feels like if a writer or director just made a strong effort and changed like 15% this would have soared from a 5/10 to a 9/10. Sadly big problems do more damage than the strong foundation on this one could stand.
The main romance is mostly well handled. Not like very deep or nuanced, but pretty good. It is nice to see fully adults leading romance dramas.
Refreshing to not have many of the usual overdone GL tropes. Since there's thriller plot we dont bother with the usual tropes.
...the friendgroup vibes are pretty good
THE BAD
Honestly there is a lot of bad
Most side characters are utterly flat, written with no nuance or depth and acted as though it is highschool theater. This is constant and it is a majority of the characters. It is so painful, that this aspect alone begs you to drop the show every single episode.
Massive plot holes at every turn. Pretty much everytime the thriller plotlines would reach a head, the reasoning for what happens just falls apart as though the writers are just slapping together the idea of what a cop show plot would do there. Glaring issues.
Nearly no character who does evil stuff gets any consequences. And there are so many characters being utterly corrupt and doing atrocious stuff. Zero justice here.
Fundamental misogyny in the crimes, just never addressed? In a GL? Why do these shows use so much of this stuff and just never deliver a moral?
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Cute FL and nothing else
Take the short episode length and number of episodes as a warning.The good:
- The FL is great
- The visual and music production is actually pretty strong
The bad:
- The plot makes no sense. It is really really bad in how much you have to turn your brain off
- The ML is an actual bad person. He does multiple actually bad things and treats people badly for no reason. He has no redemption arc at all, not that you can really redeem some of the things he does. And the writers just force a sudden romantic arc out of nowhere, but of course even when he's being portrayed as romantic, he's still treating the FL like an object as if you can just kiss away her objections to actually evil things he's doing
- The plot jumps around as if there are tons of missing scenes and editors just didn't care. This makes the pacing absolutely terrible, and the continuity regularly falls apart.
- The premise is never fleshed out at all, dont come here looking for anything interesting about a girl trapped in a tv show, it is used a little and then has almost no bearing on the plot at all
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Lovely quick binge
The episodes are very short, which makes the show an easy binge. The short eps definitely let to a more brisk pace and maybe less depth to be explored along the way, but it still managed to be of a quality level only slightly below a full length drama, and still a large step above other "short ep web dramas".The lead, Gia Ge, is absolutely fantastic in this. The camera loves her and her gaze can just hold its attention in a very powerful way. The plot has beats of romance, revenge, melancholy, beauty; and the show handles each with vividness and care and emphatic emotional impact.
The only criticisms I have are there were a few plotlines that get kind of dropped, or at least not as resolved as I would have liked. But everything still made sense in the end, so it was mostly just the short length not having a lot of room for more, and the writing decisions to be only... somewhat bloodthirsty ;)
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My only criticisms are my own personal preferences. It is a bit too horny. And certain characters don't get as satisfying an ending as I would have liked. But this is not a rosy drama so not every plotline will be wrapped up with justice and comfort as the point. The story is more focused on being *raw* and really looking into the complex situations of the characters.
Well actually I do have one other criticism and it might be a big one, depending on how you want to look at it. But this film, at times, seems to be showing a dark side of sexual appetites and voyeurism... but doesn't the film do the exact same thing? Commodifying female sexuality for a horny ass audience... -_-
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What if you changed every day
First of all, if you are familiar with this story from the kdrama -- these are different stories that merely share the underlying premise of what the "magic" is. BOTH ARE WORTH WATCHING!! <3This one is the movie, and it is very good. I love the underlying premise because it really does ask fundamentally, "Who are you separate from your body?" and "How much of how you are seen, is based on your body?"
These are such important questions, and exploring them in the context of romance is extra interesting.
The vibe of this movie is pretty thoughtful and a bit melancholy; the film style is maybe reminiscent of French film?
One of the only challenges, for me, is that this movie's specific approach to this plot never has the main character have a "baseline" appearance. This makes is a bit harder to invest in the character, but also makes it that much more impressive when the movie *gets you to anyway*
Also the whole furniture maker angle is very cute and charming. Really got me wanting to learn to make furniture!
Which also serves the metaphor very well, as we shape our lives to fit who we are... a person whose identity is less "stable" faces many challenges that a more stable person will not understand. And their loved ones also face their own challenges trying to love someone who is always changing. And this movie takes the time to actually engage these ideas. <3
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An interesting peek into those affected
Interesting peek into a women's prison, and the way lives are affected by it. This is a slightly gritty look at actual lives. Not gritty in the sense that there is anything particularly shocking in the content, but more that it does not add any "kdrama polish" to anything. Just real people, living in the real world, despite often not having many options, still working toward figuring out their place in the world based on the options in front of them.The writers really put in some extra thought into a few metaphors and symbolism used, which adds a nice touch as the overall story and message settle in.
When you are passing a bus with the same number, give them a wave.
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Silly and cute romcom
Overall I found this very fun. Mostly your typical CEO romcom plot.It is definitely a vshort style drama.
One thing I found interesting is that this drama seems to have given more thought to the transmigrator concept. Most dramas are just like "and then she was transported" and its probably never mentioned again -- just a mysterious maybe-godly force? But in this, the link between the worlds feels like a real part of the fantasy landscape, there is a reason for it and practical ways that it works.
As far as the characters, the ML is pretty basic. He turns a bit too sharply into the romance but its a short so whatever.
The FL is a bit more interesting, as she is a cultivator from another world she is literally a warrior. Only occasionally does this seem to be forgotten, tbh I was impressed because most dramas would drop that premise quickly. But throughout this, her posture and movements and attitude are almost always informed by her actual background. She holds herself like a warrior and walks like one.
I was also glad to see that consistent characterization because the other red flag that starts sticking out is that as soon as she is dressing modern, she is almost always dressed in a child-like manner. Which is... a bit sus. But amusingly this just means that she acts like a warrior even though she has pigtails and overalls or whatever. Haha
The other piece worth mentioning is so many satisfying slaps. ngl its my favorite part of vshorts
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