I was promised angst, what I’ve got was clownery... kind of.

But I still enjoyed it quite a lot. The core of the show were the relationships and these in most cases they aced. For such perfect writing of the main characters, how come it did not move me on any deep level? The answer is easy - failed villains and unnecessarily complicated politics.

One and Only is a love story that was created and led by tragedies. The stepping stones for the relationship development were in most cases linked to bad events happening to the main couple. The tragedy led to sweetness, which led to more tragedy. Honestly speaking, Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu had more on screen chemistry just looking at each other, than many other couples with full on romance going on from other dramas. The tension, love and care was so intense, I did not even need anything more than stole glances, a few hugs and not straightforward poetic love confessions. Their bond was so meaningful, it needed no reassurance .

As individual characters, I failed not to love them, even though they both possess the traits that for me is a big sin - they were too good, too trusting and too naive. Usually, this would make my blood boil, here - I completely did not mind. The fact that everyone told me to be really for the angst might have been the reason I was not annoyed too. I knew they would have a tragic ending one way or another, and it was obvious that their good nature would be the reason for their demise, so I just accepted that fact and watched in peace.

This was especially evident with Zhou Sheng Chen. He had a really bad habit of giving people chances to redeem themselves, when it was obvious some of them were unredeemable. He took too many chances with too many people, and some of these encounters and good deeds literally led to his death. Still, it’s impossible not to love the guy. He had a personality of a warm smashed potato, yet… he was perfect. How loyal he was to his people and the country was commendable.

Then we have Cui Shi Yi - the adorable angel. I don’t think I have ever seen a character more pure than her. I found strength in her innocence? She was for sure a passive character - she went with the flow of the things happening around her, barely ever taking any active steps herself. Sounds awful right? Somehow it was not. Somehow it was perfect and I loved her as a character a lot. Yes, we all love our badass warrior princesses, but sometimes a more realistic approach is much needed and just as charming.

We also have some extremely fun and memorable side characters, and few… existing with little to no personality. My ultimate favorite, the one and only mr. Sexy Monk, aka Xiao Yan. He was truly perfect - and by perfect I mean he had some interesting personality, he was good and moral, but not completely selfless and overall smoking hot. I also loved Feng Qiao with her badass fluff. That’s kind of it? I feel like many side characters were rather one dimensional. There were “the good guys” and “the bad guys”, but in many cases, they presented little if anything as individual characters.

Talking about presenting little to nothing - what a joke the villains were. The clownery was amazing. They be killing all the good guys, all the skilled people, and then being surprised the country is falling apart. What did you think will happen when you made THE ARMY your enemy? What did you think would happen after killing the only dude that was able to defend the border for years? It’s not like Liu Zi Xing had any plan formed on what to do next, after getting power. What a joke. I am truly curious how his brain works and how he perceives reality, because the level of denial he presented was truly something I struggle to understand.

Still, he was the best of all the clowns we’ve got. There was also Queen Dowager who showed up here and there to cause the issue for the main couple, but had nothing going on for herself and was just boring. There was one Prince that got involved because “power”, but he was also painfully stupid. Not to mention Yang Shao… this guy. What did he even want? What was his goal? Why was he on that side? What motivated him? We don’t know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

As I said at the beginning, the villains were the reason the emotional impact the show showed has just felt flat for me. The ending of Zhou Sheng Chen and Cui Shi Yi was tragic - truly it would be hard to make it more sad. But, since it was a result of constant extremely dumb decision making on everyone’s side (both the good and the bad guys), I could not make myself care. Last episode, I truly hoped everyone would just die (except for the monk), some side evil dude would win, and the whole country would burn and collapse. It was that ridiculous. I mean… 24 episodes and they changed the emperor 4 times - what the heck. It was never needed to go this nuts in the last few episodes. Having one, well written and presented villain would do the trick. You can get the same angsty result with less shit happening on screen.

Plot wise, not that much happened in the show - the main couple got to know each other, the main couple fought the evil guys, and the main couple died. Seems like nothing, yet because of the presentation, it was not boring. Sure, I skipped some scenes in the second half, simply because some characters felt extremely empty, but overall, I enjoyed the watch.

The amazing cinematography and some great directing choices had a lot to do with it. An aspect that I loved about One and Only was the fact, the director let some scenes breathe for a while. Lingering a little bit during some emotionally impactful scenes, with nothing but visuals and music was a great idea. Grounding the emotions, instead of skipping between the scenes as soon as the narrative was done. The show had this poetic quality to it. Not to mention, it was beautiful. Cui Shi Yi suicide was a whole ass cinematic experience.

The acting, ladies and gentlemen - Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu are a class of their own. To be able to present so many emotions and so many raw scenes, with the plot barely happening, and most of the interactions being so tamed - they deserve an award for it. Saying I am amazed would be an understatement.

Overall, the first half was perfect. Middle dropped in the quality, but was still fairly enjoyable, but the mess that we’ve got by the end just took all the emotional impact away and left me crying from laughing so hard. Am I evil? Heartless? Soulless? Or were the events poorly established because of the weak writing of the villains?

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This show was not perfect, no show is. But it was so engaging, I was able to ignore and not think about any possible plot holes or “convenient” plot lines until I finished it. My overly critical and overanalyzing brain was so emotionally connected to the characters and plot, it couldn't care less about any mistakes.

If I had to describe the plot in just a few words I would say: Fight against the supernatural evil, and the one hidden in humanity, that leads to bettering oneself. The format is repetitive, it’s undeniable truth. They dealt with one evil spirit, a new stronger one showed up. How come it’s not boring?

At first, the cases are simply a background for introducing the characters, creating a team work and So Moon’s dive into a whole new world. Slowly, the past connections between different characters are discovered, and the background plot starts to take a forefront position. The progression from the simple procedural plot to uncovering the past mystery and dealing with the main villain is perfectly gradual, and speaks of the great pacing The Uncanny Counter has.

The core of the show are the characters. The cast is pure perfection, and whoever was the casting director, they should get a raise. We are presented with more or less four teams: high school friends, Counters, Yung partners and the evil assholes. Each group is well written and portrayed, and even the villains are charming in their own twisted ways. I still wanted to see them dead, but I was also curious about their next actions and shenanigans. The loyalty among the young friends, the protectiveness of Counters, the moral dilemma the partner’s faced - all that made me love each and every character.

The acting is top notch. Jo Byung Kyoo is a true star of the show. His acting made me cry, scream, laugh, hit my head on my desk… He was So Moon. Kind, smol, positive, but also flawed character, that was willing to slowly learn, mature and improve himself. Easily in my top 5 favorite characters of all time.

Each and every actor committed to their roles completely. I honestly did not feel that even one scene or expression was off. I was especially surprised by Kim Se Jeong's performance. I knew she was a good actress, but she improved so much with the few roles she had previously.

Production value was everything I could wish for. It is a mainstream kdrama, high quality of visual aspects is expected though. The directing of the fighting sequences was well done, making them exciting to watch. Some of the stunts in the first episode felt slightly off, but they quickly improved and became way more natural.

I’m not gonna lie, I did not pay that much attention to the soundtrack as I was watching the show. I was completely “distracted” by the plot to notice what kind of music is being played in the background. That said, I usually don’t care that much about the OST, unless they are extremely bad, not fitting or painfully overused. After listening to the song as I was writing the review, I must say: they are good. Each has a completely different feeling and emotional quality, but they are all making me want to listen to them on repeat.

So what are the flaws? The biggest one was the slightly anticlimactic ending. With all the set up, I was expecting a bit more. Tiny, convenient plots that are either added or forgotten, like Moon, at some point, is never shown attending school. We just don’t see him going there at all. Never to be addressed nor mentioned. He is still a student, he wears his uniform… but he ain’t even close to being in class. Then we have the introduction of Oh Jeong Gu close to the end that felt out of place and useless.

Taking into consideration how well crafted the story and characters are, I was able to ignore the flaws. These cons barely tipped the scale, since the pros were that good.

Overall, damn yes. This show had such an emotional impact on me, there were moments when I had to pause the episode, since I was scared/not ready for whatever was going to happen. I loved each and every character. I was curious about the plot and how the team would deal with the obstacles they were facing. There was not one boring episode, and even though I am fine with the given conclusion, I would not mind a possible second season.

*Trigger warning: severe bullying. It’s pretty bad guys, especially in the beginning episodes.

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When the victim becomes the perpetrator.

Can trauma and growing up in a toxic environment excuse someone’s awful actions? If yes, then no one is guilty in this show. From my perspective, this show quite well presents how a person can be both the victim and the perpetrator and society should make sure not to ignore their tragic past while also acknowledging their horrific actions in the present and punishing them for them.

This is not a story about righteous characters - there are no heroes. With how dramatic and excessive everyone’s actions were, it’s hard to even call them gray. It’s a journey into madness. It presents an interesting dilemma - up till which point a person is a victim that needs help, and when exactly can we see them as perpetrators that need to be stopped and punished? Can you still be called a victim if you yourself create more victims?

Not gonna lie, what started as a “fun revenge story”, ended on a bitter note, and I’m not mad about it. I thought it’s going to be a “put morality on the shelf, turn off your brain and enjoy some bullies getting their punishment” type of a deal, but the further into the story I went, the more it made me think about it and how complex of an issue bullying is. Bullies themselves are often victims of either bullying by upper classmates or abuse at home. So here’s the question - if their actions were not excused in the drama based on their circumstances, why would we excuse what the main character did?

One thing to keep in mind - the ending might leave a bad taste in your mouth, but I think it’s fitting the story, even though it fills me with rage. And the literally last sequence of scenes broke my heart.

It’s a story of the friends trio - Kyungmin, Jong Suk and Cheol. All complex, all raw and interesting. And then there is Jin Ah. Why she exists in the show is beyond me. Clearly the story could have been told without adding her, as she is not a character in the original animation. Her being the good cop, moral one just does not fit the mood of the drama. Not to mention, the whole investigation plot line was simply ridiculous and boring. I found her to be rather obnoxious, flip flopping between following the rules and playing the proper cop, to ignoring the rules when the show needed that, but still acting like a voice of reason.

All the supporting characters were rather one dimensional, but they played their roles well and created the cohesive picture of the world presented. That said, one of the issues I had with the show was how extreme it went. It’s not exactly a realistic portrayal of school bullies as adults - everyone was either awful or went on a guilt trip that dominated their whole life. I guess the closest to a more typical story was the first victim/bully, which for me was the most questionable.

The acting was great. The two performances that stood out for me the most were Kim Sung Gyu and Choi Hyun Jin. Hyun Jin, this child - he has a bright future ahead of him. His performance also led to Cheol being my favorite character. The actor is only 14, but I could feel the pain, desperation, sadness, glimpses of hope and happiness in him. It was all so well delivered, I will for sure check any of his future projects.

Production wise, I appreciate how they did not shy away from creating truly gory scenes (yes, they were blurred, but with all the horrors I have seen, my imagination kicks in fast). Some of the pictures created were just hitting hard emotionally. The pig and wolf masks were truly detailed and creepy. Honestly speaking, I have zero complaints about the production. Maybe sometimes the scenes were a little bit too dark, so it was hard to see what was actually happening.

Overall, it’s a great drama that could have been amazing if they did not decide to add Kang Jin Ah and her whole investigation side of the plot. Still, I was interested till the end and in a strange way, I was satisfied with the ending, even though it felt a little bit half assed.

Trigger warnings: school bullying, abuse, sexual harassment, blood, gore, psychological abuse, animal abuse, and probably many more. I would not call it a safe drama for the majority of people, so be warned.

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I want to start by saying:
Roy Chiu is extremely good looking and I legit got distracted by his beauty a few times.

The movie did exactly what I expected it to do - entertained me. The plot is fairly simple and they explained the lore of the ghosts enough for me to understand what is going on. The funny scenes made me laugh, and the emotional ones made me feel things (though I'm easily moved, so this is an extremely subjective statement). I enjoyed all the characters and random English words thrown by them.

I must say, the way the movie was filmed and edited was exactly my type. From the beginning I was enjoying the aesthetics of it.

Any flaws? The final scene between the big bad guy and the hero was... extremely anticlimactic. It was built up well. I could see that male lead is trying to outsmart the villain, while Hsueh is dealing with, let's say, trauma. Sadly, what followed was weak. With how entertaining the movie was, I expected some epic fight by the end.

Overall, a short, fun movie for a relaxing evening with which you don't have to strain your brain too much. If you are searching for pure entertainment based on some crime/supernatural elements, go for it.

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Whatever cautionary tale it tries to present, you cannot focus on that aspect - you keep getting distracted with how dumb the characters are. Not to mention, the lack of realism completely ruined the poor attempt of “social commentary”.

Female lead was dumb, the police were dumb, the friend was dumb, even the villain was dumb - don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s some tight cat and mouse chase with a brilliant killer who outsmarts everyone. It’s not hard to outsmart idiots. It does not make him a genius.

What’s good? Acting and editing, some directing choices. I liked the shots presenting the world from the eyes of the phone user, and then from the angle of the camera. We never really think about how much our phones see, as we assume the camera is off. So it’s creepy to see how much one could spy on us, if they had the access to the camera itself. Overall, there were many pretty shots, they knew how to make it visually interesting.

As a side note about the “social commentary” - I am so tired of this “phones are dangerous, be careful how you use them” topics. How about showing what the true issue is: lack of laws and procedures when the cyber crime happens, lack of police involvement when the crime is being reported, worst case - ignoring the reported crime because “nothing can be done”. Criticizing the government and police for the lack of protection of the citizens should be the focus, not “people use phones in irresponsible ways and depend on them too much”.

Overall, what a waste of time, even for Im Si Wan fans.

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Refreshing concept with basic execution.

Honestly speaking, I don’t even have much to say. I’m not the biggest fan of the reincarnation trope, but it is something new in the BL genre, hence I gave it a try.

As I said, the idea behind it is fun - not only do we see the reincarnation trope, but also a new twist to it - female to male reincarnation. How many interesting ideas for plots and conflicts we could get out of it! Do we get them here? Not really, and the few we get are barely developed.

Yeon Seok was quite a fun character in a constant mode of panic for various reasons. I did enjoy Jin Gun’s performance, even though sometimes it became a bit too comedic for me. On the other hand Jeong Ha Yeon as a character just did not catch my attention at all. Jeon Chang Ha acting in some more emotional scenes requires improvement, but overall, I was not mad about his delivery.

Overall, I don’t regret watching it, but I could do without it too. It does not really bring much to the table.

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“I couldn’t properly embrace myself once, in my entire life. So I suffered.”

This review is extremely subjective. I won’t even try to pretend there is anything objective in it. Knowing there will be some kind of plot twist ruined the show for me. Before it happened, I was feeling a lot of frustration and impatience to know what it is, but since I predicted it early on, I just felt disappointed when it was revealed.

Here’s the thing, while the show has some amazing moments, life lessons concerning treasuring your life, every little moment, appreciating people around you etc, I truly did not like the majority of the characters. The last episode sucked all the sympathy I might have had for Kim Hye Ja with just two or three scenes. That’s an achievement.

I do believe the show was unnecessarily depressing and sad. After 10 episodes of misfortunes that were multiplied in the last two episodes, the closing narration just completely missed the mark for me. It was like putting a plaster on a plane crash victim.

Talking about the twists - if you start the drama knowing there will be one, there is a high chance you will predict it. For me, the expectations of some unexpected, well built twists made me disappointed when in reality it was the most obvious scenario that could have happened. Because of that, the last episodes just had little emotional impact on me - the disappointment was too strong for other emotions to surface.

The acting was truly amazing. I was especially amazed by Ahn Nae Sang, Lee Jung Eun, and surprisingly Nam Joo Hyuk's performance. While Ahn Nae Sang and Lee Jung Eun aced the more subtle emotions, Joo Hyuk truly delivered with the strongly emotionally charged ones.

Overall, I don’t regret watching it. As I said, it had great messages and moments, many memorable lines and conversations. Yet, the primary emotion I will associate with it till the end will be disappointment.

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Sadly, season 2 was far less consistent in terms of quality of the episodes. Some were great, some were rather boring.

Here’s the thing - the cast is amazing, brilliant, funny, and has perfect chemistry with each other, but the concept of the episodes lack creativity and clever directing/planning. How many times can we watch an episode about food and restaurants? What is this, mukbang? All the episodes that focused on anything other than food were, just based on that aspect, better.

Many times the production team focused so much on making the fake place “bigger and better and more shocking” they forgot to actually make it “work”. This is not Pimp My Ride Restaurant Edition. They should focus less on the place/building, and work harder on the writing of the story behind the place and the people working there. Simpler ideas would be so much harder to guess.

One more thing that started to annoy me as the show progressed was the love line joke between Jessi and Sang Yeob. Yes, at first I found it hilarious, but at some point I felt like it went too far? I started to truly just feel uncomfortable with it.

That said, it was still overall extremely entertaining, all thanks to the cast. Nara was the awesome older sister trying to fight against her bad luck, So Min made me cry while laughing because of her unusual jokes and out of the box behavior. Jessi was the queen she usually is, with a straightforward attitude and Mi Joo was the pure chaotic energy and the master of body gags. And then there are Jae Suk and Sang Yeo trying to run the show and survive.

If you liked season one because of the cast, you will still love this season. Even with some flaws, I still believe it’s funnier and better than the majority of the variety shows I have seen.

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Why am I watching this? Why am I doing this to myself? - these questions I asked myself after finishing each episode. And yet, I could not stop myself from clicking on the next one. There is something strangely addicting about this rather poorly written and acted story that makes it impossible to drop once you start.

It’s been a while since I have seen a story as predictable as this, that still managed to surprise me with some ridiculous plot lines and reasoning behind the characters' action. We get to know rather stereotypical student Sky, brainwashed Sun with some serious issue of Stockholm Syndrome, Bank - a cute puppy and Pitch, the only redeeming quality of this drama. We follow their love stories, where every conflict (and I truly mean each and every one) is based on the complete lack of communication and honestly, while at the same time, the characters complain the other party is not honest and does not communicate their feelings ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

In the background, serving as a thrilling angst addiction, we have mafia schemes that led to our main boys being beaten up here and there, almost losing their lives too many times for me to care by the end.

For a romance driven show, the chemistry between Sky and Sun was not as golden as their blood apparently was. At the same time, I found it refreshing that there were more emotions and sparkles in the scene where they stood one meter apart, compared to all the kissing scenes.

On the other hand, Bank and Pitch were rather a nice surprise. The unsureness of their feelings and slow development of their relationship felt more grounded and reasonable. The playful chemistry of them bickering while smiles did not leave their faces was just bliss to watch.

The best acting for sure was served by Sugus - that smile alone could kill. Sadly, Gun’s performance was mediocre at best. Unintentional comedy bits that were the crying with no tears scenes truly made the watching experience that much more fun, but for all the wrong reasons. I could see how hard he tried to squeeze these tears, and I truly felt bad for him for failing each time.

Overall… I have no idea why I watched it, but I for sure do not regret it. It’s one of the cases of mindless entertainment, when you just accept nothing makes sense and the quality of the whole show is questionable at best, and yet you keep watching.

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The Grotesque Mansion is a short movie consisting of five chapters, with the final one serving as a narration throughout the whole film. None of the stories are well explained or concluded, making them seem like scary stories we tell each other at night when we are kids - it’s not about the well constructed plot, but the atmosphere.

The thing that I loved about the directing was how all the cases were linked together - each chapter had a scene we already saw in a previous story, but from a different perspective.

Chapter 1 - Room 504 - The Writer
One of the weakest plots of all the 5 chapters. While the small details in the background added to the eerie atmosphere, overall I was not impressed. The story was not scary at all, but I have to appreciate the acting from Lee Chang Hoon, who played a driven writer on the edge, because his writing has not been going too smoothly lately. I could feel his frustration.

Chapter 2 - Room 907 - The Pharmacist
The best of all the chapters. From the interesting story, to the creepy visuals - I was sold. The setup for the plot reminded me a little bit of P.T., with the radio station giving news about the murder. The loop of the characters’ actions and the corridor shots that made it seem as if I am there observing the situation, made this my favorite part of the movie.

Chapter 3 - Room 708 - The Salesman
Annabelle, but creepier. Except for the "companion" making me uncomfortable, there is not much to say about this chapter. The pictures created for some scenes were nice, but overall it was more entertaining than scary.

Chapter 4 - Room 604 - The Student
Trigger warning for gross body horror. Pimples and a lot of weird stuff happening to the face of one of the characters. Rather nauseating. That said, the body horror was quite well made - no complaints on my part about the effects and makeup. The story is rather simple, and focuses more on the visual aspect of it.

Final chapter - Room 1504 - The Caretaker
Had one of the scariest scenes from the whole movie - the elevator moment got me on the edge of my seat. The Caretaker concludes the story is a coherent way that makes sense, while leaving a door open for a possible sequel.

Overall, The Grotesque Mansion is just a simple and easy watch. Good for an evening when you might be a bit tired and you want to be entertained, but without forcing your brain to do any work.

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I have strong, conflicted emotions right now, after finishing it. On one hand, it was such a beautiful and well done movie, I don’t think it could have been improved in any way. On the other hand, I cannot stop thinking about the potential this story had to be a drama.

The writing got me on a few plot twists that I didn't see coming. Some bigger, some smaller, but all executed quite well. With a limited screen time, they did a good job at giving enough exposition to ground you in the story, but not waste time on unnecessary details. The characters were interesting, and surprisingly I got attached to them quite fast. The chemistry and the switching dynamics and testing each other between Po Xiao and Feng Ren was perfect and by the end of the movie, I craved for me.

It’s definitely worth talking about the visual aspect of Wuliang - it was an aesthetic feast. Even if the plot was not as interesting, I would still finish the movie without skipping a second just to appreciate the beauty of it. The background music perfectly enhanced the atmosphere the visuals created.

The acting was also amazing. I felt everything the characters felt. Well, sometimes I went on more of an anger ride, when they felt sad, but that’s given. The emotional delivery was quite detailed. Nothing to complain about.

Overall, I highly recommend watching. It’s an old tale of “with great power comes great responsibility”, but it focuses more on the characters, building trust and understanding each other's motives, while trying to survive.

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Directing and writing chaos.

I truly have no idea what was the vision and direction for this show. What was the main conflict? What was the plot? What was the genre? It was everything and nothing.

Starting from the plot, I think Fighting Mr. 2nd does a huge disservice to season one - the cute, fun and a little bit dramatic story. Here we get full on makjang for the first episodes, that turns into corporation politics, and then into big old nothing.

None of the conflicts make much sense. Shi De agreeing to cut contact with the love of his life, because the dad said so was unbelievably stupid. Shu Yi trying to get his revenge at first made him one of the most toxic (for everyone around him) and unstable characters ever (at least that made sense, it was destructive but fitting). Then we have the "blond lady" misunderstanding and no true chat about it between the main characters. Not to mention the stolen files in the firm, which brought exactly nothing to the story - just stole the precious screen time that could have been used in a better way.

Zhen Xuan and Shou Yi romance could have been an amazing story, but it was simply impossible to do it justice as a side couple in a 3 hour story. Both characters were too complex and had serious underlying issues that should have been addressed in a more detailed manner. I am quite confused why they said Shou Yi has affective disorder though, since the ones that go into that category are stuff like depression, bipolar and manic disorder - mood disorders, so his lack of apparent empathy and incapability to form relationships with others was not quite fitting the label he was given.

Then we have the messy directing. What exactly was the plan? Was the dad supposed to be a scary controlling figure or a laughable, but a slightly obsessive comedic addition? Was the main romance supposed to be realistic struggles of the couple or over the top dramatic melo? I'm not saying you can't have comedy in the serious shows, or deeper topics in a lighter story - the tone needs to fit though. Here, it was a mess.

At the end we get to the problematic aspect of drinking on the set. For some it might not be a problem, for me it is. I see no excuse for drinking on the set. It puts the actor, co-actors and the whole production in danger. You don't just get your actor drunk for the sake of realism.

The only redeeming quality of the show was the acting and the music, and more specifically Unbreakable Love, which isn't even the original song made for the show.

Overall, season one was a good BL with nice characters and good pacing. This was just... a mess.

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All overshadowed by Kunou Totono.

I have adored Kunou Totono since episode one. I was highly impressed with the way he was able to think outside of his own mental box and see situations from another perspective. Not getting completely clouded and sidetracked by our own experiences and feelings is a rare ability most people do not possess and it’s not as highly valued in society as we might think. It’s great when you can understand your family, friends, neighbors, but what if we also can understand the logic and reasoning of a murderer? Arsonist? Kidnapper? That’s when people start to give you weird looks. With that, I truly appreciate how the drama made sure Kunou Totono’s ability was an asset people valued, not a weird characteristic that made people avoid him.

The character had almost amazon comedic timing. The number of times I laughed at his unexpected reactions and lines, completely flipping any given situation upside down.

On the side note, the drama has an “eccentric male lead” tag, but for me Kunou Totono was autistic. On one hand I wish the show was clear about it, on the other hand I know how giving specific labels brings a lot of criticism concerning the portrayal of autism.

The performances were great. As the title of the review says, Kunou Totono stole the show and Suda Masaki’s acting had a lot to do with that. To make a character so unique and yet so relatable is a skill. His character never felt empty and it was clear that even though he might have not shown a lot of emotions, he was feeling deeply - all thanks to the subtle changes in the facial expressions. My favorite bits though? His “surprised pikachu” face.

While the cases were fun to watch, they were not exactly that complex or unpredictable. The writing was not vague about the clue - you’ll see what’s coming before they actually show it on screen. Similarly, the special commentary was both interesting and disappointing. The abuse was a subject that kept coming back, but I never felt like they went deep enough into it to make it more meaningful.
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If I had to state what the biggest flaw of the show was for me, I’d have to say: the satisfying ending. It’s not a “I wish the second season happens, I want more”, but rather a “Second season needs to happen, I need more answers”.

I also found the commentary about women in the working environment (in this case police) rather confusing. What exactly did they try to tell me? With how on the nose many “messages” were, the lack of clearness in this bothers me quite a lot. I didn’t really like Furomitsu Seiko as a character either, and I feel like the writer struggled a bit with finding her a fitting place among other characters.

Overall, extremely enjoyable, with interesting directing and editing and a lead that is impossible not to love.

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We are shaped by our circumstances.

Preventing abuse is not a matter of personal choice, it’s a collective effort put into shaping the society so we won’t become numb to other people’s pain and ignore cries for help. Getting out of a toxic environment is only the first step, getting help and support to deal with the trauma is just as important. Without it, we will most likely than not continue the cycle of abuse, becoming perpetrators ourselves.

This perspective is clearly visible in the drama. The characters that, after facing traumatic events, were embraced by supportive people, felt a sense of emotional security and grew in a caring environment did not grow up to be abusers themselves. The less fortunate ones could not break the cycle, never learned how to cope with their piling issues, all they knew was how to project their problems onto others - in this case, children.

If you truly sit down and think about what was presented, you will feel uncomfortable. It’s hard to both feel bad for the villains for their past hardships, regret for them not getting the help, while also seeing them for what they now are - abusers. It’s extremely hard to comprehend the idea that a person can be both a victim and the perpetrator at the same time. It’s hard to root for rehabilitation of the offenders, when children suffer. The constant question: do we want revenge or justice? What does justice mean? What’s the goal of the punishment? What should be the goal of any action? The drama does a great job at making me think about these questions and what my answers would be.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the exploration of the role of mothers. The variety of different perspectives was beautiful to watch. The struggles, pain, but also the happiness and fulfillment one can feel when they are a mother. The fact that just because you gave birth to a child does not mean you can call yourself a mother.

Sadly, there were also aspects of the show I did not like. For example, for a show so well written, it’s a crime to have such a stock character serving the purpose of plot device and savior only - Jeong Jin Hong. He did nothing and presented nothing except for helping FL when the plot needed that.

Another aspect I didn't not quite like - the lack of presenting the society and media’s reaction to the kidnapping case. The show had a strong message about social awareness, but they did not really do much to show different social takes and perspectives on the issue. The middle part of the drama could have been a bit shorter, so the trial would last more than half an episode. That’s when you present the ideas and debate worthy takes on the issue.

On the bright side, the performances were amazing. Lee Bo Young obviously delivered a heartbreaking and touching portrayal of Kang Soo Jin, but we all know the true star was Heo Yool. Extremely hard role for a young actress, yet she carried it with amazing skills.

Overall, a beautiful and touching show presenting heavy topics. It was not easy to digest everything presented, there were moments that made me angry, sad, uncomfortable - but it’s the charm of this title - it evokes raw emotions and makes you reflect on presented questions.

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Fairly entertaining, insanely ridiculous.

Did I have fun? Kind of. Did it take me 4 hours to finish it? Yes. Did I feel bad about being bored while watching all the kids dying? No. And that all kind of sums up all the problems I had with the movie.

Personally, I’m the person who needs some kind of explanation for the events happening, otherwise I cannot connect to what I see on the screen and I get bored. And we got exactly zero explanations in Battle Royale. What was the goal of the law? What was supposed to be the positive effect it has? What was the motivation make it happen? We don’t know and I honestly cannot think of a truly logical one myself that would make sense in any universe. So the movie ends up with being just… kids killing themselves and each other. And that’s kind of boring.

That said, there were two aspects I did enjoy:

My favorite part of the movie was for sure everyone taking their sweet time dying after being shot 4868374587439 times. They do need to give their final monologues after all.

Jokes aside, one thing I truly liked is how the kids are accused of basically the collapse of moral standards and crumbling society, but as the movie progresses, we see many flashbacks of all the adults who failed the same kids that are blamed now. Great way to showcase how youth is often blamed the negative consequences of adults’ actions and decisions - still relevant 23 years after the movie was made. It’s not the kids that ruined the society, it’s the society that failed the kids.

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