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The last episode. It was easily the stupidest thing I have ever had the misfortune to sit through.
Unlike what most people say, this first fifteen episodes do have character motivation. Is it weak? Yes. Is it realistic?
Yes. Haven't you ever made up a story simply to show off to your friends? It's pretty much the same concept here, just blown up to KDrama standards. The lie Ah-Jung told just got bigger and bigger, while her pride refused to let her admit the truth. When you think about it, the craziness here isn't any different from the craziness in any other drama.
Other than the mess that was the 16th episode, I really didn't understand the second lead girl, Yoon Ju. For once, I would like to watch a drama where the second lead girl is actually not a bitch. I mean, there HAS to be a reason the main guy fell in love/used to be in love/currently loves/ hinks he loves/respects to the point of love/loves to an unrealistic degree/loves even though he has been friendzoned/loves even though she left for America/loves even though-
Well. You get my point.
The second leads in dramaland make me wonder if pretty much all it takes for a guy to fall in love with you is a pretty face.
Acting: The cast here was star studded, with Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan acting as the main leads. They carried the otherwise nonsensical story with their amazing abilities. However, it was Hong Soo Hyun (So Ran) who really stole the show. She conveyed So Ran's craziness perfectly and had me cracking up every time she had a scene.
Music: The music here fit the overall tone of the show. Cute and light. Don't believe me? The main song from the OST is pretty much about ice cream. *Wonders whether or not to be impressed.*
Rewatch Value: I will definitely watch PARTS of this again. And I say "parts" because I downright REFUSE to even consider watching the last episode again. That's how much of a mess it was. The show honestly would have done much better if it ended at the 15th episode. However, the show had tons of cute couple scenes in it that had me smiling like an idiot.
Overall: I'd compare "Lie to Me" to whipped cream. Sweet and frothy- but no subsistence. Just empty calories. But that doesn't mean we're not going to eat it, does it?
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Story: The story deals with more than the synopsis lets on. It's not just about love and the problems the man characters face in their love lives, it's about family and healing old scars. True, the plot it a bit slow at times, but each episode teaches the main character, Qi Yue, a little bit about love. The pacing in this drama was fabulous, because the writers let the relationship develop just like a real one and covered each and every facet of Qi Yue and Jiang Meng's relationship. We saw them go through rough spots together and come out victorious.
Acting: There's a reason Rainie Yang and Mike He are A-list actors right now. They were really good in this drama. Mike He had an awesome smirk and Rainie Yang was really good at playing the more comedic scenes. Not to mention the fact that they had sizzling chemistry. Kingone Wang was pretty good too, but he wasn't as great as he could have been (on a side note, it was impressive watching his acting improve in his later dramas.) Qi Yue's mom was a really good actress too and was great as far as comic relief went.
Music: I absolutely adored the theme song in this drama. All the other music was great too, though. The OST here is one of the better ones in dramaland.
Rewatch Value: For me, yes. It was the first drama I actually *liked*, and that's a pretty big achievement.
Overall: Of course, this is hardly perfect. It's a bit slow, and more than a little frustrating, but it's realistic and told with a lot of heart.
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Story: To be completely honest, there is no story. The problem with making a drama about adults in the real world and not confining them to just a professional setting is that there is no conflict. The characters here were pretty much all between the ages of 30-40, and therefore didn't deal with the same emotional range that teenagers would have. And since AGD didn't confine the characters to just their careers or professional life, there wasn't much plot development. Pretty much all that happened in every episode is that the guys did something stupid, the audience laughs, they do something stupid again, we laugh and some random romantic development between one of the couples, and maybe a dash of family drama. That isn't to say "A Gentleman's Dignity" wasn't entertaining- because it was. This drama was uproariously funny and ridiculous when it wanted to be, and the bromance itself would have made the drama a success. The romantic pairings were about half-and-half for me, depending on how much I liked the personalities of the female counterparts (that fluctuated as the show went on), but more emphasis was placed on the bromance than the romance, so that wasn't a huge factor in my enjoyment of the show. The only romantic pairing I enjoyed all the way through the show was between the characters of Lee Jung Rok and Park Min Sook, who take the cake for best (or worst?) marriage ever. Min Sook was everything a girl wants to be when they grow older- whip-smart, rich and in control- and Jung Rok was a ridiculous pseudo-playboy who, for all his posturing, couldn't win over his wife. I liked the main couple in the beginning but grew to dislike them when all that happened by the end was stupid mind games and I didn't like the other two couples at any point.
Acting: Every single one of the actors in the F44 was perfect. They made their immature characters lovable no matter how stupid they acted. My issues came with their female counter-parts, who just couldn't act with the same intensity as the guys. Kim Ha Neul rubbed me the wrong way and I just couldn't find it in myself to like her. Yoon Se Ah's character was a total bitch and was completely off-putting, Yoon Jin-Yi's acting was more of the screechy and immature sort- complete with really high-pitched crying (which made me hate her as an actress for the longest time). The only actress here that I really truly loved was Kim Jung Nan, because she was just plain awesome. As far as the younger cast goes, Kim Woo Bin was flawless (as usual) and Jong Hyun acted like pretty much every other idol actor out there. Not bad, but needs to work on his emoting.
Music: Light and cute for the most part. Nothing amazing on my end.
Rewatch Value: Yes for the funnier scenes and the bromance. I loved the cold opens, and all the scenes where the guys were just messing around together, so I'll rewatch those. I wouldn't recommend watching the entire thing through, because the lack of plot becomes glaringly obvious the more you sit through it and eventually you'll just become disenchanted with the drama as a whole.
Overall: When "A Gentleman's Dignity" wanted to be, it was entertaining and humorous, with the type of humor that never really gets old. But at the end of the day, all it is comes down to a bunch of guys who won't stop acting like teenagers going around in a world where the consequences aren't as dire. As long as you don't overthink it. AGD is a charming drama and an easy watch.
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Story: When you think about it, this movie borrows ideas from a lot of classics. You have a little bit of "Tarzan", some "Little Mermaid"- pretty much any fish-out-of-water movie out there. So you can very obviously tell the general trajectory of this story. Halfway through, the writers infused the "witch hunt" story line, in which the townspeople are afraid of what they do not know and attempt to kill anything that poses a danger to them (because, y'know, we're all murderers at heart). Let's not mention the fact that we have the typical rich a-hole as the second lead who believes all woman have to do is cook. But I really did love how there were some very golden moments in this movie. It was really interesting watching Suni's and Cheol-Su's relationship grow, as well as watching Cheol-Su's transformation. Of course, the ending killed whatever love I had for the two's relationship, but everything before the three-quarters mark was pure gold.
Acting: Song Joong-Ki. End of story. He's a brilliant actor, and was amazing in his portrayal of Cheol-Su. Park Bo-Young was cute and fit her role well, and she also had cute chemistry with her costar. Of course, it wasn't the sizzling chemistry Song-Joong-Ki and Moon Chae-Won had in "Nice Guy" (To be honest, the only reason I was so hesitant to watch this movie was because I still can;t get over my ChaeKi ship. Even though it'll never happen. Excuse me while I sob in the corner.), but the movie wasn't going for that sort of romance. It was going for the nostalgia and innocence of first love. Also, I really loved Yoo Yeon Sook. He was pretty awesome- even though his character was a jerk.
Music: The music was perfect. It was used well and was really great in highlighting the mood of certain scenes.
Rewatch Value: For me? Definitely not. Even though I loved the first three-quarters, I still won't watch it. The ending just sort of contaminated everything. It's not that the ending was bad, it just didn't *fit* the rest of the story. The writers built up this perfect, amazing relationship only to tear it down at the end.
Overall: Beautifully directed, heartwarming and filled with amazing an amazing cast. When it comes to recommendations, I would probably avoid bringing up "A Werewolf Boy" altogether. I don't want anyone else to suffer the frustration of this movie, but at the same time I don't want to badmouth it either. I loved certain parts of it, but I just can't bring myself to say that I loved *all* of it.
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Story: Chen Xin Yi is a "sticky note girl". She's the type of girl everyone walks over and uses. At the beginning, she irritated me because she just stood there and *took* everyone's treatment of her. She didn't have the courage to stand up for herself. Meanwhile, Ji Cun Xi started out as the type of male lead who doesn't really care about other peoples' feelings, but not in such a way that it makes him seem like the biggest-jerk-you-have-ever-met. He's likable, but not exactly to the point where you would consider him amazing. I liked how the main leads didn't change (mainly) because of each other, but because *they* wanted to. In Xin Yi's case, the second-lead helped her through it and gave her that courage. I thought it was a refreshing change where Xin Yi actually gave the second lead a chance to get her affections, but in the end the show stuck with the whole "the heart likes who it likes" thing. That irritated me a little, because I thought he was a better choice for Xin Yi, but by that point Cun Xi had changed enough for me to begin to root for him, too.
And the second lead girl? I wanted to like her. I really did. And it wasn't like she was overly hateful either- I honestly thought I could root for her a little too- but the things she did and the way she treated the main characters was just too much.
Acting: Everyone was sort of okay. It wasn't like they were stellar or anything, but they worked as well as they could in their roles.
Music: The usage of the music wasn't that great- it popped up at random moments and sort of messed with the mood, but it was okay.
Rewatch Value: This drama is the first one I've seen that made me *cry*- and i have the emotional capacity of a brick. I'll rewatch parts of it whenever I need to convince myself that I have a heart after all.
In all seriousness though, I don't envision myself rewatching this in the near future. This is the sort of drama you like, but you don't love.
Overall: The mood and tone was pretty standard as far as Taiwanese Dramas go. But this one just tugs at your heartstrings in a completely different way.
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Story: Again, the first few episodes were alright. It was easy to tell where things would go and what purpose characters would serve in the story. Some characters, like the grandma, were simply caricatures and had no personality beyond hating one character. After episode 8, the plot goes in circles and becomes repetitive. The show itself felt too long. Each episode could have easily been shortened to 45 minutes to save the viewers time.
Acting: Kingone Wang was stellar in his role, Park Jung Min was very good at the cute and energetic scenes but left much to be desired as far as emotional depth went. I found the two female actresses to be annoying, and they weren't very good actresses.
Music: The music was nice and sweet. Nothing I would put on my iPod, but decent.
Rewatch Value: "Fondant Garden" isn't the type of drama you would rewatch. It brings nothing new to the world of dramas and most of its scenes can be found in other dramas.
Overall: Its okay, but there's so much better out there. I would recommend skipping this one.
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