Thought-provoking family satire with leads who carry the show

Loved this show. It aimed to be a "modern day fairytale" while also moving things along in a satirical way that took subtle jabs sprinkled with comedy at societal problems, lowering the entire melodrama quotient. At their cores. the characters were real humans, but the writers chose to add a layer of unreal quirks to them, IMO, in an effort to lighten the show and make it thought-provoking instead of preachy and judgmental. They all reach points of vulnerability and seriousness in their arcs -- and then rocket back to unbelievable(except for the main leads). I thought the dialogue and plot progression was very cleverly done.

I LOVED the main leads. FL Sato wasn't the typical doormat, nor was she the typical rude idiot using "badass" as an excuse. She was strong from within, and knew when to compromise and when not to. I love her dialogues - she's respectful and kind but also stands up and directly addresses people's mistakes and prejudices, elders or not.
I ADORED ML Miyama Kenta. Confrontation isn't his strong suite, so I love how unconditionally he supports Sato whenever she stands up to confront something wrong in the family. I also like that Sato totally knew what his family was like and chose to take them up as a challenge, instead of being the usual surprised lamb-led-to-the-slaughter FL. Their chemistry was soooooooo cute, a big reason why I managed to get through the gritty, frustrating parts of the show.

I didn't really like the very last plot arc, but in this show, it made sense. I guess the writers couldn't come up with anything else because the relationship between the leads was so strong, trusting, and unconditionally supportive.

Read More

Who said this was 2023's best cdrama?

It made no sense from start to end. I was in the mood to watch a really nice fluffy trash drama, and that's the only reason I made it through all 24 eps. The writers were high on somethig serious, and ended up putting in every single drama trope in existence - illegitimate children, car accidents, murderous family members, corporate warfare, old rich grandpas, doppelgangers, supposed dead people coming back to life, spoilt rich psychos, idiot women who blindly chase uninterested men, drowning, ML trauma, underwater CPR, computer-savvy and hottie bodyguard sidekicks, lies, noble idiocy, crashed weddings, childhood trauma, parental favoritism, endless fighting for the CEO position, kidnapping attempts, weird foreign actors -- you name it, the writers managed to stuff it into this.

I'd say the most exciting parts were the first 6 eps and then directly skip to ep 16. The FL starts out dumb, is hella cool in the middle, then gets a little dumber, then becomes better, then finishes off with one last airhead move. The ML was by far the most interesting person in the show, but they mellowed him down so badly toward the end that the entire "lethal' side of him disappeared. However, ill admit it, the kissing scenes were GOOD. They were really, really good.

The second couples werent very interesting. The SML had one expression on for the entirety of the show.

Read More

Comparing the Drama and the Movie

I watched the movie first and then the drama.
Things I liked about the DRAMA:
- A very detailed depiction of life with paraplegia. Writers presented all the different complications that come with the condition, without making it too sad or pitiful.
- ML Matsuzaka Tori. Wonderful actor. The vulnerability in his big eyes never failed to make me cry. He faced the world with a smile and the stubborn determination to succeed.
- FL Yamamoto Mizuki. Drama FL is a way better actor than the movie one. She displayed a good range of emotions, convincing the audience of her love, her perseverance, her respect for him, and her simple happiness whenever she was with him.
- The father-in-law/son-in-law(ML) relationship. They fleshed it out well. I cried happy tears watching the growth of their relationship.
- There were two main characters who had leg problems. ML was paraplegic and the other guy was an amputee. I liked how both faced their problems in very different ways. While ML was more mature and reserved about it, the other guy was young and hot-blooded, shouting out his frustrations, fighting back, and trying to pretend to be as normal as possible. It was nice to see two perspectives of one story.

Things that the movie did better:
- ML. I can't decide who's a better actor, but the movie ML made me fall head over heels in love with him at first sight. I loved his captivating, beautifully blinding smile. Both MLs were amazing and believable in their portrayal of a paraplegia, inspiring everyone around them with their brilliant, resilient personalities. These men were fighters. They did what they set out to do. They didn't give up or let anyone pity them. It was very easy to fall in love with them.
- Didn't have unnecessary dragging around. The drama drags around in the middle. I didn't really like the way the main leads tried to move on from each other by encouraging the SML/SFL. I found their separation infuriating at times.
- The overall message. I thought the movie portrayed it better. But the drama did quite well, too.

Read More

Refreshing Gem of a Drama Despite Unknown Cast

What a show! Five fully functional main leads with their heads screwed on straight!

PLOT:
Loved: - Intriguing and wonderfully complex plot.
- comedic but smart teamwork required to solve the mysteries.
- unpredictability
Points off: sometimes got a little too hard/boring to follow because of the vast amount of characters involved... I skipped around quite a bit (but that's mandatory for most cdramas IMO).

OTP:
Loved: - they were a practical, intellectual couple; neither knows how to fight.
- they complement each other
- No misunderstandings, long love triangles or separations.... just two characters in love.
Romance doesn't take center stage, so for rom-com fans, this is probably not the drama to invest your time in. However, even their tiniest interactions got me so excited.

FL is a lovely character. The writers managed to perfect that delicate balance— she's smart and skilled while also being innocent and sweet. She never got on my nerves for being too childish or stupid.

ML was very nice to all his subordinates from the get-go, even though he's aloof and tsundere-ish. I liked the fact that he was the one who kept overthinking their relationship. The actor really impressed me in one of his heightened-emotions scenes.

Supporting cast were all wonderful. Strong warrior men and women. Satisfactory Ending.

Read More

Warm, Holiday Feels - Least Weird J-Drama I've Watched

This was a surprisingly sweet, warm, comfortable, holidayish watch. It didn't feel like a jdrama - the characters didn't act like they were animated or had just jumped out of an anime. There were no "WTH DID I JUST WATCH?!" moments, though I kinda hate the way jdramas allow SMLs to make non-consensual moves on the FLs.

FL: Mori Nana reminded me of Park Bo Young's Do Bong Soon. A cutie who has been dealt an unfair hand in life, but with determination, seeks to find another passion.

ML: I loved the way this guy was written. I went in expecting another arrogant, emotionally stunted tsundere CEO, but he surprised me. This guy is sweet, listens well, can humble himself, and wears his goofy side on his sleeve.

Both leads had excellent comedic timing, and contrary to many commenters here, I thought they had chemistry from beginning to end. It was plain as day for anyone to see that they liked each other, but they took a long time to recognize it. I loved their back-and-forth banter, and the way they had the same dream and different skills to accomplish it.

Another thing that can act as both a pro and a con is that there are no bad characters. SFL and SML are both extremely nice people, with their own flaws, but sometimes so nice it was difficult to watch their hearts break.
The supporting cast was lovely, and it was so nice to watch the convenience store group be each others' best buddies. On a whole, i think this will be one of my holiday picks when that time of year comes around :)

Read More

Excellent Production - with Loads and Loads of Violence on the Side

Ahhh i don't want to be one of the few who were slightly disappointed with the show overall, because i can see so many extremely enthusiastic comments.
___________________________________________________________
For those worried about the violence, here's all you need to be wary of(spoiler free, without naming anyone):
VIOLENT CONTENT:
A character's head is cut off, and the camera stays on the decapitated corpse. The camera lingers on all the mutilated bodies. Blood pours generously over everyone and everything. Characters are repeatedly run over, stabbed with knives/needles, hit with clubs, mercilessly, recklessly shot(all kinds of guns, from pistols to sub-machine guns), electrocuted, drowned, rammed into walls, bones broken/dislocated. Many of the murders are done callously, with no real time to register shock or emotion. A character who can heal himself is subject to every kind of graphic violence imaginable, and cuts open his abdomen to make a point. An eye is squelched out. Limbs are blown off. Hands dipped in boiling oil. A skeletal corpse, people imprisoned in dark dungeons.
Multiple suicides by jumping/falling off high places.

AGAINST MINORS:
Scene where children are being abused(Violent, not sexual) by men in military uniforms/skin branded/shot at/made to kill each other(not shown in detail, but you can gather the idea).
Students are subjected to bullying. Extreme 17-to-1 catfight near school premises among female high-schoolers where the intention is clearly to kill(Weapons include a club and a retractable blade).
___________________________________________________________
Just finished watching, I'm unsure of how exactly I feel... the production was obviously freaking awesome, the cast did an amazing job with their characters, the plot was intriguing and full of action. Sometimes they dragged out scenes to heighten tension, but there's a line between tension and plain boring, and they crossed it a lot. The VFX and screenplay was absolutely stunning, but all the death, gore, and gratituous, callous violence got to me after a while. I thought I'd be scared or traumatized, but I got sick of it after a while. They use a main character with regenerative powers(Jang Juwon, played by Ryu Seung Ryong) to inflict and sustain every type of horrible violence imaginable. The characters I actually liked didn't get enough screen time(except Han Hyo Joo, who was amazing, as always). Zo In Sung was my favorite, playing the cool, badass, flying superhero so so well(he was also the least violent but smartest good guy, so go figure). Everyone's back-stories are beautifully written.

The kids storylines were initially a big snoozefest, but got better later, around Ep 7. Again, my favorite character, Lee Ganghoon, played by the cutie rookie from The Law Cafe, didn't get as much screentime as I would have liked, and he was the one with the most layered, intriguing personality. His story with his super-strong, mentally impaired dad jut kept bringing tears to my eyes. I would have had Second Lead Syndrome if this was a classic Kdrama, but the romance was the least interesting thing about the kids anyway. I didn't have the time or patience to watch them fall in love, and every moment was excruciatingly slow.

I'd recommend watching it for the plot and production, as long as you're okay with constant, extremely graphic violence. Many, many characters die gruesome deaths, with the camera lingering on their grossly mutilated bodies, but we don't really get to know them well enough to care. It just highlights the absolutely tragic pointlessness of war, and how it's the common people who always suffer most.

They tied up the ending for the main characters pretty fine, but hint heavily at a season 2. Lots of open endings with the overarching crime plot/villain-scheming...
I feel a sense of fatigue with all the repeated violence, and the attempts at bringing heart-rending scenes kinda fell flat most of the time, imo. I only really cried once, and that was when a bunch of young ordinary soldiers(none of whom we know and who we never see again) die in an NK-SK superhuman scuffle, and that's because I cannot stand such scenes no matter what show. Watching high-seated officials send young boys into meaningless death and destruction makes me see red and bawl my eyes out.

Read More