best of cdramas

this was a great cdrama, and before the buts I'll talk about the good points:
1- the fl was the main hero, she woke up 1st and she "solved" most of the problems, though at points they did seem to always praise the ml (once the cop even praised him for remembering "something" but at that timeline the fl did all the work)
2- each passenger had their own lives, as the leads suspected them all, each one of them revealed their own struggles and hardships (I do think they glossed over them too fast, but in the end they were all "heroes" eventhough most time lines they didn't want to intervene)
3- the cat guy UWU
4- the different interpretations of how each action resulted in a different reaction (though they were a little too repetitive at times)
5- I'm glad the final showdown was done by the fl

now for the buts~
1- I think one pervert one time was not enough for her meltdown. if someone touches you, SCREAM right away. there were many people there, her story felt like a simple "backstory" on why 2 people wanted to blow up a bus..
2- going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment, which is sad cuz that dude deserved worse...
3- I thought this was like that ep of "Mystery to Iunakare" where the kidnappers took the bus with all the suspects of that event, though indeed it'd have been harder to track down the pervert which results in my "solution"
4- this should've been revenge. like they did find the pervert but he got out easy and they wanted more..
5- at one point the ml was too controlling, the fl was the hero that did most of the job while the ml always nagged her
6- this needed half the ep counts, they had too many repetitions
7- I'm not into cdrama osts

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different but annoyingly different

just like sweet home and squid game, this was unlike the "usual" kdramas, well the zombie apocalypse part, the highschool romance angst was actually exactly like any other school kdramas ;)

for a zombie apocalypse, it's not usually from a teens' pov. and usually it doesn't revolve around bullying.. but that was it's charm..
was it believable? lol of course not.. those kids never ate anything for 3 days straight, and they barely slept, yet they had enough strength to run, fight and hold back zombies who are known for their speed and power (like those chombies showcased, there's no way those kids could've survived that long)


Tbh prez should use her strength more, I mean if it was a guy chombie he'd have carried them all out and saved the day by now.. prez only threw bully off the roof once..

that bullied girl eating bullied boy.. that's not revenge, he couldn't protect himself she shouldn't have expected him to save her.. she needed to take revenge on her bully.. she should've stayed in the school then found her bully bullying the kids so she'd save them and have her revenge
her revenge against "the whole school" made no sense cuz as those kids showed most of them didn't know either of the bullies or the bullied..

also with cheong san's mom, he should've shown more disbelief, and also she shouldn't have gone there, also where was his dad?
it's like the mom, the fls dad, the bully, the bullied girl, they were all just steps to get the story somewhere.. but they just mostly needed less eps and less reason to drag it out, like that whole flashbacks sequences..

Cheong San didn't deserve this.. the bully was attacking him and he defended himself.. he did not deserve an eye for an eye


The 2 cops are just adopting any kid they find🤣🤡 I was waiting for them to run away with 1 kid now they have 2🤣🤡🤡

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improve drama

if this had any realness to it, they'd have all walked out alone. I looked at this like I do any other drama, cheesy writer with cheesier acting. but I still enjoyed it cuz that's the main element in entertainment, CHEESE~~~~~

this was 100% scripted cuz no one would act that cheesyliy, falling in love in 8 days? choosing and fighting for someone you know nothing about beside their ideal type? rejecting someone before talking to them? they were all basically trying to not end up alone and get more screentime, do I blame them, nope.
did I enjoy nagging about every single contestant? yes. do I think any of them showed their true self? no. do I care about their real personalities? also no cuz I'm pretty sure all of them would be more secure of themselves when faced with real people they're interested in ;p

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great cgi, solid plot and reasoning though it is repetitive and obvious. the horror elements were nice and best of all it's always great to have kickass female characters and villains.
it's also refreshing that the "husband" is the one who ends up hurt while the fl is the one chasing evil

Uhm Ji Won is an amazing actress, she's versatile and totally believable in her role. Jeong Ji So is like a Kyoko, better at dark roles, though she looked more like an idol than her awful drama. Jung Moon Sung is not the "typical" hot tall buff ml but he's 1000% better and totally admirable, as someone who fights with all his strength, someone who doesn't fear the fact that his wife is a total kickass boss and also doesn't mind staying in the sidelines.
it's so so rare to see a happy, alive, married couple in dramaland, honestly I love them~


the revelation, the villain and the end are all predictable, but walking corpses that steal/drive taxis and fall from staircases? scary and a nice enough twist on brainless zombies

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nobody knows

in the drama Nobody Knows they say this line, no one really knows what happened during a crime, everything is just a recap from different povs, so no one can really know, especially the people looking for the answers..

1st off, the acting was OFF THE CHARTS, and the whole idea of showing the pov of the "falsely accused" without revenge or random BIG corruption was refreshing

this had corruption, this had people who didn't care for the answer they just wanted someone to blame, they wanted to wrap it up, but it had more substance than the usual

in 2021 especially I felt like dramas have failed to capture my emotions, I used to cry over anything but lately it's just meh. that's why this was different, the emotions embodied by KSH was amazing, I could feel the tension, the struggle, the heartache and even the final emotinal burn down.


I'm not a true crime fan or whatever but I've always heard this, when they interview neighbors and witnesses of a serial killer they always say "he was quiet", "he was a good student", "he was clean cut and handsome and soft spoken", "I could never imagine he had 100 bodies in his basement"

and that's why the cop is so focused on KHS. he looks nonthreatening, he looks pitiful and vulnerable and that's triggering for him.
the prosecutor just wants to win a big case and that lawyer lady just wants to be known as the person who had that case

basically everyone was projecting their own greeds on KHS and that's why his situation is heartbreaking


SPOILERS

but if I may be the critic I am, I didn't like eps 5 and 6 because they added nothing to the drama, it was just repetition. I also didn't like who the killer was... they questioned EVERYONE, beside the drug dealer... the guy that was beneficial in the 1st trails verdict reduction? they never mentioned it again.. she gave him the drugs.. tbh I don't know law but if he had killed under the influence of drugs she gave him then as they 1st said, he didn't "do it on purpose"
it's like 14 days.. after the whole "whodunit" they go and say the killer was severely drugged

anyway... the way they caught the killer after the trails, the way the last ep played out, the scene of him on the roof (even though I get the heartache of him becoming so detached) was too long, and then they bring another similar case.. atleast he has more experience this time
but overall, I wanted to see what will happen to KHS.. would he recover, go to law school and defend the falsely blamed, or would he get eaten by the darkness and drugs..
also my poor Ji Taeand bone breaker ;(

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slice of life

in 2021 dramas were in a slump, and I was in a deeper slump, but this drama was really fun. it was emotinal, it was layered with great sismnace, women that depended on themselves, and best of all the non existent romance that was better than 90% of romance genres

my favorite part was shipping jena and jaehyuk, whether it sailed or sunk didn't matter cuz that chemistry was FIRE. jena looovved to get on jaehyuk's nerve, and he was so mushy and overreactive despite being "evil" and cold that it was all just too adorable
atleast now I have material for my article about ships ;)

I also really liked the music alot ;) I high key stan KillA the most xD and I wish they'd release all of the songs.

I do admit the trauma and the drama got to penthouse's ridiculous makjang level, like they should've stopped at ep6(?) when jena and hyunji had that greatly acted emotinal breakdown scene

everything after it (and before it) was like SSSAAADDD, oooh light of hope, nope SSSAAAADDDDD, well maybe hope BUT NO..
as a youth slice of life sismance drama about idols, this was great and fun and I NEED hani and shiyang to reunite!

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This drama is short, only 12 eps with 30 to 40min each ep, but it was so FULL of content. it was heartbreaking, hilarious, full of life lessons, friendship, romance and even second hand embarrassment xD

honestly, after repetitive sadness, and draggy plot lines, I barely laugh or tear up with dramas, but this made me cry and laugh at the same time!
I envy their friendship so much and I really need to adapt their life lessons.
life doesn't always follow your plans; they all had a different "job" they dreamt about yet life had other plans and non of them stayed in the same field.
they thought life was fun and games yet they faced so many different struggles and hardships..

now, I do feel like the stories kinda felt like dejavu, but at the same time it felt refreshing, especially with Siwon as the ML xD

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non of them can act, zero chemistry and zero interesting plot line.. also they repeat their osts way too much

what is that awkward, slow mo, random love square, horrible voice fl that's trying way too hard to be cute, and the brooding dude that's so squeaky?

it's like gen z killing the beautiful school series, though tbh the school series "made it" because they always had good main actors, atleast they had ones I liked xD

I mean, it's kinda school 2017 but different cast.. a friend died, the fl loves a random hobby, the ml is brooding, they're "enemies to lovers" and they have 2 randoms who're in their squared love line

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best of 2021, best of "romcom"

tbh I'm not a fan of romcoms, or romance genres in kdramas, and it's not because I look down on them, but they're always so repetitive, and that's why this show was so great
it had a normal meeting, normal relationship, flawed characters, crushes, heartbreaks, goodbyes, new meetings. it was not "destiny", it was not "perfect", there were no evil mother in laws, no orphans, no poor fl/rich ml, no corruption, this was a slice of life romcom~

yumi had a job, she was independent even though she easily let love "change" her values. but as time went on she learned and grew.
the "evil" 2fl was not a random force trying to break them up, there was history, reasons and conclusions
also, woong was not loved by everyone just because he was the ml xD usually the jerkest of the jerks have their own fanbase and no one can complain about their many flaws, but here people accepted it

and, the people who criticized him learned to love him and get heartbroken in the end ;) he was not bad, he was not selfish, he was naive and inexperienced just like everyone else. he had his dreams and he wished for love, he just didn't know how to balance them and that's so relatable

I'm actually sad this ended so fast, I hope s2 comes out fast ;(
I've always wanted a show where the ml wasn't set in stone, and thanks to a spoiler that was thrown at me, I know the 2nd season won't be cut and paste either xD

this, this actually is kinda like How I met Your Mother xD you don't know who the "husband" is and that's fun, not for 7 seasons, but it's fun and new


tbh, since it is seasoned and there needs to be a "finale" the last ep was meh, but I just loved the whole journey. also the ost was lit, it had gaho after all~

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this is not my type of story though the "inspired by real events" always gets me.
though the movie was not boring during the 2 hours, I still wished for a little more touching moments, and maybe angst but not devastation

like they could've bonded more during the night, they could've cooked together, the kids could've played together, the adults could've talked about books or music, something that gave the parting a more bitter feeling

I've actually seen a few movies like this, and I'm actually glad there was no sudden hidden evil because no matter what, there was too much evil there ;(
though I knew someone was bound to die, no wonder I liked Koo Kyo Hwan, he's the D.P cutie! that makes it sadder ;(

behind every conflict, behind every war, there's normal people who want normal things but they're in situations they can't control ;(

sad, heartbreaking, violent, scary, devastating and yet heartwarming and hopeful TT_TT

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ironic, symbolic, nittygritty and overboard

the acting here was great, Jung Ho Yeon as a rookie was a great addition, I'll look forward to her upcoming work

tbh, the games were simple, though it looks good on paper, it actually was boring. I get the irony of making people kill or be killed with child games, but having seen things like the genius, the hunger games and saw, the child games were, child games

their "twists" as well were meh. I did see behind the black mask right away, though there were a few "oh" moments even when the expected happened but it still made me "oh"

like the final 2 deaths.. tbh it seems unfit for people who joined a game to cold heartedly kill others, end up killing themselves so close to the end
I actually thought Sang Woo was going to try and kill Gi Hoon again

the old man, lol right until I saw his name on the last card I was wondering why not only an old man went in, but why make an old man character. to gain sympathy on the ml. to hurt him when the old guy does?
sadly that was what Sae Byeok was about ;(

this was not revolutionary or even that entertaining but still it was somewhat "different", not that different from alice in borederland, saw and hunger games but it felt new enough
I wouldn't mind watching a 2nd season though I mean what can 1 dude do against an army of rich people with an even bigger army of gunners

I did enjoy the cameos, I feel like usually "big" names like to either go in for a short guest role for funnies or well not give up a main role, but lee byung hun and goongyoon were somewhat key characters . though I wonder if LBH actually played the whole thing or did he just come during the reveals xD

ALSO, what happened to poor joonho! and his messages?!

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ghosts/demons/zombies? they have NOTHING on this! serial killers? they are a laughing stock! this was so scary, so heartbreaking, so DEVASTATING!

I watched this after seeing my mdl friends' reaction and I was not disappointed, but I do regret this so much. will this change anything? or will people label it as a dramatic "entertainment" and move on?

I thought what would be the worse that could happen? Joon Ho dying? Han Ho Yul, the sweet little breath of fresh air in dramaland character? but no, it was much much worse, even if I thought Seok Bong dying would be horrible that scene! that extra ending scene?! the writer/director is CRUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

having my own mental struggles with life this did not help and I had to take a break but I made the mistake of going back and now I'm forever scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
after a while until around ep4 I thought the ending of ep1 was the worst one, that character who's name I can't even remember, sitting sadly regretting his choice but not finding another escape. that was heartbreaking but THAT ENDING SCENE! MY HEART BROKE
eps 5 and 6, agh those two eps were so cruel. bullying was heartbreaking and disgusting but to break a sweet gentle soul like that? to break all of those sweet innocent people? FOR WHAT! WHY! why were they like that? tradition? it gets passed over? WHY!

bullying "less sever" than what happened there is still heartbreaking. removing someone's smile is heartbreaking, like if there's someone who's excited about the silliest thing and yet they want to share that with you and you go "that's your hobby? so silly/childish" and it ruins that person's happiness and that's HEARTBREAKING yet that's so "simple"
but to go and physically and mentally abuse people?WHY, why isn't it a crime! murder, thievery, BULLYING fits in those categories!









on a less dramatic side, the ost was so my style but dang it did not fit the heartbreaking mood, like I would listen to those songs if I didn't know about this drama

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my byun yo han did such a great job though I couldn't help but wish for more ;(

this was a nice full story, the plot moved in several years smoothly and gradually that it all felt harmonious

tbh I wasn't a fan of the black and white, there were 3 scenes with brief colors and I think it ruined the mood, the story wasn't about paleness of life, making it b&w felt too forced, they severely missed on the playment of the beautiful blue ocean and better the actual washed out colors of "poverty", I felt like most of them wore browns or beige surrounded by sand and that would've gave them the dry vibes more
the subtle human interactions and friendships were really sweet though it feels bitter sweet with no real conclusion unless they wanted to convey "home" is the best place

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the characters in this were really well developed, Kyung Mi was a normal fragile girl next door but that didn't mean she was not capable.
she was smart, she was scared and she was so sweet hearted honestly she was too precious!
Kyung Mi's mom was also smart, honestly most movies make the female characters too naive or dumb and easily fooled but both mother and daughter used their brains and they communicated.
there were small details in their relationship that made them so endearing and believable, like the mom pulling Kyung Mi behind her as if that tiny fragile older lady can "shield" her taller youthful daughter, but it was such a mom thing to do

Do Shik as a psychopath was so captivating, psychopath's lie and he did it so well, like the way he switched characters to fit the scenarios and make the public believe him and even get away with the murder he reported, that was a great move
it also made his downfall even more satisfying.

Jong Tak and his sister felt underdeveloped, tbh even that full long running sequence mixed with him getting fooled and leaving Kyung Mi the 1st time made me reduce my points because that was obviously a ploy for the length of the movie
it's not bad, like the movie happens in "one night", if not even around 4 hours. Kyung Mi and her mom met, the psychopath came in, they went to the station, he followed them home at around 12am


the saddest part was those army kids.. if you see a scared girl, you don't return her to the guy that's following her, even if he played it well and pretended to be her worried brother. heck I've helped lost kids at the mall find their parents and I still wait and check if that's their parents even if just by action, I'm not anticipating a kidnapping but when someone cries and can't talk, you need to observe the situation

I also loved those danger poles, I hope those are real, I've never seen a movie brave enough to add that especially since it can "solve" the chase. though in this case it added depth to the struggles of people with hearing impairment.
though I didn't like how people almost treated her like she's dumb or like a kid. she just couldn't hear or talk, there was no problems with her coherent thoughts
though it also does add the depth of how people treat "different" people

as for the "music" I really loved the times they showed how the world "looked" like from her silent pov, that was a great touch and overall I think the director used the deaf part to enhance the story, and not made it an excuse for the hero to fall. I also liked how they had their phones with them

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I had more fun watching this than watching dramas xD
at some points they wanted designers rather than stylists but kids these days are too into distortion and layering that I sometimes didn't blame the judges
sometimes they were too cruel, those kids all had so much enthusiasm and it was so sad to watch the excitement leave their eyes when the judges nitpiked everything beside the "good" members.
I wanted to see more styling and challenges than getting more bonuses for creating new pieces by cutting and sewing. atleast I hoped they taught the kids better


overall I LOVED this, this was similar to my dream fashion mdl production.
hayoungie was the "fl", Ye Chan was the "ml", Seo Yeon the "2fl" and I didn't ship them I just matched their vibes to drama characters but I did slightly ship yuna and her itaewan partner Ju Seung ;p

I think they tried to balance and add a twist so they didn't always praise the best but as a "drama" they made hayoung the main character so much that she always won the ratings and she might've thought she'd win so that was sad. though I always felt like they actually appreciated yuna the most they didn't want to always back her up so it didn't seem preplanned.


the budget was HIGH, so high it felt weird. the concept was about styling and most of those kids didn't have the artistic mindset and creativity to create a new thing so the judges were too cruel to ask uniqueness of them
I loved the kids ep the best I think that was more close to "style" than designer and I wished for more eps

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