Reviews

an incredibly great series at the beginning of this lackadaisical year.

04. 03. 21.

A Tale of Thousand Stars is not just about the romance between two boys, it also represents the voices of those people who are forced to be silent; the people who chose to be quiet because of their trepidation, toxic positivity, and/or poor mindset. The issues they presented in this series are still happening today, or to be bamboozled by those who are more privileged than you. It's just sad how some people seem to forget about these kinds of circumstances, reminding us once again that we are living in this unfair world.

After watching the whole series, it made me think about my entire existence and wondered why didn't I realize the things I know now sooner? They were there, giving all their best to fight for what was right and to know that life wasn't just about staying in the shades of yellow. Honestly, there are a lot of things I learned, while also enjoying the gratifying chemistry of the two main characters of the show. It is just incredibly great to watch a series like this at the beginning of this lackadaisical year—not just about a typical sugary boys' love story, but also the untold stories of the people who are unheard.

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Destiny brought them together, love made them stay

This series is a visually stunning show with a thought provoking theme.

I liked the way the story was narrated with flashbacks. The slow-burn romance unfolded realistically and beautifully. It made their confession worth waiting for!

The major point here is that Xu Huaisong was playing all along from school times, knowing that she too had a crush on him, to get her attention and he did succeed. On the other hand Ruan Yu was admiring him ( the person he was putting up to be) from a distance totally unaware that he too liked her.
If only it was as easy as 'Hi, I know you from school times and had a crush on you and wrote a book about it. Let's try it out!"
Or "Hi, I came back because I realised you are in trouble because of our story. Nice to meet you. Let's go!"

How one deals with the "re-appearance" of a secret crush is going to be very different with no one size fits all option
One is still lingering on the crush but can't reveal and can't afford to get hurt. The other, hesitates to show himself, being always in the weaker position in the relationship.

This is one of those shows requiring patience and a calm mindset to appreciate its nuances.
It's also quite humorous .
Visually captivating.
All around good acting.
Music is very soothing especially the 'After the rain 'song played by the male protagonist on the piano
Background sound effects were apt!
9/10

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MAMA! MAMA! Anti-Fan!

Mr Queen made me laugh. Mr Queen made me annoyed with anger, made me feel empathetic. Most of all, Mr Queen made me invested. As soon as we were thrusted in the Joseon environment, just like So-Yong, we were confused about what was around us. We were constantly learning about who the real So-Yong was, who the King was, who and what can we trust, if anyone. There was a lot of drama that was so crucial and nerve-wracking. However the drama is a comedy at heart. How Mr Queen blends the two vastly different tones is near on perfect. Any superlative would do. Tonally, the comedic elements hit hard everyone, even with the antagonists of the drama. There is one episode that is one of the most pivotal regarding the plot development, and its 90% comedy. Laugh out loud comedy. And it only enhanced the storytelling. The comedy is just as important to telling the story, explaining the characters thoughts and emotions as the serious scenes. Shin Hye Sun is the heart of all this.

Shin Hye Sun and the Queen is one of the greatest performances you'll see in Television. Her character is easy and yet hard. Gender swapping characters would usually have easy tropes to go through in order to get a laugh. But Shin Hye Sun is a great mix of subtle and over the top. Not only does she have to act more like a traditional woman, she has to act like a Queen as well. To act like a lady, but with class and grace.To act like a lady, but with class and grace. There are so many layers of the character that are needed to come across to please other characters so she can stay in her position. It's quite remarkable how there are many different faces to the characters that she has to transform herself into in every scene. Shin Hye Sun’s character shined brightly not only individually but within any interaction with those around her which in turn made them stand out as well. The King, in particular, comes to mind. The King has many faces. There is a darkness there among the naive, pervy yet innocent act he has adopted. Kim Jung Hyun looked like he had the time of his life when interacting with the bizarre So-Yong, but Kim Jung Hyun delivered when it came to emotionally crippling scenes. The King has many fears and those fears become your fears throughout the drama because of the immense acting on display. The whole cast which is more like an ensemble held up their worth in weight. Bae Jong Ok as Grand Queen Dowager and Kim Tae Woo as Kim Jwa Geun were exceptional in their own right. As were the Palace employees and other friends. Chae Seo Eun, who played So-Yong’s Maid, Hong Yeon, did superbly in her debut role. Compared to those around her, Chae Seo Eun is able to stand out. Surely someone to look for in the future as a talent. The acting is well crafted as well as the writing.

There is a reason Mr Queen is one of the most popular dramas of its time and drew quite high ratings. Mr Queen, to me, is now one of those dramas that you must see. And I believe it'll stand the test of time as well.

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Went from a 10 to a 8 ( Time skips ruined it )

everything about this show is so good.. it's my favorite show of 2022 and all the 3 couples are sooo good but Dome and Vee have stolen my heart.. I love them so much ... the connection they share without barely ever speaking is so powerful.. they cinematography of the show reminds me in part to I Told Sunset About You. I really hope more people catch on to this and see the gem of a show this is.. cause it's so stunning and timeless. I don't endorse cheating plots but something about Dome and Vee I can't stop speaking about them enough. I look forward to seeing their journey for the rest of the season.

Update : the time skips ruined the show.... dome and vee got significantly less screen time in the second half of the series and it went downhill from there.

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One of the most important contemporary directors of today, Shunji Iwai gives us a suspenseful emotional ride in his latest film "A Bride for Rip Van Winkle". It reminds me a lot of "All about Lily Chou Chou"(also directed by Iwai) on how it uses the internet as the main element in the movie, how it affects characters minds and their relationship, simple chatting before social media now. This movie will make you realize how social media affects our society, how most of us make it our safe haven and sometimes create a fake identity and how that fake identity would factor in constructing our own, not giving much of a story away, the theme would be so obvious if you compare the 2 relationships of our main character had here, one living with lies and the other ironically real. Having said that, the theme in this movie was so strong and possibly the first time that was explored to this extent and just like Iwai said "I would like to show how we take to living in this world that our ancestor left us", so thought provoking indeed.

With 3 hours long this is perhaps the second longest Japanese movie I've ever seen next to Love Exposure and that is mainly because most climactic scenes were all shown in slow motion, it seems the director reiterates the point of what we should feel, some may be bother by it but I'm not as I see the reason for it, scenes before those slow-mos were so subtle so it's like a storm after a calm sea. Another reason is the criticism he is known for which is his film has a tendency to drag and some scenes were like that especially scenes that has metaphor in it or with meaningful dialogues, if you're like me who is into that then this will make the movie more engaging to you.

The film is basically a character study of a Nanami(Haru Kuroki), a part time teacher who is like a shadow, she has no personality, the film lets us follow her as how her character develops throughout the story, with Iwai's directing and Haru Kuroki's acting this film is an immersive experience. You can separate the movie into 3 parts the classic fall, perserverance, and finding happiness. The first act started when Nanami meets this guy on social media then without much thinking she eventually marries him, but the problem is she didn't have the ideal family, her parents were divorced and seems like their relatives broke the ties between them. Then she decided to hire Amuro(Gou ayano), a guy she met on social media, a jack of all trade ala Gintama, it is Amuro who provide fake relatives to her wedding. The end of the first act is strong as Nanami is humiliated and defeated and that first act sets up to a more interesting second and even third act. When I said suspenseful emotional ride I mean it as plot twist after plot twist, lies after lies got revealed but the biggest mystery is the title itself "A Bride for Riple Winke", what is relevance of that title in the story? Who is Riple Winkle? Well the way the movie reveals it is so clever, it's a work of a mad genius and definitely I didn't see that coming at all. Just like most of Iwai's films this film features misfits characters, those cut from society, this movie will depict their engaging journey and how will those character find love and happiness. Although with that engaging premise and roller coaster of emotions I had, still one important question in the movie remains a mystery although I'm sure that that was intended, I experienced that in All About Lily Chou Chou and I experienced it again here, I just don't know what to feel, I just thought of giving you a heads up cause that might annoyed you as well.

Great Cinematography to me is not just beautiful but also meaningful, it's just like in painting great painting should fascinate you, it should make you look closer to examine the details and not just stare at one and says "this painting is beautiful", you could have all the colors on your palette but if it's dull it's dull. Movies by Iwai are the best example for this they have the best cinematography I've ever seen that makes the movie so immersive and this movie is not an exception, his emphasis for lighting was really obvious here, it is stunning, extracting the natural colors in a scene, a perfectionist he truly is. Music really adds up to the emotion in those melodramatic scenes, particularly is that one scene with Nanami after the first act, the Visuals, the Slow-mo, the Music, the acting, it is perfect, I literally pause the movie and gather myself, stupid smile left on my face, instant goosebumps.

Iwai really loves using subtle actors in his films and the reason for that is because that kind of acting is most suited for his style of filming, before he had Aoi Yu and this time Haru Kuroki. Haru reminds me of Aoi Yu a lot they can even switch roles here and the strength of the character will remain the same, of course I'm not saying Aoi Yu is better, they are equally talented and Haru might even have some edge in drama and definitely in comedy. About haru's performance, I am one hundred percent convinced that this was her best performance I've seen from her and mind you I've seen a lot where she is considered great namely "emperor's cook" "juhan shutai" "little house" "solomon's perjury". The character she played here is so complex that one wrong move would make that character annoying, one wrong casting and the movie would be ruined, hard to explain it without laying spoilers, only you would realize what I meant when you watched it. There is one character I can't reveal here because of spoilers and it's a shame because I was equally impressed with her with haru and her name is not even included here on MDL. The character is crippled yet strong; she's like a playful spirited fairy and those eyes omg. The chemistry between them was magnetic, a total contrast to each other yet they share similarities, they want happiness. Gou Ayano although not as good as those two, it is his charisma that makes the character more mysterious and that is really important as that character is somewhat the one who drives the story. I have this theory about him that I will post on the comment section if you want, just click the spoiler button.

Movies like this makes me realize why I was fascinated, why I admire Japanese cinema so much, it is just that there is no other country that can offer me a story like this. Movie like this make me realize what kind of taste I have for movies, why I crave for original plot with clever twist, why I love thought provoking themes as those makes the movie to me an immersive experience. With that said, even with some draggy scenes or things remains unanswered I just couldn't give this lower than 9. Not a masterpiece but a must watch.

Check my Blog for other reviews & other JDramas stuffs. (｡◕‿‿◕｡)
https://thatjapanesedramaguy.blogspot.com/

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Richly layered. Excellently staged.

"Melancholia" is silently impressive. If you're just looking for a sweet romance, you'll be disappointed. Still, the story is a tribute to love. It's also about school, education, South Korean madness about education and the market around it, the arrogance of the top 10 percent of society, as well as bullying and intrigues for optimal certificates. Altogether it´s ambitious in several respects.

"Melancholia" is about the love for mathematics. Mathematics is for the protagonists what notes are for music lovers or colors for artists: a way to capture and express the beauty behind the beauty of life and the aesthetics of life on this planet. In "Melancholia" there are two people (and actually two more) who recognize this beauty with their mathematical 'sense organ', feel it deeply, understand it, and want to delve even deeper - thus see and meet each other and understand how they feel inside.

"Melancholia" refers to "Melancholia I" - one of the three master engravings by Albrecht Dürer - mentor and student look at it together in the context of the story and communicate about it, understand it, and doing so get closer. The Dürer artwork is an allegorical composition peppered with geometric elements and symbols. There are a wide variety of interpretations in the professional world. The two protagonists in the KDrama are inspired by this and enthusiastically help interpret. In connection with "Melancholia I" by Dürer, his sentence "But I don't know what beauty is" has also been handed down. This creative crisis, through which every creative person (whether mathematician, artist, etc.) has to go through at some point, is processed in the KDrama in its own way - in the first half the male protagonist and in the second half the female protagonist is struck by this question. Individually both are thrown off track and have temporarily lost sight of their joyful creative power. They inevitably stand in the face of melancholy - to some extent a dark, black tunnel, that opens up the passage to a new, luminous dimension of their creative power.

With regard to the student, the first half of "Melancholia" focuses on a variation of Weltschmerz, which is at the same time an expression of suffering from the beauty of the world. The protagonist can't help but see this perfection of aesthetics in everything everywhere. And yet he is alone in this. He cannot convey his perception, cannot share his experience with his fellow human beings. That's way too high for the others. Family, friends and even some teachers cannot relate or really understand what he is about. Some of his classmates may misunderstand him as a show-off and envy his genius. In fact, he suffers from the loneliness in which he is stuck. Not the beauty of the world. Yet all this changes after he meets a mentor who in the face of his 'brilliance' isn't (like many others) out for her own gain. Rather, she recognizes his rare ability of perception and gives it a grounded direction. She did not promote the genius, but the human being, who should not exploit his talent, yet learn to enjoy it. The mere experience that he is not alone with his way leads him out of his suffering. This is how he finds his place in the world and no longer has to withdraw and hide from it.

However, "Melancholia" also shows the mentor as she herself is stuck in an aloof, depressive phase. The motive is the same: also lonely, isolated, trapped in her feelings that she cannot share with a world that cannot understand her. And this time it is her student who can remind and encourage her to step outside and back into the world.

"Melancholia" is a hymn to higher mathematics, with which the beauty of life finds an abstract form(el) - but also to art, which tries to aesthetically translate the formulas and mathematical knowledge into new colors and new forms.

"Melancholia" is a homage to the love between two kindred spirits who recognize each other in their kinship and can't help but love each other (selflessly and unconditionally).

But "Melancholia" is also one of many stories in the shade of a brutal South Korean education industry that unscrupulously rides on the hopes, fears and worries of parents and students and repeatedly bears the bitter fruits of bullying, abuse, meanness, despair and fraud produces. In this context, a variation of it is once again told in an exciting, at the same time moving and excellently staged manner.

Finally , this story of the two main protagonists is both a new edition and a contemporary free reinterpretation of the relationship between of two historical mathematicians: the Tamil Srinivasa Ramanujan and the British Godfrey Harold Hardy. The KDrama refers to the extraordinary, intuitive mathematical skills of the historically real Tamil math genius, who was professionally recognized and promoted by the British Hardy. In 1913 Ramanujan came to England under the wing of his mentor and subsequently became known for several important discoveries. It is said that when asked what his own greatest contribution to mathematics was, Hardy said without hesitation that it was (his mentoring for) Ramanujan. He described their relationship as his only romantic experience in life. And with that he refers first and foremost to the very special form of eroticism of their shared, highly concentrated, soaring flights of intellect. Anyone who has never had this experience of a shared 'Eureka' will probably struggle with the romance aspect of this KDrama. Everyone else might experience it differently... .

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Star in My Heart, I originally started watching this on a whim, I added it after a random find. After watching Reply 1997 I felt in the mood to watch an older drama, one that ironically also came out in 1997. So needless to say, when I started watching this I didn't have much expectation for it. The oldest Kdrama I had watched before this one had come out in 2006.

From the first episode I knew I was going to like this drama. It starts off with Yun Hee as a high school student, taken out of an orphanage by a friend of her father. She's taken into his rich family and inherits an arrogant step mother, an annoying step sister and a creep step brother. Typical Cinderella start out. But the story progresses little by little until Yun Hee is already half way through college. The time gaps, I will note, did confuse me a little. They're implied by change of hair or change of events, it's not stated how much time has passed, rather something you have to pick up on yourself.

The story overall was good. While nowadays it may be clichéd, Star in My Heart was one of the dramas that paved the way for modern Kdramas. To me, I found it really refreshing and a nice change of pace. There wasn't the over amount of angst and drama, but rather just the right amount. Another thing I loved was the lack of confusion between the leads. There was some, but they understood each other. And the love triangle is really hardly there at all. But it didn't take away from the drama at all, actually it made me like it more.

The acting was done really well. Choi Jin Sil did an excellent job as Yun Hee, and I was really sad to hear about her death. Yun Hee was a character who stood up for herself. She had her limits and didn't let the petty things get to her. And the actress also portrayed someone else in the drama, really contrasted her original character. Ahn Jae Wook as Min Hee was also really well done. I loved his character! He has such an amazing voice, too, and I'm pretty sure he was singing live during the show. Most of the times in modern dramas it's often lip synching through audio when it's supposed to be live. Cha In Pyo as Joon Hee was also a favorite. Not getting as much screen time until later on, but becoming one of the most important characters in this drama. His character was always supportive and he knew what he was doing as a leader.

Other characters, such as Yi Hwa, Yi Ban and their mother did their roles fine. Yi Hwa was probably the most annoying character in the drama, but her mother followed closely behind. Yi Ban was annoying, but I found his character pathetic and wimpy and couldn't help but laugh at his character on screen at serious moments.

The music was the best part of the drama. The soundtrack has become a favorite of mine now. As I mentioned above, Ahn Jae Wook has an amazing voice! Such songs as "Forever" and "Hurt" have lingered in my head even after I finished watching. The theme song "Always Beside You" is also nice. As are all the instrumentals.

I don't normally rewatch that many dramas, simply because there's always a drama I haven't seen calling my name, but I can see myself rewatching this one some time down the road. As I mentioned before, it was a refreshing and nice break from the modern Kdrama.

Overall, I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for a change of pace or something that would nowadays be lesser known. If you're the type who doesn't like to watch older dramas, maybe because of the quality, then maybe this is not for you. The quality I found to watch I felt was good for a drama 15 years old. You're not going to get much better than that unless you buy the drama.

I think I'll always picture the leads look the way they did in this drama.

If you do decide to watch it, keep in mind that the fashion may not be what you consider "good" simply because the styles have really changed since then. The lack of cellphones as well. Only one character had one in this drama. And the difference in the sound of the music. I, personally, love a lot of things from the nineties so I loved the music. But I understand that may not be the case for some.

Anyways, hope this review convinces you to check it out! It's worth that much at least (:

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It is really impossible to write a review for this drama without getting my blood pressure up. The people that waited week after week for this drama will truly understand my pain.

All the writers of this drama need to be under some kind of witness protection program because they have succeeded in angering so many people including myself that had to sit through 20 eps of this BS. This drama was written under the influence of some serious narcotics.

The acting gets a 9 because they did a good job of conveying the foolishness the writers were spilling out.

Trying not to give away any spoilers, I'm a strong believer of the saying "don't bite the hand that feeds you". Well in this drama there's a lot of biting and chewing and an attempt to amputate the hand that was doing the feeding.

In this drama you get to witness ungratefulness at it's max and decisions that make you question the way some men think.

The drama was good and cute up until about episode 10 when the writers decided to play "how far can we piss off the viewers". In all honesty, the drama could have been done in 16 episodes or better still 10 episodes.

We could have done without all the crap from ep 11 to 19 and 20.
The only take a way is the OST. There are some really good songs in this drama....The drama had some good potential that was played with.

If you want to sit through this be my guest but make sure to drop by for an "I TOLD YOU SO".

Writing this without spoilers was seriously challenging....off to take my blood pressure meds

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I had to take a couple of days to process my thoughts before writing this review. I have never been so affected by a drama before in my life, and honestly I don't know if my longing for this drama is something I'd ever care to repeat.

I started this hoping for action and serious topics. I wanted plot and not romantic shenanigans. The drama starts off being pretty much all about a cop looking for his kidnapped daughter. This guy, however, is far from likable, and I found it difficult to sympathize with him in his plight. Why? Because he was, to put it simply, crazy, violent, and screaming. Lots of screaming. Lots of swearing. Lots of beating up suspects without evidence, heavy police brutality. This dude cared for nothing and no one but his daughter and wouldn't hesitate to brutally assault anyone he perceived to be in his way.

That's where Clone #1, Sung Joon, comes in. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. He has no memory of who he is, but Chief Jang decides poor Sung Joon is the key to finding his daughter. When these two meet, this is when the story really kicks off. I hated the detective for the first 2 episodes, but he does become more tolerable thanks to Sung Joon, who is kind and warm and patient where Chief Jang is crass, rude, and prone to fits of random rage.

So for the first part of the drama, I watched because I was invested in the development between Jang and Sung Joon. I thought they were a great pair and really balanced each other nicely, and I'm a sucker for any kind of non-romance relationship focus. Chief Jang treated Sung Joon like a tool at first and didn't see him as a human being at all, and I wanted to see that change. There was some mystery and plenty of action for the first 6 episodes, but then it slows down and becomes mostly just drama and mystery with action sprinkled in.

Eventually, the plot moves away from the father-daughter focus and we realize that ultimately this is a story about two clones. It's a sad story. Don't watch this if you don't want a ride on the rollercoaster of emotions. One clone is "evil," selfish and out for revenge and the other is kind, selfless and willing to put his life on the line to help near-strangers. But the characters are not simple, and evil clone is not actually just an "evil clone," but is a deep, complex character that will remain in my mind pretty much forever.

What is the story really about? It's about clones learning to be human. It's about a father and his daughter. There's also an evil dude who wants to cure his illness and there's his evil spawn who aren't really worth mentioning but the story isn't really about them. No romance, just friendships and family relationships. Yay!

Without Yang Se Jong, this drama would be nothing. His portrayal of three characters is something you really have to see for yourself. But let's say I had to keep reminding myself that it was the same actor. He brought the clones to life in a way that made me feel like I personally knew them. The other actors are good too. And JJY is so much more tolerable when he's not screaming his head off.

It's not a perfect story, and there are aspects I wish had been different (more interactions between the clones, more father-son bonding with Jang and Sung Joon, less of the secondary cop characters), but these factors don't change my love for this drama. I can't stop thinking about it and have already rewatched most of it 2-3 times.

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A refreshing journey that won't fail to bring a smile to your face.

What a journey it has been! it initially started with 0 expectations but ended up being one of the most memorable rides. And it actually raised my standards much for fluffy rom-com now, as it has nothing which I truly despair or get annoyed by, but lots of sweet moments and cute fluff that will give you absolute pleasure.. and pain in the muscle of cheeks.

If I talk about the plot or the theme of the drama. It's quite simple without any complexity. Bit or I'll say a lot unrealistic coz of the number of coincidences it has.. or should I call 'Fate' that brought our leads together.. not just together but living under the same roof hehe. Having a bit cliche story I actually liked its pace and the direction with perfect execution from character personality development to the story progression. Being 36 episode drama plus rom-com it had the most chances to become draggy or have unnecessary parts but actually, nothing happened like that, it never left its track consistent till the end. So the story is really cleverly written and stick to its main concept until the last moment.

Now let's talk about the soul of the show its characters. Wow, what can I say about them? I liked the characters more than the story itself. Having three-dimensional human-like characters (Which many writers forget almost all the time) who act like humans, can do mistakes, and not fit in the mold of 'Perfection.' Chu Li at first glance you might feel ah another naive, innocent FL are we getting here? I mean drama doesn't have a 'Strong Female Lead' tag not to forget she is such a cutie pie and adorable, but being badass, rude/arrogant, having power, or physically strong doesn't make strong female leads for me. Hardworking, passionate about their work, strong-willed, having their own goals, principles for life and actually working on them this defines a strong character in my opinion and Chu Li nailed it with being cute and having that bubbliness in her what a balance it was!

Zhou Chuan no I'll say, Mr. Fox, okay I love him.. not him his character lol. Mr. Fox was such a sweetheart and MOOD. I mean there wasn't any moment or scene of him that I didn't enjoy or had good laugh at. He just brightens every moment. He can be a jerk for everyone totally arrogant dude but when it comes to his loved ones he becomes a sweetheart lol...His awkwardness, not able to express what he feels in the starting was felt so natural. The writer did a great job in case of portraying his character as a 'Writer'.. like his stubbornness his passion for his work all things were dealt with in the right way realistically.

So when Mr. Fox and Monkey come together it's a perfect match.. they have quite different personalities but they compliment each other. Their bickering, fights, the development in the relationship with being each other's first love it's quite enjoyable to watch. The chemistry rocks, and how can I forget how much they trust each other and form such a strong bond together... Surely the best aspect of the drama.

Talking about second leads... I'm the type of person who actually doesn't care about second leads at all most of the time I'm not even interested, but honestly, I was invested in the plot of the second lead's story too! they had great chemistry having their own interesting plotline which actually doesn't try to overlap with the main concept of the story.. so yeah I enjoyed their screentime too!

How can I forget the sizzling chemistry between our Mr. Fox and Jiang Yu Cheng... I never craved for the screentime of ML and SML together but I actually did here.

In the acting, they did a really good job portraying all characters I don't think I can imagine this different cast.. and yeah another fact I was glad that dubbing was with the original voice of actors.

So I was engaged to the story from the start to end more than that I was much invested in our main leads who never disappointed me or let me down... for me, it was an amazing drama which I loved thoroughly... I don't rate any rom-com 9.5.. actually never lol, but it was worth it!

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If you're sick of the typical tropes in Taiwanese romance novels or in Taiwanese/Korean/Japanese romance dramas, then this one is for you.
Kind of like Extraordinary You and W: Two Worlds in that main characters travel between a fictional literary world and a "real world," but more focused on the love line and hilarious references to other works in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

The leads are all eye candy and the dialogue is friggin' hilarious. If you have been watching Korean drama in recent years you would understand some of the references a little more -- they paid homage to Crash Landing On You, Secret Garden, Goblin, Descendants of the Sun, and more. The way the main characters describe drama tropes is A+ and if you regularly consume rom coms you'd understand -- "oh, shower scene again?!" "how do people kiss in the morning? did they even brush their teeth?"

Unfortunately, while the story spends so much effort making fun of tropes, it later on becomes tropey in itself and thus slightly hypocritical, with a nasty second female lead and unexplained attraction between male and female leads. It's almost as if the leads are in love because "the writer wants them to be," so that was disappointing :( (especially since the female lead is a regular consumer of romance novels and would understand the power of warm second male leads! Why she falls in love with the first male lead is ???? to me, though I see why it's necessary for plot development LOL.

I would also appreciate it more if Qing Feng could make a greater comeback in later episodes -- as the real world writer, for example.

Still would recommend for the comedy factor, and if you like to ship leads -- the second male lead here is superb. I love his character so much and the script didn't do him enough justice :(
The rewatch value goes to the many joke scenes, like the certain kdrama remakes :0)

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One More Happy Ending, is your average, cliche, most usual, done and seen-before rom com that has ever been produced. Yet, in its very obvious and cliche nature, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and possibly one of the best rom coms i have watched in kdramaland! The drama will make you laugh, cry and even cringe at its fluffy and (possibly) superficial personality, but that's actually its biggest charm!



STORY

The drama is equivalent to all the dramas that center women, namely Sex and the City, Mistresses, Gossip Girl, Girls, I Need Romance ect. The show revolves around a pack of 4 girlfriends, depicting their lives, the problems, the difficulties and implications of dating and other relationships for people in their 30s. The main premise of the show is that everyone, no matter what has happened in their lives or what mistakes they have done, deserve a happy ending, and if they fight hard enough, they will get it! Secondly, the show presents a very realistic -if you ask me- image of the dating scene nowadays -not only in Korea per se-, how unrealistically high people's standards are, and how picky they are, being materialistic, searching for, money, visuals, other than character in their potential partner.



We get to see the life of each woman, and each story makes a point about relationships. Even if all the characters are in their early/mid 30s, i think it is safe to say that everyone can somehow relate to the problems they depict as they are universal.



Story 1: A divorcee who is afraid that she will end up forever alone, kind of scared to let herself be free and enter a relationship, and deep inside feels she doesn't deserve to be happy because of her divorce. This story is the main story of the drama, like 70% of it. It features a love triagle, that you will hate, believe me, but in the very end, it was the most essential love triangle i have ever watched in a kdrama. It wasn't introduced just for the ships, but it depicted serious realistic facts like love vs friendship, which love is valid and which isn't ect. At the same time this story presents several realistic questions a person in a new relationship may have, they can be stupid like 'why doesn't he/she want to kiss me - Is he/she the right person for me?', or more important like 'does he/she have money issues? Does he/she want to scam me?'.



Story 2: Forever single. A girl in her mid 30s having been single in like... forever. I believe many people could relate to her, she was introduced as the 'funny' one of the quartet. We get to see all her struggles to find true love, along with several questions (and reminders) that i could sum up in this proverb 'Whatever shines, isn't gold!'- and vice versa.



Story 3: The more serious, borderline melo, sub-story. A married woman who goes through a divorce and faces serious health issues. Her story is touching, and moving and could have been a great stand-along/spin off show. Her story poses ideas like 'Don't give up on yourself, on your marriage and generally on happiness. Problems are there, pain will always be there, but we have people around to rely on, don't give up on them or yourself, pain will pass!'



Story 4: The (Wanna-be) femme fatale of the quartet. She was also supposed to be funny along with story 2. A woman with attachement issues, but what happens when she meets her match? This story was left on the sidelines, but yet it managed to make some worthy points like 'no relationship will work without trust and letting your guard down. You should know which person is worthy for you to do that, and you should take on the responsibility of getting hurt and of hurting that person'. This story had the potential to hit issues like career problems for people in their 30s, but it didn't which was a waste.



I, generally, don't have any drawbacks to point out, other than the fact that the drama spent too much of its time overanalyzing the first story, hence the rest of the stories being somewhat underdeveloped/underapprecciated. It is arguable to say that stories 2-3-4 were more interesting than the main one.



ACTING

Exquisite acting, as expected by such a talented ensemble cast!



Jang Nara was a worthy leading actress, her character was superficial and fluffy, maybe too much at some points. I loved her more emotional scenes and i wished she had more, she has more to offer than this.



Yoo In Na, was lovely and adorable, expressing the mindset complexity of such a person perfectly. Yet she was cute and only a teeny tiny bit stupid and just too good of a person for her own good. Great acting, for a character and a side story that needed more screen time.



Yoo Da In. My personal favourite, as a melo lover, her story moved and touched me. She expressed difficult and unique feelings perfectly, she was luscious and easy to understand and relate even when she didn't have as much screen time as she deserved.



Seo In Young. Her story was pushed to the sidelines, it comes, therefore, as no surpise how her character was kind of forgettable as well. She was good and i have nothing bad to say, other than she was kind of overshadowed by Yoo In Na, as they were both the 'funny' characters.



Kwon Yool, was very good, his acting could be described as emotionless or/and cold, but i do believe it was his character being like that. I cannot say i loved him, but i had no problems with his acting.



Jung Kyung Ho. And we finally get to the king of the show. You know what is amazing? How he managed, in a show that focuses on women, and had 4(!) female leads, to rise above everyone and have the most important, interesting, touching, funny and adorable character of everyone. His acting could have been as forgettable as KY's but he managed to own the show! True king!



RECOMMEND/REWATCH

Many people argued how this was boring, i disagree, this actually had so much more to offer than other soulless rom coms, it actually had something to say other than just cheesy romance or insignificant comedy. However, this is not a show for everyone. People who know and like the shows that i mentioned above, or/and like rom coms in general, will, probably, like this one. Other people don't spend your time meaninglessly, move on. As for me, someone who generally dislikes rom coms, i loved this one, i don't know if this says something about me or the show...

I loved it, but would i rewatch it? Not really, it was great for the 16 hours i spent on this, and i will savour it for what it was.

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I do not usually watch dramas with more than 30 episodes but when I saw Smile, You I got curious and I just clicked on the 1st episode for a try until it moved to 2, 3, 4 and I didn’t even notice I was nearly done watching it..i was totally captured with its hilariousness. It really filled my 5 days with so much fun and excitement.


Superb!!! The story revolves around the 2 families which under unfortunate circumstances had to try to get along with each other. Through fights and more fights they were eventually drawn closer as one real big happy family. Each family member has his/her own story to tell and you will love everyone of them. Romantic relations were comically and beautifully grown amidst the chaos in the family. The chemistry between the main couple was awesome, it felt real and not just acting. All the characters were so funny that you will burst into laughter every second of the episodes. But its not just about being funny it also has a huge amount of crying moments, laughing and crying with only minutes of interval. I even found myself laughing and crying at the same time, it was like a roller coaster ride watching this drama.
Overall I give this a rate of 10 :)

This is my favorite drama so far..
Don’t hesitate, WATCH IT! You wont have any regrets..

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That drama has nothing much original, and does a lot of things wrong, but does 2 things SO RIGHT it makes up for everything else.

First, our 2 main leads stay in line character throughout the drama. Their character grow, but in a more subtle way which is what I love most about them. Their coming back together is convincing because we get see little by little what made them separate in the first place, and we see how each one of them resolve the issues they had, and how it brings them back, only to be there for each other, and for no other reason. It feels organic and you're with them all the way, and they stay true to their character that you have come to love. In the end, you feel that it's a healthy relationship where both are equal and working together to make it work this time

Second, the comedy stays throughout the drama, up until the last episode. Each episode has a few funny scenes involving our male lead who can be adorably petty. He might be petty, but it was never done in a dramatic or serious way, but mostly in a comedic way. It's actually amazing for a korean drama since most rom-com turn melo half way through which annoys me in a way that I'm like "I didn't sign up for this". So basically this drama gives you what it promises in that sense.

If you are looking to watch a drama for those 2 reasons, then I'd recommend it. Its totally for you!

IF you are looking for a story about how a man turned millionaire overnight, or about details on smart business decisions, if you are looking for interesting 2nd leads that don't turn cliché and show growth and dignity, if you are looking for camaraderie or even bromance, well you won't be finding any of those things here. The bromance was sorta a let down but that wasn't the focus of the story ;)

Overall I really enjoyed the drama for the 2 reasons mentioned above even when everything else went crazy at one point (those are what FFW button is made for :P).

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