Reviews

In Amazement!!

I thought this drama was perfect! I am in amazement at how many reviews have missed the whole story line and decided to focus mainly on the acting skills of the ML and FL. Living in North America, it is fascinating for me to learn about other country technologies and their perspectives as they apply to the world market. I certainly won't take anything away from Dylan Wang and Bai Lu as they both are exceptional actors. It is refreshing to see Dylan Wang accomplish a more serious modern day role and how he brings a mature level to his acting. I have seen Bai Lu in many dramas and her acting gives a "real" feel to her roles. I would definitely rewatch this drama again.

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I watch a lot of dramas. Why? Well, lots of reasons but one is because my work is some heavy shit and sometimes I need something that is pure distraction. And this drama delivers on that.

So this is not the drama to watch if you want to think deeply about the world or be moved by something new or profound. It IS the drama to watch if you just had surgery and you need something to keep your mind off the pain while you recover, or if you are that combo of bored and distracted that means you can't keep track of complicated plotting, or if you're feeling sad generally and want to watch an angst-light bickering couple be adorable at each other for a while.

One point I thought worth making is that the premise of forced marriage and subsequent escape/chase as the base of a romantic relationship is tricky to handle well. The show does a great job of balancing the characters and the romantic development so that it doesn't feel like the female lead is intimidated into love or suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something. His intentions towards her aren't creepy, and while she's attracted to him early on, she doesn't fall for him until much later when the power balance between them is much more equal (side note: I would hesitate to call this a "historical".... it's thoroughly modern in terms of the ideas that the characters have about love and morality).

There's a lot of reviews already so rather than describe the show again, I'll respond to two of the major flaws that have bothered other people: plot, and the female lead's character.

Plot: This feels adapted from a web novel, and so rather than a straight plot that carries us from beginning to end, there are definite arcs: The Island Arc, the Escape/Chase Arc, the The Black Gang Arc, and the White Jade Arc. We drop some characters along these arcs and move to new locations where new characters come in, so the beginning of each arc is a bit like starting a new show, with some ramp up time before the story gets going again. The transitions to the Black Gang arc and the White Jade arc are a bit choppy, so our gang of heroes ends up talking about goals for a while and the audience is like "huh? Explosion? What? Coverup? How did we get here?"

Eventually everything makes sense again and it's pretty easy to fill in the gaps, so if you're in it for the cute couple it's not a major detractor. But if you really want a compelling and tight plot, you will definitely hate the transitions and probably not enjoy the show much overall.

Lead Female: She is a bit screetchy at the beginning, and I think the type of character (her backstory) isn't well enough established early on to make sense of some of her actions. However, she's actually a pretty good character once you get her (and the screaming subsides), so here's my take on her: She's a general's daughter who is stubborn, book-smart, and has an intense sense of justice and desire to do good in the world. She's been indulged, but not *specifically* trained. So she's grown up around martial arts and picked up some things, and she knows lots of tricks that she's read about and is decent at putting together traps or thinking her way out of a situation. BUT she's not that great at anything other than slingshot. She's got a lot more courage than experience, so when she starts having experiences, she isn't always prepared for what's happening.

What I liked about her character was that for everything except cooking, what they established that she was good at remained good throughout the show (and the cooking is a really minor exception). So, she has a photographic memory, which is useful even at the end. She's good at tricks and quick thinking. She doesn't use them every possible time, but she doesn't get "dumber" over time as some smart characters tend to; in fact her skills improve. The pirate actually changes to get better at trusting her and acknowledging her strengths, and she learns new skills. It's not *amazing* but it is well done enough to keep their relationship interesting throughout the show, which is great because the romantic arc is such that the show could have suffered from early bed death.

The show was a ton of fun for me. I even loved the cheesy costumes (caterpillar eyebrows!!!!) and props, which offered their own laughs at times. The show never takes itself to seriously, which is what you want for a low-budget comedy low on realism and loose with plot. A high production value would have made the historical inaccuracies and trope-heavy plot unbearable.

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The first thing you should know about Two Weeks before you watch it is this :
There is 0 romance in this drama. So if you're at the moment looking for romance, I suggest you look elsewhere because this drama doesn't have that ok. Ok?

Now, the second thing you should know is that I actually surprisingly did not go into this drama as a fan of Lee Jun Ki. I know shocking. So everything that I say here is not me being biased it is me being pleasantly surprised.

Ok, now to the review:

The story- the story was like a roller coaster ride. You never knew what would happen next. You were kept on the edge of your seat till the very end. Even when it seemed like everything was ok, you would still wonder if someone was going to pop out of nowhere and ruin everything.

The Acting- Perfect. As I said above, I did not go into this drama as a fan of Lee Jun Ki, but I sure did come out as a fan. The emotions in the drama felt raw and real. Every cast member played their role perfectly and when I say perfectly, I mean as though the character felt real.

Even with the villains, there were times when I could understand why they did what they did which is unusual for a Korean drama. Usually you hate the villains, but for some reason, there where a few evil characters which I just couldn't get myself to hate. Such as "Glue Stick" who you will find out about later..

Music- The music just fit with the drama. It matched well with all the action scenes and the adorable scenes with his daughter.

Re-watch-Would I re-watch this drama? I think that I would maybe later. It's hard to forget this drama so I would wait a little while.

Overall- I found this drama quite enjoyable. I would recommend this drama to anyone who likes suspense, thrillers filled with action or if your a fan of Lee Jun Ki.

I'm not saying this drama is for everyone but I would say if you liked "City Hunter" or "The time between dog and wolf". I would say watch this drama! You will enjoy it!!

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Red flag with a face card is still a red flag. No excuses!

If a guy never listens to you, constantly talks about himself, takes you for granted and is self-centered, would you still stay with him? Without a doubt, the answer should be no. But if he has a charming face, all his bad qualities will vanish into thin air. But that shouldn't be the case, right? We shouldn't be bewitched by someone's looks. The same goes with this TV special.

The k-drama opens with Oh Jin (played by Shin Ye Eun) getting greeted by her boyfriend Cha Min Jae (played by Kang Tae Oh) with passionate kisses the moment she steps into his house. At first, this might seem romantic and sweet but Oh Jin stops kissing Min Jae midway and insists to put away the beer and freshen up first. He didn't even ask how was her day and instead asked why she was late. Min Jae then grabbed her to continue making out but she protested again to which he didn't listen to and wanted to do it his way.

It was pretty obvious from the opening scene that this relationship is doomed to end. Min Jae constantly dismisses Oh Jin's thoughts and feelings and would always point out that she's being too emotional. Oh Jin only realizes this when her boyfriend flicked her forehead too hard after losing in a bet. The finger flick is a wake-up call to Oh Jin that perhaps she deserves better than this. What was once little cracks in their relationship started to develop into a tremor that will make or break their connection.

Shin Ye Eun portayed Oh Jin with naturalism and nuance. We empathized with her as she navigates a breaking point in her relationship. It broke our hearts when she come to realize that her boyfriend is not cherishing and treating her right the way she should be. Ye Eun channels Oh Jin's confusion and ambivalence toward her boyfriend and a budding romance with the PE teacher. Ye Eun's maturity was also shown as the story progresses.

Tae Oh adopts a smug and broody approach to depict a self-centered and insensitive boyfriend. In reality, a possessive and cold-hearted guy turns out not to be hot at all. He constantly turns the tables and puts all the blame to Oh Jin for being too emotional. Thankfully, Oh Jin sticks to her guts and was firm on her decision.

Meanwhile, Hong Kyung plays Koo Won Bin, a PE teacher who is harboring a crush on Oh Jin. He is very soft-spoken and is straightforward about his feelings, a stark contrast to Min Jae's personality. He is sheepish yet has a way with words and it feels as though he is straight out of fiction books.

Overall, this is a quick, nice watch with a compelling storyline. This kdrama is not about getting pissed off over a finger flick, it's highlighting growing out of love and also touches on gaslighting which is a prominent issue nowadays in relationships. Watching this can also be a wake-up call to viewers that loving someone can just be something that is done out of habit without us realizing it. This sounds painful but it is the reality of love. The fact that this special episode was able to narrate a heartbreaking yet light-hearted story in a short amount of time is such a feat and is all the more reason for watching.

PS. If you were rooting for Kang Tae Oh, there is seriously something wrong with you. I bet you rooted for Song Kang in Nevertheless, too.

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The Kmovie would have been a good queer film if not for the plot. I watched the movie earlier with a friend and am not surprised as to why 1million viewers tried to watch this film within two weeks. How could four-hot-good-looking-irresistible stars not garner these amount of fans?

In this movie, what was really interesting was how each character had their own story to tell. I'm also glad that the director and producer gave the chance for these characters to show their own side of the story. The movie is quite long, with bits of musical pieces in between that I almost thought it was going to be like a broadway musical show up to the end.

Joo Ji-hoon (from Goong and Mawang) who played as Kim Jin Hyeok, Antique's owner was the most complex character in the lot. He had this terrible past which he doesn't have closure with up until he made up the Bake shop. Jin Hyeok do not actually like sweets because of an incident 20 years ago. The only way he could move on from that was to catch the person who inflicted trauma in his past but the story does not only revolve around him. There's more...

Kim Jae-wook (from Coffee Prince) as Min Seon-woo, the gay Patisserie (my favorite character) was VERY queer, charming, hot and definitely devious when it comes to making men; straight or gay fall for him. Only Jin Hyeok is the exception for some certain reason related in the past (again). He is the only guy who is able to resist his charm thoroughly up to the present but there would be some side story between their friendship and how things work out in favor for both of them in the end.

I loved the way Jae-wook presented his character, it seemed so real and not icky to watch all. There were several kissing scenes with a guy in this movie to show how gay his character really was. What fascinated me more was that before I actually watched the movie, I have read several comments from him as to how he was able to portray the character in a realistic manner. During the filming sessions, he admitted that he was having a very hard time internalizing his gay character because in reality he wasn't gay. What's more interesting is how it seemed so natural on screen, you wouldn’t even think he was uncomfortable with the whole process. He was so darn convincing that I would think he was gay if I didn't know any better.

Yoo Ah-in (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) as Patisserie apprentice Yang Ki-beom, a punk kid who wanted to eat cakes and is running away from something. The kid is an insistent worker, stubborn but has a high respect for Seon-woo and would only acknowledge him as the best Patisserie in the whole world. He also has a sweet tooth that he became the official taster for the bake-shop.

Choi Ji-ho as Nam Soo-yeong, the guy who is unbelievably stuck with Jin-hyeok. He is the son of the Kim's house nanny and became Jin-hyeok's body guard in the process. He may be a bit slow, and could have been affected by the charms of Seon-woo but he has a great respect and kin-ship affection (not in a gay kind of way) towards Jin-hyeok. He always sees to it that he will be able to cater the needs of his young master.

There are other characters that have their own roles, but it would be too tedious to mention them one by one. Over all the movie's quirkiness is thanks to these four wonderful guys. They have brought the entire film to the best of its ability that even in its 109 minutes, did not once made me feel it was draggy or boring. The mixture of humor and suspense was perfect, even the soundtrack fit so well with the whole movie. There might be some several graphics that was a bit too exaggerated but the colorful atmosphere and acting took that tiny glitch away.

The movie may not show any love interest between a man and woman, but it would certainly show how people could connect deeply with each other no matter how one is scarred from the past or has a marred future. It only shows that in the end, everyone would be able to cope up with their own personal demons.

A must see movie for those who has a queer eye and a different perspective in life.

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If frustration had a name, it would be "Motel California"

This was a one-woman show, all other characters are pretty irrelevant. Lee Se Young was stellar as the cinematography was, too bad her character was an understandable frustrating mess not helped by a shitty script.
Pace is draggy and all over the place. Drama sucked my energy dry.

#I've_got_melo_trauma
#Not_watching_ANY_melo_for_6_months
#Gimme_Back_My_HOURS

I was wondering how they were going to wrap up this thing up given how everything remained messy up to the middle of episode 11...

Turns out, THEY DIDN'T DO SH***

They didnt' resolve anything, they just used a magic wand and all the shitty villagers and classmates did a 180 in the last ep and everything is ok and let's laugh under the (grey) sky after years of bullying? ARE. YOU.KIDDING.ME ? ? ? As somebody who has had experience with some of the issues faced by Kang Hee I can tell you this :

1. Racists gonna remain racists, it's not because they do good things on the side that it changes the fact that they're filthy racists.

2. Even if they did a turnaround, I won't forget and I won't forgive, but in this drama, all these prejudices are treated like it's nothing.

3. It takes a lot of courage to apologize to your former victims. Most bullies would rather die than admit their wrongs that leaves (most of) them with two options: 1. Make up excuses to justify their past behaviors, usually by victim blaming 2. Just ignore the victim and act like they don't exist since these bullies are cowards who can't even look their victims in the eye.
And we're not going to have a "party" together UNLESS they PAY the whole bill!

Didn't care about the Esther story line. From the moment they showed the cheating it was either she aborts or she gets with glass-guy : they also swept under the rug that he's filthy rich hence it's very likely Esther and him are being pressured to abort the baby by their respective families. They have the same background so it makes sense they're allowed to be together, but even if glass-guy's family is ok with him getting with Esther the divorcee they definitely are not for her to keep the baby. BUT this show is doing a Love Next Door thingy so screw these issues I guess. She's gonna keep the baby and get her first love and not be outed by her family because they're not living in South Korea, they're living in Lalaland where genealogy and tracing one's ancestors have no importance whatsover.

Yeon Soo's mother got a new beau... but I haven't forgotten what two women said about him loosing most of his money gambling BUT the show sure did. Another Problem Non-Problem.

Ah Reum left her house and that was it. If it was THAT EASY why didn't you do it from the start? Another Non-Problem.

We never got to learn why Seung Eon didn't even get a Middle School degree given he's been raised by Jung Pil (Chung Pil whatever) since he was 7. But Whatever again I guess. He would have made an interesting character given his backstory but since this was a one woman show, he faded unfairly in the background.

Han U also faded in the background... But he also had an interesting story. It's not everyday you meet someone who gives up everything to restart from scratch in my home country, I can't even imagine what it is in South Korea... But I guess dragging Kang Hee's storyline was more important.

Kang Hee and her father's relationship problem has been solved by the power of his incoming death by the cancer of doom. I guess. Still she doesn't call her father "Father" by the end of the show and she says that "He raised her well"... When the show spent a whole lot of time to show she had to raise HERSELF since her father was always busy taking care of the villagers in particular Yeon Soo's mum but WHATEVER I guess.

And Yeon Soo... Well. Basically a doormat from start to finish. He did get some b*** by the end of the show but not that much. I get it, in recent months the faithful male lead with puppy love - Seon Jae in Lovely Runner, Sa Eon in When the Phone Rings, Ji Hyuk in Marry my Husband, Ji Hwan in My Sweet Mobster, Ji Uk in No Gain no Love and so on... - enamored with the ONE AND ONLY girl has made lots of women - me included - swoon. So it seems we're in for a lot of this type of male leads coming onto our screens...

HOWEVER, you do need to make your ML 3 dimensional if a guy is only defined by "I love Kang Hee", well that's not a person let alone a character. Your "character" is just and empty shell.

We never even got to know if Yeon Soo the doormat ends up going to Seoul to live with Kang Hee. BUT I guess he doesn't need to because from what we've seen, Seoul isn't that far from this village and "everything is forgotten and forgiven" by the power of K drama so Kang Hee doesn't mind coming to this shitty village by the end of the show.

Overall a happy ending that only works if you decide to play the amnesia card.

Well I'm sorry I CAN'T.

Suggested Rating based on the different criteria: 5

Personal rating: 3 Too must frustration, no satisfying conclusion... I loathe this drama even more than "Love Next Door" and that's saying something.

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A handsome ML and some satisfying PDA

OK - so the story was full of holes and didn't have much substance - but the chemistry between the actors was terrific, and I appreciated the little twists in the story along the way and at the end. The ML was worth every scene he was in especially because he's gorgeous - but the FL was irritating as hell. Maybe her sister would have been a more fitting FL.

The best part of this production for me was the PDA - real kisses, not those pressed lip fake kisses. Not overdone or shocking - but real and romantic, and that made the series for me and earned a 7.5 rating. That's why I look for ROMANTIC historical stories. If you're looking for something light to watch in between serious drama, this one will do! (And looking at the ML is worth it!)

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The ending truly ruined it all

This review will contain heavy spoilers for the ending.


Revenge of Others was a fun ride, until the last two episodes that is. It's pretty rare for me to have the ending of a show completely change how I feel about it. There are good endings, meh endings and bad ones... but I've seldom felt that disappointed. Maybe I had too high expectations, maybe it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Revenge of Others' ending is cliché, lazy and basically just a middle finger both to the audience and the rest of the show. Early episodes were good, with flaws, yes, yet it was still solid. But nowadays, most kdramas are great at what they do, so you need the entirety of your work to be good, not just the beginning, not just the middle. It feels like Revenge of Others was half-assed, and any good this show had is overshadowed by the ending.
The most interesting thing about a TV show, as opposed to movies, is that you have time to grow attached to the characters. You become familiar with them and grow curious. You could say you actually care about them (especially if you're watching while the show is airing). That is the exact reason why you can't just dump a few lines on the viewers and call it a day. That's not only bad writing: it's like spitting in the face of said viewers.

So what was so wrong with that ending? To put it simply, the creators of the show tried SO HARD to give it a happy ending, despite it not matching the tone of the series, that they ended up... basically not giving it an ending at all. How did they do that? By not telling you anything and letting you decide what comforts you. Okay, let's be fair. They do tell you a few things, but not about what is important.

> Soo Heon has a brain tumor? Okay, he drops out to do his own shit for a while and you're free to imagine whatever pleases you after that. Did he die? Did his condition stabilize? That's up to you (who even cares, brain tumors are not that serious now, are they? It's not like he got his head banged way too many times. If the doctor is as qualified as his wife, he probably misdiagnosed him anyway). With it being such a central plot point, you'd hope for something a bit more conclusive than a "for now he's lucky". Truthfully, the tumor is just a plot device to make you doubt he is the killer because of the induced violent behaviors. So in the end, I just wonder what was even the point of us worrying about him?
God forbid they'd actually use his condition to truly talk about the hardships that come from it all. Not saying the show should've solely focused on that, that's obviously not the plot, but it would've been nice if it had been treated more seriously.

> Is Jae Beom in prison or not? You choose. Was there even any proof that he was manipulated by Gi O Sung? Did he completely take the blame? Does it matter? Should we care? Apparently not, since the show decided to completely erase his existence the moment he stepped in that police car. If he is lucky, the car was actually an interdimensional rift that took him far away from the land of trash ending kdramas.

Don't get me wrong, open endings are fine. I actually love them to death and dislike when everything is spelled out for you. However, this is not an open ending (and if it genuinely tried to be one, it's appalling). This is just a rushed, awful, uncreative and lazy ending that has (unfortunately) been seen again and again, either because the writers didn't know how to write a proper one, either because they were scared of negative reactions from the audience. Both options are bad.

This is an ending that screams that the writers had so little faith in their show, their characters and universe, that they believed viewers would lose interest the minute the mystery was finally solved, that they wouldn't be willing to give one more hour to properly say goodbye to the characters and learn what happened to them. And well, that's truly a shame since an entire episode dealing with the aftermath would've been a perfect way to wrap this up, because surprisingly the characters ARE interesting. As a viewer, I want to know what happens to these people, I don't want three fucking sentences from a narrator telling me: "this happened, oh and this too, everything was solved and we're living happily ever after, nothing is wrong in the universe!!!!"... For Christ's sake, either show me or actually write a proper open ending!
Those few sentences don't even cover everything that needs answers. I mentioned it earlier, but Jae Beom's story seems to end the moment he's taken away by the police, as if he wasn't a main character too. At this point I feel like they forgot to include him in the ending. Chan Mi vaguely mentions to Soo Heon that he confessed, but that is the last time we hear of him. Can you believe that we don't even know WHAT he confessed to? Did he confess to killing Park Won Seok only? Did he confess to the car shop murder too? What, you actually wanted to know that? Cope.

I don't understand how you can put so much care into developing an interesting storyline and characters, just to give up on giving it proper closure.

Seriously, I can't believe this. As far as I'm concerned, Gi O Sung is dead and Jae Joon supposedly disappeared forever, because that's definitely how DID works. That means Jae Beom literally has no choice but to take full responsibility, despite being taken advantage of and manipulated by the very person who tried to kill him. Because let's think about this for a second:

-He would first have to prove that he was pushed from the roof by O Sung. O Sung is dead, there's no way to prove it;
-He would then have to prove that he did indeed have a split personality, but since Jae Joon is gone forever after a few words from Chan Mi, good luck with that;
-Even if he managed to do that, he would have to prove that O Sung had gaslighted Jae Joon into believing Won Seok had pushed him, which led to his revenge, and that he, Jae Beom, wasn't aware of any of it. But guess what? O Sung is dead, Jae Joon is no more, so yeah, no doing that. They might have a few people testify, but I highly doubt that would lead to anything.

Not to mention, when talking about the car shop murder to Chan Mi, Jae Joon mentioned that Jae Beom would've covered for Soo Heon. Just because they are friends. Just because he is a good person. Which leads me to believe that after getting his memory back, he would be so guilt-ridden that he wouldn't even try to defend himself anyway. He seems like he would believe he deserves the worst punishment. At this point, the only thing that could save him is his parents' money, which I doubt he would agree to use to get himself out of this.

So while Gi O Sung got the easy way out, Jae Beom will be the only one to suffer because of his deeds. In a way, O Sung killed him twice: the moment he pushed him from that roof, and the moment he himself fell to his death. While I do believe Jae Beom should face consequences for what happened, I don't believe jail time is the right thing. He should be admitted to a mental health facility. Ultimately, I would've been more satisfied if he had managed to kill himself. That would've been easier for him. Honestly, I cannot understand for the life of me why kdrama writers always think that death is proper comeuppance for plain evil characters. Dying is easy, life in prison is hell. O Sung should have to live through that. He should have to deal with everyone hating his guts and have his freedom stripped away. Had the show not been going for a happy ending, maybe that not happening would've been fine, but since it's not the case it just doesn't sit well with me that one of the kindest characters is getting this treatment, while the worst one just... died.


Aside from that, there are other elements that don't really make sense to me. For example, it's never really made clear how Jae Beom and O Sung's fight at the stables ended. Jae Beom seemed like he was ready to murder or at least severely beat up O Sung for what he did to him, while the latter would do anything to cover his own ass. Yet, the following day O Sung is unscathed and Jae Beom is chilling on a boat. How did that happen?
And whose boat was that? I'm guessing it belongs to Jae Beom's family but then when he was reported missing... isn't it one of the first places that should've been checked? I know the police are all sharing one unique brain cell but that's like the ABC of investigating a disappearance. The show runners wanted us to believe O Sung had killed/abducted Jae Beom, but come on... They try so hard to confuse the viewers and play the reverse psychology card, yet most people could guess who had done what and why ages before the end anyway.

Then we have this scene where every single student learns EVERYTHING through various text messages and immediately believes it, then proceeds to suddenly realize that "oh yeah, gi o sung did this and that!!!!", as if they all used to be aware of that fact, but collectively forgot, because no one seemed to have beef with him before that. I guess they could only remember him being super manipulative after reading those texts. Sure. Then they all lie to the police because of course, there's not a single outcast out of the loop, or someone that's scared to lie. It's a TV show, yadda yadda, but how can I not laugh at that? They didn't even HAVE to lie! Gi O Sung's fall was not only an accident but also self-defense, he was literally threatening a student with a box cutter after having abducted another??? I get they reaaaaally wanted to go for that tacky “If everyone decides to corroborate a lie, then it becomes the truth”, but that was so bad.


I want to gloss over a few other things too:
-Ok Chan Mi started out as a good character but got dumber and dumber as things moved on;
-Shin Ye Eun's acting (and a few others) seemed awkward at times. I'm not sure whether that was the script or not, but I've seen her in other shows and I remember her being fine;
-I get Jae Beom was her friend for a long time and overall a good person, but would Chan Mi realistically get over "him" killing her brother that fast?;
-When she was on that call with her brother, how could Chan Mi not hear Jae Beom's voice as he talked to Won Seok?;
-O Sung wanting to kill Won Seok was stupid considering they both had dirt on each other. They could've just left it at that and no one would have talked. But I guess since Jae Beom is technically the one that killed him, O Sung just didn't care;
-Everyone always seems to fall for O Sung's lies for some reason, even after it was established he could not be trusted;
-Jae Beom's timeline at the time of Won Seok's death wasn't clear and it was annoying. Was he back to school full time? Won Seok was surprised to see him again, so was he not discharged from the hospital yet? Then how did he leave without being noticed?;
-Did Jae Beom actually have a twin or was it split personality right from the beginning? This doesn't necessarily need an answer but I would've liked to know for sure;
-Jae Beom's parents knew about his DID but never tried to do anything about it. Maybe because it would give them a bad reputation (who knows, they don't explain why), but wouldn't you try to at least discreetly talk to a doctor about it? I don't think it's that hard when you have this much money;
-No one else ever noticed it except for O Sung? How did he even know? That would've been nice to learn about. It's like they're trying to give as less details as possible about the manipulation part, as if it wasn't a major plot point that the viewers would like to know about;
-The evil alter ego plot twist trope needs to stop. There are ways this could be interesting, but apparently never in kdramas. The way DID is constantly misrepresented in these shows is so tiring. I haven't even researched the topic that much but even I know this is not how it works. It was so badly presented in the 12th episode that I wasn't even sure if they were actually going for that or for some weird ghost possession bullshit. At this point I'm not even certain what I'd prefer;
-I'm not an expert but I'm positive we now have means to determine whether someone jumped, fell or was pushed from a building.

A few positive things:
-The dynamic and chemistry between the characters was quite good, and their friendship was really compelling;
-Most characters were interesting, there wasn't anyone I was particularly annoyed with;
-As I've said, I haven't researched DID that extensively (I have given up on a decent portrayal anyway), but I thought the way Jae Beom and Jae Joon were differentiated was a nice touch. I found the scene with Jae Beom signing using the wrong hand + name smart. The moment he switched the gun to his other hand as he tried to kill himself was heartbreaking;
-The show is entertaining and gets you hooked easily, it's mostly the end that acts as a wake-up call, making you realize that overall, the writing wasn't that good.


In conclusion, this is another example of a show that could have been a good one if not for its ending. In my opinion, the ending of a show is one of, if not the, most important part of it. If you mess that up, then you leave people with a bitter aftertaste, no matter how good everything that came before was. On the contrary, a particularly good ending can completely blow your mind and turn around your perspective of a show/movie. So you can't and shouldn't ignore a bad ending just because the rest was okay.
I feel like many interesting questions could've been brought up too. The writers could've addressed the topic of the Korean juvenile justice system (which is apparently known to be particularly awful), with how easily characters seemed to get away with the crazy things they pulled. Or if a murder is caused by the manipulation of a vulnerable person, then who's to blame? What punishment should be given? Are mental health issues like these even taken into consideration by the court?
I don't know, this was such a waste. I really wish they hadn't rushed the ending like that, my rating would've been much higher otherwise. It could also be a bit lower, but I tried to keep in mind the qualities from the earlier episodes too (consider that 6/10 is only 1 point above average/mediocre).

Well, what is done is done. I don't think I would recommend anyone to watch this unless they are prepared to face the disappointment.

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I came into this drama expecting nothing at all since I was fairly bored and the first few episodes totally blew my mind. The drama started off with a clear message to the viewers: Dan Oh, a girl who is trapped in a manga world tries to break free and keep herself alive from the unfairness and absurdness of the cruel world while trying to find the meaning behind her life.

However, it started going downhill and the message of the drama started to disappear too. Dan Oh went from trying to change her life to saying " Haru!!" during every single scene she was in, it was cute at the beginning but gets extremely repetitive quickly. At first, the introduction of the character Haru was seemingly interesting for me. Who is he? What is his relation to Dan Oh? Why is he the only one who can change the story? As the drama progresses, we got to know the answer behind the first two of these questions and found out that they were lovers in the previous drama, as for the latter... we still don't know. It seemed as if Haru life revolved only around Dan Oh, we really never got to see him really do anything besides think about Dan Oh, nor do we know what his hobbies are (other than saving Dan Oh). His character became utterly boring and one-dimensional to me. The second male lead: Baek Kyung was just an annoying jerk throughout the series and the writers only redeemed him in the second last episode. Second last episode! All through episode 1 to 14, his only role was to get annoyed at Dan Oh and Haru, shout at everyone and slam the locker. The love triangle was so draggy cause we all know that Dan Oh likes Haru and Baek Kyung was clearly not in the picture. Instead of spending episodes with repetitive scenes such as: Dan Oh & Haru cute moments together with Baek Kyung watching from afar with an annoyed expression, the stage happens and Haru gets jealous seeing Dan Oh with Baek Kyung, the stage ends and DanHaru leaves together but then stops on their tracks because Kyung mentioned something about how "Eun Dan Oh is my fiance!!!" and then cue the amnesia storyline but make it happen twice. The writers could have focused on answering important questions such as: How did this manga world happen? Who is the writer? How did Kyung's brother become self-aware and what is his role? Are all the characters going to be stuck in this loophole forever? What's the weird portal? Why is the comic book stored in the library where everyone could easily find it? Meanwhile, you have another love triangle (yes another one) between Do Hwa, Joo Da, and Nam Joo. Do Hwa is literally the only likable character in this series and shadow Joo Da is just really badass and together they would make a great couple right? Wrong. Joo Da chooses Nam Joo, a character who is only there to calls her "my woman" at every opportunity he gets and because if she leaves him, he won't have anyone to care about him.


The acting was incredible. I was skeptical of Rowoon's acting at first since I've never watched him in a drama before but his acting really amazed me. The rest of the cast's acting was brilliant too.

The OST was good too.

Overall, if you can overlook all the plotholes and the annoying repetitive scenes and the cliches then this drama is for you.

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traditional Thai romcom

Overall: this has a lot of frequently seen Thai romcom elements including a ton of comedy sound effects. My favorite was the last arc with Faifa and Wine. 24 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI7tY-4JZhpydsT6fIpemt3l&si=f7ir8p1MqNiXYXtL and WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/feag2shxw6mx76l-Perfect%2010%20Liners For all parts, they should have aired 2 episodes per week instead of it taking 6 months to air and I was not a fan of the constant comedy sound effects.

First Arc (episodes 1-8), actors Book and Force play Arm and Arc
Content Warnings: non con touching, non con picture taking/sharing

Watch Suggestions (if you're not a fan of the cold/jerk pursuer trope and if the comedy doesn't work for you)
- watch episode 1
- episode 2: part 1 6:15-7:35, 8:45-11:40, part 2 beginning to 1:30, part 3 2:40-5, part 4 4-end
- episode 3: watch part 1, part 2 watch 6:20-7:10
- episode 4: watch part 1, part 3 start at 3, watch part 4
- episode 5: watch part 3 starting at 2, watch part 4
- episode 6: watch part 1 (can skip or watch parts 2 and 3), watch part 4
- episode 7: watch part 1, part 3 9-10:20 and part 4 16:30-end
- episode 8: watch part 1 15-end, parts 2, 3 and 4

What I Liked
- I did laugh a few times
- subverted tropes
- easy to understand premise
- sweet moments
- nice to see a lot of GMMTV actors
- Pond & Sand breadcrumbs were sweet though some ignoring boundaries at the end of ep 5
- Tay Tawan cameo
- the friend groups

Room For Improvement
- started with the present, then flashback, the flash to the present and then back again the start of episode 3 felt jarring
- has the nonsense 'be a jerk to the person I like' "plan" (though it is nice that the other guy had a bit of a spine and pushed back)
- non con kiss in episode 5 part 4
- love rivals/jealousy
- the "I don't like you smiling at anyone else, I don't like you going around acting cute" in episode 7 part 4
- (neutral) the comedy sound effects didn't make me laugh


Second Arc (episodes 9-16) actors Perth and Santa play Yotha and Gun (dynamic is a hyper child-like character with a reserved stern character)
Content Warnings: punch, fight, non con kiss, blood, violence, non con touching, gaslighting

Watch Suggestions (to avoid one character being hot/cold)
- watch episodes 9 and 10
- episode 11: watch part 1, part 2 skip 2-7, part 3 skip 6:30-11, watch part 4 until 16:45
- episode 12: watch part 1 9:20-11 and 13min, part 2 watch 4-end, part 3 7-end and part 4 beginning-1:30 and 13:05-end
- episode 13: watch part 1 3-4:45 and 16:30-end, part 2 watch 1:40-2:30
- episode 14: watch part 1 beginning-8 and 13:40-end, part 2 5:50-10:15 and 14-end, watch part 4 5:30-9:05 and 14:45-end
- episode 15: watch part 1 2:30-14:15, part 3 3-end, part 4 9:20-end
- watch episode 16 (can start part 3 at 12:40 to avoid nonsense mom drama (why didn't she say something sooner???)

What I Liked
- caring moments like tying the tie
- supportive mom/sister

Room For Improvement
- the one character acts like a child (brings a blankie to university, sleeps with lights on, cat on his shirt, his childish mannerisms)
- a ton of new characters were introduced quickly
- how a character said another character had to take responsibility for his feelings
- a character was frequently drunk
- a different character punched someone for hugging his boyfriend
- the non con kiss to prove something
- treating a character like an object ie saying "quiet dog" in episode 13
- being hot and cold without communication
- "you started this"
- when asked why a character likes another character he can only come up with "he's cute"
- the cliche power of love magically healing deep trauma/phobia
- being pushy, "I don't know means yes", nope yes means yes or nodding your head means yes


Third Arc (episodes 17-24) Actors are Mark and Junior who play Wine and Faifa (dynamic is a peppy people-pleaser with a reserved character)
Content Warnings: slap, internalized homophobia, unwanted outing

Watch Suggestions
- watch episodes 17 and 18 (can start 18 part 3 at 11)
- watch 19-24 (can start ep 23 part 3 at 5:40 unless you enjoy the mom drama)

What I Liked
- caring moments
- one of the very rare examples that prominently features internalized homophobia
- good intimacy (though too much space between bodies which I think applies to all of the couples)
- nice finale

Room For Improvement
- the over the top character, though he at least doesn't feel like a 5 year old
- though it was nice to see previous couples, by the third arc they took up way too much screentime
- didn't care about the mom plot at all and wish the boyfriends would have first consulted their partners
- (Yotha & Gun had another round of "can I (have sex with you)" and "I told you before no one asks about that")

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One of the cutest BLs I have ever seen!

Definitely you can't expect and Oscar-worthy series from this one but one thing for sure, I am a very easy-going person, some silly comedies would make me laugh so hard and each episode of this drama did not fail to make me laugh hence, this review is totally personal and you might have different opinion than the one I write below.

When I first saw the trailer, I did not have a high expectation on this one as it will be the same university life BL stories but I trusted that this would be an okay-ish story as it was based on JittiRain novel (author of Theory of Love and 2gether). Also, I am a diehard shipper of NeoPhuwin and when I saw Neo and Phuwin will not be a couple in this drama, my interest dropped. But, after the first episode, I got hooked, impressed and immediately had a good feeling about this one and each episode was getting better, waiting for Fridays was the most torture thing for me for the past weeks.

So what makes me like this series so much (it will be endless but I make it short):
1) The directing. What makes this series so good is the ability of the director to make the comedy part "laughable". If you think the series is just a silly BL story for teenagers, it is not. It is full with good messages and were conveyed in a fun and comedic way. The directing managed to set the tone of the series so well, also they tried to make Duean and Meen story as separated story and it did not feel weird to me.
2) The acting. There are some experienced and new actors, but their acting was good and they don't really look like they just get out from the acting class.
3) OST and background music were awesome, so perfectly placed in the series and both Louis and Mix songs had been on my playlist and on repeat for many weeks already.
4) The small little effort to make Pi's and Duean's room to look like a real living person room, not just for the sake of the series! (LOL, I know).

What are the things that I wish it could be improved:
1) I would love to see more interactions and dynamics of Pi and Duean family. I love every moment of the parents, and the three brothers. They had an interesting chemistry and characters, I wish to see they explore more into the stories of the family, their reactions to accept the couple of Pi, Duean and Wan (by the way in Thai Pi means year, Duean means month and Wan means day, LOL) and also the closeness of three brothers. The family adds flavour to this series.

2) I wish Bam (Janhae) character was a male. Look, don't get me wrong, I love Janhae, she's a great actress especially in Who Are You (LOL!) and I know love is genderless. But I get tired to see a female character to make someone else jealous in BL series. Mork loves Pi and tried so hard to win Pi's heart, we know Mork has interest in men (arguable, yes) so it would make a perfect sense if Mork has a male friend or ex boyfriend to make Pi jealous. I also don't want to see another "I don't like men, I only like you" so if Bam character was a male, then my heart will be at peace, at least.

This series has all the cliché things you have seen in other BL series but as Gun Attaphan said in Theory of Love, "it is not cliché, it is called classic". The clichés, "stupidity", illogical and craziness of the stories what made this series so cute and good in so many ways. You can see the Genres and Tags of this series in the descriptions and if you can't handle those then it might not be your cup of tea. "Comedy" is the first genre listed, well you can argue a good and bad comedy, not everyone will laugh at the comedy part of this series but this is the first BL comedy for me that really did not fail me from the get-go.

In conclusion, if you're still thinking to watch or not, give it a try, it is worth it. If this series was aired last year during worldwide lockdown, I'm sure it will become a hit just like 2gether. So yeah, that was a cue for you to start watching this golden series. Enjoy!

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YWCFTS is a perfect blend of romance, comedy, and melodrama. I love the underlying theme of why humans live diligently when we are all going to die eventually anyway. The writer provided a complete story. I didn't feel the holes that are so common when sci fi, time travel, body switch, etc. stories are attempted. I'm not a fan of romantic comedy, but this was so well done and included enough melo to keep me interested.

Why isn't Jun Ji Hyun in more dramas? I absolutely adore her. She made Song Yi so real to me. I will watch anything she plans to do in the future. Honestly, I'm not much of a fan of Kim Soo Hyun. However, he played Min Joon very well. To me his character was a good blend of controlled emotion with feeling. Park Hae Jin and Yoo In Na as well as the other characters were also good.

The music is pretty.

I will probably rewatch this at some point.

I think everyone would enjoy this drama.

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The tale of two straight chefs who try to be lovers and enemies but fail at both.

I am keeping this short and sweet, because well, the series is very short and so sweet it is the equivalent of a diabetic coma. Now, the opening scene is a feast for the eyes, just like that other food BL Bite Me (which has a multitude of its own problems). That is, we fade into the "Hot" Chef of the duo showering, shirtless, and showing the goods as much as Asian television will allow.

Now, I suppose this should have been a warning (Hindsight is 20/20 ya know). The production team on both shows were basically letting you know what you are here for, and its not story, characters, plot, or drama. You are here for hot guys and maybe two of those hot guys will kiss before it's all over and done with if you're lucky. Nothing more and nothing less.

If that is all you're looking for. If that is all that is required to be a success in your book. If that makes the time spent here decent enough. Then by all means, this will not disappoint. But if you expect anything, and I do mean anything, above this very low, low, (Did I say low?) bar, then you likely aren't gunna be too keen on this in the end.

Now, My Sweet Dear begins winningly enough. While the production shows its seams, the budget clearly at the shallow end of the Korean pool, the series does a decent job of choosing where to spend that budget. Yes, the show reminds me of 1990's US independent Gay cinema (Trick anyone? Anyone?) production, but it does have a banging soundtrack that is ready for all the girlies to hit shuffle to on Spotify. And well, that's the core audience here. As long as the music is good, the boys are hot, and they have lovingly long stares, it wins.

Well, kinda. You do get a trickling of "Well like on a snowy or rainy day where I just need something bubbly and cute," that seems to say its not REALLY worth your time, but will do if you need it to.

Jang Eui Soo as our new, attitude filled, hot shirtless chef Jung Woo, comes out swinging. In the beginning he gives it his all and makes a character you instantly do not like, but still want to drool over. He's cocky, arrogant, conniving, and all kinds of sexy that led every commenter from here to Mars to brainstorm backstory in hopes of clearing his asshole set-up. But, that backstory never materializes and, well, you are left with who and what his character is, and that aint very pretty.

Somewhere Eui Soo gives up. I'm not sure where, but his acting becomes more cardboard-like and his swagger dissolves as the story progresses. Did he realize what type of series he actually signed up for and just decided, ehh, who cares?

Lee Chan Hyung never manages to turn our other half Yoon Do Gun into anything more than a grumpy one dimensional statue. He seems bored from the beginning. Wooden in every interaction. And uncomfortable when the script tries to force him to do anything resembling intimacy. But, the character of Do Gun does come off as the victim and kind. So you can at least still root for him. If you want.

There is another player in Laura, the owner of Laura's, the restaurant that houses most of the story. She is a villain. That is all you will learn about her. So I guess, let's move on just as the series did.

Now, the premise is outrageous; a Michelin star chef being forced to compete with a no name to keep his job. It is preposterous in every way and, well, you just have to swallow it if you really want to sit through the 8 episodes. (They are only like 12 minutes so its an easy gulp.)

Somewhere in the middle you will become invested and will be treated to yet another long winded frolicking BL beach scene. Wasn't Why R U enough? This is basically the "middle" of our story development in the series, simply they go to the beach.

Then in episode 6 the underlying plot gets turned on high, but it never simmers. It just comes to a raging boil in episode 7 and then is immediately taken off the flame. When this very simple easy plot actually manages to create tension, conflict, and drama, it is snuffed out unceremoniously for the sake of creating a happy ending.

Characters serve the sketched outline of a plot and do not act or behave like human beings. Instead they are Ken Dolls ready to be posed in an empty forever smiling embrace for viewers to set as their wallpaper. You will get that kiss guys, but it will make you squirm in discomfort and make you wish that maybe they just held hands (I'm a gay guy and I'd rather see that from these two....that is bad). And well, for no apparent reason one lead forgives the other lead for everything, just because, and you are served an audience tested and approved ending.

OMG THEY ARE LIKE SO CUTE AND ARE MY LIFE. ITS SO FLUFFY AND AMAZING AND MAKES ME SO HAPPY. JES IS SOOO HOT!!!! DO YOU ALL KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND THE OST?

And Korea says YES!!!! We won again!!!!

But, did you? Really, is this what you wanna call a win?

Anyway, 4.0/ D-, 2-Stars. Hardly worth watching.

If you wanna add some zest, make a BINGO card before you start and mark down BL plot points and endings...It will be fun!

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An extremely realistic, slice-of-life drama depicting a love story in the context of university life. This drama does not make use of usual plot devices (e.g. cross-dressing) nor dramatic incidents (e.g. amnesia), but manages to channel a very well thought-out storyline. Kim Go Eun executed a stellar performance here, channeling the pragmatic, down-to-earth yet flawed personality (in some aspects) of Seol, allowing the audience to relate to her easily. The engimatic character Yoo Jung, played by Park Hae Jin will only encourage you to keep watching, for you to find out his true self. Seo Kang Joon was intensely immersed in his role as well, and I truly enjoyed his performance here! A special mention goes out to Eun Taek and Bora (played by Nam Joo Hyuk and Park Min Ji respectively) - I loved their side love story and it was the sweetest thing ever! :)

The soundtrack was the best I could hope for, with the main bulk of it being K-Indie, which was absolutely fitting for the atmosphere created by the drama.

A pity that the drama experienced some controversial issues over the directing as well as bad publicity from the original webtoon - this could be attributed to the mishandling of the issue by the PD, plaguing the last few episodes of the production and generating a slew of negative and angry feedback by the viewers. Despite these setbacks, this drama was truly a great reflection of reality - the troubles and setbacks one would face, the workings of the inner mind, the suspicion of other individuals, and a whole lot more. Definitely worth a watch!

Leggi di Più