Reviews

Charles Dickens once penned, "Gold conjures up a mist about a man, more destructive of all of his old senses and lulling to his feelings than the fumes of charcoal." The basic meaning applies well to Golden Empire: one taste of money infects the bearer, and those blinded by it are subject to its venom. Literary and historical references enhance this drama, apparent in the deeply evocative dialogue and vibrant plot twists taken over its course. Just as classic novels may enrich readers, Golden Empire embodies the same potential for viewers in its uniquely realized sprawl. By that same token, some will feel daunted or bored -- as some may when dealing with any form of entertainment considered "classical" or "high brow."

As a period piece, Golden Empire explores harsh years in Korean history. While we are enfolded by this unique atmosphere, the opulent poison represented by the Choi family's own corporate power and wealth begins to take hold. Managing to be highly personal and impactful (even as it tackles complicated business affairs), this is a drama without cliche. Potential viewers should note only negligible romance is present. A few dalliances do exist, but these are far from sweet. For instance, one of the first and foremost openly compares its trajectory to the ill-fated connection between Eva Braun and Hitler. Of the heavily explored ties, family and business are king. Don't expect fuzzy heart flutters here; in the world of Golden Empire, loved ones stab you in the back for even one more share and prison is just another business trip.

Some imperfections exist admittedly; early episodes are strewn with time skips and somewhat confusing cinematographic cuts. It took about five hours submerged in this drama for me to find my footing and solidify my understanding of the plot. Once I could, the rest of the experience was riveting.

The leads offer juggernaut performances. Go Soo becomes Jang Tae Joo with almost theatrical flourish, building him impressively. This character represents the unpredictable, behaving radically in the race for money and influence. As such, his portrayal adopts a delightful and intoxicating element of controlled volatility, comparable to a lightning strike. It was a pleasure trying to figure out what he might say next and just how. Son Hyun Joo and Lee Yo Won embody the brilliant, but tragically flawed Choi cousins. Both of them had an amazing ability to begin friendly conversations and end them with figurative claws out. Out of the three addressed in this section, the persistent Min Jae (Son Hyun Joo) captured my attention without fail. His scenes comprise some of the most dynamic I've encountered in any drama; truly, both character and actor are highlights. Watch out for any scene including even two of these talents; it's guaranteed to be thrilling, especially if it includes both men.

Orchestrations were generally well applied, often serving to add that extra punch to a scene. The best description that can be made of them "moody, elegant, and high drama." Beyond the incredible introductory piece though, I'm not sure any of them make for good post-view listening. Vocals are another story, with Yeon Gyu Sung ("Crying"), ALi ("In My Dream"), and Sun Soo Jin ("Shout to the World") serving up some of the best I've heard all year. Despite romantic lyrics occasionally inappropriate to the series, but hey, they sound great.

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Exactly what I wanted to see from the first Korean musical drama !

Now I have to mention that I’m a very big fan of musicals , therefore when I first heard news about this drama coming out I was already very excited and had many experiences and I proudly say that THIS DRAMA JUST EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS .

If you expect romance or any of that kind , better just don’t watch it because it won’t deal with that .

Even from the start , I had a happy surprise to see that they immediately started the drama with a song , which I extremely like and added to my playlist.

The life of the three main characters was very relatable to me , I just immersed myself in the story . Each character had their own pain and backstory which was not very known to each other at first .

The magician helped them heal and find themselves while he also kinda healed himself through them . I did not expect such a story for him and I also have to mention that the little details about Bella were extremely emotional, beautiful and well done .


I think this drama balanced everything very well , from magic , psychological problems , music . I was very satisfied with every single little detail and have no complaints whatsoever.

Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you have to completely forget your child side . Do not let people dictate the way you live your own life , some people can live doing things that they dislike all the way through their lives , meanwhile for other people that would be just as bad as death ..If it makes you unhappy , it can kill you inside .

Now let me end this review with a quote that stayed in my mind , from this drama of course :

‘’ No one in the world is crazy . They make you into a crazy person little by little if you don’t fit society’s standards’’


10/10 ! Recommend and with big rewatch value ✨ 🎩

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A nice cap off to the Ai and Nhai love story.

Quite a few people hated the main series. I understand their concerns but it was different for me because i loved it. AI lhong Nhai was a guilty pleasure watch and its such a delight to see them end the series with this.

Lets not kid ourselves, it looks like it was shot within a day and on a limited budget but there was some good camera shots and sceneries here. The locations are amazing but they could have spent a little more time with the set - the empty bookshelf when Ton and Nhai is having lunch is so distracting they didnt even bother to put a single book or plant in it.

Like the main series there will be a few violent reactions again about the script (or the very poor way it was translated). I would also like to know how expensive it is to get the rest of the gang, at least Nhai's father, and why it wasnt possible for them to even make a cameo for this occassion.

I however love them bringing back Sippakorn and Jaonan. Seeing this lovely real life couple onscreen is like rainbow on a rainy day.

I am not sure if there is a demand or a clamor for this but i really appreciate them most for giving us this special episode to end the Ai Nhai story. The main series ended quite abruptly and this special felt like they planned to do it like this all along.

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There was so much more I wanted to see …!!

It’s been a while since I really wanted to talk about a show like mentioning all the complaints I have and really just wanting answers to the questions it left me with ….for this drama was really gonna get a 9/10( the highest I give ) if I hadn’t completed it (cuz it has really really amazing 1st half )... I share the same opinion with people who say the drama did not do well in the second half and I have my reasons ...and trust me I genuinely wanted to rate it higher “but” …

The first half was really amazing ....and the expectations I had were sky-high ...for how the things around ML were ...that was one of the most realistic portrayals I have ever seen
Even though the FL wasn’t really realistic as a psychology student throughout the show ...I could easily ignore it because I know certain things need to be a bit unrealistic for stories to progress.
As for the acting, it really was fab ..!! kudos to the cast ...for making me smile like an idiot I really enjoyed those little comedic moments ....
The major issues I have are only with the second half ...or you can say the sky-high expectations I had, hurt me. And that is the sole reason for the drop in ratings...

After they were finally together one of the major plot points according to me should have been about wu yan seeing Cheng Yin(her friend) ….They wrapped it so quick as if they were in a hurry to catch an express train ….okay even if you did not show how Nian Qin helped Wu Yan in dealing with her trauma ...makers could have at least given a proper goodbye conversation to them ….not to mention I felt like Wu Yan was done with and had stopped seeing Cheng Yin around ..long before we got to the last ep...there was no journey in her doing so ....which I really wanted to see …

(This one might just be my pure sentiments)...so when they said that ML helped FL land a job at the local radio station ...he helped them secure her dad’s chamber and other things...I really felt that the FL had no achievements of her own and she was okay with that not to mention she looked happy ...look romance and all is fine but if someday someone tells me that whatever I am doing and all the problems I felt I had dealt with on my own were actually resolved by someone else ...my world is probably gonna rip apart ...even if I am thankful that things went the way I wanted them to ….even then I still wouldn’t want this to be true ...all the experiences all the struggle ...all those little achievements I own have made me who I am ….and I will really not be able to behave the way FL does if I hear what she heard....

Unnecessarily bringing the kid Xiao Jie ...again no sense of closure ...look I really liked how they brought the issue of Autism and how they gave us a small talk about music therapy ...but again ...they did not have to bring the issue back ( kid coming to visit them) if they did not have time to deal with it ...I really felt like the kid’s character had so much potential ….they really did injustice with the plot there.
And that call from ML’s stepmom ...visiting ML’s family(last eps) ...doesn’t it seem like a waste of time for I don’t think any of those events contributed to the story. Is it just me who felt like that ??
Maybe they explain more in the novel, but they will be counted as fillers when the drama is concerned.

The second couple - they could disappear from the show and I wouldn’t even realize they did.

Clicking pictures and prying into her personal life ...don’t even get me started even if the ML did not see those pictures the fact that he knew those pictures existed is enough ...makers need to know that there is something called privacy and you need to respect it...if I say more probably this review will never end …
ML’s childish behavior ...nowhere romantic ...okay let’s be honest no one in real life would want to date a stalker …just imagine someone who’s handsome, rich, and high key obsessed with you….the last quality alone is good enough to not date him. The show tries to explain his obsession and behavior....even when I know his story and am someone who can even justify villains I still couldn’t convince myself to justify his actions. At some point I was like - what’s wrong is wrong ....there is some basic respect you show towards the other person which is a must.
Maybe I was looking for some scenes of him struggling; it would have added to the depth of character. Makers could have worked it way better.

The last ep....if you look back the last few eps feel like a thriller’s first few eps ...things happening here and there with the audience just staring at the screen like ...makers you need to calm down ….breathe, drink some water...and let us breathe too....with ML’s identity revealed...FL having stomach ache ...them rushing to the hospital and show ending with them having a kid ...happily ever after ...please don’t tell me I am the only one interested in knowing how and who revealed his identity ...and am I the only one who can’t come to terms with that happily ever after cuz there was so much to explain and explore.

The OST’s and background music - just amazing. It adds so much to the drama ….if they had replaced the entire existence of second couple with more songs ...I’d probably rate the show 10/10 ...lol

I still think that I have a lot to talk about but I’ll save it for the future...also no matter how many unanswered questions the show left me with and how many times I felt like things were going wrong…. I really want to say ….I am happy that I watched it ...and even if I knew they were going to crash I would still want to have those sky-high expectations again …

And here are some beautiful lines from the drama ….
“No matter how regretful one is there is no turning back ...there are no do-overs in life.”
“Using up all your might to bid goodbye and to forget, only to realize how helpless you are. Do you think this feeling is beautiful?”
“Everyone has their own life and happy moments. I just have to grasp my own.”
“I love you not because I need you, I need you because I love you.”

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Chemistry for Miles

This is a slow burn, chemistry laden short film that grabs you from the moment it starts to the last finishing scene. There was not a dull or insignificant scene in Wuliang and I'm all the happier for it.

This is the same length as its predecessor Painted Skin, and features the same two leads wonderfully enough. The two main actors have some serious chemistry together and this is what truly brings forth the emotional performance. This could have easily been a full length, forty episode, wuxia drama but it still manages to deliver a solid experience within thirty minutes. The storyline is well done, easily followable, and concise. The plot is engaging and continues to move forward nicely while maintaining a semblance of mystery. Although this is a short film, the chemistry between the ML's felt like a slow burn and I could easily believe they built a bond over time. Nothing here felt too abrupt or empty. They sprinkled some action scenes into Wuliang too and they were well done without being cheesy. The acting is on point and very believable. I loved the difference in the characters here than in their previous film together. Their diversity is no joke and the emotional scenes here carry some heavy impact to them. Though the soundtrack is used less than the previous film, it is beautiful.

All in all, a good action and emotion based wuxia drama that will be sure to wrench your heart. I would recommend if you're looking for a concise but emotional watch.

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When I watched this I was on a Park Shi Hoo craze and of course i like a good romcom...

Story: The first half of the drama masks itself as an ordinary romcom in a law setting. Its enjoyable but not anything ive never seen before. Now after episode 9 hits you will think your starting to watch a whole new drama. The second half is filled with a revenge plot and also a frustrating angsty romance. I liked that it was a romcom but withan actual plot. I loved the ending!!

Acing/Cast: I already knew PSH is a great actor but I was really surprised by Kim So Yeon. Her character in the beginning can come off as an annoying ditsy and materialistic brat but the writers give her a personality makeover and lots of character growth so bear with her. The leads though were perfectly casted cause their chemistry was HOT! I liked the second lead couple but wished their relationship started a bit earlier in the drama because it was kind of unbelievable how they become a couple by the end. Really liked the supporting cast and cared about their characters.

Music: At first I found 2 of the songs annoying as they played them over and over in the beginning but they matched the theme well enough. I liked the rest of the songs they used throughout enough to put on my ipod.

Rewatch: I can see myself watching this every year just to see the leads together on my screen=)

Overall Prosecutor Princess is not what it seems so give it a chance or you'll be missing out on one of the best romcoms of 2010!

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Cute, sweet but not consistently though!

So it started well of as cute fluffy and very sweet drama, as a very good rom-com, I'll say. Naive, innocent FL and Cold, CEO ML our never-changing tropes of cdrama rom-com. But later it becomes melodrama more than the rom-com well don't take the word seriously not melodrama exactly but sure not rom-com though.

As usual, the problem that we see literally any drama. Silly misunderstandings... it doesn't have one or two this drama is kinds filled with them, till this point that I wondered if there's something called 'Communication' exist in their word. I mean can't you just talk with each other, ops but they talked then what's the point with the drama they don't have anything to stretch up other than the misunderstandings.

Talking about the leads and chemistry I kinda liked it but sure not the characters, well FLs character was indeed better than ML still not what I expect, talking about ML I liked him in the first half but there's the limit of jealousy man you can't be like jealous all the time on stupid things. Ah the SFL again don't forget it's filled with cliches so we got bitchy FL which surely the worst character here. The side couple was cute still not a big fan of their story.

So overall it was a cliches average drama nothing particularly brilliant in it!

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I like this drama for several reasons:
1. For me this is the first drama where the character of (woman) lead actor is really strong and cool, also what is more imortant writers kept the individuality and speaciality of the character till the end. It was important to me, because in my opinion it is more realistic and people do not change so easily in real life, especialy when their traumatised with something.
2.I started watching it raw, I wanted just to try understand do I like it or not to watch it in the future, but I got addicted to it and even if I know only 3-4 words in korean, actors were playing so well that I didn't have hard time trying to understang what they were talking about. I mean their actions, emotions and face expresions were enough for me.
3.The story is unique and not repetitive even if it is a remake of japanese version. I tried to watch j-version but could not get used to actors.
In short it's definitely worth watching. It is refreshing, funny and wise drama.

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Bamboo Forest was a series of stories that supplements Mr. Queen. It was very enjoyable spin-off made by the production for the fans. It explained the beginning and ending of the main show. Some may not like how they end things on the main show, however this explained 2 things: (1) King likes So Yong even before Bong Hwan. (2) 2 souls were really inside the queen and they can both control the body.

The spinoff also had every character that I enjoyed in the main show had a highlight except probably for the Second Male Lead, which was already explained by the actor why his story is removed. (The pain he caused us is simply enough in the main story.)

All in all, it was an enjoyable very short thank you gift from the production of Mr. Queen. I would really miss the drama. Also, it deserve every praise they're getting because they made a drama that is unique and gave laughs to a lot of viewers. :)

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Another one of the manga adaptions movie, this one I didn't know what to expect when I deiced to watch it, although I did expect something seeing the strong casts they have assembled for this.

I have not expect to be able to see this soon, so I was quite surprised when I found this movie among the flight entertainment during my journey back from Tokyo. There was where I watched it, on the flight, and seriously, in public is possible the worst time for one to watch this movie. I was so close to tears, I actually have some leaking out the corner of my eyes and I tried so hard to hide it, OMG.

STORY 10/10
Let's move into break down before I went on rambling, seeing how I was saying that I was close to tears above, it is hard not to rate this story 10/10. I have not read the manga, so I do not know how close is it to the original storyline. But if a lot are cut out from the original itself, well you should know this movie only last an hour and 45 mins (about there), and you really have to give credit to the screen writer to still manage to create an impact within this short time.

I do not want to touch too much on the story, I am just very glad to see there are gems like these among the shoujo manga too, something that isn't just all bright and bubbly love story where the dump girl going after the guy and getting the guy at the end, if you think Orange would be light and easy to watch, I think you need to read the synopsis again.

CASTS 10/10
As I said I have high expectations from the cast, I've seen Tsuchiya Tao and Yamazaki Kento acts in other shows before, I certainly know they can act if given the right role, and I was not disappointed. Kento stolen the show with his acting there, those time when you look at his character and you just feel like wrapping an arm around Kakeru, to tell him everything are alright, that he has friends now and things don't have to be as hard as he thinks it should be. I am glad the other character did those in my place.

The emotions these actors and actresses managed to deliver on screen, making it an amazing movie. You can tell the struggles they going through are very real, and every bit of tears shed makes you wants to cry along. T_T

MUSIC 9.5/10
Good, the songs are good, the theme song is very fitting to the storyline, the tune and everything. I think I do need to rewatch this to judge the rest of the songs. I do not really remembering them throughout the movie, so I will be updating about this.

The theme song though, is very very beautiful.

REWATCH VALUE 9.5/10
I will definitely rewatch this again, with a box of tissue readied at my side. XD This beautiful movie, even though it hurts you on the inside. It is not entirely sad, more like a bittersweet, and with that slice of harsh reality making me wants to go back to it.

OVERALL 9.5/10
Perhaps it is just me who like those storyline that packed with a bunch of feels, I have to be honest and say this, I love any movie that makes me cry (though nothing too dark and too heavy, something like Orange packed with just the right amount of sadness and seriousness) so I am most possibly bias with my rating. This is not an easy movie to spend your afternoon, so be warned. Get readied with a pack of tissue when you start this. :)

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Good Visuals , Somewhat Entertaining but.....

i have never written a review on mdl but for this I had to write one because of the wasted potential. The first half of this show was fine and and not that great on which they could have build something. But soemthing was wrong from the beginning. This series is heavily plagued from bad writing which made the show from great to okayish.
Now I will break it down into what was good and what was bad.

The Good :-
1) The cast - The cast is of superior quality and they all have done a fabulous job of what they were given.
2) The basic premise - The premise from the beginning was interesting and worth exploring . It was rich and it really fascinated me what could be done from it.
3) The characters chemistry - The characters were setup great and their interactions were enjoyable and their dynamic was great.
4) The location and Visuals - The place it is set in is really breathtakingly beautiful and the level of CGI they were able to do is unseen in kdrama. Some set pieces were really too good to be true.

So All in all it had the right ingredients for it to be a great kdrama so where did it fail.

The Bad :-
1)The pacing - The pacing was all over the place and I don't know what was happening sometimes . Some moments the story was moving too fast and other times it crawled to move.
2) The action - I don't know whose idea it was to do action in this way but everything was filmed in jump cuts and we could barely see characters fight. Somebody would make a move and the opposing thing would have a reaction and thus it continued . It was so jarring and was really laugh worthy.
4) The Characters Motivation was barely explored on what made them tick. Why they continued to fight and what kept them going.
3) The execution - This really takes the cake on what made it "not great" . They could have done so much with the interesting premise but they squandered it . The scriptwriter had no idea how to write such a epic and often times scenes that played were predictable or illogical. You knew while watching it that it could have been much more grand and of the potential it had. It shows that how difficult it is to write a epic story.
for e.g.. They did not explore the lore in enough detail to make us understand the details behind the power of characters such as Yohan and how he gained sudden powers unexplained before.

So all in all a great story squandered. And honestly after the scriptwriters last drama (Jinxed at First) I was sceptical for Island but I held on to hope. I really wish it could have become the grand story I anted it to be.

Disclaimer :- They review is based on the knowledge of the author and what he felt while watching the drama. He does not claim of being a expert on anything.

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A basic romance movie done well

It was surprisingly really fun?
I was excepting the basic high school romance movie, with its cute moments, way too dramatic third part, rushed storyline, and nonexistent secondary characters, while still being entertaining enough, but it was not.

It doesn't reinvent the genre or anything, it was just a really good-quality high-school romance. And it's an original story, so it does not feel rushed, and everything/everybody that gets introduced actually gets a spotlight and a conclusion.

The goods :

- Good pacing where everything is wrapped up nicely.
- The characters were nice, and everybody got a lot of spotlights.
- No melodramatic part where the heroine cries for 15 minutes.
- No "villains" or misunderstandings that come from nowhere.
- Lots of cute scenes
- Nice twist
- Not a perfect hero and is portrayed as such. He is too honest and has no tact, which can be good and bad. He has to apologize for it and does.
- Not the usual "shy" heroine. She is portrayed as such at the beginning, but we see her layers during the movie.

The bads :

- The beginning is a little hard to get into. There's a lot of music, that cuts the flow of the movie, and it's doing "too much". But it calm downs after something like 15 minutes? In the same way, the acting is a little weird at the beginning, then it's better.
- There's a character that I couldn't really understand during the movie, and even if their actions are explained thanks to the ending, it doesn't change the fact I didn't understand them during a good part of the movie. Still cute though.
- Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is still a very basic romance movie. It doesn't change the world or anything.

A really nice movie. I didn't get bored even though it was almost 2 hours.

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It's certainly the best drama I've watched this month. I'm a little sad to bid it adieu--it had everything you could want from a drama: amazing actors, heartwarming moments, an adorable little kid, and a BEAUTIFUL love story that immersed you completely in the lives of these characters. Everything they felt, you felt. This drama grasped onto my heart and refused to let go. These actors really did a phenomenal job; I definitely want to check out some of their other dramas.

I think whether you are a fan of melodramas or not, this is definitely worth your time. While the subject matter of having a terminal illness is sad, rather than being this forlorn, sappy pit of one depressing scene after the other, it instead had a nostalgic, hopeful, and just plain beautiful feel to it. <33

It was about family and friendships--the important people in our lives and what we're willing to do for them. Appreciating them full-heartily and embracing our present happy moments. The OST is stunning, SO SO beautiful. It really added to all the moments in this drama.

If you're on the fence about whether to start this drama, I say barrel through that fence and just take a chance. It really doesn't disappoint: it's about life, family, love, and happiness. It's just so dang beautiful. I applaud everyone involved in it making it. <333

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