Reviews

Shine mostra que o amor também pode ser uma prisão

Shine foi uma experiência bem diferente de tudo que eu já vi no BL tailandês. Eu já vou começar sincera: o primeiro episódio foi um suplício pra mim. Eu pausava, voltava, mexia no celular, ia beber água, tudo servia de desculpa pra não terminar. Quando finalmente acabei, a vontade de seguir pro segundo era quase nula. Mas, ainda bem, eu fui, porque dali em diante a série começou a mostrar pra que veio. Ainda não é aquele ritmo eletrizante que prende logo, mas dá uma engrenada boa e me fez continuar.

O que me pegou de verdade é que Shine não é uma história feita pra ser agradável. Não tem nada daquele BL açucarado, cheio de ceninhas fofas e momentos pra suspirar. Aqui é tudo cru, pesado e até doloroso de assistir. A série mergulha em um período sombrio da história da Tailândia, com militarismo, revolução, corrupção e repressão social. E, sinceramente, eu gostei porque a gente quase nunca tem acesso a essa perspectiva. Normalmente só consumimos o lado ocidental dessas épocas, e Shine abre um espaço pra enxergar as marcas que ficaram do outro lado do mundo. É denso, é cru, mas é necessário.

Os romances seguem essa mesma linha: nada de conto de fadas, é amor marcado por dor, obrigação, repressão e escolhas que cobram um preço caro. O coronel é talvez o personagem mais triste nesse aspecto. Ele consegue sair das amarras do exército, mas continua preso em outro tipo de cela: o casamento sem amor, mantido por convenções e preconceitos. É sufocante ver alguém que se liberta de uma corrente, mas permanece amarrado em outra, e isso, pra mim, foi uma das coisas mais fortes da série.

E aí tem o Trin e o Tanwa, que em teoria são o casal principal e até tiveram um final feliz daqueles que a gente gosta de ver, os dois juntos, envelhecendo lado a lado, sobrevivendo a todo aquele caos. Só que, sinceramente, por mais bonitos que fossem juntos e por mais química que rolasse entre eles, eu não senti tanto impacto. Pra mim, Shine acabou sendo muito mais sobre o coronel e o repórter do que sobre o casal principal. Era pra ser a história de Trin e Tanwa, mas quem carregou o peso emocional de verdade foram os outros dois. E isso não quer dizer que eu não tenha gostado deles, pelo contrário, foi bom ter uma fagulha de esperança no meio de tanto sofrimento, mas o protagonismo, pelo menos pra mim, escapou das mãos deles e se alojou firme no casal secundário.

E aí vêm os destinos de Victor e Veena, que são quase um soco no estômago. Os dois não mereciam o fim que tiveram, mas cada decisão deles pesou. Victor escolheu levantar a voz e acabou silenciado de forma brutal. Veena sendo envolvido com o exército e ainda por cima se apaixonou pela mulher do coronel, o que o colocou num beco sem saída sendo chantageado e traído. Shine deixa claro que toda escolha tem um preço, e, na maioria das vezes, ele é alto demais.

Agora, se for pra apontar problemas, Shine tem sim. Os episódios poderiam ser mais enxutos; algumas cenas parecem arrastadas e acabam cansando. Além disso, não é todo mundo que vai conseguir embarcar nesse tom pesado. Entendo quem desistiu logo no começo, a série não faz esforço nenhum pra “conquistar” o espectador, ela só joga a história nua e crua na sua cara e espera que você aguente.

No fim das contas, minha experiência com Shine foi de respeito e impacto mais do que de diversão. Não é a série que eu assistiria de novo numa maratona de conforto, mas é uma que vai ficar na cabeça e no coração por dias. Eu recomendo, sim, mas com a ressalva: vá sabendo que é pesado, que não vai ter final feliz pra todo mundo e que talvez você saia mais reflexivo do que satisfeito. O que mais me marcou foi justamente isso, cada personagem teve seu destino traçado pelas próprias escolhas, e Shine não romantizou nada, só mostrou as consequências. E, apesar de tudo, eu gostei de ter assistido.

Leggi di Più

Pleasantly surprised gets 3/5 stars.

After rewatching the series, I decided to come back and edit my review on one of my favorite Taiwanese dramas.
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Story: There's food, there's love and there's a slice of life. I loved that this drama had more than romance. I'm used to dramas focusing on one or the other, so it's nice that we get to see a healthy blend between Kai Qi's career goals and her chance encounter at love with Zi Jie. It's also a bonus that the food was also very well shot, so my recommend is to not watch on an empty stomach!

One thing that I was critical about was the addition of the drama that was unecessary to the plot and only served the purpose of dragging the show further. Towards the end of the drama, the conflict started becoming overboard. Although, I love longer dramas and I love the opportunity to see cute moments in a drama, at some point, a drama needs to come to a appropriate close. I would've preferred the show wrapping up with less episodes than prolonging the show with over-the-top drama.

Acting/Cast: I felt that the main cast did fairly well in playing the roles they were cast with the exception of a few (i.e. ah jie's brother, du kai's mother, hao wei's sister). I love how affectionate the main characters were and how natural they became with each other. While watching this, I got to see maturity with the main couple, they don't pry into each others business and then get mad about it, which typically happens in many dramas. In addition, I love that the characters have the ability to put two and two together, instead of a long wait for the character to discover the truth about something. Lastly, the great thing about this drama is that there aren't really any despicable secondary characters or multiple love lines.

Music: The music was fantastic, it fit perfectly with the mood and it fit perfectly with the scenes. It also gave you clues to what was about to happen which I found a little cheesy but, It was perfectly fine.

Rewatch Value: Yes, I would watch this drama again through clips because of the excessive dragging.

Overall: I think you should give this drama a chance because it is a unique drama and It will make you laugh and put a smile on your face. Although there are moments where you just feel like WTF, but after those WTF moments you actually enjoy it even more to see through to the end.

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Art is beautiful....

China can do bl and do it well enough to capture the important aspects of good story telling. From the beginning it is obvious that it doesn't have the funds to produce it on a grander scale but this is easily overlooked by the quality of acting. Riveted by the story and its pacing, it is a beauty. The interactions of the entire cast flowed so well to make the audience believe in their characters.

I was enthralled by the mains acting. The starkness of the environment aided in displaying how important each meeting was to the story. There is an anxious theme that permeates the story, informing the audience to enjoy each second of their love story, for in a moment this bubble could be broken and all will be lost. QL and QX embodied the intensity of their young love. QL's fiery determined confession matches well with QX's humble but intoxicating acceptance. The sacrifices they made for each other's happiness in the end would see them on different paths.

LMY and TY became a savior to each other. Ultimately, protecting and fighting for each other as real couples would. TY's round eyes and dedication to LMY would make him a favorite. Their responses to each other would make their age difference believe. TY's petulance and introspectiveness fought well against LMY's resistance and flawed thinking. Had this not been resolved, I could see TY waiting a lifetime for him.

The support cast did well also. Turtle, an early irritant, added to the spots of humor, making him a joy to watch at the end.

Production could have been better. With limited resources, the scenery and wardrobe became monotonous but overlooked. China's limits on BL physical interaction saw juvenile kisses but again forgiven due to the innocence of their relationships. The sudden appearances of characters and dissappearance added to some choppy scenes. The script in itself was brilliant (XQ's confession) and poor at times. The fillers used to lengthen the series was obvious.

The ending for each couple was beautiful. This is added to my list of series to rewatch as their confessions were charming and the piece that makes this shine.

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Princess Jellyfish...I felt like the anime wasn't really my style and I never did give it a try. I'm also not the biggest fan of live-action films since they always seem less magical (?) than the other adaptations. So, with that in mind, I have to say that I seriously regret not watching this sooner. It exceeded my expectations!

The storyline is simple but fresh. The movie was fun, it addressed some serious issues, and it was somewhat lacking in the romance department. Exactly what you'd except from a Japanese movie...and that's not a bad thing. What really made this movie great were the characters, none of them were forgettable! This is mostly thanks to the actors who were just amazing. Both of the leads knew what they were doing, they were both new to me but Suda Masaki has plenty of projects under his belt ( he has like three movies coming up next year! wow ) and Nounen Rena is also quite talented ( Amachan anyone? ).

This is a feel-good movie, funny and light-hearted...and I honestly don't have any complaints about it. I'd definetly recommend this to anyone who wants a break from melodrama, anyone who likes fashion, and anyone looking for a good weekend movie.

PS. The soundtrack was so great!

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Date is funny, sweet, deep and moving. The question of how do we know we are in love is probably asked by everyone at some point in their life. The question is answered from an individual perspective of life and what is important. Personally, I never ever dreamed of being in a relationship. Even when I was a child I did not fantasize about marriage nor did I play "house". Then one day after years of knowing the same people, but never meeting, I met my significant other. I fell hard and 14 years later we are still together. We were so straight forward with each other that some of this drama resonates true deep in my heart. The quotes and mathematics are also great quirky characteristic touches. I didn't care which character ended up with another character, because they were all likable. It is a relaxing, interesting watch.

All of the actors were great. Anne Higashide was really cute as Yoriko. That duck face was too funny. She is so smart and despite appearance and her practical approach is very caring. When she upsets or hurts some one, it is obvious that she doesn't mean it. I would love to have a friend like Yoriko. At least I wouldn't have to second guess her motivation or friendship. Hiroki Hasegawa is also amazing. That funny strange smile Takumi has like he isn't used to smiling but is trying to express himself is perfect. I loved his character as some one that had a scar and like most of us are want to do we let it change our lives. I'm going to get a little personal here, because his character was most important to me on a personal level. As someone who has experience agoraphobia for months after I had a mental break down over a trauma, I can say that it can become a habit. Mostly because a person can become comfortable not facing a harsh world. I felt like my perspective of reality must be wrong and I was confused for a while between what was real and what wasn't. I thought that every one was lying to me and had other social anxiety issues. I went to counseling once a week for months until I could venture out into the world again. i don't know where I would be if I had not sought help. Maybe I would have been like Takumi. Anyway, I was totally invested in the main characters.

The music was good.

I will probably rewatch this at some point.

I recommend this drama to everyone. It isn't action, thriller, murder, mystery, amnesia, lost family member, etc. type drama. However, the writing, character development, and humor over the question "what is love to me?" is worth the watch.

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The drama started off with a more unconventional story - a concubine avoiding being noticed by the emperor to avoid the evil schemes in the palace. The story had a modern touch to it and had unrealistic parts so it's hard to take it seriously as a historical drama. However its saving grace was the comedy. This drama had many hilarious moments and it was a fun and light hearted watch. The romance progresses slowly but the friendships between the female lead and her close consort friends were great to watch.

The starting song was not my cup of tea and the osts weren't memorable. The cast was pretty great and suitable for their roles. Rewatch value isn't too high because there wasn't a lot of content.

Overall this is a great show to watch if your in need of comedy and funny dramas.

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Watch for the outstanding romance just not between the leads

Before you decide to write off this drama due to the bad reviews, hear me out.

This drama suffers from a case of split personalities. It is both very very good and absolutely awful at the same time. But do I regret watching it? Not at all.

The bad:

The drama started off decently with a best friends to lovers trope and it was engaging enough within the first half of the show. In the second half, the chemistry between the leads fizzled out. As a fan of Lee Da Hee, it pains me to say that her character was incredibly frustrating. Also it takes special talent to make someone as gorgeous as her look terrible, but this show managed to do it with the awful fashion choices. As for Choi Si Won, his character was too selfish. In short the leads were very unlikeable and over time I completely lost interest in them.

The good:

While the reality show aspect was fairly engaging, there was an unexpected couple that developed and they really stood out far more than anything else in the drama. Individually, these two characters showed the greatest growth and together their love story was swoon worthy. While they had limited screen time, their presence is what kept me obsessed and coming back for episodes week after week. Maybe the actors aren’t well known but they had great chemistry, engaging character development and an interesting background that could easily be expanded into a full series. I would give anything to have these two get a spin off show . If not that, then at least to see their crackling chemistry again as in Goblin/ Touch Your Heart.

To summarize, this show is mediocre at best if you consider the story of the leads, and most of the supporting characters. They show limited growth, and have few redeemable qualities. While they tried to tackle a lot of concepts, eating disorders, obesity, trauma, etc, I don’t think it was presented very well. Poor writing is ultimately the source of the show’s downfall.

This is also where the concept of split personalities come in. While the main story is so dull and poorly written, the story of the side pairing is so amazing that I would gladly fast forward through the rest just to watch them over and over again. Even if you’re not won over by how adorable they are together, you would still enjoy watching them. The two actors have a great screen presence and their characters evolve throughout the story. The male character ‘s arc in particular deserves special appreciation. To me these were the most interesting and fleshed out characters. It’s a shame the show didn’t give them enough screen time. Had they been the focus, the show could very well have ended up being a 10 for me. The writers have missed out on a brilliant opportunity to show something unique and special.

My parting thought is the following: give the show a chance and make your own opinions about it. There are few dramas where the romance has gotten me this excited in recent years. I really did enjoy the side pairing and will continue to rewatch their scenes whenever I feel the desire to watch some sweet romance. It was an unconventional pairing but absolutely delightful to watch. If you need one reason to watch this show, it is to watch these two characters as they grow and to see how their romance blooms. I promise you won’t regret it.

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A drama with a lot of substance and heart. It handles a beautiful love that is mature and also warms your heart.

The lead characters come from a place of great trauma and carry dark shadows within them, but the feel of the drama is far from gloomy or sad. It is the beauty of the characters that they find happiness and comforts even with a background of pain.
I really liked the character graphs of Chen Ling and Qi Lou. The actors too were perfect for the roles. Every other character in the drama too is well written and real. There are no fluffy or pointless characters.

The drama handles many serious issues in our society and characters with mental instabilities/psychological problems, and it does so with great sensitivity and care.

I liked the music, because I felt it was used appropriately and enhanced the beauty of the scenes. The happy moments had a track that made you feel the happiness, whereas in the more tense scenes, the background score completely stopped, adding to the intensity.

The first half does remind you of Devil Beside You- probably because of the character of the male lead and having been shot in the same campus, but MARS is definitely more intense and on a broader canvas than DBY.

I can't think of any drama that I've as completely appreciated as MARS. It took me in completely, and I will happily re-watch it any number of times.

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What I liked about this movie is its unique and interesting storyline : it’s practically a biography which talks about Lee Tae Sung who after serving the army decided to go to Japan since he has always loved,then he fell in love with the musician Yuri who encounters a tough family life. Even though there was the language differences and difficulties, they actually get along, he helps her to continue her road in music and arrange her family life.
I specially loved the lead actor and found many stro,g points in his acting unlike the lead actress whose acting was a little disordered especially at first but things get along well as the movie goes on.
I loved this film despite its sad atmosphere, it was a great because its true story that was made to honor the Korean student for his noble act, I won't say what's the story of the noble act you have to watch the film and find out yourself .
If you're looking for something different then this is recommended; you will understand my cryptic last lines when you watch it.

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This movie was beautiful. Don't let the huge age difference or possible bad ending stop you from watching this. It was so beautiful and sweet and I really felt something with this movie. The characters actually grew a real relationship, not the basic inappropriate stories that older woman/younger man have. This is probably one of my favorite Japanese movies now, the story wasn't really original or anything, but they showed a true relationship and how people feel going through growing old and loosing the abilities that you used to have. The director of this movie did wonderful, there were lots of scenes with the sun gorgeously shining on the set and the actors. There were also great moments of symbolism the director did with the dark vs bright rooms. It was delicately made with deep feelings. I really hope that you decide to watch this.

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Buckle in, this is LONG; if you don't want to read, at the end, there's a TL;DR.

I rarely get emotional over dramas (the only one that's ever made me cry was the Untamed, and I credit that to excellent story writing and Xiao Zhan's acting). And although this drama didn't make me cry, it definitely made me more than a bit emotional.

There's spectacular character development throughout the entire thing. Although flat characters remain rather flat-- for example, Chong Li Ming's father, or his brother, or Xiao Hong--, it's a good thing. It brings more liveliness into our center characters, making them rounder and more full. Chong Li Ming's character isn't a male "Mary Sue"-- he struggles with a lot of issues, such as breaking away from the past as well as letting people go. Ah Yi's character is probably the closest we get to a "Mary Sue"-- he's a better fighter than Chong Li Ming, he's morally upright, he's incredibly kind, and he's committed to his friend. (And Jackson's acting is amazing in this!)

The cast is well chosen and honestly they're amazing together. They have fantastic chemistry together, especially Yu Chu (Hu Bing Qing) with Ah Yi (Jackson Yi). Admittedly, Yu Chu (Hu Bing Qing) is a bit more awkward with Chong Li Ming (Huang Zi Tao), but it works with her character design (to be honest, I'm not 100% sure if the awkwardness is engineered into her acting intentionally or not, but either way, it works really well with the story as well as her character design).

I especially enjoyed the following characters' acting: Yang Zhen (June Wu) (his character is listed as a side character, but honestly, he's more of a main character than Marie), Ke Yan Xin (Liu Yuan), and Xiao Ke (Li Jun Mo). Yang Zhen's character actually made me hate him so much, which is credited more to the actor, June Wu, then the writing (because you can have a well written story, but if the acting is poor, the character will fall flat). Ke Yan Xin's character starts off as very lovable, but then becomes a less lovable character, which the actor carries well with grace and it's very well integrated. Xiao Ke's actor, Li Jun Mo, also does a spectacular job. Although his facial expressions are a bit recycled, he does fantastic nonetheless.

Honorable mentions: Wa Ge Na (Richards Wang), Hua Jiu Qing (Ning Xin), Marie (Ma Li, actor: Miranda Ma)

I'm going to loop back a bit to the story, as I've gone on a LOT about characters. The story is spectacularly written. I see a lot of people get upset because this was a BL story originally, but what did you expect? It's China, so they're going to have to write that out in order to air it. However, unlike the Untamed, it's far more subtle; it's written more like a bromance rather than having romantic undertones. Nonetheless, it's a very well written story, with overarching themes of loyalty and growth and bromance (there's a LOT of bromance).

The music is pretty good as well, especially paired with the more emotional scenes.

TL;DR: It's good. Watch it. Please. Acting, music, story- all superb. If you don't want to because it took away the BL aspect, know that this is still well written enough to be its own story. If you don't want to because of its length and fear of it being dragged out: it's not and honestly, quite binge-able.

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Where do I even begin with this drama... Probably one of the most stressful and frustrating dramas I've ever watched, in a good way.. Sort of. I was kind of skeptical of watching this after I saw the number of episodes, I mean 50 is a lot and before this I had never finished one so long. But now that it's finally over I'm really glad I stuck around for this. I did like the darker route this drama took, showing a lot of more serious matters and not just developing romance over the course of 50 episodes. I do have to say though that everything that happened in this drama was just SO convenient. I mean this drama was just one disaster after another, and it got real annoying after a while.

The acting was pretty mediocre. I think Eugene and Lee Jung Jin did pretty well in portraying their characters. I wish the writers hadn't made Eugene's character to be such a pushover though, I mean you would think she'd have a tougher backbone after all the ill-treatment she received, but nope. Never made an effort to change that. (That wasn't a spoiler, you'll see that in the 1st episode) And I kinda hate to admit it, but I think Yoon Ah Jung was probably my favorite actor in this drama even though I HATED her character. If she was able to portray a character as evil and wicked as she was, I think she has got some serious acting skills. I mean I hated her with a passion so that says something. Well besides her, everyone else was just okay. Except for Jung Bo Suk... I'm sorry, but I just couldn't take him seriously when he was in more serious scenes. Definitely the weakest link of all the actors.

The music was okay as well. "Living is Not Living" by Jo Hyun Ah and "In Your Eyes" by Jang Hee Young were probably my favorites, but other than those 2 nothing else really stuck out to me.

Overall... While part me is happy this drama is FINALLY over, I'm still kind of sad because I have been watching this from the very beginning. Ever since when it first premiered in January, and I never dropped it or forgot it was on one weekend so I'm proud of myself. This is a drama you definitely have to be patient with to watch. You'll definitely find yourself getting frustrated with the characters choices, but in the end you may be happy you stuck around for it. And just so you know, the ending was the best. I'm so happy with how it all wrapped up. I will probably never watch this drama again, maybe certain episodes, but not all 50. Too much stress.. Definitely check this out if you're ever in the mood for a longer drama, and who knows. You may end up liking this one!

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