Reviews

This has a huge group of talented young people. If they are all truly playing the instruments and singing, then they deserve props for that. I'm not a big fan of high school dramas, but I have watched a few. This puts most of them to shame in the music department. The story is pretty typical for a high school drama...bullies, childhood traumas, first love,etc. However, it was directed like a musical and I enjoyed that. I can't post about the parts I liked, because we aren't supposed to post spoilers. Bummer!!! ;-)

Ha Yeon Soo as Se Yi and Da Hee as NaNa were my favorites. However, I liked all the actors and I thought they all did an excellent job.

The music is outstanding!!! You should watch this drama for that alone.

I will probably rewatch this at some point.

I recommend this drama for all ages.

Leggi di Più

Potential but ultimately failed

This drama had potential, but ultimately failed to deliver on almost every front.

📍Characters

Let’s start with the characters. Most of them were flat and one-dimensional, making it hard to stay emotionally invested. Supposedly emotional moments, like the loss of Mei Lin's parents, felt empty, because we never saw who they were or why their absence should matter to us. It was impossible to care about her journey.

Ironically, Luomei, who had very limited screen time, was far more engaging than the lead. She brought more intrigue and depth in just a few scenes than Mei Lin managed in the entire show. I honestly wish she had been the protagonist. The only other standout was the actor Liu Xue Yi. His performance was exceptional and carried several scenes that otherwise would have fallen flat.

📍Story

The drama’s concept was good in theory, but poorly executed. The pacing was all over the place. Early episodes built tension only to deflate it a couple of episodes later, robbing the story of momentum.

What made it especially frustrating was how much potential the main characters had at the beginning. We were introduced to a red flag male lead and a badass assassin out for revenge, characters that actually sparked interest. But instead of developing them further, the drama stripped them of their edge way too soon. They either turned into something completely different or simply lost their drive. It felt like the characters we were initially promised just… disappeared. That loss was noticeable and honestly kind of sad.
The middle section was particularly tedious, almost nothing happened, and we were bombarded with scenes centered on side characters like the emperor and his young concubine, or the villain and his love interest. Their stories added little to the main plot and took up far too much screen time. It was frustrating and felt like filler.

By the end, the story veered into chaos, with characters dying left and right for no real reason. It felt dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, completely unnecessary and devoid of emotional impact, especially since there had been no meaningful development leading up to it. They did wrap up the ending fairly well though.

📍Production

The OSTs were fine, but nothing memorable. The cinematography, however, was beautiful, and the casting seemed promising at first. Unfortunately, these strengths weren’t enough to make up for the lack of compelling storytelling and character depth.

✨️ Final thoughts

In the end, it was a disappointing experience that wasted a good concept and a talented cast on weak writing and direction.

Leggi di Più

Dudu & His 3 Personalities were EVERYTHING

Is our Dudu collecting generals again? Yes and no, considering one of his personalities was one himself. 😉 CL has been on a roll this year with his dramas. This one by far the most versatile. His leading lady wasn't too shabby either. They played off each other very well. Hard to have a man with three personalities who were all equally sexy in their own way.

Pros: Deciding which personality to choose is very hard, though at first the vampire with LYN's OST was awesome but ultimately when all three combined into one, that was the best and the fact that how they all complimented each other and you could tell when each one peeked out a little bit. I have to command CL on doing such a wonderful job. This really makes him a versatile actor to be able to play essentially an immortal, a cold ruthless general, and a guy who has amnesia and a puppy dog in love. SML did a pretty good job too from playing someone supposedly innocent to really showing his true colors and then turning into a narcissist sociopath that's obsessed with the FL and won't let go before reality hit him hard that now as emperor he had a whole country to rule not just force a woman who didn't love him to be his empress. The dichotomy of it all was interesting to watch.

Essentially the story is as it's told in the synopsis, ML who had like 5 names so I'll just stick to ML for him, is a general from the state opposing the FL's or LS's so there's constant wars where the common people suffer. He goes out to save his bro the emperor but is tricked by the brainless wannabe empress and the evil reject with black magic essentially losing the fight and gets turned into a vampire but escapes. He needs to drink blood in order to survive and because he escapes and somehow reverts to a child, he falls down a cliff where FL just happens to be fighting his soldiers; her blood ends up on a plant and somehow drips into his mouth and from that moment on they have a blood oath where it's only her blood and he must protect her and only her. His time as a kid was cute but he becomes an adult again very quickly as her scent strengthens him. So they spend the better half of the series falling in love and doing some silly things. Meanwhile in his country; it's chaotic as the fraud with black magic essentially bound the emperor to her and chained him up for what lasted a year. She faked the deaths of the emperor and his brother the ML and stuck her toddler son on the throne appointing herself his regent or fake empress.

Back at the border there are other characters that were important like the doctor friend or LX of LS, MY who was from the mountain that vampire making artifact came from also a doctor, a few fun generals one with a crush on LS who thankfully never went for it. Other great characters were LS' brother, though spoiled at first, grew up through the help of ML and LS, her father was a good man. The emperor bro of ML, the two subordinates of ML. Also the girls in LS' mansion especially Qiao whom we lost but she will always be remembered especially by the man who came to love her. What I really loved about LS was that she gave people second chances who she didn't think were evil like the bandits because they only did what they did because of their circumstances.

The SML or CP/emperor was a narcissistic sociopath. Obviously, starting with the trauma of what his brother did to him and then everything else after a while it’s all about him does not matter who gets hurt or how as long as his bacon is out of the fire he don’t care. An example is the rage killing of his brother, the rock, and then the multiple stab wounds. Than with LS, whom he claimed to love all his life; there's no love behind that none whatsoever it’s possession, obsession and she is the trophy that he must have. The fact that he was never crippled in the first place and literally hid it from everyone, including the woman he supposedly loved was a massive red flag. She only learns this much later when he again forces the whole marriage thing once he becomes emperor. How do you do that at such a young age to be able to hide such a secret from absolutely everyone? BWJ absolutely played that portion of his character to the hilt. Also, the fact that he literally betrayed her, betrayed the ML just to get what he wanted, but ended up being betrayed himself. He trusted the evil reject after meeting him only once which was ridiculous.

We then had the other arc where evil reject removes the jade artifact from ML through force, but he was the only one to do it because originally he'd put it in him using dark magic so he had to use dark magic to take it out. Once that was taken out of him, the ML started to forget what had happened to him the entire year and start to remember his actual life. So we had the arc of him remembering, forgetting her forgetting everything; It obviously wasn't the case once he comes back to his country fake empress is very afraid of him, but she still doesn't give up power. LS fights ML gets captured tortured a little bit, but then he saves her and puts her in a safe house. Long story short he eventually remembers with the help of the second couple (who also rescued the emperor who retakes his throne) and the sociopath gets a redemption arc, that country had no other ruler so they had to make him understand that he couldn't just be tunnel obsessed with her. He had a whole country to run, and he was good at it so while unfortunately, her father died; all of SMY's hypocritical ministers wanted her dead, he faked her death to draw out ML because he finally realized ML loved her more then him and he admitted defeat plus he he admitted he couldn't love her alone, he had the country and the people to run and now they had peace as the real emperor from the other state was restored to the throne.

Leads ran off together; every character was exited out appropriately at the end. The last episode was great. I loved it and especially when we got a chance to listen to LYN OST as our ML vampire crazy train took out half of SMY's team who were fake burying LS. But that ending was great with him and her and just literally exiting everybody out; the second couple talking about marriage, the leads talk about having a kid and the final kiss. Meanwhile, everyone thought she was dead, but she gave some pastries to her brother, so her brother knew she was alive, but he had joined her army and everyone was just basically doing their thing. The fake fraud was captured, but they couldn't kill her because she had done the Black voodoo on the emperor so if she died, he would die so they just stuck her in a cage, I loved the final message that LS gave her that you used all those dirty tricks to get someone to love you who never loved you; that nobody ever loved you because of how disgusting you are and how vile.

Honestly, the only real villain that I saw that played the villain part to the hilt was SML's brother. There was something mentally wrong with him. None of these apples fall far from the tree, but SMY ended up, turning his brain around and understanding facts later on. Costumes, locations, CGI, OST's all of that was on point especially LYN's OST that was really on point. I have to say my favorite scene was of ML and LS fighting troops in the forest and she tells him that she wants to kill someone so he puts his arm to the side. She jumps on it and they just hold still for maybe a second and a half and it is the most editorial and beautiful shot with him in his vampire outfit, mask, eyes everything and she in her red and black with the cool bow and arrow, and then he catapults her into the air. It's phenomenal like that shot was my absolute favorite.

Cons: OK let's start with fake empress and evil reject like those two yes, they were part of the story, but they absolute overdid it for her and the cackling and those fake long golden nails or whatever she wore and her facial expressions and she did not carry any power whatsoever no matter what she did even when it was sadistic and cruel it just looked stupid and overdone. And the evil reject again they cast this actor to be evil; he's always been cast as a protagonist, a comedian, someone funny someone smart, but this is the 2nd time they cast him as someone evil he can't do it he just does not hit the mark and it looks really bad.

The other thing it's a small one, but someone else mentioned it in the comments, and I agree with this person, but the fact that LS literally cried in almost every scene because she happy, angry, sad, whatever the emotion was instead of actually getting angry and yelling and screaming; you are a general! Nope, she just start crying. When it was sadness, sure. However, when it's anger or some other emotion that has nothing to do with tears and that's the result, it takes the emotion out of it and it just looks wrong. I'm not blaming the actress for this. I'm sure this was all the director wanting to show, but it shouldn't have happened. When she was a general and she was fighting she was badass absolutely badass a total power couple with the vampire ML. Even when she was ML's prisoner, she spoke to him like a petulant child instead of a POW. She should've spoken to him then the way she spoke to him when he was still with her maybe that would've helped. And it showed that he started to really get his memories when he saw the sketches of the cave drawings or if in her sleep, she would say that name that she gave him when it was actually something from the past that's what made him start to question what's going on. I mean, you cannot go a whole year with missing memories and not question what the hell happened.

Would I recommend it? Yes I would; it has so many layers to uncover, especially with ML's character. His is the most complex and you really have to see how the actor does it. I think the storyline was solid and it is great for any woman who likes sexy men.

Leggi di Più

This drama really did well at the beginning; there were romantic sparks between the main leads and there was a tantalizing mystery to be solved. I loved the back-and-forth between the CEO and his secretary, it was adorable from beginning to end. But my main problem with this drama is that, in my opinion, the conflict was resolved way too early. The mystery behind the kidnapping, and which brother was actually the victim, was wrapped up a little over half way through the drama; around episode 11 or 12. I thought that there was going to be a larger plot point involved, but once the truth was revealed, the trauma seemed to just disappear. They never dealt with it properly, it was just like "oh, everything is perfectly fine now that everybody knows what really happened".

So I got bored with the last 4-5 episodes because next to nothing happened besides the main couple being cute with each other. It was somewhat enjoyable, but when there is no driving force to the story (aka "conflict") it just deflates. Sure, there were mini-issues, like getting acceptance/permission to marry from the secretary's family. But honestly, everyone knew how it was going to end by episode 12. The happy couple was going to get married, it just took them 4 episodes of not much happening besides a few couple quarrels to actually reach the wedding. I dunno, I just felt like the mystery could've had larger repercussions after the truth was out, instead of being swept under the rug.

Leggi di Più

It didn't feel right

So I came out of this drama not too enthused, but my issues weren't with the main couple not ending up together. Because this was inspired by the song of the same name, it was pretty evident to anyone who made that connection that this would be the case and we knew from early on that BIJ and NHD wouldn't be endgame. There were a lot of other things about the ending, though, that made my feelings turn sour.

At the start of the drama, I was engrossed. It had a lot of charm and magic to it that motivated me to do things after watching an episode. I looked forward to it as a sort of end-of-week comfort where I could watch these characters strive to connect and grow and find themselves. Usually, I don't like youth dramas. In fact, I almost didn't watch this drama because of the 'youth' descriptors it had when it started airing and only really gave it a shot because I had a spare hour and nothing else to watch. But I surprisingly liked it. I liked the characters and their personalities, and though I really didn't care for any of the scenes where fencing was highlighted, I had fun. The side couple was easily the best part of the series, and what I appreciated about BYJ and NHD's relationship was just how good they were for each other and how, unlike a lot of romances that have been airing in recent years, they felt like they deserved each other. They built each other up and were each other's strength and support, and you could tell how much they genuinely cared about each other. I felt that if the drama decided to derail the ending of the song, it would have been earned.

It was the last 4-5 episodes where the magic died for me. The comedy was still fun but as the characters moved on from high school, everything felt bleak and miserable, like their lives were over. The issue with KYR's family that lasted, what, almost en entire episode? It felt unnecessary like they were wasting time and just trying to use it to form a rift between the main couple right as they were just getting together. We don't really get to see many scenes of NHD and BYJ dating happily before or after that incident. It was as though the drama only wanted to get them together in order to break them up as the song dictated, and that was one of the things that soured the experience the most for me. We spent twice as long agonizing over their breakup and how their relationship wouldn't work out as we did with them actually being together, and we spent even longer than that running around, trying to get them together in the first place. In the end, that disproportionate focus made their development just feel like a big waste of time. On top of that, the way the characters spoke made it feel like they thought their lives were already over the moment that they graduated. We had present-day NHD constantly talking about how carefree and happy she was back then and how it felt like they had forever, as though being an adult and having additional responsibilities meant that she couldn't enjoy her time anymore, which is probably the bleakest message I've seen from a drama in a long time.

By this point, the drama just wasn't fun to watch anymore. I sat on the last episode for a week before finally getting up the will to finish it, and I want my time back. I didn't enjoy it, and they just focused on the breakup itself. Wouldn't it have made more sense to dedicate some time to show how they got their lives on track and moved on? We heard about NHD getting married and retiring, but we never saw her husband and don't even know his name. We didn't see her fall in love again, or how this new guy was a better match for her than BYJ. We just saw that, hey, they had a kid together. He's apparently overseas on a business trip. Convenient. For BYJ, we just know that he took over NHD's mother's job and got his family back together, but we never see him in the present-day, either (I'll presume because they didn't want to recast him). Did he ever move on from NHD and fall in love with someone else? Does he have a new family, kids? Or is he just working and doing absolutely nothing else with his life? We don't really get to see many friends of his other than the ones he shares with NHD and that one guy from work, which is depressing, so it just feels sad to think about where he ended up.

Speaking of the present, was any of it really necessary? I don't think so. the actress who played NHD in the present, while pretty, didn't really feel like NHD. She felt a bit generic and was boring to watch on film, and I don't think it's really her fault. She just didn't have much to do. Her daughter was literally just there to introduce the diaries and barely has a unique personality, and in the present, we don't get to see any of the other characters because, again, they probably didn't want to recast them. Or they didn't put much thought into what they were doing now, so many years later. So if we don't get anything out of it, why is it there? We don't see how things have changed or what's happened over the years, which would be the only reason to add those modern-day scenes. Instead of adding those, I wish they used the time they spend on the modern scenes to instead give us some of that middle-ground of their relationship working before it collapsed, or some closure as to what happened to them after that breakup.

I'd also like to comment a bit on the breakup itself. As someone who was in a long-distance relationship for several years with someone who lived halfway across the world (and is now married to that someone), while I do understand their struggles, the scenes between them while they were apart and the slow-building frustration they had left me a bit... I don't know, exhausted? Separation like that is something that a lot of couples have to deal with, even more so now in today's day and age. I will concede that these days it's significantly easier to spend time with people across the world and long-distance relationships aren't as difficult as they would have been in 2001. But those issues being brought up in such extenuating circumstances as the aftermath of the 9/11 attack felt a bit... off, or cheap, or exploitative. Not being able to be with your SO because their work takes them all around the world is one thing, and I get being bitter about a relationship because of that, but in circumstances like that, knowing what BYJ was dealing with, I wasn't fond of the way NHD handled it the moment that he got back. I feel like relationship troubles should be put on the back burner when a tragedy like that is involved.

Do I disagree with them breaking up? No, not really. If she wasn't able to be supportive in that situation, then it's probably for the best. If he couldn't trust her with what he was going through and open up, then they weren't good for each other. But that's what feels so wrong to me. They WERE that supportive earlier on in their relationship before they ever started dating. They opened up to each other and were each other's strengths, and even when BYJ disappeared without a word to anyone, NHD still waited for him. So of all the ways for them to end their relationship, this way felt wrong. It didn't feel like them. If they realized they wanted different things out of a relationship and out of life and separated on good terms, that would suit this couple. But, I don't know... maybe it's just me. When the problems they encountered were so similar to what they overcame before, it soured the experience.

Overall, the last few episodes aren't really worth watching. They're not enjoyable and I found myself checking the clock multiple times, waiting for each one to end. They were too long and lost the spirit that the show started out with. Would I recommend the first 12 or so episodes? Yeah, definitely. But I wouldn't recommend the rest unless you don't have much else to do.

It had a lot of promise and spark, but I'm just not happy with it, and the issues I highlighted above soured the earlier episodes for me, so I don't think I'll ever pick it up for a re-watch. There are just too many good shows out there to spend time on one that didn't feel satisfying.

Leggi di Più

The story had your typical marriage-contract trope - which I'm a big fan of.^^ It was cute and really funny but later took a drastical turn and got really emotional. And because the acting -and the portraying of some situations in general- were pretty realistic, it was sometimes really hard to bear for my poor heart. xD There were even lot's of twists in the story! :) But the story is somehow better explained through the characters, since they were the strongest part of the drama.
_______________________
CHARACTERS
▸Moei (FL): At first she seemed like those naive, love-driven, standard-FL's. Even a little crazy/delusional. Her behaviour at the beginning even resembled those crazy SFL's. But actually underneath, she was aware the whole time that ML didn't like her. She had a pretty serious side and just swallowed everything what ML said to her. And she was intelligent and strong. Sometimes I couldn't understand some of her decisions tho. She was super interesting for me. She gave, without actually expecting something in return. Such a beautiful person. <3 And she started flirting first. hehe.

▸P'Thien (ML): He was the kinda mean ML, at least he seemed like that. He was turning down the FL. On the one hand you could feel exactly when he fell in love. And especially in the later ep's he had his character development.

▸The friend trio of the ML was hella funny! xD
▸ The evil SL's were sometimes hard to watch but bearable.
▸ AND we got a lesbian couple! :)
_______________________
CAST/ACTING
As I already mentioned the acting was pretty realistic, especially towards the end. But it was great in general! The cast was amazing. Mark sure is hot and omg, Mew is such a beautiful woman! ^0^ Their styles here really matched them well! They looked so good and natural. :3
_______________________
MUSIC
Oh my lord. Amazing! They used Slot Machine's "Yesterday" and Mark even covered it. And I love this song soo much! If anyone asks, what kind of music I like - it's this. But the other OST's were great too. Specially the opening. :)
__________________________
ALL IN ALL
Great drama! Sure it had it's flaws. A few things even didn't make sense to me (only few). But I could overlook them all since I was amazed by the overall. For me it was unique in it's ways :) Loved it. I wish we could see more dramas like that. I enjoyed watching it. And we got a very beautiful ending. (*^▽^*)

Watch it! Enjoy! ^-^

Leggi di Più

I Still Like This Drama Despite The Annoying Things

I've seen my fair share of firefighting theme dramas and while this one isn't perfect and has a lot of annoying and frustrating moments for me, this is probably the better one I've seen compared to the others. To summarize my ratings, the story was good for about 25 episodes. Then fell flat the rest of the 11 episodes. Main characters were great but it's the FL's childhood best friend, the jealous reporter, & the good to bad intern were the reason the acting/cast category lost points. Lots of pointless characters or lack of character growth/progression. The music osts were pretty good overall. A lot of rescue/firefighter theme dramas tend to have good songs. Not a guarantee rewatch but I may come back to certain episodes that I enjoyed.

What I like about this drama:
* The ML's character Jin Shi Chuan & the FL's character Xu Lai both have a story that was focus on and both had a conclusion. It was a healing process for both of them.
* Main couple relationship was adorable and cute once they got together. Girl chases guy for a while but there was also a small moment where the guy had to chase the girl.
* Secondary couple also had a story (more of the SFL than the SML and I also enjoy the screen time of them together. Guy chases girl which also heals her and for a small moment, girl chases guy to help heal him.
* Love the brotherhood of the firefighters. I like how they are so relaxing with each other and love to talk among each other when it came to Capitan Jin.
* I enjoy the episodes when they introduce the dogs to the firefighters and trained with them
* The music osts were great. I enjoyed listen to every intro and ending ost when watching an episode.

What annoyed me about this drama:
* Xu Lai seemed a bit stalkerish in the beginning and made the first several episodes hard to watch. She wasn't much different from her childhood best friend who had a crush on her.
* The love rival for Shi Chuan aka Xu Lai's childhood best friend Huo being delusional thinking he has a chance with her despite Xu Lai specifically stating she doesn't seem him as someone she could fall in love with but just as a bro. Bad writing on this character since the writers stalled his progression until around Ep 29.
* Breakup of the main couple that lasted 3 episodes. The old, I don't want to be a burden to you so that's why I'm breaking up with you cliche.
* The failure of the 3rd couple featuring Huo due to the lack of growth and progression in his character and not moving on from the crush he had on Xu Lai after being rejected.
* Stupid jealous witch reporter: A minor villain who served no purpose in this drama other than to annoy the viewers. You can easily take her out of the drama and this drama wouldn't be affected. A case of bad writing and adding nonsense to a drama that wasn't needed.
* The anger from the camera man intern: What was the point of this? He all of the sudden gets bad at Xu Lai, who he was interning under, for something that's beyond her control? This is another case of stupid writing because his character wasn't even significant enough to be shown he had a problem.
* Another case of wedding not fully being complete because of a sudden call for an emergency. Seriously? Why do Chinese writers keep putting this scenario towards the end of the drama?
* Story plot stalled. Repetitive things happening once the main issues for Shin Chuan & Xu Lai were resolved. It almost seemed like the writers ran out of ideas and started to repeat things towards the last several episodes. Examples: Stupid jealous reporter returning to cause trouble, Huo not giving up on Xu Lai, etc.

The problem I have with rescue or firefighter themes drama is there's seemed to never be enough rescue missions. The writers did a good job showing it in the beginning only to rarely show it in the middle and towards the end. I did like the episodes where the firefighter rescue squad met and train with their dogs, but even then, there wasn't much mission with the dogs as well. That's a bit disappointing considering there's a dog on the drama poster. I kind of wanted more involvement with the dogs but it is what it is.

Despite all of that, I still enjoyed it, mostly because of the main couple, secondary couple, and the firefighters. Their cute & silly moments are the reason why I manage to continue this drama despite all of the other frustrations. The ending could've been better but at least it's a good ending.

Leggi di Più

Even if it’s hard, you have to push through

First and foremost, I’ll started this review by summarise this movie as a “brilliant work”. One of the best movies I’ve encountered so far in 2022. Discover this movie while scrolling my tiktok, and it appears on my fyp with quite number of views. I attracted to watch this one because it gave me Miracle In Cell No.7 vibes. Instantly, I searched it in the available streaming and begin to watch.

From the moment it started, you instantly know that this movie will take a different turn, one that will begin in tragedy and possibly end with a tragedy too. I’ve watched countless of sad endings drama and movies, therefore, I expect nothing out of this ‘inmate’ background story. “It might be so cliché..” that’s what I thought at the first. But the moment, I saw the female lead got involved in the tragedy, I started to panicking and it feels like I’m at the edge of my seat; curious and anxious of what to happen next.

Imo, this movie successfully conveyed its messages. The reality of our life, how law usually works regardless and based of the circumstances, and how difficult it is for the victims to continue their life haunted by the tragedy that happened to them. Also, the life inside of the prison, that every characters in this movie managed to execute really well and bring the story come to alive. I would like to give a huge applause to actress Hong Ye Ji, read somewhere that this is her first debut in film, and I couldn’t believed it that she could nailed this heavy role in her first project. Tell ya, the moment she started crying, without realising, I cried along with her. Also, Kim Ji Young bring a role as a mom who’s deaf, deserved the same credit. Both characters without a doubt will give you some trauma. I’m not joking though.

Other than that, the side characters are equally important in this movie, the whole squad of room 10 totally warmth my heart. Even though, they always bickering and throwing curse to one another, I love the way the keep protecting each other especially the maknae. They all have their own story to tell, but I totally understand why this movie didn’t highlight much of the side characters’ background stories. After all this movie focusing about inmate 2307. I love watching the interaction between the inmates of room 10 but seeing Jeon Somin bringing a character close to depict herself make me burst out loud.

Overall, what I can say, you should experience yourself to know what this movie will make you feel. The production team really put enormous efforts to produce this brilliant work that offers a great storyline with an amazing line up. The ending even though quite confusing for some, but I would say it gives us, the audiences, the choice to interpret it, how we would like to see the ending based on our interpretations. Last but not least, there’s always a rainbow in the sky, after a gloomy weather and the rainbow can be seen even from the darkest place. Even if it’s hard, you have to push through. You should live well.

Leggi di Più

There's so much going on in this movie that, after the ending, I had to go back to certain parts to confirm what I just learned. That's a good thing, because aside from the great battle scenes and the beatifully crafted world (the little details are just amazing) there's a really deep story being told by this CGI characters.

I liked the motion capture, the faces and gestures are just great. And the characters are presented and developed without over explaining, anything BUT the classic Hollywood style.

There are several plot twist and, depending on the translation project you're watching, you'll understand more or less so I would recommend you to pay attention to the subtitles.

The ending comes with several revelations, and a closing that suggests a second movie. I hope it comes soon because I had a great time with the characters and I'd love to know what happens next.

Leggi di Più

I hate to say it, but I actually extremely liked this show despite all the negative reviews and comments; it's truly not a bad show. It's literally such a quick watch and it's easy going that you'll be at the end in no time. The only thing is when you come into this show, please don't expect anything heavy and don't come with high expectations because it's literally a light web drama that wasn't fully developed but honestly they executed it in their own way. To each their own watching this show though but I liked every single character, Lee Hong Ki played such a great annoying character, it was fantastic. I also really liked Jung Hye Song, she's actually not a terrible actress at all. I liked the click between the two, I liked the the side characters; like the friends and I liked the family. The plot twist were actually not terrible at all, it added a little spice. Everything was purely entertaining and there was no huge drama, no meloness, so honestly this show was awesome to me and nice for just a filler. It was so good to watch and the OST was amazing; I downloaded it right off the bat. So give this show a watch, it's truly pretty good.

Leggi di Più

Disclaimer: This review is very long, it might take you a couple minutes to read it. In this review I don’t go into the details of the JJY scandal, I just mention it for context. I don’t mention the KJH and CTH allegations because as a foreign viewer, I don’t think it’s my place to comment on this case which is very specific to circumstances in Korea (and as far as I’ve read, they have been both declared not guilty).

Edit for context: I now see that KBS World is un-priveting the episodes and majority of them are slowly coming back. This review was written during the period when the scandals were relatively fresh.

When I discovered S2 of 2D1N at the beginning of last autumn, I did what I always do. I went into a rabbit hole of articles trying to read up on it and to see the current state of the show. I wanted to watch the new episodes as they air while catching up. And to my surprise, the show was on hiatus due to the astronomical scandal that was the talk of the internet. Therefore, after finishing S2, I decided to keep my hands off of S3. Time went on, I rewatched my favourite S2 episodes a couple times, dipped my feet into S1 and then I heard that, thankfully, S4 is going to be launching as well. And as the new episodes aired, one a week was just not enough.

The famous YouTube algorithm kept suggesting to me the few S3 episodes that were left there and not privated by the KBS and my greed for them rose exponentially, especially because I was head over heels for the show. So, I was faced with the dilemma – do you discard 5+ years of hard work of several hundreds of people just because of one bas****? At the same time, I kept on reading more about the show and looked up the lists of favourite and best episodes of 2D1N as a whole (mostly because I felt overwhelmed by S1 and wanted to see a select few episodes for now) and you know what? All of the lists feature mostly episodes from S3. Tumblr, blogs and comments were also just buzzing with S3 and somehow in a weak moment, I clicked on the Quit Smoking Project Special, one of the most acclaimed episodes of S3.

After that, S3 became my dirty little secret. I sporadically clicked on the recommended further episodes and I realised that this is (was) something else. Then lockdown/quarantine happened, I was stuck in my tiny apartment for almost three months and this was the only thing that provided me with somewhat of an escape.

Such a dramatic intro to a review of a variety show? Well yes. The circumstances why this season was dissolved were dire and I was, like many people I saw in the comments of various episodes, searching for a reason to justify watching it. Now, let’s move on.

The fact that the show was almost a year out of existence provided me with (I hope) a unique perspective. Let’s just flat out say, that because of JJY this show did “not age well”. Some segments of some episodes, in the light of what we know now, left a bile aftertaste and some are just tough to watch (like the one where they in honour of Joo Hyuk’s mom, who passed that year, do a summer vacation at a friend’s house and visit the mothers or close family members of the cast – the episode with JJY’s mother is simply heart breaking). There are also some inside jokes about JJY that were innocent when first broadcasted, but now are just scary to think about.

So, is this a review or what?

Let’s look closely at the season as a whole. I really have to praise Yoo Ho Jin PD, who did remarkable things with the show during his “reign”. It’s almost as if the first year of S3 is some kind of world building of their own universe. They very quickly develop nicknames and “characters” (almost), as well as plenty of running jokes and scene stealers from the crew are introduced. Yoo PD and his team also come up with excellent specials, some of which become a repeated/upgraded versions of themselves the following years. My favourites include the annual health check-up, food tours or races with throwing the dice. All episodes from the first two years of this season are very special – even if the members are asked to reflect and pick something memorable, they usually come back to these. The beginning also introduces some legendary “guests” from the citizens. The fact, that they came up with ways to incorporate their appearances in later years, is remarkable (like in one of the races, the teachers recorded short informational videos for the members to ace the quizzes). The last thing I want to mention here is the incredible trust Yoo PD developed with the members. Just the fact that he let them shoot some parts without the crew or made a special where they choose what they are going to do, is amazing. Not only is it entertaining, but the members truly make the show their own and those are some of my favourite parts.

Just to close this off, I want to mention that somewhere here the editing really improves, compared to the earlier seasons. Yoo PD makes small changes to make the show more dynamic, which also has to do with the fact that they just have so much footage. I remember the members (this was not intentional) from earlier seasons always worrying about the footage, if there is enough of it. In S3 this really is not an issue anymore.

The switch to Yoo Il Yong PD is very smooth, since the members themselves chose him. This change happens a few episodes into Dong Gu’s addition to the show, which was also a nice transition (I do believe that this made his “blending in” a bit easier). Il Yong PD rules with an iron fist at first, but as with most directors, they soon wrap him around their fingers. His run at the season is also very creative and the quality is very stable, there are also some ambitious and quite expensive specials, which proves that the higher ups were willing to invest resources into the show as well. The only downside is that after two full years of superb specials, his are just a bit less memorable. But nonetheless, still excellent. My favourites include Kim Jong Min special, Emotional trip with the poets or the Panmunjeom (the closest village to North Korea). I also have to mention, that some of the funniest bokulboks of his “reign” are hidden in seemingly boring episodes. Like when they were exploring the fall colours, hiking and then for dinner they played protect the fish (toys) in a bowl while spinning on an office chair. I almost peed my pants.

There is one more thing I want to mention that both of the above-mentioned PD’s did so well and that were the “member specific” specials, as I like to call them. Like when Kim Jun Ho had a terrible year within his private life when he got a divorce and at the same time kept losing everything on the show, they prepared a special where he was lucky the whole day. Or the episodes where they recreated some old family photos unknowingly – those were my absolute favourites. The PD’s showed the members as real people and that’s partially why this cast is still so very much loved.

The story of Kim Sung PD is heart breaking. After being on the show for almost seven years, his reign as the main PD came to a quick ending. And it is indeed a shame because from the few episodes we got, they were incredibly creative and something new.

The members who are this season

When I decided to seriously get into S3, knowing full well what happens, I told myself that I won’t get attached and especially not to Kim Joo Hyuk. Well, he was my absolute favourite since the first episode I’ve seen. I frequently cried during random episodes when he mentioned something about what he wanted to do with his life, and I was deeply touched by his authentic presence. He brought me so much joy, and in many ways, he was the ground rock this season stood on. When he decided to leave the season, he left such big shoes to fill. No wonder it took them so long to find someone to add to the cast.

Kim Jun Ho makes this season what it is, in a lot of ways. You can see how he slowly falls in love with the show and he completely lets himself go. The infamous Yaps, the one always causing mischief, chronic cheater, bender of the rules and a cute man-child. He has an excellent feel for the audience, I really liked it when he tried to steal/hide stuff they were finding during some missions and his rotten luck is a thing for a whole another review. He brought dynamic into every team he was in and I liked that a lot.

Cha Tae Hyun is an asset to every team, he is steady and always works hard. I really liked how he almost never interfered with other’s petty wars and revenges. I think that he has a lot to carry in his everyday life and it was fun to see how he could escape it all for two days and one night due to this show. He is also the one that is a close friend to every member and he knows them really well.

Defconn is, as they said, the anchor of S3 and the members trust him. He has a unique talent in making everyone feel comfortable and welcome, which in some episodes makes the biggest difference. He also possesses the “too much gene” (he sometimes doesn’t know when to stop doing something or talking), so I get that he’s not everyone’s favourite. However, I liked him here quite a lot. He also kept the season on point with references to current popular idols and actors, some of whom ended up on the show because of that.

I always root for the team Kim Jong Min is in. He is the chaotic good of this show. It looked to me as if he was the most comfortable with this cast, which I get since the majority of them are close to his age. I loved how he adored Kim Jun Ho and always bickered with him (if you don’t know, they now started a YouTube channel together called Kim Dumb, check it out). I am rooting for him in the new season as well, he is one of my absolute favourite human beings.

Yoon Dong Gu (I’m sorry, it’s just difficult to address him as Shi Yoon to me) is a breath of fresh air for this season and I think that he brought a lot of perspective and reflection at the time he joined. In his first episode, when he decided to play rock-paper-scissors fairly, I knew that he would be something else. Yet, he fits the show like a glove – he is very human, often fails, and he is very, very, very sweet. He is also quite affectionate with the members and holds them in high regard, it was nice to see.

Does JJY deserve anything nice to be said about him? To be honest, knowing what I know now, it gave me the freedom to rewind his parts when they were separated from each other or simply scroll my phone without regrets when he was on. As a whole, I don’t think he would be my favourite anyways since he presented himself, at least at first, as quite arrogant and I really don’t like that. When he came back from his hiatus (which we now know the reality of) I think I finally saw his place in S3. It wasn’t the same without him and he belongs to this season, however heart breaking that might be.

I also want to comment on Lee Yong Jin, the intern who never got to be the member. He was like a flash from the clear sky, when he first appeared on as a guest, I just knew that he belongs there. He is hilarious and the few episodes with him that we got, were excellent.

In conclusion, since we never got one

I cried like baby watching the last episode of S2. If S3 had a similar final episode, I would end up in the ER with severe dehydration. This is a bad joke, but the fact that we are left without a conclusion, a full send-off, is bittersweet, heart breaking and frankly, this season deserved better. On the other hand, leaving it on a high is a small gratification. I am sad, that the power to make and ending was taken from them.

I am not a fan of comparisons and of the attitude of not moving on from stuff. This season was overall very excellent and had elements that the previous seasons of the show didn’t have. It was almost as being an insider in the coolest group of people at your school, that everyone wants to be friends with and seeing them for who they are – just regular (and super funny) guys. I will root for every cast member and I sincerely hope that the system won’t fail JJY and he will recognize his wrongdoings, correct his behaviour and realise the burden of what he’s done to his victims.

I will of course support the new season of the show, since the idea of it is more than just the members. It’s all inclusive and about the beauty of Korea, learning about the culture, food and life (while having some fun).

I will remember these members forever.

Leggi di Più

The amount of emotions in this drama is just insane!! (Best bl drama for me ) Beautiful ending!!

This series made me write a review for the first time ever on this platform. But like wow just wow!!
This drama literally is the best example of a nontoxic, mature relationship. This is the type of series that just needs one season to be enough and tell everything it has to say because it just fit and it's so goddamn good made. It had me giggling and smiling like a fool from the beginning to the ending. For the whole series, we never heard Tian and Chief Phupa said the word “I love you”. However, you could feel it in every scene: the way they made us laugh, cry and feel the pain. This made ATOTS not just one of the best BL dramas, but also one of the best Asian Dramas of our generation.
I cried and I laughed and now I'm going to rewatch the whole series cause the way I got attached to every single character in this drama is unbelievable!!!!
it's just been 15 min and I miss them like a crazy TT TT

Leggi di Più

This drama caught my attention before & during its airing but only now I've time to dedicate my 16 hours of my life for it. The fact that Lee Min Jung & Shin Ha Kyun as it lead actor make me slightly excited.I've watch both of their drama before plus rom-com is kinda my thing :)

This drama has politic as it background. It is a heavy genre and maybe boring but the writer did a very good job by shaping it into a light and interesting drama. Story about representive of two opposing party fall in love with each other and how they deal with their 'wrong' relationship after,it was a fresh idea for me. Has a slight cliche love story that can't be avoid. Also an easy to watch drama without forgetting to show what's truly happen in our world politic. It is the truth anyway. I recommend politician out there to watch & learn from this drama plz plz * If they have time to watch though :P *

Chemistry between the leads was very2 good. Never know that Shin Ha Kyun can pull off such character, the one who frequently smile & immature.At first it feel wierd for me to watch his smile with his teeth showing since I can't see those in Brain.Plus his hairstyle at the beginning is very hard to stand lol. Min Jung is very pretty here and she did her job well. The only character that I dislike is Ahn Hee Sun. Her clingy whiny nature and her mistaken obsession with love. A must-have typical character in most of drama. Hoho

For the music, it was very pleasant to hear and I like I Love You song by Akdong Musician the most. It was very good and has a sweet melody.

Overally it was very good.I really have a wonderful voyage with this drama.Many funny & sweet moments. It will give you a good laugh.Trust me :)

Leggi di Più

Hoping for Season 2

I am a straight guy, dz BL romcom is fresh to watch, doesn't bore you a bit..
Many lessons to learned... from friendship, to love relationship, individuality and more...
Though its only 10 episodes but the message of the story and some lessons in life with complex identity are well conveyed... I hope there will be seasoned 2 and will focus in their adulthood and growth of the relationship.
I find the lead actors chemistry are pleasant to watched... They acted naturally...

There are some episode that i really wanted more to this series... Particular to the sweet moments, sweet gestures that this episode failed to give between the lead actors but understandable to fact that it runs only for 10 episodes so the writer compressed details and shortcuts...

Leggi di Più