Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
"Melancholy is the happiness of being sad."
Edgar Allan Poe in one of his anthologies says, "And so, being young and dipt in folly, I fell in love with melancholy." Knowledge of the soul boundlessly make s us gloomy if the pros of feelings fail to keep us cheerful and vigilant. Melancholy leads to doubt which in turn results in despair and ultimates cultivates wickedness."Melancholia (멜랑꼴리아)" is a journey of desolation, dejection and despondency with fruitful meanings and worthwhile outcomes but what's different? It's mathematics. Yes, the most hated subject in the world, haha. The drama uses a different approach to promote the mathematical perspective of life through the characters who are devotedly peruse mathematics.
The drama have more than a dozen of flaws, even to be called good. It's purely an average piece and can be easily skipped though I can't exactly say it's bad and deserve to be treated as a complete trash, and I have many reasonings for it as well.
Note: There is no paedophilia or cheating involving the leads of the drama. It's just stupid perceptions of some narrow-minded people who jumped into conclusions without watching the drama.
Based on 2 different time periods with a gap of 4 years, the story is almost equally divided into 2 parts; a past story of 2017 and a present narration of 2021. Ji Yoon Soo (Im Soo Jung) and her most favourite student Paik Seung Yoo (Lee Do Hyun) falls victim to a conspiracy of intentionally set up scandal that frames them of having unsound relationship. Owing to the constraints, both of them fail to prove their innocence and fall apart, just to find themselves in misery. 4 years past the tragedy, both of them cross paths and unite to bring to surface, the corruption, conspiracies and the big faces behind it, in the school, of the past and the present.
Yoon Soo, morally upright and endearing woman, is a highschool math teacher, who is aware of the art of steadfastly making someone fall in love with the subject. She's all the qualities to be a perfect teacher but her sense of righteousness gets her in trouble. Paik Seung Yoo, born genius and immensely attracted towards math, is a highschool student after dropping from MIT which he joined at very young age. After a tragic experience, he shows no interest in studies, tho he has all the capabilities to conquer.
Im Soo Jung is an amazing actress and a movie person, rarely opting for dramas and very selective in that regard. She must have seen some potential in this though the execution went shabby. Lee Do Hyun is definitely the best in acting, among the rising Korean actors and his performance was good as well. Other than the leads, there are in fact many familiar and good actors in the drama and I will refrain from mentioning them to keep it short. But special applause for Jin Kyung who played Noh Jung Ah, the Principal of Asung High though she's the main antagonist in here. She definitely created an impression with her character dynamics and we are aware of her acting skills.
Plot development.....umm..... It's inconsistent and unremarkable though it had scopes and rooms for improvement with the episodes; like given the basic plotline and the mixture of 4 genres (romance, highschool, slice of life and corruption reveal), it could have been a lot lot better to finally come forward as a decent melodrama but, alas! I wasn't really that bothered while watching the initial episodes with the slow pacing, but the later half consequences made me realize that that the speed was totally inaccurate to begin with.
As a story, it isn't actually a trash as some people will tell you, or even below average. I would say it's just ordinarily average and the ratings can lie somewhere around 6.5 bcs Well, talking about episodic progression, From ep1 to ep8, i.e exact till the first half, it's a fair watch and didn't feel like skipping or fast-forwarding. The show starts going downhill from the beginning of 2nd half with the repetition of some events and constant push & pull between the characters over one thing. To reach the ultimate goal, i.e. bringing forward the truth, they particularly start dragging from the 13th episode and that's clearly visible. Tbh, I started fast-forwarding from 9th ep at 1.5× and kept the same till the end.
The script could have been squeezed into 12 episodes or even 10 by increasing the pacing and removing all the dragging they did in the last 4 episodes. However, I must admit that the ending sequences in the last 2 episodes were good.
Kim Sang Hyub is a producer of extremely popular yet qualitatively mediocre dramas. His dramas blow up bcs of good-looking cast and the story he adopts are usually typical cheesy romcoms. But this was a different approach, i. e. not a romcom and cast ain't dominated by good-looking young mass. Moreover, the slice-of-life elements along with mathematical pov; all these things are not his forte and he couldn't even execute them experimentally, which is quite visible. The direction was poor, the pacing is unnecessarily slow for a corruption-reveal drama. The slow screenplay could have been manageable only if it were a warm pure romance genre but that's not the case.
Kim Ji Won is known for only one of her scripts, that's Doctor John, which was in fact a good drama. I haven't followed other 2 dramas of her so can't really tell about her skills though I can assure whatever she had to offer for Melancholia, that didn't work to a great extent. Can't cite the script a total failure but it surely had the potential to be a good and likable one-time watch. I have already talked about the plot development above, so let's move on.
OSTs are very good indeed. Park Se Jun is quite a talented composer with the experience of working in uncountable numbers of dramas and the 4 OSTs of this show are the proof. I loved all of them. 2 of them are in English and other 2 are in Korean.
"All I Need" by Jemma is a ballad of comfort. More than love, it depicts solace, relief and assurance. The vocals of one of my fav singers Sunwoojunga in the soulful and longing song "Darling" questions one's faith in love. "Lilly of the Valley" by Band Nah, a popular indie trio is actually a cover of the song with the same title by Daniel. It's simply a beautiful melody that expresses gratitude to the essence of love. "Let Me Know" by Cheeze is a melancholic call in true sense; it has the feels of an authentic Kdrama OST.
The most notable thing about the drama is mathematics. I am a bio major and wasn't that fond of mathematical practises but I, for sure, knew that it's an interesting subject and studying it can be enjoyed though not everyone can accomplish it with utter amusement. The writer has tried to connect mathematics with life, love and living in a beautiful way. Mathematics here is not just a mere subject of academia and profession, it's much more than the mystery of the universe and one's pleasurable experiences.
There is very short-lived romance or you may take it as almost little to no romance, but sure there is development of chemistry, there ie comfort and there is undisplayable emotions that constantly blooms despite all the odds they have to pass through. This is not romcom and you should skip it, if you're actually expecting some romance. Even so, this buildup is worth it, in my opinion.
Bullying in highschool, corruption in admission process, unfair and unequal treatment to students in the same school, illegal & phoney favors, creation of unnecessary competition among students, parents negligence to children as well as leading children towards wrong paths, etc. are the factors used in the drama. I love how the writer has put emphasis on the ways of nurturing a child and their future, both in home and school along with the mistakes in the process that can ruin them. It also addresses the ways in which children are wronged by adults.
In short, the drama had too much potential with a good plotline, good actors and good premisea but what ruined it are choppy script, poor character dynamics, shoddy plot development, superfluous pacing and expendable characters of no significance. But personally, it was watchable for reasons like: mathematical interpretations of life, resolute leads, acting of the major characters, up to par basic plotline and so on.
I don't believe in completely discrediting something for flaws in some parts of it. If something specific has convinced me, I should def be fair with mentioning them. On that note, Melancholia, overally, is not a bad drama though it has a lot of flaws which could have been easily avoided. The major reason to watch the show is the mathematical frame of reference and utilization of that outlook in the drama. I came here, as expected, for LDH and ISJ and several other actors whom I like, and yeah, I loved their performances even though the drama didn't interest me to a great extent. So on a final remark, you can either skip the drama entirely or watch it in leisure when you have nothing to watch.
P. S. All of these in my review are very personal. I loved the drama but I didn't; i would like to describe it like that. For me, this drama was actually very difficult to judge; it'a not really very bad and not very good as 2 different groups will claim but I guess 7.0 is fair enough considering all the aspects. I thought it's important to put a unbiased, fair and balanced review. Some might agree and disagree with both my contents and ratings but I'm okay with constructive arguments.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
I liked it.
This is a cute series - if you like fluff, this is for you. I'll likely forget about it fairly quickly, as it really has very little to say - it's just a well-done production of a very standard BL story.I'll start with the negative to end on all positives. The reason I didn't enjoy this more is that I think the main character was poorly cast - I didn't find him likeable and I don't think he was well-acted. Before anyone knifes me, Shinwoo is an even more awkward character with even greater problems expressing himself, but I'm totally in love with him. Kang Yoo Seok managed to imbue his character with layers, subtly expressing a large range of emotion. But if you scratched Lee Sae On and found out he was actually a mannequin that can talk, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. This made me not really care who he ended up with - I was just resigned to him getting one of the love rivals when I was kind of hoping they'd form a thrupple with Shi Woon.
The show was also a bit too sanitized, with everything too perfect - it was a bit distancing. For example, TK was visibly plastered with white makeup - they all were, but it was worst with him.
There are a lot of positives, too - other than the main character, all the acting was great. Choe Chan Yi's DaOn was a masterpiece of placing a happy face over a struggle with inner demons - the subtle suffering under the smile was really affecting.
And while the show was a virtual checklist of BL tropes, it did avoid tropey cinematography and attempts to translate manga frames into live action. For example, there was no weird wide-eyed stare when anyone kissed, people just reacted naturally. And there wasn't that stupid triple-take whenever anyone hugged, kissed, held hands, or at any other time - that always drains the moment of emotional energy, and I was happy that was dispensed with and I was allowed to just enjoy the moment.
The story is well-laid out and coherent - we needed more context for Shinwoo's behavior, but it wasn't a big issue. I really, really needed there to be an explanation for why anyone was interested in Mr. Robot with so many superior options available, and we really could have done without the sole female character being a villainess, yet again - but I never once thought to myself "that makes no sense", and there were very few cheap and lazy excuses for drama, and the dialog was good.
I gave the story an 8 - unorignal, but well-laid-out and paced (slow, but it moved in a direction instead of meandering all over the place).
I gave the acting a 7. I thought it was a 9 for everyone else, but Lee Sae On dragged down the average, and he was the main character.
I rated the music a 7. I don't remember any of it, which is good. It did it's purpose and wasn't intrusive.
Rewatch is a 3. I can't imagine why I would ever watch this again - maybe if someone did a Shi Woon cut I would want to see that.
The "suggested overall" was 6.5, but 7 seemed more appropriate - I don't think a series should be too heavily dinged just because I don't want to watch it again.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Sweet Stranger and Me
48 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
On my rating scale, this means « just boring ». When I started it, I had high expectations. The setting was interesting, this was supposed to be a cohabitation drama with a sort of forbidden love we're not used to see. There was even another interesting twist with a lot of potential to bring in some action, the male mc background. Yet, they managed to make it all sooo pointless.
Romance & comedy
I never watched a drama with so little chemistry between the leads. I don't even think it's the actors fault. How can there be nearly no skinship in a cohabitation drama? Just erase the kiss scene and they could have been real step-father and daughter for all I care! All they talked about was how to keep their land and make dumplings. There was nearly no tension between them, you can only expect some cutesy if you like it.
Highlight on the second male lead
On the other side, Lee Soo Hyuk's story was much more interesting. I actually enjoyed his scenes with Shin Se Hwi, his sister in the drama, more than the two leads together. He was a breath of fresh air. At least, I had fun watching him and he's probably the only reason why I managed to finish this drama. (That and because I watched it while it was airing.) On a side note, red really suits this actor. One more thing, if you don't like love triangles, this drama might still please you. Hong Na Ri never gives lawyer Kwon Deok Bong a real chance, neither does Go Nan Gil with anyone.
Background story
This is hard to describe without giving some spoilers, but I'll try. Let's just say that Go Nan Gil past is sure to bring some troubles, dangerous troubles. With that, you can expect him to save the damsel in distress while fighting in front of her, right? Don't. He does fight from time to time and, just because he's good at fighting, everyone seems afraid of him. But come on! His opponents could just try to kill him, it's not like they actually care about life. They could also try to hurt Hong Na Ri, but they don't think of it. With that, another potential interesting story just fell flat.
Music
That's one of the few things I liked. It was fresh, light-hearted and put me in a good mood.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Revenge Is Sweet…
Screenwriter Kim Ba Da’s revenge-filled drama follows vengeful young woman Yoon Ji Woo ( Han So Hee) who seeks to find and bring to justice by hunting down the murderers of her father ( Yoon Gyung Hoo). Taking up another alias and infiltrating the police force as Oh Hye Jin , Ji Woo’s quest sends her down a dark road with many revelations coming to light.
Whilst the drama does present some prominent messages about corruption and morality both within South-Korean society, the justice system and the police force, the drama itself doesn’t really stray away from the stereotypical reaches of the “ revenge” drama, from Ji Woo’s experiences as an outcast teen to the “ murdered parent” trope soon taking central route before the actual zest of the revenge story crumbling slightly by the midway point . Of course this boils down to the ultimate question; “ is ‘ My Name’ actually worth watching or is it a waste of time?”
One of the strongest virtues of the series came through the acting front of our main cast. Main actress Han So Hee was undeniably dynamic as Ji Woo. Whilst the actress has respectfully formerly come under mixed reception for her role in the controversial Netflix flop ‘ Nevertheless’, Han So Hee reinstates any doubts within her moody, angst-driven and cunning onscreen persona as Ji Woo. As a character, our female lead has two different lives which are both intriguing as one another. On one side it’s easy to understand Ji Woo’s role early on in the series. She’s the “ outcast” and socially isolated from her peers due to her father’s criminal record and past. However refreshingly rather than presenting Ji Woo’s father as a “ heroic figure” in the eyes of a grieving Ji Woo, the series helps to explore more complicated depth to Ji Woo’s emotional state, as well as cunningness and stubborn to enlist help in unlikely places to reenact her revenge.
Helping her along the way comes the merciless and mysterious gangster played brilliantly by Park Hee Soon, Choi Moon Jin. Moon Jin acts both as a major mentor figure and an antagonistic plot foil for Ji Woo by helping to reinvent her identity as Hye Jin as well as hide his own personal motives also . He shares his own reasons for helping Hye Jin / Ji Woo but isn’t afraid to be more brutal or punish those who put a toe out of line.
As Hye Jin our female lead is a talented and a skilled police officer who over the years has not lost her raison d’être for revenge. Her partnership with fellow colleague and partner Jeon Pil Do( Ahn Bo Hyun) presents a great contrast between other relationships in the drama. Bo Hyun plays Pil Do with a laidback yet naturally driven charisma as a hardworking cop. Naturally as he spends more time with Hye Jin he becomes more curious about her identity and motives. Whilst a later plot development was supposed to present a “ moment we’ve all been waiting for” this undeniably felt lacklustre due to lacking screenwriting and bonding opportunities often made revelations between the fall short of plot drive.
Yet ‘ My Name’ isn’t without its more obvious problems either. Pacing could sometimes be a major downfall. Whilst a major drive was evident within Hye Jin/ Ji Woo’s search for her father’s killer, this major plot point felt often rammed into the storyline when it was necessary rather than flowing more coherently within the small subplots which followed in each episode. Evidently another major downfall as a consequence occurred within plot lore and logic with many setups (including early on) often falling short or lacking more depth due to writing and character exploration often falling short. Consequently the ending was overly anti climatic than well-paced or completed with an expected yet abrupt twist which failed to bring a sense of finality or completion overall.
What is refreshing about the series is that it isn’t afraid to trade any punches with presenting brutality in its full glory. Interplayed with moody lightning and a dramatic OST, bloody fight scenes and knife attacks, as well as hallucinogenic palettes of bright reds, purples, blues and golds during drug and dodgy dive raids help to shed a more dangerous and dark presentation of the mysterious underbelly of Ji Woo’s world.
Overall ‘ My Name’ is an odd array of both a highly-talented cast and crew, but often falling short of plot-writing also. The revenge drama was a fairly archetypical approach to the revenge genre; intriguing with many interlaced messages shedding light into corruption, violence and problems in South-Korean society, but sometimes failing to hit the mark with actual build-up . Undeniably a good watch but lacking more finesse in certain areas.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Amanti della Luna: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
212 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
Questa recensione può contenere spoiler
Oh God, this show was such a mess.To start off with a nicer note, I'll talk about the drama's one and only saving grace: Lee Jun Ki. I am going to be honest, this was my first time watching him, and I was simply impressed. Not only is he a beautiful, beautiful man; he can also act like nobody's business. I also believe that even though he wasn't given much to work with, he tried his level best. And it showed, for the 4th Prince was the only character who I felt somewhat connected to. For me, this was a total case of liking the actor better than the character.
Next, I'd like to come at the people who gave so much flak to IU for her acting. Like, why y'all tripping? I mean her role wasn't even that hard, neither was it anything special. It was the same old 'bumbling, fumbling, self-righteous Mother Theresa level goodness' shebang that we've seen a billion times before. Every other actress in every other drama is doing it. It doesn't even require that much effort and for what it's worth I think IU handled it quite gracefully. People simply want to jump on the bandwagon of the 'singers can't act' stereotype and bash her, while ignoring the other much bigger problems with the show.
Speaking of problems, to be frank, this has to be one of the worst written shows I have ever watched. It's like the author had this vague idea of how to begin and how to end and so she bullshitted through the road in-between.
There is no character development whatsoever and convenient plot-lines are used time and time again to further the plot.
Want to give our hero the run-of-the-mill tragic pariah look?
No problem! Let's riddle him with some mommy issues and a scar to match.
Want to show our heroine change the hero's life by covering up that scar? Alrighty, let's make our heroine a cosmetician!
Want to show that everybody loves our heroine?
Let's make a harem of princes, throw some half hearted moments between them and take a leap; suggesting that they are suddenly so close that they would die for her!
The story is lacking villains?
Ugh, why not just bring back one that we already killed and got rid of before? We will just deem it a miracle of sorts and call it a day. Haha.
Uh oh, did our cranial light bulbs just fuse and we don't know how to prolong the show to 20 fucking episodes?
Nevermind. We always have good old flashbacks to help us through.
God, what a clusterfuck.
Everything was rushed and carelessly executed. They killed people just for emotional appeal. The relationships between characters wasn't fully explored. I mean, do you really expect my peepers to gush a waterfall if you scarcely show me a character; just enough so that he'll be in mind but not enough so that I would actually come to care for him, then in one random episode you show nothing but him and quickly kill him in the next to tug at my heartstrings? Nah boo.
Scarlet Heart was the definition of an ostentatious production. There was loud music flaring up out of nowhere to make scenes more dramatic, over-acting done by a lot of actors and numerous in your face close-up scenes. All these antics did well to suck up authenticity from the show and what you were left with in the end was superficial characters that are only pretty to look at.
Even the 4th Prince had major inconsistencies throughout. Many times, he seemed like a dumbed down version of Bidam from Queen Seon Duk. Thank goodness for LJK and his roguish charm, that he somehow managed to carry the show on his shoulders but ofcourse, one poor soul can do only so much.
The OST while itself brilliant, was also highly inappropriate for the time setting of the show. Do you really want me to swallow that a court lady in 18th, 19th century Goreo would be nodding her head and singing 'My Baby baby boy' in her moving carriage? Sorry, but I'm choking.
The story flows in fits and starts and the poorly executed time jumps don't necessarily help the case. Some aspects of the storyline had so much potential but the writers failed to tap into it. You could say that some scenes were well executed individually but they fell short at fitting together as a bigger picture.
It was crazy how sometimes, so much attention would be given to a supporting role and the main one's would be ignored. Or how important scenes would be inexplicably rushed while things that would be completely random would take up so much screen-time. The jumbled motivations and the fickle thought processes of all the characters reflected the confused mind of the writer.
When a show tries to elaborately sell me the fact that characters can fall from cliffs, get poisoned and stabbed in the heart and still survive, you know what, with some grievances intact I might actually buy it. But when the same show also tries to tell me that someone who got their knee banged up a bit years ago might, out of nowhere, lose the ability to walk or that heart-ache can cause people to have chronic heart diseases, I'm sorry but I'd just have to call the bullshit out.
Even though it was labeled as a period drama, it seemed like a parody of the genre. There were no intelligent palace politics or court intrigue. No cultural focus or attention to detail. All the antagonists were hare-brained idiots and the biggest enemy the good guys had to face was their own stupidity. Needless to say, they lost to it.
I don't consider myself a particularly hard person to move. Often little things touch me deeply and bring tears to my eyes but in this show- all these character deaths and tragedies- all I felt was a vague sense of detachment.
I am not gonna lie, the love story sure was cute. No matter how over-rated they get 'good girl-bad boy' romances will always have allure. And since the romance was all the drama had going for it, I'll give acknowledgment where it's due. There were scenes that made me smile and swoon but they weren't nearly enough to overcome all the weaknesses of the show.
Normally, I would give a show like this a much poorer rating but it's solely because of my love for LJK that I brought it up a notch. Also, I have to say that despite all its flaws, it did make me watch to the end. So all in all, you should enjoy Moon Lovers like you would enjoy a toddler's company: by being indulgent and not taking it too seriously.
P.S: Go easy on the 'This ain't helpful' button. I know this drama is a crowd favorite but I gotta tell as I feel it is. :)))
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
could have been a 10/10
Overall: there was potential to tell a story well that we never see; however, the title, trailer and plot synopsis all misled viewers into what this series would be about. Bed Friend is not a steamy series about friends with benefits and more about coping with trauma. I am basing this review by the series itself and not based on the novel as I believe series should stand on their own. 10 episodes about 40 minutes. Aired on GagaOOLala (cut version, 1 30 second deleted scene per episode is listed separately up to ep 6), iQIYI (uncut version) and YouTube (cut version). Later aired on Viki (uncut?)Content Warnings: *dub con kissing/touching/sex (I'll put more in a comment marked with a spoiler), attempted/beginning sexual assault, trauma, past: parental abuse, grooming, molestation; homophobia, victim blaming, manhandling, punch, sexual harassment, stalking
What I Liked
- frenemies to lovers premise (though they needed to show more why Uea hated King so much)
- child actor did an excellent job
- supportive friendship although Jade didn't make me laugh
- caring/sweet moments
- styling
- NSFW scenes (although they are a bit too choppy for me, the actors actually kiss each other and do a good job during them), liked the consensual kitty play
- episode 3, setting clear rules/boundaries, people might not agree/like some of the rules but I appreciate being upfront about what is acceptable and what is not (though I think they both later violated at least 1 of the rules)
- 1 terrible character had consequences
- showed them going together to get checked for STDs
- referenced therapy and medication*
- some good camerawork/cinematography like at the beach
Room For Improvement
- choppy/difficult to gauge how much time has passed, it's never a good sign when a series changes the number of episodes mid airing, scenes would jump quickly, in episode 10 they were in the car and then immediately in different outfits in the office, also what cheapskate stunt was that, don't combine those two events!
- King is not all green flags, starting at ep 1 around 25 minutes, but it continues with him pressuring Uea to move to his condo, victim blaming Uea, also him doing that "plan" without consulting Uea first (though he checked on his second plan)
- Uea's lack of agency, I really wish Uea had initiated some of the plans, it felt that stuff was constantly happening to him or people were doing things on his behalf
- *still felt a very unrealistic "love cures all trauma" message, especially with episode 10 and the scene about turning off the lights
- I realize this is based off a novel but it's just too much trauma, it's trauma after trauma after trauma, I wish they would have focused on 1 aspect and fleshed that out really well
- why did they make every male character in love with Uea???
- the NSFW scenes were too short/not enough/too artistic for a series called Bed Friend and with the premise of friends with benefits, that glass in episode 10 came off as weird instead of sexy
- several terrible characters had no or little consequences, also they didn't clearly show that the half sister didn't know because if she suspected or knew and still pressured Uea to return home, then she can disappear along with his mom
- the office humor and the comedy sound effects were not funny and the tonal shifts were jarring as well
- King's approach/plan in the beginning felt like a very fictional way to go about things, I couldn't tell if his feelings changed or if they were that way from the start
- ep 1 not a fan of an exposition dump for an intro
- both violated the "rules" they set up
- nonsense stuff, he didn't know there was a camera in his office, who put the camera there??? nonsense computer code/screen
- production value issues including odd camerawork, poor editing
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Dear Doctor, I’m Coming For Your Soul
61 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
It's not terrible, but kind of sloppy.
For me, the central problem of this series is the character of Prakan. I don't think the actor was up to the job. It felt like he had a very limited set up expressions, although that might have been the fault of the script and directing rather than the actor.The central conflict of this is that Tuaphee reaps souls, while Prakan is a doctor trying to prevent people from dying. The thing is, though, Tuaphee doesn't kill people, he just escorts their souls to the next world, but every time this happens, Prakan goes nuts, treats Tuaphee like a murderer, and tells him he never wants to see him again. Until he wants to see him again (on account of he's hot). Then the cycle repeats, over and over. This makes him a very unpleasant person who seems unworthy to me of someone as kind and sweet (and hot) as Tuaphee.
The thing is, people are usually capable of fairly mature moral reasoning at around 10 years of age.
For example, if you give small child these two scenarios and ask which is worse:
1. Mary accidentally broke 10 cups while emptying the dishwasher
2. Ann broke one cup by throwing it at Mary's head.
Most children will say #1 is worse because Mary broke 10 times more cups than Ann. by age 10, almost everyone understands the difference between an accident and an act of violence, and that #2 is infinitely worse than #1.
Prakan is probably around 30 or so, and yet he can't figure out something equally basic. I can get deflecting his anguish at being helpless on an available target. Once. And then apologizing - profusely. But not being a total dick on 5 or so different occassions over the same issue.
On another subject, the "rules" of Reapers are silly and seem to be invented to suit plot points and don't really progress in a logical way. For example, what exactly is Tuaphee? He's not a ghost, and he has physical form. So is he a reanimated dead person who can teleport? Does that mean his heart is missing? Or is he a physical recreation of his mortal body in the same form? If he's a reanimated corpse with no heart, what happens if he falls asleep on a park bench and somone checks his pulse? Would he be accidentally cremated?
And why are they invisible except when wearing Hawaiian shirts? Why do they eat and sleep? If's clearly stated more than once that nobody can remember an interaction with a reaper, but everyone does - they all know who Tuaphee is (not what he is), and ask about him when he's not there. And then there are rules that are introduced later, and punishments that make no real sense when those rules are violated, and they are violated constantly.
When a soul is to be reaped, a card appears in the reaper's pocket with the soul's name on it. But a character is apparently mortally wounded (somehow, offscreen), Tuaphee gets the card, and then then that person doesn't die. So what is the ticket for? Just to deliberately waste the Reaper's time?
And an ageless being in a relationship with a mortal who lives to 90, just eww. Come on. I get love transcends all boundaries, blah blah, but it really doesn't. How many 20-year olds do you see dating 90-year olds? Only if one of them is a billionaire and the other knows he's getting a big payout. And why does everyone's soul look exactly like they did when they died except for just one of them?
The acting is fairly strong except for Prakan - all the minor characters are strong. Karn, who plays Tuaphee, is pretty good, but he's so beautiful it's hard to tell.
The secondary couple is underwhelming. I was excited about them, and I really like both actors, but it's just bad. The writing makes very little sense, and there's no buildup to the resolution - it just comes out of nowhere and is dull and anticlimactic.
In the end, the writing is lazy, sloppy, and repetitive, and just dull. It attempts to be profound and meaningful, but it's shallow and doesn't really delve into anything with any depth or insight.
The music is above average (except the coffee commercial) and supports the story well, and expertly sets the mood.
I don't think there's anything I would rewatch, but the thought of rewatching it doesn't give me suicidal impulses like it does for Physical Therapy.
Overall, 6.5. It's not awful, but I don't think I would recommend it. There's some decent eye candy, so if you have nothing better to do you might get some enjoyment out of it.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Roy Leh Sanae Rai
38 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
Questa recensione può contenere spoiler
Look, there is a certain market for this type of drama/lakorn: fulfilling the niche of a psychotic guy trying to control a super humble and sweet girl. This lakorn falls into that category. I know not all Lakorns are like this (thank goodness), but this is the first slap/kiss Lakorn I've encountered and I'm not quite sure how to proceed from here in my selection of different Lakorns to watch next. I'd only recommend this Lakorn under very specific circumstances:
1. You aren't sensitive to very triggering themes (rape, mainly)
2. You like watching endless cat fights
3. You're in the mood for something very angst inducing with a couple that gives each other a lot of long looks of despair
4. You are okay with endless misunderstandings
5. You are okay with suuuuuuuuper annoying side characters
I guess it was entertaining (if you FF through all the side stuff)? I don't know, I feel like you have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this. And you also have to suspend your disbelief at how HORRIBLE the male guy is to the lead female.
I just don't think this Lakorn can ever be accused of having "quality" -- it was pretty poorly constructed: not very well fleshed out characters, the character roles basically being caricatures of themselves, no flowing story where the guy earns the love of the female, and really outdated drama tropes that were annoying to see repeated over and over again.
I don't want to give any spoilers, but I was completely unsatisfied with the end and how he "won" the girl. I was hoping for more character improvement and growth.
So....watch this I guess if you're a fan of slap/kiss lakorns? .....I on the other hand will be lamenting over how I gave 14 episodes of my life over to this show, and in the end....I'm not entirely sure it was worth it. I'm an angst addict, so I certainly enjoyed parts of it, but the main guy was waaaay too horrible for me to say I'm glad I watched it.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
It was so hard to wait for new episodes!
The story is so good, it caught me from the very first episode. I really really hate horror stuff but this one just got me waiting for more. The development of the story, the characters, acting and effects were simply amazing. It lets you guess who the "guest" is until the last episode just to realise you got it wrong all the time and things aren't as simple as they seem.
This is now one of my favourite dramas for how unique the plot is, for the amazing acting and for how well it was made overall. Amazing production! 10/10
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Youngest Son of a Conglomerate
38 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
Questa recensione può contenere spoiler
Beautiful execution, yet a somewhat dissapointing conclusion
I honestly wasn't expecting to love this drama, since it is very much politically/business driven. Those plots tend to get old pretty fast, and yet, I couldn't help myself from clicking to watch the next episode. The characters are intriguing, every single one of them has something interesting about them.Everyone loves an underdog story, so Do Jun's journey from a grandson with nothing to his name to a majority shareholder, almost the CEO of the company is so satisfying to see. Every person who underestimates him gets what they deserve, and I'm gonna be honest, seeing almost comically evil people eat shit just puts a smile on my face. The relationship between Do Jun and his grandfather, hostile at first, turns into one of the most endearing and tooth-rottingly sweet dynamics in the entire show. The acting from both of them is an absolute 10, every scene leaves you wanting for more. To be honest, this entire show would've been an 8 or a 9.
If only the ending didn't stumble onto itself.
I can't even explain why I feel disappointed. Is it all the character development going to waste? All my torn out hairs at the never realized love plot between Do Jun and Min Young that was there to take up time and never went anywhere? The fact that, in the end, the main character everyone was rooting for ends up with the most tragic and saddest conclusion? Episode 16 throws out everything, every aspiration, dream, all the development and the beautifully crafted revenge plot, and turns into a train-wreck that looks conclusive on paper, yet lacking in feeling like a real ending. What was the point in seeing Do Jun rise? Was it really time-travel, one soul living though 2 lives? I don't know, and the show doesn't seem to know either.
If you're going to watch this show, just watch 15 episodes and make up and ending that feels satisfying to you. Trust me, with the final episode you'll be left with more questions than answers, with an added bonus of the feeling of complete frustration.
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Bad Romance: The Series
37 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo
38 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
SO much wrong with this
I came to this because I just discovered Takeru Satoh - I just watched all the Rouroni Kenshi movies and wanted to see something else he was in. This was one of the few things I could find - and man was this a horrible shift.Everything about this drama is so wrong - from beginning to end, this drama is what is wrong with Asian rom-coms. That someone thought this was a good story of a ‘romantic’, healthy adult relationship is just a bit disturbing.
While commenters have issue with the age gap - that is not really the problem - its the maturity gap. She has the maturity level of a teenager while the ML has the maturity level of an adult . Not to mention the power dynamic that he is her superior at work. It’s all just so wrong.
Let’s start with the idea that a teenage girl, on her day of graduating from high school, goes to a temple to pray that she finds a good man, stumbles upon a woman with a medical emergency and the dashing, handsome doctor shows up, smiles at her, pats her on the head and whola! - I’m in love! To the point of running off to become a nurse so she “can be near him’ - not because she wants to be a nurse and help people, doesn’t decide to become doctor because she just witnessed him saving the woman - but, no, lets be a nurse so I can stand next to him - wrong!
She then spends 5 years to go to school so she can get a job at his hospital, then shows up and runs around proclaiming her love for this person in the middle of the workplace- to a man who she has only even, met briefly once in her life. She then spends all her time bumbling around, acting like a pre-teen with a crush on an idol. And she never grows out of it. Wrong!
Then there is the whole awkward dating situation - again, the maturity gap happens - he clearly has experience and she clearly has none. She has this very romanticized, teenager mentality of what being in a relationship means and it just doesn’t fit - most of the time she seems terrified - that dear-in-the-headlights, ready to jump out of her skin look on her face and in her demeanor - very subservient, bowing and apologizing all the time - all the while he is calling her an idiot every five minutes. It is just the most unhealthy dynamic and yet the writers/directors and even viewers - all think this is ‘romantic’, it is not.
You never get a real sense of why he likes her and it isn’t event until the second to last episode that he says anything. He spends most of the time ignoring her, glaring at her and generally looking like he is annoyed with her and then one day, just turns around on the street and kisses her - what?!?!
I also do not see, not just one, not two, but three grown men falling in love with her - that this idea of an immature 22 year old, who behaves like teenager is somehow so appealing that men are falling over themselves - is just absurd.
And then there is the older sister of the dead girlfriend who shows up and just happens to look EXACTLY like the dead girlfriend, hasn’t seen the guy since she died and is now ‘in-love’ with him - seriously! I cant even with this stupidity.
Overall - most of the problems come back to this maturity issue. it would be one thing, if through out the show you see her mature and him soften - but that never happens (he does, ever-so-slightly - but not really enough)
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
Questa recensione può contenere spoiler
no, just no - awful writing
Overall: the writing in this is terrible. It's the worst cliches written in the worst ways possible. Episode 5 was awful writing and episode 6 wasn't much better. Based off a book which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 6 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired uncut on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/fva9tft4vxjyol2/j4101l2vf7x and cut on on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/efp3uken3u5ahjm/w410159dtry (the first episode seemed to be the same run time, they shortened NSFW in future episodes)Content Warnings: rape (episode 5), torture, manhandling, hit, dub/non con sex, vomiting, bullying, cyber bullying, punch, beaten up, violence, kidnapping, drugging, non con picture/video taking/sharing, unwanted outings, gaslighting, threatened self harm/death
What I Liked
- visuals
- though kind of random in the beginning, I did understand the plot
- laughed at the line "lucky you for choosing to be a medical student because your acting is super fake"
- GL, especially eps 4-6
- the high school MLs in eps 4 & 5
Room For Improvement
- it was awful to watch how the rape in episode 5 was shot romantically, that was zero romantic and there were hints that they would end up together romantically and zero consequences for the rapist
- Sun was supposed to be the hero but he was anything but, why on earth would he listen to his enemy over his boyfriend/jump to conclusions, he cheated (kissed and had sex off screen) and then had the gall to ask why his boyfriend broke up with him and then when given evidence said he deserved to have 1 mistake?!!!
- started with a voice over to describe a character instead of showing it thru actions/interactions
- choppy, characters were in university and then suddenly we saw high schoolers with seemingly no connection between them
- love triangles
- cliches: drunk sex, hobbling the day after and a fever, multiple evil women, childhood connection (with the gross kids' "kiss"), refusing to communicate/listen
- applying the ointment (on the uncut version)
- piano music over NSFW
- mom vanished from the finale
- no resolution for the high school couple in the finale
- cliffhanger ending
- nonsense: how he was apparently not attractive with glasses and then removed the glasses and became irresistible, bodyguards were there until they were needed and then they were gone, CCTV cameras located far away that picked up crystal clear sound, the contest was apparently people standing around doing nothing, a fully grown person can't live by himself?
Questa recensione ti è stata utile?
