Reviews

The acting is so good. Cha Eun Woo is BEAUTIFUL. I have never seen an actor able to express so much in the littlest smile. I know a lot of people complained that the actress for the main female lead was too old, but I didn't have a problem with it. Honestly, I couldn't even tell. And to add to that, a lot of shows have main male leads that are way older than the female lead, and nobody complains about that—so what's with the double standard?

The only minor reason I didn't give this a full 10/10 rating was because I wasn't a huge fan of the way the antagonist was dealt with. While I liked the attempt to give them a backstory and have it be in line with the message of the drama, it was basically all crammed into the last few episodes.

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Slow Burning Adorable Romance

This is a slow burning, tug and pull romance. More than half way through the drama, the main couple still have not officially started their romance though they have strong feelings and admirations for each other. There are multiple love triangles with the third parties becoming the antagonists (sort of). The two male leads are amazingly good looking and lovable, and the female lead is beautiful and badass.

The Story
This is the story of 2 people of different worlds meeting each other by chance and falling in love. She is from lowest of the low and he is an elite; they are like extreme ends of the world, opulence versus abject poverty. He’s attracted by her spontaneity and unpretentiousness; she is attracted by his good look and straight face that has a warm heart within. In the lower Jiu Liu, being poor, the people would eat anything and do anything to survive. And in the upper Jiu Liu, the rich lives in gluttony and opulence.

As the events unfold, their romance goes all the way to the palace. They encounter assassinations, imprisonment, tortures at the same time they resolve various conspiracies and mysteries, and eventually save the kingdom. Our OTP join hands together and cover each other’s back, and in the end, realizing their dreams and living a life they have always wanted.

There are some intense palace politics and conspiracies as official corruption is rampant. The supervillain is not revealed until the very last few episodes. However, the emphasis of this drama is on the dynamics of the main couple, which is really fun to watch.

The Characters and The Acting
Long Ao Yi (Bai Lu) is the kingpin of the Dragon Gang which has members and support from the lower class of Jiu Liu denizens of Silver City. She is magnanimous and takes care of everyone, making sure they live a decent life despite all odds against them. She is protective, tough, unfinessed and dresses in rags. Being poorly educated, she continually makes mistakes in the use of words and pronunciations, causing laughter and fun for the viewers. However, at the click of the fingers, she can transform into the most beautiful girl around, even overtaking the wealthiest best dressed women in town. With her beauty and unconventional demeanor, she immediately attracts the two most eligible men around. Bai Lu's character here reminds me of the Bai Lu in The Legends, a badass and stunningly beautiful, despite she doesn’t know how to fight in this story.

In contrast, Li Qing Liu (Lai Yi aka Leon Lai) is a very refined and sophisticated man. He is classy and prudish with a cold somber face. A silk tycoon and a fashion designer for the social elites, he runs one of the largest businesses in town. He is creative, intelligent and has a great business mind. However he’s prejudiced and looks down on Long Ao Yi and her ‘type’ initially until he comes to know her; he has thought money could buy anything and solve all problems until she proves him wrong. Lai Yi is naturally classy and he fits exactly into the image of Li Qing Liu.

Li Zhao (Fang Yilun aka Alen Fang) is a prince sent to investigate the salt trade black market. In his investigations, he also finds black markets for silk and peppercorn, and he discovers the corruption of many of the government officials. At the same time, he falls in love with Long Ao Yi who treats him no different from her other Dragon gang members. Time and time again, Li Zhao helps and saves Long Ao Yi. Fang Yilun’s portrayal is wonderful, making Li Zhao a very well-loved character.

The OST
I fall in love with one of the OSTs here: Heart City, though the other OST Seeing Dream is pretty good too. However, I have to point out that there is an instrumental tune that they have recycled from Luan Zang Gang of The Untamed, and for me, the repeated playing of this background music doesn’t go very well with the scenes and moments at all.

My verdict
Bai Lu's styling is beautiful especially when she's in elegant gowns. I love her badass demeanor, untamed and can be explosive at times. Lai Yi exudes that classy charisma right from the beginning, either as a rich merchant or as a prince. The overall CGI is not too bad. All the costumes are beautiful and props are proper. There are no obvious plot holes despite some minor lack of attention to details. The last few episodes are intense with the supervillain’s identity being revealed. The ending is what most viewers love with the characters we’ve come to love living the life they have always wanted, free and away from the palace despite the sacrifice of another lovable character.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable drama. Don’t miss it.

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uniqe that's what she is

If, like me, you enjoy watching thrillers and learning things in bits and pieces (i.e., secret forest, signal, even sky castle in the revealing formula), then this is ideal. I'm always looking for things that will both emotionally stimulate me and scare me (in a loose sense), as the ride in the Secret Forest did. They're apples/oranges, and Stranger has some of the tightest writing I've ever seen, but the thing about Trap is that it's thrilling, you're on the edge.

Truthfully, if the actors were bad, it would be even more campy—because there is a bit of camp; some of the shit is just SO bizarre, uncanny, and left field. But they weren't. None of them were. Watching it was genuinely entertaining, and I enjoyed every twist and turn, and, girl, there are twists and turns. Is it flawlessly written? Although I def wouldn't say that, it's not nearly as bad as people are claiming. It's seven episodes, dude, like, lmao. It's a brief and disorientingly nuts watch, but it's also very good because it's very odd, and that's its appeal.

If OCN dramas aren't your thing—and they weren't mine, and sometimes still aren't, as I only watched them when I didn't want to think—but you like the same things I do (via my list/comments/reviews)? I would watch. It's clear that this is a unique genre, and I think it marked something of a turning point for the channel (Guest/Hand, a good show, comes to mind as a good catalyst for the change). This and Strangers from Hell, outstanding shows that were a part of OCN's "Dramatic Cinema," made it clear that these are a unique introduction to the channel, and they are of a different level, at least to my taste.

Yet, I think that both shows are mischaracterized or perhaps misunderstood (though for different reasons). There's mixed reception for Trap, and I suppose that's because I'm viewing the drama from a different perspective than some people, which is obviously where we're all coming from and I'm not special, BUT what I mean is: in my opinion, you have to have fun with this show; you have to see it as fun, while acknowledging the quality and critiquing where deserved.

They're literally taking you along for a ride that you can't get off of until it's too late. Like Kanye West said in Primetime (song), "I mean who says shit like that and doesn't laugh?" I think the team was definitely inspired by works by "auteurs" like Yorgos Lanthimos, Park Chan-wook, other contemporary auteurs of the uncanny or horror. It shares the quality of being frantic and fast-paced but also tension-building at a honey like pace. Can't explain it well but it's an intentional, and creative, way to bend temporality.

So, if you want a thrilling investigative story and enjoy bloody weirdness along the way, Do you love to have fun and be entertained? I'd honestly go for it. There's never a dull moment, that's for sure. and i loved being on the rollercoaster swear to satan

EDIT 8/5/19: i think this drama was aiming for pure insanity and it worked

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I will start by saying what I liked most about this drama was Gong Yoo. I loved him so much in coffee prince, that I just wanted to see him in something else. I couldn't help but be charmed by him as Tae In. The character was so sweet, playful, and heartbreaking all at once. It's his character that kept me watching.

I thought Gong Hyo Jin played her role well too, and loved the chemistry between Na Bori & Tae In, but I didn't exactly love her character. Na Bori was frustrating to watch at times, often silly, and towards the end I found her actions to be almost mean. I also wasn't impressed by the chemistry between her and Ji Hyun Woo. Kim Da Hyun was so passive that he was boring, and they never had any great romantic moments together. There's one scene that I think was supposed to be touching, but I think he came across more as a creepy stalker.

Another thing that I didn't particularly like were all the class subplots. Their stories were sometimes sweet, but usually corny, and often felt like time fillers. I can't say that I honestly cared about any of those characters except for Choi Yeo Jin, who was a more interesting rival than Kim Da Hyun.

In spite of the slightly taboo topic, this is a very basic romance, with family disapproval, and love squares that you've very likely have seen before. There are many Tae in scenes that I could see myself watching again, but not much else. Gong Yoo is the main reason I would ever recommend this drama. His transformation from a troubled and rebellious teen to a maturing young man, and his struggle to deal with his forbidden love, was truly an impressive performance.

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Kamen Rider OOO is completely different from the other heroes. Every hero has its own way of doing things in the name of justice, but Eiji is extra-special.

His relationship with Ankh is stunning. It doesn't follow any rule and since the beginning we face the nature of their friendship. There's also Hina's point of view. She's constantly learning during the whole serie, and we see a great development of her, as well as Gotou. We understand every character as a human being, not always perfect.

Kamen Rider OOO was my first KR series, and I really liked it, 'cause it changes so much about my ways of thinking. It's a truly challenge to understand their emotions and internal conflicts. People are just the transformation they endure in life; their ambitions and how do deal with the desire, something we ignore and think it's all ok just because it's an expression of ourselves.

The comic side is also wonderful. You'll be really satisfied.

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A fake competition

What did I just watch?
After the worldwide success that "KinnPorsche" was for Be On Cloud, someone inside the company... mainly CEO Pond, decided to create a "reality" competition between aspiring actors with zero or very little experience in order to find the "new" couple to be the leads in the next Be On Cloud series... and let me tell you, this competition was a complete and utter disaster and here's why:

1. What was the point of dividing the show in different chapters? If they are looking for actors, shouldn't they be training with the acting coach like they did in the final episodes or at least doing acting workshops with different scenarios to see if they can act? The answer of course is a NO because CEO Pond decided to craft this mess of a show with the first episodes dedicated to the "The Hidden Story" where one character did something wrong in their past and the others had to guess who it was. Of course, we found out very questionable behavior from some of them like being homophobic or hitting their father (albeit it was apparently in self-defense). We also got the usual sad stories to bring tears to our eyes about a sick family member, a family having economic issues, etc. These episodes were a waste of time as we couldn't see any acting skills at all. Maybe they were preparing for a future scandal like the accusations against Build and his resignation from the company by revealing all the issues from most of the cast members of this show.

2. I know Be On Cloud is riding the "KinnPorsche" success train as much as they can but the whole show centered around it. Having Mile as host was fine (more on him later) but bringing nearly the entire cast to play silly games in the second part of the show was another waste of time. Perth, Us, Bas, Nodt, Barcode, and the others, appeared to play dumb games and provide nothing useful. Bible was a mentor alongside Apo in episode 9 and Bas, Nodt and Tong came in for episode 10 but they barely had an interesting or helpful comment to give. Apo was the exception as he either was in a really bad mood or was told to play the strict judge as his comments were sometimes too harsh and picky in some of the re-enacted scenes. And, speaking of those scenes... more "KinnPorsche" as all the cast members had to re-enact scenes from the series in another mistake. Why not have them act their own scenes? That will show adaptability, creativity and flexibility... but instead, we had awkward moments like Apo stopping a scene because it was so bad (in his opinion) or New looking like a crazy man imitating Bible's character Vegas, but doing it wrong.

3. The final portion had the real acting part that should have been the center of the show. The re-enacted scenes were not properly executed but some were nice surprises like the chemistry between Mio and Bump and JJ and Fuaiz acting skills (with JJ being a complete rookie). However, episode 11 was a mess as it was done live and apparently very difficult to watch on IQIYI for international viewers. Plus, it was incredibly rushed as the episode was probably the shortest with around 45 minutes compared to the others that had between 65 and 70 minutes... So, we saw poor Barcode singing his new (and self-composed) song only for him to be nearly kicked out of the stage at the end without even saying thank you so Mile could read the final results. The judges gave a few comments after each of the final scenes were shown but they were also rushed as time was ticking. We knew 1 couple was going to be eliminated before the episode even began and New and Jet were left out of the episode entirely as they had the lowest votes and didn't even get the chance to appear on screen and look sad for being eliminated. In addition, the voting system was a confusing and a questionable one... the explanation on how to vote and the charges for voting were explained in a super long on-screen segment that aired once on every episode starting from episode 7. Mile looked completely lost during some of the episodes as he looked like he was forced to read a script and tried to find dramatic moments to make it more interesting and his personality was not exactly one cut to the show's MC as he was not really energetic or engaged. He didn't vote in the final episodes so he was just there to tell us the results and look handsome on TV.

4. The final decision of who was going to win was most likely made when Ta appeared as a guest in episode 2 and then was added as a cast member soon after. He already had the "KinnPorsche" fame and a steady fanbase, so this show was almost meant to find him a suitable BL partner for the next series as if he was taking the baton from Mile and Apo. Copper selected Ta in a clever strategy as Copper seemed to be such a fake character who was only interested in winning and could not stop smiling all the time. Him and Ta were definitely the WORST acting couple of the remaining three but were chosen as the winners with a ridiculous number of votes because of Ta's huge fanbase and, apparently, all of Copper's family and friends who spent millions of Baht voting for him. In a weird moment of the voting system, Mile said the votes will reset to zero after eliminating New and Jet... which was fine. However, during the 1st couple's re-enactment, the number of votes were put on-screen and Copper had already over 19,000 votes and Ta had over 2,000 votes, compared to JJ who only had around 200 in similar trend with the others... so, no idea how someone got so many votes so fast. The fact that they won 500,000 Baht, a cover in a Thai magazine and the right to star in the next BOC series seems a bit unfair when Ta was already part of "KinnPorsche" and BOC and Copper felt so fake during the whole show.

5. That was the same fake perception I got from other cast members... Jet had already been part of several BLs in another company but for some reason decided to join this project and he was shown as being on his last chance to succeed in the industry along with the fact that his mother is (or was) very sick and he needed/wanted to help.
Mio and Bump (and even Ta during episode 10) said they were more interested in singing than acting so I had no idea why they were there. I know other musicians like Jeff Satur has done the same and Mio apparently worships Jeff, but if you are going to start a career that you don't seem to want, why bother and why bother us?
CEO Pond got his dramatic TV moment when he got super angry at Mio during episode 7 for him supposedly being late and not practicing one day. I mean, he clearly overreacted for dramatic purposes but Mio's heart seemed to be in his music and not in acting from the first place... even if he was good during some of the scenes they had to act.
Other characters like New, Perth and Copper seemed fake from the get go and I was never able to decide if they were lying or telling the truth. Max was cute but super green, Fuaiz apparently was a child actor, Woody was openly gay so, of course, the show had to showcase that before he was eliminated.

In the end, this "show" was a sad attempt to find Ta a partner and to keep riding the success of "KinnPorsche"... the results seemed fixed, the show was not that entertaining and the cast members really didn't showcase their acting skills until the final episodes and, when they did, it was by being forced to re-enact scenes from BOC's only successful show so far. Hopefully, possible talents like JJ and Fuaiz and possible future singers like Mio and Bump don't go to waste and find success somewhere else because I'm sure BOC is not the answer for them.

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An average drama, with a frustrating story-line.

Don't let that synopsis fool you - About as close as this gets to a female powerhouse is only as long as it takes for the female lead to toss away 8 years of free-will just by landing in Thailand. Because, the writer has abandoned the story they started, going for a well-traveled 18-episode road to the finale.

That opening sequence with the umbrella and note, a unicorn moment. Not even worth mentioning after a certain point. An average drama, that didn't deliver on most of it's original promises. That created frustrating characters; villains with no teeth; male lead with no backbone; side characters with no purpose; and family with far to many childish expectations. The story begins to meander from episode thirteen on, and just when you thought it may go full-on mystery reveal, it didn't. The final stumble, the female lead mom's secret - Proving the patriarch's words: women are to emotional, to lead. A final stray thought from a writer who wanted to do everything, and nothing, all at the same time. An average drama, with a frustrating story-line, that forgot it had purpose.

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This was the Soul Repairman, with you just now!

"Is there no full recovery? "
Just how healing begins when you acknowledge your illness, the moment of full recovery... definitely exists.

There is a condition to full recovery. It's that you must not try to forcefully erase your wounds. You must embrace, accept and love them. Each of our wounds become a map for each of our own lives. So, rather than trying to overcome the wounds, how about trying to embrace them? Because our scars are like a GPS to our lives.

Someone told me that... every human being is a universe. today I'll close with that quote. This is the Soul Repairman.

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Soul Mechanic was a such a stellar portrayal of people who were in much pain! It had lots of heartbreaks, many thoughtful surprises and so many awe-inspiring & healing moments!

My absolute favorite moments from this drama could be the podcasts Lee Si Joon was presenting! it could as well be the crazy laughs, dance and singing moments when the main leads were acting in them! Such healing and heartwarming scenes together!

The character development is one aspect this drama excels at! from the main leads to Woo Joo's best friend, the hospital director, the head nurse, Si Joon's father, Dr. In Dong Hyuk, Cha Dong Il (the fake police officer) and 'Resident' Neu Ri. the supporting cast were just as amazing and surely will be remembered for a long time.

The OST is warm and beautiful! I adore the song "Confuse" by SURAN and I really loved the song "Lean on me" by Ha Hyunsang. It fits so perfectly with the sweet moments. The calm nature of the rest of the songs too makes them healing and soul touching!

As for re-watching, I already did once and I think I'll re-watch it yet again very soon!

Hope many of you reading this review are already convinced enough to watch this drama! It's gonna be such a shame if you decided otherwise! Since SOUL MECHANIC is such a unique experience that words alone can't ever do justice to it!

Thank you very much for reading this to the end!
Written by one of the Soul Repairman's biggest fans.

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Love transcends deaths

There have been a lot of superlatives being used to describe this drama : amazing, perfect, awesome! There are also some critics who constantly find faults with this drama just because of certain actor or actress. Personally for me, this drama is the epitome of a xianxia done well. If you are able to watch it with an open heart, unbiased and uncluttered with prejudiced opinions from others who may not have completed the drama, you will be in for a pleasant surprise. If you are a lover of xianxia genre, you should not miss this drama.

Ancient love poetry brings a new concept where there is a separation between the God realm and immortals realm, the former being the more powerful and higher in ranking than the Immortal realm. The third realm, the demon realm is depicted as able to cohabit peacefully with the Gods and Immortals. I find these three realms living peacefully a refreshing change from the normal heavenly gods battle with the demons. This lasted in the first arch of the story. There are altogether three arches in the story which brings a roller coaster ride of emotions. And yes this a love story that stands the tribulation of times and deaths (yes, multiple deaths). The story is fresh, with plots that make sense. It keeps you guessing, while dropping hints and nuances along the way. I find myself rooting for all the characters in the drama, (well, except the villain). I should say that the actress playing the villain is excellent. Zhou Dong Yu and Xu Kai gave one of the best performance, with their facial expressions exuding their character’s inner feelings. This is my first time watching ZDY and I have high respect for her after watching ALP. The supporting cast, in particular Liu Xue Yi is convincing as one of their best friend ever. Even the child actor who appears at the last arch of the story is very talented. The relationships in this drama are varied: we have the lovers relationship, father-daughter relationship, father-son relationship and friends relationship. Each of these are very endearing. There are moments that make you squeal in delight and there are moments that make you bawl your eyes out. My trash can was full of tissue papers during the last three episodes. CGI and action sequence are top notch, realistic and done in perfect taste.

This was even better than L&R or AOL for me. Watch it and let love permeates your soul.

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IGNORE THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS, AND TAKE MY REVIEW AS A +VE SIGN TO WATCH THIS SERIES!

First of all, let me congratulate my dear Saint for building his own production house Idolfactory after all the hardships and criticisms he faced. He is giving a tough competition to all those big production houses.
So, let me talk about the premises: The story is set in a special forces academy at first, which is a very rare scenario in a Thai series. It showed the intensive training of the cops. Next, the characters become cops and are a part of an investigative defense force, so they deal with the cases. Their analytical thinking and problem-solving skills outshines here. The main base for the series is the Hindu mythological story of Naga(snake) and Garuda(eagle). As an Hindu, I knew all about the rivalry between Naga and Garuda and I really thank Idolfactory for spreading our culture and stories through this series. It was so fun to watch the stories I only heard of.
Billy and Babe did an incredible job as the main leads. Billy had improved his acting skills so much and Babe was a rookie but still slayed the role. Heng as the villain rocked....he needs to win the best villain award. Gap as the brother Yai won my heart. All the side characters and guest roles did their jobs perfectly...that's why the series is so flawless. I love how along with each case we came to know more about art, drugs, sexual abuse and so on. The series dealt with numerous social issues with each episode. What astonishes me the most this series has every genre in it - crime, thriller, mystery, romance, comedy, myth, suspense, but yet everything is blended properly. Most of the series fail when it comes to plot execution because they tried to include more genres, but The Sign succeeded in doing so. You can literally feel the hard work that was put behind to create this show.
The visuals was such an eye-candy and all the aesthetics was so pleasing. The CGI team needs a raise, because that was Hollywood-level VFX. The flow of the story and editing was impressive. I have a ton of scenes that has beautiful shots and transitions. Every scene was unskippable and interesting. I loved the cliffhanger ending too.
The OST always sends shivers down my spine. I don't know why. It has some kind of power to it.
Overall a must watch. You are missing out on a great series if you haven't watched this yet. Even if you don't like BLs, trust me you should watch this series and you will never ever regret it. I WANT TO RATE THIS 1000/10.

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I hadn't watched a J-Drama since a long time as I was into K-Dramas lately. So, I picked up 'Utsukushii Rinjin' randomly when I was going through the Drama database of MDL. I read the plot and it seemed to be kind of... interesting. As I was only watching romantic stuffs and stories about the young generation, I decided to give this one a go as the story was different. And I am so glad that I picked it for watching.

You should definitely watch this drama if you are a fan of the suspense genre. The story is UNIQUE and UNPREDICTABLE, and it kept me wondering what was going to happen next.

The cast is awesome. Nakama Yukie and Dan Rei have done great acting there. The supporting characters are also pretty good. Nakama Yukie, especially, impressed me. She literally gave me the creeps!

The music is decent and suits with the drama. The occasional 'tik-tok' of the clock gave it a 'horror movie' feel as if at the strike of 12, a ghost would pop out of somewhere!

The reason why I gave this story a 9 is because I was not quite satisfied with the ending. I won't say I was disappointed but it's just that several questions that I had in my mind were remain unanswered. Also, I gave rewatch value a 4 because although this is a good drama, you probably won't feel like watching it again as you will already know what's going to happen next, and it is no fun that way as the suspense won't be there.

Overall the drama is a good watch. The story doesn't drag and it keeps you hooked.

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This the most clever, creative, and comical drama I have ever seen. Humor is not exaggerated in this drama, and it is actually full of complex plots, romance, tragedies. It wasn't really engaging in the first two episodes, but after that, you would be addicted. It changes story lines so it isn't boring, and each one gets more creative than the one before. It wouldn't disappoint you, try it!
Since it's 'cosmetology high', naturally the dramas' creativity revolves around it and morals are told along with it too. It's like a magic drama series, but the magic is quite unique. Its bitterness and tragedies would make you tear up, if you are lucky enough to have continued the series. Morals about beauty and ugliness are present in it, and it's so unpredictable that you would find yourself caught off guard many times. It has fanservice too, it's of such a high quality that people view it as a serious, big budget historical drama.

None of its jokes are cheap, and it's actually more like a melodrama than a romantic comedy. 90 percent of the humor comes only from the main leads' conversations; humour and serious scenes are very balanced. This is a fresh, unique show that I highly recommend.

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Normally I watch dramas that have finished airing. However, I made an exception with 49 Days since it was so addicting. I absolutely loved most of the series, my only problem would be with how it ended. Other than that though the series was amazing, though it did drag out a little in the middle. I feel like this would have been better at a 16 or 18 episode drama.



The story was absolutely unlike anything I had watched before, and it was executed pretty well. My only problem with the story would be the antagonists' reasons for being evil weren't good enough in my opinion.



The Cast and the acting were absolutely spectacular and had terrific chemistry.



The music was also great and I still listen to the OST after the show has finished.



As for rewatch value, this drama simply has none. Once you take out the element of surprise and suspense, it will become boring.



Overall though, this drama is a great drama to watch and I loved every moment of it, other than how it ended.

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