Reviews

I thought this drama was absolutely fantastic. I personally have something of an aversion to "teen" dramas, just because the anime-esque acting and visual effects typical of such dramas doesnt much appeal to me. As such, I went into I Want To Become A Hard Persimmon with low hopes. Which probably made it all the more satisfying when the series went out of its way to prove me wrong several times over.

I'll start by saying that the synopsis for this drama does not do it justice. It makes it sound very formulaic and typical, two things it very much is not. No discrediting the synopsis writer, however, because the first few episodes of the drama presents this view of itself as well. To anyone discouraged by this, watch through it and it'll become clear that this is more a guise than anything else. It sets the drama up so you think you know for sure where it's going, like it's something you've seen a hundred times before. That way, you get the full impact when it completely tears this all down and beats out its own track in very unexpected directions.

In terms of the general mood of the drama, for the most part it's light-hearted fun. It has a kind of whimsical silliness (sometimes bordering on that anime-type humour I mentioned earlier, but never crossing the line to where it gets too much) that's really endearing and feel-good. However, that is only part of the story. It has an unexpected, heavier storyline waiting in the wings, one that had me in tears on more than one occasion (though I AM a little sappy...). I loved how this storyline was interwined with the other threads of the drama, as well as the impact it was shown to have on pushing the characters involved into growing as people. It was this, for me, that elevates this drama from simply teen-romcom-romp into something more memorable and adult.

In an attempt at balance, as I'm clearly more than a little biased towards this drama, I will talk about aspects that I found weaker. There is shaky acting from some of the secondary characters. I didn't feel this really impacted the drama too heavily, since the main cast were very impressive (I found Ivy Chen especially captivating and convincing), but I appreciate it can still be a little annoying when secondary characters are over-the-top or wooden. There were also a couple of plot strands that I don't really feel went anywhere or were not developed as far as they could have been. This could have been because the drama's span was too short for all that was packed into it, so some aspects just got lost by the wayside. This is a matter of personal preference whether you will mind this or not. It's more true to life that not everything sees a firm resolution, but I personally like clear endings in dramas, something which IWTBAHP lacked in some regards.

Overall, however, the small minuses are outweighed by a whole bucketful of pluses. I know for me, as soon as I finished the series I was tempted to go right back to episode one and watch it all through again. I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for something fresh, entertaining yet meaningful that will stay with them for a very long time.

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A different drama, not everyone's cup of tea I guess

I'm writing a review because I really believe the average score is too low - this drama doesn't deserve such a low score, is not fair. I do understand is not everyone's cup of tea, however, it's refreshing and nice to see a different "not so typical" plot. But OMG, what I honestly really loved about this drama is the evolution of each single character. I like the fact that each character, even the supporting ones, have been developed - you will eventually see the reason behind their behaving. In dramas I've barely seen the behind of the characters. If you enjoy (psychological?) dramas where there's a clear evolution of the characters, in which you can actually see and understand why they do certain things, this is definitely THE DRAMA for you.

This drama's real plot is not the storyline, but the characters of the drama (the way the behave and the reason behind it - they are human. I really felt a connection with every single character due to their development during the drama (maybe I'm too empathic?). In fact, I would even say that in the end, there are no "evil" characters at all - just people with their own issues, and way of perceiving the world because of their personal circumstances. You will notice that some of them are sociopath or actually have a mental disorder, it's important to address these things as they are, not just as "crazy evil characters". Each of them will have their flawless like all human beings (the ML and FL as well - he does many wrong things but she does as well during their relationship, however they are much more "subtle").

I want to start saying that I didn't give a 10 score because of the last episode. The ending could have been better in many ways - the overall plot is fine, but the ending of the drama... It's too rushed, to abrupt. There are too many things left in the air or that could have been developed more. You can see that during the whole drama they really worked hard on each episode, and suddenly because the n.16 marked the end, they tried to wrap everything up as quick as possible and they rushed all without too much explanations just because it had to end there. I appreciate the fact that there's no "big crazy drama". And if you do see anything over-exaggerated, don't worry, you will have the explanation of such dramatic/exaggerated situation eventually, and everything will make sense (unless you are already in the episode n. 15 or 16 lol).

The acting and cast amazing - I really like the FL, she's very natural. The ML at first I wasn't sure, but he did a great job and to be honest, now I don't picture anyone else playing Jung. Maybe the only bit is that he looked too old for a university student? But to be honest, I couldn't care less! The support actors were amazing as well, specially Inho and Inha and the FL's friends.

The music is fantastic, really cute and easygoing, it goes with the uni environment of the drama.

I would probably rewatch this if bored, and as it's the second time watching it, it would be like an easy thing to watch, just to relax, enjoy and have fun.

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I usually don't write reviews, but I felt the need to do so for this drama.I mostly don't watch melodramas, they're too... melodramatic, I guess? So, yeah, not a fan of the genre, but I loved this drama and it was THE best melodrama I've watched so far (not that I've watched many, but yeah...)I "walked into " this drama not really knowing what to expect, I hadn't seen the genre of the drama or read comments or reviews and had barely read the synopsis, the only thing I really knew about the drama was that Junho was the male lead, and since I had never seen him act I was very curious. What I didn't expect was his acting to be that good! I was awestruck, I forgot who he was. I genuinely forgot he was Junho, I could only see him as Lee Kang Doo. I felt like I was feeling what he was feeling, his suffering, his desperation, his happiness, everything. So yeah, his acting was one of the reasons why I kept watching the drama and decided to write this review. Another reason was that I felt like this drama portrayed very accurately the "consequences" of such a tragedy. All of it seemed natural from the character's actions and the way they thought, to the way the plot developed. I liked how they included everyone who was affected by the accident , from Lee Kang Doo and Moon Soo, who were survivors, to the victims families and even the architect in charge of the design and his family.Anyway, I'm not very good at making reviews, but yeah... I really recommend this drama.

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An Emotionally Profound Seesaw of Aro/Ace Reality and Dreams

Despite what the previews for each episode tries to tell you, this drama was consistently a low-angst but emotionally profound story. And I'm unbelievably happy about the attention it's gotten since its release. Kodama and Takahashi are such well-written and well-performed examples of aroace individuals.

It was a bit odd though. Because it was a tenuous seesaw between the reality of being aro/ace in a society that doesn't understand how that could possibly exist, and the optimistic dream of all aro/ace individuals of being surrounded by people who seek to understand and will accept you even if they can't. And in the effort to create this aro/ace dream from the reflections of reality, some actions were unreasonably forgotten as the story went on. And it left me, as a viewer, feeling guilty for not being able to move past these small offenses and worrisome transgressions as easily as our leads did.

But at the end of the day, all these encounters served as meaningful lessons in what aro/ace individuals are expected/asked of daily and how those expectations weigh us down and creates an unintentional force that alienates us and invalidates our feelings. And their resolutions speak to what family is supposed to be about, and the different ways familial and other societal bonds manifest.

And I absolutely love how well everything was communicated between the characters. On the surface, Kodama (a highly sociable and energetic extrovert) and Takahashi (a guarded and reserved introvert who's only really enthusiastic about food and plants) shouldn't get along. Especially by allo standards of lacking sexual and romantic attraction. But yet they do. Bonded by their shared experiences as alloace adults and resultant loneliness, they create such an adorable platonic family. It was quite awkward and rocky for quite a while as it formed, as it naturally would, but left me gushing over their small but meaningful moments of comradery. It leaves me hopeful.

I love how this drama progressed from Kodama just looking for answers online to an overall story about being aroace as working and independent adults. And how being aroace doesn't mean you don't want to have a life with someone. And the way that this drama addresses that being aro/ace is a spectrum with a lot of things to consider was just so fantastically done.

The writing, performances, and representation had me on the verge of tears on more than a handful of occassions.

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This drama is so great! It's sooooo much better than the typical teacher drama! There is so much more depth here. If you like psychological dramas then you'll like this, as it delves into the psyches of students and teachers. It also deals with different values and philosophies that people in society have, and it definitely doesn't shy away from serious issues that students and faculty actually face. I loved the music. I loved the way they used color. Both of those things made the show feel more creative and unique. I loved Suzuki Sensei, his rationale and his response under pressure. He has such a great way of dealing with things, but it's funny watching him sweat too, haha! The students were great also. Watching some of them snap was hilarious in a psychotic way lol. But they also came up with some impressive judgments, which makes you smile. The drama with the other faculty members and Suzuki's kanojo, Asami, were also an essential and interesting part of the show. All in all, this drama is entertaining. I would definitely recommend it.

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This how I would summarize What's up : music, human beings, feelings. In some way, these words are quite the same. A smile comes to my face when I remember the time I spent watching this drama.

What's up is one of this drama that makes me think : "So, I remember now why I keep losing myself in dramaland".
This is not funny, nor this is sad. It's a little bit of everything. It's just about life, and people who struggles to find themselves. This is about learning how to live with each others, how to use your passion to overcome your fears.

I especially cherish this drama, because it made me discover an artist that I now really appreciate, Kang Daesung. Unlike most of the people, I didn't know him before, and it honestly was a huge shock when I heard his voice during the first episode, singing "This is the moment". It made me thirsty for more.
Jo Jung Suk also impressed me a lot. His voice is awesome, and his acting is no joke.

The story and the characters are the strenghts of this drama. For my part, I liked every one of them. They all touched me in different ways. Nobody's completely nice, nor totally bad. They're young adults, and I loved them through this story.
If you're looking for something different, this is for you. Don't give up this drama. Maybe you'll end up loving it like me.

Excuse my english, and don't hesitate anymore : What's up is good. Very good.

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Short and thrilling competition for creative logical and number puzzles lovers

I enjoyed the logic and number puzzles here as it was interesting to see how they made simple concepts/ games into a complicated one (e.g. a rock scissors paper game into a game about memorization and object permance). The most interesting part for me was when the participants talk about their approaches, shortcut methods and tricks which makes me gasped at how their brain words like GENIUSES!! And also so that I can use these methods next time if I ever come across puzzles like this LOL (which is probably never). I also appreciated that theres NO games where they had the participants scheming against one another, like a mafia game, or alliances (where the weak participants team up to eliminate the smart ones that we want to see early in the game). As much as how the participants were geniuses, I must commend on how the writer is a genius for creating such creative games (but no surprise because the writer was The Genius's writer).

I am also glad to see how well different teams work together, considering the fact that most of them met each other only through the show. I absolutely loved the dynamic of Team KU and SNU and felt that they have great teamwork.

Overall, I highly recommend this short and binge-able 8 episodes intelligence competition with geniuses competing with one another if you love puzzles and this type of reality shows!

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Things are missing....

Ignoring the acting, seeing as I only enjoyed the writers actor, and considering that this wasnt the worst thing I've ever seen by FAR! I still can't help but notice so many things that left me a bit "??". By that I mean the plotholes, or stuff that seems to be missing and it doesn't just happen once.

Firstly, the plot seems to be all over the place... Like the cops appear there but then because they know each other they just go away ???? Hello ??? He was literally camping in a place the OWNER said not to like.. the writer told him multiple times to leave... But alas, that's just the beginning.

Let's talk about the hoodie. They focus a big part of why the writer left as to the hoodie, which was like a "heartbreak" impact sort of thing, but then they never told us what happened to it ? Did i miss something? Did someone stole it? And THEN when they're drinking outside the writer's house the director not even ONCE mentions that the writer was wearing the hoodie like........... ?

Another thing is that the director guessed the the house code, guessed the computer password and when the writer arrived he didn't even questioned him about it... Does that many ANY sense? Did he just think that was nornal? They haven't talked to eachother for YEARS and he just ignored that? Alright then...

It wasn't absolutely horrible seeing as I did finish it which never happens if I dislike something, but it was indeed lacking in several aspects that just make it all feel very incomplete.

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I LOVE THIS DRAMA.

I love the idea of a game, where the whole MIT is involved, and they have to face up to their past. I did guess who was the ultimate mastermind behind the game, but some of the plot twists really surprised me. Guigui's character surprised me too.

I watched the show when it was airing in Taiwan at the same time, so it killed me everytime one episode ended! It's terrible when the case drags to the next episode because the wait, and even if the case has ended, the preview of the next case always left me cursing at the monitor.

Okay, I may be slightly biased, because I'm a fan of Aaron, but this is definitely my favourite Aaron-role:) I have a soft spot for cold characters with sad pasts, and Aaron looks really cute here. Plus, I love the Guilun chemistry, offscreen and onscreen. Cuteness overload! Alien Huang's role as 747 had me burst into laughter- he says the most retarded but cute things. Lu Ting Wei's 187 is a playboy that always leaves a smile on my face. And Guigui is just too cute:) She needs to brush up on her acting though.

The music really built up the tension, especially the last episode! The music was so apt! Not your usual soundtrack, of course, but appropriate for the show.

I've rewatched the show at least 5 times, and a particular episode 10 times because of the Guilun romance;)

Definitely worth watching.

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The Quickie: There are dramas that make you want to eat ramen or drink beer. This drama made me crave grapes and watermelon. It's the warm and fuzzy type. No complicated storyline. No craziness. Some would say boring but I liked the characters enough to go all the way. If I were to describe this drama in one word it would be this: cozy.

Everyone and their dog knows who the actress Yoon Eun Hye is. Usually, I love her. She has a vulnerability and depth that most actresses have trouble showing on screen. In this drama she plays a (spoiled) city girl Lee Ji Hyun whom I did NOT like. Lee Ji Hyun ends up loosing everything in one day. Once a clothing designer, now an unwilling farm worker. Her last few days in Seoul are the beginning of her turbulent relationship with Jang Taek Gi (played by lesser known actor Oh Man Suk). Because of her accusations Jang Taek Gi lands in jail for the night. The two reunite on the vineyard Lee Ji Hyun has to spend the year working. Guess who her teacher is?

The two characters are typical. Lee Ji Hyun is the city girl who doesn't know the first thing about working the land or the rewards of a simpler life. She just wants some coffee and sleep. Beneath all that laziness is a compassionate person. Or so we are told.

Jang Taek Gi is the hardworking, quietly affectionate rural man with a surprising layer underneath all the dirt. He creeps into your heart slowly. Their love is a slow burn. Something that builds slowly and steadily throughout the grape harvest. Too bad she's dating the second male lead (Kim Gyung Min played by Kim Gyung Min).

The story is Lee Ji Hyun's. We watch as she struggles to make her family happy, keep her dreams alive, and find love. Is love with the doctor and a secure future or with the infuriating but sweet friend working the vineyard with her? I liked that before they were lovers, they were friends. Awkward friends, but friends nonetheless.

This drama was free of drama, instead trucking along like life does. The acting is excellent. The supporting cast just as important as the main characters. The village's dynamic is like a family. They did a wonderful job of making life at the vineyard come alive on the screen. It's a character driven performance that is best viewed when you feel like falling in love slowly with lots of laughs along the way.

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As a continuation to the drama series, the story hits harder than if it was a stand alone movie. As a movie, the first two thirds of the movie moved at a pretty slow pace and the inclusion of side characters didn’t really make sense or added to the storyline. However, if you’re a fan of the drama series, the snippets of side characters will bring back the nostalgia of a bigger and deeper world than can be contained within a movie.

Although the development and build-up was slow and at times, confusing, the last third of the movie really tied everything together and gave meaning to the characters’ actions. In the end, I think the writers ended up with a nice, cohesive story for the two characters where the focus was the depth of their feelings for each other rather than the mysterious action of time travel. A worthy watch for fans of the original drama or new watchers alike.

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Definitely the TOP 1 on my list.

At first, I was quite reluctant to watch The Untamed because its genre (traditional + bromance/BL) is not the one I typically prefer to watch and I was even so confused on the first half of episode 1! I find traditional dramas to be cringey especially with all those flying around but not this one, it comes naturally and it's justified with the setting of the drama.

Now, I'm having withdrawal syndrome & sepanx. I can hardly move on from it that I even read the novel & manhua. After reading them, I probably would have expected more from the drama if I came across of those first. So I recommend to watch the drama first so you have no expectations what so ever then read the novel because THE NOVEL IS SO EXTRA. It's also quite a revelation to myself that I might like BL stories because of The Untamed. This may not be a popular choice and I may want more but I like the creativity & subtleness of how they work around the censorship in China. Anyway, we have the novel & manhua to supplement that need for more.

The Untamed are also full of eye candies! Wen Ning is so adorable especially when he was trying to sell the turnips, I love him there! Zewu Jun was like a different person from his role in Mr. Honesty, as well as Shi Jie (in Well Dominated Love) that I almost did not recognize her! Even the main villains are good looking too that you can't hate them! Hello Xue Yang! Hope to see you in another drama soon. Jin Guang Yao/Meng Yao is also cute & funny out of character. The only people I hate there would be those hypocripte leaders of small sects/clans and The Jin clans' Guang Shan & that unreasonably arrogant Jin cousin.

I particularly love Xiao Zhan's portrayal of Wei Wu Xian, his smiles in different emotions and how his character progressed and matured from being smart & charming yet annoying when he was younger to (as Jiang Cheng puts it) being "self-less" causing his fall from grace and ultimately coming into terms with everything that happened upon his return whilst he is still the smart & charming yet annoying one that everyone once knew and that probably what attracts the junior disciples of the different sects, without them realizing his real identity (believing that he is Mo Xuan Yu all along), to him. I find his interactions to them adorable as well as hilarious. He really charmed them especially Jin Ling, which I kinda feel that this is not the WWX Jin Ling had expected or imagined.

Wang Yibo, another huge eye candy! The more you look at him the more attractive he gets. His portrayal of cold & boring Lan Wang Ji is on point though I want LWJ to have more personal interactions with WWX. Plus I find it very amusing that only WWX is the only person who can call LWJ "Lan Zhan", never heard it from his uncle or his brother and everyone else is just intimidated.

The Untamed is worth watching and rewatching. I'll be hard to find another drama on par with this one.

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Insanely good

I personally love this series a lot. Maybe my opinion is a bit biased because I am a fan of Neo Hou, but it's not just the acting. The writers did an insane job at the plot (seriously what did they smoke), and I am obsessed with the aesthetic of the world it's set in.

The dynamic between the three leads makes a good comic relief among all the confusing mystery. It's not a show you can just casually watch as background noise or something.

I understand that it may not be for everyone, but I do really recommend it if you need something good to be invested in.

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Some spoiler-free comments:

This is great fun, it’s very addictive, and once you get started, you kind of have to finish it.
Credit goes to the actors, specifically Darren Chen as Tang Fan, Fu Mengbo as Sui Zhou and Liu Yaoyuan as Wang Zhi. Tang Fan is just adorable and annoying enough to be believable, Sui Zhou seems cold and unfeeling until you realise how much of that is PTSD, and Wang Zhi is just so layered as a character it’s amazing if you think that Liu Yaoyuan is just starting out in the business.

Special mention goes to Huangyang Tiantian as Dong'er, great performance.

The set design, costumes and cinematography are also out of this world – money was spent on this and it shows. I didn’t think for a moment I was looking at some sets until I saw some behind the scenes footage, because I really believed in the city I saw on the screen.

Basically, it’s a lot of fun, and I’m definitely going to rewatch parts of it.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The good: I’ve already mentioned the actors, and truly, the actors are everything.

You really believe the growing friendship between Tang Fan and Sui Zhou, and Wang Zhi is endlessly fascinating. Dong’er isn’t as annoying as such child roles frequently are, and there are scenes of hers which I found really moving.
I appreciated that the boys did not get love-interests to distract from the gay, with Duo’erla ending up being a friend, Sui Zhou’s arranged marriage coming to nothing, and Tang Fan, bless him, being oblivious even when he’s in a brothel being felt up by a prostitute. I would have liked more focus on their relationship, but I’ll get into that when I discuss the cons.
It’s a pretty engaging story, for the most part and I liked most of the storylines and the mysteries . . . kind of.

The bad:
I frequently mention the problem of pacing in dramas, especially when there’s hardly any. Things drag on for a while then they gallop to a finish. I remember complaining about a stretch of episodes in The Untamed which seemed to go on forever – this is even worse than that.
Then there’s episodes here which end while Wang Zhi has barely finished speaking – seriously, I had to go back and check because I was still reading the subtitle when we faded to credits!

The reason for things dragging is that we also have a lack of stakes in certain storylines. For example, Duo’erla gets shot with a poison arrow. Ok, I kind of care, but not much. Then some episodes later, I find out why this happened, but I still don’t care. In the middle of this whole “we have to find the antidote” storyline, Tang Fan poisons himself – why? Who knows. That gives me even less stakes, because I KNOW one of the two male leads isn’t going to die halfway through the series!
There’s so much stuff like this in the series, where I’m sure I missed something because I skipped over chunks of episodes. I mean, I almost missed this amazing set piece in the brothel, because I was so tired of the entire “We are dying REALLY SLOWLY” storyline which was obviously going nowhere – then later I realized it was for the Arras/Ding Man storyline, but as I barely cared about that, it was kind of a waste of time.

And then THAT storyline ended up driving Sui Zhou and Tang Fan apart for a pretty long stretch, and I was almost done. I had to spoil myself to make sure it ended with them reconciled. Also, one of the things that will hurt me upon rewatch is the number of times I will have to hear characters talk about the BULONG and where is the BULONG and who has the BULONGS, and enough already.

The Arras/Ding Man storyline is the one with the most plot holes, in my opinion. You would think that with an eunuch who spent three years really close to the Emperor, that someone would have checked if he was, you know. Really a eunuch. Also, he could have killed the Emperor at literally any time in the last three years – instead he arsed around until a villainous businessman and a needlessly complicated plot presented itself, which failed. Good job, dude.
I honestly don’t know if any of the above is in the novel, because I’ve only read up till chapter 7 (waiting on a good translation). So for now I’m gonna blame the screenwriters for the plot-holes, as well as Consort Wan’s army of teen girls and Qing Ge the building-jumping prostitute assassin (the massive explosion is not a plot-hole or something anyone made up – it really happened, albeit a century or so later, and historians still don’t agree on what caused it).

Conclusion

Look, I did ultimately enjoy it. On a shallow note, most of the men were extremely good-looking (I refuse to believe that the Chenghua Emperor was so hot in real life) and there were some badass and cool female characters. On a less shallow note, all scenes between Darren Chen and Fu Mengbo are gold – the animated bit where Tang Fan explains why he couldn’t have murdered anyone has to be seen to be believed – and when you add Liu Yaoyuan to the mix, it just gets better.

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