Reviews

Heartbreaking film based on a true story- prepare your tissues!

This film was definitely worth the long wait for decent English subs! I don't even know where to begin...

It was so well written and it absolutely breaks my heart to read that this plot is based on a true story. Watchers can see the growth of Lawyer Jung Yup who didn't agree that bystanders were guilty of the crime in the beginning of the film become someone who was first to stand up and protect Da Bin.

The actors all did an amazing job, especially the child actress who played Da Bin and the actress who played the evil stepmother. It must have been extremely difficult to act in either position (the victim or perpetrator) so I applaud them both for embodying their roles. I read an article saying that several actresses even rejected to play the role of the stepmother but the actress who accepted, Yoo Sun, did it to spread awareness. I truly hated the stepmother ever since she came onto screen and still hate the real person who committed this crime in the real case. How can the law punish these criminals so lightly?

Additionally, the music in this film was very good. The dramatic ominous BGM matches the hard-to-watch child abuse scenes and the sad string instrument BGM makes you immediately absorbed into the tear-jerking scene. Those sad scenes made me cry multiple times throughout the movie so definitely prepare yourself! I was practically bawling by the time the trial ended.

Most importantly, this film brings awareness to the problematic issue of the law regarding child abuse (in Korean) and how people don't report the abuse when they see it and ignore it. Da Bin grew to distrust adults since they failed to help her and her brother leave her dangerous home on many occasions. This is a very meaningful message behind this film and I hope that those who watch can learn and gain the strength to help others when they see they need it. Well, at least I will do my best if the situation arises. We need more people like Jung Yup and the young boy, Jang Ho, who helped Da Bin in this film.

Leggi di Più

Thank you, this is the worst series I've ever watched

I will be extremely honest (And I will try my best not to give spoilers, I promise):

To begin with, this series presents us with 2 different stories. This series is actually a story that is being told by a man in the square. From episode 1 to 16 it is a story about a spy who is the princess's look-alike and switches places with her to spy on the palace.
For some reason in episode 17, the people who are listening to the story get angry, and say that the story "didn't end well!", so the man who is telling the story decides to start all over again, and tell a new story TOTALLY changing the story. origin and personality of the characters. It's no joke, LITERALLY THIS happens.
They completely ignore the story of episodes 1 to 16. There were people who died, there were moments when we felt distressed, but they simply said "That didn't happen, forget it, let's start over" and excluded these characters. In the new story they only kept about 4 characters (along with the protagonists), and the rest they threw away and changed the cast.

Now let’s get to the specific points:
* The main couple is only a couple out of pure convenience, as there is practically no romantic development for them.

*All the other couples in the series are better than the protagonists! It's no joke, any other romantic story within the series is better. Actress Bai Lu plays 2 characters with 2 romantic stories, and the 2 romances are better than the main romance. Actress Zhao Lu Si's romance story is also better, and the emperor's lover's romance story is also better... Anyway, even the TRAGIC romantic stories that happen in the series are more beautiful than the main couple's romance.

*The female protagonist is only intelligent when it suits her, she is completely stupid for most of the series, acting like a child, then when something goes wrong she becomes the reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes.

*Everyone in the series hates her and wants her to die or go back to her palace, even the protagonist acts as if "it doesn't matter" to him.

* The secondary plots are attractive, but the main plot is this nonsense from the protagonists and it's very boring. If the story were about General Feifang's story, I believe it would be incredible, but it's not. I only felt relieved when these other characters appeared on the scene. I might have been angry with them (since some of them were bad), but at least I felt something.

*GOOD SIDE OF WATCHING Untouchable Lovers:

- I managed to watch Zhao Lu Si playing the villain;
- Now I have a series to put on the podium as "Worst series I've ever watched". So, whenever I watch something bad, I can say: "This show may be bad, but nothing beats the HORROR that was Untouchable Lovers."

Leggi di Più

My stages of watching Gameboys 2020

*grin like an idiot*
*ugly cry*
*shake my head because I still can't believe how realistic this BL is*
*smile till it hurts my cheeks*
*squeal like a 16 years old girl*
*cry and somehow laugh at the same time*
*nod vigorously because I relate so much*
*hold my chest because heart is shattering*
*cry all the tears of my body*
*blush from all the cuteness*
*pinch myself to make sure this drama really does exist*
*grin like an idiot*
... and repeat for thirteen episodes straight.

Here is my review for Gameboys 2020. Thank you for reading.

Leggi di Più

Good watch but pace slows down and doesn't pick up

Story: great beginning with a funny scenes thrown in. The struggles of being a detective, and a police officer at that are well portrayed. There's a good fast pace as they rush to save the death row convict's life. Then things trickle down when they fail too. I think they reveal all the cards too early in the drama and where they aren't, it is too easy to guess 'who-done-it' which kills the suspense. Feel like Ji-Hyeok's childhood trauma wasn't brought out as well as it could have been which made it hard to really empathise with him.

Acting: commendable acting all round, can't really fault it. Do-Chang and Ji-Hyeok make a great time . Seo-Kyung did a great job with her role, didn't feel cringey as is common with many FLs in K-dramas. Jong-Tae is not the cliché psycho killer common in many drams which is refreshing . The Violent Crimes team two is also good fun to watch, especially Dong-Wook's baseball scene.

Summary: enjoy the first nine episodes or so to follow the story. It makes for good lazy Sunday afternoon watch after that.

Leggi di Più

There are a few times when I rated a drama with 9. But this one really desrves it. The couple was adorable, and they had great chemistry which helped a lot with the progress of the story. Actually, the love story was really good, sweet and cute. I espicially loved the leading lady, who was fangirl goals. The addition of that in the plot mix was very clever. The plot, in addition, was well constructed and the story didn't get boring or frustrating. The events followed one another, even though the plot twist in the end was too cliche, as it has happen to too many dramas, but I will forgive them since the rest of the show was good. I also enjoyed the OST.
So, 9 out of 10.

Leggi di Più

A sensitive, fond portrayal of dealing with being stuck in time

I found this drama completely on accident at Viki and watched it all in one sitting!

With short 8 episodes, this drama will grab your attention at the first and make you cry at least once. It has that magical jdrama ability of hitting you right in the feels without needing any showy imaginaries. The plot is tight and to the point: a cherry tree miracle happened -- a high school young man is revived 7 years later the date of his death to make his best friend/love interest wish of being confessed under a cherry tree come true, only his previous tight group of friends are distant now they are all adults, and the tree is going to be cut down soon. The main theme, for me, is getting back on track after something really impactful happened to you.

The cast is amazing, full of young actor who are really great. The main lead, especially, is so good. He is portraying a character forever 17 years old, in the middle of friends who grew to be 24 when he couldn't, and it's amazing how he looks the part. You can feel on his behavior, the way he moves, the way he talks, the way he sleeps (!!!) that he's only 17, not an adult yet, and it's heartbreaking. Not only the characters but also the viewers start to wonder what life would be like if the accident had never happened.

The pace, the editing, the sensibility of the director, the subtle ost that binds everything together, all of that leaves a harmonious impression. It's a human story, full of life, sweet story that explores human emotions in a way that Japanese dramas excel at. And it doesn't get sloppy.

You definitely should give it a chance!

Leggi di Più

violent underworld

Overall: appreciate that this was a grittier/less frequently told story, felt a bit Romeo and Juliet with warring families/factions. 12 episodes about 55 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala worldwide (except Thailand) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5273/the-bangkok-boy-2025-e01 and WeTV - uncut https://wetv.vip/en/play/4ckwvmilrazmpan/w410108n8as-EP01%3A_The_Bangkok_boy_Series_(Uncut_Ver.) and cut version (free to watch) https://wetv.vip/en/play/eu6iplbsnlhyh0u/d4101iaz1gu-EP01A%3A_The_Bangkok_boy_Series Later aired on Munwork Mediafilm YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0Sl68FYmlrNeeUVKcRnJtZ8MUWFRMb1W&si=UwDa3MCYpQyx2jBU

Content Warnings: past and current murders/death, gang rape, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts/near suicide attempt, blood, violence, beaten up, torture, child abuse, police brutality, drugging, kidnapping/held against will, con con picture taking/sharing, manipulation, blackmail, non con kissing turned consensual

Watch Suggestions (to remove most content warnings and focus on romance but you will miss a lot of plot, uncut timings)
- episode 3 watch 22-24:45
- episode 4 24:45-28:15, 47:45-53:45
- episode 5 watch 43:30-45 (start of GL)
- episode 6 watch 14:40-22:20, 43:15-44:30
- episode 7 watch 6:40-7:15 and 40:50-44:05
- episode 8 watch 14-15:15, 16-17:50, 24:30-25:45, 25:20-34:20 GL, 39-45, 48:50-54:10
- episode 9 watch 5-7:05 and 9:10-14 for GL; watch 20-24:30, 35-37:50 and 41:50-42:40
- episode 10 watch 15-18:20
- episode 11 watch 7:55-22
- episode 12 watch 57:45-1hr 1min

What I Liked
- different plot/aesthetics
- fight scenes seemed well done
- visuals
- showed how things changed in episode 3
- Mei's character felt realistic
- in episode 7 a character quickly resolved a misunderstanding
- twisty*

Room For Improvement
- started in the present and then moved into a flashback which wasn't super clear at first
- what sounded like AI English dubbing in early episodes
- a lot of characters, they could have removed a few/some side plots
- coffee shop guy was smiling while saying it's a shame in episode 3
- two accidental falls in episode 4
- nonsense stuff including the cliche 'you wouldn't understand if I told you', nonsense lighting and zero security cameras
- *though it at times felt too twisty
- in the finale, a character death had zero weight, they didn't show reactions to it at all
- (neutral) wished a character had been out of the hospital before a relationship started
- (neutral) cliffhanger ending, if they end up doing a season 2 I may bump up my rating to a 9

Leggi di Più

My heart aches

Ahh I must say the movie is very well made , the actors are v good I usually don’t really watch movies/series without skipping at least one scene but I didn’t skip any scenes sooo must be a good movie!! I was soooo invested in the story but the ending !! I cannot be any more heartbroken , I thought they were going to end up together low key thought he died at one point lmao but vvvv good movie , realistic ending I guess? I feel like they should’ve made it a drama cause I feel there could be so much more to the story like his relationship with his father?
Also I want to want to go to an electronic festival now lol looks so much fun!!

Leggi di Più

Not a fairytale with happy ending but not something you should miss...

It's a quite complicated to understand but it's still worth to watch, first thing it does not ending which usually is like they lived happily ever after so if you are looking something like that then it's not the place to find. It's a beautiful love story which makes you smile but also have a big twist that left you shocked.

It was well executed, acting was good it is far better than other movies about time travel but it also left with many unanswered questions so it does have many plot holes. It's definitely a tearjerker that will let you cry until the end and you'll get a unsatisfied ending also, but it still worth to watch because it's like true life we don't get everything as we want.

I'll definitely recommend you if you are not softhearted person, it's a heartwarming and tragic story but it will also give you some pleasant moments!!

Leggi di Più

YAY OR NAY?!

This is my first time writing a review here in MDL so bear with me please...
I've recently finish watching Love At Night 2 days ago and here's my final thought regarding this drama stating what I like and what I dislike.

WHAT I LIKE :

1. Trailer — the trailer is very promising that 2 weeks before the airing date made me anticipate into watching.

2. Love At Night — the title itself is captivating that my mind goes into wildest (XD not something what you have thought)

3. Zhang Yu Xi and Liu Xue Yi — The reason I watched this was because of Zhang Yu Xi as I am a fan of her previous dramas. Although I am not familiar with Liu Xue Yi but as I dug deeper about him made me wants to familiarize him.
4. The chemistry — The Main lead has this oozing chemistry, although I haven't watched their previous drama LOVE AND REDEMPTION but I can sense already that they have a good pairing..

5. Their Acting — Zhang Yu Xi is great at portraying Xu Qing You and Liu Xue Yi as Mo Ling Ze and it is praiseworthy..

6. The 10 episodes — I guess thats my favourite episodes so far in the drama as I scored it high 9 for me...


WHAT I DISLIKE:

1.After ep 10— the plot has gone draggy and more on water fillers inserted. It would be nice if they keep it shorter. As the drama lost it's main pace.

2. Side Characters — I like the main characters but when they inserted the side couples ( Xu Qing Yu's bestie and little brother) I started to skip more and more as they have more screen time than the Main CP. Also other characters (the both exes ) are very annoying that it made the story worth not watching. Lastly, the childish obsessive fan of Mo Ling Ze , although she has her love line near the end with Mo Ling Ze's assistant but her actions are not very irritating to watch.

3. The ending — I don't know if it is happy or not . As they resolved some issues near end which made me keep wondering ???? ... It seems like its a rush ending with crappy theme..


If I were to rate it I would give it 7.5 over all...

Leggi di Più

The second season of ATEEN didn't focus on the friendship between the girls, which was unfortunate. The whole drama was trying to make a great romantic story out of nothing sprinkled with some school drama and growing pains.

The love stories were cute, but not as good as they were in the first season. The love triangle was weak too. So, there were few twists when it came to the romance part. Plus, the main Hana of the first season was pushed aside and her love story was just a mess.

At least the conclusion was bitter sweet and it feated a drama about teens and their lives.

So, five out of ten.

Leggi di Più

I gave the story-line a 7,5 because to me it is not completely badly written. There were good episodes which were really funny especially in the beginning (the 1st episode was really great a 9 in my book).
Later on the story-line deteriorated a bit, portraying HaiTang from a smart girl in episode 1 to a stupid superstitious girl afraid of ghosts.
But... when she divorced Yueming after fixing his face, the story-line started to be better again, until the 1st disaster (stealing of the formula).
When that was resolved I started to feel anxious... YueMing who had accused his brother YueXuan without any good proof, sitting at the feast-meal with a bitter expression on his face.
After that it was one disaster after another. All secretly instigated by YueMing, his sister in law (widow of the dead son) and a little bit by Mohua.
No one was good only the family of HaiTang, HaiTang, YueXian, the little sister of YueXian and the father.
The fun was gone, the frustration started. However I couldn't stop watching even with the knot in my stomach!
With each episode I swore too myself I would stop watching, but the acting was so good I kept watching.

But in the end I felt dissatisfied with the fact that characters who behaved badly, for example brother YueMing never got punished and never even apologized to his brother YueXuan for the things he had done.
It felt unsatisfactory, especially since he got a "reward" in the end when he left to "study abroad", while his brother stayed and worked in the business. I guess YueXian will pay for the studies of his brother YueMing who did all those bad things to him and his girlfriend and while doing so also helped the business to get into trouble (losing money to such an extent that the company had to close because there was no money for the workers).
I even started to fantasize my own ending for this brother... him drowning or being killed while he was abroad.

The mother who as a person was a despicable human being and only had eyes for her biological son Yueming (maybe that was the reason he was completely unaware of the fact that he should take responsibility for his actions).
Treating the daughter in law like a piece of garbage and treating HaiTang badly when she was not the wife of her biological son. Also never apologizing properly to them for her bad behaviour.
Always influencing her husband to give Yueming extra chances and always coming up for excuses for his bad behaviour.

I thought YueXuan and HaiTang were too forgiving towards YueMing.
However I liked in general their storylines together even though there were moments where I thought that HaiTang showed a form of stupidity which I couldn't understand. She made errors in judgment, trusting the wrong persons and not believing the right persons.
For example: When she accused YueXuan of killing her mother (even her own brother found it illogical). If I loved someone I would trust them and would not accuse them of murder without any proof. For me it would have been the end of my relationship (trust is important).

The father was too weak, he didn't stand up to his wife, and made big mistakes but he apologized in the end and owned up to his mistakes. He was one of the supporting characters I liked the most.
The General was funny in his greed. Mohua was flawed but also owned up to her mistakes and in my book that was good enough.

Illogical actions like a miscarriage because of using too much musk never heard of it and Google didn't either, Haitang standing up and walking after her "comatose" stay a little bit unbelievable. But I never saw a Chinese drama that didn't had questionable events/facts written in their story-line.

However I still enjoyed the show, but I need to see something completely uplifting before I rewatch this show again.
But I am sure I will.
The music is great, the visual aspects are beautiful. I even admired their clothes, the embroidery... ok, enough. I think it is worth to watch this show if you leave the logic behind.

Leggi di Più

I'd like to offer a bit of a disclaimer before I start. I'm not quite sure I will be able to do this drama proper justice with this review. I have not written a review for MDL for quite some time now because my reviews tend to be writen under emotional influence of a drama and they are not always very coherent. However, since this drama has no reviews yet, I thought I'd take this on until a better review comes out.

TL:DR: This is a fast-paced business-investigation drama driven largely by Arata and Eguchi, in which Arata shines offering a powerful performance. The context is tax evasion so you can expect some unfamilar jargon. Don't let it put you off; the context doesn't really prevent the viewer from getting into the flow of the narrative.

I was really unsure whether I would like this story. The first episode opened with this very specific context and language used threw me back a little. But as the story progressed I forgot about it and found a different focus: the fates of Eguchi and Arata. The context is still important, though. You also get to see just how far could people go to avoid paying taxes.

Eguchi plays the tax inspector here. The drama opens as he investigates the case that sparks the entire chain of events. Gradually, he is led to discover some rather precarious truths. He also has a personal interest in this investigation, which adds to his determination. Eguchi's presence on screen is very strong without being artifical; I had a sense that he was where he belonged, simply, as if being in that role was what he was meant to do. His character is relatively straightforward, a little too rigid at first and not terribly complex. He does eventually see that perspectives are relative and boundaries between them a little more fuzzy than he may have hoped. We follow him as he makes new discoveries and it's kind of fun to see what he makes of things and how he fumbles along the way.

But this show is actually a little less about him than about his antagonist, portrayed by Arata. Arata really shines in this drama, offering exceptionally powerful and emotional performace. His character is scarred in many ways. He's very human as we get to see. He's a very well-fleshed out antagonist who is as important to the story as Eguchi.

It's actually hard to call Arata an antagonist. The drama tries to avoid simplistic distinctions between good and bad and everything in the drama is questioned either by the characters themselves or by the characters who surround them as a result of events that unfold. Although we follow Eguchi in his investigation, Arata's perspective is strongly focalised as well to the point that we are driven to strongly empathise with him. For the most part it is Arata who holds all the cards and Eguchi is the one playing blind chase. However he gains control towards the end of the story. It makes the story balanced between the two of them. There is an element of revenge in this drama as well but it doesn't completely take over the story.

There is a quote in the drama which returns at least once or twice, like a haunting refrain: "One man's fire of despair is another man's fire of hope". The quote, to me, conveys several things: the sense of double narrative, the sense of simultaneity and chain links between actions and their effects. One man's actions are bound to affect the life of another; and what leads to despair for one, provides hope for another; the drama plays on how those two are closely intertwined and the fact thtat there is a thin line separating them. What is hopeful can become despair and despair can turn into hope.

While Arata and Eguchi carry the whole show, side characters are not unimportant since they meaningfully contextualise the frames of mind of both protagonists and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. It's particularly interesting to see how Arata's character treats and responds to the people around him.

The drama is also very good at creating ambience. They didn't use many camera tricks but when they did, I felt it was to meanigfully reflect the mood at a given point in time, to show a character'a tension or sadness. The music used is meant to be haunting. Pacing is even throughout the entire story. It starts fast and keeps going right towards the end. There are a lot of things happening all the time; the drama offers a good example of keeping good proportions between pacing and overall length of the story; no time is wasted.

The plus of this drama is that, like most Japanese dramas, it offers character motivations and backstories to bite into, but never becomes maudlin in doing so. Perhaps the ending may be seen as a little more teary in contrast to the rest of the drama but overall the ambience the drama has built throughout is never lost. I personally find the ending a bit abrupt but because of what happens there is not much left to tell either so to continue beyond the point in which the story ends may water down the impact of the whole narrative.

Much as I do rewatch dramas, it's always difficult to evaluate how rewatchable a drama is without actually rewatching it. I'd say once is enough for this one because the story is satisfying but I would rewatch it to see if I react to Arata in the same way and perhaps to see if I haven't missed any meaning-altering nuances. I am the type who likes to philosophize a little, so when I rewatch I look for the things I missed that could lead me to more meaningful speculations and debates.

I found this to be a very "meaty" story overall and Arata...Arata will likely haunt me from now on.

Leggi di Più