Reviews

This series should have never been created

I intended to write a typical review with the aspects of the drama that I enjoyed and the parts I disliked, but then I realised that there was not even one positive thing I could say about this series, not even one. If you enjoyed this drama, please don't read further.

This is probably one of the worst series I have watched in my life and in the thriller-mystery genre it may actually be the worst.

I will get straight to the point which is the plot. Imagine a chessboard where the players can move their pawns however they like, without considering the rules. That’s how this series is like. The writer uses the characters, which are equally badly written, however she likes without taking into consideration that there is something called logic. The genre of this series does not allow plot holes. It is not a drama where a pigeon and his friends can appear to save the day and you are fine with it, because the genre allows it. They are not even the types of plot holes that you can dismiss, because you are having a good time.

We all have watched kdramas where the police officers are portrayed as idiots and they don’t use their brain to think. Well, comparing to the characters in this series where everyone acts like they have only one brain cell left, those police officers should have won some medals for their exemplary behaviour.

The actors were mediocre, but to tell the truth, I am not sure if it is because they are not good actors or it’s because their characters were so badly written that they couldn’t do anything better than that. Even the OST has nothing to offer and it was one of the few times that the music felt so out of place.

This may have sounded a bit offensive, but since I felt like this series insulted my intelligence, I couldn’t write what I felt in a more positive way.

Do yourself a favour and forget about the existence of this series, because it shouldn’t have been made to begin with.

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I was actually hesitant to start this drama because the storyline didn't seem all too intriguing to me. However, I love Kim Bum so I forced myself to start it. The drama actually captured my attention more than I thought it would. The acting was really good and even though elements of it were similar to other dramas, I don’t think I’ve actually watched one that seemed that similar to it. Plus, the story line is fairly realistic in this era as more and more women are becoming more career-oriented and possibly giving up their love lives like the three main women do in this drama. The only thing that I disliked about the drama was the whole flamenco dancing story line. When you watch it, you'll understand -- I don't want to go into too much detail about it because it'll give too much away. But other than that, this drama brought a lot of laughs as well as connections with the characters.

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Heart Fluttering & Comfort show.

I loved this show so much. I mean the storyline is so simple and showcased in such a grounded manner that you instantly fall in love with.

I love the cast and their chemistry is top notch. Everytime they both come on the screen my heart flutters. I also love the simplicity of their characters.

Their is no dragging, no confusions, no overdramatic scenes. They like each other, they feel it and accept it.

Side cast has also done a good job and their characters are also likeable like other persons in our life.

Talking about OST - Good ✔️
Cinematography - Good ✔️
Storytelling - Good ✔️
Cast - Excellent ✔️
Acting & Chemistry - Superb ✔️
This show has become my one of the comfort shows.

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Another Jealous Love Rivals Drama

Frankly speaking, I think I chose the wrong drama to watch right after completing Rebirth For You. There are similarities in both with jealousy being a big part of their plot. The only reason I gave A Camellia Romance a slightly higher score is because the drama is much shorter. As such, it is more tolerable as there is only so much jealous third parties that you can take in a story.

I guess if you see this as a filler drama with low expectations given the not so popular cast, then perhaps you might enjoy it better. But if you start hoping for originality and really fluffy romance, this would be a disappointment. It has shades of a rom-com but it is definitely not a angst-free watch like General’s Lady or even Your Sensibility My Destiny. The reason is simple – it uses jealous love rivals to drive the show.

Cliche Plot (Spoilers Alert!)
Basically, A Camellia Romance is about a rich and handsome young man who is a great catch for a husband. However, he only has eyes for one woman who is the love of his life. So, what you will get is 3 jealous women going after our hero with each subsequent one being a bigger threat than the one before. The first woman is the man’s cousin and she appears from Episode 7 to 9. The second one went to school with him and she takes the spotlight from Episode 13 to 17. The last one is a ruthless princess and she wreaks havoc for the main couple from Episode 20 to 24.

On top of that, you will also have a jealous childhood friend of the female lead who can’t stop eyeing her for himself when he appears from Episode 5 onwards. Hence, you can see clearly the focus of this drama. It is all about 4 people breaking the couple apart because they want the man or woman for themselves. These schemes are interspersed with sweet interactions between the leads and the investigation into the male lead’s father’s death.

I think the kisses and sweet moments of the couple do help to make this rom-com more watchable. At least, there are enough of these scenes to balance things out a little because the endless jealousy is annoying to watch. However, it also doesn’t detract from the fact that A Camellia Romance is another rom-com with a cliche plot of jealous love rivals with their wily schemes.

An Independent Female Lead
If there is one good thing worth mentioning about this drama, it would perhaps be the female character, Chun Chun. She is a very independent and assertive lady with an ambition of building her own business. While she is not as matured and smart as the female lead in Jun Jiu Ling, at the very least, she is not someone who is timid and waiting to be rescued. Chun Chun is a woman who knows what she wants and go for it.

As for the male character, he is smart but also tends to hide problems from his beloved in the name of love and protection. You will find this in many romance dramas and the male lead does this a few times in A Camellia Romance. I get why he does it but then, you will also start to feel that all these is yet another romance drama trope that you have watched time and time again if you are an avid Chinese drama viewer.

Chemistry
Guo Zi Fan and Li Mo Zhi have somewhat good chemistry as romantic on-screen partners. To me, it is good enough for a low budget rom-com. If they could feed off each other’s energy better to up the chemistry to a sizzling level, perhaps the drama could be more highly rated. After all, there is no shortage of kisses and hugs for this couple.

Personally, Li Mo Zhi looks slightly more matured than Guo Zi Fan at times in this drama. This is not surprising as she is 4 years older than him in real life. It doesn’t exactly mar the couple’s visuals but you don’t get the feeling that this is a perfect match either unlike the Liang Jie and Xing Zhao Lin pairing in The Eternal Love Season 3 and Dilraba Dilmurat and Leo Wu in The Long Ballad. Simply put, they are passable as a main couple but doesn’t leave a lasting impression once the story comes to an end.

My Verdict – Nothing Special
I have to admit that love triangles and jealousies are not my cup of tea for a romance drama. Hence, I find it annoying watching A Camellia Romance especially towards the last quarter when there have been other possessive love rivals gracing the screen for most of the episodes. So, I’m also thankful that they have kept this short rather than dragging it out for more delusional jealousy and angst for the viewers.

Of course, you might have a different view if you do not share the same bias as me. Furthermore, the ending is nicely wrapped up with no complications or confusion for the viewers. It has a predictable ending but I dare say it is also what most romance drama fans would like to see when the curtain comes down.

Before I end this A Camellia Romance review, perhaps a word of warning would be good. This is not a pure fluff romance drama in case you are looking for one. There will be annoyances and angsts. You might also plough on once you start because you want to see the villains getting just desserts for their evil schemes to break up a loving couple. So, whether you like it or not, you could end up sitting through it because you want the feel good factor of seeing the villains punished even if the story isn’t that great to begin with.

Overall, I would give A Camellia Romance a 6.5/10 score for this review. I don’t think I can rate it any higher give the cliches and a very average production. I guess it is still watchable if you don’t mind the jealousy theme. Otherwise, it is really a waste of time if there are other dramas on your ‘To Watch’ list.

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Is The Crowning Fair?

So the first season of Kingdom (Road to Kingdom) was a lot more of an even playing field. That much was certain when going into this second season. RTK had groups that had semi-established fan bases, but nothing too crazy where they could blow each other out of the water with those votes. Kingdom didn't have this same concept, since obviously certain groups were wayyyy more popular via fan voting than others. Stray Kids was always going to win in that category no matter what, just look at their numbers! If those fan voted sections hadn't counted so much it wouldn't of felt so much like a popularity contest, but it did and it paid off I guess because they won.

To be clear, I'm not saying Stray Kids didn't deserve their win. They worked very hard and had some really solid stages! However, many MANY people watching were under the same assumption that either Ateez or The Boyz were going to win (mostly Ateez) because of how well they were doing! Stray Kids honestly didn't have the best votes among the judges, so that's why it felt so uneven. Either way though, this second season had some amazing performances come out of it! Ones that stood out for me were:

-Ateez "Wonderland" with that kraken arm, like dang that was incredible
-The Boyz doing "The Stealer" with the ballet breakdown
-The trio duet doing that IU song, beauteous harmonies
-Stray Kids doing the deadpool tribute performance
-SF9 doing Taemin's "MOVE" which was so sexy

I hope for future seasons they even out the playing field more for these groups!

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TL;DR? This drama is beyond amazing. It was so much fun with the right touch of mystery, sadness and action.

I was in the midst of a pretty intense Kdrama slump when I started this drama. I am a huge Lee Seung Gi fan, and Cha Seung Won as Dokko Jin in The Greatest Love is one of my all time favorite male characters ever. And they definitely do not disappoint in this drama!

I think what surprised me the most about this drama was just how easily it was able to blend all of the different aspects of the show together. It was sad, but also funny, and then there were plenty of action scenes that ramped up the anxiety from time to time. There were several episodes that would take you from crying to laughing to gripping the edge of your seat, only to start all the way back at the beginning again.

The characters in this were all brilliant. Dae Gu was a stuck up jerk, suffering from a tragic past with a giant chip on his shoulder. Seo Pan Suk was the grouchy leader, unwilling to take a bunch of newbies under his wing. They both suffered from scars of their own, and it was just amazing to watch their chemistry together on screen. Soo Sun was a clutzy ditz, absolutely brimming with sincerity. Park Tae Il was charming and Ji Kook was a dorky, sweet guy. You couldn't help but love all of them and want for all of them to succeed.

I don't usually pay much attention to music in dramas, but I can't even begin to say how happy I was at the end of episode 1 when My Chemical Romance's Welcome to the Black Parade came on. It was poignant commentary on the whole situation, and it really was the perfect ending note for the episode.

I will say that I don't watch cop dramas, so if you also don't watch cop dramas, I hope that that doesn't keep you from trying this one out. While there was quite a bit to do with illegal activity and stake outs and arrests, it was so much more than that.

Seriously, watch this drama!

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Didn't follow the original Manhua

Initially, I was extremely happy and excited that they were gonna make a live adaptation of my all time fave manhua.
It started of good, like they kinda followed the storyline in the manhua. But gradually, I think the director had no intention of making it into a BL based drama. He just wanted to focus only on unrequited love, straight relationships, high school cliches, blah, blah.
God, I was so frustrated at the end of ep9.
Believe me, guys. I was extremely hooked and patient with this drama, for a whole lot of 8 episodes. I thought that maybe, they would focus entirely on Heesu and Seung Won's relationship for the next two episodes.
But, I was extremely mistaken.
Well, in the end, I really wanna say that, they have fully and utterly, disrespted the original manhua.
Guys, believe me, the manhua is so good.
If you guys have some time, checkout the manhua and if you're really a fan of highschool crushes and cliches and frustration, you may enjoy this series.

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JohanNorth Forever

Personally, I loved this couple when I read the books and was thrilled to see the actors bring their characters to justice!
I believe it made a huge difference that the author Howlsairy was the screenwriter and made this episode based on the extra side story from the book North: How much is your love?

The plot: Simple and basic, nothing much. But you do see the growth in their relationship, which made the entire plot an eye candy for people who adored this pair!

The Music: I prefer the original soundtrack more but that is just a personal preference.

The Acting: Maxky and Bas deserve all the love and applause. Not only did they bring the book characters to life, but they also added their own charm to it. It was refreshing to see the softer side of Johan which we only got glimpses of in Fourever You. North's dedication to making the relationship a smooth sailing was so adorable! You see their effort and how much they both were trying to keep eachother healthy and happy. It was amazing to see how balanced their relationship looked. Also a small detail I noticed was mentioning North being close to Arthit which we will be able to relate in the upcoming season since North plays an important Friend role for all the couples to come. Till then, JohanNorth, you will be missed, you are the best! P.S: I would definitely love to watch Maxky and Bas act again on some other project as well!

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For me this is the best Japanese teen romance story I have ever seen. With a great underlying detective story that we follow episode by episode with bated breath:) I couldn't wait for the episodes to be subbed and actually joined a subbing site just to down load the torrents!

Narumi Hikaru totally seduced me with his bad boy image, as he seduced Suga Mizuho. This is full of eye candy with up and coming Japanese actors I plan to see more of.

And it's short, episodes are only,(well MDL says 30) but I think they are only 25 minutes long.

Anyway Love Love It! it's a masterpiece..watch it :)

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Much better than shitshows I've seen before

As somebody who watched the love syndrome III first, compared to that this is so much better.i started watching w 0 expections and to get second hand embarrassment from the hardcore nc scenes (I expected nc scenes like forgotten night) but they were pretty good including the acting in those scenes. In my personal opinion the acting of the main leads are better, the budgeting is better because the sets and everything looks put together. But the only downside I thought was the the time limit and how they decided to utilise it this should be so much better as a series. Ig there would be a second part to this movie but I would definitely prefer this as a series w the same cast.
Honorable mention: the actor playing itt did an amazing job

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One Tough Cookie Brought Up By a Mysterious Uncle: Thrilling With Suspension of Disbelief

My final review of what I believe is the first season of this thriller drama (although no announcement of a sequel at the time I was writing this review). This plot is about the survival of the Female Lead Jeong Ji An, being targeted by professional killers, taking shelter in her uncle's house. How and why it happens is slowly unraveled through past events. Warning: this is not a comedy like the parent story.

STORY:

First of all, I didn't watch the parent story The Killer's Shopping List, nor read the novel under the same title "The Killer's Shopping List" (살인자의 쇼핑목록) by Kang Ji Young (강지영). Some comments said that there is no connection between this drama and the so-called parent story, only written by the same author. This is a survival story of our heroine, Jeong Ji An (Kim Hye Joon), because of what happened to her supposedly dead uncle Jeong Jin Man (Lee Dong Wook). Since little, after the deaths of her grandmother and her parents, Jeong Jin Man has been her sole guardian. He brought her up with a survivalist mind and tough love. During her grandmother's funeral, he made her watch a gruesome TV scene of a lion killed by a group of hyenas: "Only the weak bark, the strong don't. You must become strong to make your opponent bark. Don't be scared. Whatever makes you scared keep your eyes open and face it." When Jin Man took Ji An in after her parents's death and she fell on the ground, he didn't pick her up but said "Listen up, Jian. I'm not your parent and I can never be. Which means I can't do the things your parents did for you."

The fact that Jeong Jin Man prepares his niece in such a way as to be strong, independent, and capable of guarding herself makes sense later as the drama title is explained. Jeong Jin Man established an underground online business as the title says, a shop for killers. He not only sold guns but other weapons and chemicals as well. Jin Man was very secretive about himself and his customers so he gave them codes and even put himself and his niece in a special code: Code Green (I will describe the codes in the end under the spoiler).

I'm usually a generous rater, and am easily pleased, as long as a drama wowed me from the beginning till the end, I will rate it 10 (you can find out the dramas I rated 10 in my custom list). The reason I only gave this drama a 9.5 is because of the questionable details I saw along the way. If this is a fantasy genre I will ignore it, but the fact it builds upon modern survival and mercenary plots, it's dubious. I won't spoil them to you for this final review, you just watch the drama to find out. Basically, if you want to enjoy this story, you have to suspend your disbelief.

I will put the spoilers at the bottom of my review (you need to scroll down if you want to know, otherwise stop after the Visual)

CHARACTER AND ACTING:

Lee Dong Wook played the mysterious Uncle Jeong Jin Man with his usual traits: cold, aloof, but charming. We see more of Jin Man's actions in past flashbacks.

Kim Hye Joon played the survivalist niece Jeong Ji An. I stated above how her uncle brought her up, so we see the same cold and aloof trait in his niece. Some comments on the drama page stated that Ji An is too stupid when reacting to the attacks, but I have to defend her since she is not professionally trained and practically implemented for all that happened. Even all she did for survival is just based on her instinct to stay alive while remembering what her uncle and her master taught.

I won't spoil you with information on the supporting characters. The drama is too short to show much more about them. We learned about their background and how they came to know Jin Man, but the info about them is not enough to show that they are three-dimensional characters. I would love to see more (perhaps in the second season) about how Jin Man brought up Brother, Pasin's life (how a Thai man came and worked in South Korea), Min Hye's life after she was saved (her interactions with Jin Man, Honda, Brother, and Pasin) and how she got to know the villains, etc.

VISUAL (CINEMATOGRAPHY, COSTUME, MAKEUP, SET)

As usual, the Kdrama visuals for this dark thriller are amazing: the daring escapes, the gunfire and bomb explosions, the bullet movements, etc. Even the hyena CGI is acceptable. I kinda questioned Jin Man's home which seems so normal and humble but its walls, windows, and furniture are strong enough able to hold the gunfires and bombs to a certain degree. I assume Jin Man fortified his home strong enough for survival, perhaps having an underground bunker, too.

I will put spoilers down below about the Codes and the ending.

SPOILERS (Scroll down below)


















CODES:
- Code Red: for killers (assassins) - they can only buy guns, weapons, bombs, and poisons.
- Code Purple: for spies (buy and sell info) - they can only buy listening devices and cameras. Also, simple weapons to be used to kill themselves when their cover is blown.
- Code Yellow: for clean-up crew - they can only buy drugs, detergents, and cleaning tools needed for body disposal and clean-up, and administrative service to evade the law.
- Code Green: for Jin Man and Ji An (though she didn't know before) - the other codes could never attack them. If they did, other Code holders have to risk their lives to protect Code Green.

ENDING:
- Ji Ahn and her uncle are alive. As I suspected, Jin Man faked his death (though are not shown what he did to 'kill' himself and why he did it if not just leave his niece to have her own show). He shows up in the end riding a taxi. He's all wound up, probably he had a duel with the top killer.
- A bunch of killers are dead. The top killer Bale and the Babylon company head are (probably) still alive if they want to make Season 2.
- Pasin and Brother are alive. Min Hye is probably alive, only shown her gun came off her hand but doesn't mean she's dead. I believe if watchers found her too attractive and charismatic to be dead, the screenwriter will revive her for Season 2.

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LOVE LOVE LOVE

This is a beautiful rom-com drama about an editor, Chu li, and a young author, Zhou Chuan. Having been online friends for 3 years, Chu li becomes Zhou Chuan's editor, both unaware of their online relationship. Revolving around a hate-to-love story, their relationship blossoms into a variety of adorable interactions, as a lovely connection is created both online and in real life. And as they grow closer, they work together to become better selves and more passionate individuals.

i absolutely LOVE THIS DRAMA i just finished it recently and haven't been able to get over it since!! Everything about it is just perfection, and i enjoyed watching every second of it. Definitely making it into my top 5!

~ STORY ♥ ~
The show takes place in a working office, but the story is very equally balanced between business and their relationship. The relationship between the leads is one of the CUTEST IVE EVER SEEN. Chu li and Zhou Chuan's relationship is our aspired COUPLE GOALS. Their character development as they grow closer to each other, added with their mutual trust and respect made them strong and confident in each other, is something not commonly seen in other dramas. I swear, couples from other dramas would be jealous of their relationship as it's unbreakable.

The FL may seem to be like the classic "weak" or "dependent" type but she is absolutely not, and is one of my favorite FL my far! Chu li continues to work hard and improve as she works her way up, making achievements throughout her publishing house that repeatedly astonish and exceed the expectations of all those around her. Proving to everyone that she is not to be belittled!

Additionally, I must make an honorable note on these following points, as it deserves a whole award: none of the characters are "dumb" or "stupidly gullible", as those characters are the worst. You won't have to worry about any unnecessary cliche misunderstandings, "disapproval from parents", or the "I'm doing this for their own good" breakups, as this drama has none of that! The characters hold a steady and powerful relationship the whole time. THE CHEMISTRY IS OFF CHARTS <33

The second couple was also quite a significant part of this drama as well considering that they had their own storyline. I love the second couple ofc, but some of their scenes were a bit dull, which would prolly be the only slight downside to the story. But don't get me wrong, it's probably only because I'm a rom-com person, but if ur someone who enjoys watching more seriously-toned relationships, I'm sure you'll love it~! (the second couple's kisses were sm better than the leads) BUUUUT even so... the BROTHERHOOD. ML and second ML's loyal bro relationship is kiiillllliiing me. Fr one of the biggest reasons why I loved this drama so much! And even though the 2nd ML did like the FL for a bit, he backed out right when the ML admitted to liking the FL as well. Like that's a loyal best friend right there, and best 2ML of the year award goes to him 100%.

*SPOILER* ..... although in the last 8 episodes or a sudden new girl popped out of nowhere claiming to have liked Zhou Chuan ever since they were in high school, no problems raised. Im sure many ppl prolly think that she was unnecessary but i think that through her, we can see how strong the lead couples relationship is.

*SPOILER 2*.... cutest ending ever! MDL doesn't let us put emojis on here but I fr would spam crying and heart emoji's right now. The script writers actually spent time making sure that everything was wrapped up neatly, and the last two episodes are just dedicated to following through to the ending MWAHHH. Amazing and satisfying, an ending that ill never forget!
*END OF SPOILER :)*

Although Moonlight is a rom-com based drama, it still carries many inspirational messages and lessons for viewers. We are shown that nothing comes out of thin air, and we must work hard in order to reach our desired goals. Chu li and Zhou Chuan are faced with multiple different obstacles that they must overcome both together and individually, and ultimately maturing into more successful individuals. Along the way, they learn the value of love, anger, emotions, and passion.

~ CAST ♥ ~
I was a huge fan of both the actor and the actress way before i watched this drama, and prolly one of the reasons as to why i loved this drama soo much. I was so happy when i found out they were acting together, and the result definitely didn't disappoint!! Everyone in the cast fit their character excellently, and I am genuinely so thankful that they brought this piece to life for us! Many times i wished that I could see more of some of the side characters as well as they were such an enjoyable part of the show, so thank you for making this masterpiece!

I also heard that many ppl think that the female lead's voice is too high or "childlike" to fit her character, but imo, it fits perfectly. Chu li's voice is dubbed by the actress herself, Esther, which I'm very happy about. Having the character's voice as the actress's adds more of a natural flow to the character.

And of course, Zhou Chuan's character played by Ryan Ding was just flawless - like always :)

~ MUSIC ♥ ~
I honestly don't have too much of an opinion on the songs, they weren't amazing but they weren't bad either. I think most of the songs were used repeatedly throughout the drama, which is okay because it ran quite smoothly with the scenes and everything else in the drama made up for the music weakness.

~ ♥ ~
I personally love everything about this drama from the BOTTOM OF MY HEART. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL AAH. I was giggling throughout the whole drama, and the leads are just too cute. So if your a rom-com lover, i recommend you 101% to give this drama a shot you surely wont regret it :)

♥♥♥♥♥♥

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Started with a boom but ended in a fizzle.

For me this drama started off amazing! It even turned me into a Lee Seung Gi fan, which I NEVER thought I would say. And I really enjoyed the exaggerated performance of Cha Seung Won which after barely making it through Greatest Love, because of his exaggerated performance, came as an extreme surprise. Here his performance and over the top reminded me of Choi Siwon in She Was Pretty. Ridiculous but utterly amazing and hilarious!!

However, around episode 12 this drama started to change. For some, they enjoyed this change of plot/storytelling. For me, I HATED it!!! The storyline for me, lost focus. Added in plot lines, that instead of contributing to the stories development left it scattered and felt as if the drama was taken over by an entirely different writer.

Overall, it had a lot of potential, a great cast, and original story. I loved the supernatural elements, chemistry between the leads, and the love story. However, because of too many hindrances in the final episodes it lost a lot of its potential for a re-watch value and from becoming one of my favorite supernatural dramas. I would recommend for someone to watch (especially if they want a new supernatural drama following Goblin and Master’s Sun), as long as they are prepared for a shift halfway through the series.

Happy drama watching!

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