Reviews

Note: This is my PERSONAL OPINION. I am not attacking the drama or the actors, so PLEASE don't feel like you need to defend anything/anyone.

So I love all the actors and the story is alright if not a little banal...but wow what a fkn trainwreck. I had such high hopes for this - Matsuda Shota, one of my all time favourite actors and Taemin (I am a big Taemin fan) in a drama together?! I was so excited. But...whether or not it was the director's decisions or the production company's decision or whoever - the drama felt lazy and engorged. The flashy film-student-esque cinematography and casting of the massively popular Taemin does little to hide the immensely awkward self-indulgence and at many points, the drama - and the actors - come across as painfully self-aware (and not in the good way).

Here are some of the GOOD POINTS:

-Actors: They had some big veteran actors come on board and Matsuda Shota was definitely one of my favourite aspects of the drama.

-Cinematography: Though I hated the over stylised, MV-like cinematography, there were a few shots and sequences that were beautifully shot. Also, some of the cuts were interesting choices to make on the director's behalf. I mean, I'll give kudos where it's deserved. I'm not entirely unfair haha.

-Potential bromance: Taemin and Shota's characters could potentially have had a fantastic bromance/friendship. However, it was let down a bit by the lack of chemistry between the actors. Needless to say, this is my opinion. You might read it differently.

-Music: Music is A+.

-Violence: I LOVE violence and gore and action and this drama does a great job of throwing out unexpected, sudden violence.

BAD POINTS:

-Actors: You can tell Taemin is a little uncomfortable in this role. Maybe it's the language or maybe it's the writing or the directing. I just think he's been totally underutilised here. I really hope he's able to show his true potential in his next acting role. I was disappointed here.

-Plot: Bleurgh. It's very slow-paced and it didn't hold my interest very long.

-Cinematography: Seriously, wtf. It reminds me of the kind of style that the overcompensating hipster film students would utilise for their projects (you know the type - the ones who would list Tarantino, avant garde french films, and vintage Belarus fashion as their creative inspirations). It's uninspired, confused, awkward, flash with no depth, and a little too forced. Also, the lighting proved to be distracting a lot of the time.

-Pace: Just.........wow. I watched a few episodes at 2x speed and it was still slow.

-Obligatory MV Time: Like the surety of ad-breaks when watching your favourite drama on Viki, Obligatory MV Time rolled around like clockwork. It's essentially a random 30 second music video thrown into the middle of several episodes. It's quite jarring when it happens actually. One moment, you're watching a drama and the next you're watching a Taemin MV. They did little to push the plot forward and what little plot they did tell - I just found it to be a lazy technique of doing so.  I personally skipped past these bits.

In fact, I skipped past a lot of bits because I couldn't stand the cringe. I guess some people would love it, some people would hate it. I just think there needs to be more consideration before hitting the 10-rating because Taemin and Shota are starring in the drama (though yes, they are super pretty and pretty super).

IDK what you'd take from this. Watch if you will I guess?

Leggi di Più

Let's talk about the plot. For me, I like the topic about trying to achieve one's dream but having so many hurdles in front of you that a lot of times, you just want to give up. I sensed that in the first half of this drama. I felt the hardship. Being ripped off, being seen from others as a no potential, having others stepping on you like your worthless because of your status. At the same time, we see two sides of family impact as well, barely any support and too much support to where they are controlling and you don't know how to adapt to reality. Some people may find these kind of issues in a drama boring but I liked the realness of it and I could sense it. I would've been fine with this drama had the whole drama revolved around this, focusing on the family relationship issues and the relationship hurdles when becoming a celeb now.
But here's where it went wrong. The writer lost a sense of direction in the second half of this drama. Past ep 8 is pretty much worthless to me. They added conflicts that, in my opinion, weren't needed. I think they were trying to add the reality of scandals occurring in a celebrity's life but I just didn't see a purpose for this relating to the initial plot. The annoying reporter and the stupid old manager who cheated on Hye Joon's success and growth were a real pain that ruined the 2nd half of this drama. To be honest, the last few episodes weren't handled well. The last episode may solve a few things but in honesty, a lot of episodes wasted.

Character wise, they have a few strong moments but it's really forgettable due to the overall character of the leads being pretty bland.

Music wise, this drama has some great OSTs. It's just that it wasn't played much as I would've liked to hear.

Definitely not worth a rewatch after seeing the direction the writer decided to go with this. Had the potential to be a good drama for me but failed miserably.

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good drama, terrible message

Let's be clear. I watched the drama and liked it, but I'm pretty freaked out by the amount of people giving it 10.
As a drama watcher I could give it a high score, but not as a woman.

The moral to take away from this as a woman is that we better meet a brilliant man and be his shadow. No matter how brilliant you are, be content to sacrifice yourself for him and everything will be fine.

There is a particular moment, where they are given an award for a project where the FL has been the leader, but he is the one who gives the speech and gets the credit. Because what's going to make you happier than seeing your man succeed!

The same goes for Xu Li Na. The egg scene is extremely disturbing. Her husband is clearly an abuser, but she still stays with him, because it's our responsibility as women to make men better through our love.

No, thanks. I've had enough of this. The better the drama is, the more it pisses me off that it has such a toxic message.

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A faux-deep show with a harmful message

I’m actually surprised to see how much praise is being sung for Death’s Game. Death’s Game is by no means philosophical, nor does it bring anything new to the table in terms of discussion around the subject of suicide. It simply offers the common - and harmful - rhetoric of “You should feel guilty about (thinking of) killing yourself because your death will hurt others.”

Living to avoid causing pain to others - and by proxy living FOR others - is no way to live at all. In fact, according to this rhetoric, if no one would mourn your passing, then it should be fine for you to die by your own hands. Your desire to live has to come from yourself because the minute it depends on other factors you lose any semblance of control over it.

Death’s Game tackled its message wrong from the start. In my opinion, an anti-suicide show should focus on the “joys” rather than the pains of life. If you’ve ever said something along the lines of “I’m feeling down/sad/upset” and been told “well others have it worse,” did that really make you feel any less upset? Probably not. This is why reincarnations such as the baby’s don’t work as substantial support for the show’s main message.

On the topic of support for the show’s main message: this support is thin. Why? Because so much of it is just pure shock value. There are multiple instances of this. The baby. But also the prisoner reincarnation. One would think this particular story would end with the hit-and-run daughter’s father killing who he believes to be the perpetrator BECAUSE this would tie in with the idea the show was pushing about the consequences of Korea’s lenient juvenile laws. But no, the main character is then stabbed a SECOND time by another twist villain. Did this add anything to the show? No. In fact, it lessened the impact of the previous scene. So why did it need to happen?

On a side-note, the twists in this show are so random. Some I predicted from the start, like the brother being behind the airplane crash. Other twists just exist to be twists. That is not good writing.

Additionally, logically-speaking, why does Death target our main character specifically? Does she give this same experience to everyone? Surely there are others who fit her criteria more explicitly. And, on the other hand, imagine someone who has suffered much worse than Choi Yi Jae. Does said person deserve to experience more suffering (multiple deaths) simply because they sought to put an end to their own? Definitely not.

I really can’t tell what this show wants to be. It feels so ungrounded from reality that I find it hard to take it seriously. The tone feels a bit all over the place. It doesn’t help that the special effects look cheap, and that the dialogue sometimes sounds incredibly comic book-y. All it was missing was some text bubbles. I’m assuming that might be because the show is an adaptation from a Webtoon, but what works in comic format won’t always work in live action. Also, I’m not usually one to comment on bad acting, and I’m sorry to say that despite the cast being visually stunning, this show is chock-full with it.

Lastly, I felt no emotional connection to any of the characters? I wasn’t sad about any of the deaths. Which I find surprising given I’m very empathetic and often have no trouble doing so. Nor did any character relationships particularly stand out. The main character and his gf have the stock template, textbook start to their relationship, and their dynamic isn’t particularly interesting.

If Death truly cared about the main character’s respect for “death” she would show him how to love living again instead of torturing and potentially emotionally traumatizing him for the remainder of his existence.

Death’s game is not as deep and thought-provoking as some laud it to be, and it's honestly worrisome how well-received such a show is. It presents its singular perspective on suicide, which negates and ignores the mental health aspects that come along with suicidal ideation.

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This was one of the best drama I have ever watched, if not the best. Light but at the same time quite complicated. It definitely was The Best Hit.

First of all there is a plotline. It started off pretty weak but quickly got better. It was funny, it balanced well between cliche and innovation. The most important thing is it was totally enjoyable. There was not even a moment I got bored, I barely skipped anything in this drama. Characters were well developed, even side characters had their story that explained their actions and behaviour. And the relations between them! Something beautiful. Especially good was bonding between Lee Sun Tae and his granddaughter Mal Sook. The humoristic aspect was ideal. I love how they did so many parodies and at the same time managed to make more dramatic plot. No exaggerated plot-twists. I like how they made us think it is going to be predictable but they did something totally new and refreshing. Even the ending was good and it's hard for me to like the ending as well.

Casting was the best thing that could have ever happened to this drama. All those cameos were so good! For those who watch 1n2d they were even more enjoyable. I really liked Deokhwa in this drama as well as his character's granddaughter. Yoon Shi Yoon did great in portraying his characters and changes in him. I want to praise Cha Eun Woo too - he did really good. Hong Kyung Min managed to act so good it had me wondered why did he not pursue his acting career. He was the real scene stealer in this drama. Special mention to Lee Han Seo who made this drama even more approachable. Not to mention Cha Tae Hyun - it is undoubtedly difficult to do both acting and directing, yet he managed to do exceptionally well in both.

When it comes to directing it would be a huge mistake to forget about Yoo Ho Jin. It was his first drama and he did a really good job. I think it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a genius. I am really looking forward for his upcoming projects.

I can't say much about the music in this drama, it's pretty ordinary, nothing's out of order. I do want to say I really like T-ara's song and it weirdly matches this drama well. Also it really bugged me that the instrumental of Yoon Mirae's song is pretty much the same as her previous work in Descendants of the Sun.

Summing up, it was quite a journey. I can't say that as a fan of 1n2d I'm not biased towards this drama team but I tried my best to give an objective opinion. The only thing I hated about this drama is the beginning. I even thought about not watching it and hanged on just because of the cast. And I do not regret this decision.

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Wanna emotionally torture yourself? Go for it

Firstly the poster is misleading because Zhang Yun Long who is part of that poster is barely in drama, not even in one quarter… so if you are going to watch it because of him then please don't lol you'll end up being disappointed.

This was supposed to air 4 years ago… so to this date, it's quite outdated in terms of almost everything. The title is a bit weird and definitely gives melodramatic vibes.. well yeah it's actually a melodrama but leaned towards business and the business politics. Even I'm not in much favor of the original title 佳期如夢之海上繁花 same as the novel having literal meaning "Variety Flowers at Seaside"

Talking about the story… it's just meh, so tropey cliche-filled and absolutely nothing special or extraordinary to offer, though it had some engaging factor in the start that made me give it chance being honest I'll say.. to endure it. The story being okay-ish, it could have been better with proper execution but that never happened. Jumping from one scene to another, uncoordinated time jumps its pace, the development it failed by every means. To be specific, there's one scene that's related to the second leads.. after 8 months time jump happened, and then it was shown that they were talking about the incident that happened 8 months ago as if it happened yesterday… okay so who talks about the relatively insignificant incident that happened a very long time ago lol what's wrong with editing they would have shown it before time jump.

The characters don't have their own identity they just react as the story needs… most of the time they are out of their character behaving totally differently. I'm annoyed by characterization, at the end I stopped caring about anyone coz they behave stupid.. teens know to behave better lol

One of the very few things that can be considered as good was acting, not the best but decent. I didn't notice any song other than the opening so no comment on the soundtrack. It's back from 2016 so don't really expect much from cinematography, styling, or aesthetics.

As this is a hate-to-love trope… where the male lead has a prejudice against the female lead due to one incident.. (the synopsis is wrong, the drama doesn't even include anything about one-night stand) so the hate and misunderstandings in the start seem forced. Now talking about the part that I really liked was the friendship between them it felt natural, easy to watch, and very good in terms of relationship dynamics. I like when friendship is shown before Romance starts as friends talk with each other… but then, of course, there was big trouble in front of them that messed up everything and after that out of nowhere they are in a relationship (I'm not talking abt having feelings for each other but there wasn't any scene that there's the conclusion where they get into the relationship) now that's the worst part, that made me think this even don't deserve Romance as a genre, coz it doesn't exist. Male lead doesn't know there's the thing called communication exists in the world, he does things as he wants without explaining to anyone... I mean what? I'm supposed to endure that nonsense? But yeah as anything can happen coz this is drama he just has to behave cute and clingy for some episodes then everything is fine.

The supporting roles are the worst and very annoying.. almost every character is unlikable and that includes even leads... I wouldn't recommend this at all, this is just pure torture, that'll end up giving you frustration. If you are a diehard fan of Li Qin and Shawn Dou.. that you can endure any nonsense and trash plot for eye candy I won't deny it sure has good-looking leads then you can go for it.

I'm not being any generous towards rating, why should I?

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I'm a bit shocked that this series has such a high rating. I thought at first it's because the actors are popular, but I don't really think this is the case. Is the manhwa it's based on so popular?
So to make it short: the bullying plot is a bit tiring. Asia is known for that. I have seen my fair share of bullying series and movies. The last was the Chinese movie "Better Days" which I thought was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen in my life. So it's not the bullying per se I have a problem with. It's just that the plot was paperthin and we got nothing than violence and violence and violence. I started watching this, because of the friendship between the guys. But the characters weren't that developed. For eight episodes we didn't get much scenes that showed us their friendship. We just got fights and fights and fights to the point where I wonderd WHY people enjoy this. They enjoy seeing high schoolers beating each other up for no good reason? They just didn't stop! I know that was the message of the series, that something small can become massive, that violence leads to more violence, but it was just tiresome to watch how they just didn't stop for god's sake! The end is more or less open, it seems one of the character had a much more gruesome fate in the manhwa. At least they didn't go that far in the series and decided to not be so precise about what happend to him.
Sigh. Gruesome. Violent. Pointless. Unrealstic.
Still I get it why people like it. Because it's entertaining, you want to know what happens next, and the only thing I really liked was how the weak hero was fighting. He was smart and he had balls, and well, he was a batshit crazy. But that was enough to fight those bullies. That gave him a big advantage despite not being physically strong. That core idea was pretty good. But please give those characters a bit more personality and make me feel something for them. I was just annyoed the whole time. The friend and what he did, at the end he said he doesn't know it either WHY he did it - people may say, yeah, that's the whole point, everything got out of control. I think this is lazy writing. They just didn't stop so the plot could move forward. I got a bit teary eyed at the end, because of the great performance of the main hero, but I didn't cry since I couldn't feel much for those characters. They were just so unrealstic with all that pointless violence. I thought it was funny how they just went back to teaching after all those fighting in the classroom. I mean after the first episode all the other students who witnessed this would need some therapy in real life. It was stupid. Over the top. Maybe this works as a manhwa, it sure does, but seeing real people behaving like this? I don't know. Not impressed.

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Where Acting Meets Art: A Drama Worth Watching

This drama is truly impressive in many aspects. The actors' performances feel incredibly natural and effortless, allowing each character’s emotions to come through powerfully and convincingly. Nothing feels forced, which makes it easy for the audience to become fully immersed in the story. The filming locations are thoughtfully chosen—visually stunning and perfectly aligned with the mood of each scene. Combined with beautifully crafted cinematography, every frame looks like a meaningful painting. The blend of heartfelt acting and visually captivating scenes makes this drama truly deserving of high praise.

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A turning point for GMM BL series, but not a masterpiece

Most people loved this series, but I don't like it so much. One of the main reasons is the acting. Many people might hate me for saying that, but Earth's performance is far inferior to Mix's. I really cannot feel much sympathy for Phupha. I don't hate him, but I don't like him either. He causes me indifference, which is a problem in a series that depends on its main characters so much.

Although people say 1000 Stars is a mature series, it looks like more a fairy tale. When I think about a mature movie or series, fairy tales don't come to my mind. A mature series explore real issues faced by adults. This series is not like that. The main purpose here is to make the audience emotional to Tian's redemption story. It is true that we are presented to the struggle of the poor villagers, but this is more to develop Tian's character other than denouncing or reflecting on North Thailand's social issues. If they had explored the social problem more seriously, maybe we could consider it a mature series. Poverty here is portrayed in a very romanticized way. It doesn't seem real. The plight of the villagers are not developed and the difficulties faced by Tian in the village are there to emphasize his redemption arc, not to give life to any hidden social dilemma. All the community's suffering is more a background to the development of Tian & Phupha's romance. Even the conflict with the weapon/drug dealers is easily solved. If the solution was only calling the police and leading an armed attack on the bad guys' settlement, why have they never done this before?

But it is ok, a TV show doesn't need to be mature to be good. I just expected more from 1000 Stars. The production is better than other GMM series, but it is still inferior to Nadao, for example. Some scenes are embarrassingly unrealistic, such as the drowning of the school kid in episode 2. Other scenes are simply cringe, such as the episode where the villagers and Tian observe a sexual performance inside a wooden house. This kind of comedic moments were a turn off. I would have preferred if they explored more the psychology of the characters. Phupha, for instance, is an unidimensional character. It is difficult to develop a realistic romance when one of the characters is so plain and shallow.

Finally, I disliked a lot the way they treated Tian's crimes. He organized a street race and gave his car to the killer. According to Thai law, he should be prosecuted. I have the feeling that the plot justifies a very bad underlying moral in Thai society: the rich ones only need to make a "social work/charity" to get away with their crimes, no matter what they did. No one ends up behind bars. If you are curious about what I am saying here, search for Orachorn “Praewa” Thephasadin's case. It happened in 2010 and it is a very good example of how rich young Thai people can do whatever they want and get away with it .

If you pay attention, the main ideia here is: a rich boy causes someone else's death. Through a series of criminal tricks, his family gets the heart of the girl who was indirectly killed by their son and gives the boy the heart of the same girl the boy helped to kill. Then, the boy gets away with all his crimes, devotes part of his life to help the poor villagers, pays for his karma and gets a price: a hot boyfriend.

No justice for Torfun at all.

In sum, it is an interesting GMM series. Much better than the average for a series from this TV channel, but not the masterpiece it could have been.

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Hell is Other People..

An uncomfortable yet fascinating watch.. I do like stories that challenge me and this one certainly did.. It’s a heavy and difficult drama and every performance, especially Vin Zhang’s is so believable that it’s painful to watch.. The drama’s emotions feel real, not staged or exaggerated.. The story breathes, I mean it feels alive, honest and organic as it moves through its sorrow and exhaustion..

There might be quite a bit of ranting in my words here.. This drama had more characters to hate than to like.. There’s no contender for Parent of the Year, because I mean, you will understand once you see this drama.. The family isn’t very likable for most part of the story and after a while, you start hating other characters too.. Apart from the main leads and the two cops involved, everyone else falls somewhere between hate and love-hate..

I hated her mother right from the moment she came on screen.. Her daughter was looking for comfort and all her mother was concerned about hiding that heinous act.. And whatever her mother did in the hospital made my hatred for her only deepen to a point where I couldn’t forgive her, no matter what happens next..
The FL worked hard.. They didn't want her to study so that they could prioritize her brother's education.. Still somehow she made it through school and got into university.. Her family basically abandoned her.. But when she graduated and got a job, her mother dragged her back.. After what her mother did at her workplace to force her to return home.. I don’t know.. I felt nothing but hate for her.. Even after this they blamed her insulted her without having any right to do so, she faced every hardship alone and even after that they wouldn’t let her be happy, always pushing their burdens onto her..
Even her brother was sickening in the beginning.. He literally told her husband ' You are not her family.. You don’t know her pain ' All this while being silent about his own sister’s assault.. He saw her in the hospital, he knew what happened, still he said nothing.. The sheer audacity of that?? Forget being her brother, is he even human??

To be fair, his character did get better soon and may be worthy of redemption.. He realizes his mistakes and finally starts supporting his sister.. As for their father, I don’t even want to talk about him.. Just another spineless worm..

Her family, their minds, their thoughts, their entire way of seeing the world are poisonous.. Their deep rooted perceptions have rotted them from within.. Her mother especially, she couldn’t stand the idea of her daughter’s life reaching beyond her own..

The things the rapist and his family did to the FL and her husband were just too much.. I just hoped they would suffer a hundred times worse by the end.. He hid the USB drive inside his daughter’s trophy.. How could his wife still defend him after knowing what sort of trash he was.. What she did in court on day one only proved how rotten she is too..

I wanted to mention a few other things..

The scene where their neighbours helped them clean the insulting graffiti was comforting to watch.. Just how the society subtly supported them during such a painful time is something we don't see often..

I liked how their past connection wasn’t turned into some worn out childhood romance trope.. It was more than that.. There are other emotions besides love, it’s not always romance that drives people to act or care..

Not blaming them, but her plan for revenge and his attempt to act on her behalf so she wouldn’t completely destroy herself were both stupid.. But I guess that was necessary for the story to reach its tipping point..

" Do you think Qin Nan loves Ye Sibei??
If you think so, it would be difficult for you to understand Qin Nan's actions..
It is not just love.. Qin Nan sees Ye Sibei as a faith, almost like a religion.. "

Who is the antagonist in this story?? Is it just the perpetrator?? What about his wife and all those people who took his side, even though it was painfully obvious what he did?? What about the FL's parents, who for a major part of the story blamed her, insulted her and pushed her deeper into darkness instead of giving her the support she needed?? Isn't this the ultimate result of their constant meddling and their need to box her into a life she never wanted, when she could have achieved so much more and led a life much brighter than this?? And the sister in law, who changed her statement and lied in court to protect herself and cost them the case?? Even if it's just him who deserves the punishment and rot in hell, others are to be blamed too and they need to suffer the consequences of their choices..

Overall, not perfect by any means.. There are slight issues, some poor dialogue and a few unnecessary scenes.. But all of that is easy to forgive.. Yes, it doesn’t come without its flaws but what we got is good enough to watch at least once.. I should probably stop here because this has already gone too long.. So in conclusion, I liked this drama.. But it’s not something I would rewatch.. Not because it’s bad but because I wouldn’t want to go through those same emotions again..

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A “ Record” Of A Waste Of Time....

Despite its fresh appeal with Bo Gum with a suave pre- Military haircut and So-Dam’s brilliance as a witty makeup artist, the drama was simply lacklustre . Although the drama did obviously touch upon the problems of relationships ( familial and romantic) as well as career choices for our young protagonists, Record of Youth simply reduced most of the characters to nothing more than plot devices throughout the drama.

On one note of appraisal , Bo- Gum was (,as usual,)brilliant within channeling the soul of his character, Hye-Jun. Playing an “underdog” model and aspiring actor, Park Bo Gum did seem to truly step into fleshing out a character , who was rawly undercooked in depth and characterisation by the scriptwriters through his ability to portray the raw emotion of Hye- Jun throughout the drama.

Sadly, however, the scriptwriters didn’t give any justice towards Bo-Gum’s character, Hye- Jun.

This was defined by one fatal mistake by the scriptwriters’ focus upon Hye- Jun as a plot device in regards to his his relationship with Jeong- Ha, meaning that any characterisation that viewers see throughout the drama for Hye-Jun, is severely underdeveloped by the ending of the show.

The most notable example towards this problem, had to be from his sudden “ anger” to “ apathy” around his father and brother and of course his shared love for his mother and grandfather . Whilst his initial feelings towards his father and brother in the beginning of the show was understandable, it was a strange leap in Hye- Jun character to suddenly go from being incredibly infuriated at times by his father and brother, to simply “ not caring” and remaining “ cool- headed”. This would have been understandable if we’d actually see Hye- Jun progress with the plot, but instead, any emotional capacity he possessed as a character is simply thrown away by the near ending of the show. In particular, this is also portrayed by his attitude to Jeong- Ja and his careless decisions within their relationship.

This of course moves us onto So- Dam as Jeong- Ha, a witty makeup artist with her own dreams to become a beauty influencer. Parallel to Bo-Gun’s acting, So- Dam was brilliant within capturing the comical and heart driven moments of her character and therefore there is no denying that Jeong-Ha seemed to be more developed as a character upon some grounds that Hye- Jun.

This also includes the ability towards viewers actually learning why Jeong- Ha aspired to be a makeup artist from her father, something which we never really learn in depth as to why Hye- Jun wanted to be an actor apart from the fact that “ he wanted to do it for a long time”. Additionally, it was refreshing also to come across a level- headed female lead who isn’t ditsy in a relationship, or starts a screaming match with her enemies, but approaches things in a calm , succinct and realistic manner as an intelligent and reasonable individual .( Such as being professional whilst dealing with a senior makeup artist determined to make her life hell.)

Despite her strengths, sadly Jeong- Ha’s greatest flaws from the scriptwriters probably did also come from making Jeong- Ha sometimes a little too “level- headed” than for her own good. Whilst this did naturally add to the “ drama” of the show, it was just as bad for other reasons that Jeong- Ha did not speak out or communicate with Hye- Jun about her feelings or respected boundaries within their relationship. Her attitude towards encouraging and growing closer to Hye- Jun’s best friend Won Hae-hyo ( Byeon Woo- Seok) , was understandable due to her anger towards Hye- Jun, but it seemed both unfair and unkind (regardless of her excuses )towards leading Hae- Hyo on in such a manner. By the ending of the show, a lot of Jeong- Ha’s strengths were sadly greatly overshadowed by her decisions as a consequence.

Ironically, whilst normally I wouldn’t comment upon the reasons of a second Male for chasing after the female lead in such a cliche manner , Woo Seok’s portrayal of Hae- Hyo as a Male lead who has had everything handed to him on a silver plate by his mother, Kim Yi-young ( Shin Ae- Ra), did add some understanding as to why Jeong- Ha became such a figure of interest for him.

One of the biggest emotional trials which Woo Seok comes to grasp with in the show, is realising simply how overbearing his loving mother truly is within controlling every aspect of his life ( including his career) and his sister’s ( a part of freedom which manifests within his sister dating another one of his best friends).

With the fact that his best friend , Hye- Jun, has had the freedom to chase his own dreams and aspire to do acting on his own part, the aspiration of chasing after his best friend’s girl did add the note of a cliche. On the other hand, this understanding towards why Woo- Seok was intrigued by Jeong- Ha, wasn’t left blank for viewers by the scriptwriters. This was simply because Woo Seok wanted control over a relationship. This of course , did add
some explanation and depth to his decisions, but it was overly cliche and stepped across several boundaries of disrespect for both Hye- Jun as a friend and of course Jeong- Ha within the drama as nothing more than an object for both Hye- Jun and Woo- Seok to use.

Whilst of course the drama did delve into some additional “ youth issues” (including a minor plot line of homosexuality,which was only brushed upon for the plot to advance), the drama really didn’t add enough depth or even covered the universal issues as a youth drama. Although we must bear into respect Korean culture and “ sensitive topics”, it was still too glossed over not to come across a youth drama which tackles issues such as drinking , partying, or even smoking , especially with the younger characters’ ages. This is not to glorify these acts in any manner, but, these are issues which realistically, most youths tackle fairly universally ( especially in Korea). For a drama to not even mildly suggest these youths have never done such an act, seemed more of a commentary upon appeasing younger audiences to “ not do this in real life” , than to learn about the real world for youths.

In addition to that his, there was of course the glossed over image of the fashion and makeup industry as well. Whilst naturally the drama did delve into the problems of “ scandals” for Korean celebrities and of course blackmail, these issues became overly repetitive. This of course is an issue which tackles many celebrities on a daily basis in a Korea, but did we really need to have this screamed at us by Hye- Jun’s manager Lee Min Jae ( Shin Dong Mi) for several episodes without thinking to tell Hye- Jun to be more cautious? Probably, not.

In reality, there was little actually exposed about the severity of other issues in these respected industries ( especially fashion ). It’s understandable that the drama didn’t want to delve into this too much in in order to focus on the relationship of Jeong Ha and Hye Jun, but, there was still a lot of exposed ground which the drama could’ve covered on even briefly. Not least, the actual problems for young models upon eating disorders, smoking , diets and of course especially, for young makeup artists, revenue and exploitation as well. For a drama not to even cover upon the issues in addition to poor characterisation, left Record of Youth as a forgettable and cliche show which did not tread any new ground upon Korean dramas.

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Juggles too much, risks being forgettable

The pilot episodes failed to effectively draw me into the characters & hindered my emotional investment in their journeys. This weak start sets the stage for subsequent disappointments. However, I was able to finish the drama because of my love for Han So-hee.

Notable, was the lack of nuance in Park Seo-jun's portrayal of Tae-sang. Despite the character's complexity, Seo-jun's performance falls short, making it challenging to connect with Tae-sang's internal conflicts about self serving motives and altruism. His comedic moments lacked freshness and the clever wit needed to bring more depth to his character.

The forced and unconvincing romantic plotline between the leads is totally unnecessary & almost childish.

So-hee's acting prowess is evident but is hindered by shortcomings in the script, making her character's journey less compelling.

Lastly, the quality of dialogue was notably subpar & lacked the richness it needed, coupled with the majority of scenes taking place at Onseong Hospital being repetitive and boring, which diminished the overall viewing experience, especially given the historical context of the drama.

Overall, the multiple plot lines could've been better integrated to make the drama seem more cohesive.

I'm skeptical but I hope part 2 of season 1 will renew my interest for season 2.

Edit: I finished all 10 episodes & I'll stick by my initial rating. Now that I have finished the drama, I think I can confidently say the casting for this drama was absolutely OFF. I felt like a lot of people were miscast and that is why this drama does not deliver what it should've - I did not find myself at the edge of the seat, the creature was not scary tbh, the villains were boring and nothing stood out per se. It is what it is.

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This is quite anti-climactic

It is really such a let down compared to The Gifted, especially the climax.

The story has too many plot twist that I don't see it as a plot twist anymore, not surprising at all. Sometimes the plot twist is too sudden that makes me questionning the motives of the character who make the plot twist (Yes, I am looking at you P'Chanon who keep switching sides everytime you showed up, and those bodyguard who are too afraid with a little high schooler girl while all she doing is just talking lol). Also, I find it hillarious that side characters just stand still like a statue while the central character on the scene who does the talk talking.

The acting, well, everyone plays the their character very well as long as they are not the side characters on the scene who does nothing but watching other people talk.

The music hasn't change much since from The Gifted and I kind of missed it.

Since this season is quite dissapointing for an ending of the greatness The Gifted, I don't think I want to watch it for a second time. I definitely won't recommend it either if you are already satisfied with the ending of The Gifted season 1.

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A Dark Story That Falls Apart Completely

This drama tries to look bold and unique, but the writing becomes extremely cruel without any real purpose. A Jin, the main girl, is written as someone who destroys everything around her. Instead of giving her depth or a believable reason for her actions, the story just makes her more selfish and stubborn as it goes on.

Jun Seo and Jae O — two genuinely good and loyal characters — end up suffering the most because of her. Their devotion is used again and again just to create more tragedy, not to build real emotional impact. Watching good characters get thrown away for shock value becomes tiring very fast.

The acting is strong, but even that cannot save a plot that chooses hopelessness over proper storytelling. The drama focuses on misery rather than meaning, and the ending only adds to the frustration.

If you dislike depressing twists, manipulative characters, or stories that hurt innocent characters for no reason, this is something you may want to avoid. There are many revenge dramas with better writing and far more satisfying arcs.

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