Reviews

It's rare for horror movies to get much of a rating. When you look at their ratings, you look more for anything above a 5, because if it has 8 or above, it must be a unicorn or something. While this wasn't a unicorn, it hit all the buttons for me in terms of creepy.

I tend to not like supernatural stories that much, as I find that people can be far scarier than ghosts. This story managed to balance a line with the aspect of a haunted place and not feeling so focused on this abstract supernatural being. It was a haunting. Not a martian or a big bad wolf. The movie also played with timing, which I appreciated. In typical horror flicks, you have a 1-2 reaction with something popping up. There were points in this where the image held and so if you closed your eyes for a second and opened them expecting it to be done, you'd be wrong. Even at points when there was looking away and back again, it didn't follow a 1-2-bang punch. You kept thinking this would be the time, and so when it finally was, it was like being grabbed by the throat.

The music was just right to get an eerie feel and add that essence of "this sounds sweet and playful while also sounding ominous and like I may lose my head." The acting was solid, and while the story is not original, it was done in a way that didn't feel like I was watching the exact same movie with different actors. What really shows that the images held up for themselves is that the subtitles were less than perfect, and yet the aspect of terror was still projected.

Horror movies are incredibly subjective, but this one definitely had me covering my eyes for a minute and is something I would rewatch with a friend.

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Had to watch at x2 speed because of the script

This show was very hard to get through, even at x2 speed. The acting isn't bad and the cast did good in their roles, it's just the script that is so lacking. When it comes down to it, the show is basically just three guys simping after the girls the entire show, while the girls just keep them wrapped around their fingers with the help from the clearly biased writers. 95% of the show consists of some form of misunderstanding or unnecessary drama that causes the female characters to become upset with the male characters, only to have the male characters try and chase after them and win them over for the next 3 episodes, and then it just repeats. You get maybe a few minutes of brief happiness and cute moments in their relationships, only to have another misunderstanding and lack of communication happen that causes the girls to become upset again. If you can get past the 95% of conflict in every relationship in this show (especially the two leads), then I guess the remaining 5% is somewhat enjoyable. Unfortunately, the conflict and drama lasts up until the very last few episodes, so at that point you basically have to suffer through the FL being mad at the ML for the entire show.

I think part of it is that the show is definitely catered more towards a specific audience that just enjoys seeing handsome guys chase after the girls in a show, and care less about a good script or balanced characters. Most of the male characters in this show are written so poorly, while others are just evil, corrupt, sexist, or harassers. The ML, Xin Qi, was especially done dirty by the writers. His character had barely any character outside of his heart condition and simping for the FL. Even his heart condition was put on the backburner in order to focus more on the "jealous" boyfriend moments and making him act like a child for the majority of the show in order to win over the FL. I swear I barely ever saw him actually working, he was just pursuing the FL the entire time, whether it was to get with her or to see his child. I can't even count how many times the writers pulled the "jealous" boyfriend card and had Xin Qi following the FL as she met up with countless guys that were only written in to create these jealous BF moments. And yet there is no 2FL or love rival to Min Hui (unless you count the childhood friend who died, but she's only in the show through flashbacks). I wish they had given Xin Qi more to his role besides pursuing Min Hui.

The side characters aren't much better either. Some of the conflicts were written so poorly that I cringed. Cao Mu wanting to break up with Jia Jun just because he was planning on proposing to her made very little sense. If she truly cared for him, why wouldn't she try talking it out first and working things out? Why immediately try breaking things off? At one point, Min Hui got so upset with Xin Qi because he "didn't trust her", even though he told her that he just wanted to find out the truth about what happened to his childhood friend. This happened literally in the same scene where he finally confessed to her and it looked like they were going to finally get together, all because of the cliche "plot-twist" connecting all the leads together (I'm trying not to spoil too much, so forgive the generalizations). Min Hui then proceeds to stay mad at Xin Qi for multiple episodes, all while Xin Qi spends the entire time trying to apologize and make it up to her, even though he's not entirely in the wrong either. If anything, Min Hui also didn't trust Xin Qi enough to tell him about his child or the events that happened in the past, and she also lied to him about pretending to be his dead childhood friend. She also treats him like dirt for the majority of the show, and the writers also seem to use Xin Qi as sort of a "punching bag" when it came to embarrassing himself, acting like a child, being constantly rejected but still pursuing, and always being in the wrong even when he wasn't.

To sum it all up, Xin Qi was too childish and there was no push and pull to the lead relationship because he was just simping the entire time, Min Hui was too angry the majority of the show and didn't let anyone explain themselves (only leading to further misunderstandings). There were so many moments when she would eavesdrop on others talking about her and would only hear the negative things said, and then walk away right when they start talking about the positive things about her, leading to yet another misunderstanding that isn't even resolved well. Cao Mu and Chen Jia Jun were admittingly cute together despite the age gap, and it was refreshing to see them together when there was so much conflict between the ML & FL, however Cao Mu did not treat Jia Jun very nicely at times, and Jia Jun was just another Xin Qi in that his whole world revolved around his love and nothing else mattered. The love triangle with Zhou Ru Ji was unnecessary and just made misunderstandings even more painful to watch, and his relationship with Zi Zhu was not very interesting or cute. Of course, the "evil" characters are obviously evil, so I don't need to talk about disliking them because they were meant to be disliked (just obvious sexists and harassers). I did really like the kid who played the son (Quan Quan). He was a good actor for his age and did well in his role, although he was that stereotypical kid role that you see in many of these dramas, where he's just way too smart for his age. I will say that the character Cindy was one of the only characters that I didn't really have a problem with. She was just fun and had a good personality.

Started off watching at normal speed, then bumped it up to 1.5x, and then found myself watching at x2 speed nearing the end because it was so repetitive. Maybe if you don't care for well thought out scripts or balanced characters, then you'll enjoy the show. Maybe if you just want to watch handsome guys simp after the girls for 28 episodes then you'll like it. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. Thanks for reading to the end if you made it this far!

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This drama was great! I watched this drama for Jumpei at first because he was the only actor in this drama that I knew. But I also watched this for the plot.

Story: The plot is school-genre like story, but the 35 year old woman going back to high school was a plot twist itself. I never heard anyone over 22 being in high school taking regular classes. Some of the arcs are predictable, but there are enough twists in this drama to keep you interested.

Acting: I'm envious of Yonekura Ryoko for pulling off a high school uniform. She kind of reminds me of Horita Maki when I saw the picture of Ryoko in the drama poster(looks wise). Acting-wise, Ryoko was amazing in this role. I could connect with her character even if I'm not 35! :) I was surprised that I didn't like Jumpei's character in the middle of this drama till his arc came around(I liked him in the beginning & after his arc). The students the story focused on were amazing. Some better than others. I've never seen any of the actors/actresses(or don't remember if I've seen them before or not). Overall, the ensemble cast was amazing.

Music: I like the mini theme song. It sets the tone. The BGM are great, some are not memorable.

Will I rewatch this?: Yes, I will rewatch this drama for the Baba, Koizumi & the student's character development.

You'll like this drama if you like school dramas, comedy, suspense, & the actors and actresses in this drama.

I like Baba & Koizumi together!!!

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promising premise and beginning, disappointed with the execution

Overall: I enjoyed the unique premise but had major issues with the plot. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki.

Content Warnings: violence/blood (in the first scene), murder, trauma, grief, attempted kidnapping, non con kiss (sleeping)

What I Liked
- the premise was unique and rarely seen in BL
- production value
- retelling of the first episode from a different perspective

Room For Improvement
- I wish that Jae Woo and Ji Woon's parents were friends and Jae Woo had just moved into the same city, because... it felt odd befriending a kid like that/having a 10 year old sleep over in a dorm room, it was a bit squicky to me and speaking of...
- Jae Woo was very childlike and stupid for a 25 year old, it made the relationship dynamic even more strange
- their total lack of communication about something suuuppppppeeeerrrr important, like come on
- nonsense things besides the initial premise, a 10 year old regularly walks around at night alone when there is violence in the area? money? ID? same outfit every day?
- why do they like each other, love at first sight? but it was initially an uncle/nephew like relationship, when/why did it change?
- the non con kiss and also this line "I'm going to do something I know you don't like" (and he kisses him, wth?)
- what in the sisyphean hell was that ending?

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Would you leave a thing, with supernatural power to kill anybody, at random place knowing it would cause chaos if it falls into wrong hand? Would you confront a bad person who has asked you to do something wrong in exchange of not harming your beloved ones knowing confronting him would eventually harm your loved ones? You would if you were acting in this drama! There… this drama is this much lame and annoying too. Finally I’ve found a Korean thriller drama to tag ‘disappointing’ with it. Finally, I’ve found a Korean actress whose fake sad expression has totally pissed me off, to that extent that at one point I started skipping parts where she was onscreen. This drama had a sound plot with good mixture of thrill, emotion, supernatural stuff but they just ended up ruining all those! This drama took 32 episodes which was not necessary for its storyline and yet failed to explain number of twists. Audience would never know how the villain finds all those items or how he ends up dying; audience would never know how the male lead comes back to real world; audience would never know how a fatal bomb blast is avoided! The most annoying part is the ending. This cannot be tagged as an ‘open ending’ to be honest, this ending is simply a nonsense ending. I waited till the last episode hoping proper explanation of many questions would be given. But I’ve simply wasted 16 hours of my life.

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Forget what you know about old manga's/anime's being made into movies. We all know that nothing is quite as good, but this movie breaks the status quo. This movie is quickly paced, an 'easy watch' so to say, has sort of a "dark humor" vibe to it, but is definitely brain food. Leaves you questioning most of the time, and when you think you've got it figured out... I'll leave it to you. Another Gantz sums the end up better for viewers, but leaves out some of the most crucial parts of the story line. I suggest you watch this version of Gantz, then just watch the last 11 minutes of Another Gantz. Besides, Anything with Kazunari Ninomiya is worth your while.

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I finished watching and I must say.. WOW.
It´s a really good series, you have to watch it. It has action and everything, and i love dramas that are in ancient times. The are good actors, and the plot is just awesome. They have a good friendship but they are both in different groups so it can´t be. But they are together for as long as possible.
I really loved the series so you should watch it, it´s a really storyand my fav episode is episode 6, I mean just. wow! I loved that episode so much. the last episode was a little confusing for me (how it ended) but I really hope there will be a sequel so I know what will happen because It´s a really good series.
I recommend that you at least begin watching it and see if it´s to your liking :)

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Derivative script for a so-so movie that put all their budget into the action scenes.

This is one of those movies where it's best to go in and turn off your brain so you can enjoy the ride. If you don't turn off your brain, you'll realize it is one of those stories where there are super powered genetically engineered "special" kids who have been experimented on and thus have violent tendencies. One of them escapes being killed and grows up, then things happen when "the Company" finds her. This is the same old plot done many times in many other movies, like the whole Bourne Series, Hanna, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Unfortunately it fails to add anything new to it or stand out in any way so the story wasn't great.

There are 3 other places this film fails. First, it has GAPING plot holes. Many of them. Unrealistically stupid "doctors/researchers" plus ridiculously Overpowered Main Lead plus unforgivably bad employee security / army guys who are nothing more than cannon fodder. If done well, this may have worked (see Jason Bourne series). But somehow it kind of went overboard and strained all bounds of credibility. This is a pity because I really wanted to like it. Maybe it's because Korean cinema is normally so great I guess I was expecting better and ended up disappointed by the excessive Mary Sue nature of the heroine and a deus ex machina plot that leaves everything wide open for a sequel. I mean, as if the words "Part 1: Subversion" in the title weren't obvious enough.

The solution - try to turn off your brain, you'll somewhat enjoy the heroine's story and acting ... and her parents. The secondary male antagonist speaks English wonderfully, he must have had a lot of fun playing the douche bag second best experiment result. His interactions with the heroine are among the best in this movie. The action scenes are very, very well done. There's a ton of blood, a few parts seemed more like CGI video gamey, but the rest of it was hyper violent. I have no complaints about the quality of these scenes and to be honest they're the best reason to watch this movie because the rest is kind of insert "meh" emoji.

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A lot can be said about Missing 9, but whether you liked it or not one thing is for sure, it was addicting as hell! Missing 9 is a particular drama, part comedy, part mystery, part aspiring thriller. Genres that don’t really blend and that was why missing 9 was an adorable mess, but such an enjoyable one!

Story
Missing 9 revolves around a plane crash on a deserted island. Effectively the story can be split into 2 parts that are unfolded at the same time as the drama continues. First part, the flashbacks, are centered in the past as we see the aftermath of the plane crush. Part 2 takes place in the present and talks about what happens after a survivor is found. The drama develops as a mystery: “what the hell actually happened on that island?”

Missing 9 is not a drama to be taken seriously. It tried its best to be original and different and while that is a definitely a plus for me, what actually made it stand out was the peculiar combination of mystery and comedy.

The drama doesn’t know what it wants to be, a thriller about 9 people trying to survive while reevaluating their lives or a hilarious comedy about a plane crush. Answer is both, and the faster you embrace it the more fun you will have watching.

I read a lot of comments claiming that the plot is a trainwreck. I sincerely disagree. I could call the plot tryhard, absurd, ridiculous but also quite intriguing and interesting. What I appreciated the most was that even in its completely ridiculous nature, the story was there from start to finish, implicating murders, mystery, questions and twists that will make you keep watching, hence the addictive part. However, there were countless times I rolled my eyes and giggled at how absurd the script was, how convenient and silly. The comedy isn’t for everyone but for me it was golden.

Best thing about it? The transition between comedy and seriousness was nonexistent. The drama throws intense situations at you and then it mocks itself by ridiculing them all the way, without making itself unwatchable at all. It’s amazing how they made it work. I am the first person who dislikes serious situations being made fun of, but here, I loved it. This is the first time I’ve witnessed a drama doing this so, even if the results aren’t perfect, I give points for originality.

The drama doesn't want to be serious, it wants us to have fun. Therefore, it would be advisable for everyone to just dismiss your logic while watching this and just buckle up and enjoy the crazy ride. I understand this is not for everyone, but what i don't understand why we need to blame this drama for its irrationality when we've accepted countless unrealistic and stretched dramas (with less plot than this one), dramas about time travel, mythical creatures, comic characters ect. Either judge them all or accept them all, they all come from the same imaginative place.

Romance wasn’t present in the drama; there is some kind of romance developing between the leads that was not explored and didn’t need to be. Romance, with the heavy sense of the term, would have been redundant. The couple did look great together and had amazing synergy especially in their comedy scenes.

Overall, Missing 9 was immensely entertaining and one of the better dramas for escapism. Completely mind-numbing, but oh-so amusing! It was this distinct characteristic the drama had where it just made fun of itself completely that I found so provoking and creative that I just fell in love with it. The drama knows it’s silly and absurd but instead of trying to avoid facing that, it builds and thrives on it! Commendable! Not a drama one would rewatch but for what it was it was extremely enjoyable.

Acting
I came here for Jung Kyung Ho, and he was flawless, especially acing his comedy scenes like never before, but the actresses that made the drama for me were Baek Jin Hee and Lee Seon Bin.

For… reasons, I had low expectations from Baek Jin Hee even if I had never seen her before. The girl positively surprised me and proved to be a very strong female lead. Her acting was spot-on and tip-top, being funny, cute and emotional when needed. I'm looking forward to her future projects!

Lee Seon Bin is definitely a new favourite for me, not only because she’s certifiably hot but because she’s a very promising young lady with a bright future.

The cast was mostly unknown-at least to me- but I sincerely enjoyed watching them as a whole.

Recommend
Missing 9 sounds amazing from the synopsis but it would be wise to drop your expectations a bit. It is not anything groundbreaking as a drama, but it is unique in terms of script-idea and development. The combination of thriller and comedy and the ridiculousness of the whole thing really clicked perfectly all together for a unique experience. If you are into comedy, want to watch something light and would like some thriller on the side this is not a bad watch at all.

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The game will now begin...

If you're still contemplating whether to watch Alice in Borderland: watch it!

I've been waiting for so long to see a high budget Japanese show, and this really is what I've been looking for. So, thanks Netflix, I guess? The camera work, the acting and special effects are all top-notch, hands down. I just wish they went further with the soundtrack, it would have been nice to have a more distinguished background music for the series. (Although I think we can agree that “Good Times” is the bop of the year.)
The plot is very intriguing. The moment I saw that the base plot revolves around Tokyo where people go missing... I was sold already. But it actually managed to keep my attention all the way through thanks to the plot twists and great characters!
I believed prior to watching that the story will be continuously action-packed, but I was relieved to see that they put quite a lot of emphasis on building characters, which made the pacing a little slower at times, but gave a nice chance to get emotionally attached to all the characters.

There are some things in the plot that I will never forgive the writer(s)! But I won’t go into that since that would be a spoiler. (And I have many many other thoughts but all spoilery.)

I really hope many-many people will watch and support this show because
1, I really want to get a second season
2, I'm begging Netflix to pick up more Japanese productions.

P.S.: I can’t believe I didn’t realise it sooner that the name “Arisu” sounds exactly the same as “Alice” in Japanese.

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This drama is written very well, as the main message in the story is about believing one's self and never giving up. Eva's "disease" is the main thing the holds her back from becoming who she really is. She was traumatized in her past, due to the fact that she was fat and humiliated. But after all her experiences throughout the drama with Ruan Dongsheng, she finally discovers that being fat is not the problem, and she could still achieve her dreams. The final episode definitely shows that she does not care whether she is skinny or fat, as she was willing to become fat, in order to donate blood because she was underweight, to save Dongsheng's mother. Dongsheng also eventually forgives his mother and reconciles with her, due to misunderstandings in the past.

The most shocking and best parts of the drama for me are Luo Yiren's parts. She stands out the most in the drama due to her visuals and especially her acting. She is so rigid and tough in the beginning since all she cares about is her job. She has not lived her life fully until she mistakenly discovers she has leukemia. Then she quits her jobs and lives the life she wants. She shows up with purple hair (just a wig) and does all the wild things, and makes Xiao Nan do some romantic "things" with her. This was honestly the most hilarious part of the drama. I loved the way she changes through the drama, from stiff/rigid to a regular person who actually lives her life to the fullest extent. The most important part is she stays strong and independent afterward too. I am hyped to watch more of her dramas.

One thing that threw me off was why Eva was afraid that she might turn big after accepting that being big is a part of her. Other than that, this drama ended pretty well and delivered a pretty good message of accepting who you are.

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Prefer the second lead

Story:
The story was started pretty promising, yet after the beginning of the second reincarnation part, the story of the main leads became boring. It's the opposite of the second leads story, which I found more interesting. Though they started their love story at the slow burning pace, however in the end I thought their story was much more suitable as main plot.

Acting:
I also prefer the acting of the second leads. Bamby Zhu has more emotional side in her acting that Dylan Wang. She actually did a good job in her three roles, proof she is not just amateur. On contrary, Dylan Wang was a disappointment. His acting was flat, can not feel his deep love for the female lead.

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Watchable Oatmeal, Where was the love

No spoiler review.
So, after a sea of bad writing and horrible endings, the Cdrama industry trolls us with this drama.
Is it watchable? Yes
Worth a rewatch?....nopes

And here's why.

Unconvincing OTP, in the way it should count.
The affection is giving good friends instead, of lovers.
I mean, we got secondary characters pairing up in ways you can feel they, just can't wait to be together.
Even a late entry villain's love line, gives a better "we have to be together" in the few scenes they were given, in comparison.

A story that makes sense without misunderstandings, fight scenes that feel fresh, characters that talk out the problems, breakups and crisis resolutions that aren't overtop...All great..But, how did they still manage to give us nothing while doing it?

Exciting bland, just smeared all over the place. The tone is too calm, maybe the colors didn't help. It needed something to give it the push that would've made it perfect.

I believe the problem was with direction, which you will see the main actors could've given that spark needed for key points. The director just didn't let them.

It sad the drama is borderline forgettable when these were good roles for the actors

I recommend this with the warning that i found myself even skip watching the OTP the last 10 episodes and it is entertaining....enough.

A- for the story, C+ for execution, B- for the roller set ponytail.
We all deserve better!

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LOVE YUMI

Absolutely love it! Yumi's character development along with some of the other characters is done so beautifully that by S2 I felt I knew each of them so well and cared deeply. Hats off to Kim GoEun. Honestly, I started watching show because of her and she did not let us down at all. She is so mesmerizing I felt her all her emotions be it frustration, struggles, happiness, despair. The animation, omg kudos to the entire animation studio. Such a phenomenal job! And especially voice actors! My fav cells Reason, love, foodie and lust. I laughed and cried with all of them. Im sad it ended but the ending was perfect. Subtle and impactful! Don't be persuaded by negative comments about the ending, can't have typical cliche endings so boring. And for that I loved this even more! Congratulations KGE for the award, well deserved and more!!!

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Taiwanese answer to Gameboys was everything I didn’t know I wanted.

SYAQ? features a Japanese love interest, a tiny frantic disaster gay, slow burn pining, and ended with a domestic montage of pure joy. OMG SO CUTE.

It’s a marker of Taiwan’s adoration of the crash into me trope (have they ever done a BL without it?) that our boys spend less than 5 minutes of screen time together and still they stumbled into that one. Also, this is Taiwan, so there’s even a bit of high heat. The only thing wrong with this show was how short it was.

Stay all the way through the credits for the most adorable boyfriends ever.

An utterly charming series, all fluff, no drama, and pure warm fuzzies to watch.

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