Reviews

Don't know what to measure in here.

Now that you've read the synopsis, there's nothing left for you to watch, except the intimate moments and the hot actors, haha. The 24 minutes story involves a college student and a man who meet in a basketball court and becomes affected to each other and end up in a relationship.

Their life comes to a point where they're entirely each others but end up finding each other's biggest secret which is a big surprise to both of them and they can't help but continue on their paths. The end! Yes, that's how it ended without any explanation and now I seek the makers to come ahead and make us understand about the essence, please?

Even for a short run time, this thing felt very average for a Taiwanese BL because we have examples of good Taiwanese BL movies like "Dear Ex" , "Your Name Engraved Here-in" who are of very high quality.

Alike any Taiwanese feature movie, they put emphasis on cinematography and sound editing and shady representation of their lifestyles. These are few of the good points about it, along with the acting elements and intimate scenes which is plenty; too much for a 24min movie, like they were smooching each other every other moment. I mean I like sex scenes too (ugly laugh) but this short movie lacked screentime man.

The most meaningful thing was the symbolic representation of uniting a gold fish and a fighter fish.

Tbh, when the protest thingy poped up halfway after the story, I was kinda intrigued because this is an unique perspective in a bl or any love story I have seen but that again was wasted with the half-baked screenplay ending with lots of confusing questions. Xiang as an environmentalist was on one side and...... Won't spoil but I am disappointed to say that they could have done better with the context by making it an hour project.

Well, it's still watchable because of the acting elements and the exploding intimate scenes. So go for it because even if you don't like it, a 24mins piece won't hurt you.

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"I Want to Make Goo-Goo Eyes with Mik"

Thank you to Muse for subbing this! Y'all are AWESOME!!

Wow! I had so much fun watching this lakorn! I mostly loved it. The main couple had cute chemistry and some pretty fun romantic scenes. I liked their playfulness and could feel the sparks. And whoever can turn down a shirtless Mik has lots of will power!

If you have watched Thai lakorns, you pretty much know how most stories will unfold and how certain things will happen. I don't really consider what I have listed below as spoiling anything, but just in case, you may not want to scroll down.







Things I liked:
1. A strong female lead who can defend herself and makes mostly smart choices.
2. A male lead who's a nice guy, but a bit naughty. And he looks good shirtless. Just saying. (Next time I think I'll make a shirtless scene count when I watch certain actors.... A girl has to have a hobby.)
3. The main couple actually talked and shared information and addressed problems together.
4. Cute second lead couple romance.
5. For me, the comedy was fun. It had me smiling, giggling and laughing.
6. Pretty solid plot lines without too many gaps in character actions.
7. Some close encounters of the human kind. (insert extra smiles here)
8. Mostly loved the mother and sister of the male lead.
9. The grandmother character could kick backside as well.
10. I really enjoyed the scenery and location shots.
11. Loved the ending!

Things I expect from most Thai lakorns that check the box:
1. Crazy obsessive girl who wants the male lead. Did I mention she's really craw-craw?
2. Jealousy with greed driven relatives who want to get what the other has.
3. Grandmother who hates and rejects female lead.
4. Minions who can't shoot worth a darn.
5. Everyone gets their karma in the end.
6. The almost kiss....
7. Scriptwriters looking for things to do in last couple of episodes.

Things I didn't really care for:
1. Female lead really beats up on the male lead too much IMO. But, I think that goes along with both of the characters, so I can live with it.
2. I don't think the scriptwriter really showed the second couple male lead character falling for the girl.
3. No one got the crazy girl help. She needed professional help.
4. I think it went a bit off track and repeated plot lines towards the end. But, you see that quite often in Thai lakorns.
I still love to watch them.

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Character wise: At the beginning, none of the main leads are likable. They each have their own flaws which can annoy you. I mean it definitely annoyed me to see one who was reckless while the other didn't want to do anything at all and leave it in the hands of others; however you do begin to see character development in the male lead, Ji Suk. He eventually became my favorite character in this drama because of his selflessness and sacrifice. The female lead, Yoo Ryung, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. This is where the extra patience comes in. Her character can be a make it or break it for the viewers. If you can't stand her character because of her actions, you'll end up dropping this drama because she doesn't have development until after her secret is revealed which is around ep 11. So if you can tolerate the frustration she will give you, then you'll make it to the point where she's becoming a bit more likable. The frustrating second lead Ma Ri just seems like an angry person overall. She's pretty much mad at everything. She does become better towards the last few episodes but the progression for her reaching that point doesn't make sense at all. It's like one talk and she completely flipped 180. And then we have second lead Woo Hyuk which honestly he didn't really seem like he had a big role. He has the looks but that's about it. He attempts to form a love triangle between the leads but it fails just because Yoo Ryung wasn't into the romance department. I will say that the subway ghost does have actor potential to be the next lead character after seeing his acting on here. His acting was really convincing and I say he was able to outshine all of the other characters.

Story wise: It was a good introduction. I think this drama started off strong with the plot, only to fall short midway and towards the end. I liked how these cases, or I called it side stories, ended up telling a story that the leads can relate too, though most of the cases related to Yoo Ryung. The plot began to drag for me as it seemed like every week it was the same old thing and very little discoveries on what the title of this drama was about, "catch the ghost" or in this case subway ghost. I like how you couldn't guess who the subway ghost actually is. The writers make you believe it's person or that person. You always have suspicions. That being said, I'm disappointed the way the last episode was handled. The subway ghost had a big revealing, had a back story, only to be scrapped off in the first 15 mins of the episode. We don't know if he was caught or he died. That remains unknown which is lame because I say he played a vital role to this drama. It's just an okay ending overall, not bad or even sad but just nothing really big to talk about.

SUMMARY: If you can withstand, have the patience, tolerate, the frustrations of the female lead, and secondary female lead, then you'll be able to watch this drama from start to finish. Is it worth it? Well, the progression of the plot is slow, the last episode is missing a lot of important details so it did felt rush, romance is there but maybe towards the last few episodes. You'll probably not missing much if you past on this but if you like the actor or actress, hey give it a shot.

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If you’re not watching Story of Kunning Palace you are missing out in life!!!

Whoever, is trying to find a drama that will send you in comas back and forth, turn your heart inside out and back in, give you series of asthma attacks!!! Highly highly recommend watching Story of Kunning Palace!!!

Story of Kunning Palace is literally the masterpiece of all masterpieces!!! Bai Lu and Zhang LingHe’s acting of course is spectacular!!! Their abiliy to immerse themselves into their characters as if they were actually JiangXueNing and XieWei and expresss such powerful and deep emotions is insaneeee!!! In addition, their chemistry sky rockets into the sky!!! This is what scientists should study!!! And their visuals!!! Do I need to even comment on that!!! I mean whatever scene they are in they look heavenly beautiful!!!

The storyline of this drama is also sooooo well-written and addictive!!! Just the 1st episode and I was completely immersed into this drama!!! The fact that 5 epidoes were cut due to some issues, this drama is still perfectly paced and doesn’t have any missing parts!!! Also each character has their own moments to shine and have a storyline without it being unnecessary and boring!!!! This drama is probs the 1st drama where I never played forward or 2x speeded it!!! In addition, tho this drama seems to be on the serious and dull side, I guarantee you its not!!! There are many scenes that were soooo sweet, romantic and hilarious that’s makes you blush and smile while sleeping!!!! However, there are also scenes that make you hold your breath from the tension and cry rivers and oceans from the story!!!

Ultimately, everything about this drama is perfection!!! The whole cast, storyline, cinematography, OST, costumes, etc is a chef’s kiss!!! Honestly for me this drama is an infinite out of 10 but MyDramaList only lets me rate it 10/10!!!

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A slice of police life with the past

I can only write this after watching 10 episodes, because I just feel like this drama is worth watching, not just because my bias, Gong Jun, plays the role.

This drama offers a glimpse into the daily lives of police officers with all its problems. The three police officers each have their own dark stories. We're invited to delve deeper into them as we follow them as they solve cases.

In total, out of 30 episodes, there will reportedly be 11 cases explored. So far, the case resolutions are quite brief, about 3 episodes per case. They're not overly lengthy. But if you're into gore or bloody forensics, this won't do; the forensics are more lighthearted here. And that's not the point; the emphasis is more on the investigation, the pursuit of criminals, and the theories.

This drama also offers a slice of life, the hustle and bustle of police life, to the point where they're told to disperse even while eating because of a case. Or those who were trying to get close but were suddenly told to get together, or even those who divorced because they were busy. What's touching is that this division even had time to cook food for the cleaning staff who worked until night or dawn during their hectic case-solving schedules.

It's a police story, but there's a love story, apparently, that doesn't make it in. Wait a minute, the love story is related to the reason the woman chose to become a police officer, so it had to be included. The love story isn't just a romantic kissing scene, either. It's more about an internal conflict due to a misunderstanding in their past. So now they have to face it in their respective professions.

If you're curious, give it a try. There's also the added bonus of Jun2 riding a motorcycle and racing, which is quite eye-opening. Oh well, just watch it. I'd say it's good and very addictive, and I can't wait for the next episode.

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TL:DR It's a good DRAMA movie, but it's not a thriller.

Just a little note that I watched it raw and I am not a fluent Korean speaker, so I may be wrong on certain occasions.

The things I loved:
- Character portrayal. I loved how this movie took its time to show what the characters thought of each other using actions and glances rather than just words. I believe that it creates a certain tension of the viewer thinking whether the characters mean what they do, or whether it is simple over analyzation. This gives credit to the amazing casts and storyline.
- The suspense. Yes I said that this is not a thriller, and I mean it, but there is some level of suspense (or tension) throughout the movie, and I credit the music for that. It's not your dramatic movie suspense but those everyday suspense that normal people feel because of human relations.

The things I didn't quite like:
- The trailer vs the movie. I came for a thriller movie and so I had certain expectations when I started watching. Therefore I am not going to lie. I was a bit disappointed when I watched it (but that added the element of surprise, which is always nice) Don't get me wrong though. I thoroughly enjoyed and was indulged in this movie.
- The last scene of the movie. No spoilers, I know. But when you finish watching, tell me that if I am wrong when I say that the crew/director kind of miss the point of something and maybe thought we didn't notice something. Idk, might just have been me.

Anyway, Choi Taejoon is in here and I love him, so this movie is borderline BOMB.

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Well, the spinoff from Iris was not close to the original, why? Let me tell you!

Story/Love plot - A forbidden love between two warring organizations? I have to say that this was a great idea. Although this was different from Iris, it made the drama extremely interesting. Whenever there were collisions from the opposing sides, the love story would blossom during the most intense parts of the drama. Well done from the directors part for portraying it as such and the writers for coming up with this idea. Now, the actual drama, pretty good. An easy to follow story line but still throws in twists and turns to keep viewers interested.
Acting/Cast - Not as good as Iris, but the actors/actresses did their part. It was enough to keep viewers interested, but bringing in Kim So Yeon as a guest role showed that there was some wavering for the drama and needed a small help from the cast of Iris(Kim SoYeon was phenomenal in IRIS, but I digress)
Music - Kim TaeYeon sings one of the OST's, what more is there? Hah, I kid, the music was alright honestly.
Rewatch Value - Ehhh... The story drops off during the middle of the drama and it becomes a bit troublesome watching the episodes.
Overall - Yeah, it was ok, nothing great.
Circumstances - due to someone getting injured, production of the last two episodes were stopped for about 2 months, so I have not had the chance to see the last two episodes but I did read the summary, with a relatively predictable ending.

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Story: The story revolves around a young boy who was 'cursed' with a mysterious aura suppressed within him. Because of this curse, he secludes himself from others and yearns to be normal. After he is accused of murder due to his 'curse', he runs away in an attempt to discover the truth behind the murder, and along the way he finds love, friendship and family. In his journey to find the truth, he uncovers more than he has ever imagined - his 'curse'.

Acting/Cast: I literally fell in love with every character in this - from the main characters to even the minor supporting characters. Yang Mi and Li Yi Feng were a very sweet couple but a little dull at times. But I can't help but love them. They have a very rather bitter sweet relationship. Not sure why, but it did get a little annoying hearing her call "Su Su" all the time.. XD My favourite 'couple' were probably Zheng Shuang and Ma Tian Yu... their cute bickering was adorable. I love how naturally they appeared with one another that I always looked forward to watching their scenes the most. Who impressed me the most in this was probably Qiao Zhen Yu - I have never seen him nor heard of him before but his portrayal of his character was brilliant. *SPOILER* He played one of the best villians I've seen IMO. It doesn't hurt that he's quite good looking too!

Music: I actually loved both the opening and ending songs - they were beautiful. Though I don't really know who the singers are as I'm not very familiar with Chinese music. I love the sound of chinese oriental music so much! Even the background music that was played during any battles was rather upbeat and 'exciting'.

Rewatch Value: I don't rewatch shows much because I don't have time to and there's always so many new dramas coming out. But, I would be willing to sit through this again with english subs as I'm sure I must of missed something because I'm not 100% fluent with chinese especially when modern speech isn't used.

Overall: I highly recommend this drama especially if you like the ancient fantasy type dramas (aka wuxia). The story was wonderfully written and the actors did an amazing job with giving us this drama. Like any other wuxia dramas, the costumes are beautiful! I guess the only drawback is the 'awesome' CGI effects that they used - very typical CGI in these dramas. I know some people who cannnot stand the CGI, but to me they were beautifully created so I don't mind too much.

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In its monstrosity hardly dealt with war crime pulled off the dusty shelf in vividly stylized mode

The Netflix production “Gyeongseong Creature” turns out to be quite an idiosyncratic mix. Studio Dragon had the opportunity to experiment and make full use of an illustrious cast. Despite some clichés, "Gyeongseong Creature" is not a banal K-drama that you quickly forget.

Basically it's another hero´s quest of some hero against his will, discovering unexpected sides of himself. It´s another ´mission impossible´ right into the lion's den - in this case: the military hospital of the Japanese colonial army base in the middle of the capital of the Chōsen colony in 1945. It is not the fair maiden who is to be saved, but the kidnapped, impregnated courtesan of the chief of the Japanese police. It turns out that a 'dragon' - in this case an artificially created monster - also has to be overcome along the way. The hero is flanked by a motley crew of long-standing and spontaneous companions...

Now this old wine comes in a freshly spiced-up Korean-style bottle. The personal touch of "Gyeongseong Creature" is precisely that Gyeongseong in those final months of the Pacific War, when Seoul bore that name. The historical setting as well as the historically and socially significant issues of Japanese colonial rule give the plot its selectivity and a quite serious foundation, so that "Gyeongseong Creature" does not simply offer interchangeable run-of-the-mill entertainment. Here, a painful chapter of South Korean suffering is intertwined with personal fates in the form of loosely interspersed critical events during colonial rule that is officially (by Japan) to this day preferable neglected, not to mention rehabilitated. With this Netflix production it has been nonchalantly thrown onto the World Channel to be proclaimed and acknowledged in HD.
This involves in general: the arbitrary racist violence and oppression against the Koreans as well as the systematic torture and execution of suspected resistance fighters in Sodaemun Prison; the forced military conscription and bullying of Korean soldiers within Japanese units; the forced recruitment or abduction of comfort women for (mass rape for the pleasure of) frontline soldiers... And specifically in the case of this story: the monstrous machinations of Unit 731 as part of the Imperial Japanese Army, which went down in history for its inhumane experiments on human subjects. Although these experiments actually took place mainly in Harbin in Manchuria (see side note below), they were for this KDrama also imported to Gyeongseong for a compact narrative stringency.

Against this background, "Gyeongseong Creature" tells its fictional story with artistic license. In some scenes you may get the impression that you have lost your way in a parody. Despite of such incomprehensible human menace and distress, the story presents itself at times completely unimpressed by any seriousness. There is room for humor and coolness, (which sometimes made me think of a parody of 'James Bond' or alike production). There is this reluctant hero who sometimes appears naive, sometimes quite cheeky and self-confident. He´s someone who has learned to achieve his goals, but who prefers to stay out of any trouble, wearing a stylish suit. And then, out of nowhere, he can withstand torture and injuries as if it were nothing at all. You can't really take this seriously. And yet...
In contrast, there is plenty of objective seriousness and expertise from the two foreign travelers on their detective mission. Pleasant extra: a clever, self-confident FL who is quick-witted in every respect.
In contrast, there is also the extremely dark world of medical experiments (and their artistic documentation) – underground on the military site.
In contrast, there are also the monsters, the army and the imprisoned test subjects.
And in the middle of the perfidious chase, the great feelings of humanity shine through: familial bonds and solidarity as well as wounded pride and jealousy act as driving forces, flanked by patriotic resistance and questionable scientific ambition. It's hardly surprising that Cupid also shoots his arrow in passing.

Not only do the individual characters at times feel like caricatures of themselves, Gyeongseong's production, choreographed in light and colors, also seems to come from an unreal fairytale world. While the pawnshop shimmers in all colors, the Japanese research laboratory is stylized as a dark dungeon beneath the military prison. And then there is the Moonlight Bar on the one hand and the police chief's property on the other - each of them control centers with a certain (political) impact. All of this is impressively aestheticized again and again in hand-picked scenes and settings. Sometimes you can feel like you're in the theater and then again like you're in the high-resolution digital world of a computer game.

So is the KDrama worth watching? On the one hand, "Gyeongseong Creature" takes itself very seriously with regard to its historical contemporary themes, but on the other hand, in the clichéd exaggeration of the individual characters, it apparently doesn't. This KDrama mix chosen for "Gyeongseong Creature" is, in my opinion, quite daring. However, I mean this in a benevolently positive way, in the sense of 'feeling free to experiment'. You might have to get used to it - but easily so. The (let´s say) rather 'banal' entertainment element - the Mission Impossible in view of the numerically superior Japanese military and the monster creation - is effectively intertwined with painful historical reality in a strikingly piquant and catchy manner. During the action-packed and visually stunning ride through the episodes, the KDrama subtly but consequently throws its barbs of memory at the audience.

The KDrama surely is offering cinematically solid entertainment with a star cast, but at the same time, based on the different personal backgrounds of the main and supporting characters, it demands acknowledgement of how the Japanese dealt with Koreans at that time. By stylizing the manifestation of Unit 731's monstrous experiments and research in the form of a concrete monster with superpowers, "Gyeongseong Creature" symbolically brings the unsatisfactorily dealt with war crime off the dusty history shelves in an unmistakable monstrosity.


...
Well, a second season has already been announced.
This will obviously be set in contemporary Seoul, though. We´ll see...























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SIDE NOTE: --- Unit 731 of the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Army ---

From 1932 onwards, Unit 731 of the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Army under the leadership of Ishii Shirō was stationed in Harbin, the largest city of the puppet state of Manchukuo in northern Manchuria. Around 3,000 mostly bacteriologists carried out experiments on living people there. The test subjects imprisoned and tortured there were predominantly Korean and Chinese civilians as well as Soviet prisoners of war. Later, including American prisoners of war, too.
Unit 731 of the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Army was disguised as the “Main Branch of the Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department.” In fact, Unit 731 in Harbin is responsible for the most cruel experiments on living humans. Later, field research was also carried out using the biological weapons developed in Harbin. The victims based on this research alone were mostly civilians - tens of thousands came together over the course of the war years.
I would like to ad that the main perpetrators of these war crimes by Unit 731, who had the full support of the later Japanese prime ministers and the Japanese imperial family, remained unpunished in exchange for the research results that they handed over to the USA...


PS:
There was no offshoot of Unit 731 in the fictional Onseong Hospital in Geyeongseong. That's fictional.
There was no Onseong Hospital in Gyeongseong either.
However...


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SIDE NOTE: --- Gyeongseong Japanese Military Hospital ---

The main KDrama setting is a colorful look and feel of Gyeongsong (Seoul at that time). The focus is on the architecture of the Republic's former Defense Security Command Center. On the area between the palace and the old town of Bukcho a military hospital was built by the Japanese in 1928. The Onseong named Hospital in "Gyeongseong Creature" is fictional, but the architecture that takes center stage is in fact related to a real Japanese military hospital before later actually becoming part of the Republic's Defense Security Command Center.
Until about two decades ago, this area was an urban area closed to the public and with bad memories for the people - not only of the activities of the colonial rulers, but also of their own military, which staged a coup against the people here in the 1970s. Furthermore, many South Koreans were tortured and mistreated there (by the security officers of South Korea's dictatorial regime). Until recently, human rights was an unknown concept behind those walls.
The ensemble could have been demolished, but the people decided to preserve the building as a memorial. The historical witness is now part of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The bloody past is thus being countered with something positive: the imagination and emotional power of modern art.

Here, with the KDrama "Gyeongsong Creature", the dark past of this military area bearing a bloody and painful past, which began with Japanese colonial rule and was later continued by South Korean government officials, comes to life again with artistic license, too - as representative contemporary witness in HD.

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Is This Really Love? Or Interest In Love?

Ahn Soo Young is a beautiful, hard-working 4 year employee as Chief Bank Teller at KCU Bank. Due to her past experiences and personal difficulties whilst growing up, she does not believe that she is destined to be happy.

Even with her stone face and distant demeanor, Ha Sang Soo under her mentorship when he first joined the bank, gradually found himself drawn to her as he grew through the ranks at the workplace. One day, he finally musters his nerves and asks Soo Young for a date. However, he was late arriving the dinner venue and was seen by Soo Young hesitating for a moment before entering the restaurant. Soo Young re-acts in a devastating manner and hence the possible relationship between her and Sang Soo spirals off to different directions. They then inadvertently paired themselves with respective partners whom I found were really well suited to them. However, like a ‘moth to the flame’, Soo Young and Sang Soo continues to be drawn to each other.

Soo Young has self-esteem issues and does not easily give herself permission to be happy. Sang Soo is a guy who takes life and relationship seriously, making him cautious in his thought process. Will such two un-confident energy ever find love?

I found this drama really angsty as I yearned to see the two main leads coming together. One might even find many moments really slow, but these are the moments where this type of drama requires one to sink into the scenes and emotions, which had my attention. Whilst waiting for that moment, I thoroughly enjoyed the stories with the second leads as well as the entire ensemble of family, bank colleagues and office politics. The entire drama was cleverly weaved in these really complicated relationships. Moon Ga Young was ‘horribly’ good as Soo Young and Yoo Yeon Seok (normally, whom I always enjoy watching his macho go-getter roles) was ‘horribly’ good as the mild, cautious and hesitant Sang Soo. So frustrating to watch and yet able to make me appreciate the flow and the tension.

This is not your normal love story drama, and this is why I enjoyed this so much.

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Rather Bizarre Ending

Believe in Love is a partly xianxia, partly non xianxia drama. The xianxia elements are not pronounced throughout the story, as most of the characters are all normal humans living an earthly life, until towards the end when some elements of xianxia come to light. This is another story revolving around cuisines and food, and it is my fourth one in a row. Despite the tag that says “comedy”, there is very little comedy here, or comedies that don't make people laugh. Nonetheless, it’s quite an enjoyable light watch with some “angsts” for some viewers.

Hua Yinan (Huang Shengchi) and Lu Yue’er (Zheng He Hui Zi) were lovers in their previous life as General Mu Yuan and Xiao Man. Mu Yuan died and Xiao Man perished while trying to save him. Thousands of years later, they meet again living on an island -- Hua Yinan as the son of the owner of the island and Lu Yue’er as the daughter of the owner of a small noodle shop. With mysteries and unexplained circumstances, Hua Yinan is told to marry Lu Yue’er in his father’s will before he can inherit his father’s legacy as the rightful owner of the island and all his properties, including the biggest and best restaurant on the island. Hua Yinan is reluctant to marry Lu Yue’er as he doesn’t like her and the feelings are mutual. Through various encounters that make them save each other’s life, Hua Yinan begins to fall in love with Lu Yue’er. So when she agrees to marry him, Hua Yinan is overjoy. He inherits everything the will promises he will. Comes our antagonist who was the antagonist in their previous life as well. What follows become a test of their true love for each other.

The whole cast is new to me including the main leads. Huang Shengchi is good looking and despite having acted in many dramas, this is my first drama of him. His portrayal of Hua Yinan is convincing with a mild demeanor and a soft romance towards his love. Likewise, I have never watched any of Zheng He Hui Zi’s dramas, and her portrayal here is equally convincing as the naïve Lu Yue’er or the arrogant Tang Yingying. Her outfit is rather unconventional with bared shoulders, accentuating her narrow frame, making her looking like a little girl. Their dynamics together are sweet and authentic with a lot of intimate scenes. The antagonist is vile and hateful, and Xiao Kaizhong's portrayal is very convincing. The second couple, Su Tang (Zhu Rong Jun) and Du Ruo (Hou Dong), is quite a joy to watch, and the stepmom and step sister are so horrible that you want to slap them. These supporting actors are great in their respective roles.

My Verdict

This drama is not great nor very bad. It’s easy watching though it can be rather slow pace as there is a prolong romance play which can be welcoming for some romance buffs, but boring for others. The last episode turns into a love triangle with a xianxia fight with superpower. The endings have multiple plot holes and questions not answered. It's rather bizarre. Overall, watch it for light entertainment and don't be too bothered with the details.

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Overall good :]

For a short netflix kdrama I'd say its good.

The plot isnt confusing if anything its pretty straightfoward in a good way of course!

I think the main female really did carry the show though. The energy her character brought in really hooked me personally making me feel like watching the next episodes.
It doesnt feel too cliche well atleast to me it felt that way! Then again that might just depend on your taste if its cliche or not so keep that in mind.

For 10 episodes I think the pacing was pretty good actually the plot line doesnt feel to slow or to fast! Doenst feel like there many plot holes either which you gotta appreciate. They provide enough backstory on both main leads and the side characters also get their amount of plot.

Overall the show is just exactly what its description say it would be about. It was full with some humor parts and overall can be taken very lightly.

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great start, terrible ending

Overall: I was really impressed with the first episode and the first half of the second episode. Unfortunately, cliched writing really let it down. Aired cut on SUKFILM YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYfaogVGCvwTczUW4K1YELu_cWQfUQ21a&si=Wv8xKJkU1Fq2v-5t and uncut with channel Membership https://youtu.be/ync6RU2p-Mg?si=veM-TZOGJ6Q67cI5 (I have watched both the cut and uncut versions)
Update - since they are airing more episodes I have increased my rating to a 7

Content Warning: coercion

What I Liked
- tension/chemistry
- indirect way at first to say he didn't have money, used context clues instead of exposition dumps
- clear communication at the start of episode 2
- intimacy

Room For Improvement
- didn't love that they were doing something before what happened at the end of ep 1
- characters started doing "because the writer said so" stuff in episode 2, why would he write that right next to the other guy? why did all of a sudden feelings change and he ran out to meet him? he just left his phone screen visible on the table when he left, etc
- cliched female characters as potential/actual antagonists
- this is obviously an indie production, but I think they could have collaborated with a coffee shop to get a free location in exchange for naming them as a sponsor/publicity, also subtitle errors in episode 4 made the plot confusing (also had some missing subtitles)
- that ending was such a letdown, cliched and unsatisfying (update: they decided to release more episodes)

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Love Story Between a Scorpio and an Aquarius

Wow, what an ending!!! At the beginning of this episode (last episode) I thought this was going to be another amnesia trope but in this case it really worked (also made this entire drama make sense). This is going to put up a serious fight against Crash Landing On You as my favorite drama for the year. I have to say this show surprised me so much. Unlike Crash Landing On You, I came in with normal expectations. One, because I have never watched a show with Lee Joon Gi before despite having watched hundreds of dramas (I know, I know. I have always respected him and admired him but somehow just never watched a k-drama with him in it). On the other hand, I really like Moon Chae Won as an actress. She has never disappointed in any of the dramas she was in. She neve disappointed me in Innocent Man, never disappointed me in Princess Man, never disappointed me in Good Doctor, and has not even disappointed me in Goodbye Mr. Black (yes, that show was a disaster but her acting is spectacular). She has took it to a different level in this drama. Everything just hit so hard in this show and I have never once felt that her character was not insincere or she was acting.

And Lee Joon Gi was phenomenal. As a dude, I always thought all of the other k-drama fans (mostly women) have liked him not just because he was a good actor but also handsome. But he killed it in this show. He portrayed a complicated character so well it is unbelievable. This character has showed and experienced every emotion possible to a human being (betrayal, shock, love, guilt, anger, happiness, sadness, jealousness), everything. To show every single emotion without even acting out all of the scenes is just beyong amazing (of course the writing and directing were phenomenal).

This show also reminds me an article I read half an hour ago about horology (I know this is not related but it kind of is). It was an article about Scorpios and Aquarius. What really stood out was how the two signs have so many obstacles in the way but strangely match up so well. It really seemed to describe this couple.

Do Hyun Su (the Scorpio in this case) does not have a lot of friends. He does not trust people easily. He comes off as off-putting and such a huge jerk. He is hated by everyone as well as society. People do not understand him, they think he is psychopathic. However, as a Scorpio (I am just going to assume his character is a Scorpio-type personality) he can read people easily. Hence why he often manipulated people (he feels emotions but manipulated people simply because he could and it legitimately made sense in his situation). He can read his friend Moo Jin and he can read his Noona. He can certainly read Cha Ji Won as well (the aquarius in this case). Moreover, he cares a lot about the people he loves: his Dad, his Mom, his Sister, his friend, and last but least his wife (also loves his adopted family hence why he was able to be set up by them despite himself being extremely careful and observant, he just loved them too much). He is very family-centric (misses his mom, still loves his dad and even cares about his adoptive family) and loyal (hates betrayals, hence why he wanted to kill the nephew in his mind). However, despite still trusting the people around him, he still cannot trust anyone completely, not even his wife (aggravated by the fact that she is a cop and he is a fugitive). Hence, why he fooled her for so long. However, this drama really pushed him to change (Scorpios don't change easily) to really take a leap of faith and trust his wife completely which he eventually did (however, somewhere he did not know why he trusted her and even doubted his feelings a bit both before the accident and after the accident).

Ok, now back to Cha Ji Won (the aquarius). She is extremely popular with people, is very creative and idealistic. She has a lot of friends but enjoys having her own space. She seems to have a lot of friends but none of them seem to be able to read through her. However, Do Hyun Soo can. Do Hyun Soo finds her creativity and playfulness enjoyable and extremely captivating but he does not know why he likes her (mysterious attraction). He tries extremely hard to figure out everything about her (all of the notes he wrote trying to figure out why she likes something, and all of his effort trying to get her know better). I know it is hypocritical to want to know about someone but hide yourself but Do Hyun Soo is very insecure deep inside (once again aggravated by his complicated past, his fugitive status, and his wife's job). In the end, he seemingly succeeds. But deep inside, he is not only not truly confident that his wife loves him, but not even sure that he likes her (since he does not know why). Cha Ji Won (the aquarius) is also extremely attracted to Do Hyun Soo but she is not 100 percent sure why either. From her point of view, she keeps on expressing her interest (right before they started dating and after the memory loss) but she is getting no response. She is extremely tired but just cannot seem to give up. At the end of this episode, she seemingly gave up but still had some hope somewhere (Hyun Soo could not really go to her in both cases before he was certain that he really liked her).

This all ties back to the final analogy which made everything make sense to me. Hyun Soo, the Greek God who is misunderstood by everyone likes to hang out in his own comfortable space. However, he always has his wife on his mind (Cha Ji Won). He finally realized that just like the Greek God, there was only one person he truly loved and trusted, and that was Cha Ji won.

All right, one more thing. I thought Eun Ha loved her Dad irrationally too much before this episode but it makes sense to me now. She is a shadow of her mom. She is too similar to her mom. WIth the exact same personality and half of her genes, it is easy to see why she loves him. Do Hyun Soo loves her as well which is another parallel to the relationship betwen him and his wife.

TL;DR: Do Hyun Soo and Cha Ji Won seem like they might not be a great fit because of their tumultous relationship but in reality it is all within the process of finding true love. This drama shows that true love is possible and marriage is certainly not the end product of love, not even a child (in fact, it is more likely a new beginning).

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Shameless exploitation of BL audience to promote a music career.

It's a good thing Pete can sing, because if he had to fall back on his acting skills he'd starve to death. He doesn't really act at all. He does appear to have memorized his lines, though, so there's that. Tonliew is adorable as Yoshi, and that's largely why I stayed with this.

The plot is stock - a standoffish star ends up as the temporary charge of our main character, who has to navigate his star through a maze of ill-wishers including the usual malicious ladyboy, which is becoming such an offensive stereotype that I'm going to start boycotting series with characters like this, and also a cartoonishly evil rival actor - you may not be able to spot him. (Hint: he's the one wearing all black at a Thai beach resort).

I can't recommend this, but it's so short that it won't hurt you to watch it.

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