Reviews

Don’t let that poster fool you!

Based on real events that occurred in some villages during the Korean War, this movie touches aspects like political idealisms, morality, ethics and relationships without forgetting to add laugh-out-loud comedy and heart wrenching moments that keep reminding you this actually happened.

Regarding the cast, every character plays an important role in the movie, from the villagers with their simple ways of living to the North Korean troops who strongly believe in their mission to “liberate” the oppressed people.

At the end, the real message this movie leaves its viewers with is that life can take you anywhere, but you decide how to live it.

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What a delightful drama! Flower Boy Ramyun Shop became a weekly addiction and pulled me out of my drama funk. It was hilarious and touching, warm and fuzzy. There were analogies and metaphors galore to explain the relationships between rich and poor, how people fit together and whether or not they should. There were analogies about ramyun and the pots they are cooked in, analogies about pillars, analogies about grass and lions, analogies about poop! Every one of them was funny and sweet. They all made perfect sense to me!

The thing that makes this drama so special besides the amazing writing, which seemed fully formed and not a slapdash patch job every week, was acting done by the cast of quirky characters we got to know during the last 16 episodes. Each had their own distinct personality and each character had a steady growth and relevance to the main story line. The interactions of friends and family whether tied by blood or tied by choice were so lovely and funny. Eun Bi and all her Flower Boys made this drama so fun. I've read some people don't like Eun Bi...But I loved her. She was silly, serious, not always sure of herself but...she always stuck up for herself and I could definitely relate to her for those qualities. ♥

Another thing that made this drama great was the tongue in cheek handling of the typical drama tropes you see in every Kdrama ever. There was makjang! But FBRS dared to ask the viewer, “Is this really makjang? Or is it purity?” There was a typical chaebol falling for a plucky average heroine but this drama dared to ask the question, “Who really needs saving here?” and “Is it really better to only eat caviar and steak instead of experiencing all the wonderful flavors of ramyun you could be missing?”

Every episode was delightful and didn’t drag the show down. The technical aspects of lighting, cinematography and most especially the directing were excellently done. The editing was particularly creative, with almost every episode having a scene that would partially play out but then we would go back and revisit to see full conversations or replaying a scene to explain someone’s actions. Stellar!

Jung Il Woo as Cha Chi Soo…or was it Dog Chi Soo? Or rather, Dong chi Soo? Anyway, Jung Il Woo stole every scene. I have to admit, for me , he rivals Hyun Bin’s Joo Won for messed up crazy chaebol with his performance of Chi Soo. I think because Chi Soo was so delightfully pampered and sheltered he had no filter and absolutely no self awareness other than his outward appearance. Watching him fall for Eun Bi was by turns completely hilarious and also very heart tugging.

This drama has so many little moments, little details that make it exceptional. If you are looking for a good drama to marathon, to savor, to make you want to eat some yummy Ramyun while you laugh and cry and sigh…Flower Boy Ramyun Shop is the drama for you! Don’t miss it!

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In the beginning I started watching IWGP because Yamapi was in it - But after only a few minutes I had almost forgotten about him.

The characters in this drama are very believable and well-done, they are realistic and have their good and bad sides.

I like how important friendship is for the story, much more important than the romance or violence.

The acting was really good, especially in the dramatic and fighting scenes. The actors looked like they were really in character and I never thought someone looked awkward, when they weren't supposed to.

The music wasn't outstanding, but it was there. I didn't pay much attention to it and felt like it wasn't really important.

The story itself was great, interesting and full of emotions. I never thought an episode was dragging, though there were some that confused me in the beginning.

You do notice that the drama is a few years old, though, but I don't think it's a bad thing.

I recommend everyone to watch this and give it a try because I thought it was great.

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The "soulmate" idea is rather dated. In fact, I think its cultural relevance really took a nosedive when angry (or worse, desensitized) nineties kids became the proponents of modern youth culture. Their way of thinking was called cynicism back in the day; now it's just another norm. At least that's true in America. However, Korea, as I've come to see it through its popular entertainment, has a culture that still embraces (and positively beats to death sometimes) the concept of fate. Destiny. Meant-to-be. So what better format to tackle the soulmate conundrum than the k-drama?

Except this wasn't your average k-drama. It's called a sitcom, but that isn't giving it nearly enough credit. It's also called a romantic comedy, and while it has romance and comedy, that's not a nuanced enough classification. And, while almost 100% of Korean dramas follow the 16-20 episode format with such uniformity that predicting which episode the big confession will happen in is almost an exact science, this one turns linear storytelling into a loose guideline rather than the strict rule. Also, the fact that it was entirely preshot without the stresses of the live-shoot system really shines through; it is confident and the different plots dovetail and interweave with efficiency and steadiness.

The writers were particularly successful in creating deceptively sharp characters. On the surface, they appear to be stock and silly. Most of them WERE stock and silly. But, taken as different, embodied responses to the "do soulmates exist?" question, they become luminous in their own right. And, of course, I would be remiss to forget to mention the wonderful cast especially Shin Dong-wook (effortlessly charming and insouciant) and Lee Soo-kyung (hilarious in her permanent exasperation).

The one thing I really liked about this drama, the aspect that vaulted it directly into my list of permanent favorites, was its way of handling life's little intersections, the minor butterfly effects. How we're a lot closer to others (and by extension, different types of happiness) than we think. The format is a direct manifestation of this and also gives a physical motion to the very cerebral process of emotional maturity. To say more would be to ruin the pleasure for first time viewers, but there IS this one scene that involves rain and Lasse Lindh's gorgeous song "C'mon Through".....

Most importantly, the writers found that perfect sweet spot between the opposing poles of the big question. The tone was neither idealistic nor cynical; skeptical, perhaps, is the right word although it implies more negativity than actually existed. Maybe it is most accurate to say that there was a thoughtful melancholy to it, one that removed it from the realm of throwaway slapstick and placed it firmly on a higher plane. This is Soulmate's strength: It has the singular ability to turn what might have been utter, lowbrow farce into something intelligent and bittersweet.

Tl;dr? This has my definite endorsement. Watch it for something different with a lot of laughs and a lot of heart.
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Star and Sky in my Mind

Honestly, I was excited to watch this to support JoongDunk .. Mainly Jooong as I have followed him since 2m2 and I was NOT disappointed. I loved this series and I think I am in the minority but I don't care. Joong played his character with so much feeling and expertise I adored the character - Joong and Dunk have undeniable chemistry and I would love to see them in another series. I like how reserved Khabkluen was and the one-sided love of Daonuea was genuinely heartbreaking to watch - Once all barriers were down and Khabkluen allowed his feelings to come forth I literally screamed .. I am so proud of Joong as he has been through hell and back and I for one support him and cannot wait to see all he will accomplish n the future !! JoongDunk I got you !!!

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This movie is a perfect choice especially if you feel down, sad or disappointed. It is warm and cosy. The perfect mixture of mistery, romance, slice of life and simple relationships that we face everyday.
The story is laid out very good and to the full. No illogical or irrational twists that bother me so much in many k-dramas. And some phrases said by the main characters make you really think deeply about importance of simple trust and small everyday things, that are often tend to be overlooked, forgotten.
Music is a perfect background for every scene, and silence as well. It becomes overwhelming in private scenes, making you concentrate on your own feelings, making you tremble with emotions, because you live them out together with the characters. The last song was an absolutely perfect choice for the last scene. And the tears do tend to stream down your face as the culmination of all calamities you've been through with the heroes.
Cast is absolutely gorgeous to my taste. I fell in love with Kim Go Eun since whatching the "Cheese in the trap". She perfectly portrays her character and you can't doubt here sincerety even once. Hae In always acts very emotionally and sincere. So together they form a perfect romantic and emotional alliance. The director did a great job, because everything looks so atmospheric, so warm, and scneces are though out to the tiniest details, shade of light, glance or move. Definitely worth your time!

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So hi...

Moving was a drama with amazing cast, acting and storyline. I watched it all, but for me it didn't deserve that 10. Don't hate me for that - taste shouldn't be discussed!!! I only stayed for the kids storyline, the parents' one didn't captivate me. Call me boring, sorry. So my opinions are mostly based on the kids storyline.
Acting was amazing. They were extremely cute and Heesoo and Bongseok were such a pleasure to watch. Show stealer KangHoon ( Kim DoHoon) showed me once again why he is one of my favs.
I am honestly sorry I couldn't like this show as much as the people on tiktok and so. The hype was mindblowing tbh. Everyone was and still is so obsessed with it - it wasn't like that for me ... sadly.

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want the actors in something else (skip ep 5)

Overall: there was potential with an angstier story but the writing got progressively worse as the series continued. Skip episode 5 and start episode 6 at 43 minutes. 6 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on Youku's YouTube channel, first episode link https://youtu.be/B36ryCeKxUw Rookie Thailand has also produced: 21 Days Theory, Future and The Best Story

Content Warnings: past death, grief, homophobia, bullying, punches, parental verbal abuse

What I Liked
- some sweet moments
- they explained what happened 5 years ago so the time gap made some sense (but 5 years was too long)
- funny with the friends hiding behind plants
- glad she finally stood up for herself though she should have told Night he needed to figure his stuff out asap before someone else started dating Dream
- Dream seeking communication at the beginning of episode 5
- Namwan in the second half of the series (though I didn't hate her in the first half)
- production value was good for what I assume is a low budget series (except for the too loud background music at times)

Room For Improvement
- time skip needed to be 2 years instead of 5 to feel more realistic
- cliched writing, unnecessary love triangles, drunk kissing, etc
- not clear when flashbacks started/ended/were flashbacks
- the multitude of flashbacks made the episodes feel choppy, would rather they had shown everything in the past and done 1 time skip to the present (similar to ITSAY), there were even flashbacks to scenes we had just watched like with the professor (also what on earth is you fail a university class if you can't write an amazing novel? does that really happen???)
- nonsense stuff (who doesn't know their best friend has a sibling, they've never met in person or seen a picture? they could have made this a step sibling during the time gap to make sense)
- failed redemption arcs for the dad and brother
- unclear of how much time passed in the last episode
- hardcoded English subtitles were a little difficult to read (didn't take off points for this)

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Short filler drama if idol/ceo/kid dramas are your thing

I honestly have no idea why I enjoyed this so much, but I did. It’s absolutely ridiculous to be honest. Each episode is 10 minutes (30 episodes total) which doesn’t even seem like enough time to get acquainted with the characters yet at the same time I was invested in the story. Speaking of the story, the plot is all over the place. From the time traveling kid to the domineering CEO/idol thing the main couple has going on, to the grandfather showing up randomly half way in, I don’t really know why I kept watching it besides the fact that it was entertaining. It also might have helped that I had read the webtoon beforehand so I knew the storyline to some extent ahead of time. The acting really depends on the “episode” you are watching, some of it is good, some of it is okay, some of it is meh. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see some of the leads in bigger dramas in the future.

Overall, it’s nothing revolutionary. The plot is not something you will end up having a length conversation about with fellow drama watchers or even remember a few dramas later, but I will say it’s cute in a completely ridiculous way and it’s a fairly easy watch since it’s so short. Great filler drama if idol/CEO/kid dramas are your thing.

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ARE YOU SERIOUS! This drama had a 2 part series and yet the writers still FAIL on how to handle it with a VERY RUSHED & LAME ending? I mean it is a happy ending but it's so pathetic to see only the last 15 mins was actually happy. So dumb. What's up with Chinese writers and their introducing another conflict for the last few episodes of the drama? That's so stupid and cause havoc that wasn't needed.

There are so many things wrong with this drama. First of all, HOW DARE YOU WRITERS keeping showing daydreaming of Yan Shu & Cheng Ze's wedding but not bother with doing an actual wedding? I'm so frickin pissed at this. Second, how dare you introduce a conflict that ruin the end of this drama. Last few episodes should've been happiness not sadness and frustration. This last conflict should've been introduced like the beginning of this 2nd part drama (like ended off with this conflict on the 1st part drama). Third, how dare that evil granny witch didn't get punish for all of her evil misdeeds. She got off like she didn't do anything wrong. I hate it when the writing is like this crap. Fourth, the angry and bitterness between the stepsisters it's so stupid and shouldn't haven been carried out this long. It should've been resolved in the first part of this drama. It doesn't make sense how that once a witch of a stepsister ended up doing a 180. There weren't any signs of progression. Fifth, secondary couple should've started at the beginning of this drama and maybe had the second lead finally giving up the female lead from the 1st part drama. This 2nd couple together wasn't believable. All of the sudden they want to be together with no issues from grandma? Yeah right! Sixth, the ending, while ended happy, sucked overall because it was so rushed.

The male & female leads were the only reason I watched this but I totally regret it. It had a lot of cute and funny moments which I did enjoy but was it worth how this drama was handled overall? Nope.

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Actually, what make me really want to write a review on this drama because I saw that not many watch it and the reviews also seem to tell "Don't give this drama a chance!" If I were to decide whether to watch this drama or not based on most of the opinion stated here,I think I will skipped this one.Why should I watch a drama with so many bad reviews and even the rating is lower than The Heirs. Uh Oohhh.

So here I am, trying to make this drama more desirable in the eyes of those who still undecided and hesitated to watch if this drama is in their Plan-To-Watch list. Honestly,in my opinion this drama is not that bad.If it were to compete with other dramas in it's genre,I think GC will get top 10 or even 7.I've seen many K-revenge,melodrama in my life before and Golden Cross definitely not the worst revenge drama executed out there.

The Story: As a melo-revenge drama,of course GC has a 'cruel' starter plot aiming to collect as many sympathy as possible from viewers. If you're familiar with this genre, every main lead must have a sad,unfortunate,depressing past and there is this one villain that whenever you see him you will find yourself keep swearing and making a fist toward the screen. Ahaaa! This is what I like the most when watching K-melo revenge drama,despite some of the typicalness in the story, at least you will relieve some of your stress.Is'nt that good? :P There's no exception in GC,if you want to find another kind of melo-revenge variation you won't find it here.Nevertheless,I really love the way it's executed,directed and scripted .I think the uniqueness of GC are mostly present in it scripts because that's what attracted me to keep watching GC despite the flaws. I've to agree with many that the first 16 episodes are really great. But for me the last 4 episodes also good and I still like it. It's acceptable and understandable. And that ending..its realistic. (SPOILER) I mean how many rich people in this world when he did wrong he will get the right retribution,he can just buy that retribution with money.These group of people see the word Unfair=Fair to them.No matter how unrealistic things can be in dramaland,it's still can't escape from some realistic element like this. Thus,I like the ending.

The Acting: I have to say it's superb! I never like Kim Kang Woo before,I've watched him in 2 dramas and 1 of his movie but I never come to like him. But WOW his acting here,I'd like to give him 2 thumbs up and hewheww I don't know that he can ever be this 'hot'. XD Lee Si Young also did a very good job. I really like her character in first 2/3rd of this drama but in the last 1/3rd her character become unsignificant and unbelievably weak. Disappointed :( I came to like Han Eun Jung's character in the last 2 episode, and I'm also okay if she is to end up with KDY. Jung Bo Suk 's acting as a main villain in this drama also superb. I really3 chincha3 hated him as a whole and disgusted at his character.

The Music: It's just pleasant to hear and it's flow well with the story.

Rewatch Value: I'm not a rewatcher person so I just give this section a fair value.

Overall: Golden Cross is not the best k-melo revenge out there but there's some element in it that make it better than other drama with the same genre. Of course,it has flaws here and there but really... is there a flawless drama exist in this world? For me, I never regret my 20 hours with GC and I can say it's worth my time. So people,give this a try at least 3 episode before you drop it and I will say nothing ^^

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Here I am again going to see a movie without any expectation. I did not see the anime or read the manga, but I probably shoud see it.

Overall I liked the movie, it's super cliché really .... but super funny. I loved the characters, especially Kairi, the energy was fantastic, I think it was my favorite.
Sae was really strange, in my view, the way she reacted to things and her schemes, in the most creepy sense.I like Mizuki too, her character was diferente I guess and dramatic and super fun.

About the end I was surpirse but I like it.
Overall it's a funny and fun story.

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Some Taiwanese drama tend to be a little ... uhm... weird? overacted? cringe? writer probably on crack?
Is Love of Sandstorm like that? Hell yes.
But to my pleasant surprise, this drama found somehow the perfect mixture.
It's funny as hell, but the more you think about certain scenes, the darker it gets. For some reason, even as a Westerner I could relate to the characters. The plot isn't even THAT far from reality.

I mean, be ready to get straight to the point. This drama is BLUNT. STRAIGHT FORWARD. You are used to KDrama-World, where the climax is (at max) a sloppy kiss on the couch where the camera slowly focuses to the IKEA flower pot? Oh honey, you're in for a ride. Some scenes made me want to clean my browser history with bleach and damn, I've seen some sh*t.

What you definitely need to know is that the first episode drags a bit. In defense of the writer, he had quite a lot of characters to introduce. But thanks to that, I know who's who. Unlike other dramas where I still don't get who's the protagonist after 5 episodes.

During the drama you'll follow different couples and their plot lines. If you asked me, the parents could have been toned down a bit. No offense, I just don't like "older" couples. And don't get me started on Jiao Jiao - this girl is completely nuts.
I was binge watching Love of Sandstorm and currently trying to function on 2 hours of sleep. Probably shouldn't have binge watched another drama before that. And maybe the only way to enjoy this drama is in the void between madness and a mental breakdown, where you just find anything funny. Idk.

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This short movie is for the cat lovers and fans of Nakamura Aoi. The storyline is quite simple yet still plays with our emotions. It shows just how quickly loneliness can disappear when you have a furry companion to keep by your side.

Story-
Nakamura Aoi's name isn't mentioned (either I didn't hear it or I forgot) instead he is constantly referred to as "friend" by Goyoune, his little kitten. There was quite a nice relationship that the two shared. Aoi played the role of a lonely guy who had dreams of becoming a famous manga artist however had a few issues with it.

Acting/Cast-
The main actor really suited the role, he had such a sweet smile and character when acting with the cat. The cat's voice actor had a cute voice too which matched the cat. ^^

Music-
Songs that played fit with the scene, it was chosen well although I think it could've been improved.

Rewatch Value-
This would be nice to watch with a friend if you're looking for something short and cute to watch. I may rewatch it in the future sometime.

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