Reviews

This is a Masterpiece!

Can't even put in words how much this series has affected me. It is a Masterpiece. The Ost, the editing, the storyline, the chemistry, the acting every single thing is just awesome!! Every character had it own story and the actors did a marvelous job to inact it.
The continuous bashful comments by the Goblin and the Grim reaper are savage. It never misses an opportunity to make you laugh till the very end and I was laughing my ass off throughout. Not only comedy, it is full of romance and drama. The lines are beautiful and everything connects so well ( things said in past connects later to a thing happening in present) Just WOW❤️
A moment i felt goosebumps and in another I was crying (literally a lot) and in next i was laughing like anything, its that level.
I recommend this to everyone who loves Kdrama ( even if you don't you'll after watching this🔥)

A Classic of all time❤️

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A RARE GEM

I 'm a long time c-drama watcher and I've never written a review for any drama before.

But after watching this show, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO WRITE A REVIEW!!!!

STORY: 10/10
This isn’t your typical high school romance drama. Yes, the FL and ML meet and become friends which turns into something more like in all school dramas. And yes, there are other typical high school tropes/cliches. Honestly, I was fully expecting this to be just another regular high school romance. But, this drama was so much more than that. This drama is really about a bunch of high school students that due to different reasons, weren’t able to pass/take the college entrance exam to get into university. These students ended up having to sign up and join a class together to repeat a year of high school in order to prepare for the next college entrance exam.

The story was realistic and the acting was so natural. It really captured the life of a high school student and the pressures and struggles of studying well to get into a good university. But it also really showed the support that the students got from their peers, families, and teachers as well! Being a university student myself, the story and characters really resonated with me!

There was romance in this drama, but it definitely played a smaller part. However, overall it was pretty cute! :)

There were 24 episodes which was a great length! I usually skip a lot of episodes in c-dramas as they get long and draggy. BUT I DIDN’T SKIP A SINGLE MINUTE OF THIS DRAMA. I had to binge watch all the episodes until I finished it. It was truly a refreshing show.

CHARACTERS: 10/10
All the characters had great chemistry! Especially the FL and ML!

This drama also did a great job dedicating episodes to focus on various side characters. It didn’t take away the story from the main leads at all! I seriously loved every single character and their addition to the story. Mostly every important side character had a great backstory and displayed their own high school experience. Lots of important topics were showcased through these characters including mental health, bullying, family issues, different passions/dreams, etc.


PRODUCTION: 10/10
Loved the unique style of this drama. Every episode began differently with different montages, comedy scenes, etc. While the ending credits included videos of characters or real life high school students sharing their thoughts.

It felt like the director and the writers really put in the effort and thought to make this show really meaningful!


OVERALL A 10/10 AND A MUST WATCH!

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Conflicts Aren’t Great but Enjoyed Light, Positive Vibes

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I picked this drama up because I like the lead actors. Actually, I don’t like Ji Chang Wook (지창욱) in any roles other than action, but I decided to give it another shot. This seemed like it could be a cute romance, but in order for it to work, the chemistry needs to be on point.

Acting/Cast: I was pleasantly surprised by the cast. There were some actors that I was very happy to see again and some actors I’ve seen for the first time. I think everyone did great acting-wise (except for the female lead’s dad). However, like I mentioned before, the chemistry is the most important aspect here. All of the friend groups had good chemistry as well as the side romances, but I’m not sure the two leads quite got there -- at least not as more than friends. Maybe it’s because they were so overly cutesy with each other or maybe it’s because there weren’t any - even remotely - steamy scenes between them. I just wasn’t completely sold on them. Especially, after that ending with the choice that the male lead made. Careers were obviously way more important to everyone over love, which is strange for a “romance”. 7.5/10

Writing: I like the plot and the side stories. I like the characters. However, there’s some details that bothered me. The useless love triangle is one of those things. Literally, it was only there to motivate the male lead to make a move. They really built up this second male lead like he was going to be a huge threat, but no, just another poor victim of second male lead abuse. I think he was an interesting and unique character, too, so it’s such a shame. Another issue I had with this drama is the forced conflicts (apart from the love triangle). The initial conflict that sets the plot in motion is fine, but later on, things happen that make it feel unrealistic. There’s also another conflict between the male lead’s father and the female lead that just feels annoying and childish. I wanted to just skip over all of that nonsense. Then, the “plot twist” at the end with the foreigner seemed so pointless… I was like ‘Why??’ Blink and you’ll miss it. Fortunately, this drama has good side stories and likeable characters all around. 4/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The ending was so cliché that it didn’t feel consistent with the male lead’s personality. The pacing was decent despite using so-so conflicts to push the story along. The OST isn’t really my cup of tea, but I did add two of the songs to my playlist. Beautiful Day by Gemini (제미나이, 아름다운 날) is really pretty and of course the drama’s theme song: DK (도겸) (Seventeen) - Short Hair (단발머리). 6/10

Entertainment Value: It was an easy, light watch. Nothing very exciting to make me want to binge watch this drama, but also nothing so irritating that it would make me want to drop it. The second half is when I started feeling a bit of a drag (episode 9) and episode 10 or 11 is when more conflicts are forced in which began to annoy me. The ending was cliché, too. Although one of the side love stories was solidified, which was a pleasant surprise. 4/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 5.5/10. It makes me wish I had a rabid posse of male friends. It almost made me want to start taking photos...I hate taking photos.

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A gay man asks his ex of 25 years for a contract marriage to appease his dying mother. She agrees, hijinks ensue, along the way we learn the true meaning of family. It's an average plot but for the word "gay"—what is impressive here is that the gay is just one part of what makes this story special, and not its defining aspect.

In addition to family, Gisou no Fuufu explores what it means to come out (not only for the guy but also his fake wife, who has walled herself off emotionally from the world). The lighthearted tone of the show works, and works well—As expected, Amami Yuki and Sawamura Ikki are amazing as the cold, people-hating librarian and warmhearted nursery school teacher. There is plenty of comedic relief from Amami's deadpan, biting "inner voice" and Sawamura's blind over-eagerness. Uchida Yuki and Kudo Asuka also gave wonderful performances as a lesbian single mother and "ally of justice" deliveryman who helped carry the show in its more serious moments. While the story didn't show off the ugly side of some painful topics (discrimination, domestic abuse, the fear of coming out) it never ignored it, and the overall way that homosexuality was treated as something normal was refreshing.

The show starts with energy and proceeds at a brisk, tension-filled pace. It's served well by an upbeat JUJU track. The ending was disorienting, but it wasn't a sell-out, or entirely unexpected. It did make me reexamine my own preconceptions about what is truly important. All in all, the show's message seems to be: "There are many different kinds of people, with different types of love that bind them together. But you can't say that any one kind (gay, straight, romantic, platonic, familial, friendship) is worse than any other."

I am not a re-watcher, but can imagine getting nostalgic for the leads' banter. Overall, it was a fun and heartwarming ride with a strong message from a great cast, writer and directors (Kaseifu no Mita, Queen's Classroom).

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Loved it

Hard to understand the negative reviews . For me this is a lively , entertaining , high spirited show with a brilliant cast ,
Grief , friendship , enduring love , forgiveness , all well developed and very moving . In a busy and modern world which does not really stop to think and pause , the little town in Jeju with its close knit community can bring peace and safety to re charge the batteries , re assess and move forward . The music is well chosen , the scenery beautiful , and the characters are all warm, affectionate and engaging in spite of their drawbacks apart from the assistant who meets her just fate at the end . I have watched it twice already ,

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I fell for this drama from the first episode, the story was different and backstory was well thought out. The main story line is about an unforgettable love that starts in childhood and how live and outside factors can create roadblocks for the main characters.

This was my first drama with Joo Jin Mo but I love his movies so I had very high expectations and he did not disappoint. I think that the first couple episodes when we get the backstory were very well done and left me longing for more episodes of their childhood.

This is truly a melodrama so expect lots of feelings and heartache and frustration.

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Story- Nothing special here folks. you got the love quaddrangle, pathetic girl becoming obsessed with guy, guy in love with other girl, then guy later hiding his true feelings for pathetic girl for the longest time. Ending is blah.

Acting/Cast- I was intrigued by the casting but in the end the way the writers wrote the characters just made me lose interest. The chemistry was there between the leads but it was wasted. I thought the casting for the second female lead was all wrong. She wasn't as pretty as Han Chae Young so it was hard to believe that both male leads would pick her over HCY's character.

Music- It had a couple of nice songs but it wasnt too memorable.

There's no way i'd rewatch this!

Overall- this drama had some funny moments but with the average storyline and ending, this should only be watched when all the best dramas out there have been watched already.

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Crashed into my watchlist that's for sure

This was a surprisingly fun addition to my forever long currently watching list and I hope it stays that way.

The pilot episode begins with a bang, with a side of female badass. From the very first scene, things are fast-moving and explosive and as expected cool car scenes (thanks to the director). there is barely any lingering which works best given the series length. The team here comprises of four people. 1) So-hee (FL) who is a passionate and talented crime investigator cop and stops at nothing to see cases through (even if it means bending the rules or sacrificing herself), 2) Chae-man; the chief and creator of TCI who is similar to So-hee but softer in that regard, 3) Dong-gi; an automobile specialist and can analyze what kind of car it is and where it was tuned just by looking at the silhouette of the car and listening to the sound of the engine and Hyeon-gyeong the youngest member of TCI, who has a tremendous amount of internal martial arts skills. Yeon-ho (ML), eventually works more closely with the TCI, is smart, awkward and introverted but with a strong moral backbone. He is most notably a KAIST graduate and has many investigation certifications.

Since each case lasts about 1-2 episodes each, the hand offs are solid with the next case interwoven into the current one and aren't just sprung on us at the beginning of each episode. There's also call backs to earlier cases which helps maintain the link throughout the series. The cases also give us more insight to our team and their dynamic as well as an opportunity for them to get the recognition and respect they deserve. There's also some comedy sprinkled in here and there which eases the tension especially in some of the serious scenes (Gu Gyeong Mo-the national police chief- is my fighter 😅😅). Plus, the action sequence especially with the cars is giving when it has to do its part!!

Going into this series I was mostly expecting FL's life story to be the thing that serves as a connector for all the episodes since that is typically the case. However, I was glad that this time ML's past serves as what is keeping the link between episodes. It's a slow confusing start but when it finally rains, it pours. Also, it's been fun to see how our TCI team has embraced ML into their unit despite his quirky nature. I look forward to continuing this fun watch and hope the momentum continues on until the end (update: it did). The villains in this drama are villaining and I sincerely hope out TCI team comes out on top in the finale somehow, or at least they set up and confirm season 2!!! (Update: the ending was open ended and leave room for season 2). Ngl, that Tae Joo plot is/was/will still be actively pissing me off!! Writer-nim I hope you are seeing this and it is resolved! I am not the biggest ending of the last episode but oh well...

P.S. Lee Min Ki suits this type of character best. His deadpan humor and aloof vibes are good.

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The cast are excellent, but the writer's need to reconsider their life choices.

Neo is excellent in this. To be fair the entire cast is actually excellent. It's a pity the story doesn't do them any justice.
This is meant to be a upbeat coming of age story following a group of late teens into their early 20's in a factory town in Fucheng China.
Initially I loved the costume, music, cinematography, acting and everything. It's a blatant hommage to those 80's American coming of age stories, from everything like Pretty in Pink, Fast Time at Ridgemont High and Ferris Buellers Day Off, to Stand By Me and The Outsiders.
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BUT, and it's a big BUT...... it fails to really grapple with many of the questions it raises, and all the various issues are really just there to have something for our little gang of indomitably upbeat heroes(TM) to overcome.
There are some truly viscous, selfish and horrible human beings they cross and have to deal with, which is pretty realistic. Failing to be able to over come those arseholes and learning to cope with that failure, as well as all the inherent flaws in the system that lets said arseholes rise to the top, is a perfectly normal part of growing up...but this drama doesn't really know how to deal with the issues it raises in any satisfying manner.
The story just shrugs it's shoulders, says lesson learnt and then drags you onto the next arc. Bad guys are deal with in the most perfunctory manner, and even good guys get stitched up for the most half arsed reasons... and the story just expects you to accept this and move on without actually questioning whether or not it's really right or just even. It's just life and don't look too hard at this system lets keep moving, listen to the fluffy upbeat music again and away we go to the next arc....
This starts a bad cycle of shit happens, our little gang struggle to overcome it, but before anything gets really dealt with, in comes the upbeat music and bright sunshiney camera work and every things OK and ALL RIGHT again!...and in comes the next arc to repeat the cycle...
In fact it got so overwhelmingly jarring, that as much as I initially loved the music, it's just got TOO MUCH by the end.
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There are some definite character choices there that the writer made. Mostly I noticed it's the women who once again suffer for the sake of giving something for the men to angst over. The trope Women in Refridgerators exists for a reason...There is a minor character death at the end, but they can't count since no other characters in the drama apparently even notice or acknowledges this event. Which is a seriously dirty resolution for this particular character.

My recommendation is to watch only if you really like the actors. They do phenominally well with this. And it certainly gives them some meaty scenes to work with. However the plots starts sagging in the early teens and it only gets worse.

The music is a delight, the camera work is a delight, and the director definitely knows how to make Hou Ming Hao look incredibly good. In fact I'd almost go as far as to say the director has a crush on HMH given how inordinately handsome he always makes HMH look in every scene, even in comparison to Yang Cai Yu, let alone the rest of the cast.


It's just ...the ending would possibly not have felt so wrong, if I wasn't so annoyed about that death. The last 4 eps just jarred badly and the very end just ended up being insult to injury. They could have pulled it all off, but that would have required a reasonably competent writer.
The last 4 eps alone dropped this from a possible 8.5 to my current 6.5 I would have gone lower if I was judging on the writing alone.

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FL has ZERO personality

I began to watch this drama mainly for Yang Zi and because this drama had really high reviews. I loved her in Ashes of Love and in the Psychologist but wow. This was such a disappointment. The summary hypes her up to be an amazing programmer who at the age of 19 is creating all sorts of complex AI programs. She also has a huge following for her musical talents. So coming into this, I was excited to see her portray a talented and interesting FL. WRONG. The first episode starts off with love at first sight, which would be fine if not for the cringe ways she tried to get the ML to notice her. I thought it would improve after the first couple episodes but halfway through the show, she still has no personality outside of the ML. She acts more like a lost puppy than a college student.

Seriously, the lengths she goes to to get the ML's attention and affections are such a huge turn off for me. It's like she has no life outside of the ML and she blindly chases him even though he treats her like shit for the first half of the drama. He doesn't communicate, can't express himself, is arrogant and a whole bunch more, but all she can say is, "He's perfect and has no flaws."

The age gap between them is also problematic, but the biggest headache for me is FL's lack of maturity and stalkerish ways that made me want to drop the series. Ended up watching it all the way through bc of Hu YiTian and the supporting cast. So disappointed they put Yang Zi in a role like this. At least with Ashes of Love, while she was naive, she wasn't brain dead and blindly in love with ML.

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DARK N DEEP PLOT

Why is there not a single review in this beautiful movie? Anyways
I just watched this for matsuyama but this movie has what japanese are good at while making anything : DEPTH N DARKNESS.
A little violence not much to scare u off so dnt mind it .its a serious crime story with a complicated romance .
I have seen males playing these kind of roles n it suits them but it really makes me excited when this role is played by a female n she is a brilliant actor she played this role very well from beginning to when she changed n after that.
I loved the backstory n how they are made, i was never so excited for flashbacks n backstories before.
Characters,chemistry , music, atmosphere, acting all are 10/10 for me. Its a must watch.
Not a good review but i really hope u watch the movie.

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Everyone Loves Me - Not

The end was mawkish and crap.
The turtle bit was not even half checked with Google and veterinary advise: anyway, the stray dog "shelter" bit, too, was half baked stupid. What sort of audience was targeted there
The love and hate in first episodes was best part, before it went dragging.

The script was not good and I can't stand Zhou Ye's nods in many episodes. as if she wanted to imitate old fashioned bobble-head staring dog dolls glued on car dashboards Her pouting and eating like she can't put food into her mouth without half of it popping out, and then adding mewling sounds in lieu of answers to table companions (such as in ep6 22:02). Can't she shake out of those nasty habits, which mar much of her "romantic" acting parts?

Lin Yi was average here: must have grown tired by the repetitiousness and drag. His best looks : in black and leather in episode 9, and in the FPS combat gaming parts.
I think all "chemistry" was on him, not on Zhou Ye who did her parts as if they were a chore.

Kissing and sweet scenes : forget it! Even the silk nightgown moment was quickly "covered" and put away. When "Gu Xun" wanted to explain his mistake while cornering "Qianling" against a wall in the office -!!!- (same ep.9), she looked mildly puzzled (when she should have been reacting with a slap and a sharp lash of outspokenness). That scene was quickly toned down by "Jiang Junnan" dismissing it all with the technical Japanese term : "kabedon" (sighing) as if that was just goofy and acceptable behavior on the office floor...

Anyway this is a forgettable item; nothing to learn from it, except patience faced with lackluster script, subpar acting, and time loss.
7 from me, because I still like Lin Yi and thought Melody Tang was cute and playing well in character for her part, and I don't like to rate below 5.

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Compelling historical drama with some strong performances

This probably won't appeal to some people since it's a serious drama, becomes increasingly depressing and doesn't have a strong romance. However I'm still thinking about the characters after finishing it and despite some of the flaws, it's probably one of the better historical dramas I've seen in a while.

As most viewers probably know, this show was supposed to air in 2022 but was pulled at the last minute so it's not clear how much of this final version has changed or been edited.

Set during the death throes of the Qing dynasty it explores the various factions - royalist and revolutionist - trying to change China for the better. The five leads have diverse personalities, flawed characters and are not obvious heroes. Alot of the early action takes place in Japan, which is unusual for a C-drama (usually the Japanese are portrayed as obvious villains but here they are more nuanced), and everything looks big-budget with loads of extras, carriages, costumes and lots of period detail.

All five leads are interesting. It's strange to see Li Xian play the rather grey character of nobleman Liang Xiang instead of his usual hero roles. Then we have the rabid bomb-making anarchist, the idealist revolutionary, the pragmatic opportunistic soldier and the woman who inadvertantly becomes a revolutionist and is involved with three of the male leads. The FL's character is very different to what we usually see in C-dramas, both passive and active, and surely non-conformist for the times. There were some scenes when I did want to slap her and say " wake up woman!" but generally you root for her.

There are important real historical figures as well as the fictional ones, which made me read up on my Chinese history. Apparently, even Liang Xiang is based on a real person.

The acting is of a good standard and this is clearly a quality production. However, it does suffer from editing and sometimes I just wanted to see more of Shuhong rather than the endless military politicking but I did not fast forward once which says alot.

Recommended if you enjoy historical dramas based on fact and don't expect to see a big romance.

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