Alright, Jacquie...calm yo’self and chill. *Pauses to wrangle in my copious fangirling.* I gotta pull this spazzing down a level, and keep my raving to a minimum. Let me calmly explain to you why this drama is so flim-flammingly made of tasty awesome-sauce!
Firstly, it has all the right tropes to hook you: poor misfit unattractive heroine/rich Mr. Perfect hero. But, let me lay it all on the line because guys, these are just the building block tropes that NEVER turn into cliches! Rather than just being a dumpy, badly attired heroine in oversized glasses or whatever other weak-ass magic trick the wardrobe department typically pulls to make our lead "frumpy," this drama goes the extra mile without going the extra mile. Our heroine, Sam Soon, instead is legitimately overweight, without the "Let's Just Throw Her In A Fat Suit And Bad Clothes" trend. Nope, instead, we get a tall, Rubenesque female lead with frizzy-but-realistic hair and clothing that doesn't look like Barney's diarrhea.
Why am I going on and on about the wardrobe and physicality of Sam Soon? Because guys...do you REALIZE how nice it is to have a misfit heroine that isn't a walking joke?! Oh, and did I mention she totally has a spine? As in, this girl will ALWAYS stand up for herself, but simultaneously knows when to be reasonable at the appropriate moments and how to compromise AND negotiate. Basically she isn't a shrieking Too Stupid To Live female lead, and THANK YOU DRAMA GODS FOR THAT!
And as AWESOME as Sam Soon is, that's how equally kick-ass the rest of the entire cast of characters are! Yep, you read that right folks; literally every single character in this drama has individual personality with believable motivations, and there's not one evil antagonist rubbing their sinister hands together in the shadows. Every time this drama could have pulled a cliche, it didn't. Disapproving male lead's mother? Guess what, turns out she's multifaceted and nuanced! Contract dating? Guess what, turns out this acts as only the set-up rather than some angsty BS! Heroine falls in love with the hero first? Guess what, she doesn't morph into a doormat or mop bucket full of embarrassing bullshit! Hero is a cold fish who doesn't believe in love? Guess what, his evolution is well paced AND layered in backstory and frontstory!
Do you KNOW how amazing it was to be sucked so hard into a story that doesn't give-up out midway through like a deflated whoopie cushion?! Do you appreciate how spectacular it is for a drama to shrug its shoulders and go, "Hey, guess what! We're gonna put these two leads together through some bumpy trials that won't turn into melodramatic screaming-at-the-sky tribulations?" Thank you, My Lovely Sam Soon, THANK YOU! Thank you for showing that a couple can have disagreements and turbulence in their relationship without feeling the need to utilize diabolical parents, laughably stupid misunderstandings, random cancer, or amnesia!
You gave me a fun ride of a hero unwillingly falling in love with a heroine not his type, but kept it grounded and believable. You gave me comic relief that didn’t come at the expense of the heroine. You gave me some hella hot chemistry that was subtle but ever present. And, most importantly, you sucked me in with quality storytelling and amazing characters that had me finishing this 16 hour drama in two days. I honestly don't know if any other drama can compete with you, and I just wanna snuggle with you and your awesome characters, plot, pacing, comedy, drama, and cuteness!
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When I started watching this drama I thought it just had 16 episodes, I didn't expect 28 episodes at all, that's why in the first 4 or 5 episodes I thought that the drama was way to slow, the screenwriter was wasting too much time and I also thought that the drama would be boring, but then I saw that in fact this drama has 28 episodes and then I had another thoughts... The screenwriter took the necessary time to develop the story and help the view to not just get used to the main character, but know personally each and every character that is part of the story.
In this drama the screenwriter knows how to control the characters and the history being faithful to each of them and as the viewers get into the story - as a viewer I can say that - they learn to develop different feelings towards the characters. The story has different levels and in each level we can see new sides of the characters as the story develops naturally. There's nothing forced about his script, it is the most natural one and at the end... I must tell that everything was thought carefully. This end was one of the few ones that gave some satisfaction, it was a really good end.
The music is nothing special, I like the OST, but there was nothing too memorable for me.
As for the acting... It was brilliant! I didn't expected that Han Hyo Joo would pull out such a good acting as she did with her character Go Eun Song in this drama, the actress Moon Chae Woon also did an awesome job and as for me deserves a round of applause for her performance as the second main female lead Yoo Seung Mi, also the actress Kim Mi Sook just wooow, really good one. Really good acting. But of course Lee Seung Gi as the main male lead and Bae Su Bin as the second main male lead did a good job.
I'll watch this drama again someday for sure since is such a good drama.
Even if the OST isn't that memorable, from the acting, screenwriting to the directing this drama is the best.
I highly recommend it.
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The Assassin is loosely based on the late 9th century martial arts story "Nie Yinniang" by Pei Xing, a core text in Chinese swordsmanship and wuxia fiction.The film is set in 8th century China during last years of the Tang Dynasty. The film centers on Nie Yinniang (played by Shu Qi), an assassin who is directed to slay corrupt government officials by her master, Jiaxin, a nun who raised her from the age of ten. When Yinniang displays mercy by failing to kill during her duties, Jiaxin punishes her with a ruthless assignment designed to test Yinniang’s resolve: she is sent to the distant province/circuit of Weibo in northern China to kill its military governor Tian Ji'an — her cousin to whom she had once been betrothed. I hope that made things clearer for you, cause it helped me.
The story begins in black and white, showing off the skills of our female assassin. She is ruthless and cuts the guys head off in one clean shot – quite impressive. But it’s done so quickly and smoothly that it takes a second or two for us the audience to go ‘Oh he’s dead.’ We then get shown a second side of the assassin where she is ordered to kill a man but refuses to after she finds her target and his son together after spending the day playing with each other. Her refusal to follow an order due to her ‘humanness’ means she gets sent of to kill Tian Ji’an. We then go in to colour, but still maintain a kind of… ‘old’ feel to the movie.
For anyone who is too lazy to read 2 pages worth of writing here’s a basic summary – slow story but pretty things.
First of all I must make it clear that this movie is not one which I can judge as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ movie. If this movies hadn’t been recommended by a lecturer I met at a university (I’m planning to do Film Studies at uni next year) then I would never had watched, let alone finished this movie. Why? Well mainly – the low ratings are low for a reason. This film is incredibly slow. I don’t mean it drags, I mean it’s REALLY slow. Firstly would probably be the lack of action. With a title such as ‘The Assassin’ one would expect lots of ninja-badass fighting scenes and lots of killing people and stuff. Yeah there isn’t that much of this, I think maybe only 3 or 4 fight scenes in the whole film – not very many in comparison to other action movies. Especially if you think that quite a few of these fight scenes were shot from far distances, giving you a wider scope of the action in contrast to getting up close and personal to the actors – which is the method normally favoured by modern directors. In addition within the fighting which we do see, it’s more like graceful dancing then brutal fighting. If you watch wuxia for the bloodshed and violence, you won’t find it here. Sorry.
There are many long scenes with little talking, I would say that only about 50% of the film is talking, maybe? In addition there is basically no background music, with the director relying on background noises of water, walking, wind, etc. The only music used in this film which has nothing to do with the scene is at the end credits. It’s a good piece of music, but it is quite solitary. With all of these in mind, it does make for quite a boring story. I won’t lie, I got bored. Half way through I did eat my dinner, brush my teeth, and then started researching background information on the movie to see if there was anything interesting I could use to add to this review. There was a little bit. To be honest, I didn’t understand some of the story line – I’m guessing I just missed the crucial parts where they were actually talking or something. I’m reassured when I read reviews on other sites which state that they didn’t understand the story either. I mean, at least I understood what was basically going on.
And then of course we end on a rather anti-climatic ending thinking ‘Now what?’, but I won’t spoil it for you.
But..
Yes there is a but; a big but.
What makes this film good is not the acting or the story, but the cinematography. This film is f***ing gorgeous. I’m not surprised that Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the director, won a ‘Best Director Prize’ for it. Not only do they make large use of Chinas beautiful landscapes, but they also use a lot of techniques seen in ‘old’ films. I’m not sure whether or not that is a legitimate ‘style’ but there are a lot of similarities.
Here are the reasons I like this film/find this film interesting:
1) The landscapes – obviously. There are many lingering shots of the landscapes all around rural areas of China, Mongolia and such. Director Hou (What am I meant to address him as?) has said in interviews and such that they aimed to shoot at high altitudes because there was no civilisation there. This of course means that you get to see beautiful rolling fog and ever changing weather. I believe that the weather and such was not planned for and they just went along and filmed with what whatever weather was happening at the time. I thought that this made it much more natural, compared to the controlled and precise movies of today.
2) The fight scenes are believable. Unlike most Wuxia films we don’t have people legitimately flying left right and centre. Not gonna lie – I hate that style. In this movie I think I saw only one or two instances where he uses this, but prominently the shots and choreography is either at a far view point or… not as close as most modern fight scenes… but near enough that we get a jist. We see interaction and faces, which we don’t normally see in the ‘quick-cut’ action scenes we’re used to. It’s nice.
3) The child actors – bless them. I’m convinced that they didn’t hire any children actors and those that were featured were accidentally brought to the set one day and somehow got dragged into it. They kids just sit, play and run around as if there are no cameras. It’s awesome. Plus it looks very natural.
4) The lighting. Director Hou tried to make the lighting as natural as possible (seeing a theme here yet?). If it was day time he would try and use the outside light, if it was night time then he would make it look as much like candle light as possible. This use of natural lighting resulted in a lot of warm colours, which made me happy inside.
5) Long scenes. But isn’t that a bad thing?! Yeah. Probably. Kind of. Some scenes go on for too long, but it works in some cases. There was one scene were we see tree tops for about 20 seconds. Time yourself and stare at a wall for 20 seconds, it’s a long time. It does work better when he lets us star at rural scenes in a village for a while, or the landscape shots – they’re pretty. In addition the long scenes do also mean we aren’t cutting every 5 seconds when ever a new person talks, which brings me to the next point.
6) Composition. One of the keys to a good movie is composition. And boy does this film have some sweet composition in its frames. In some cases we get shots of a setting and then go straight into talking – this means we don’t have to have as much talking and can carry on looking at pretty things. Or we have the scenes were the camera is handheld and moves around the set from one speaker to the next – no cutting (I love this so much). We have symmetry, symbolism, thirds, etc. It’s just gorgeous. It makes me want to sit down and screen shot frames to analyses what’s in them and what it could mean, my inner English student is trying to escape!
7) The last thing which made this film so interesting is movement. In most scenes there is something moving. There are curtains, wind, fog, birds, servants, candles, even the characters themselves shift and move to make them selves comfy. I feel like maybe Director Hou has gained inspiration from Akira Kurosawa, a Japanese director. I saw this movie but I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that they share this quality. It’s such a good idea. It makes it so that your eye is distracted and entertained whilst nothing happens in a scene. Absolute genius! I love it!
Ahh. I hope you can see why I found it so hard to evaluate whether this movie was good or bad! Yes it’s a bit dull but it’s so well made! I would say that I probably wouldn’t recommend this to anyone looking for a good story. However, if you are interesting in movies as an art, or can appreciate a well made movie then this is a good movie for you! If you think you can struggle through the slow pace then you are welcome to try it, as long as you can realise that it’s not a bad film. It’s just that the main focus is not on the story itself but the presentation of the story. The idea that the director is trying to convey. I truly think that the rating of the movie at the moment (6.2) is a bad representation of the movie. This movie is all about subtleness, be it in the detail, symbolism or the music.
I don’t know. Try it yourself and see what you think. Just watch it with a pinch of salt.
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A warm story that stayed with me
I have to say, before starting this drama, I wasn’t really sure what to expect other than the reverse age-gap trope (which, I’ll admit, I totally love). But once I started? I literally couldn’t stop. I got so hooked on the story, the plot, and the cast! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ From the very first episode of Sniper Butterfly, I was completely drawn in, and by the end, I was moved in a way few Cdramas manage to achieve. I just loved it so much!Speaking of the cast, I already knew Ke Yu (Daniel Zhou) from 'Always Home', but this drama made me love him even more—or honestly, I just completely fell for him. His acting was amazing. I loved how cute and shy his character, Li Wu, was at first and how much he grew throughout the show. I’ve seriously just unlocked a new green flag character; he was a total angel! ʚ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ɞ And also, yeah... the boy can kiss, and I’m still not over it. (〃ﾉωﾉ)
On the other hand, I still can’t believe Michelle Chen is 42. She looks so young! This is my first drama of hers, and she’s so talented; she handled her character in such a mature and realistic way. And can we talk about the fact that there’s a 19-year age difference between the actors in real life? You can tell she’s older, but not by that much! In the drama, the gap is about 9 or 10 years, and I loved that it didn’t feel forced. Their chemistry is so good that you actually forget about the age gap sometimes.
Also... the kisses!! They were so intense. (〃ﾉωﾉ) I mean, I had no idea Ke Yu could kiss like that! There’s one scene in particular that stands out from all the rest (and trust me, there are A LOT of scenes), but I will never forget that one in episode 5 when Li Wu is drunk (in the present day). That scene is officially living rent-free in my head forever. <3
The OST is also so beautiful! It fits the vibe of the story perfectly and really makes all the emotional scenes hit even harder.
I also really liked that there weren't any toxic characters or annoying villains (except for the FL’s ex, who was a total jerk). Her parents were great, and the best friend and other side characters were super likable too. The subplot with the FL’s friend and the ML’s friend’s uncle wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn't bad either.
I appreciate how they handled the age gap without making it feel "grooming-y" or weird. Everything happens slowly, which gives you time to process it without it feeling forced, which I think is great. Even though some people found the real-life age gap uncomfortable—which is a fair conversation to have—it didn't bother me at all or ruin the experience for me. I’m super satisfied with this C-drama and will definitely be rewatching it in the future! (ﾉ^^)ﾉ
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The lives of Maikos and Geikos have often been represented by external gazes, and they were done wrong many times by international eyes who saw in them what they wanted to see rather than what was there. This drama has the ability to showcase a traditional practice in a day-to-day setting, letting us see the domesticity, the relatable bits, the inner story of a Maiko house.
This is less about painting a grandiose image and more about showcasing daily lives, with the core of the story being two friends from Aomori (Kiyo and Sumire) who decide to move at age 16 to become Maiko. However, and very early on, Kiyo finds herself in a different journey, the one that gives the title to the drama: she discovers the role of a Makanai, a cook who prepares home-made meals for those who work in the house (and maybe also, through that, provides unconditional love and support).
With a masterful grace similar to dramas like Kinou Nani Tabeta? and Shinya Shokudo (and, less successfully, others like Lunch no Akko-chan or Ando Natsu), this drama is successful in writing the complex through simplicity and narrate a compelling story (in this case, a coming of age story) in a setting that is inviting, welcoming and that has inspiring cooking scenes.
The relationship in the center is the friendship between Kiyo and Sumire, which is incredibly refreshing to see. I'm very thankful for dramas that have come out of late which allow for more than just romance in its core. Still, there are a lot of characters with their own journeys (successful Geikos with life crisis, retired ones who deal with balancing their blood family and their work family, old apprentices who struggle, new apprentices who also do, retired Geikos who come back, family members of people in the house who don't share the traditions, etc.).
The only critique I'd give is that some elements of narrative tension, some thing that seemed would go somewhere, didn't quite have the space to develop. I can only hope that this is like Shinya Shokudo and we get more of it, but only time and people's engagement will tell.
If you're looking for a fast-paced, action-packed, tragedy-filled drama, this one isn't it. But if you're looking for a relaxing, domestic, coming-of-age drama with traditional elements and amazing food, a drama that you can come home to, then give this one a chance.
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Firstly the story is amazing, I give a 9 though instead of a 10 because the stories at the beginning are quite slow but improve as the drama progresses, but I warn anyone watching that there are a lot of heavy topics covered... but these stories really open up your eyes to the struggles that teenagers go through (not all are universal) and the music is great ! One of my favorite OST and it adds an eery tone to the drama.
Also, the cast is outstanding ! In particular Serena Fang who plays Du/Death Girl stands out, I can't believe I haven't seen her in anything else before this drama... she is the perfect death girl giving off a melancholy, mysterious exterior. Aaron Yan is is great to, but I wouldn't say his performance is that strong, Jiro Wang could have done it better and his character isn't as memorable as Xiao Lin and Da Dong where both of these actors give a lot of emotion. Also I couldn't take Wang Zi seriously as the 'bad boy' in the beginning, but other than that, an amazing cast !
Definitely watch this drama ! You'd be crazy to miss it :P
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Watching a story about a spinster who is told she only has a few months to live may be a turn off to some viewers, but this drama offers much more than scenes set up to make you cry. There's definitely humor, and at the heart of this drama is a great romance. Though the premise of the romance is pretty standard, Lee Dong Wook & Kim Sun Ah have amazing chemistry. There's one tango scene in particular that I would call one of the hottest scenes I've seen in any drama. Lee Dong Wook really is a talented actor, and it doesn't hurt that he looks really good in a shower.
I only have a few criticisms. I hated a couple of the main songs, which killed the mood at times, and I was unimpressed by the love theme sung by the two leads, which was the only romantic moment that felt forced/cheesy to me. The biggest criticism I have is that way too much time was spent on Seo Hyo Rim's character. Though she played her character well, she was too one-dimensional to need that much focus. Some of the scenes revolving around her plot seemed like they were put there just to fill up the time. Time could have been better spent on Uhm Ki Joon's character, who turned out to be one of my favorites.
I definitely recommend buying a few extra boxes of tissue, and watching this drama. About halfway through the tone of the drama starts to change, and I wasn't sure If watching such a tearjerker was a good idea, but the ending was so well done that it was absolutely worth it. I could see myself rewatching this for the great romantic moments, to be inspired to live life to the fullest, and because it was so beautifully shot. There's some really gorgeous cinematography that made me long to go on a vacation asap… and possibly learn to tango.
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It's a good drama overall, but not the best and most productive use of time
So at the beginning of this drama, I'm talking the first 15 or so episodes, it was certainly a drama that any historical-drama lovers would want to binge. The plot, romance and setting was fresh in its own little way which made it easy to watch. With the addition of an amazing cast, it really incited the "butterflies in stomach" feel.The reason as to why I am rating this show as only 4 stars is simply because of the noticeable discrepancies within the series. The biggest one of note is the inconsistency of the romantic relationship between the leads and their sudden change in personalities after the city setting switched from Song to Wei. After the setting was switched, it felt like the series was split into 2 separate storylines and the memories of the both the male and female lead were wiped or something even though there were no signs of such a thing ever happening. Whatever romance occurred between the two leads seemed to have disappeared entirely, making the second part of the drama difficult to comprehend since they had to rebuild their romantic interest for each other from rock bottom.
Furthermore, the series was dragged on for a tad bit too long. Stopping the series around the 30 episode mark would have been perfectly fine because everything from there onwards was repetitive scheming formed from greed and political power struggles from the antagonist and male lead.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this drama if you're looking for one that's worth your time and if you're looking for a fluffy, romance-fileld drama, because unfortunately, this drama won't be able to provide that. However if you're still interested in this drama even after reading this review and other reviews, I suggest watching the episodes before the setting changes from Song to Wei (you'll understand what I mean when you get there 😉) coz those were really good.
Happy Binging!!
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Chaotic, complex, and eye-opening.
First things first - watching this film was an experience. I thought that I was watching a documentary rather than a film - this is probably influenced by the fact that this is based on true events. I got sucked into its delivery and realism which was quite heavy to take in. If you aren't used to watching heavily-themed films, then this will be a difficult one to watch.MOTHER reminds me of a Nojima Shinji kind-of story wherein the 'negative sides' of humanity, the complexities of human relationships, are laid bare. They aren't shown in a showy manner but as they are - dirty, difficult to comprehend, and even psychotic. The relationship between Akiko (the mother) and Shuhei (the son) is anything but what society sees as acceptable, yet to the latter, it is his norm and accepted reality. This film isn't just about murder, abuse, and casual sex - it's also about how twisted 'love' can be, how manipulation and violence can play heavily into a person's sense of dependency and reliance, and how things aren't always understandable on the surface, especially one of a relationship between a mother and son who have been together all their lives, one that's for better or for worse.
Impressive acting by the cast, especially by Nagasawa Masami - a natural, I must say - and Okudaira Daiken, whose eyes and expressions tell more than what he says. Hats off to Gunji Sho's Shuhei as well. The story moves from one timeline to another yet with consistency that doesn't leave you completely hanging. The music and the silence came in at the right times, adding to the heavy atmosphere that the film has.
If you're looking for a film that's gonna make you feel blissful, this is not that. MOTHER is gonna leave you with thoughts to ponder on and with an ending that doesn't inspire - it's simply a naked cut.
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Underrated Gem - Amazing Lead Chemistry and Acting
7/18/2021After watching almost 200 K-dramas and C-Dramas, I am compelled to write my first review of this amazing show. This show is so underrated compared to shows like "The Long Ballad" (which I like as well, but not as much as FuYao). It took me a while to pick up this show and I was probably deterred by the 66 episodes, because long C-dramas tend to drag in the middle. I am glad I decided to finally watch this.
Lead Characters/Romance: This is my second Yang Mi drama after "10 Miles Peach Blossoms" and my first of Ethan's. Their acting was sooo good. I like Yang Mi's (FL) acting here more than in 10 Miles. Ethan (ML) is a surprise and I can't see any other actor playing this role but him. He reminds me of Chen Kun in "The Rise of Phoenixes". Such amazing acting for a character with so many layers. He is not what I would consider a typical handsome lead, but his presence and charisma are so there. FL and ML have amazing chemistry. When they are not on my screen, I miss them. They both have great character development throughout the show. FL is not the annoying, naive little girl, even when she was younger. She is smart, independent and a badass! ML is funny, flirty, sly and mature. They are such a great pair. The romance was developed nicely and they have such a mature and open relationship. There is no silly misunderstanding and they talk to each other openly about their feelings. It's not just ML declaring his love, but FL also expresses herself, which is rare in a C-drama. They supported each other's decisions and stand by each other. The love carries throughout the drama through actions and words. I love this pair so much.
Story/Plot: The first part of the drama is great. You are introduced to the 5 kingdoms and the world building. The first 35-40 episodes went by so fast and kept you engaged throughout. It has a good combination of comedic moments, wuxia fighting, palace politics, wars and romance. The second half of the show definitely slows down. There's more talking and less action, and the lighthearted moments reduced (probably due to a more stable romance and less flirting from ML). I feel that they could have cut down a little bit on the TianSha arc and also the love triangle/family angst of the King/Queen/Queen's Brother, and spend a little more time on the actual ending. The ending felt a little rush after the big "fight" at the end. There are some more minor plot holes in the second half. The one I remember the most is when FL needed to take a poisonous pill to save ML and the bride. They made a point to show the flashback of the pill and pan the camera to the facial expressions of FL and Little 7, yet the show didn't say anything about the after effect of the pill at all when the crisis is over.
Acting: Aside from the great acting of the leads, the supporting cast is just as good. It's no surprise that the more seasoned actors and villains are good. But the younger ones are not bad either. I do have a problem with the 2ML (Vengo Gao) always opens his wide really really big when he's angry. The 2FL is ok and I did find her a little annoying in the beginning but she got better. I like her acting here than in "Love in Between". Lastly, AMAZING acting for the lead characters in the last episode. Just WOW!!!!!
Production/Costumes: The sets and the costumes are amazing. You can see how much money they spend on the building all the sets of the different kingdoms. The leads have so many different costumes and I particularly enjoy the color themes of each kingdom. At first I was wondering why ML's emperor outfits are so "black" and then I realized the white comes when he's back becoming the Crown Price. You can distinguish each arc/kingdom by the color of the costumes - from white, black, gray and red.
Fight scenes: For a wuxia drama, I expect good fight scenes. But with a C-drama, I also expect slow-motion fight scenes with a lot of spinning (which I dislike). This drama shows some good fighting choreography, but I still find the fighting to be a little too "slow mo". I like live fighting speed, esp. when it's a serious wuxia drama. The fight scenes are not bad here, but I wanted more. However, there's no wimpy fighting. All characters acted well, even for the female characters. They are no weaklings and I enjoy seeing them saving themselves and putting in the effort to contribute in fight scenes. I do think FL gets knocked out by others secretly a little too often in the first half of the show, when she's supposed to be such a badass.
Overall:
Positives - great acting, amazing lead chemistry, strong/mature romance, good pacing (esp first half), beautiful costumes, good cinematography
Negatives - minor plot holes in the second half, too much time on certain plots without the leads, not as interesting secondary romance, rushed ending (last episode)
p.s. can't believe I write such a long review. Thanks for reading till the end.
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But once again, if you are NOT looking for something very subtle, gentle, and slow, this show will be a huge disappointment. I personally found it to be a ready break from the rush of my daily life and the other shows I have watched, and I thought it was a masterpiece. This being said, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who would not enjoy such a quiet and gentle drama.
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I realize I'm in the minority with this rating
After having good luck with my last couple of C-drama choices, I was hoping to keep that luck going with this drama that was recommended to me. Unfortunately, this show did not work for me, in so many ways. There was good, and then there was the not-so-good.THE GOOD:
1) An Ge as Fei Da Chuan. To me, he was the highlight of the show. The tough guy was willing to put his heart out there. He really commanded every scene he was in. As an actor that is not the typical "pretty boy", he was just wonderful, and I felt that his character would be a terrific and trusted friend to have.
2) The second lead couple - Ma Li is just downright beautiful and Eden Zhao's character was immature and had some flaws, but you could understand once you knew the background of the family. Their love story was full of humor and longing. I loved that they were friends long before they were a couple.
3) The step-father. What a wonderful character! Typically in Asian dramas you have the standard evil parent that spends the entire show trying to keep the main couple apart. Seeing how he came into this family, and the role he happily took on as the kids' father was so special to watch. He was supportive and wanted what was best for them, always.
4) The friendships. The friendships and the family relationships in this show were stellar. The bond between the twins was never more evident than when he picked his sister over a girl he was interested in. His family would always come first. The friendship between the female leads was strong, and touching at times. There were a lot of different families and family dynamics portrayed in this show, and I felt that they were all realistic. Mistakes were made, people had to atone, scars developed from some things.
5) The music. I was so bored that I was spending an inordinate amount of time reading the subtitles to the songs, and when one of the songs said she was "marginally beautiful", I just had to crack up!
THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
1) There was a LOT of dead time in this show. There were full episodes that, I felt, could have been cut out. Slow! If the editing was tightened up and this series was shorter, it would have been a lot better.
2) QiaoYi - as an actress, Janice Wu must have done a good job, or they would have hired someone else. That leads me to think that the character was written the way she was for a reason. Unfortunately, I didn't care for her. I didn't connect with her being lazy/stupid in high school. She was weak in relation to YanMo - every time she talked to him her voice got all quiet and her chin sunk down to her chest and she couldn't look at him. This also happened when she became an adult. When she wasn't doing that, in the current time she was either trying to be "cute" or pouting. I found the adult QiaoYi to be very immature. I didn't find her character appealing.
3) YanMo - some of the problem with this character, in addition to the writers, must be attributed to Zhang Yu Jian. The character's mother said at one point in time that she had worried that he was autistic. He would probably be considered to be someplace on the spectrum - no social skills, doesn't make eye contact, no filter for what he says, can't read cues from people, extremely intelligent, etc. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that sort of character, except Zhang Yu Jian was not able to ever imbue any warmth into the character. His eyes always remained cold and distant.
4) Lack of chemistry between lead couple. They seemed more like brother and sister to me at times. There were a couple of times, when he was thinking about the past, or when he was speaking in voice-over, that were touching. For the most part, however, I wasn't buying them as a couple.
5) Cinematography - they used a filter whenever the female lead was on screen. The filtering process was very abrupt. The first couple of times when the screen got really hazy, I thought I might be having a stroke or something, but then I realized that the technique was being used to soften the female lead. I don't think the effect was necessary at all, there was no doubt that Janice Wu was beautiful anyway.
6) Overuse of flashbacks - they kept switching between three time periods and it got really irritating, not to mention, somewhat confusing.
7) Track suits - the high school kids wore track suits. The high school theme went on for many more episodes than I thought it would and let's be honest, no one looks good in a track suit.
8) Overuse of drunk scenes.
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Best Watched Without Minding the Original Material
This is not a 'genuine' adaptation of Sweet Home. More like a 'loose' one but yes this wasn't anything like the webtoon with how they selectively only take the idea of monsters appearing out of nowhere, with people surviving amidst of it and a boy who's happened to be able to resist the monster inside his head, and turns it into a 10-episode show. They lose the essence of original material when they decided end this show with that ending. It's pretty obvious that they're planning to further utilize the core story of the original material to create a seasonal work, judging how different the route it takes throughout the story. You'll be disappointed if you read the webtoon because many characters are not the same, some are added for no reason, and suddenly this turns into a usual apocalyptic story with a supposedly hero to 'save' humanity. What the webtoon tries to rely is beyond that. Both works are straight up different in terms of characters' growth & plot progression.Not to mention the way the show placed its background music is just plain disastrous. The webtoon gives off suspenseful & eerie vibes whenever the monster's around, while at the same being unsettling in peeling out the layer of the main question of the whole thing: what does it mean to be a human, or a monster?It talks about greed, desire, and everything beyond that. The music (and the plot, I might need to say) fails to deliver that, and instead turn on the ever-repetitive song to made the whole scene more 'exciting' when it's supposed to elicit fear and anxiousness from ones who watch it. Not only it disturb the mood the whole scene was particularly going for, it also ruined the suspenseful vibes it tries so hard to build by suddenly making this more looking like an entertaining action-focused story. Which is wrong (and ridiculous) because the monster's supposed to be a real & full-blown horror to all the survivors. It's supposed to make you feel afraid and nervous, which it ultimately failed to be at the end.
This is best watched as a separate work, rather as an adaptation. Because it's clearly not being faithful to what the original material aims for, and it will further prevent you from experiencing it to its best quality. Once I let go my expectation that I've long had due to my deep attachment to the webtoon, Sweet Home as an entire piece is still a good watch for what it's worth. Song Kang was impeccable as Hyun-soo despite the minimal effort the show put to build his personal growth. Go Min-si & Park Kyu-young was great, the entire casting line-up has been nothing but incredible, really. And Lee Do-hyun!Brilliant as ever.
Speaking of directing, considering it was done by Lee Eun-bok who also brought Mr. Sunshine & Goblin, I think there's not much to worry about. Everything's exquisitely done and the action scenes are well-executed to say the least. Although I feel like the nosebleed scenes are too much sometimes lmfao. A lot of gory scenes are shown here, but nothing explicit. I wasn't a fan of gore, but still handles this just fine. Really loved the bits where they shown the 'monstrous' version of Hyun-soo near the finale, by the way. Short but impactful for sure.
Sweet Home is, all in all, a decent show. It's fast-paced, thrilling, and heartwarming at times it need to be. Admittedly there's a serious lack of character development shown toward several major characters, but this is an action drama at its best. You'll enjoy it better if you treat it as something it tries to be, that's all. Anyways, if you haven't read the webtoon, please read it, before or after you watch the show. It was that good. Enjoy the show nonetheless!
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This stupid law serves as the plot device for the character development of these characters, it taught them a lot about themselves, what they want in a partner and also what they lack as a person. It also raised a lot of question on peoples view on marriage, how it affects their lives and especially the role of minorities in a society where this law is implemented such as people who don't have Japanese citizenship, people who are sick and members of LGBT, so in some way this law is not pure negative but there is also positive like the awareness this law brought up. With so many layers and prejudices in this 8 episode drama, it may sound so ambitious but in my opinion they pull it off quite brilliantly.
Romance is not the main point in the story, it is the philosophy of marriage, but it doesn't mean there is no couple we can root for in this story. Acting is quite good from the actors but the stand out is definitely Nomura Shuhei, who brilliantly portrays this character who suffers from OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Music by Yu Takahashi is so good and damn catchy that it always managed to hype every episode.
The ending is cute and you can tell this law is the best thing that happen to our leads. They grow up to a person they wanted as their partner, which makes them suited for each other in the end, and I love the phrase "Marriage isn't a human obligation, but you also have the right to get married".
Check my Blog for other reviews & other JDramas stuffs. (｡◕‿‿◕｡)
https://thatjapanesedramaguy.blogspot.com/
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Acting/Cast: Full marks for acting. All veteran actors and actresses; so you can expect mature and professional acting.
Music: Sombre, sweet but most times, reminiscence of love won and lost. The music reflects nicely the feel of this movie.
Rewatch value: Personally, I am the sort of romatic who would go for comedy romance as I love to de-stress while watching a movie or drama. This movie is a wonderful movie; the re-watch value simply reflects my personal preference for only re-watching something that is light and sweet that helps me to relax. This movie makes me cry out like a baby; so I won't be re-watching it anytime soon. However, for those of you who loves tragic romance type of movie, this one here is a winner for you!
Overall: A good movie. Certainly worth the recommendation. However, I would include my recommendation with a warning for keeping a box of tissue next to you before you hit the play button. Trust me - you'll need it!
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