It Doesn't Matter If You Don't Know the Plot, Watch It, But Don't Read The Spoilers!
"A Lucid Dream" is a short-length series (around 3+ hours total) with a clever story-telling, full of surprises, and a plot twist. You'll definitely enjoy the fun ride, IF (I capitalized the word for a strong emphasis) you don't read spoilers anywhere on MDL. It is as the native title 不知剧情也无妨 suggests: it doesn't matter if you don't know the plot. Although this review doesn't contain spoilers, I know romantic drama watchers always want to know if the leads get together in the end or not, so I will only spoil their romance, not the big secret.STORY:
Who said that short-length series only copy the plots of mainstream (normal-length) dramas or are full of cliches to milk profits? This drama plot is rather unique, and the story flow is well-written. By reading the synopsis you got the idea that the Female Lead Zhang Yi Meng (Wang Ya Jia) is delusional and thinks she has time-traveled to the past. To cure her mental illness, the Male Lead Song Jing Cheng (Cheng Yu Feng), a psychiatrist, plans drama therapy, a psychological treatment process that contains a reenactment of the ancient time Yi Meng believes she's in.
But as we watch the drama, we start seeing strange things and surprises. Adding to those things are funny incidents behind the scenes, for example, script changes that make certain characters confused about how to act in their roles. We are entertained by surprises at almost every (ending) of each episode, cliffhangers so to speak, until a plot twist is introduced. Then when the audiences look back, things make sense.
There is slight romance, but because the topic of the plot is the drama therapy/reenactment, romance is not the main focus.
Another thing I really enjoyed was the 'behind-the-scene' process shown in the drama. For example, the selection of the cast, the choice of the script (the additions and deletions), the filming, and the (uncomfortable) costumes and props (that we see as funny cos we know they're fake). And mostly what urgent measures they took when incidents or unpredictable events happened.
CHARACTERS:
People wrote the leading actor and actress were not charming or their acting was so-so, but imo actors and actresses have to start somewhere, right? I don't remember seeing them before. The only thing I say is actress Wang Ya Jia looks like Chinese actress Chen Yu Qi. And I found out the actor Cheng Yu Feng was in the drama The Inextricable Destiny last year, playing the Female Lead's second brother. But if you watched that drama you know why we don't remember him being there, lol.
The funniest character imo is Li Mu Yu, who played the Third Prince in the reenactment. Although his character is supposed to be the annoying Second Male Lead, it's hilarious for us because he practically knows nothing since nobody told him anything, including his dad, who is the reenactment director, lol.
VISUALS:
Although they made a reenactment, surprisingly the visual designs are decent for a fake 'drama'. I was mostly surprised by the cinematography. It's well done for a short-length series.
OST:
I'm surprised that they put several nice songs for the ending themes:
1. "Fireworks Fragments" (烟火碎片) by Xin Wen
2. "Parting Sequence" (离别序) by Xin Wen
3. "Waiting for Mist and Warm Rain to Stop" (等烟暖雨停) by Wang Xin Yi
ENDING (only for the romance part)
Happy ending. Zhang Yi Meng and Song Jing Cheng got together in the end (real world). There is also a secondary couple.
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A Paced, Feel Good Show
Taiwan clearly outshines its Thai and Korean counterparts in quality, story and acting every time. Exceptional quality and character development make each Taiwan drama memorable. Even the OSTs always seem like quality songs that are well thought out. Saying 'quality' over and over cannot be helped. It defines the whole show's experience. Both couples provided interesting and unique story lines. There wasn't a second couple as a filler. Both were equally valuable to the show and developed nicely.As bonuses, bringing in the characters from Be Loved in House: I Do and History3: Make Our Days Count was very cool and a nice surprise. Both excellent shows in their own right and neither felt forced into the story. Anything that can help me forget the horrible end of Make Our Days Count should actually get an 11 for that moment alone. Not listing Huang Chun Chih and Wayne Song on the guest credits must have been an intentional surprise. Thanks for that.
For those getting to binge watch, it will be an even better experience. Especially for good shows, that week of waiting between episodes is tough.
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I was captivated on minute 1 and enjoyed the whole ride till the very last.
The true strength of this show lies in the characterization. I love the speedy way in which each character is introduced, without unnecessary premises: the viewer is immediately catapulted into the birth of this new police division and the methods which are going to be used by the team to solve each case.
The staff members come to life so swiftly and clearly, I was eager to see the next episode just in order to hear them interact with each other. They are hilarious, over the line like any true Japanese character and yet so believable and endearing.
And then there is their BOSS. Yuki Amami is a wonder here. She's determined, beautiful, self-ironic, tremendously intelligent. The kind of woman I'd like to be at forty - honestly, if I could only look like her at 44 I'd be the happiest woman on earth.
Her character is a riot and a model of what I call class.
This is an episode drama, therefore it can be viewed either in one raw or taking time between one episode and the next. I did a marathon because each case left me wanting for more, but there isn't a main sub-plot which requires steadfastness.
I liked the music too: it isn't an unforgettable original soundtrack, but it highlights the scenes with due pathos.
If you're looking for a clever detective story, with some profiling/psychology, lovable, funny characters and intriguing crimes, watch this.
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I watched this because I thought it would be an enjoyable Ninja film and heck, I was so wrong! Everything about this film is amateurish; from the directing, the storytelling, the action and the dreadful acting. It’s true that the film tells the story of a female shinobi (ninja) but everything felt all over the place and absolutely predictable. The plot wasn’t coherent at all; it felt unbearably weak with many stupid cheesy dialogues and events.
The action was so freaking fake in a foolish bothersome way, this is a disgrace to ninjas; if they were still alive they would come and kill everyone in this film and get over with it. Now, the mature scenes, they were terrible and it’s not because I hate mature scenes but because they were random, unbelievable and used as time-fillers. Some of them didn’t even make sense to show, they were crappy meaningless porn.
The acting was a deep disaster, the female lead’s expressions almost drove through the wall; she was painful to watch and the rest of the cast didn’t do any better either. I was thinking that they maybe these guys are porn stars or something? Because that would make sense if this was supposed to be porn with a stupid plot but I don’t think so. The actors were originally bad and their characters were even worse than they were or it’s their outrageous acting that made them feel that way.
The cinematography was dumb, the costumes were pretty bad and the music was horrible. I told you this is an amateurish film which I believe it had one of the lowest budgets and it would have been better if they didn’t make it in the first place. Re-watch? Never in the world, it was an absolute waste of time the first time around so how on earth do you expect me to repeat that?
Watch if:
-I won’t recommend it to anyone so this will remain blank.
Do not watch if:
-You think this would be a good ninja story.
-You think there’s any decent action in this.
-Well, just don’t watch it if you don’t want to waste your time.
The Secret Female Ninja is an absolute amateurish film containing a dumb storyline and horrible acting. Hey film, give me my 90 minutes back!
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I like kim eun sook drama like heirs, goblin and the king: eternal monarch. Actors in drama also good especially Kim go eun and Lee min ho.. I like them.. Even though the storyline in the king:eternal monarch is little bit confusing with two personality in different world, has past and present time but the drama is still very good..the actors who have the two personalities also must hard for them to act but stil give the best.. For the kim go eun, i must give the thumb ups,because when she act for the sad scene.. I also want to crying.. She is really good with all expression, and emotion.. #Sorry, I'm not good in English.. Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Story: I really liked the plot of this drama since it's different and unique. It follows the lives of 3 gay/queer friends (Gus, Golf, Kim) and Natty, their best girl friend, who is always there to support them.
What I really like is that towards the middle of the drama it starts to appear a love line, which I really enjoyed and supported so much!
Acting/Cast: I didn't knew any of the actors when I started watching it, but I really enjoyed. It doesn't have an over the top acting but at the same time it isn't boring either.
Music: I like all kind of music, it doesn't really matter the genre or country, so I guess not everyone would agree with me. Still, I believe it has good songs through out the drama.
So with all that being said I would definitely rewatch this drama and definitely recommend it!
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stayed in my mind
I really liked this very formulaic drama - Thai college students go through love angst due to inability to express honestly.Dunk Natachai Boonprasert/Dao Nuea is in his first starring role and does an excellent job of being appealingly cute and naive.
Joong Archen Aydin/Khab Khluen has a more nuanced role. He has been apparently dating Gai since high school and this effectively means no one else has pursued him except for Nuea's ongoing unrequited feelings. As the plot unfolds we get to realise he has zero experience of love and his 'girlfriend' relationship was really as a close family friend.
When our two main leads meet up again Nuea is embarrassed by his past confession so cuts off any attempt by Khluen to start anything. He remains in the 'safer' unrequited mode pining for his love and any attempts by Khluen are seen as not genuine.
We all realise that had Khluen cleared up the non girlfriend issue there would have been more chance to show us how sweet they are together, unfortunately the writers persisted with the misunderstandings for way too long thus dragging down the momentum.
Lots of negative comments about the non C kiss when Khluen is drunk but I think it is in character with this shy person who is hopeless at words and just has everything going on internally. He admits he is dumb at love and this is true in both senses of not knowing and unable to speak.
His mother plays a lovely role and we can tell that she has twigged his feelings for Nuea and tries to encourage him to not keep everything inside himself. He also has supportive friends as does Nuea. Nuea's brother, Mek Jirakit Thawornwong/Khua Fah is the more obviously experienced actor and has a strong screen presence.
Overall I enjoyed this drama and am looking forward to the sequel with Fah as the ML.
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Story: Even though it has familiar themes such as hotel setting, rivalry for power, baking, birth secret, jealous ex gf you want to punch etc. the writer did a great job of keeping each episode well paced, which made me want to keep watching. The ending is wrapped in a nicely neat bow for those who care;)The last 20 episodes felt dragged out though, that's pretty much the only critique for the story.
Acting/Characters: The acting was spot on for all the characters. Well except Lee Jang Woo who I can't seem to like in anything. It doesn't help that his character is a spoiled whiny chaebol who blames everyone else for all his "problems." The actress who played Saewa was really great with her character because I cringed every time her character came on, probably the most annoying character I've seen in a drama ever (and I've seen a lot!). My favorite characters were Sae Young & Tae Hoon Oppa(Alex). They were too funny and cute! As for the lead couple most of the time I felt like they had more of a cute chemistry meant for friends. I really like the lead actress though (saw her in King of Dramas first, really different characters). I forgot to mention the actress who played the mentally handicapped mother Anna. Excellent acting although her character got annoying towards the end as well...
Music: Not a lot of it, and not memorable either. It's to be expected though cause most daily dramas don't incorporate music.
Rewatch: It's rewatchable but I don't know when I'll have the time to sit through all those episodes again. I also don't care to watch all the annoying characters again so there's that...
Overall Smile, Dong Hae is worth a watch if you like family themed shows with a happy ending. It is possible to finish...if you dare!
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Kindness Wrapped in a Warm Hug
This drama is near perfect - a fact made even better because I went into it truly knowing nothing about it so the surpise was better AND that it's written by a completely new writer. The breath of fresh air it brought to the kdrama world is something else!Goo Se Ra is the obvious highlight of the series - Nana plays her earnestness and recklessness and kindness to perfection. Se Ra has a huge heart and is so soft but never ever lets herself be walked over by anyone. What an amazing female character. I dare anyone not to fall in love with her laugh.
Gong Myung is her perfect love interest - the brains to her heart. He's kind of awkward and blunt but so sincere and extremely loyal. Together they are literally one of the softest couples who so so obviously like each other as much as they love each other.
Just watching them makes you realise how many supposed romances really miss that important part of just having the leads enjoy each others company. They are equals in every sense of the word, protective of each other, so adorable to watch and have shot all the way up to be one my favourite OTPs ever!
The extended cast is amazing - particularly Se Ra's friends, our wise-beyond-years kid neighbour and her fellow politicians who are all so memorable whether its because you hate them, laugh at them or are conflicted over them. Hee Soo in particular was a really interesting grey character and just another great female character in a whole cast of them.
The through-line throughout the series is so important too. In the most basic sense it's about politics sure, but mostly it's about always having hope for a better future, never giving up in the face of long odds and making sure to stand up for those who cannot stand themselves.
Special shout-out to the director! The angles and wideshots in the drama made it one of the most unique watches of 2020 and it deserves to be on everyone's best-of-year lists, whether it comes into rewards or not.
Go watch! You won't regret it! There's truly nothing out there like this.
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While reading some of the reviews on this site for Defendant, I think my opinion will be on the unpopular side.Let me start off with the best part of this drama and what kept me going in the times I wanted to abandon it: the splendid acting from all the cast, especially the two main leads: Ji Sung as Prosecutor Park Jung Woo and Uhm Ki Joon as CEO Cha Sun Ho | Cha Min Ho.
I've only ever seen Ki Joon once before in 'I Am Not a Robot' and I thought he was a very good actor but I never expected him to blow me away like this in Defendant. He plays the heinous villain with such conviction and passion that you can't help but get sucked in and end up loving to hate him. Kudos to the actor for making me scream and swear at my screen like I haven't done in a very long while. He portrayed the merciless, conscious-less psychopath stunningly. He definitely became my second Joffrey Baratheon (if you're familiar with Game of Thrones, you will understand my reference). And his chemistry with Ji Sung was electrifying. I was holding my breath every time they were on screen together!
I've never seen any of Ji Sung's work before so I was completely taken aback by the master actor he proved to be. My heart ached for him in every scene and I can't remember the last time I rooted so desperately for a character. He embodied the torment of his story with perfection and at times I couldn't tell if he was acting or living the role. That's how strong his performance was.
Honorary mentions to the support cast as well, especially all the inmates who made this heavy drama breathable, Shin Rin Ah as Park Ha Yun who must be one of the most talented kid actors in the South Korean drama industry, Kim Min Seok as Lee Sung Gyu who absolutely stole my heart from the very first moment he came on screen, Jo Jae Yoon as Shin Chul Shik, THE best sidekick on the planet!
Now for the rest, which is unfortunately less positive.
Before I start I would like to say a few words about myself. I am one of those people that becomes absolutely livid whenever I see injustices so naturally I realized this show will be hard for me to watch as the entire premise of the plot is a framing of the main character and his attempt to clear his name, but I never in a million years expected to walk into one of THE most frustrating, emotionally heavy and scarring dramas I've ever seen.
I will put it bluntly, I think the tone of the story was WAY too dark, tethering on the edge of ridiculousness at some points. There was no balance whatsoever between the good guys making their moves and succeeding and the bad guys making their moves and succeeding. It was one tiny step forward from the good guys then 20 backwards. 70% of the time you feel like there's literally no hope at all. Everything is so desperate, gloomy and tragic that it becomes almost unbearable to watch, especially when coupled with the marvelous acting which makes you feel for their pain like nothing else. I oftentimes found myself stopping and wondering why I kept watching because of this reason. It was excruciating!
But the worst part of this show is the plot development. I have never seen a more nonsensical, ridiculous and convenient plot progress in my entire life. I realized early on this show would exercise a fair amount of suspension of disbelief but after a certain point it was downright absurd and pulled me out of the story completely. It's BAD! Half of the characters are useless for almost the entire show (especially those in position to help Prosecutor Park), characters make absurdly dumb decisions, the Prosecutors office, police and prison staff is made into a laughing stock that can be easily manipulated no matter the circumstances, where no one sees anything (and believe me there is a LOT of things happening that would never in a million years pass unnoticed), some of the most anticipated emotional scenes in the show are handled off screen which absolutely infuriated me, etc.
There is a tremendous amount of killing going on in this drama so besides holding your heart you also need to hold off your desperation at the absurdity with which the investigations of such killings are handled, which also conveniently disappear and are never talked about after a few episodes or even scenes. Some of the killings don't even make any sense. At ALL! They seem to be added as dramatic value. I am particularly pissed off about a specific one but I won't give any spoilers. Just know that if you do decide to start this drama exercise the same caution as with Game of Thrones: don't get attached to anyone.
It's a whole mess. I don't want to ramble too much on this aspect. I saw that not many people were bothered by this aspect but for me it's crucial in a drama of this kind. I am not asking for a perfect script but I do need the minimum of common sense otherwise it's pointless. Completely pointless.
Overall this drama left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and a hollow feeling in my heart. The 6 stars go to the cast for their absolutely incredible acting. All the rest was majorly disappointing
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SO MUCH FUN
The immersive experience alone should convince you to watch this. I REALLY had so much fun watching this.The world building of this drama sets it apart from all the other game/transmigration dramas, the writers put their all into creating a world that would let the watchers experience the game with the FL. There's also the fact that every single character is layered and complex although just NPCs, it really let's you reflect on the multiverse and reality. Am I real? Am I also a game character? Had me rethinking my life a few times.
The storyline although at times a bit confusing (a tiny bit really), unraveled nicely, none of that Cdrama choppy nonsense. There's a lot of twist and turns that keep you on your toes.
Of course, for all Cdramas everyone is probably wondering if the FL character is annoying and the answer is......
No! (imo, cause some of y'all hate material gowrls, but I LIKE them ). I actually found her quite refreshing, I was surprised to learn that our FL was a mean girl, wore make up and never missed an opportunity to give her two cents. She speaks her mind so much that I think she's the reason why it felt like I was playing the game with her. She's all of us in a character and I love her for that.
Cons:
1.The ending, its a good ending, of course, but it left me thirsty for more. I would have loved to see a full episode of her life in the real world.
2. ML's acting at times was very stiff and lacked micro expressions. Some people might disagree but the 2nd ML was objectively more attractive on screen. I've seen a few people complain of an incurable second lead syndrome. WATCH IT STILL.
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The best Thai TV series ever made!!!
Each episode was perfectly executed by the director. This is a very interesting Thai serial, supported with actors and actresses from various age. Their acting is so natural and professional. When it first broadcast, no subtitle and after few days, the English subtitle is added. When watching this show, be prepared for the unexpected plot twist and keep your tissue close by. You will need it anytime. Bravo!!!At the end of every episode, the trailer is going to make you crazy as audience are left with high curiosity as what would happen next. I think, this project is so captivating and audience are pampered to the max.
As for me, I have to be extremely patience while waiting for the next episode every week, the story makes me feel like want to turn the globe faster to get to the next story line.
I can't praise them high enough for such a good job.
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This is a very well crafted drama. the directing, the costumes, the casts, the quality, the characters are all executed excellently.what won me over:
Characters:
Honestly, after Wu Pin i cant see anyone that can compare to him. he is too perfect that i dont know how shen xing yi is going to surpass Wu Pin's love for zhou ying. but i was wrong. i hated SXY, i hated him so much, i was annoyed by him initially but over time his character develops and u can see he loves ZY just as much as WP loves for her. he mature up, and try his hardest to win her over and he won. the process of winning her over was what won me over with this drama. he was a spoilt, childish, self-centred brat who only knows how to have fun. after a big blow between him and ZY, he decided to change. i was really blown away by his changes. he became a more responsible, diligent, hardworking, loving and ultimately patient man.
and then, theres zhao bai shi. he is such a true gentleman. even after wu yi has slandered him, even after him finding out the truth never once he mistreated her. even when he was forced into it, he respected her oh god what a guy! and despite his close relationship with ZY he still oblige his duty.
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