Reviews

A simple, but very touching and sincere story

So far, together with Love for Love's Sake, this is my favourite BL series this year. The plot (best friends to lovers, miscommunication and misunderstanding) is nothing we haven't seen before, but the way it was told, i.e. past and present side by side throughout the first 7 episodes, in combination with an amazing cast, was absolutely compelling, I loved it and anticipated every new episode. A very honest, genuine, sincere love story with likable mains that had their faults but at the end I ended up sympathizing with both of them. The cherry on top for me was that there was never any doubt how much Ji and Achi loved each other despite their struggles to deal with it and admit it. They certainly deserved their episode 8 and the happiest ending ever.

This isn't a series that can be watched casually to spend the time, because many of the details are important to understand the parallels between the past and the present and to unveil why the characters would act the way they did. Ji spends most of his time in the present trying to desperately protect himself from being abandoned again, but at the same time he is the biggest Achi fanboy and can't really deny him anything despite being blunt and direct. In contrary, in the present Achi finally does what he wanted to do in the past but didn't dare to and relentlessly pursues Ji until the misunderstanding is cleared up. I loved both of them so much and I hope to see these actors again, because they did such a great job. Ji crying while admitting to Coin that he still hasn't forgotten Achi and Achi crying while watching Ji with Pear in the cinema moved me equally. The love scenes were very well done, too. The desperate longing looks, the heat, the adoration, devotion, the pure happiness once they came together, it was all there. I've lost count how many times I've rewatched the kiss from episode 4. I said this already, but I'll say it again - Ji and Achi were utterly and totally in love the entire time, in past and present, and it was transmitted believably on screen. This is what I want to see most in a BL - both mains being obviously into each other and being open and honest about it once they come together.

I would've loved to see more of the second couple instead of finding out that everybody in the hospital was into Achi, because there were some filler scenes I think could've been used better. Still, I'm giving the series full marks, because I enjoyed watching it so much, I adored the main couple and their relationship so much and because I found the way the story was told fascinating and captivating so it felt like something new I haven't seen before despite the simple plot. Also, I think the current rating for the series is very undeserving and hope more people will give it a chance.

Leia Mais

For a moment there I was hesitant whether I should express my feelings frankly or filter them for the sake of diplomacy and respect for those who liked it. In the end, I decided for complete honesty, and for this I apologize in advance.

What an utterly stupid movie.
The premises are interesting enough: two "love swindlers" meet, and their carefully planned arts of seduction are put to the test by the experience of the other. Up to this point, everything's fine: two very good looking people are thrown into some funny situations, keeping the viewer entertained for the duration of… a quarter of an hour.
After that, all the inconsistency of this plot come to the surface. This should be a romantic comedy, but where is the romance? Unless we are to think that beauty were the one and only prerogative to love and be loved, there is absolutely nothing likable about those two. They are cynical, spoiled, prejudiced and irritating. If you expect a character development, a little something to make you empathise with one of them or both, you'll be disappointed. There is no characterization whatsoever here: why are these two disillusioned? No idea. Are they going to change, feel deeper, be taught some valuable lesson by the encounter? No.
All we see is 2 handsome people displaying all their weapons, from beginning to end. The point of a romantic comedy is to satisfy the comedic and the romance. In this movie, the comedic is repetitive and the romance non existent, since who cares about two bad people who stay bad?

I suppose the acting saves the day. Son Ye Jin is unusually feisty and plays her role very well, given the little material she was given to work with. This was my first time watching Song Il Gook on screen, but I know he's played serious roles before, so I guess he did a good job too in portraying a funnier character. Since there is no true soul in this movie though, I can't imagine they had to work hard on identifying with their characters.

Music… can't remember, I'm afraid.

No way I'm ever going to rewatch this movie, I'd rather have my foot be hit with a hammer.

Leia Mais

Where did this rate come from!

I literally can't understand the reason why this show is so high rated and why ppl put it on their "best till now 2025 bls" lists. It's below mid levels. And not bc of acting skills (I'm not gonna shame the actors. They had a great chemistry), but bc of the scenario. There's zero plot. Every ep was boring with no suspense for what comes next. We got a series on a series? Why should we get long dialogs from what they were shooting? At some point I double checked if I'm watching a Chinese or a Thai show. I waited more after all this noise about it. But unfortunately I got really disappointed.

Also the music choice wasn't ideal many times. Its the first time in my life I listen to someone play a monotonous piano melody while im watching a spicy scene. It was so blund. Didn't give any extra feeling to the scene. And what happened to their hairstylist? Both of them, especially Jin, couldn't see with their hair on their eyes the whole time!

And if the rating is a result of the spicy scenes only, be so for real yall! It's not worth it THAT much.

Leia Mais

Started quite good. Ended quite bad.

So... This series was never a favourite of mine but I enjoyed watching it when an episode came out.

I'm going to start by the things (or rather, thing) that I liked: the cast. This is - personally - the only good thing in this series. Khao and First are, as usual, very good in their roles, but I particularly want to put Neo's and Louis's acting in the spotlight because they are the ones that impressed me the most. Especially Neo whom I'm used to see acting as the funny character only here to make jokes. In The Eclipse, he shows that he is more than just the funny guy in a series and I'm happy for him. I hope that he will be cast in other serious roles. As for Louis, even though I expected a bit more from his role (like an antagonist, or something) - but it's not his fault -, I really liked his acting in this series.

Now, the thing that I didn't like - or not so much... the plot. Well, it started out with an ok plot - not great, but interesting: a curse and the mystery behind it. But then, it rapidly went down the drain. First, I expected something bigger than just Akk doing all those things by himself. Also, the things in question were not exceptionally frightening. I kind of hoped for Thua being the mastermind behind this curse, it would have been more interesting plot-wise and character-wise. Second, the three guys who protest all the time are annoying and they should have been suspended from the school a long time ago already! I mean, I live in France and our education system is probably different from the Thai's one but... wearing a uniform is not something the school is responsible of, right?... So why demonstrating in front of the school instead of the Ministry of Education? Also, even though they have the right to demonstrate to show their displeasure, if they don't agree with the rules of their school and don't abide by them, I think they have the freedom to change school! I'm a teacher, we have rules, and if a student don't abide by the rules, they are punished and that's how schools work in most countries. So even though, the Suppalo's rules are old-fashioned, the students have to respect them or they have the right to go to another school of their choice.

To finish, I'll talk about the editing that was horrendous, especially episodes 11 and 12. In episode 11, we have a scene in which Thua exposes the truth in front of everyone and Akk and his friends were quite unhappy with this "change of personality" - even though, he was always a bit dodgy in my opinion -, and the next part of the episode, they all are reunited around a table talking about Wat's short film as if nothing happened a few minutes before. That was SO WEIRD. Especially from Kan's perspective because I would have expected him to talk about what happened with Thua (as they were already a thing) but nothing. It was so weird... Also, in episode 12, not only was the whole coming out thing a bit too rushed (Aye could've waited a bit before telling Akk's parents that they were together), the teacher joining the boys on their little trip to Akk's house was also very akward. I sometimes even felt like there was supposed to be a thing between her and Wat and that weird me out.

Anyway, I enjoyed watching the series even though I would definitely not rewatch it as once was more than enough.

Leia Mais

This show is the wake up call that begs us to be more skeptical.

This whole documentary just made me angry. The idea that some people can get so easily manipulated simply by the virtue of a person claiming they have holy guidance makes my blood boil. Rape, torture, murder, abuse, suicide - all because some random person claimed they are Jesus reincarnated. At the same time, it shows how clever these cult leaders were, how well planned their schemes were and how they selected the victims - they did not target everyone. That's why it's so important for us ask questions and rely on more than trust and belief.

I’m not going to lie, the level of religious freedom in Korea was always fascinating for me. On the first glance the idea of all the religions being able to rather peacefully coexist in one country, where no one is truly judged by their religious beliefs sounds like a utopia. With this level of acceptance and “no questions asked” comes a big danger though: the country becomes a breeding ground for cults. How many reincarnated Jesuses can there be in the small country of South Korea at the same time?

The documentary presents a rather uncomfortable question: what to do with victims who become perpetrators? How much can be forgiven based on the brainwashing they went through, and how much responsibility should they take for their actions? The leaders were evil, we can all agree. We wanted them to be punished and suffer as much as their victims did. What with the members? Logically speaking you know they are the victims, but it’s impossible not to feel any resentment towards them.

Some people may say it was unnecessarily detailed, unnecessarily graphic, unnecessarily descriptive, but I strongly disagree. Did this documentary make you feel uncomfortable? Angry? Sad? Scared? Good, then it did its job to present the reality of the victims. Saying it was unnecessarily detailed is like saying it was unnecessary realistic - they used real footage of the events, they used real photos, videos and recordings, they used real testimonies - it was not shown for a shock value, it was shown because it was the reality of what happened. The reality was just that shocking, awful and evil.

If I were to complain about one thing production wise - some footages were shown a few too many times, especially of JMS in the first 3 episodes. They kept showing the same videos of him preaching, and that I felt was a bit too much and truly unnecessary. Showing it once would be enough.

TW: I don’t know… feels like anything you can think of: rape, dead bodies, suicide, self harm, abuse, child neglect, child abuse… They show real photos and videos from crime scenes and recordings from victims, even the reenacted interviews are detailed and based on the real statements from real victims. It’s a lot.

Leia Mais

This drama caught my attention from the get go. A team of grim reapers who're on a mission to save people who wanted to kill themselves. It was such an interesting premise that I can't help to go look for the original webtoon ahead of the drama airing to familiarise myself with the story.

And I have to say that the webtoon was also very well written. I like how so far the drama's writing stayed pretty close to how the webtoon was written. While I do notice that there are some details from the webtoon that ended up portrayed differently in drama, it doesn't really affect the main story much. And I love how the drama still retain the qualities that made the webtoon well loved.

I also really loved the casting, especially with regards to Kim Heesun and Lee Soohyuk. It really felt like Gu Ryeon and Park Joonggil had literally come out of the webtoon to real life!

Leia Mais

Picture this. A beautiful, nicely decorated cupcake is sitting right in front of you. Its sweet smell is hypnotizing you, and that icing is just calling out your name, telling you to take a bite.
And you do.
Only to spit out a stale piece of rotten, bland bread.
That's the only way I can describe Heirs.
It had a promising cast, promising writers (the same as Secret Garden), and a great budget. But once the episodes began rolling, you got a taste of the dry product.
Anticlimactic plot, the drama missed some sparkles, the romance was roll-eye worthy, and the humor was cheesy.
Bland, irrational characters. I never understood why two guys were vying for the annoying, wimpy Eun Sang. Kim Tan was as 1-dimensional as it could get. And why the hell did Kim Woo Bin's character turn against Kim Tan? I never fully comprehended that.
Incredibly sucky acting (I'm looking at you Lee Min Ho), perhaps Kim Woo Bin and Kim Tan's biological mom were the only rescuable ones. Oh, and they also wasted Choi Jin Hyuk's acting.
And to top it all off, as unoriginal as it could get. It was obvious they wanted to recreate an entertaining mess a la Boys Over Flowers, but they sort of missed out the entertaining factor.
I usually try to find a positive point in this drama, but even the OST was annoying.
Pass this drama.

Leia Mais

A lacking story with a pretty package

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

**The GOOD:**

1) Aesthetics: the FLs costume, cinematography and animations are really eye-catching. However, it must be said that the animation style and aesthetics style they went with is very derivative, clearly taking inspiration from the works of Tim Burton (and his team) as well as Tadahiro Uesugi and Neil Gaiman (Coraline). Anyways, bravo for the art direction department.

2) Representation of people in the autism spectrum: although seen in Western movies and series, it seems that in Kdrama-land the depiction of people in the spectrum is overall lacking. Oh Jung Se also does a great job in this role, picking up on the small details without coming off as a caricature.

3) Acting of leads and chemistry between the main couple: Oh Jung Se and Seo Ye Ji showed that they're great actors. Kim Soohyun was good too, but I wouldn't say he was particularly remarkable. However, he and YeJi did a good job building the chemistry between the main couple. Also, on a superficial level, they just look good together, period.


**The BAD:**

**lots of spoilers ahead**

1) ASPD being used as lure without proper development and approach: the drama original title (Psycho, but it's okay) is sensationalist enough -- and one might say even offensive to those who suffer with ASPD -- but it could be given leeway if they were to subvert the stigma carried by people diagnosed with ASPD. However, besides one single mention by a secondary character, the show never expands on the FL alleged diagnosis. Her toxic behaviour in the beginning of the series were even excused by some viewers on the ground that she has a personality disorder. Unfortunately, in the end, we learn that the FL was just a person that had traumas and developed (toxic/unhealthy) coping mechanisms. So basically the show used ASPD as an "exotic" character trait to get viewers interested on the show and then didn't raise any awareness about it. It was a mere plot device.

2) The trope of the toxic male lead but with genders reversed: we all know that many kdramas are guilty of having a jerk ML that constantly mistreats or looks down upon the "doormat" FL only for him to be redeemed and the couple finally get together. Usually, in order to redeem the ML we learn that he actually had a terrible childhood, even though he was rich, his parents were abusive or just absent etc etc. We all know that. What this drama does is the exactly the same thing, except that the toxic part of the couple is initially the FL.

A lot of people considered her rudeness, aggressiveness and manipulative behaviour as "badass" and others excused her because of her supposed ASPD. Well, even if she did have a personality disorder that absolutely doesn't excuse behaviours like sexually harassing the ML, using his disabled brother to lure him to her house, among other gratuitious mean behaviours she had initially.

The whole idea that one should endure boundary-pushing, threats, and manipulation until stockholm syndrome kicks in and they finally heal their stalker who loves and obsesses over them is just an outdated and tired troped that should be dropped by writers at this point.

On a side-ish note, I guess it has also become a trend in kdramas to have a FL with alleged "sociopathic tendencies" as seen recently on Itaewon Class for example. Seems like writers are overcompensating years of male toxicity by writing toxic females, which is not the point of feminism at all. And seeing people lowkey (or highkey) glorifying that behaviour is kinda disappointing too.

3) The trope of the destined connection: aka "we actually knew each other as kids but can't remember that for some alien reason!". Do I need to say anything more about it? I guess it's consensus by now that we're done with such trope. And it was barely needed in this drama too.

4) The trope of the forced cohabitation: again, not only this is tired but it was also connected with the FL toxic behaviour as explained above.

5) The gigantic plot hole: welp, the whole way they dealt with the FL mom was a mess and a half. It was textbook *deus ex machina* plot device. The implausible survival and comeback of the mother serves as a way to bring "resolution" and a happy ending to the characters.
One could disregard this argument and say this series is inspired by fairy tales and it was borderline within the magical realism genre. First of all, I think it's a strech to call it a magical realism work of fiction. But even if it was, every work of fiction regardless of genre should have generic verisimilitude (https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-verisimilitude#what-are-the-types-of-verisimilitude-in-fiction), even fairy tales. No matter how outlandish the premises of the work are, it should carry internal consistency. In the world/universe established in IONTBO the mother plot still doesn't make any sense, nowhere it's hinted that magical plastic surgery exists etc. It's just poor writing, let's admit that.

6) The trope of 'love heals all': people who loved this drama will say the characters improved on their own and weren't really codependent. But weren't they really?

The haircut moment -- usually used as an example of MY independently healing -- is more a symbolic and cathartic moment but it by no means is proper treatment or would accomplish major strides by itself. The show didn't give treatment of mental illness any layers of complexity. Not once she had to sit through therapy sessions, take medication, and her progress was pretty linear when in reality we have ups and downs. Another issue I take with her development is that she barely builds any relationships outside of the one with the brothers.

KT could also have gone through therapy to learn some healthy coping mechanism and how to assume his role as a caretaker in a less burdensome way.

What we saw on the show was that the leads healed as their relationship developed/romantically progressed, it was an intertwined process. The overall message conveyed is that they could ultimately heal because they were each other "safety pins" and that's neither healing on your own nor how it works irl.

So yeah, the show did not approach healing of trauma in a groundbreaking way, they went with the "love heals wounds" path.


**The "what isn't really my cup of tea but isn't objectively a flaw" aka personal side notes one shouldn't take as criticism**

1) The drama is really slow-paced, nothing much happens in its first half and barely on the second. But hey, some people prefer slow-burning stories and character study dramas. So there's that.

2) Having not read much about this show before watching, a friend told me this would focus on mental illness, so I build the expectation of it tackling this social issue in the way Sky Castle did with the Korean school system. But the show actually is just a romcom/melodrama that is set up in a mental institution. The main focus is the romance and not a commentary on the Korean mental health system.

Leia Mais

I stuck with this series because of the acting. Gulf did an amazing job with Type and Mew, when his character wasn't creepy or crying, was pretty fun. Mild's Techno was wonderful, I much preferred his interpretation of the character than the one in Love By Chance.

Having watched now both T/T and LBC, and read a bit here and there about the other storylines of the novels, it seems that virtually every storyline in this story universe has some element of sexual assault in the backstory or conflict (even Ae/Pete, which is a wholly consensual relationship, is triggered by a sexual assault and blackmail that Pete is trying to deal with). These plot device assaults are not dealt with well, the effects on the characters come and go as suits the storyline, and there are no consequences for rapists. When characters we are supposed to like commit assaults, it's treated as part of the romantic development rather than called out for what it is.

This is particularly badly done in T/T. Type has a traumatic, really major sexual assault in his history. In the entire series, the only scene in which this history was used in a way that felt realistic and important is when he recognizes Tar's trauma, which occurs in the last episode.


Tharn is gross. Just awful. He has zero respect for Type's boundaries. He sexually assaults him multiple times: in the shower; while he's sleeping; tells Type to "watch his ass" after they become friends again and after Tharn knows about Type having been kidnapped and raped; pushes him into a wall and threatens him when he thinks Type is flirting at a bar... just horrible. He agrees to have sex with Type even when Type explains that he is offering because a) he feels like he owes Tharn and b) he's afraid Tharn is going to do it at some point anyway so he wants to get it over with. When someone tells you they don't think they can say no to having sex with you because of factors that don't have to do with their immense desire to have sex with you, going ahead and having sex with them is rape. The writing completely ignores the coercive element of their first time. No, in fact, afterwards, Tharn tells Type that even though he said they could do it just once, it wasn't going to be just once, and then proceeds to continue to pester him until Type gives in again, which basically marks the start of their "romantic" relationship.

These constant assaults are not treated by the writer or director AS assaults, never problematized or called out. They are also really confusingly shot and plotted, to the point where at the beginning I thought we were seeing Type's fearful dreams/worries playing out (which would have been MUCH better, in that we would have understood more Type's reaction while being able to continue respecting/liking Tarn)


On top of the outright assaults, Tharn is horribly emotionally manipulative. We can, of course, dislike Type's homophobia. But given that it's routed in trauma, and that Tharn knows this, a realistic and compelling storyline would have Type moving through his fears and overcoming his prejudices while Tharn gives him some emotional space to process these changes and reconsider his worldview.


What we get instead is that every time Type concedes something, Tharn pushes the next boundary without asking and then gets mad/withdraws affection when Type is upset. On the very day that Type admits they are something more than friends, Tharn convinces him to go out into public and then kisses him IN PUBLIC without asking. On what planet would you expect the traumatised, recently severely homophobic guy who is struggling with his sexuality and only hours ago was willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, there's something more going on between you than being fuck buddies is suddenly ready to be outed at a bar? None. Actual people who understand relationships would not make that move and if they did, they would understand that THEY were the ones who did something wrong.


What does Tharn do? He gets mad, sulks, leaves for days and doesn't come back until Type apologizes.


The Tar storyline is also terrible, but I'm going to leave it here. I can't honestly recommend the show, although I can understand if you just want to kind of close your eyes/mind to the flaws and try to enjoy the fluffy parts, because that's clearly what I did. The characters are so inconsistent that when they are not being awful, they are pretty cute and likeable, so the fun fluffy scenes are there. Still, I'm not sure if it's worth it. I feel sort of gross for having watched it to the end.

Leia Mais

Jack & Joker: U Married A Standee

It's not even about how everyone sat in their fancy wedding outfits and watched Jack marry an ugly cardboard cutout standee with Joke's face on it, deep kissed said cardboard, or Hoy driving them to their honeymoon. No, my confusion was about my feelings. Like, was I supposed to cry or laugh at that scene? Yes, I felt sad when Jack kept insisting Joke was alive, but when Hoy walked that ugly cardboard standee down the aisle, I was laughing like a hyena, still, I couldn't help but go, 'Dafug is this? Throw the whole special away. As a matter of fact, burn it with fire. Yeet it into the sun, I don't want it.'

First off, these writers made us sad for nothing. We all saw the spoilers, so I was prepared, still, I dreaded that I was about to sit through 2 hours of back and forth just to get my heart broken. Even so, I did, cuz you know, we survived The Best Story, this would be another sad ending YinWar drama we forget and pretend it never existed. But then those few seconds happened and I'm like... then what was the point? Why you made me emotional for no reason? It was 5am on a Saturday people! The disrespect!

Unpopular opinion: I'd have been sad and angry if Joke died died for real, but I'd have accepted it. The concept of this whole drama is how harsh and unfair life can be, so it would have been on brand. Now, I don't know if I should rejoice that Joke is alive or not, cuz he looked so terrified when he woke up, so really, did we even win? And at what cost?

Listen, and I'm being serious here, so like, are we all going to collectively forget about Jack marrying that ugly cardboard cutout with Joke's face plastered on it or?? And did they just sat there and watch his man make out with a standee? Please, please, I need them to release a video of the real scene and not Jack's delulu version we got. You know, for science, and also I need more 'WTF am I watching?' that turns into laughter videos.

Frankly, I'm torn about that scene. On one head, I keep thinking, so everyone sat in their fancy dresses and watched Jack make-out with an ugly cardboard standee? Then Hoy drove them to their honeymoon all emotional like: 'I'm glad I was the one who drove them.' Brother What? HAHAHAHAHAHAH but then, the other part of me, the human one who saw Jack loose his mind to the point of insanity felt so bad. Cuz, that boy who'd been through so much and fought and came out on top was now hiding from reality, living in a make believe world just to get through the pain of losing someone who meant the world to him.

I am confusion. I'm caught between laughing like crazy or crying on top of my lungs. Yes, that scene where they were eating and sharing it with an invisible Joke made me emotional, when Joke's parents broke down I felt sad, but then I remembered how Jack hauled that cardboard standee into their married chambers and rolled with laughter. Why? Just why? Who wrote this?

PLOT:
Is it just me or that whole plot felt convoluted and unnecessary? I don't know, it came off forced to me, like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel just to find something to turn into a problem so they can destroy our hearts with Joke's death. I mean, bringing that annoying forgettable character out of jail just so he can lick his teeth, shut about whatever dafug he was talking about and kill our fav, was that necessary? All that for the fucker to die off screen without me even enjoying him getting blown to bits. Meh.

And why the hell these people never have a fully smart, worked out plan and contingencies for these things? Like they walk in there with a half baked plan, some gadgets Tattoo made, (he said he isn’t making any money so how useful and reliable are they even?) and expect everything to be sunshine and cookies. People, you're smarter than this! Be smarter than this!

This I liked:
- Tattoo and Aran playing gay chicken. I wonder who would win.
- All that teerak Jack & Joke kept calling each other. New, but adorable.
- How their friend group is still going strong, although it seems everyone is poor and they're basically surviving off air.
- Toi Ting's funny and honesty sass.
- Grandmama in that dragon suit to ask for Joke's hand for Jake. Hahaha, I love that woman.
- The sign for a second season.

What they could have kept:
- That unnecessary plot, I'm all for it if it's leading to a second season, otherwise what was the point?
- That one dimensional villain, can they please let him go already? He's so uninteresting that standee had more character.
- How these characters after everything they've been through always walks into danger with no concrete plan, thoughts of backup or even calling police for help. Like?? Are you all new here or something?
- Killing Joke and then doing a cop-out. Like if you gonna break our hearts just do it, don't make us cry and then give us hope that comes with a terrified looking Joke. If they kill him off again...
- I'm not sure I love or hate that wedding scene. It took me out of the seriousness of the story and now I can't stop laughing.

Anyway, all signs are pointing to a second season, so I am sat for it. I can't wait to meet the characters again and see if they finally get their happy endings.

Leia Mais

An impressive collection of talent badly underutilized by a troublesome script & production misfires

One of the recent additions to the literature genre is The Recipe Blog. It is characterized by insufferably long backstories rife with unnecessary details, long personal digressions and endless teases that it is about to get to The Big Reveal of, y’know, The Actual Recipe. [scroll scroll scroll “Where is it?!!! Aaaarghh, back to the Google search…]

It is easy to imagine the producers of “Jirisan” concocting this show much like the reader of a recipe blog: imagining the beautiful final product, struggling to get through the preliminary preparations, getting to the list of ingredients, then finally running out of patience, throwing them in a bowl haphazardly, giving it a few stirs, tossing it in the oven and going to have a very large glass of whiskey. It’s not that “Jirisan” is an hopeless, ugly mess that doesn’t merit a meal, but it needed a skilled chef at the helm to blend all of the elements together in to something that comes close to approximating the sum of its exceptional parts.

And the parts, in isolation, are a murderer’s row of impressive quality.

The supporting cast is Grade AA+++: Go Min Si as the fresh, novice ranger. Oh Jung Se (OH JUNG SE!!!) as the lonely veteran ranger. Jo Han Chul, Sung Dong Il and Jun Suk Ho are all terrific character actors. The mountain is a gorgeous setting to the show and viewers are treated to some outstanding drone shots of the scenery.

Jun Ji Hyun is the star and is every bit the talented actor needed to anchor a big budget drama. It’s not an award-winning role, but Yi Kang is a a solid lead character - enough complexity and development, a dry sense of humor and the tragic backstory. She is highly guarded personally but has a good development arc as the show progresses.

The other lead is Joo Ji Hoon who stands out more as an actor and his character, Hyun Jo, is the most intriguing of all. Joo Ji Hoon is really as complete a package as there is in the industry - all the physical attributes and a wonderful actor. He is warm and outgoing and understanding of Yi Kang and also exasperatingly driven to stop the killer that has escaped capture. Every time the show puts Hyun Jo in the spotlight, the energy of the show picks up noticeably.

All these various individual qualities, unfortunately, don’t mesh into a scintillating vehicle for entertainment. The chief culprit is, ironically enough, The Culprit. The murder mystery is flat out not particularly suspenseful and “Jirisan” never works out how to generate any measurable amount of tension. A fair amount of blame goes to a script that incorporates so many multiple timelines that anyone outside of a quantum physics practitioner is likely to struggle to make sense of. It also doesn’t help that the present day storyline has both main characters incapacitated to a certain degree and, as a result, incapable of interacting with each other. The show also starts out on a bizarre and awful sequence involving a rescue amidst a embarrassingly badly rendered cgi rockfall. The OST promoted a solo BTSer effort but it is wholly forgettable. And there’s little things like frequent splatters of blood that don’t look anything like actual human blood.

At no point (other than the opening sequence) is “Jirisan” tedious or unpleasant. But this production desperately direction and editing that made it’s little multiverse more accessible and the interaction between the cast members more meaningful and resonant. As it falls short on those areas, it’s very much a middle ground of a show - with some fine actors and a couple of intriguing main characters that are very much in search of a better blend between them.

Is it recommended? Kind of. Maybe? Not really or at least not strongly at all.

Leia Mais

the writing did not support the interesting premise

Overall: I was super excited for a twisty action thriller but the nonsense/cliche plot turned this into just another teenage GMMTV BL series. Aired on GMMTVs YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: murders, attempted murder, beaten up/violence, bullying, blackmail, manipulation, unwanted public outing, drugging, kidnapping

What I Liked
- that the first scene wasn't a flashback or flash forward
- the beginning/first episode hooked me
- Chopper and Ben (Perth did a great job)
- production value (minus my quibbles in Room For Improvement)

Room For Improvement
- there is a lot of nonsense plot things, some of which could have been explained with a few lines or a short scene and that makes it even more ridiculous (one example, a highschooler is a full time fisherman and he happens to fight and shoot a gun really well)
- characters don't feel realistic or have realistic reactions (Palm's interaction with his mother as an example, both of them just chillaxing on their beach vacation instead of how I think most people would be feeling)
- I wanted some plot twists or for this to be different but it's a standard GMMTV romance with window dressing
- the night scenes were too dimly lit, a couple of times the music was too loud over the dialogue
- it dragged in many places, I wanted an action/thriller and this was not it
- Chopper and Ben felt very rushed at the end
- overall I just didn't end up feeling much of anything, scenes that were supposed to make me sad didn't because of the huge plot holes

Leia Mais

I created an account just to write a review for this drama. It has touched me to such an extent, that I cried for an hour after finishing it and retold my husband most of the story for another few hours both in tears and with laughter.

I won’t talk about the excellent casting & acting, or amazing production quality, of how well they included authentic traditions and customs of that period, because these are 10/10, and other reviewers have already attested to that.

No, what I’ll talk about is something much deeper, lessons that one might never even get in a lifetime.

This drama is a lesson about kindness. Her kindness saved a nation, and you’ll understand what I mean when you watch it. Her kindness was inspiring, encouraging, nurturing, and selfless, and so the history of an empire changed its course. She was able to recognise when she should be grateful to somebody from a very young age. She was also able to forgive when forgiveness was to be given, because in her heart she found the ability to love somebody, who had never been properly loved before. She hadn’t experienced proper familial love as a child, but when she finally did, she defended it with her entire being. She’d go the extra mile for those she loved, without fear and without expecting something in return.

She has done some crazy scheming, and she wasn’t always a saint, but she knew when to stop, or at least learnt to do so. She was able to find peace in her heart, and it’s that light that so attracted other people, just like sunflowers to the sun.

This story is also about devotion. His devotion, something he never received in his family home, was so great that it made him fearless, ready to jump even into fire, defend under a rainfall of arrows, and charge ahead with determination. His devotion was his saving grace and so he was rewarded by destiny with her kindness. Her kindness saved him, just like his devotion saved her, and it saved a country.

To forgive is really hard, but the both of them were able to do so, to let go of the hate and anger, and instead open their arms to welcome those who have not been lucky enough to know true kindness and devotion. It resonated with me, because I once had to forgive as well, and I know how hard it is, and so I cried. For an entire hour I was sobbing, reminiscing not the bad memories, but the good ones. The finale of the drama, reminded me that in this world, it is love, kindness, devotion, steadfastness, patience, and being able to go through the ups and downs of life with dignity that will make or break you.

There were of course many other lessons, that are likely to touch your heart. Truth be told even when some of the not-so-good characters were in pain, I also teared up for them. In this world who is faultless, who is perfect...

May you watch this drama and learn from it. Learn about kindness and devotion and how the love of two people united & created a family. Not just a clan, but a family.

Leia Mais

Dull and repetitive!

As expected of Netflix´ standards, the directing, the cinematography and the musical scoring are outstanding; full of eye candy scenes. Quite beautiful and very melancholic heavy, which I´m a sucker for. So the experience was a joy for my eyes and ears, with that in mind it was easy to sometimes overlook the non interesting story and the lack of character development in the early episodes. But once it hit episode 12 everything just fell apart and the story/writing/main and supporting characters shortcomings became apparent. Once the main leads´ internal conflict was resolved which happened in episode 11 the remaining five were just abysmal and the beautiful cinematography was not enough to keep me interested.

Should I recommend this series? Yes, if you´re into young angst, love beautiful productions and you´re willing to overlook story and characters.

Leia Mais

CASH GRAB ADAPTATION

I don't understand why korean production like to ruined everything from original work. You can tell this is just purely cash grab. I understand if they cut some parts or change some character designs but to the point changing unnecessary thing that should not be changed? WHY? All the females characters got misogyny treatments. Chae soobin's character supposed to be someone who is promoted in her job but in the movie they make her resigned? Then Nana's character changed backstory too. How can you make the main character who was bullied to someone who bully others 😭. Such a disappointment.

I hope the actor fans be open-minded at how bad this script is because it's farrr from the original story.

Leia Mais