Reviews

WHY didn't I drop this sooner?

I was so excited to watch this show back when it was announced because of the cast, because Seo Hyun Jin and Hwang In Yeop are brilliant, so the show must be great as well! Well, turns out I was wrong. This was sooo boring and cringeworth, it felt like a telenovela that came straight out from Kwai.

The cast is good, and they acted good, I won't deny it. the reason I didn't drop this kdrama was mainly because I'm a huge fan of HIY, and I like Seo Hyun Jin too. She acted well as Oh Soo Jae, but poor HIY couldn't shine as much as he deserved, this is the first kdrama where he finally got to act as the main lead, it's a pity that things ended up like this. He is an awesome actor, I watched pretty much all of his kdramas except for Tale of Nokdu, and I can guarantee that he slayed on all the dramas he acted until now. His facial expressions are incredible, that's how he managed to shine even on his support roles like in 18 Again, and managed to steal everyone's hearts in True Beauty even tho he wasn't the main lead. But here, he was just... Plain. Boring. Blank. It didn't feel like Gong Chan was a main character, instead it felt more like he was Oh Soo Jae's loyal dog or whatever, everything he did was about Soo Jae, it was like he had no life of his own to care about. They mentioned his story with his half sister every now and then, but his focus was mainly on Soo Jae, it was kinda disappointing actually. It felt like the only reason for him to be on the show was to show up and save Soo Jae every now and then, run after her, and maybe, sometimes, think about his sister. While she was worried about her daughter stuff, her past, her present, her future, TK Law firm, the contracts, Choi Tae Guk, Ju Wan, and her other thousand problems that she had, Gong Chan was solely focused on her problems, and her. He was shallow, that's how I felt about his character. He could've been so much more. They could've had their development together on the story, but it seems like the only developments were given all to Soo Jae. That way, HIY didn't even have opportunities to show people his amazing acting skills, which is such a pity, what a loss. Some people met HIY for the first time on this kdrama, and I've seen people saying that he is a bad actor, that he is boring and etc, but that's just the character's fault, too bad that this is staining the actor's image.

About the romance. Gong Chan was solely focused on Soo Jae the entire series, but she seemed so distant from him tho. While she was on her own world, he seemed to be fully in love with her, in an obssessive way even, I'd say. But she didn't give that much attention to him, she kissed him once, they went out together a couple of times, and that was it. No chemistry at all. I could almost say that there was no romance at all there. The second male lead sucked as well, if he wasn't present on the kdrama it wouldn't even make a difference, honestly. Choi Yoon Sang tried to ruin things between Gong Chan and Soo Jae, and it didn't even bother me, he was such a weak character. Besides, why did he try to ruin things between Soo Jae and Gong Chan when there wasn't even anything to ruin from the start? Their love was cold as ice, idk what Yoon Sang tried to finish ruining there. Then he tried joining his father, which made no sense, then he betrayed his father, which was weird as well. Anyways, he was the most boring character there. He and Soo Jae barely had any interactions, I could even say that he didn't feel like a second male lead.

The rest of the characters were boring as well. Everybody's lives revolved around Soo Jae, it was like nobody had anything else to care about. The whole team of students were like Soo Jae servants. She was the perfect definition of a Mary Sue for me.

Some of the other things that bothered me on the story:

-Jae Yi's death. She barely had any screen time, we barely got to know her, and barely had time to find out that she was Soo Jae's daughter, then she suddenly died in a dramatic scene with flowers flying everywhere, and Soo Jae hugging her corpse later. We didn't have enough time to feel connected to Jae Yi and her story, so, I'm sorry but I couldn't feel so sad about her death. Not as sad as they wanted me to be at least.

-Soo Jae's heart disease. Why was it even mentioned there? It didn't make much of a difference in the story, except for some hurt/comfort scenes, which weren't even necessary. Her fever scene didn't make sense as well, and I'm a fan of whump scenes.

-Choi Tae Guk saying to Soo Jae on his last minutes that she didn't win the game, that something more was about to come, that this wasn't the end, and actually YES, this was the end because everybody had an happy ever after when he died. I was expecting something more when he said that. A final trap, maybe? Something vile, like his character was on the entire series? Idk. I was just disappointed.

-The rise and fall of Choi Tae Guk. He made hell out of Soo Jae's life in the entire show, right? The bigger they come, the harder they fall, I was expecting something UGLY on his defeat. But it was also... disappointing. He just heard everything everybody had to say and killed himself. That's all folks. Gone. He didn't even try to kill someone along with him, just, killed himself. Boring.

-Everybody decided to become good guys on the last episode. The guy who killed Na Jung apologized to Chan, turned himself in, the corrupt guys were caught, everybody decided to follow the laws, to live life happily later, and suddenly everything was good again. What the eff. I know this is a work of fiction, and it isn't supposed to be like in real life, but honestly, it was cringe to see everybody suddenly being good and lawful.

-Choi Ju Wan judging his father. He raped that girl, he thought he had killed Na Jung, he did a lot of atrocities throughout the show, but when he found out that his father killed the girl he was like NO WAYYY. That made no sense.

-Baek Jin Ki's planned revenge failed. After planning it for years and years. That was just.. disappointing. Then they solved everything in a whole other way, which made his former plannings pointless.

Anyways, I had my hopes that the show would get better maybe. It didn't happen. Before anyone says "maybe you just don't like melodramas", I DO like melodramas, I like mexican soap operas, the thing is that THIS ONE was so poorly written I can't stand it.

Leia Mais

If your favorite character is Ayan, do not watch this

The scriptwriters of The Eclipse are consistent in their efforts to bend characters until they fit into clichéd tropes. They did it in the last four or five episodes of the series, and they are doing it here again.

In just two episodes, they managed to completely destroy Ayan's character, presenting him as extremely self-centered. What? Ayan, who spent all of The Eclipse trying to protect people from the curse, who understood Akk and did everything he could to help him, who supported Thua like a great friend, is self-centered? Give me a break.

Furthermore, Akk is now a person who cares too much about others. Really, scriptwriters? Akk, who almost killed his schoolmates to prove that he is a good student prefect and get a scholarship, cares too much about others? I think you are a little confused. Did you forget which one of your characters is Ayan and which one is Akk?

The destruction of the main characters aside, these two episodes were not bad. The great acting and FirstKhao's amazing chemistry made them an enjoyable watch. Khan, Thua, their friends, and Teacher Sani are all here to make fans of The Eclipse happy.

Leia Mais

This Korean Drama has a little bite to it.

This is an interesting drama. How do you categorize it? This is the story about the youngest son of the richest chaebol. He is pampered and a social media darling, but his greatest passion is to be a SWAT team member. This dismays his dad. It stars Ahn Bohyun. He is famous for his sculpted body and it is on display in the drama. That is just the gravy. What I really like about Flex X Cop is the actual Police drama part. Everything looks so realistic and orchestrated to have a real crime scene feel. In addition, the drama has some of the cleanest “fight” action I have seen in a drama. Ahn Bohyun must be a real AMA fighter. His “fight” movement is so authentic and crisp. It did not look forced and pretentious, like regular drama fight scenes do.

The drama also has a strong female lead, Park Ji-Hyun. Please, really pay attention to the fight scenes! At first, I was going to pass up Flex X Cop, but this drama really has a little teeth to it. I am going to go with this one. Flex X Cop is interestingly entertaining.

Ahn Bohyun—See You In My 19th Life, Yummy Cells, Military Prosecutor Doberman, and Descendants of the Sun.

Park Ji-Hyun—I love this actress from Reborn Rich, Rookie Historian,The King In Love and Do You Like Brahms?

Leia Mais

realistic and well done

Overall: if the premise/summary isn't your thing, I encourage you to watch at least thru episode 4 because this story is like an onion with layers. 8 episodes total about 45 minutes each, 2 aired per week on GMMTV's YouTube Channel (also Disney+Hotstar in some countries).

Content Warnings: manhandling, homophobia, death, grief

What I Liked
- Li Ming and Heart were the cutest cinnamon rolls
- Wen was direct and communicated what he wants
- felt realistic which matches the setting/story (i.e. the actors faces have visible sweat and aren't airbrushed/filtered to oblivion)
- touched on power/class differences, poverty, marriage inequality/legal inequality
- step parent shown to be caring and supportive
- Gaipa's mom
- hints about future plot elements
- realistic response with Li Ming and his mom
- avoided a cliche plot point towards the end, characters had good communication
- production value* (music, cinematography - that long take/no cut shot at the beginning of episode 1 part 1 was cool)

Room For Improvement
- several scenes were a little too dim* and the camera is too shaky sometimes
- not a fan of some of the music choices, at one point there was an accordion
- how Uncle Jim himself and other characters talk about him being old when the actor Earth is 28 (and most definitely does not look old)
- each episode appears to skip a month however because we don't see montages or dates it doesn't always feel like that much time has passed
- wish it had been Gaipa that initiated things after the time jump
- I understand them not subtitling what Heart was saying in the beginning to show how Li Ming didn't understand but it was frustrating when they continued to not subtitle everything he was saying later on
- it was not Jim's place to tell the mom about Li Ming, it should have been Li Ming's choice
- I don't agree that "deaf people are the loneliest people" which is a line a character said
- good that actual consequences were shown for drunk driving
- the series title "Moonlight Chicken"

Leia Mais

A love story that makes sense.

There were a few epic love stories I watched where the leads are willing to sacrifice themselves for the person they love but I sometimes wonder why and how did they even fall in love in the first place.

This is not the case in The Legend of Shen Li. This forbidden love story is beautiful, compelling, sexy and we as viewers saw how it unfolded every step of the way. The progress of their love takes center stage and it just made sense why they fell for each other even when the whole world was against it.

The story is simple with a sprinkle of plotting and scheming and the leads are so adorable together. Loving it.

UPDATE SPOILER: Just completed this amazing drama. They gave us AN EPISODE of their happily ever after and it is what I NEEDED.

Leia Mais

gorgeous vistas, underwhelming script (watch suggestions)

Overall: I enjoyed the countryside setting/cinematography and it was okay as a coming of age series but failed with the romance aspect. See my spoiler comment for how it ends which might help you decide if you want to start it. The series was based on a book which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 7 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5169/lost-in-the-woods-2025-e01 and Viu.

Content Warnings: past slap, alcoholism?, animal death, blood, non con kiss

Watch Suggestions (to focus on the romance aspect)
- watch episode 1
- skip episode 2
- episode 3 watch 3-5:30, 22-32:30, 39-47
- episode 4 watch 11:45-12:30, 19-24:30 and 26:30-40
- episode 5 watch 4:30-9:30 and 17:30-end
- episode 6 start at 16 minutes or if not interested in the het side couple skip to 28 minutes and watch until 30:30, 34:25-end
- episode 7 watch 9:30-16, 29:20-41:45, stop there and pretend they had a totally consensual kiss

What I Liked
- setting/vistas
- black nail polish
- Fifa is shown to be musically talented and academically intelligent
- clear premise
- two supportive female friends
- that Fifa stayed true to himself/his life goals
- production value (cinematography*)

Room for Improvement
- starting with a flash forward/voice over though at least it was just 2 days in advance and not months or years
- a parent acted comical in a scene where it seemed they were going for serious/angsty in episode 1
- episode 2 a character had so much flack for total nonsense stuff
- the grandma's plan didn't make sense, she should have eased him into things, I'm sure she was not staying in that type of accommodation and she chose the most prickly person to be his guide?!!!
- the scholarship application timeline seems a bit late compared to what it would be in the real world but I didn't deduct points for it
- not much chemistry, just started in episode 4 but they didn't even have a scene together until 16 minutes into episode 6
- *some night scenes were too dark
- what happened at the end of episode 4
- the ex plot took up way too much screentime, in episode 5 it was 10 out of 43 minutes or about 25% of the screentime!
- in episode 6 how Hem apologized for doing his job and Fifa was immature
- the non con kiss and how they never properly communicated

Note: in the series the younger guy Fifa graduated high school so the character should be 18 (played by Ton who is 25); they said that Hem is 30 (played by Arm who is 30). I did not have any issue with the age gap between the characters in the series.

Leia Mais

A Giant in Acting and Cinematography for the genre

Acting wise, I think most actors here are picked for their acting skills rather than looks alone. Rarely seen a cast so complete with great actors. Yang Mi surprises me but I am happy she has a breakthrough. She looks more beautiful here than in all those Xianxia dramas she was in. Ou Hao is new to me. I almost can’t believe that such fine actor exists. Raw. Tan. Simpleton facial features but with a beautiful smile and dimples. Bulky yet not gym- like muscular. So real. As for cinematography, you have to watch it to love it. So authentic.

Storyline. The drama didn’t hesitate to tell the story as how they imagine life to be like in the day. Not everyone ends up with a good ending. Even though it was unfair eg Susu’s case, that’s how we think would be the story for her. The only part I didn’t like was NiWei coming back as a Japanese traitor. Too typical and predictable. He should just be written off as a bandit and end up being rounded up since he kind of supported what his dad was doing. He was old enough to understand unlike this little brother who ended up growing into a good person. The older actors especially the mum in law is of another level. Her every movement, voice , accent, actions are so well done. She deserves an award. The father is a well known actor. So no surprises. But the father in law was a pleasant surprise . He started as a selfish greedy person but as the drama unfolds he is pretty endearing. His death was so emotional. I even look up the actor profile to check his past works. Small eyes with gigantic expressions. The farming story he told before dying is a classic.

It’s so scary to see how they lived so poorly. Yet it’s heartwarming at the same time to see them happy when the land is doing well. Things we take for granted like safe home, clean food and water, machines to help our chores were non existent. How the entire family agree or disagree over little things like buying a cow is priceless. Like their lifeline. Makes me want to visit and stay in one of these farms. They should use the set for eco tourism.

Overall super well done. Deserve many awards including one for Yang Mi. Such great acting overall.

Leia Mais

Simple 'Friends with benefits' but deep

Plus for little bit of LGBT, acting and realism. There was a tense atmosphere all the time so you could get into the action. The drama is really very good and even the fact that it is a mini drama is a plus. In my opinion, if it was a full drama, it would not give such an effect, because they would probably add other storylines. Sometimes I didn't understand the characters' behavior in certain situations, but I do realize that everyone is different than they react differently. As well as the action finally seemed shortened to me (although I suspect that there will be a second season). Nevertheless, I recommend it (as one of the few, I read reviews now ...)

Leia Mais

Are you looking for a drama what will completely blow your mind with its epic plot, amazing cast and awesome music? The this is the drama for you.

I must say that since 2013 seems to be a melodrama year, I felt like this drama would just be one of those "melodramas" of the year. But boy was I wrong. From the very first episode you get pulled in and the drama becomes a straight 10/10 ride all the way to the end. There were times when you thought like "omg will he really succeed in doing this?" or "omg will they find out his real identity?" etc. It was like watching a suspense movie that constantly held you sitting on the edge of your seat, and at the same time it had those cute and romantic moments where you feel as if the time had stopped for our main characters and you get drowned in all the emotions. But the plot is not the only amazing thing about this story, what both amazed me and surprised me where the characters, or to be more precise, the actors and actresses. Jo In Sung was simply pure epicness in this drama. He did an amazing job portraying Oh Soo, a man with many sides, a man who both hated and loved life. Song Hye Kyo was just....wow O_O. No comments, seriously. She shun in this drama so much that it made me speechless. She played the role of a blind girl so well, that I had to check as I watched the drama if she wasn't actually blind in real life O_O. How did she manage to play it so well? It looked so real....just wow. She seriously deserves an award for her acting. Last but not least, how can we talk about TWTWB without mentioning the other two "main characters" played by Jung Eun Ji and Kim Bum. If Jo In Sung's and Song Hye Kyo's acting and chemistry didn't blow my mind completely, then this couple certainly did! I shipped this couple like crazy! I'm not even joking. I loved their craziness, their jokes, their chemistry, the way they looked at each other....gah just everything about them made me fangirl. Not to mention that Kim Bum rocked the red hair and looked super-sexy as a rebellious guy in his late teens/early 20's.

ENDING: Some people were a bit disappointed with the ending since it felt a bit rushed and unexpected, but I personally loved it. I think the ending was perfect and if you look into more detail around it, it didn't just come out out of the blue. Withing spoiling anything for the viewers who haven't seen this drama, all I can say is that I felt that the ending fit this kind of genre of drama. Oh Soo played a dangerous game, which could mean death to both him and the people close to him and in that kind of gambling-gangster-business having to deal with decisions such as "is it worth risking the lives of the people I love just to gain this?" is a everyday life-style. So, to be completely honest the decision Kim Bum's character decided to take didn't surprise me to 100% but at the same time it was "expected either" it was somewhere in between, like you could see it happening but at the same time you wished that it wouldn't. I know that some people had hoped for a happy lovey-dovey ending, but this was a sad story about the value of life, guilt and promises and I think the ending was the perfect cherry to top the cake known as That Winter, the Wind Blows.

Leia Mais

Time Loop: Curse or Blessing?

A time loop drama with lots of suspense and interesting turns of events.

As the synopsis already states, the drama is about FL whose life was about to end when the bus she was on had an accident. But instead she woke up again on this very bus, a few minutes prior to the accident. Soon she realizes she is caught in a time loop, doomed to relive this horrible experience over and over again. In her attempt to change her fate, she accidentally pulls ML into the loop with her. Together they need to find out how to stop the loop.

Since the Main Leads were caught in a time loop, the same event was repeated over and over again, through the entire drama. And yet they managed to never let the story become boring or repetitive. Every loop was different in a way. Be it the plan of the Main Leads to avoid the accident, or the outcome of it. There was always something new in each loop, making the drama interesting, exciting and less predictable. It was quite thrilling to sit and watch whether their next plan is gonna succeed or not. Some scenes really had me at the edge of my seat.

I was pleasantly surprised with the characters and acting. I loved both main leads a lot, and I also really loved their chemistry! It was interesting to see their differences and how they complemented each other. While our game creator MLs first thought was to save himself, our student FL wanted to also save all other people on the bus. It was very interesting how the incident slowly made them become closer to each other. Great performance by both of them!

I also enjoyed the stories of all the other characters on the bus. They provided lots of beautiful and emotional scenes. The acting of the whole cast was top-notch.

So? How to get out of the time loop? Is there a way to even stop the accident, and hope for everyone to survive? What's the reason behind the accident? How many loops are there gonna be until their destiny is final? Lots of questions to ask, and answers to discover. ;)

Leia Mais

Story:
Childhood neighbors who become a couple after knowing each other for several years. Very basic story line with no surprises. Although I like that the OTPs friends were important and had all their own story lines, this dragged out the drama.

The male lead was really static and seemed to have no emotions at all. The female lead on the other hand was often annoying (some might call it bubbly) and all over the place.

Again, the basic idea of showing their love from the beginning to end is great. However, the beginning took about 16 episodes (their high school years), while their collage and after-collage life was wrapped up in 7...this also means 16 episodes of no real deep or romantic encounters, and 7 episodes where they are adults, but again we don't see many lovely scenes. Actually, the last episode was the best, as there was a lot of love included!

Acting/Cast:
As this was my first cdrama I don't know any of the cast. They made an okay job, though. The characters were quite annoying...

Music:
Nothing to to remember.

Rewatch:
0/0 I seriously don't know, if I will even watch a cdrama again....

Overall:
I get how their deep bond from the beginning is meant to be shown, however it's more suited for a younger audience (about 13+ years) as the focus is on the high school years. I would have loved to watch their adult life more.

Leia Mais

How to ruin a 10/10 show with one episode.

I must congratulate the writers for accomplishing something I considered nearly impossible. Well, I know better now. One can completely ruin a show in just one episode. Here is how I imagine it was done.

Step 1: Destroy the characters. The characters that the audience have known and loved for the past 15 episodes need to be ruined first. Take all their character-traits away from them, including their understanding, their love, their spirit of never giving up - everything that made them… them. Everything that made the audience fall in love with them. Ready? Great. Now apply this to their carefully constructed and super strong relationship and make it seem like it was nothing. Easy peasy.

Step 2: Try to trick the audience. Everything that has been shown important in the past 15 episodes needs to amount to nothing. All the little things, hints dropped, heartwarming things shown, need to be shown moot and useless. Now, switch their focus to completely different and dumb things which had no relevance before that wretched episode.

Step 3: Leave tons of things unexplained. Build up entire mysteries for 15 episodes and then simply refuse to solve them.

Step 4: Completely give up on all sense. Nothing needs to make any sense whatsoever. The strongest forged bonds are weak AF. People clearly madly in love with one another can be forced to break up with no regrets and can move on from each other just as quickly. Like I said, give up on all sense.

There you have it folks. A 4-step guide to ruin a 10/10 show. It was clearly easier than I had initially thought.

Leia Mais

They picked the perfect girl to play Rio!.. Her character has so many different personalities and she did an awsome job!.. Professor Ozawa is just an amazing actor and also hot!.. they had a gr8 chemistry and the story itself was great, it shows what is happening in society these days!.. Because I am a single-mom with a daughter, some issues in the movie got me thinking about my own daughter's safety! I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE AGE-GAP BUT OTHER ISSUES!(u will know if you watch it lol)... A MUST-WATCH MOVIE AND I LOVEEEEE IT....The age-gap actually was the best part of it hehehehehe!! they sooo cute!..

Leia Mais