Reviews

Entertaining

I have watched both the original ( the Chinese version "Go Princess Go") and the Korean remake ( Mr. Queen). And I have to admit, I think I like the Korean one a little bit better. Don't get me wrong, the Chinese version is just as good. But I found the Korean remake to be slightly more entertaining.
The Storyline- similar to the Chinese version, the FL ( a male at the time) is a selfish playboy who while running from someone, ends up falling into a pool which sends his spirit back into the body of a Queen (to be) of the Joseon Dynasty. And just like the Chinese version, he tries everything possible to get back to his time period. which brings about some very funny situations.
Prior to his soul entering the Queen's body, the Queen (So Yong) was disliked by everyone including the King. But the spirit in So yong's body, despite being rude and stand-off-ish, is somewhat kind and caring. This causes people around to begin to see the Queen in a new light. There is some love rivalry, but it doesn't last long enough to bother you and it doesn't get too heavy on the politics either. it is the perfect mix of mystery, comedy and romance.

The cast-I loved the cast in the original, they did a good job. But the Korean version's cast was just Awesome!
I had seen Shin hye sun in other dramas but wasn't as drawn to her in other dramas as I am am in this one. her ability to show a different range of emotions really made this drama light and fun to watch. Her character is the main comic relief in the drama.
I had also seen Kim jung hyun in other dramas but became a fan of his after seeing him in Crash Landing on you. The rest of the cast also did an amazing job.

I've seen some complaints about the ending but I think it was an ok ending. Everyone was happy in the end.

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first I love watching historical dramas and well I love everything about this drama also the story was very good writing  and mostly I love is music in this drama dude music was the reason made me continue watching it and acting was fantastic and also romance between main leads were very sweet and I highly recommend u to watch it and u will not regret watching this drama for 10/10 and their is a lot C-drama's I have watch it but this one is the best for me guys and all u have to do is start watching it now and u will have great time watching it..go now start watching it don't waste ur time..????

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What a Rom-Com should be!

I LOVED this drama! I think it's rating of 7.9 is far too low. It was a heart-warming, satisfying romance with plenty of amusement and very little of the things we hate about C-drama Rom-Coms. Here's my take on the characters:

ML - I absolutely loved him! He shot into my ML Hall of Fame, coming in at third place behind Min-Min of 'Strong Woman Bong Soon' and the Grand Tutor of 'Be My Princess'. He shares the spot with Gu Yanzhen of 'Arsenal Military Academy'. This is my favorite role that this particular actor has played (I wasn't crazy about him in 'Fall in Love' or 'The Starry Love'). He plays the bad-tempered, aloof/arrogant yet inwardly warm-hearted and emotionally bumbling ML to perfection. I think it's the best I've seen this actor look too - his hair style fit him perfectly. All he needed was glasses (which he got at the very, very end). He does an excellent job of switching from the aloof, scolding boss to the sweet, tender, smiling boyfriend. And gosh, what a boyfriend! He supports and believes in FL unconditionally and immediately gets justice for her when the obsessed chick frames her. Just an FYI - his heart has only and always belonged to FL. There's no ex-girlfriends, no childhood sweethearts, no fiancées. He's never been in love before until he meets FL so he clueless about what to do with his feelings. Once he finally confesses, his heart belongs 100% to FL - no wavering. He shows no mercy to the obsessed chick despite their past university acquaintance. Some might says he's controlling, but I see it as his desire to help FL achieve her dreams and potential.

FL - she's cute without being that annoyingly cutesy character that C-dramas tend to love (and I hate). A warning to the faint-hearted, FL goes through a lot of character development so if she seems far to apologetic and ditsy at first, hang in there! Remember that she's young and inexperienced and had a terrible boss prior to her coming to ML's law firm. She does mature as both a woman and a lawyer. Her influence in ML's life causes him to soften his hard-nose lawyer demeanor and philosophy. However, my goodwill toward her did cool when she sort of breaks up with ML following the obsessed chick's little framing trick. She has an inferiority complex throughout the drama - feeling that she's useless except as a sleep aid to ML, feeling she's not worthy of him loving her, etc. So, in the latter episodes, she's hell-bent to 'prove herself' and she's hypersensitive to everything ML says. I honestly don't know what her problem is. Should they work at different law firms? Yes, I think so, but she puts distance between them and ML doesn't have a clue why bc she doesn't really explain it. In my opinion, ML is wonderful and does everything he can to please her yet he's in the doghouse. It's like the writer suddenly decides their relationship is too perfect so she has to toss in some angst. What was all this angst about? Gaining ML's respect? I feel he already respected her - he's always praising her abilities. To change ML's view of marriage? I don't know how what she put him through did that, but his perspective did change. FL's behavior after the obsessed chick was sort of crazy and my warm feelings towards her cooled. My only other complaints about her was - 1) her hair when she had it down, it looked like she was wearing a fuzzy fur stole; and 2) sometimes she'd widen her eyes, making her look a little psycho.

FL's three co-workers - Absolutely loved them! Finally, Chinese supporting characters that are just as memorable and loveable as the Koreans! They were had good chemistry together and they didn't take over the scene. They were great supporting characters that added humor. I loved the glasses guy (Brother Bao) - he was amusing with his belief that ML's favored him and his constant chatter and drama. He was my favorite supporting character along with ML's mom. The other two coworkers formed the 'third couple' of this drama, and seriously, I liked them better than Wu Jun & FL's sister. Their romance was there without taking attention away from ML/FL (just like a Korean drama). Loved how the group protected FL from ML's scolding. So refreshing after watching so many drams with workplace bullying.

Parents - LOVED ML's mom! So glad that his parents weren't demanding he marry some rich girl or some childhood sweetheart. Mom was just happy that he liked someone, and she tried to help their romance along...although it backfired on her. We didn't see as much as FL's parents as ML's mom, but they were likeable as well. They only disapproved when FL made up lies about ML's profession, etc. So that tyrannical parent factor was not part of this drama. The writers/director used the parents to add humor instead of angst. Bravo! These are the type of parents I like!

Wu Jun & FL's sister - I liked Wu Jun's personality (and that adorable dimple & cool sunglasses), but he was kind of dumb. He recruited the scheming chick into their firm bc he thought ML liked her. Really? As far as I could tell, ML hadn't had any contact with this woman since university and SML thinks he likes her???? For someone who supposedly had people skills, he was pretty dumb when it came to discerning who ML liked. He thought the 'friend' ML talked about was this chick while most people know that when someone refers to a 'friend's problem', they're usually referring to themselves. If Wu Jun hadn't been such a dope and ML so clueless, we wouldn't have had to watch the scheming chick in the final half of this drama. That entire story arc was all Wu Jun's fault yet ML suffered the consequences. As for the sister, I liked her hair style, but as for her character, my reaction is - blah. I fast forwarded through Wu Jun & her scenes as well as her scenes with the ex.

Finally, the scheming chick. She wasn't able to interest ML all those years ago in university yet somehow she thinks he's hers and destroying FL will secure him. Because of her arrival, the pleasant workplace became toxic with a head b** and her gang of little b**. Didn't anyone notice that their formerly harmonious workplace was suddenly filled with nasty rumors and was directly related to this woman's arrival? Wu Jun knew what was going on and did nothing to prevent what happened except give the skank a weak warning. Fortunately, ML returned and obliterated the b**. He only relented from annihilating her completely bc of SML's pleading. I can't understand C-drama obsessed chick logic - just because you're stupid enough to like a guy for years, he's supposedly yours? And they always ask - why her and not me? Maybe because you're a vindictive, delusional, self-centered b**? Could that be the reason?

This drama was a great watch, and I highly recommend it. The angst is at the minimum and the romance at the maximum. It's took Asian dramas a while to understand that principle. Rom-Com stands to Romance | Comedy, and so few Asian drama focus on the comedy aspect. instead they fill it with angst. This drama, however, is what a Rom-Com should be!

P.S. the OST was good too, especially their love theme 'Loving You'. I liked the lullaby about the lazy cat too. It reminded me of Sheldon's Soft Kitty song.

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August: A Journey of Redemption and Resilience

"August" is not only a documentary about cycling in Tibet, but also a testimony to the indomitable human spirit embodied by director Zhang Zhehan. Through Zhang Zhehan's lens, this film not only shows the magnificence of nature, but also interweaves the director's interactions with various people he met on the journey. Director Zhang Zhehan suffered severe cyber violence in August three years ago because of a cherry blossom viewing photo. His career and life were shattered by false information and malicious distortions on the Internet, and his life fell to the bottom. However, he was not defeated. Instead, he picked himself up and stood up tenaciously. In August two years later, he cycled to Tibet again, discovering himself, proving himself, and exploring himself during the ride. "August" is the best testimony to Zhang Zhehan's firm determination to catch up and move forward in the face of adversity.

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Warning, may be spoiler-ish to some but I tried to keep the spoilers out, I just know some are more sensitive than others.

So let me start this review off by saying I made the mistake of watching Love By Chance first (it was my first ever Thai BL) which set the bar high.

-The story, though done before, is really cute. With out giving too much away I love how they are both connected to each other through their past. I really have no complaints on the story, but I'm one of those who doesn't HAVE to have something new and different. If its sweet, I'm happy

-Acting/cast, This is were the comparison to LBC comes in. After watching LBC and seeing the whole casts amazing acting I was a bit let down with this one. The 2 leads physically fit their role but it felt like neither actually wanted to be there, not much in the way of chemistry. The one that played Pha seemed very stone face, very handsome, but maybe needs to work on his facial expressions. Maybe he is better in non bl roles? He really didn't seem to want to be in there. hopefully he finds his niche.
*Kit and Ming were really good, no complaints with them at all and great chemistry with each other, they seemed like they enjoyed being there (that or they are that good at acting). They are the 2 that I wish was in the remake I wanted to know more of their story :(
* Forth did pretty well. Beam was really stiff and awkward in a couple of the shots when he was just standing there, like he didn't get any direction on what he was suppose to do. The other side characters were not bad, and the Star for the Science faculty was pretty and I think her acting was very natural for her character.
*I think some of the problems steam from the Director maybe? Seems like there was way too many awkward or unneeded pauses. Made it feel like they forgot their lines at times or were waiting for something, other times the lines didn't flow right. Things that the director should have caught and done a retake.
....Then again, the Director for LBC was really good, and you can tell he demanded perfection so maybe I'm expecting too much?

-Music, ok I'm a sucker for the song they use through the whole thing...12345 I love you, ok I'm done.

-Rewatch value, well I've watched it twice now so not bad. Will I watch it a third time, probably not. I'm excited for the remake.

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I started this drama because I liked the concept of ghost hotel showed in the trailers and of course i just love IU and i like Yeo Jin Goo. To be honest this drama didn't follow the concept I imagined after watching the trailer. But I still liked it a lot. This will definitely go to my favorites' list. I truly recommend this drama to everyone, because it is beautiful and I am sure you will love that. BUT people who don't like subplots might be bored.
I watched many of the Hong Sisters' dramas, and the Director's dramas and well, none of them were out of ordinary, they all had a great start but failed to keep being great later for me. However this one I can say may be considered as an exception and a success. Maybe that is because of IU's character, but overall ot was great :)

Shorter review at the end.

Story:
Tied destinies, tied fates. The red knot that is connecting all of them shows us a story of love friendship and atonement.
This drama is about a Korean legend, that somewhere around there, there is a place a hotel of the moon where the people who passed away can stay for few days, can rest before they go on to the journey to the afterlife.
The story centers around Man Wol (full moon) and the new manager at her hotel. It's a story that goes through time and space and is a really long one. However during this journey you also see a lot of others. Ghost's side stories that happen throughout a drama and take a lot of time. Well, I truly LOVE this kind of side stories. It's like the good old Japanese mystery dramas/animes I loved. Lots of sidestories all of them can be a story of their own but they still all connect the main story. There are people around there who don't enjoy these kind of things, so If you are so, you might not like the drama as much as I did, however I guarantee you will love the beauty of the drama and IU in it. So you might as well give it a try :)
I loved how this drama focused on the afterlife. Usually the ghost stories don't interest me. But I loved that they showed how people can be taken over by their feelings, almost eaten up and have to wait until that clears, so they can go forward to the afterlife world and then be born again. They showed how sometimes Man Wol helped them not to lose themselves, keep the consciousness and wait till their grudge calms down or disappears. They showed how everything in people's life is not simple and yet it is not so complicated after death. The whole concept of the hotel where ghosts can stay and rest before going to the after life was amazing. I also liked how it changed with time and looked suitable to the era it was in. I liked how they showed that those ghosts can be super scary and at the same time they are still those humans wanting or willing something, it can be something terrible though. It also showed that the grudge even if fulfilled can't be so satisfying as it seemed to be. I really loved it. I loved the concept of feeling of guilt too and how it can make people do unimaginable things even after death. I totally liked all the special services the hotel provided. Anyway it's a complex story about fates that are tied together even after death.

Characters:
Oh IU is marvelous as Man Wol! lol I think everyone heard of her amazing wardrobe, hairstyles and makeup. Well She changed her outfit like 7-10 times during an episode and i LOVED it. haha sometimes it was ridiculous but sometimes it was amazing. Beautiful! But Man Wol was not only pretty she was very strong. a perfect woman. She was feminine yet very strong and at the same time fragile. I loved how she felt confident even while not understanding the economic stuff. I find it also cute how she lived so many years but didn't spent them for learning (which i would LOL) but rather she was all about eating and dressing. haha I loved her character a lot. And I think it will not be wrong to say that this drama hold on to this character and is build around her. Gu Chan Song was also nice. He was an average boy who studied well, in prestige places. He wasn't a special character BUT he was very kind and sweet and smart. I loved him. Thanks to that simple yet warm personality Man Wol could have been moved. <3
I just loved all the main side characters! The three employees of the hotel were such a nice and cute team. I love that we saw more of them at the end. Each of the characters had their own complicated past but each of them still became new people working there and i loved their different personalities. I loved Sanchez(<3) and Mi Ra and the Detective. Sanchez i loved the most out of them. He was a funny friend of the male lead and i think he added a lot of comedy to the show as well as grief.
I totally Loved the gods!! <3 All their personalities were so different and they all did different things <3
I would have liked to talk about all the side characters, even minor ones and even cameos, but I will stop here. :)

Cinematography:
As I said this drama is beautiful! I am going to make a list of beautiful dramas. It's amazing! I really love the cinematography here. And I love the wardrobe of the characters. <3

Acting:
Acting was a Top-Notch. Well I always wanted to say about acting in Characters as they go hand to hand but I saved it for here. IU is always great at acting, i love her in all of her dramas. After the Most amazing but dark and sad my mister role, here she was vivid, wonderful and outstanding. She made the outfit changing in the drama something to look forward to. Yeo Jin Goo is always great at acting but I think this is his BEST tole as a grown-up after Circle. I loved circle but all his other dramas were just meh after it. Finally he got a role where he could fully shine :) Other actors were also amazing! P.O did a great job!!! omg i never thought he will play so well lol xDDD I hope he gets more roles now :) And the Cameos were wonderful!!! So many people made cameos <3 And the last cameo was just soooo impressive!!!!!!!!!
I want to separately say about the Ma Go God. That actress is amazing, truly!! I am so happy she played here lol. The most memorable role of her that I saw was in Good Thief Bad Thief. Oh my she was crazy there. I hated her character with all my heart at first and at the end of the drama I couldn't wait to see her lol. Here she was amazing playing so many <3 I became a fan.

OST:
Well Ost was great :) nice songs, nice artists. what was left in my memory was mostly IU's song that was played only once lol. I just love IU's singing and her Flower Bookmark albums. Also her in MUDO festival with Park Myung Soo XD haha


IN SHORT!! :

What i liked:
-IU!! IU !! IU!!
-Yeo Jin Goo
-The three employees
-Outfits
-Beauty
-cameos
-some concepts
-somewhat ending
-ending super last scene!!!!

What I didn't like:
-some parts of the ending (well It was very logical and well done!! (minor Spoiler!!!!!!!!) - she had to leave and I agree with it yes, but overall they could have showed it much better)
- ending outfits and slowness ( LOL well this one is just something to say if I have to really say something i didn't like, because overall i liked it a lot lol, but during the last episode everything felt super slow, and her outfits were not so amazing. I understand it was necessary though so this can't be considered as something bad about the drama. I just have nothing else to say lol)

hmmmm i can't find anything else i didn't like lol. It was great! A bit not what I expected but It was great I loved it! <3


P.S. I don't usually re-watch dramas so the score i give there is random.

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some problems with womens?

there are no mothers, no wifes, 1 is a sociopathic, 1 is a selfish who waits to be saved, a granma is a loan shark and a manager single is searching power… and last… the only lovely, sweet and comprehensive “girl” is a transgender REALLY??? SORRY? some problems ??? and MEN… the good one became a traitorous shit, the bastard only worst, the big boss another bastard and the leader… I know very true with his principles but why “virgin and pure” till 35??? next time do Saint Francesco … the only moment i felt joy was when appeared PARK BO GUM, Thank you!

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Mesmerizing action and romance

High action, strong female and male lead character depth and brutal honest scenes of human flaws. I saw Han Hyo Joo in W and really love her character and chemistry with Lee Jong Suk. It is great to see her return to drama with such a different character from W and different heroine in general.
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Waste of Time

writer suck. he always want to make seasonal drama.. I found no interest in the story,.He just do anythig to make a seaon more to the story /// Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/Waste of Time/

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i like acting.

this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. this is most favorite drama life ever and please give 5 stars to this drama. thank you and love you.

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Good but not great

While I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece, it was entertaining,
the obvious weak links were:
- the people of the plaza (one could skip all their scenes and not miss a thing)
- The over the top acting and humor, I didn't find it funny but ridiculous most of the time, even though I love comedies.
- The writing of the script felt like they started with the wanted result and then stumbled their way writing the reason or the process (why did vincenzo bother with babel? )
- Storylines that went nowhere or weren't needed. (The gold was at the end of the day just a catalyze for Vincenzo to be there when shit happens and they didn't bother giving that aubplot any substance, but we had to sit through countless scenes of them discussing or looking for that damn gold)
- Everyone but the ML is dumb and can't think for themselves, including the antagonists

For those interested in watching, the 1st 4 episodes are boring, so you should get past those before deciding if it's worth watching. The middle is really interesting and full of twists, SJK acting is on point.

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