This review may contain spoilers
Even though what happened is unfathomable, despite all the tragedy, the deeper focus is on hope
A true story. Not the only one of this kind, unfortunately. This one took place in South Korea in 2008 and was filmed in the KMovie "Hope" in 2013. (In the original: "Wish" - the meaning of "Sowon", the name of the eight-year-old protagonist.)This film production, which was shown in neighboring Asian cinemas, too, achieved great success largely through word of mouth. The story is shocking and touching, while the film adaptation laid its focus less on exploiting the crime itself, than on sensitively dealing with how it affected the little girl, her family, friends of family and classmates. It's less about the incredibly unscrupulous, brutal act than about the family's struggle to continue to come to terms with the unfathomable and the consequences on a wide variety of levels - psychological, physical, social, financial, legal, media-related and everyday practical.
“Hope” received quite some film awards. Despite all the heartbreaking tragedy, the KMovie deliberately intents to touch people in a positive sense. The KMovie wants to open up an, nevertheless, optimistic perspective towards a life 'after'. This, obviously, is tough and challenging. Surely it takes time and even more patience. Heart-rending in this context, for example, is the wonderfully authentic portrayal of the massively threatened father-daughter relationship. Unexpectedly, though, some light comes into the darkness. Sol Kyung-gu - in the role of a desperate father, whose daughter is in danger of slipping away from him due to her terrible experiences – apparently did not take off his distinctive costume throughout the entire shoot in order to maintain high contact with the emotions and their intensity the whole time. And Lee Re, in her debut on the big screen as an eight-year-old daughter, also touches the heart, as does Uhm Ji-won, who initially apparently didn't have the courage to take on her role of the mother. She is also deeply touching with her convincing acting that gets right under your skin.
Even though, what happened is and remains unfathomable, despite all the tragedy, the KMovie explicitly focuses on hope. This way, throughout those 122 stirring minutes it is not all grim all the time.
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SIDE NOTE: --- The Cho Doo-soon case ---
The story refers to a rape case from 2008, when a drunken 57-year-old man brutally raped an eight-year-old girl in a public toilet in Ansan. Being as brutal as he was, the girl suffered permanent damage. However, the man (who before had already been convicted of rape, among other things) got away with only 12 years in prison. He consequently kept up his mantra, that being so drunk that day he couldn´t remember anything. This had already helped him in previous cases. Here too, he was given mitigating circumstances due to his age, the influence of alcohol and his mental state.
The rape in Asan was extremely gruesome. (The details were not in so much details explicit in the KMovie and I also do not want to waste any letter for them here, either.) Suffering from her internal and external injuries, the girl was hospitalized for eight months. She took an artificial anus back home. Medical treatment was followed by psychiatric treatment. A year later she was at least stabilized enough to go back to school. But even several years later in 2020, she apparently can handle harmless cartoons on TV only, avoids any news and tough topics, i.e. she is still extremely fragile and unstable when it comes to the issues involving any violence at all.
The investigation and trial in this case from 2008 didn´t get covered in glory. On the contrary. The public outcry was great and extended, among other things, to a petition to the Blue House for retrial. The case also led to a number of legislative proposals being submitted by the Democrats, which would, for example, suggest to imprison repeat offenders of sexual offenses against minors in special facilities for life, or e.g. concern the legal handling of sexual offenses committed under the influence of alcohol. But in the end they didn't go through, nor did various petitions.
Instead, the electronic ankle bracelet was the method of choice when Cho Doo-soon was released in 2020. The cost of continuous monitoring of Cho Do-soon's electronic ankle bracelet during the first 4 months after release only, was estimated by the Ministry of Justice at over 200 million won (over 140,000 euros). In addition, apparently 71 security cameras were set up specifically to protect Ansan's residents from Cho, who still has his wife and his home there…
By the way, the infamous Cho Doo-soon case was also topic in the K-dramas "Taxi Driver 2", "Voice 4" and "Vigilante".
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It's short, full of emotions and fun to watch. I really loved the story. I love this old-school themed stories, so it was for me. It's based on 1979 time period and I love that time set in here. Plus the Deagu dialect is really nice to hear, something different from Seoul dialect we are used to.
It has 'Reply series' vibe to it - probably heard that from a lot of people - which is true (I started to watch the Reply series because of this drama).
This is a text book story of coming to age and first love and crushes. And it truly is about girl generation - but not that Girl Generation - we can see Jung Hee and Hee Joo who are in their teens, her mother, Auntie, number 3 all this woman, in different age group of that time fighting their own problems and facing them. And it is about girls in different generation coming together.
The boys are here, but they help to make the girls look more stronger, not the other way around. Though it doesn't stop being just about the characters either. It shows - glimpse of it at least - how the people used to live that time, things that shaped our culture into something that we see now. And you can see how much we have changed. And how much we haven't.
Plus you can ship anyone with anyone. You can try the drama, just to see if your's makes to the end or not. (Mine did!).
The actors are all new to me. But I liked Bona. She made Lee Jung Hee more relatable to me. Love Chae Seo Jin. Have a crush on Lee Jong Hyun. I don't know about others but I really liked Do Hee's performance as Shim Ae Sook. To see her character grow like that, it was really satisfying. I really liked that.
The OST's in it's self are nice. But it has some of the top 1970's song in it, both Korean and English. And it makes you feel that old time vibe. Love that.
Some of the moments in this drama are my favorite, so I'm going to re-watch those and probably the whole thing too. Cause why not? It's a nice drama. It's short but the story end's perfectly with it's self.
In the end it gives 'complete' feeling. And I can imagine the rest of the story in my mind. It's a really cool drama. Do watch it!! #HopingForAnotherSeason
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A Romantic and Quick Historical Watch — If You Can Handle the Ending
There is one main reason I started watching this drama, and it’s because our (perpetually) second lead male actor Mi Re/Merxat is finally in one of his first leading roles. After completing this drama, I truly have a lot of mixed and bittersweet feelings. Overall (without spoiling anything) I believe this show's strengths include the performances and the overarching plot, although some viewers may take issues with the ending of the series.Some aspects viewers may like about the drama include:
♡ An Overbearing Yet Powerless King: Merxat does a really great job making Yuwen Yong possessive and quite “black belly,” while also showing how vulnerable he is. You see from the beginning how he is physically and emotionally suffering even though he holds the position of Emperor, and also how few people he has around him that truly care for him. I think this makes the plot itself quite interesting, especially since part of the storyline is not only focused on the romance, but also how he and Liu Jing/Jing'er navigate an environment that is literally and figuratively poisoning him. I have to say that Merxat's portrayal of the ML was very well done, especially with both the emotional and romantic scenes.
♡ A Smart, Mischievous, and Talented FL: Probably one of the best aspects of this drama is its portrayal of women. The female lead Jing'er has her own dreams and aspirations, which do contribute to her romance with Yuwen Yong, but also give her agency and personality separate from their love together. Jing'er not only uses her abilities to help Yuwen Yong, but also works hard to improve herself in order to achieve her own dreams. Most of all, her skills often end up either saving her or the Emperor, and often come in handy whether it be to protect herself or to uncover some of the broader political conspiracies in the palace.
♡ A Romance That Stands the Test of Conflicts: While Yuwen Yong often does some things that can be problematic, such as threatening to make sure Jing'er never leaves, in fact he deeply worries about her and the drama makes it clear that he falls for Jing'er first. I love how in a way their romance and chemistry felt a lot more adult, even if they start off by bickering and misunderstanding each other’s feelings. Merxat does a great job at being a devoted ML, and the drama also shows how both Jing'er and Yuwen Yong are lovers who are mutually equal in competence, despite their differences in status. They work together to solve problems, navigate the political conflicts that arise within the palace, and to support each other with their individual strengths in such a dangerous environment.
♡ Loveable Side Casts: Yuwen Zong plays an adorable and naive little brother, and I found it refreshing that he and Yuwen Yong had an overall supportive and loving relationship in the series. Many of the side casts, from the eunuch to Liu Jing's maid, are also not only close friends and confidantes, but support the main characters together as they go through different challenges. I also surprisingly really loved the tragic love story between the enemies Dugu Cheng and Tang Wan, and felt that they had great chemistry together, and that their screen time was tastefully done and well integrated into the overarching drama. While there are definitely characters that are more hateful, including some of Yuwen Yong’s concubines, I liked how some of the side characters were truly friends with the main cast.
♡ Short Length: The show is not draggy, and I think it really benefited from being a relatively short length as well as adapted from a novel. It’s overall very easy to watch and digestible, especially if you want a historical drama that has a balance of politics and romance without being too complex. I was able to follow the overarching political schemes of the drama without getting bored, and I think the number of episodes is very suitable for the storyline.
However, there are also some things that may be an issue or less enjoyable for viewers:
♥ Casting: I think there was some miscasting going on, or at least I was a little confused about some of the cast choices in this show. Gong Mi looks a little more mature than some of her castmates, and I wished they had simply incorporated this into the script (i.e. made her older than Yuwen Yong) instead of giving her a personality of a young and innocent girl who is still unaware of the world. I think it’s refreshing to have more mature and older women cast as female leads, and therefore I wished that they had just made this into part of the drama. Not to mention that much of the supporting cast, especially Yuwen Zong, looked significantly younger than the main cast. In other words, I think because of the casting sometimes I couldn’t tell whether this show was deciding to go into a youth romance drama territory, or wanted to delve into a more adult historical romance.
♥ Ending: Without revealing too much about the ending, what I will say is to be prepared for a conclusion that may potentially not satisfy you, and also closes off the possibility of a second season. I personally found it a bit strange that the directors decided to take the drama in this direction, because this drama fits a certain niche (light and romantic historical romcom) where this type of ending has not yet been done. At the same time, I emphasize that I was spoiled about the ending before I made the decision to watch this drama, and likely if I had known that this would be the outcome I may not have committed as much time to watching this show. I highly recommend you check out some of the spoilers to prepare yourself if you are considering watching this.
♥ Genre: Again, this is related to the ending, but I felt as if the drama couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a lighter and fluffier romantic drama, or if it wanted to be more introspective and angsty. There are many parts that are fluffy and sweet, but as we get to the latter stretch of the drama it navigates into serious tragedy territory. In other words, I feel as if this drama targeted an audience that may be looking for fluff, but then I warn to prepare yourself for the last five episodes, which deviate quite a lot from the sweetness of the earlier episodes.
♥ Production Value: It’s pretty clear that this is really low budget, even amongst the other dramas that fit the niche of short historical romcom. Some similar dramas that also are part of this genre include Oops the King is in Love (2020), Dr. Cutie (2019), My Dear Destiny (2020), The Love by Hypnotic (2019), and Love Better Than Immortality (2019). And I have to say that out of all these dramas, in this drama the sets and clothes were by far much less high-quality compared to the titles I’ve listed. You can sometimes see very clearly where the longer wig pieces attach to the back of the head, as well as how the majority of the costuming and backdrops are made out of cheaper materials. I also didn’t find much of the music or OST very memorable, which I found to be quite rare for a historical drama. While this is a matter of taste, I also note that the drama went for a more saturated and darker colouring, compared to the usual more pastel tone of shows in this genre.
This was a watch that I found to be relatively good for passing the time, especially while waiting in-between for other shows that were airing. It doesn’t drag much because of the episode length, has solid acting, and I really liked seeing Merxat on screen after such a long time as the male lead. At the same time, however, I would caution viewers about the ending, as well as some of the limits of the series with the lower production value. If you have the time and are interested in a binge-able romantic historical drama, then I would recommend you try this out while taking cautious note of some of its issues.
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The main couple has really good chemistry. They suit each other well and their scenes are good. The angst in this romance is about them actually not supposed to be together, it was never meant to be. The butterfly effect has consequences. The second couple are also sweet and the romance plot is a tad angsty, I found myself worrying about the future I knew and wishing for a new future for them.
I have not noticed any big inconsistencies with this taking place in 1989. Even though the brands shown are of later date, I don't look at the brand names but rather the fashion style. I remember well all these horrible clothes, old technology and I feel myself being immersed. I am sure that if you really want to you can rip this show to bits finding loads of errors. I'm just not that kind of viewer. So far it feels like the 1989 that I remember.
All in all a well done drama, with the usual Taiwanese issues (low audio quality and at least one clown character). The extremely cheesy moments didn't bother me at all, I enjoyed them, squealed and cried my way through this very sweet story.
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Masterpiece
To call this show a masterpiece is an understatement. Everything about it is top notch. The acting, the story and the execution. Just wow. Every scene has a significance like the small details, everything adds together.Zhou yu tong, I don't know where to start with her. Her acting is mindblowing, I could feel every emotion of hers. The chem between her character and Jian yi fan is so cute, it the little things that matter.
I like the "mystery" element in here. Eveyone else did a expectiaonal job. Love the relationship between the girls. The emotions were raw.
Strongly recommended drama!!
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At the time, I watched many stupid romantic comedies so I needed something different from those usual dumb stories and so I found this drama somewhere. I read the synopsis that seemed appealing enough to give it a go with a medium level of expectations.
2) Storyline/Plot:
*Generally speaking this is a rom-com with a psychological aspect. The drama contains several twists that makes the storyline catching.
Positive Points:
*At the beginning (First 15 minutes), everything started really slow that I began to lose interest yet the writers were clever enough to take the story into another different level that attracted my intention.
*The story was captivating all the way through, it was short, psychologically romantic and most of all funny that’s why it hadn’t any dragging or slow moments.
*Main genres:
--->Romance: The romantic aspect in this drama is different from any other romantic comedies that I’ve seen before; there were mature feelings in this drama, the kind of feelings that go deeper and deeper each episode yet it doesn’t fall into the melodrama level since there were childish moments to make it light. I have to give the script writers credit for many "Wait, what happened?" moments while following the romantic development, many plot changes were really surprising and added a great taste to the storyline.
--->Humor: This drama’s funny scenes were smartly written, it was light and enjoyable. Like other Japanese dramas, it was ridiculously fun with all the weird situations.
--->Psychology: The romantic psychology was fairly interesting; there were many strange and sweet situations related to many great philosophic minds in this drama. The psychological cliffhangers were simply amazing, writers managed to keep all the twists captivating by inserting psychology into it.
Negative Points:
*I can’t possibly think about a negative point in this drama’s storyline; it was really great.
Story: 9.5/10.
3) Acting/Cast:
*Actors made it really believable and enjoyable; they knew how to deliver feelings even when they are trying to be funny. Matsuda Shota and Akira are the most talented actors here; I will add Tanihara Shosuke who portrayed the psychiatrist role perfectly.
Other actors were good too but I wasn’t touched by their acting skills like the three mentioned above.
*As for characters, you would get invested in every character since they always showed interesting developments into their personalities.
Ai-Ai was a great character that portrayed a strong woman personality while having the feminine feelings when she needed too: I would say that her character can represent woman power.
--->O-Chan was a character that would make you want to see him more on screen; it was really nicely done with good personality developments.
--->Kiku-rin was the strongest character in this drama, it manages to make you love him, hate him then love him again: It was a challenging character that added a great storyline development.
--->Usami was a weak character (basing on the storyline so it has nothing to do with Tamaki Hiroshi’s acting skills), it had many flaws but it managed to get through near the end.
Other characters were either average or annoying (……)
*Appreciated character: I was attracted by Kairi’s darkness especially near the end; it was a very appealing character to me.
*Relationships:
--->Romance: Since it’s a shuffle we can’t talk about specific couples yet there were chemistry all over the drama with all those intriguing feelings.
--->Friendship: It was present in a good way here, ever since the first episodes there were many signs of good friendship which made characters appear in a great harmony even if there were problems every once in a while.
*Favorite line: Uso da to itte yo, Joe!
Cast: 9/10.
Acting: 9/10.
4) The ending:
Well, it seemed a little unnatural but that doesn’t mean it was bad. Anyway, this drama had a good ending overall.
The ending: 8/10.
5) My impression (How did it affect me):
*Watching this drama was really fun, I got to see a mature drama after a long time so I had great feels about it.
*Is this drama memorable: Yes, It is! Who wouldn’t remember watching a great mature drama with superb actors and awesome characters? This drama touched me in a good way, an unforgettable production indeed.
My impression: 8.75/10.
6) Overall:
*If you’re looking for a mature drama then you should watch this.
*If you’re looking for a great romantic J-drama then you may like this.
*Love Shuffle is a short light drama without any shallow feelings. It’s one of those dramas that are directed to the mature audience out there.
Overall: 9/10.
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Cops and Robbers
The First Shot 雪迷宫 is a classic cops and robbers crime thriller featuring China's early efforts to combat drug trafficking in the late 1990s. It seamlessly fuses together proven themes of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, and good vs evil; all the elements that make this genre enduringly popular. It is set in a fictional city Halan in frigidly cold Northeast China and is about a newly established anti-narcotics team's early efforts to combat an influx of drugs into the region. Lacking basic knowledge of synthetic drug manufacturing, Zhang Bei is sent to Huazhou in Southern China to recruit Gu Yiran, an expert chemistry professor to join his team. Due to the initial influx of drugs into Southern China in the earlly 1990s, Gu Yiran's familiarity with the habits and tactics of the traffickers proves as invaluable as his knowledge of chemistry.This is a well made drama if you can excuse the meagre, cheesy 1990s look and feel that gets a much needed boost by Jacky Cheung's top Cantopop and early Mandopop hits from the day. It is definitely not Zhang Yimou behind the camera but the camera angles are quite innovative and the spectacularly choreographed action scenes kept me on the edge of my seat. The crime plot unfolds at a decent cadence with a few really interesting and unpredictable twists and reveals. The bromances were deftly written with each relationship: Zhang Bei and Gu Yiran; Zhang Bei and Jiang Xiaohai and Jaing Xiaohai and Liang Jiaju; illuminating different facets of both Zhang Bei and Jiang Xiaohai.
The investigative unit's rapport resonates and carries the story from the get go with every member doing their own small but crucial part in this tightly knit team. The rabidly feisty Mad Dog Yao kicking butt in any brawl only to be too easily subdued by Zhang Bei cracked me up no end. While I appreciate the narrative taking the time to flesh out the important roles, this drama falls into the usual trap of these plot driven stories of digressing too far into too many personal stories of peripheral side characters. It comes at the cost of the momentum of the investigative plot and the narrative sags in the middle. While Lin Boyang is lovely, I wasn't invested in her sweet but trite romance which went on for so long it bored me silly. This would have been much tighter and more exciting as a 24 episode drama.
I was initially skeptical about Huang Jingyu in this kind of super masculine hero cop who carries the weight of his team and the world on his shoulders kind of role. He has done it too many times and indeed there is nothing about the way the character is written or portrayed that makes Zhang Bei stand out from this tired archetype. Yet maybe its his personal charisma or how he just looks the part so perfectly that his Zhang Bei just "works" in bringing all the other roles and performances together. As much as I like Wang Qizi, Gu Yiran is the character that at the end I liked and cared about the least. He is at surface easy going and amiable but in reality he is lonely and guarded and he has his own agenda. Unfortunately I found his obstinate and repeated Lone Ranger stunts so selfish and boring that it overwhelmed my sympathy for his personal trauma. Although he isn't at Zhao Xiaoguang's level of comically terrible, he is also too obviously not a native Cantonese speaker to successfully pass himself off as one. The role just didn't come to life onscreen in a convincing way and was overshadowed by vastly superior performances by Zhang Yu and Qin Junjie. The truth is fate is random and Lele could well have been any one of them and it is this character that stole the show and made me incredibly conflicted; sad, manipulated, scared, revolted and resigned. It is the best written and best acted role; one that stands out among other stellar performances.
As an avid and frequent consumer of the suspense thrillers, this drama has an excellent ending twist that shocked me and then gave me that aha! moment as all the details just clicked into place. I haven't been surprised like this in a long time and I enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, there is nothing that new or special about the story itself, the plot should have been tightened and there were just so many hidden identities that when you put it all together it looks quite implausible. I am happy to I rate this a very entertaining and enjoyable 8.0/10.0
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Definitely not what I expected
When I first found out about ‘He Won’t Kill, She Won’t Die’, the summary made me think ‘oh, just another edgy teenage romance huh’. But I loved what a delightful surprise this was.The plot of this movie isn’t anything extraordinary. The film followed three stories— an unfriendly guy who always tells others to die and a suicidal girl, a girl struggling with boyfriends who never actually seem to like her for who she really is and her friendship with a studious girl, and a determined girl who never gets tired of confessing to her crush despite the fact that she always gets rejected by him. Sounds uninteresting? Well, sometimes a film doesn’t need to have an outstanding story in order for it to be good, and this one is an example.
With a mesmerising cinematography, what this film does capture most correctly is the emotions and the feels of each scene. What makes this film so special is how it managed to execute this simple plot with in-depth characters and a great storytelling. The acting is really good too. This film surely reminded me of why I actually loved watching Japanese films the most.
Overall, a solid 9.0/10 for me. The rewatch value is low because it’s not really the kind of film that’s rewatchable, but not all good movies are worth a rewatch as the first times tend to give you feels that you might not feel the time you re-watch it. Thus, I highly recommend this film to everyone :)
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BETTER THAN EXPECTED, I WANT MORE
I love short series - if its good then your lucky, if its not then you wont feel like you wasted too much of your time. Im happy to say that this time I was pleasantly surprised with the whole series and i end up wishing there were more episodes cause i was intrigued and I wanted to see more.There were things the show got right - from the execution of the simple plot, to the entire bunch of the cute and capable cast. There is also a perfect amount of titillation of the viewers.
Should you watch it? YES. Its just about 20 min long each (give or take the opening and end credits). Its just like watching a normal full length movie. I wished there was a continuation cause when it ended I waasnt ready to let go of them yet.
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The thing with these 'Avenging Hero' type dramas/stories is the love story orbiting the hero is always a frustrating dance. Perhaps he has been deeply scarred and/or his mission is antithetic to the love that unexpectedly blossoms between the antihero and heroine. Kurosagi is classic in this respect.
Each episode unfolds with Kurosagi swindling a different kind of swindler and it's fun to watch him get into character and pull off his clever cons. I couldn't help but compare this just a bit to Liar Game, in that you have to use your brain and the hero has to work around the trick of the con. I really liked Kurosagi's little personality quirks and his different 'con' personalities.
Having sung it's praises, I still came away from Kurosagi feeling something was missing. It took a little while to put my finger on just why I can't give this drama a 10 but I've figured it out. It feels incomplete. Usually as I watch and then rate Jdramas, the fact they usually only take 9 to 11 episodes to tell the story makes me enjoy them immensely. This speedy and more concise story telling in turn raises the rating for me. But somehow this was not the case with Kurosagi. I felt this story needed more time, more story and I am left unsatisfied.
The acting was great for the most part. Yamashita Tomohisa has impressed me again. I've watched 4 of his dramas now and I really like when he plays more "character" parts like this rather than straight lead (See Buzzer Beat, which I did love). Somehow even with his handsome leading man looks, he feels more like a character actor to me. I liked the lead actress. Some of the secondary characters fell flat for me.
A word about Katsuragi: He is the most original character I've come across in a long time. He was at once; chilling, pathetic, gross, pitiful and scary. He left an impression with me, that is for sure.
The intro song didn't really thrill me but the background song which I will call Kurosagi's 'theme song' was cool. I really dug it.
I am giving the re-watch value a 7 because I think people will want to watch this again. There are already parts I have gone back and watched again.
I recommend this. It's worth your 11 hours. It's fun and if you get into manga turned into live action, I think you will like this.
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I have to start this out by laughing.This drama is hilarious from the first episode i got caught.
The main actor was excellent one of his best. This really showed his ability and diversity in acting when compared to his previous drama. His acting was flawless. My love for Lee Dong Wook has grown tremendously.
The main actress...........Lee Si Young was amazing.(nods) I have to give her her props she got the whole tomboy tough-girl bodyguard role perfectly even her gestures were right on target, even when she had to show her weak side it was just amazing.
The plot i must say was very good,and the climax was a nice twist.I also looked forward to the smaller stories of the supporting characters, each of which really added to the essence of the whole thing. It was the first time I seeing Kang Dong-Ho in a drama but he really caught my attention.And as a plus there were a lot of eye-candy in the is drama. lol I grade you with an A+++.
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In this second season of the drama, the story continues. It is just as cute and funny as the first season, but in this one we get to see even more interactions of the main characters.
I have to say that I absolutely love all the characters. They were very cute and so funny! One thing that annoyed me was the funny, but irrelevant episode where they played the mafia game, trying to guess the killer and all that.
Overall, the story is about two childhood friends who come realize that they mean much more to each other than they had ever imagined. By the end of the season, we can see that the female lead has matured, and the male lead has figured out some things; such as that one's way of living cannot be claimed as better than another person's way of living. Meaning, Liao Danyi's lifestyle choices are not the same as Ye Muxi, and they do not have to be. Therefore, Liao Danyi realizes that his perfect life is not a standard for Ye Muxi is follow.
The ending is a happy ending for sure, but it cannot be considered as the best ending. Not because there was no romance but because it left me wishing there was more beef to the ending. Plus this web drama had explicitly stated that it isn't focused on romance from the very beginning, so do not expect anything romantic to happen in this second season.
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Gangsta FL, Cozy Vibes ✨
This turned out to be a surprisingly solid drama! Classic rebirth-and-revenge setup, but the FL? Total gangsta queen. She clapped back at anyone who dared to stir trouble, and I was living for it.The romance was also a treat. No dumb misunderstandings, no dragged-out breakups — just two leads being adorable together. Always a win in my book. 💕
Now, confession time: I devoured the first 13 episodes (they were all out already) and had the best time. But once I had to switch to the one-ep-per-day grind, my interest dipped a bit. Still not sure if it was just the slower pacing or me losing momentum—but lesson learned: I’m saving minis for when they’re fully released.
Overall? A cozy, satisfying watch with a cute romance and a happy ending. Simple, fun, and totally worth the binge.
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A movie that had great potential and wasted it all
NO SPOILER FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS REVIEWThe fact that some people are rating this movie higher than a 6.5 is honestly baffling to me. I don't write reviews that often but I had the urge to do it for Midnight because of how big of a letdown it was. So, here's my review of a movie that had amazing potential and could've been a really good thriller, but unfortunately ended up being a barely decent enough movie.
Midnight is good at first; the plot is promising and there's a heavy atmosphere efficiently set thanks to the scenography and brilliant acting. Many good stress-inducing mechanics are introduced to make us feel the anxiety and distress caused by the main character's, Kim Kyung Mi, deafness (e.g. audio detection devices, lights reacting to sound).
However, despite the potential and innovative ideas it all crumbles down very early on. Sure, I was quite excited when I started watching Midnight, and was even truly enjoying it. But if you have a good time during the first twenty minutes or so of the movie, you'll slowly become too frustrated to think about anything except how dumb these characters all are, completely ruining the thrill.
Every stressful situation is built upon questionable/idiotic decisions that no human being would ever make, even under that kind of pressure, because it simply goes against what survival instinct and common sense dictate. I'm sure there were ways to have the characters be gifted with intelligence and keep an interesting story still.
Overall, the movie is not completely bad and still enjoyable to a degree, simply thanks to the fact that it is entertaining enough to watch until the end. Still, it doesn't mean it's a good movie. The beginning is great, the ending is fine and everything in-between is... sort of a mess. If you were curious about it I'd still advise you watch it but be aware that your expectations will probably not be met, and if you won't be bored, you'll definitely be annoyed.
SECOND PART OF THE REVIEW, BEWARE OF SPOILERS BELOW
First of all, I'd like to mention that I'm usually not particularly nitpicky. I'll accept a lot of things when watching TV shows and movies, I won't necessarily notice every single detail or plot hole. That being said, even taking this into account and letting my suspension of disbelief play its part, it wasn't enough. This review is not me exaggerating for the sake of it. So let's now dive into it and detail the things that bothered me.
Let's start with the outsiders, aka everyone that's not a main character.
Okay, fine. I'll accept that the police might have some prejudice against disabled people and that they can be utterly incompetent. It honestly wouldn't be that surprising or unheard of. It is frustrating, but not in a 100% unrealistic way.
Fine, I won't argue that it is possible for a crowd to not help someone in distress. Bystander effect, confusion, fear or simply not knowing what to do/how to react can all factor in on this. These people don't have the full story like we do, they just see a panicked girl who is not explaining what the problem is.
Sure, the military personnel bringing back Kyung Mi to Do Shik, thinking they're helping her "brother"... that's barely acceptable, but you know what? Now we're reaching but I'll let it slide because similar things can happen in a very unfortunate turn of events.
Since all these characters are outsiders to the story and only get snippets of what we see, with which they have to piece everything together, I'll be lenient. It's all exaggerated for the sake of the plot anyway.
I won't even mention Do Shik's irrational and erratic behavior too much, for the obvious reason that he is a killer with, more likely than not, many many issues. Him being overconfident, thinking he can outsmart everyone (not like they're making it hard) even when being so careless, and get away with it scot free, is actually not that crazy or unbelievable.
But Jong Tak, this dude! My brother in christ, give me a break. He is by far the most frustrating and dumbest character in this entire movie. Here you have a grown man who has the ability to communicate freely, who knows exactly what's happening, but decides that calling the police is apparently overrated. Granted, they have proved they were dumb and incompetent, but still?
Or maybe that poor guy suffers from a disorder preventing him from doing two things at the same time and I'm just being very mean, who knows? Or well, maybe he can't use his brain, my two cents. I mean, seriously. Why can't he just run to Kyung Mi's house AND call the police at the same time? Same thing when he gives up on her after Do Shik "reveals" where his sister is.
And for the love of god, why does he take narrow little streets when trying to catch up with Do Shik, risking to lose his track, instead of properly following him? How is he even able to not lose sight of him that way? Or maybe he knows the area so well he has a mental map stuck in his head and can predict exactly where the killer and his victim will run to, even without seeing them. But you won't have me actually believe that lol.
Then towards the end of the movie, he fights Do Shik in a back alley but looks away from him TWICE despite having been tricked into thinking he had fainted the first time already (after a 2 seconds chokehold, that is). Brilliant. You might also wonder why he doesn't try to scream/get back to the main avenue to draw people's attention? Well no one knows. It's not as though Kyung Mi can do it for him. If I were that poor girl, I'd rather be stabbed in that alley and just end it already instead of having to be "saved" by someone so useless.
Also, why does no one ever stay together? I lost count of how many times that happened but it was way too much. I don't really get why Kyung Mi and Jong Tak's sister had to split. They were right next to the place where they can press a button that turns on every light in existence and blasts an alarm waking up the entire neighborhood, then puts them in direct communication with the police!
Later Kyung Mi's mother and Jong Tak also split up, and after that him and her daughter did too. And for what? You tell me because I have no damn clue. Could've been a running gag if it wasn't just poor writing.
There are other details I'll skim over because this review is already too long:
-Right at the beginning of the movie, a woman (completely alone outside, at night) is approached by a guy being weirdly insistent about her getting in his car. Nevertheless, she walks to his suspiciously "deserted" van, that totally does not look like a set-up, a few minutes after? I assure you, no woman would ever behave like that. At least call someone at the same time, just to be safe;
-When Do Shik and Jong Tak were fighting in the police station, why did it take so long for Kim Kyung Mi and her mother to bring back the officers inside? It definitely shouldn't have taken this much time as they were standing quite literally 5 meters away from the entrance;
-How did said officers not hear the commotion inside?;
-After that incident, why were none of the characters kept under police protection, at least for the next 24 hours?;
-When Do Shik infiltrates Kyung Mi's house, he knocks many heavy things on the ground... that girl is deaf, not completely numb to the world. She would definitely feel the vibrations or something. I'm pretty sure your other senses are sharpened when you're lacking one;
-I believe most countries have a special number for deaf & mute people to contact the police through text messages. I might be wrong, but I doubt there's nothing like that in South Korea. Kyung Mi and her mother would definitely know about such a thing. Even when panicking, I'm sure that would still come to your mind.
There are still many things I could mention, or some criticism I don't necessarily agree with, but I think you got the rough idea already. Ultimately, I am angry not because of all the inconsistencies themselves. I spend my time watching shows that are full of them and still manage to have a good time. I am mad because this movie could have been something greater. It had so much potential, and seeing it all go to waste like that right in front of my eyes feels like betrayal. This movie has some good in it, but the bad easily overtakes it. Midnight would barely deserve a 5, if not for the atmosphere and acting. And if I'm being honest, I'm betting my life that if Wi Ha Joon wasn't in this movie (but was replaced by an equally talented yet less attractive actor), the ratings would be way lower.
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Story- An excellent plot which will always keep you on your feet. There's always something happening and it will constantly keep you guessing. I really loved the main characters relation with her children. She went to great lengths to try and protect her family.
Acting- The actors were very well picked! From the main characters to the minor ones, I must say- they really had a BIG impact. The little girl who didn't have the ability to speak, she portrayed her character really well with her little but clever brain and actions.
Music- The music fit every scene and made me feel like I was actually there, lurking around and trying to hide from the psycho! At the very intense moments, the music gradually changed to a very strong track. It suited and flowed with the storyline. AND OF COURSE- the ending credits song! It reflects and goes with the entire movie. I really liked how the film ended with this amazing instrumental. The guitar made me feel this sadness..
Rewatch Value- I think I'd watch this again since it's really amazing. Normally I don't rewatch films but for this one, I'll make an exception. :)
Overall this movie was absolutely breath taking! I just happened to stumble across this one but I'm really glad I did. This is one of the few movies which will stay on my mind long after I've watched it! I really love how it ended, especially the last sentence from the heroine.
I highly recommend this to those who are looking for a movie that will keep your eyes glued to the screen, people who love thriller and suspense. Even if you aren't, I'd say give it a go! I'm sure 8/10 people would DEFINITELY like it.
It made a great impression on me and I give it a.. dak dak dak.. :) 10/10!
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