Reviews

Wrote an early review and now finished. Wow. There is no better slice of life drama out there.

Update: Finished the entire series. The acting in this entire drama is absolutely incredible. btw, Park Ji Hwan slays it in ep 8. This is a phenomenal slice of life show. Every story is riveting.

First impression:
I loved the first 3 episodes, especially the 3rd episode. The flashback scenes are so awesome. I can't wait to see each new episode. Epic veteran screenwriter No Hee-Kyung has done it again. It's truly a beautiful and heartfelt drama. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but for someone who usually gets bored with a slice of life dramas, I look forward to every episode.

In a nutshell, I agree with Lee Byung-hun when his statement concerning this drama:
“People say, every soul has a scar. This drama shows those scars. Living life itself means trying to forget those scars, and trying to overcome those scars... People with wounds and how they overcome those scars will be manifested in the drama in a touching way and impart hope to the viewers,” Lee Byung-hun (role Dong-Seok).

I'm older and I have flashbacks of my life (good and bad), and watching this drama just gives me butterflies. I highly recommend this series for those of you who cherish your first crush, who has seen financial hardship, or anything in between. Already, I can see it as a truly memorable drama that many of us can relate to.

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The first 10 ep were GREAT, the last 30 ep were SUPER DISAPPOINTING

STORY :

Sigh... I really really love the first 10 episodes, it had the potential of becoming my favorite Chinese drama.

In the first 10 episodes, the writer kept EMPHASIZING that the bond of the family members who are unrelated by blood is stronger than their genetic linkage family, which really made me believe that this was going to be the entire drama about. I was sold and was so invested in this drama, I had good laughs and cries.

But everything changed after the brothers return home.
The story became disconnected to the early episodes.
The focus shifted from family into a romantic relationship
Although we know it since the beginning because it's shown in the opening and ending credit, I really there will be a reasonable explanation.
The brothers fell for the sister, and one of the reasons is that the bros want to be REAL family members.
Because of this, there's no romantic development as it is so sudden. the bros confessed after they went back without building any romantic relationship (friendly reminder, before the bro went to study, their relationship was platonic)
Even though LX was interested in JJ before going to Singapore, and JJ to LX without even noticing, but they never built any romantic relationship in early episodes.


ACTING :
Love the main casts' acting (except Song Wei Long).
Steven Zhang & Tu Song Yan (Li Ba) 10/10. I couldn't hold my tears when seeing them on screen.
Seven Tan & Zhang Xi Lin were great as well.

Music: 9.5/10

Rewatch Value :
I kinda regret finishing this series. I totally thought there would be another family bond story like I had seen in earlier ep,
but didn't see it until the end of the series.
If I knew it, I would never finish the series, let alone rewatching it.

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EXCITING AND SEXY

This is the type of BL that feels similar to a wattpad fanfic with the amount of trauma the main character goes through. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you, I personally enjoy it because there's never a dull or boring moment. I enjoy how they chose to resolve the conflict and the way they handled the trauma with Uea in the end, I was worried in the beginning but they handled it surprisingly, very well and they are doing a pretty good job serving justice and punishing those who deserve it.

I absolutely love a good "friends with benefits" and "enemies to lovers" concept. This show has been extremely sexy with two actors who have fantastic chemistry in this series. They fit so well together and compliment each other very well both in aesthetics and personality.

I know originally this was supposed an 8 episode series and initially I thought its too short to properly resolve everything but honestly I would've been fine with episode 8 being the finale. A lot of my initial concerns and questions have been resolved and answered and I like the extra scenes they put into the last two episodes to really wrap things up.

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I really enjoyed this drama at the beginning. I thought the storyline was interesting and it definately pulled me in . It then went of the rails for me around episode 25-26. I just do not understand the obsession chinese writers have with the "I am breaking up with you for your own good' trope. It is so bothersome. I also really like Allen Ren and Fei Xing is cute but what is with the stylists on this show? Is it another life lesson we are supposed to learn? You can not be nice if you are cute? Only bad girls/mean girls can dress nicely? Whats up with that? The second couple I found a bit annoying but was rooting for them. It really lost my interest at around episode 30-31 and I skipped straight to the end. Lets now review the ending. It sucked! Made me really dislike the whole damn show and made me feel all the time I spent watching was a total waste. Way to go writers. The chemistry between Allen Ren and Fei Xing was ok. It was never really allowed to develop and I noticed some people commented that their was so little pda because Allen Ren is married? That really makes no sense why would any actor do a romantic comedy if they do not want any romance or displays of affection? All in all I can understand why some people really enjoyed it but for me it fell a little flat.

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Hearts Rekindled

This is an exciting entry in Netflix's deep collection of Korean romantic comedies! Many typical storylines are reversed here, however. The rich, ruthless protagonist is female; the show starts with a seemingly happily-ever-after wedding; and it is the male lead who must demonstrate his dedication to the family.

At its core, it's a story about navigating the delicate terrain of a relationship in turmoil and rediscovering love. Despite the conflicts, there is an underlying optimism, hope of reconciliation, understanding, and healing. The angst is punctuated by comedy and humor. There are hidden gems and delightful cameo appearances. Themes include gender roles, social expectations, and family. The actors are beautiful, and so are the cinematography, wardrobe, and shooting locations.

The writer is Park Ji Eun, the creator of Crash Landing on You. She specializes in powerful yet feminine characters. This is her third Queen of ... series. No doubt Kim Soo Hyun is masterful in roles alongside strong-willed counterparts, as he did in It's Okay to Not Be Okay. Kim Ji Won excels at portraying the somewhat stoic and mysterious but troubled female lead, as she did in My Liberation Notes. Enjoy this skillfully acted, therapeutic, and playful story!

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LITM is a drama that has been done so many times. The story is unoriginal and a little boring. At first I felt it was okay with the cute bromance and romance, but then politics take over and blah. Oh and I forgot to mention I am not a fan of gender/bender roles. There were a few emotional moments that I felt the characters were developed well. Actually, the only reason why I finished this drama is because of the acting.

Kim Yoo Jung is a beautiful person. Her soul just shines through her eyes. The problem is no one in a million years would believe that Hong Ra On is a boy. Just no way. I thought Park Bo Gum was highly overrated as an actor, but he was good in this. All and I mean all of the other actors are good too.

The music is fine.

I will never rewatch this.

If you like gender/bender seaguk, then watch sungkyunkwan scandal. It is a much better drama.

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Exeeding Expectations... except the ending

Is this drama overhyped? Not at all.

The thing about this drama is the feeling it gives while watching. It's a one of a kind feeling, and one of the reasons I watch dramas in the first place. I honestly enjoy watching this drama so much, it does everything right and has so many different storylines all pulled together through Na Hee Do.

The main character played by Kim Tae Ri is Na Hee Do, and she is the most enjoyable lead I have ever seen in a drama. An girl with so many hopes, she's entertaining because she's honestly hilarious. This girl goes about life in her own way without being overly relatable, she's just Na Hee Do. Kim Tae Ri pulls off this youthful character so well, and for an actress over 30 she not it's not just about looking like a 19 year old. Kim Tae Ri portrays this character so well that the drama feels completely real, there's no doubt to her character. The other leads are not what I expected, seeing Yu Rim at first I never expected her to be either really mean or really nice. Again with this character she's someone you can root for or be against. There's not a villain in this drama, instead I'd call it a coming of age over calling it a romantic comedy.

This drama has sports, it has amazing comedic timing that even Jungkook had to put a moment on his story because it was just too perfect. The pacing isn't boring, but it's not too quick paced. This drama is one I've looked forward to every week and one I know I would binge watch if I could.

Now a controversies (if any) could come from the age gap between Baek Yi Jin and Na Hee Do. I don't see anything wrong with any of their story so far. Yi Jin looks after Hee Do but he isn't overbearing, he's protective but trusts her. The trust and communication they have in each other is touching, and again there's many moment with comedic timing between the two that is all too enjoyable to watch. The dynamic between the two is not only adorable, it's a word I can't find a name for so I'll call it scissors (if you watched you know :))

To sum this up, Twenty Five Twenty One is so good. I swear I see dramas and I can feel something change, I want to find other dramas like it but I know there won't ever be, and then more amazing dramas come out. Twenty Five Twenty One is an experience that I won't take for granted.

Now coming back after watching the whole show I am dissapointed with the ending. As it was open ended, ultimately they didn't need Present Day Na Hee Do to exist in the story at all, the show would've served much better taking place in the flashbacks the whole time without any present day story at all. That's because there was no closure at all, and there wasn't a resolution between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin. In the end they loved each other a lot, and to me I don't understand why it was needed for them to stay apart forever. Sadness doesn't equal to a good ending, that's where the drama severely disappoints me. Nonetheless it was a fun watch.

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Waste of an opportunity playing twins

Not even Jisung was able to save this disaster. Story, characterization, environment are all unbalanced in this drama. It's a skip with 0 rewatchable value. And the ending, forget about being satisfied. Just a waste of your time. I don't recommend watching this eyesore. There was no point in Jisung playing twins, what was the point? A different actor could've taken one of the twin's spot and the story would've still stayed the same. What a waste of talent. Hope Jisung plays better and more interesting projects after this flop. If this was a comedy, I would give it a 6, but it actually takes itself seriously, so It's a 3.5 from me.


Re-watchable value? Better dramas to indulge in.

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C̶o̶n̶f̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ , No! just stupid.

Created by Ace Factory & Arc Media,"GRID (그리드) [2022] is a Disney+ Korea Original drama and one of the first ventures of the investment made by the OTT giant in South Korea. Written by Lee Soo-Yeon, directed by Khan Lee and music composed by Kim Jun-seok, this is a Scifi thriller involving various fields of science.

The world collectively creates a shield namely GRID which is an artificially induced geo-magnetic field, to protect the human civilization from the suddenly erupted strong solar wind, otherwise the earth would face a rapid mass extinction event. The story keeps at centre, Kim Se Ha (Kang Seo Joon), an employee at Administration Bureau dedicated to the South Korean Grid Management Body and Jung Sae Byeok (Kim Ah Joong), a detective in the violent crimes department. While following a murder suspect involving a mysterious woman as the accomplice, they discover unforeseen events that remained as dark secrets behind the GRID for decades.

Others familiar and skillful actors playing main and supporting involve: Kim Sung Kyun, Jang So Yeon, Lee Si Young, Kim Mu Yeol, Heo Jun Seok, Lee Kyu Hoe, Jo Hee Bong, Kim Hyung Mook and Song Sang Eun. Many known faces are also in guest roles. The acting and performance are up to par, with all these good actors.

Plot development... If I were to express the development in percentage, I'd give it a fair 50/100, why? Bcs it was half good and half bad, very exactly. The pilot episode, the furtherance and the development in ep 1 to ep 5 is sooo amazing and it was even fine till the midway through 6th. And that's when everything starts falling apart. To make it look more confusing, the makers attempted to incorporate a number of thriller elements as well as subsume related concepts from different fields of science, expecting it would seem complicated to a particular set of audience. (note the sentence carefully, bcs it wasn't really confusing, rather the writer thought the audience would find it confusing)

Something that started with the physics of cosmic & solar science and geomagnetism, turned into time travel & 22nd century technology and finally ended up with molecular phylogeny, heredity, mutations and evolution. Intersecting science is not a new deal, but what you must possess is the most basic knowledge and even a vast knowledge, in order to retain the scientific goals. I feel, it was still okay till the 8th episode and from there they could have tried to wrap up things with a simple manner in last 2 episodes. But 9th was even messier, making it complicated to a level from which it can't be saved with one final episode. The amount of plotholes adding to the complicated inclusion of absurd and illogical concepts, led to a rushed and sloppy ending. Okay, let's speculate it like, the show will have another ending, for? In order to explain the things it has left; seema more likely and somewhat obvious, but again, for what and why exactly? I see no point of making a sequel of continuation, bcs it doesn't deserve one; no more penny should be spent and no more time should be wasted on a script that turned into nothingness. I am not watching it if this actually happens.

Lee Soo Yeon jakkanim might have created only a handful number of dramas, but in terms of quality, she aced on her debut and proved her worth; so that was expected to be reflected in this drama as well, unfortunately which didn't happen. There was a definite amount of struggle which was visible through inconsistencies in plot, inconvenient elements, lack of proper knowledge and relevancy among fields of science; clearly she attempted something out of her league, without a thorough study. It could have been a good mystery thriller with only one basic concept otherwise; the situation can be justified saying it was an experimental approach from her side, which will help her but as audiences, It's fair to be disappointed.

Having not known the director before I can not write about Lee Khan PDnim, while I must point out the technicality of his work. So overally, it wasn't a exciting judgement bcs I had to think through a lot. The screenwriting was very good for the first half and became messy in the later but I doubt for direction, whether there was a consistent effort; what I mean to say is, I didn't particularly like it for any part of the show and the thing that kept me hooked was the unique concept for the time being. While cinematography and VFX works have been well handled, I can't say the same for screen and sound editing. The comprehensive execution isn't really likable.

What I disliked...

# I strongly believe in intersectionality in any case possible and for the modern world of science, it's the key to many more ventures and discoveries. The same using 2 or 3 branches is cool, but going beyond that and not being able to retain the factuality of either of them properly, is what you call inanity and indiscretion.

# One of the biggest drawbacks of this show is it's run time. Given that there are only 10 episodes with around 50 minutes duration each, it probably needed more to explain things in detail and good pacing, thereby allowing the viewers to understand it better. But again, I am relieved it didn't happen as I would have to endure more of this lunacy.

# Adding to the last point, the 1 ep per week tactics was a vacuous decision from the makers. It could have been okay with more than an hour runtime but still for a 10 eps short show with less duration, it should be either an one shot release or 2 eps per week.

# The exaggerated context wasn't personally bearable even with the introduction of numerous new revelations with each passing scene. Instead of exciting my curiosity, I was rather bored and sometimes even frustrated bcs of the irrational and laughable elements kicked off by the makers.

# The undergrade progression of the plot turned me off in thea 2nd half and the more I tried to think positively of it, the greater was it's irrationality with each coming scene.

# Rushed ending, it was obvious and expected, even by the ones who have been liking it, and all of us certainly wanted the show to at least not leave anything unanswered. It clearly didn't happen given the number of plotholes it has left.

Final Remarks... My feelings and excitement for the first half was that good that I thought I would end u0 recommending it to everyone but I was proved wrong in the latter half, for it quickly went downhill and messed everything up. For the 50% I would have been generous if only it was a 16eps drama with longer runtime but with the circumstances I would not recommend it to anyone. I would have rated it at 6.0 if not for the potential it possessed in the first half.

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DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS DRAMA, ITS NOT ABOUT ROMANCE...

PLEASE DONT BOTHER WITH THIS DRAMA, WHOEVER WROTE THE STORYLINE NEEDS TO GER FIRED THIS IS THE MOST DAMN CONFUSING DRAMA EVER LOL ! it starts off which some potential and sounds interesting... Like alien male lead is on a mission to bring back the stone from his planet and a fellow member from his planet. The female lead is a young, naive who interest is drawing manga. She initally believes the male lead came out from her manga... but the male lead is not from the manga but indeed an alien. Basically it talks about there encounter, but he kidnaps her first and totrures her.
The female lead is just loud and annoying.

The second male lead is the other member from the planet and he is evil ? I mean he tries to kill the female lead to get the stone of her. The only way that the stone can be taken is if she was killed. Then it somehow links to the past of the female lead. Her dad died in a fire a long time ago. I forgot to mention each alien has a distinct power. Male lead can control minds, the second male lead can form to any body. So basically the female lead loses her memory when she was young due to the male lead, saving her from the fire. Once he gets in touch with fire, he starts to lose his powers and starts to become transparent.

This drama DOES NOT do a good job in explaining whats happening and the motives. She finally understands the male lead is trying to protect her in like the 19 episodes.... The story unfolds weirdly. SO PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME.

BARELY ANY ROMANCE

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Though I don't usually write reviews, I believe this drama deserves some recognition at least for the effort the actors put and their amazing chemistry.
The plot has the usual cliches , but the writers have managed to switch them in a fun way, so it's quite enjoyable to see the girl doing some things that usually the guy does. But the greatest thing about the plot is that all the problems are solved very fast and with no much drama. The leads are talking to each other and they resolve their issues by communicating. It's refreshing to see. So far, no noble idiocy, if there were misunderstandings, they were resolved by talking to each other, a lot of honesty between the leads. I love how they portray a normal relationship.
The best part of the drama though it's the chemistry between the actors. I think they portray their characters really well, and they have a lot of liberty to express themselves. You can tell by the way the subtle looks and movements that they give their best, I actually understand more about the characters feelings from their gaze alone.
So, if you want a good rom-com with great actors and chemistry (their kisses are among the best), I definitely recommend it. Even if you are not a fangirl and don't relate to that part of the drama, the plot is more than that so you won't get bored.

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Think twice

From the start, this show was lacking. Unfortunately, all the "strong" women are roles that don't do anything for the seasoned actors. The plot and script were poorly developed and executed. The only strong point to the show is don't take any kind of "medication" from strangers. I continue to watch and keep hoping the show will pick-up but it is just more of the same. I guess reviews have to be at least 500 words, but this would be one negative review. I'm not sure what more I can say about this show. I guess if you like a particular actor, then the show is worth watching. Just don't be too disappointed.

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Cuties in the making!!

What can you do when your mom sends you far away from the city as a punishment? Live with it. Or you could run away, but that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Moo, who has that problem, was sent away for not being a good student and skipping classes due to trying to reach his dream of becoming an idol. When his mom finally gets tired of it, she sends him away from Bangkok. Now, in a secluded area where the nearest convenience store is a 20 minute walk, he must learn to live here where he has a crappy room and bad internet.

Kang, a guy who helps his mom run a restaurant. Nothing much to it besides the fact he's a good artist.

When their paths meet, what could happen? Will there be love brewing? We'll have to wait and see over the weeks that this comes out.

Let me just say, from the first episode alone, this might just be one of my favorite couples of GMMTV this year.

Although theres only one episode out, I'm already IN LOVE with them. The characters seem to match each other, and their visuals together are just amazing overall.

I can't wait to see what else this series has in store with cute scenes and maybe some great friendships.

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I like this show so my review will of course be biased.

Notice: If you are put off by a female actress playing a male lead, move on! Don't waste your time. On the contrary if you find it refreshing give it a try.

I find JYY playing as Nezha was pretty convincing as a mischievous and hot headed young man. NZ and XLN bickering was fun and enjoyable to watch. The story of course can be executed better in certain areas but nothing is perfect. Overall though the characters interaction are great and fun to rewatch.

As romance go, there's nothing beyond a hug here and there (although I find their journey of getting there more romantic rather than hot passionate kisses). So if you're someone looking for those passionate kisses/embrace there will be none, so move on.

If I have to pick one thing that I dislike about the show; it's that there were some episodes where the villians pretty much took up the whole screen time.

Anyway if you're looking for something refreshing and funny, give this title a try. If any of the above point doesn't sit well with you just find another show. ^^ peace

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