The teaser cover depicts a lovestory but its more than the kind of love that most people are looking for --eros. But its not eros; the lovestory will be molded by inner beauty, respect, intelligence, perseverance, compassion and wittyness of female lead. She has depict of what a man really look for a woman - she does not have to extravagant, in make ups but its being with sense of helping others even when you were left with nothing; its being useful. The female lead is not just happy but joyful. She has lots of issues inside - where she came from, her family line, why her mother has to be stabbed and chased to death; yet it didn't stop her from growing maturely.
She makes use of the "useless" and encouraging them that there's life more than money and power. Saeguk setting but better than Robinhood. You don't have to study in best school but work your best to learn and make use properly of what you learn. Use it to help and not opressed the weak.
Love all the characters and I am drawn to the men who are link to the lead female. They each have their own story to share with this witty young lady (a) Tae Won - he owns her heart (b) The grandson of her mentor - he's drawn to her sense of justice and (c) the innocent king - drawn to her tactician and strategidt thinking and now her martial arts.
Even the ladies that hate her because the women are behind because they cannot cope with her compassion and wittyness.
I so like this drama. I'm hooked and encourage to be liked her - works hard, not slacking, helpful and strategist.
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This review may contain spoilers
Outrageous but interesting plot led by three unlikable sisters.
My final review after the series completion. I’ll just list some questions and comments and end it.1. Deep down, I knew they were going to bring back Hwa Yong. I was so hoping not but they did it. And the explanation about another woman who was suicidal she met happened to be at her place to be killed? Maybe I missed some details but major sigh.
2. So everyone saw Sang A murdering someone. I get that it was a video they couldn’t verify but at least, she’d get detained for investigation? She just walked out of the courthouse and business as usual. This enabled her to go on (almost) a murder spree.
3. Speaking of Sang A, how is she so powerful and rich? I get that her dad set up some stuff and his people infiltrated the society at different levels for a long time but I’m not sure if that explains the influence and wealth. Does she own Samsung? Hyundai or both?
4. If she’s so powerful, why did they try so hard to be the mayor and then the president? Apparently, it wasn’t that important at the end because she casually “killed” her husband.
5. Is the Orchid Society a cult? How do they control the members so that they would just give their lives? What were they promised? Eternal life? Maybe some members may feel like they owe a lot to the general but really?
6. If Sang A owns the police and the media and whatever else, why didn’t she own the judicial system?
7. When Haw Young entered the courtroom, she was given the most underwhelming response to her being alive by other characters, especially by Sang A. I would’ve fallen off the chair and screamed at the least.
8. I think, ultimately, the writer and director just fell in love with their crazy ideas and kept adding more and more shocking/convoluted stuff and things got away from there. I wish they actually thought about how all these ideas would work together or were even remotely feasible in that fictional world before they kept adding.
9. Maybe Kim Go Eun’s movie career is winding down? I think she’s great and she’s acted well here but this show feels like it’s beneath her?
10. So Sang A was so nuts that her father’s people didn’t choose her as the successor. But they left her to do her crazy stuff and risked ruining everything? Which she did. Hmm.
Review after Ep. 10
So I came to realize that this is a soap opera rather than a drama. Soap operas often sacrifice logic and realism for the sake of sensationalism. Storyline has gotten more and more convoluted and extreme with constant bait and switch. Rating lowered to 5.
Review after Ep. 8
This show just became one of the dumbest show ever.
The main character is literally the dumbest person ever. She thought her friend was alive after seeing her dead. She walks in to her dead friend’s apartment and drinks an iced drink without asking why or who made it. OMG.
And, of course, it’s the wife of the bad guy…. I knew it. This is nuts. I see the rating dropping but we’ll see.
Initial review after Ep. 5
For whatever reason, I thought this was a comedy. So I was a bit dumbfounded after the first two episodes. I’m looking forward to how the storyline unfolds. I do think it’s a bit coincidence heavy with every sister being involved with the villain’s (?) family but it is K-drama’s favorite way to advance the plot so…
I hope the villains don’t turn out to be the usual bad people. I hope they try a bit harder to be creative this time. But so far, the shadowy villain seems all powerful so most likely not.
Kim Go-Eun is such a great actress. She’s so natural but I feel like she’s overacting here, especially, when she’s in trouble. The way her face contorts basically shows she’s guilty. Also, the character she plays isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. She can’t put two and two together and can’t act cool if her life depended on it and it literally depends on her trying to hide the fact that she’s got the money. And the way she just brought a pile of cash to a strange woman right after being told to be careful with money! Wow. It’s like she wants everyone to know she has a pile of cash.
And by all means, let’s talk about the secret ledger in the middle of a freaking cafeteria loudly! But the plot must advance, I guess.
I can’t figure out the middle sister. She seems like the smart one but we’ll see what role she plays here. The youngest one seems to be there just to play the impressionable kid acting like a pawn. Not interesting at all.
The biggest flaw of this show, so far, is that none of three sister is likable. The oldest is dumb and clueless, the second is a drunk, pseudo-activist hothead and the youngest one lives in an alternate reality. It’s like she’s not affected by the way her friend’s parents act. She’d rather live with violent rich people rather than her poor sisters. They want us to sympathize with them but failed miserably.
Where are they going with the orchid? Is it super natural? Drug induced hallucinations? They keep digging deeper and deeper to make everyone suspicious but I hope they know what they’re doing and tie all this up in a satisfying way.
Hope it goes well. It’s promising that it’s a 12 episode show so hoping for a tight storyline without much fluff.
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Wish ZLS would stop picking these roles
Being a ZLS fan I wish she'd be more selective with her roles.Troubled drama:
1. Single line story line. It's fine if its paper thin story line with some witty dialogue but .... you can sum this up in 1 line so why so many episodes?
2. Wrong age casting: Little zls played by a great young actress but she's 10 playing a 14 yr old. In love like galaxy ZLS played a 15 year old just fine. Total avoidable pedophile feel.
3. ML keep on referring himself as "Ge ge" in 3rd person. Like no one talks like that EVER. In English, it's like saying something like : "Big bro will take you home... " "Tell big bro blahblahblah" "Big bro refer to self as big bro...."
4. ZLS downplay her age way too much. Her voice is always baby sounding even when she reached college age.
5. She keeps saying "I am adult now." "I am mature now." while sounding 14.....
5. Making big deal on 5 year difference even in college. That's just silly....
Few positives:
1. Her parents are both characters I loved in Love like Galaxy. Both positive parenting in this drama.
2. Her real brother scenes are funny, like a real brother "Big Dumb Dog"
3. ZLS's hair. She has great hair, beautiful highlights.
I can see 12 year olds would probably like this drama....
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A masterpiece, truly.
Everything about this series is incredibly beautiful from the OST to the cinematography. The childhood friends trope has always been a favourite of mine. Childhood friends to rivals to friends to (potential) lovers has me so hooked. So firstly, the story is top tier. Secondly, the cinematography. This series has some of the best I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot). The use of colours and saturations is amazing. It helps portray characters feelings and the overall mood so well. I'm more than impressed. Plus the use of colour within the characters (Oh-aew being red and Teh being blue/teal). The actors are incredible too. I'll admit that I've never seen Billkin or PP in anything before, so for my first impression it's amazing. They're both such amazing actors and they play their roles so well. I can feel their chemistry. What they feel, you feel. All that tension. Lastly, the OST. I'm well and truly obsessed with the OST for this series. It's beautiful, emotional and just, well, good. I've been listening to Skyline on repeat since I started this series. I have no complaints about this show at all. Even with a sad ending I believe I will still adore this series and it'll keep its 10/10 rating from me. I would even say it's stole my #1 spot for my favourite drama ever. EP 4 really solidified that for me with how they portrayed real LGBTQ+ struggles. Beautifully done.Was this review helpful to you?
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The Most Beautiful BL Building Story Ever
So where do i start with this masterpiece of a BL.I came across it by accidents whilst searching for other BLs to watch since shamefully i have watched all possible Thai, Chinese and Korean BLs out there. I watched a few Pinoy but wasn’t too overjoyed so when i saw this and wasn’t interested but i was bored and ventured in. Needless to say this is the best BL to date that i have watched.
The story is beautiful and really brings out the challenges same gender relationships go through especially where you find one is confident already and another is yet to find his identify. There is a line i will always remember that Vlad says “i do not want to be the plotting device that triggers another person’s identity crisis” those are powerful words and no one definitely wants to be in that boat. Unfortunately whilst indeed Vlad ends up being the trigger for Karl’s identity crisis, Vlad however was not the one that pulled the trigger, his sister Judit pulled that trigger by cornering Karl. If she had let things be, I believe Karl would slowly as he was already would have come to accepting his feelings for Karl. That is another thing. I wished that they had focused on getting Karl to accept his feelings for Vlad rather than trying to make him accept he was gay. For someone who this was new too who barely just a day ago just kissed a guy, he should not have been asked to say that he was gay, but rather have been asked to explore his feelings for Vlad.
This is where it differs with the Thai BLs i have watched like #Sotus #TharnType amongst others was where the straight partner when asked if he was gay, they responded with saying it wasn’t about being gay but the fact that they feel in love and the person just happens to be of the same gender with them and some even went ahead to say that if it wasn’t that individual then it would not be anyone else. So i loved those focus on feeling something for another individual and not focusing on what the gender was. This was the problem with how they tried to out Karl, it should have been feelings first, especially ciallly considering he was likely effeminate, so he needed first to understand himself and deal with that before dealing with feelings or dealing with being gay.
This however was beautifully scripted. Vlad’ s voice very deep gave his character so much confidence especially since he spoke English 80% of the time, but Karl responds in Tagalog 80% of the time, it really brought so much freshness to their relationship. Every scene of theirs was simply beautiful without putting too much pressure on the viewers, it was a sweet, fun journey of two young boys. Ian played his role as Vlad wonderfully, from his outspokenness, too not being shy and encourage Karl not be shy. Paolo’s role as Karl was also on point, his nagging was frustrating though, sometimes i felt like shutting him out, but going through the story you could tag it just has internal frustrations with having to live his brother’s dream. I mean that is the most spiteful thing you could ever do to a child. One dies and you get the new one not only to wear his clothes, sleep in his bed, accept his dreams you even go as far as giving him his dead brothers name. Tragic in my opinion.
Let’s get to the supporting actors, were not like your regular supporting actors that you can ignore, they were 100% important in how this story not only developed, but infused the right emotions. I loved Judit and her “i am an ally” statement, I understood her stand as a sister, but felt she could have better managed trying to protect her brother when it came to facing Karl. I loved Anna, she was simply the life of the party in my opinion, quite hilarious to boot and whilst we only saw uncle Santi in episode 7 his acting was almost like we had seen him from the beginning. I mean when you look at it. So far the show only had 9 characters that we saw, but i only just realized that they were only 9 characters now, because their acting and scenes didn’t seem to lack anything. The production and oh please the music, soundtracks are super amazing, my favorite bathroom song now is “Ride Home” by Ben x Ben a beautiful song for a beautiful scene.
Overall i cannot complain hence why i gave it a 10. I am very criticizing when it comes to what i watch and asides from Untamed and Its Okay Not To Be Okay this is the only other show that has received a 10 from me and i think it’s worth it.
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High Octane Drama
I have been looking forward to Duty After School for quite a while and it's quite the adrenaline rush that I was seeking!Managed to binge the first 6 episodes over 2 days. The first episode took time to build the story and get to the aliens but once they started to come, they just kept coming! The series is more of a thriller than a horror but it did make my heart race in one particular episode and I almost didn't want to look. This is for those who are a bit weak (like me) when it comes to scary movies and shows.
The characters are interesting and developed slowly but not in great detail which might disconnect viewers. The focus is on one particular class in one particular school. And at times I thought, is this the only class that survived? They could have used a few more extras to represent a proper school.
Story is interesting and exciting though there are some moments where I felt common sense was lacking. Like trying to retrieve a key from behind a cupboard when they could have tried to use some kind of stick to extend their reach but didn't. Moments like those felt quite frustrating. But on the positive note, some characters show growth and others show weakness which is especially important in a real crisis. No character can be strong all the time so plus points for that realistic take.
The CGI is pretty good. The aliens are visually beautiful, almost flower-like. Reminded me a bit of Stranger Things. And the added aspect that they are intelligent besides not understanding much about them is what adds to the fear-factor. It was a good touch.
There is plenty of blood and gore though it is not too gruesome. And mild comedy and other light moments to balance out the series.
All the episodes end on a crucial point which is the perfect recipe for a binge watch. I just dislike splitting up shows for no good reason. It makes less sense that as this series is just 4 episodes short. For this reason, I can't give it a rating higher than 9 as I don't know if I'll enjoy the ending. But taking it's flaws into consideration, I'll give it a 9.
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Cliche Plot with a Heartwarming Touch
Many compared this with CLOY - since both are from the same writer, some of the scenes are somewhat similar, but to compare, I think this is far behind. The starting of CLOY is already unique on its own, esp building a comedy on the North Korea's settings, whereas QOT is purely a story of a married couple - it's less fun but more realistic.Cliche plot to expect - terminal illness, loss of memory, accident, gun shot - you name it. TBH the ending of the second last episode made me suck back all my tears and started rolling my eyes. Like, really?
But I gotta say, I do like the parts that make me cry - it gives a strong emotional touch on kinship and love, some of the lines hit you hard and made you look back in life, and also emphasize the meaning of life. [SPOILER] One very special scene that you might not find it in other dramas - the interpretation of FL's death at the end, it's really sorrow yet beautiful :')
Overall - watch this if you are finding a drama to cry on. I wouldn't say it's the most special one, I think the writer and casting itself gave this drama a huge "fame boost". I mean, how can you not fall in love with Kim Soo Hyun again? His crying scene is 10/10 - as always.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is my first time ever in my whole 15 years experience watching kdrama; in the end of the drama I casually and with no regret say, "I don't respect the first female-male lead character!".At first I like to watch this drama because its plot was 80-90% just the same with My Name is Kim Sam Soon (2005). That drama get Daesang at Baeksang Award and MBC Daesang for Kim Sun Ah (female lead). I kind of reviving again my memory when watching this drama. Same big framework and plot but different detail.
But I started to get irritated when there were many weird things happened...First of all, character twists(?) and unfortunately the worst one came to the first lead cast, both male and female. I started to question: "Does her character all this time actually was just a childish-impulsive-destructive-selfish-disrespectfully toward parent-victim mentality-no self-respect woman?" Until the end there is no asking- forgiveness-thing from GOHY to her mom. I am so so disappointed at her character. And also the everlasting fickle-wishy-washy kind first male lead. Giving no certainty not even after GOHY mother speak out her concerns.
For me, the best character in this drama is GOHY mother (I am quite sure most of the viewer agree with me)..and the second one goes to Isadora - Jinsung couple (this might be optional but I think many of them also agree with me) ^_^v well cast ranking end on second place..since if I carry on I might spill out some spoilers v^_^v
Anyway, not just about first lead's character, the story was too draggy and pleonastic. So many unnecessary scenes were put in. And lastly, even though this drama has a happy ending the process on to that end was too lousy. If this is a before-2010 drama I might understand and receive it as a lack of experience or knowledge or technology on how to create it as real as possible. But today is 2016..where has they're been for this time..even if they are just a debut prod.crew...(@_@)
I still put a quite high score for the acting/cast because imho there is not much complains about the cast's acting..lead-supporting-or cameo..even though some might have lack in here and there. No low soundtrack rating too because even though this drama follows the adding-funny-sound trend but the song track were good. For me this mess happened because of the awful script developing and directing =/ .
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Pardon the pun, I Will Knock You really knocked me off my feet
I am watching so many shows, that I check out everything that is releasing at least the first ep to see if I even leave it on my list, maybe to binge in the end, or watch as it releases. And literally the first seconds of this show dropped my jaw to the floor. It didn't need more than one scene to show that Noey will be one of my all time favorites BL characters. The attention to details of this series is show from the first scene and noticed throughout the episode. Maybe super minor soft spoilers ahead, just describing the characters as seen on EP1 only.Noey is a the perfect wannabe Tonny Montana. He is clearly a fan of 50s gangsters and very nostalgic. Listen to vinyl records and mixtapes, and most amazingly, has a strong moral code. I kept expecting the gang leader to fall under pressure from his gang to be tougher, do something, it's what always happens with these gang leaders and tough members dynamic. "Will you let this person do this and that to you?" and etc. But he doesn't! And this falls very much under the anti-hero gangster persona from the movies he probably loves. As a fan of them too, as well as western and noir/neo-noir movies, I appreciate it so much! Those gangsters you root for, don't hurt woman, are gentleman, caring to animals, only hurting the "deserving" as by their moral codes. I'm sure we will learn more about his toughness through the series and why he is this problem child. He is very superstitious and listen to only one song, "Destiny", isn't afraid to badly sing it and him and the gang have a choreography to it, a scene that already is one of my favorite BL scenes of all times. I literally screamed. He is unapologetically himself, shameless and confident. From the trailer I think he won't even have trouble admitting to his gang having a crush on a guy, which is awesome.
And Thi. He is the bravest coward out there. Sometimes it seems like he is literally about to pee his pants afraid of the little nong, but still keeps speaking up, defending his nongs and, most importantly, still calling Noey "nong". And he is HILARIOUS. I've read Bom's acting is a bit shakier, specially compared to Tar's (Noey), but I love so much his choices. Him looking for the lotus in the rain, the grandma posture in the raincoat, was ridiculously funny.
If anyone would dig a ship between Brian "the Brain" Johnson and John "the Criminal" Bender in Breakfast Club, this might be the show for you.
And now the production. As the two main characters, it's also amazing! Again, the first scene, everywhere they focus through Noey's room tells so much about the characters. And that keeps going, the cuts, perfect close ups to that expression to showcase the scene. Also the writing. Already love so much of the quotes. The whole symbolism of the lotus flower as his heart was always so well put. Thi describing it as all withered and dead with no use, not even for praying? Beautiful. We maybe will see more of it, and the soulmates charm as well. (Yes, the breast/charm thing is a play in words in Thai).
This show is cute, cheese, beautiful and cute and beautiful again. I fell on it blind and it was impossible not to fall in love. It's really early to tell much, who knows if it won't be a complete disappointment as it runs? If it does, it will still be one of my favorite first eps ever, favorite character's introduction ever. IF it keeps going as it is, it will be one of my favorite BLs of all time. I recommend this 10/10. My girl kept looking at me, and all my excitement as I kept giggling and screaming and laughing and repeating "Oh my god I LOVE THIS!".
This is my first review, cause I don't get that WOWed with a first ep in a long time. It was such a good experience! And many shows I was excited to watch as it was released, that made me look foward to that day of the week, ended recently, so I'm glad I have this one.
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After completing the drama i would say; this drama could have been much better but they cut it short and ended it in a way that pissed me off somehow, i wanted more and i was expecting a better storyline in the last 2 ep, they left it open in a way that didn't satisfy me but i didn't hate it, i just was disappointed but no regrets, i had fun watching this drama.
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Nothing new....
The high school bullying trope is definitely not new. The difference would probably be the extent of the bullying.Coming on the heels of Revenge of Others, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch The Glory. But since this was one of the anticipated dramas last Dec., I decided to give it a go (secretly hoping to see different facial expressions from SHK)
In this drama, SHK's one dimensional expression worked in her favor. It matched the personality of the character she was portraying. Wonder if she can do better in rom-coms????
I also wanted to see more of Lee Do Hyun since I last watched him in Sweet Home. Was a bit disappointed in his character though. Yes, he had a crush on SHK, but to go all out and offer to aid her in extracting revenge was a bit far fetched
Surprisingly, the only character I am looking forward to in part 2 is Jung Sung Il. He has a classical face like a matinee idol :) and I love his deep voice. It would be more believable if he and SHK's character end up together rather than Lee Do Hyun.
Overall, wouldn't say that this is soooooo Good. Just so-so for me. All episodes should have been released at once because what is the use of splitting it in the first place? Are the producers just gauging SHK's saleability after all the criticisms on her bland expression?
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People need to stop relating bad review to KSH's fans alone
I'm a casual viewer and I'm not even fans of the cast but seriously, their fanwar is getting so annoying.It's true that the plot went downhill halfway because there were many aspects that were not properly addressed, there was no proper closure, the letters that started it all weren't even discussed or talked about properly.
Some dodal fans need to stop thinking that just because they see people saying they weren't satisfied with the plot, it's because those people are bitter for not getting a Jidal endgame. I mean, c'mon??? Is the love triangle all you care for? Don't be like the writer who basically pushed this triangle that the title itself didn't make sense anymore.
It also doesn't make sense for KSH stans to want a drama KSH is in to get bad reviews. Perhaps if they did drop some plot reviews that didn't fit your taste, I'd give it to them for having unbiased opinions. Well, only if they talked abt the plot's loopholes (which are many, I must say).
Try to read between the lines. Try to absorb everything with unbiased opinions. Maybe then you will understand.
Aside from Jan Jipyeong, Injae as well wasn't given justice because the writer focused on the love triangle. She's the second FL but it was like she was just having a cameo appearance. Make it make sense.
LMH's fans didn't even get mad when his recent drama had bad reviews as well, so i dont understand why yall are so mad. Criticisms don't necessarily equate to hate, please know that.
Also, all of yall are toxic. Suzy and NJH stans talking shit about KSH, and KSH stans doing the same as well. But I don't see articles calling out the fans of the former, just the latter's.
These actors don't even have to prove anything because they've already done it countless of times. Stop fighting godammit.
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One of the best really rated above 10.
The story about the Chosen dynasty, evil sister, evil wanna be heir.
Love is in the mix which makes it all worthwhile.
the story line is filled with history, romance, comedy, action, (really), tears, you'll be crying and laughing at the antics of these 4 at the same time.
Not boring at all, a must watch, you'll be hooked from the first episode and the OST is amazing.
And oh yeah, kiss scene!!
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Bring Tissues
Going into this, I had a lot of expectations and reservations about the show. I knew it would make me feel things, but I was also worried about how it would tackle so many delicate subjects at once. In many cases, it's not handled well. But with each episode, Move to Heaven continued to surprise and impress me.Naturally, every episode of Move to Heaven deals with grief. Each case is unique and deals with its own circumstances surrounding the deceased and the people in their lives. The people range from every walk of life and tackle a lot of big topics that are relevant today, from the LGBT community to the problems with overseas adoption. Geu Roo's character was handled with a lot of respect, too, and he's extremely likable. I can't say whether his portrayal was accurate or realistic as I don't think I'm qualified to, but it felt very well done. His relationship with both his father and uncle was amazing to see and the way each character grows from episode 1 to episode 10 was beautiful.
It's heartbreaking. Naturally. The job of Move to Heaven is not only to clean up the deceased's belongings but to say to their loved ones what they never could. It's sad, but it's also uplifting as you watch the small impact these things can make on someone's life. I give it the highest of recommendations. Whether or not we get a season 2, it's worth your time.
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