Reviews

Love, redemption and second chances

This is a story of an established couple and their struggles. How complex emotions like insecurity, perceived loneliness, one's own ego etc. play role in complicating things are manifested in this series. Also how one can overcome those are highlighted upon. It is a nuanced, layered depiction of love, it's complexities, the hurt it causes and the courage it requires to overcome those.
The story is relatable, mature and engaging. It is not for viewers who are looking for BL fluff. It is raw and at times rough to watch. It pulls you in and keeps you worried and elated with the characters. There are no instant fixes and rapid gratification.
The direction is flawless. The series is positioned like a puzzle piece and the viewers are challenged to piece it together. HGS, the director, has directed many cult classic BLs in the past but with this one she dared to break the BL ceiling and give us a genuine slice of life love story minus the rosieness and instant fixes.
The cinematography is beautiful and complements the story. The tone and hue change with the story and run as a parallel story teller.
The acting of all the actors are perfect, even the child actors gave flawless performances. The MLs, their chemistry and acting abilites are legendary already. How much they expressed through their eyes is worth a separate discussion and analysis. They were brilliant.
Overall this series made me cry, laugh, stressed, anxious, happy and satiesfied. I will be getting back to this over and over again. I loved it!

Read More

Not Worth Watching

I am amazed at how the writers were able to spread out the story and create 16 episodes. I guess they leveraged on all that fighting and bickering but only for the female lead to just eat all that she said - this happening in a good 7 episodes of this drama. I excruciatingly finished it till the end because I just wanted to know who the female lead would end up with. And what a disappointment! They deserve each other.

I think this drama could have scored a higher viewer rating if it was just a 2-hour movie or the story of Young Hee and Hyun Jae became the main plot instead.

Read More

Why did this not get better ratings? It's awesome!
The love triangles pull at your heart because you end up liking them all and understand why they are the way they are. Rain and Shin Min Ah have great chemistry together. I especially like how Rain keeps his feelings inside (most of the time), so you're guessing whether he loves or hates her. Why did he passionately kiss her?
This writer also did I'm Sorry I Love you which has the same intense feelings. There are a lot of witty lines if you listen to the dialogue. Often writers have a difficult time with endings and I think this was the case here. I don't like the direction he took, but the lyrics to the music tell the story ahead of time. You pretty much know how things will end with the mood of the drama.
The music is outstanding and will keep this drama in your head for a long time!

Read More

I have never been excited in my kdrama watching the way I had with K2! This drama has great potential and started with an awesome non-stop-action-packed-adrenaline-rush scenes that makes you wonder you are watching a hollywood action movie! But towards the middle when the romance has started and the loose writing is already noticeable, my interest and excitement meter also started to fall down! But it did not stop me from watching further --- only because of my being a huge fan of JIChangWook! Coupled with that , I had decided to lower my expectations so as not to be frustrated further in the end. To my surprised, the ending is not that bad and the writernim has just penned one of the most redeeming and heroic ending scene in kdramaland.

Story 8/10

What i like?
- The redeeming heroic and sacrificial scenes of Yoojin and Assembyman Jang! This actually wrapped up neatly the somehow loose story of K2.
- the non-stop-adrenaline-rush action scenes especially of JCW!

What I do not like?
- the loose writing, I am actually waiting on the "revenge" plot of Jeha but to my surprised that becames so lame! I dont even know what is Jeha upto? The story turned out to be a bodyguard protecting a damsel in distress plot which is far from its iniital premises!
- writernim introducing various and new plots almost every episodes that makes it more obvious that there is no solid plot line!
- rushed, overly acted, cheesy romance (although I know romance is needed, but I hope they did not spend so much time sacrificing the most important character dvelopment and story plot)

Acting/Cast 9/10

What I like?
- JCW as Jeha as I have said JCW just breathe in a new life to the awesome and beautiful character of Jeha. His looks aura and charisma just add up to the total Jeha character! His acting as a soldier, mercenary, a laborer, a bodyguard are just beautifully executed and acted! Jeha is JCW and JCW is Jeha! He owns the character! Although, at some point the character may seems flat, but I guess it is not JCW's fault, it is more of the writing. I must say the character was underdeveloped until the drama ends! Just the same, because of JCW's acting prowess, he just perfectly executed enough to satisfy us until the finale.
- SYA as Yoojin, the QUEEN OF DRAMA! She is the ultimate heroine/villainess rolled in one! She is brilliant, smart and intelligent! As Yoojin, she is evil but also a victim! She can make everyone her pawn. She can kill a person just by lifting her fingers. But she never felt loved eversince even by her father! Yes, people around her are loyal to her but only to a certain extent! She is a person in need of love and affection! But she also need to be punished for her wrong doings which are a lot. The writer neatly give the punishmen she deserves at the end which is satisfying, redeeming and heroic!

Others support also did their job well! All the actors and characters lived up to the expectations in terms of acting.


Music ( 8/10) - the OST's are just adequate to make the emotions more moving. I dont like though the chanting background music.


Rewatch Value (7/10) - if there are scenes I would like to rewatch it would all be the scenes with SYA and JCW! Man, they are explosive, romantic or not, they are just palpable!

Overall, even if this show has numerous flaws, I would still want to recommend this to fans who loves action and JCW!!!

Read More

An overrated boring show that doesn't deserve all the hype it's getting

High School Return of A Gangster is based on a BL webtoon that is turned into bromance. For that, people were hating on it (they were right about hating on it because it simply shows homophobia) but I didn't hate on it from then at all. Instead, I dove in here and loved the first episode and was excited for the other remaining episodes. So, I continued watching it to only find the drama getting more and more boring. I mean, we HAVE TO agree that MOST teen dramas are a bit overrated except for Twinkling Watermelon, All of Us Are Dead, Lovely Runner and Pyramid Game among others (there are more but i can't seem to remember). I didn't include Night Has Come because it's SO underrated (one of the first underrated teen dramas). This show, HROAG, is an okayly-written drama with a boring plot. So basically, Kim Deuk Pal wanted to change Yi Heon's life by helping him overcome school bullying, making new friends, protect his mother, graduate and get into a good college BUT he also wanted to let him go to juvie by helping the bullies escape from it (especially Jae Min) so he just accepted to get into juvie because he didn't tell the bully Jae Min to get the evidence. Look, I get that he was trying to be nice to a kid whose life is miserable, but when someone makes a mistake, HE HAS TO PAY FOR IT! And HE DID, only because Se Kyung told him to. If he hadn't told him, Yi Heon would be in juvie for doing NOTHING! That's the first thing he did to the boy Yi Heon. Now the second thing is at the finale, where the real boy insisted on dying so the old man would live (It would've been shameless had he not insisted) but I was surprised at the old guy, he didn't even try to tell him to live instead of him ONE TIME! He just continued on living in his body happily ever after. Okay, if you are arguing that Deuk Pal deserved to live, the kid also did, too. This show makes suicide a happy ending for the boy. Basically, the boy thought of suicide as a happy ending for him and didn't want to live. What about the depressed people who are watching this?? This show will just make them even more suicidal!
Disappointing. But I have to give credits to Yoon Chan Young. Great Job.

Read More

Ending Explained

Why does Jun Mo shoot before Gi-Cheul does?

Most importantly – Jun Mo does this to spare Eui-Jeong. In his bitterness and despair, Gi-Cheul threatens to remain as a tormenting memory for Jun Mo and Eui-Jeong. In that last moment, Jun Mo perceives that the only remaining “good” outcome is to take the blame for the betrayal entirely on himself. We infer that Eui-Jeong is able mourn and let go of Gi-Cheul peacefully as she has left the necklace at his gravesite.

Secondly – Jun Mo resolves Gi-Cheul’s dilemma. Gi-Cheul has now decided to escape the gang and live a normal life. But Jun Mo explains there has to be a consequence for his sins, a price to satisfy justice. At the train-crossing, Gi-Cheul realises the price is too high: he has lost his dream, his crew, and his hyung (Seungho). In desperation, he places his hope in a future with Eui-Jeong on the run, but when that falls flat, he no longer has the courage to go on. Now he wants to die, even with the shame of suicide. But before he can do so, Jun Mo grants Gi-Cheul one last favour: an “honourable” death: a gangter in defiance, shot by a cop. by Vinh B

Read More

The story and plot of this movie is simple: did the suspect murder his wife?

What I like about this movie is the simplicity of the story, and how it does not all take place in the courtroom, which tends to drag down the pace of the movie. Ha Jung Woo, Park Hee Soon and Jang Hyuk all give great performances as the defence counsel, prosecutor and the suspect. Ha Jung Woo is fantastically charismatic and interesting to watch onscreen as the seemingly nonchalant lawyer who grows in the process of defending his client, Park Hee Soon plays a really enigmatic and mysterious prosecutor who seems to have a hidden agenda in his pursuit of this case, and Jang Hyuk does not give away much in his portrayal of the suspect.

I love how the movie is written to constantly shake your assumptions and cause you to doubt your theory - so did he do it or not? Be patient as all will be revealed in the end. A great thriller!

Read More

I think most of the readers here must have known that this drama gained positive reviews from most viewers. But here I would like to give my opinion again about this drama. great plot from the beginning that hooked me even from the earlier episodes, great acting by the actors and actresses, great OST (especially michael learns to rock, OMG they are the one behind the great OST 'eternal love'), no cliches, no typical korean drama scenes, no typical k-drama characters, no typical k-drama dialogues, no typical love triangle that might ruin a drama, smart character and plot development, great chemistry from all the characters, unique characters, and great ending. this drama never disappoints me. eventhough there might be flaws, I didn't pay attention to them at all because they were not visible to me as the good sides of the drama have covered them. great drama. ji chang wook, he's my no.1 crush now! ^^ don't hesitate to watch this drama. once you are hooked by it, there's no way to end.

Read More

Say yes to this show!

I found this show via an article that was posted on MyDramaList [https://mydramalist.com/article/recommendation-the-other-half-of-me-and-you].

This show is amazing because it highlights a very serious social justice issue (misogyny), by using humor. Note: The show isn't making fun of men nor women, but rather showing what it would be like if men were expected to endure the same treatment and have the same expectations that women have in today's society.

The episodes are only about 5 minutes long, and it's so worth the watch. Thank you China for breaking toxic trends! I look forward to watching more dramas/shows like this. FYI This show reminds of me the Chinese drama titled My Heroic Husband because it is also full of cliches (e.g. the academy of male virtuousness), but the cliches are not as obviously presented like it is in this show.

Recommended YouTube video: Have You Suffered Sexual Harassment? | Street Interview in China by TreeMan
https://youtu.be/FDVfyln4F2g

Read More

I went into this drama eager, excited, and expecting too much. First, the Noona in me was over the moon at the idea of live watching a Noona Dongsaeng Romance. As we all know I’m a tad obsessed with this trope. However, I was also excited by the fact it was another installment in the I Need Romance franchise. I loved the first one so very much, but haven’t seen the second one. I had hoped that the third installment would have the same edgy, fresh, and realistic view of romance (with a healthy dose of intimacy/love/fun) that the first installment had. Thirdly, I really was looking forward to the story from having read loads of articles about the show.

Sadly, this drama was a disappointment to me. On many levels. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of lovely things within the show, but those good points were not enough to save it for me.

What did I want from this show?

1) Focus on relationships in all their forms. Friendship/Co-Worker/Employee/Lover.

2) A Noona Romance to blow away all other Noona Romances.

3) A fun story that focused on relationships in a real way like I Need Romance 1 had done.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any of that. The relationship growth all seemed forced or nothing happened at all until the very last episode where the writers crammed it into a single conversation that made no sense to the rest of the scene. This Noona Romance is my least favorite Noona Romance that I’ve watched thus far. This show was not fun to watch, there was nothing of that vitality or edgy approach to story telling that I had loved in I Need Romance 1.

I couldn’t connect to Joo Yeon, she was an unlikable character throughout the entire show. She was cold, robotic, and wishy-washy. I just could not find it in me to feel anything for her except annoyance. The second male lead was so boring and two dimensional that I could have slept through his scenes and not missed all that much. Wan was so shameless in his adoration and love for Joo Yeon that I felt embarrassed for him most of the time. There is a huge difference between puppy love and being disrespectful to yourself in order to love someone else. To me, it felt like Wan did not respect himself enough to stand up for himself and let Joo Yeon walk all over him for every episode except the last three. That isn’t adorable puppy love, that is just embarrassing.

What did I like? Well the OST. I loved it so much that I will be buying it. Wow, the music was amazing. But isn’t it sad when the music is the thing I loved the most from the entire show? I also loved Min Jung and her lover. Their story was poignant and addressed some difficult issues, it was interesting and I looked forward to their screen time very much. Also I loved the Dongsaengs Hee Jae and Woo Young so much I could have watched an entire show about just them and been perfectly happy!

Episode 16 was good, they wrapped up all the story tangents nicely and everyone got a happy-ish ending. Even though they closed the series well, I was underwhelmed emotionally. The last episode did not feel like a climactic finish, it was just another episode. But a slightly better episode than some of the episodes prior to it.

In conclusion, I wasn’t impressed with this installment in I Need Romance. If I hadn’t committed to reviewing each episode for the blog I would have dropped the show around episode 8.

Read More

Promising start failed to carry on

The first few episodes seemed promising. Na In Woo was fun to watch and Seohyun's cute behavior while playing Seul Bi complimented each other. However, soon after its start, the show became stale and boring. The plot felt stuck when Seon Min Joon kept looking for Seul Bi and after finding her, he decided not to forcefully take her back but instead let her live with Soo Kwang (Na In Woo). This storyline kept on going until it became boring. The action picked up in later episodes (I'd say ep 13/14).

I can't even say what exactly the drama was about as its plot seemed to be extremely slow, almost frozen over the middle of the drama. To me, this drama isn't worth it unless you are a fan of someone from the cast.

Read More

If you can read novel then please do so.

Not everyone can read novels, drama and webtoons are much easier to watch/read and they are also more discriptive than novel, this is the whole point of an adaptation, to increase the range of viewers but the now a days there's a trend of adding unnecessary and sometimes unfavourable and unpleasant plot twists just so to keep the people who have already read the novel hooked.
In the drama, their are many small deviations from the novel and a major one too. I personally would have preferred if the drama went the same as novel, small deviations would have been appreciated but the last one was just too much.
Please read the novel if you can, because many will ultimately want read the novel because of drama being deviated from the original novel, specially at one specific point and then the drama will act as nothing more than a spoiler not letting you enjoy the novel as you could have.

Read More

This movie is basically a chick flick. I am kind of surprised that I enjoyed watching this. There was zero originality in the story and it borrowed heavily from all big Hollywood movies, especially Sex and the City. The four girls were exactly like Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. They even went as far as making the main character a writer just like Carrie and one of her friends exactly like Samantha- open and promiscuous. Their friendship had a Sisterhood of Traveling Pants touch to it and the glamour in this film reminded me of Gossip Girl. I am sorry for taking these names, but it was pretty much the same!

Now, as for the story- it is very simple. It focuses on the friendship between four friends and their daily lives. There was nothing out of the ordinary here except a bunch of feminine issues thrown together and made into a movie with good actresses and good fashion. This is mostly a movie to watch when you want to relax. There isn't anything that makes you mad but makes you feel lighter. But ONLY if you enjoy random chick flicks like I do.

Honestly, I am tired of watching movies where somebody gets cancer or they are physically handicapped. At least the writer tried something different for this. This movie is the corniest version of Hollywood chick flicks, but not for Korea. So in that sense, it can be deemed as 'different'.

There is nothing great about the screenplay or direction. It is a no-brainer movie for most part but the issues they brought up were real. Anybody in their 20s can relate to these females. Be it confidence issues, commitment issues or a pregnancy scare- this movie has it all. I suppose the writer wanted to write a relatable plot so he included everything females go through. That part was ridiculous, but at least it entertains you. The movie is boring in some parts but the rest of it is alright.

I'd say this is pretty good for a one-time watch. I don't know if I would watch it again or not, but I still liked it. It is definitely my favourite Korean chick flick. I don't know why so many people hated it but I would say it is not that bad and go ahead and watch it.

Read More