Reviews

I was very excited for the story but I feel like the plot lacked in deepness which led to some minor issues. I usually love dramas that are very warm and full of romance so I appreciate the amount of cute scenes we got. Unfortunatelly we had a lot of missed opportunities. I feel like the secondary characters had major development issues, some presented inconsistencies. Seon Ho and In Wook were very all over the place, not to mention the relationship between Ji Soo and her husband.
I will say however that leaving the writing situation aside, I think the drama was good but as the story is rather simple we have no build up and I don't think I personally would rewatch it only because it got to a point where it all was resolved and I was fine with it. I also think that even without 4 episodes, the ending had an unnecessary situation, so that speaks for itself as yet another case of bad writing.
On good notes, love the main actors here, even though I feel Hae In's skills are bigger than this specific project. Love the soundtrack and the photography.

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Opposite poles meet up with fantasy becoming the most hurtful reality

One of the best BL series I've watched to date, and I don't blame people being hurt at the end coz it's truly heartbreaking. Our main protagonist suffered so much until the end just to taste a glimpse of happiness being a human can have. Not to mention, Tofu is a lost but also well deserving soul for a love that Nut happens to purely gave into him (Both In & Job have a fantastic job portraying the characters, I love them both!). And yet the ending told us that they dont deserve each other, its a shame. At present, deep into my heart, I believe that Nut loves Tofu more than Tharn now. It was so evident at Ep 15. A gift, the collection of memories and the decision made at a hospital call was a solid proof.

Someone should have not taken it too lightly that it end up just what it should be, Nut ended with Tharn and Tofu coming back to a teddy bear. It wasnt that easy given all the circumstances and the feelings our main characters invested in. Its a fantasy and we get it, but it indirectly telling us that something that we dreamt of, cant be our own reality despite how eager we are to have it or how invested we are for that truthful feeling. Its a harsh, awful situation. It has a wonderful built up story but it fails to give justice on this idea of achievable dream. Worst, it happens when we actually gave it our all. Ultimately, it wasnt and will never be just "coz it should be".

Despite all the painful parts though, the writer didnt disappoint in handling various issues like mental health, social and family issues as well. It was handled carefully and discussed truthfully (Mrs Na, Gen and Song plays an important roles on this matter and they nailed it!) . And it is such a hard task to take over, I salute for taking the enormous risk of discussing them simultaneously. The correlation of this issues where binded flawlessly and I'm very happy on how it turned out to be.

In conclusion, it was heart wrenching at the end especially when Nut sings his heart out for Tofu on his burial (that makes me cry :'( a thousand fold). But given the journey it took with Nut and Tofu to love each other unconditionally, makes my heart overjoyed with memories. And its something Id like to stay with me forever instead.

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opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine, impossible dreams

Stars Kpop’s best known out gay singer, Holland, and Han Gi Chan (Where Your Eyes Linger). Noodle shop! Broken dreams! This is a solid little KBL, with a good premise and cast. Manic pixie dream boy can get old fast but when contrasted with awkward grumpy chef? It’s a tasty combo that elevates both ingredients. Holland is a charming screen presence - baby boy is HYPNotiC. And while I wasn’t entirely sold on the chemistry, these two did give us some very good kisses and sweet domesticity. I grinned through most episodes and I didn’t even mind the standard KBL 1 year separation at the end because it felt so true to the characters.

It was Tommy’s wardrobe that really clued me in as to what was going on with this show. His jumpers are full of rough shaggy textures and stormy-beach colors: sandy browns, blues, and grays. Not necessarily colors you normally associate with an ocean, but the colors that really are there on a cold northern beach in particular. We are left wondering if Tommy is meant to be an actual boy or if he is instead a representation of the ocean. Is this actually about Ba Da learning to love himself? (Since bada means ocean).

Tommy is like a piece of beautiful driftwood that has been tossed upon the shore, soon to be swept away again on the next tide. We aren’t surprised when he leaves, we aren’t surprised that he is both capricious and consistent. He may or may not be the spirit of the sea, but either way he embodies both its relentlessness and its transience.

The sparse coldness permeating this show in contrast to the cozy domesticity it depicts when the boys are together reminded me of something out of Scandinavian film. This whole series is permeated by a sense of winter. The lighting and style is exactly the opposite to the warm atmospheric feel we got from Cherry Blossoms After Winter. These are, in a way, two different ends of the spectrum of BL that Korea produces yet they both embody the precision stiffness of KBL.

We watchers of KBL are often left with this persistent idea that we are missing something all the time, something the characters are doing just off screen, or in between episodes. We missed it but Korea also didn’t WANT to show it to us because they find it too painfully intimate to portray. This absence colors all KBL with a certain wistfulness. There’s so much left unsaid. But also un-filmed. All the scenes that Thai BL would consider key, are left out. But, for me, Oceans Likes Me managed to justify this aspect of itself in a way other recent KBLs have not (I’m looking at you: Love Class). We never see Tommy and Ba Da actually become boyfriends, they just... suddenly... are. It’s as inevitable as the ocean. There is no confession scene, there’s no first time, there’s just THEM.

And then, just as quickly Tommy is swept away and there is no them anymore.

I understand the premise of this ending (unlike most of the arbitrary Kdrama 11th hour separations) which is: sometimes you can’t just support someone else’s dreams, you have to separate in order to pursue your own dream. It’s not a lack of love that ends the relationship it’s conflicting life goals.

I was happy (and a little surprised, frankly) that they brought it back around and ended with the boys together again.

RECOMMENDED

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"You're disgusting, you make me sick!" Preach on sister!

The Street Fighter was violent, exploitive, and had almost no redeeming qualities. Takuma Tsurugi was the manliest man to ever man which means he got a pass for sexual assault and selling a woman into sex slavery. This was a violent film just to be violent, with little story to go with it.

Takuma breaks a death row convict out at the last minute. When the convict’s brother and sister can’t pay the last installment he begins to rape the sister. The brother tries to intervene, so Takuma kills him, and sells the sister to be a sex slave. Big man. A group attempts to hire him to kidnap an heiress but he turns down their lowball number. Because Takuma knows of their plan they attempt to eliminate him which drives him to the heiress’ protector. After forcibly kissing and groping her, he gets hired on to protect her. When the convict discovers what happened to his family he joins the other bad guys for the chance to free his sister and kill Takuma. Yeah, at this point I’m rooting for anyone who would kill this b@stard.

The fight scenes weren’t well choreographed and I hated Sonny’s fight style and acting. The editing was even worse. At one point Takuma asked his sidekick, “How did you get here?” I was expecting Ratnose to say, “Heck if I know!” It was as if they edited out anything that would have caused the story to make sense. The story jumped around and so did the people as if they had a transporter to drop them into a completely unrelated scene. The acting was bad even for a 1970’s martial arts film.

The Street Fighter failed on every account for me. Only for Sonny Chiba fans and those who enjoy the main lead behaving reprehensibly toward women. This movie put the mindless into mindless violence. At the end of the film, in big letters it declared “Return of the Street Fighter coming soon!” Thanks for the warning.

14 March 2024

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CRY LIKE A RIVER

i don't know how many times a cried in this drama. Different emotions of crying.... happy tears, sad tears, empathy tears and all kinds of emotions.

and now i'm crying because the show is really over.

My Weekends will never be the same again without It's Okay to Not Be okay.

there are some parts of the story which did not have a clear answer but the ending and the final episode made me forget my questions and just enjoyed the ride with Gang Tae, Sang Tae and moon young.

i love this show so much and i can't believe that it is really over.

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Great chemistry and a fun watch, but with some questionable actions that dampened the mood

Subjective Rating - 8.25

When I first saw the English title of “Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi” I was like, so this drama is giving the middle finger as in “Fxxk You” to contract marriages? Well, of course, that’s not the case. The title, “The Third Finger Offered to a King” probably means the engagement finger, not the F U finger. Doh! Ok, maybe only me that thinks this way. LOL

For the most part, this is a very typical contract marriage drama with the usual tropes and cliches. But the leads have so much chemistry and are so fun together that this is really an enjoyable watch for the most part. I recently saw Yamada Ryosuke (ML) in “Ore no Kawaii wa Mousugu Shohikigen!?” aka “My Cuteness is About to Expire!?” and he was adorable with all the cute smiles. It’s funny how he’s playing opposite the female lead who’s the one with the (fake) smiles. Nonetheless, he is still so cute and gorgeous and I appreciate his acting more here as well. Female lead, Hashimoto Kanna, is supposed to be drop dead gorgeous here. She has big round eyes but not quite the drop-dead gorgeous type I have in mind.

There are many lovely side characters in this drama. A very supportive family on the FL side, especially the adorable parents. The siblings don’t have a lot of screentime, but they have a tight bond and scenes of their family are always heartwarming. The co-workers for the most part are supportive and not irritating. The ML’s side of the family is a different story and we’ll get to them in a little bit.

The acting is pretty good and considering this is a manga adaptation, it does not have the usual over-the-top comedic acting. The wedding stories are interesting enough and do not take time away from the leads. They add some flavors to the story and generally help move along the plot with the focus back on our two main leads.

However, there are some really questionable actions and/or inactions that frustrate me a little and distract from the general cute, fluffy and funny vibe of the show. Thus, I lower the rating for that.
-The actions of the second male lead when FL was drunk.
-The inaction of the FL after the second male lead openly confronted her and ML.
-The actions of the ML without communication
-The inaction of ML’s father where he could have prevented many things from happening
-The actions and obsession of ML’s mother are not quite justified

There is still so much to like about the drama especially if you are a fan of contract/fake marriages. There are also many funny scenes.
-Love the use of scenes in “The Battler” - reminded me of the good old days when I used to watch “The Bachelor”
-The dog is so cute and I am not even a dog person.
-Duck dance instead of chicken dance at a German restaurant? Interesting.
-Love the gradual increase of pictures on the shelf/mantle
-Is the drama also promoting tourism? Hakone, Gora, Premium Outlets? I feel like these are places I researched to go when I was planning my Japan trip.
-Speaking of outlets, I am not sure if I would go to the outlets to buy a present for the President of a Company….but I understand she’s on a budget.

Despite its flaws, this is a very fun and bingable drama. If you can look past some of the questionable actions/inactions of some characters, the drama is lighthearted and can put a smile on your face.


Completed: 7/2/2023 - Review #324

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Review Justification:
Story: 10/10 - This is easily one of the easiest criterias to evaluate in regards to this drama. Being one of my first korean dramas (first I watched as it came out), the thing that captivated me to actively watch this drama was definitely its story. It was very creative and original considering woman and girls in Korea are elevated and pressured in standards that our lead actress clearly run from. The fact that people believed she was a man was always entertaining to watch, and her comical interactions with the other workers at the palace was just delightful. It was beyond enjoyable to watch the friendship between the prince, his guard and Sam Nom (Ra On), and it easily surpassed the romance between the lead in my personal opinion. 
Acting/Cast: 8.5/10 - I was very tempted to give the acting/cast a 9 but I need to admit that while I loved the main lead (Kim Yoo Jung), I did find her acting a tad bit cringy at times, and that was one of the bases for the 8.5. Park Bo Gum, the charmer himself, stole my heart with this drama. He caught my eye from the very first episode, and though a little dramatic, he always made it work on his advantage. It was also a joy to see Jin Young on the screen, giving us everything we needed from a second possible love interest. I don't even want to mention how much I actually loved Kwak Do Yeon's character and his friendship with the main lead. It goes by unsaid that this friendship was one of the highlights of this show.
Music: 10/10 - This OST is one of the most beautiful out there. It had just the right amount of romance and sadness (maybe more sadness than needed).
Rewatch Value: 9/10 - This criteria is a bit hard to judge for me, seeing as I am a person that doesn't enjoy rewatching things that much, so I have decided to judge this based on how much I predict I would enjoy it in case I did rewatch this drama. I think I did score this one quite high (in comparison with my usual 8s and 7s), but it is in my opinion one of those exceptions that will always be justifiable. Besides its beautiful colors, characters, relationships, music, ect... This drama represents, for me, a lot and different emotions that I would like to relive. 
Overall: 10/10 - I feel like I have said a lot already and it goes unsaid that this is one of my all time favourite dramas and that I would recommend this to 10/10 people.

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Basic

If you're looking for something different in the BL community TURN BACK cause this is incredibly basic! PureFolk is the reason I stuck it out and they were by far my favorite couple. The story was eh and it's only because this plot has been repeated countless other times it's gotten old and faded. I gave it the rating I did because there were cute moments and the serious moments could be used for educational purposes (ex: disease testing). The ending was cute but yet again, basic. No hate at all but there's no chance of me re-watching this strictly cause I can watch another BL and get the same gear and gown theme. On a side note... No Glove No Love is my slogan now LMAO

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Awesome crime drama

White War was one of the best dramas I have seen. I watch a lot of crime dramas, so I can usually predict plotlines, but I didn't find White War to be that predictable. There were some parts that were really cliché, but there were also some really unexpected plot twists. I really loved the relationship between the three friends, which was a driving force for much of the plot. I liked how it showed that they valued their friendship so much that no matter how rough things got they would still not betray each other. I also thought the acting was really good, especially Bosco Wong. He did a fantastic job playing a really complicated character like Turbo. It was so hard to tell whether he was actually good or bad throughout the show. Overall all the characters were really 3-dimensional and interesting.

My main issue with the drama was that in the beginning it was super obvious that Turbo was an undercover cop, since he was still hanging out with his police friends and no one in the gang happened to see them which was kind of unbelievable. Also for the most part the plot and character development made sense, but there were some bits that felt a bit discontinuous to me. I did like that the plot wasn't rushed and didn't feel like it dragged on a lot either. Overall this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the show and I still enjoyed it a lot. I definitely recommend this!

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Great drama if you’re PATIENT

I loved the Tae Ju/MiRi pairing and their story. When I saw the “Evil Mother in Law” tag I was confused at first because none of the elder women were that bad, I know In Soo had her issues. Then they introduced Tae Ju’s step-mom and it clicked. The actress was really pretty but I hated her guts😂 The chairman was horrible too but MiRi’s mom and In So would put the fear of god in him and I loved it😂 I honestly skipped around the first 50 or so episodes. I think the story and the characters really started to develop after the wedding in ep. 60. I was invested at that point that I mostly watched the full episodes. Mi Hye and her love interests story was nice too, they are the complete opposite of eachother but it worked. Mi Sun, Da Bin and Jinsoo became one of my favorite stories to watch once Jinsoo began to mature a little and I loved the little mischief he and Da Bin got into when he began spending more time with her. Nothing really changes with Mi Suns in laws which I didn’t expect since they are the old married couple but their scenes add a lot of relief to the intense storylines that began to occur. Last but not least I loved In Soo when the show completed. At the start you see her in one way and you wonder why Tae Ju is so kind after being raised by her but as her layers begin to unravel you see that she is loyal to her family to a fault and devoted to TaeJu and MiRi’s happiness and well being. She just had a lot of regrets but once all that weight had been lifted I loved her and you’ll notice too that how she goes about doing things has never changed. None of the elders in the show ever really changed much in the end but rather learned to let their kids live their lives and just provide support. I’d honestly give this drama an 8/10

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The Ghost of Nang Hong

INTRODUCTION

Wang Nang Hong is adapted from a novel of the same title by the author Teman. When I began watching the drama, all the information I had with me was from the 2 comments left on the MDL page, the short (and now I realise inaccurate) synopsis, as well as the opinion that the OST of the drama is very beautiful. Beyond that, I had nothing that could prepare me for what I was going to invest almost 20 hours of my life in.

Actually, it took me a while to form a solid rating for this drama. It gradually rose as my mind began to properly comprehend what I was feeling for the drama and what that meant for the quality of Wang Nang Hong. In fact, the ratings gradually rose from a 7 to a 9 in a span of 2 days because of this entire process. I think it was around episode 5 where I decided, okay, this is something new and I like this.

If you go into this wanting one of those typical "crying female ghosts who wants revenge and so decides to pull the now engaged ML into their lure by making the MLthink they are mysterious women and fall for them", or if you expect this to be a solid horror that will scare you and make you sweat on the back of your neck — fair warning, this is none of those.


I LIKED

1. Very solid plot with many layers and points to think about.
2. No forced romantic scenes between ghost + ML (second life)
3. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful.
4. The FL was not made to be a "pretty ghost" but was actually given a scary face as well.
5. The slow reveal of the past lives, reasons, and incidences were very well done.
6. The drama never felt boring, it always kept me guessing.
10. The way karma worked and who was born with what relations in the second life. It was hilarious.
11. The ending I suppose.


I DID NOT LIKE

1.
There is this one character in the modern world that I felt like did not need to be that close to the ML.

2.
I did not understand how miraculously the two ghost assistants of the FL let go of their vengeance in the final 10 minutes. I understand why the FL did it, but I don't understand why they did it. Maybe killing folks and being ghosts for 100 years had them tired eh?

3.
Say what you may to defend the first life of ML, but he is still in my opinion a grade-A scum man for excluding the fact that he already had a wife who he obviously felt some sort of affection for as well when courting the FL and marrying her.



CONCLUSION
Give it a go. Despite points that are less than likable for me, I can not say I did not enjoy it. One is never going to like everything about a drama anyway. I believe that this drama's pros outweigh any complaints one might have about it.


9/10

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Mystery, crime, and romance not so much.

"The Kinnaree Conspiracy" has little romance - It is a crime investigation series that happens to have a low-key romantic triangle playing out in the background. The series is respectful to the customs of the time, and the underlying baggage of the characters involved. Bickering being the glue, that binds this investigative team. "The Kinnaree Conspiracy" does not skimp on seasoned support actors, nor the telling of a good mystery. The forest scenery, period costumes, and historical settings are a backdrop to good performances from the entire cast. If you are looking for a modern romance, this drama isn't it. If you are looking for a historical crime-series with dark underlying currents, then this might be for you. Highly recommended.

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This was a well written drama for just 10 episodes!

I enjoyed this drama. When I first started, I was extremely excited because it had mystery, drama, and comedy. Almost every genre that I LOVED. Yes romance too, but the other aspects of the show stood out to me a lot. Even as a girl who is very interested in the engineering major, I definitely got a kick out of this drama.

Story: It was very good for the first few episodes but then things started to go a bit different from how I expected it too. It's not a bad thing though, within 10 episodes this drama has managed to keep the storyline up with many plot fillers and twists which I thought was executed very well.

Acting/Cast: I actually didn't know anything about the main cast except for Bomi, but when I figured out the female ML was one of my favorite actresses, I was sold. Besides favoritism, all the actors included in the story (even the crazy ex) played their character very well without breaking.

Music: 10/10 automatically. I was so eager for 'Who I Am' to release and I haven't stopped listening to it since the day it was released.

Rewatch value: I made this rating low because it's a personal preference, I usually do not watch dramas over again, I've only watched Hana Yori Dango over again and that is the only exception lol. But for others, if you felt as if you didn't get the message throughout the drama or maybe you just really enjoyed, I would recommend to watch it again, I probably would.

Overall: It was a bittersweet, hilarious, yet 'mysterious' drama that I really enjoyed. There's a few tear-jerkers every now and then, but there's also a whole bunch of thrilling and exciting scenes that kept me excited for every episode. I say to give this drama a chance, it was very confusing to follow at first, but trust me the show is really good.

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In all the chinese detective/suspense series this is the best so far. The pacing, the storyline, the script are really good and cohesive which i sometimes find lacking in Chinese dramas. The actors and actresses are all good too and on their A game. Hope there are more dramas like this and not ones where the actors all act cool but no substance. So if you are looking for a detective series with more substance with tight pacing and great character development this is it. Its not only with eye candy actors but actors who know what they are doing. I also love the actress whos the empress dowager. She really wasnt overpowered by anyone.

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“ThirTEEN Terrors” is a drama I had mild interest in. I’m not a big drama/show fan, in all honesty, so for one to peek my interest is… rare. So I decided to give it a go as my first Thai drama and for a watch challenge I’m participating in.

It’s hard to fully summarise this as it is a compilation piece with each episode following a different story line but I’ll do my best.

Story wise, all but one of these stories captured my attention, made me shiver or grimace, and one or two even made me jump. Bar episode 4, I’d love to see full-length films on all of these stories and follow them in even more depth and detail (probably a bad idea for some of these, 45 minutes definitely suited a lot of these) but it does make me wonder what the directors and writers could do with a longer time frame to play around with.
Acting, some of the kids weren’t amazing in some of their roles. Most did a very good job but one or two let the series down further on and it was a bit unfortunate. I would happily watch 98% of the cast in their other works and it is something I am considering.

Thankfully, in the stories that I didn’t like, the acting was stellar, and the ones where I didn’t like the acting, the story/horror was well done and I still enjoyed them, mostly.

Overall, I’d recommend this to both horror and non-horror fans alike. Whereas they’re scary, they’re not scary enough that someone who’s easily scared or hasn’t had much interaction with the genre would be absolutely terrified. A solid horror favourite of mine, I definitely want to rewatch this in the future when I’ve forgotten the plot twists.

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