Since everyone already addressed what's so great about the drama in all these other reviews, I shall make this my own and share what I enjoyed most. These include:
- the attention to detail that may not seem much at first glance but overall accumulates into all the difference in the world in terms of production, plot development to overall story and how everything comes off
- Maertai Ruoxi's relationship with the princes whom she has a different relationship with each. Some of them are her good friends - one even becomes her confidante, while others become her romantic interests and eventually the 'one' for her. Even her relationship with others such as some of the wives, servants in the palace, and the Emperor - are unique in each their own. No two are the same.
-The meticulous development of each character and their relationships with each other over the years. Brothers who turn into rivals, strangers who turn into loved ones, friendships in the most unlikely of places (or is it?) - you see the processes and driving forces behind all of it, instead of it just happening like in most dramas. Even if you don't agree with some of it, you understand it.
- Maertai Ruoxi is not your typical heroine. None of the main leads are perfect; in fact they aren't truly good either but rather 'grey area' types. The truly good have no place in the world of imperial politics (like the 13th prince), and the truly bad ones never get out alive. Ones in the grey area may seem like 'winners' but in reality- they lose more than anyone can realize - in different ways that may not be exactly apparent or is it something they realize themselves even. These are the fates illustrated among the various members of the imperial family - from princes, wives and servants and even the Emperor himself.
One feels a true sense of attachment to all the characters (even the antagonists) and the relationships with one another by the end of the series. Rather a weird comparison but it's like watching your kids grow up except I've never been a mother, and these are all adults and people who existed well before my time. Maybe it's safer to describe it as a really bad breakup once you finish the series with a serious case of withdrawal, unable to forget the emotions it drew out of you and the attachment to the character/story that you gave so much time and emotions into but really doesn't give anything back to you...other than change the way you see dramas from now on and the emotional rollercoaster that leaves you aching yet fulfilled.
Rewatch? If you are okay with going through the heartbreak and extreme range of emotions the first time around, it just might be worth it for the beauty of the experiences again
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This review may contain spoilers
Alright so after I watched this my heart was crying for my man Rio. He came to a whole other dimension BECAUSE of Kido but in the end it was KIDO who betrayed him. This also explained all his actions in the prequel movie The Pornographer. How he longed for Kuzumi but was trying to make him go away once he realized how Kuzumi should be focusing on himself and his future.
Also if anyone felt weird about how Rio forgave that old man (Who made him suck off Kido)who later became his mentor then let me explain. Rio longed for a father who gave him validation. He never received approval from his father for pursuing his dreams neither any kind of affection. So Rio had this weird warped bond with that old man. Also it wasn’t a big deal for that old man to ask him to suck someone off because he was in this dirty industry for so long things like this are like a piece of joke to them. Not justifying his character though just explaining in dept of the psychology.
Overall I didn’t expect to like this but I did. I really really adored the character of Rio. And Im so glad he finally got someone who TRULY LOVED HIM, KUZUMI !!!
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Lessons in life
I'm having second thoughts watching it but I was so thankful that I watched it. Full of encouragement and realization in life. So touching and will definitely enlighten you how you have to keep moving forward despite struggle in life. Will make you realize how blessed you are and appreciate what you have and be thankful and grab every opportunity. It might not happen as you wanted or as you plan it because it might turned out way much better. This series is very touching I love the story because it's very detailed and was able to show how it all started and will let you know the emotions of each and every character where coming from. Sometimes we might not be able to fully understand our friends or family where they coming from if they feel like giving up or discouraged. Whatever it is do not give up on your loved ones no matter what.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Allow me to rant....
I try to write reviews without spoilers but not this one, because I need to rant. Having thoroughly enjoyed Season 1 of Yumi's Cells, I was looking forward to watching Season 2. In many ways, it did not disappoint. The cells are still absolutely hilarious, the acting is excellent, the plot anything but boring, But! But! But what the… is it with the break-up? It made sense in Season 1 because the main characters don’t communicate properly. There’s a heartbreaking scene where Yumi asks about getting married and Woong wants to say yes but feels he can’t because he is broke. Had he explained his reasoning, or had she mentioned to him that she loves living with him instead of just telling her coworker, they probably would have stayed together. Alas… that’s not what happened and it’s acceptable because stuff like that happens in real life too.Now Season 2. We have Mr. Perfect in Ba Bi. Personally, I’m on Team Woong, but he was fine and they certainly looked good together. There were some very cute scenes involving the cells exploring the other “planet.” But then Yumi decides to break up. Apparently, Ba Bi cheated on her. I must have missed that part because all I saw was some young girl from work, who happens to live in his neighborhood, having a crush on him. All I saw was Ba Bi trying to avoid any awkward situations by moving from that neighborhood. I never doubted for a second that he really loved Yumi. What the hell was she thinking? He has no control over what other people feel for him. How insecure is she? And how mean? Who the hell breaks up on Christmas Eve? With someone you supposedly care about? Let’s not even get into the fact that Ba Bi was extremely tolerant of her still being in contact with her ex-boyfriend. But when he thinks some random girl is cute, without ever planning on acting on that, he’s kicked to the curb. Unbelievable.
And that is my main point of criticism of this show. The plot just doesn’t make sense. Clearly, the plan was all along to have Yumi and Ba Bi break up. But the writer designed the character of Ba Bi too perfectly. Had he cheated, sure. But he didn’t. So the break-up here is not due to a lack of communicating but a lack of logic, and I just cannot stand that in a drama. I can handle fantasy elements and flying unicorns, but they need to act so it makes sense. (Side note: I thought Twenty-Five Twenty-One was the best drama ever, until that writer, too, decided to cling to her original plan of having the main characters break up, even though that made zero sense the way they were portrayed, zero, boy I am still so mad about that… ok end of side note.)
Should you watch Season 2? Definitely the first few episodes but then brace yourself for Yumi turning into a different person from Season 1, much less likeable and acting quite irrationally. Some people have commented that it’s great that she puts herself first as a writer, but she could have done that without breaking up with Ba Bi, who actually steered her on the path to becoming a writer. In fact, both of her boyfriends were nothing but supportive the entire time.
One can only hope that Season 3, should there be one, is more like the first season, which was excellent in every way.
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KelpiView : A simple and short love story
Overall impression :If i could summarize the whole show in less than 5 words, it would be innocent, teenage love story. it was a good few hours, though there's nothing bad about the show, i felt it was nothing overly grand as well. it was a good show, dont get me wrong, i thoroughly enjoyed my time watching it, but it lacks the final sprinkle of garnish to make it phenomenal.
What I liked about it:
Great cast!
To be totally honest, i decided to pick this up because of Bever, Bigboom, Bell and Prat and they did not disappoint. I saw Bever, Bigboom and Prat when they appeared in Love Mechanics and thought that they were fine as support cast. Bever was good in his portrayal as X in this short romance show. Given this was Bell's first drama, she honestly did a good job as Mind. Im a fan of hers and happy that she stepped into the world of acting as well. Dont get me wrong, she is an awesome artist, but seeing her branch out is nice too!
Simple yet interesting story!
The story is simple yet not too boring. there's not much "big conflict" and the climax was a lil bit mellow for me, but for what it is, it is perfect as it is. I love the comedic scenes that they have slotted in to lighten the mood, which makes the show seems even more light. While i would say dont expect "overly heavy" plot points, there were some dialogues that they said that moved me.
What I disliked about it:
Too short.
4 episodes is a lil bit short in my honest opinion, but that being said, if they would drag it out, it might be a lil bit too draggy as the story is not overly complex. So, while i think that it is too short, i still believe the production crew made the right choice to leave it at 4 episodes. Would i have liked it if it was longer? i dont know. Do i want to see the cast in more episodes / scenes? yes totally, but i wouldnt want the show to suffer the effect of it being draggy at the end of it.
No skinship.
If you know me, you know i love a good NC scene in my BL dramas lol. This.. was a lil bit too tame for me LOL. But i understand that all shows have their own "rating" in a way, and this was a totally G rated BL drama. Do i wish for at least ONE NC scene between X and Q? yes i do, but given what the show is, it's fine. the best you get in this show is a cute cheek peck. lol.
Did I enjoyed it?:
Over the short period of time watching it, i enjoyed it a lot.
Would I recommend it to others?:
If you're looking for a simple and short BL drama, this is a good one. if you're just starting out watching BL or if you're not comfortable with BL action but would like to try it anyway, then this might be a good starting point as it is not plot heavy, not too long, very tame, as well as having a cute simple love story.
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Silly but funny
This "Gourmet in Tang Dynasty", as far as I'm concerned, was the very definition of "guilty pleasure"...^_^;With a quite absurd but funny premise, mostly nicely developed thanks to the histrionic skills of the hilarious FL (Li Zi Xuan), it was at the same time totally silly but also pretty entertaining, filled with anachronisms but also one of the very few (if not the only?) costume drama that had the courage to be honest about the period's beauty standards; incidentally: whereas other productions seem to fit in the occasional "stocky" character just so as to comply to the politically correct "overweight quota" (which imho should actually come off as offensive to overweight people, coming to think about it...but that's another story...), in this drama the overweight character (the FL's sister) not only makes a whole lot of sense, but it's really a well-rounded (pun unintended!) and full-fledged character (I personally found the subplot about the sisters' relation one of the best moments of the drama, so beautifully scripted and acted it was! ^____^)
Why don't I give this a higher grade then?
Well, honestly, I think it got a bit too confused here and there, particularly towards the end: the obscure plots and machinations of a coupla characters weren't really to my liking and felt pretty much out of place in a drama whose strong point had been, until then, that it hadn't taken itself seriously...
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A Well Written Drama
Wow, I could not help but enjoyed this drama. Absolutely riveting and a well written script. Complicated, yet fascinating, keeping us guessing how it will end. Great acting. Maybe more for a mature audience as it does involve going through the dynamics of relationship between brothers, family, friends and self love. Everything is believable and the emotions can get so real.Seo Jin (Ha Seok Jin), sophisticated, good looking, appear confident, but is dealing with a trauma left from a past incident of his father. His younger brother Seo Hwan (Ji Soo), simple, young and determined, instead have to cope with adult responsibilities after their father's accident. Then walks-in Oh Ye Ji (Im Soo Hyang). whom both brothers fall in love with. All hell breaks loose as we watch the roller coaster of emotions, frustrations as the two brothers compete for her heart, putting their brotherhood relationship also, to the test.
The director did a really good job in making us feel anything could happen towards the end of each episode. I was anxious every week waiting for the drama to load. I liked that the drama managed to portray all the flawed characters so well. Even at it's worst kind of love, everyone chose to do the right thing. All tastefully done and pretty classy. However, I had one little issue with Im So Hyang's character in this story, but I will not mention here, to avoid giving a spoiler.
I will not be surprise if Ji Soo wins an award, or at least get a nomination for this drama. His part in this drama has given him the ability to flex his acting talent all round. Convincingly frustrating at times and understandably soothing at other times. However, Ha Seok Jin is truly the remarkable actor to the core, but his role required less of him in this drama. Nevertheless, so glad he is in it and he held his own part really really well.
Cheers! K-drama forever!
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What is remembered, lives.
I rarely feel compelled to write drama reviews, but I think this drama is an underrated gem of 2022, so I'd like to encourage people to watch it.Let's first talk about romance, since I know that's what the majority of drama watchers look for. This drama is the epitome of "slight romance." The leads have a lot of chemistry, and for such a short drama without outright romance, it has skinship, tender moments, saviour moments; basically, it has the standard things that romance watchers want. Heck, it even has marriage talk. So I hope you aren't put off by others saying there's "no romance," because it's not entirely true.
Moving on to the story now. This drama, being only 12 episodes long, needs to tell a story very succinctly and focus only on the main plot. There are lots of threads that some may feel were not closed, but I have to say, I think it was quite intentional. This drama was inspired by a book of essays by a Korean public defender detailing his experiences helping the marginalized, most vulnerable members of society. It's not a drama about any character's personal life story or traumas. Its focus is on the law--how it can fail the socially disadvantaged, how it can be bent to the will of those in power. What it means to take responsibility for one's actions and choices, how heavy the burden of being wronged can weigh on people, how much it means to be listened to. So we're not here to watch Chak-hee or Si-baek's life stories. They are connected--along with other characters--to certain actions and events that have propelled them along certain trajectories in life until they came to the point where they are in the drama. We're here to see how and why that happened.
The female lead's character development is one of the most enjoyable to watch. I've already mentioned it, but the leads have a lot of chemistry, and both actors are extremely talented. From the very start, you're immersed in the mystery of how all these characters and events are connected. The episodes are very binge-worthy, because each one ends in a cliffhanger revelation. A lot of crime dramas have you asking the question "who," but in this drama, I felt the "who" was extremely obvious. My biggest question was "why."
I think the antagonists in this drama were written and acted well, because I usually have a hard time sitting through scenes of horrible people getting away with things. This drama chooses not to truly reveal the extent of horrific things that have taken place until the end. In other dramas, the frustrating thing is usually that we as viewers know something because we're already told or shown, but the characters don't know a thing. In this drama, we discover truths at almost the same pace as our female lead, alleviating the frustration.
Overall, at only 12 episodes, I think this drama is more than worth anyone's time.
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Uneven but the earlier episodes are incredible
So if this was set in America she 100% would have been shot in the first episode at the police station. Roll credits!Here is a simple fact about this series: Most if not all of the good and hilarious stuff happens in the early episodes! Comical, quirky, unpredictable, and with romantic undertones, right up my alley. Jun Ji-hyun is so adorable, it's her at her highest levels of cutesy buffoonery and dorkiness.
After a number of episodes though, her character loses a lot of agency and it just goes back to average quality.
Quite unfortunate as the writing quality plummets pretty hard in the last episodes, it's like nothing makes sense anymore. This really should have ended after around 14 episodes, not 20.
Would I recommend this show? Yes, at the very least the early episodes are a strong recommend from me. I will absolutely rewatch those at some point. The rest, not so sure. The highs are really high, but the lows are quite low. This show goes from like a 10/10 in the beginning to a 6/10 at best for me by the end.
The OST stood out to me as never being annoying but actually varied and great. Male lead Lee Min Ho was also refreshingly quite younger than his love interest.
So basically this confirms that even when she's thrown in a cheesy drama filled with redundant flashbacks that overstay their welcome, and writing that takes a nose dive in quality in the back half, Jun Ji-hyun really can do no wrong. We don't talk about Blood: the Last Vampire.
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Comforting but a little boring
I think this drama would be good for people who enjoyed Run On, Because This Is My First Life, and Racket Boys — all dramas that were pretty mellow and comforting, where any romance was pretty simple, straightforward, and honestly a little distant. I do love good communication between characters and I also loved seeing strangers get to know each other but I felt like I never really felt giddy or that invested in them. The relationship is almost too mellow for me (as someone who just wants a little more playfulness and casual banter).There are also some cliches in the plot that felt a little out of place for 2021, and the pacing was a little weird with not focusing on the male lead at all until near the last few episodes.
I'm also pretty on the fence about the side stories — there are some scenes that were very touching and heart-warming but overall I definitely wasn't that invested in their stories as much and I even found them a little annoying at times.
I know 6.5 might seem like a low rating but it's not and it's really more out of indifference than dislike; I've watched worse dramas that made me feel more.
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A Coming-of-Age Masterpiece that Everyone Should Watch!
I told sunset about you is an utter masterpiece! It oozes coming-of-age nostalgia with it’s beautifully written story/characters and it’s incredible direction/production. This show has left me speechless and constantly thinking about it and wondering how a show can be this great. It has become my favorite asian series of all time and I don’t think that any series will be able to be at it’s level. My review will basically be an appreciation post for the show and not contain any spoilers!DIRECTING/PRODUCTION: From the cinematography to the color palette to the lighting, everything about this show is so carefully and artistically executed with so much attention to details and feelings. Every scene has a purpose for being there and it can be seen with the beautiful directing, transitions, and frames. There are no filler or meaningless scenes since it’s always building up to an explosive scene revealing new feelings and info. The perfectly shot angles elevate the show and make it seem like an “expensive” movie (compared to other low-budget and awkward thai series). And wow... the color palette makes the show seem so nostalgic and melancholy even though it’s set in the modern time. Such beautiful and awe-inspiring cinematography! Not a spoiler, but the most gorgeous/well-thought out scene to me is the “wall panning” shot at Oh-Aew’s house. Almost every scene leaves me in shock at it’s beauty.
CHARACTERS: All of the characters in this show are amazing! There are no mean or annoying characters put in for drama. I even fell in love with all the side characters, even the ones who we aren’t suppose to root for, because all the characters are truly great friends and people. The male MCs, Teh and Oh-Aew are such deep characters, and although they each have their flaws, they embody what a teenager who is in love feels and acts. Teh is impulsive, ambitious but so so caring. He is also super direct with sharing his feelings (for example jealousy) which is what I love so much. Not a spoiler but although he is portrayed as selfish in the beginning, there is so much character development that you can visually see that you can’t help but fall in love with him. As well, Oh-Aew is such a sweet and understanding person who always knows when something is wrong with Teh and also knows what he wants. He grows alot as well in his journey to discovering who he is and I love him so much!
ACTING: When I first watched, I thought that the 2 main leads were “alright” actors. But as I continued watching, I noticed how natural all the quirks looked and how both the actor’s eyes and actions conveyed SO much more emotion than just their dialogues. There is so much sexual tension and emotion that you can feel in your bones and it’s because of the 2 male leads’ great chemistry and skills! Amazing acting from the actor who played Hoon as well!!
STORY: It is a coming-of-age, friends to rivals to friends to lovers and I am totally in love with it. There are no weirdly fast feelings that suddenly appear and there’s no sexual assault or consent issue. There are so many subtle symbolic references and reoccurring themes/ideas that help to create such a deep and intriguing story. I could list them all out but it’s just better to notice and appreciate them yourselves!
MUSIC: Simply amazing! The ost is so beautiful, both musically and lyrically. I remember looking up the full english translation and I full out bawled my eyes out because it’s so heartbreaking yet real. The melody for “Skyline” is so sweet and pretty, I fell in love with it on the first listen. As well, the theme song “skyline” plays a role in the show and is always played at the right times to enhance the scene.
Overall, the show is such a beautiful yet relatable story of 2 teenagers growing up and coming to terms with their feelings and self-identity. I HIGHLY recommend everyone watch it. If you are on the fence about starting it, please open up your schedule to watch it! You definitely won’t regret it!
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This review may contain spoilers
It was an overall feel-good movie, I enjoyed it.This is what I love with Japanese youth films. They don't stay away from the theme, and just like most of their dramas, their movies are fast-paced, focused yet they don't feel forced.
I simply love the movie because they were able to capture and emphasized the beautiful reasons why "friendship" is all that without losing focus on the cute love story/love triangle. Everyone has great chemistry especially the four boys.
The movie shows me again how nice it is to have this kind of friendship. Watching it made me remind of the friends I had and the moments we share. It was also nice how they were able to add the girl to their clique and they were able to show some real bond among them.
When it comes to the love story, well I didn't technically have a second lead syndrome but I must admit that I was cheering for him (the second male lead Yuta Koseki) and if I were the main girl, I would fall for him for he excels in almost every aspect for me. Plus, I'm not really a fan of the main lead, he slouches at times here and didn't have much chemistry with the main girl and his acting is just so-so.
Also, shout out to Sugino Yosuke here, he stands out even though he is just a supporting actor.
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So lovely!
I loved this show! I'm a huge fan of lots of the girls on it so that was definitely a bonus. I just kept thinking that had a show of this kind been produced in my country (the UK) there would have been such a large focus on creating conflict between the girls, because UK TV producers seem to be under the impression that audiences aren't interested in watching people get along well. This show proves them wrong! It was so nice to see these young women genuinely find comfort through new friendships and their new shared passion for running. I found this show to be heartwarming, motivational, and reflective. So so lovely!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Great Until it Wasn't
Only Friends has a great beginning, but I can't lie that the incline to it being great crashed somewhere and just started getting rather tedious to watch. And don't get me wrong -- the plot, the acting, the romances -- everything worked like it was supposed to, except, still something just didn't work towards the end of this for me.Let's Dive In.
Jojo knew what he was doing with this series, specifically with these pairings too. Putting a bunch of hot people in one frame and having them get into some heated mess -- okay yes, of course, I'm seated. I absolutely adore the concept of this BL, which I don't even know if I would label it a BL. This felt more like a genuine queer messy-gay series with no specific yes on a pairing and everybody was just kissing and sucking and fucking one another. It was about friendship and love and betrayal and hatred and loss and it worked perfectly with these actors. They put on a brilliant performance, and I can't wait to see what's lined up for them in the future from here on out.
Now, onto specific characters/pairings: I'll be honest, I would've loved a RayMew endgame. Of course, Ray and Sand worked well together too, but I'm a sucker for friends to lovers and we can't pretend like the moments that we did get between them weren't so fucking cute. Anyways, passed my wrecked ship, I'll start with Top and Mew. I absolutely hate that they ended up together. I really wish that Mew would've moved on, which might be my own bias because I can't imagine staying with someone that cheated on me, and even worse, cheated on me with my best friend. Also, yes, Boston is like a terrible human being, but if Mew can't find it in himself to forgive his friend but forgive his partner when they were both in the wrong, then Mew is being a bit of a hypocrite -- is he not? But skipping past before Top cheated with Boston, I was all aboard the Top Mew train. But initially Top only got with Mew to fill Boston's bet that he couldn't be the person Mew loses his virginity to, so now that I'm remembering that, I actually still didn't really like this pairing much. And I get it, he realized he actually did have feelings for Mew, but the intentions were still there. In reality, I give their relationship 5 months until they end for good.
Onto Sand and Ray, the only couple that I'm okay with. I liked Ray's character development a lot, which is why I can actually see this relationship lasting. They had a lot of ups and downs and honestly, the only real one I can recall is Ray still having feelings for Mew. I think they also complement each other so well that it just works. The rich with the poor, the spontaneous with the calculated, the party animal with the quiet musician, the boy who yearns for someone to love them with the boy who yearns to be loved. It was all so good. Again, I think Ray and Mew would've worked better for me, but I can see why this pairing does too, so I'm not mad about it at all.
Moving onto Nick and Boston -- thank god they didn't end up together. I hated seeing Nick just up and give Boston chance after chance, especially after they actually get together and Boston screws up again. He's just an all-around terrible person, who needed no redemption arc but was still given one (slightly). But again, Neo is so charming, so handsome, so perfect, so I can see why Nick would *shrugs in understanding*. But Nick deciding to work on himself to find the key to loving himself was a perfect ending for his character. Poor dude passed up Gumpa, so he really must've been hurting.
Mond being in this was so random and yet everything I needed and more. Dude is so pretty, so perfect, so everything. I couldn't even be mad that he was put in to add conflict at the last minute, because gosh, I mean just look at him. And the glasses too?? I'm no better than any of these characters tbh.
So what I think went wrong with this series: For me, there were a few times in which this just dragged on. Seeing Mark be hurt over and over again, Ray and Sand going back and forth, Top and Mew playing a game of cat and mouse -- and then it goes on for episodes and episodes. By the end, I was watching this at 2 times the speed. This is me being completely nit-picky and everyone else can disagree with me and that's fine, but how come we never see Ray/Sand and Top/Mew NC scenes as intensely as we saw Boston/any-boy-within-a-two-feet-radius-and-Mark? Maybe because they wanted to put an emphasis on Boston being sex crazy, but it felt weird to incorporate something for one character but not the others.
Ratings:
Story: 8/10 - Overall, it was good. Kind of repetitive and a little bit draggy, but it still worked well and was on theme throughout.
Acting: 9/10 - I got to see Mond and Force shirtless (which has nothing to do with their acting, but they sure did show me a good performance so..). Anyways though, and for real, everyone did a phenomenal job. Again, I'll have to give most of the kudos to Khaotung who just hits it out of the park each and every time. But Mark also stood out and so did Neo too.
Music: 8.5/10: Like usual, I didn't pay much attention, but I would like the sudden shock on my face when I heard an English song playing. I don't know, it just shocks me sometimes. Also, the theme song is so very good.
Recommendation Value: 7.5/10: Watch this because the actors are gorgeous and they are kissing at least 1/2 of each episode -- and the plot is wonderful. I give it a low score because I think this would've actually worked out better had I binge-watched it. I just saw all the hype and had to watch, but having seen what I've seen, I could've definitely waited to binge-watch it.
Also, Mix coming in at the end almost felt like they were building up to a potential 2nd season?? I mean, just imagine it. And you know if Mix is there I'm also there. We shall see once the final GMMTV 2024 line-up comes out!
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This review may contain spoilers
I just finished this emotional T-drama about two young people shaped by tragedy and whether it was possible for them to overcome their tragic pasts. Story:
In this story two kids faced whatever life threw at them and most of the time it was boulders-mental illness, sexual assault, physical assault, PTSD, suicide, parental neglect, and evil outside forces. Somehow these two broken people found in each other the love and support they needed.
Both the ML and FL had to face their own individual traumas by peeling back the layers of lies and pain to heal and grow. And they had to do this while dealing with ongoing stressors and danger.
They fought for the right to walk hand-in-hand through the healing to the fulfillment of their dreams and no one was going to make it easy on them. Danger and disaster waited around every corner. Internal and external conflicts filled nearly the entire 21 episodes with little breathing room. It was a hard drama to let go of for something like sleep. It wasn’t a perfect story but it was compelling.
If you are triggered by any of the traumas listed above I would recommend not watching MARS. I don’t know that I would label this a dark drama but it does deal with very dark issues.
Acting:
I almost didn’t watch MARS because of Vic Chou. I’d only seen him in The Flame’s Daughter and was completely underwhelmed. I liked him in this drama. Maybe it was because he was rocking the David Cassidy/Uncle Jessie hairdo, but more likely it was the relaxed, natural performance he gave.
Barbie Hsu had the more difficult job of portraying a young woman in so much pain she walked and sat in self-protective postures. As the character grew and healed she portrayed believable fear and outrage. She did an amazing job.
OST:
I enjoyed it, didn’t love it.
On a somewhat related note-the production values were surprisingly high. Too often T-dramas look and sound like someone filmed them on a cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised, especially for an older drama.
Rewatch value:
I will likely go back to MARS for another visit.
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