This review may contain spoilers
I'm a little surprised that I watched this entire show, because I was thoroughly disappointed by it early on. Too much of this drama just didn't make sense. First off - let's start with the title. While Yoon Se Na was an honest and well behaved girl, she was not lovely or playful, as many translations of the title says. I don't quite see why all the men wanted to spend time with her, because she really sucked the life out of each encounter she had with other humans. For this I mostly blame the script, and some wooden delivery of it. The show did not make me believe that Se Na actually wanted to be a songwriter, she just seemed coaxed into it by Hyun Wook. It also did not help that almost every secondary plot point was either underplayed or completely disappeared. My Rating: 6.0
In Short: This love story between a boring young girl and a completely unprofessional CEO was truly dull at times and slightly enjoyable at others. The only plot point I enjoyed was lonely idol Shi Woo, though they could have done way more with that as well. SIGH
Pros: The setting is one that I usually enjoy, though it did not feel organic in this show. However, the lighting and filming is really enjoyable, and the dog is cute. The music was also quite good.
Cons: It really bugs me when most of the characters on the show are senior management for some company, and absolutely none of them know how to do their job. Everyone at ANA was unprofessional, and let their personal feelings decide at every turn. Also, the main lead kept his secrets (and lies) for about 8 episodes too long. And the last episode of the show was one of the worst episodes I have ever seen. Somehow, our leading lady was suddenly a complete a-hole for no specific reason.
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That was better than I expected.
I loathed this series after the first episode. I gave is a 2 and dropped it and only reluctantly came back after friends insisted it got better. It did.My objection was the totally absurd treatment of drunkenness, and the fuzzy morality, with the writers trying to have it both ways. You can't get so drunk that you think a person is someone else. Maybe for a few moments, but certainly not after sleeping if off for several hours, and Vee having three beers in 2 hours is not sufficient to lower his inhibitions enough to do something awful, so that shot of his garbage can with empty beers in it didn't fly. So you have two choices: Either Mark knows it's Vee and wants to get laid to help him get over his pain, or Vee is a repugnant rapist and the whole series is appalling. Neither option works, so I gave up in disgust with the terrible writing.
So why do I give it a 9.5, you ask?
The thing is, because this is a remake, the production was stuck with the outline of the poor writing of the original. And I can't give it a 10, because the plot is so unoriginal and we've seen it so, so many times. But the execution of this story is so good in every way, and so much depth an nuance given to the story and characters, it's like having a piece of chocolate cake. You've had many, I'm sure. Some are dry, some are factory produced, some pretty good - but then you have a slice that is so perfectly made that you can never enjoy any other chocolate cake again.
That's sort of how this series is. It really, really needs to be the last story with this tired plot - it will never be done better than this, it's so overused that I, and probably many or most of you, groan when a preview shows anyone wearing a blue engineering shirt.
While this follows an established formula, it isn't just the usual shallow boy-meets-boy, boy-hates-boy, boy-gets with-boy, boy leaves boy for girlfriend, boy-hates-boy, boy-and-boy-live-happily-ever-after story.
First, Mark and Vee aren't 2D uke and seme characters. Mark (the uke) knows who he is, is totally comfortable with it, he's a jock with a ripped body, and he doesn't let himself be pushed around. Vee (the seme) is confused and indecisive, can't bear to be the bad guy to the point that his desire not to hurt anyone hurts everyone, and he's never in control of the situation, and seems to fail at everything.
Other than the first episode, the writing is complex and sensitive, never stuffs characters into the narrow boxes of stock archetypes. Mark isn't a useless uke, Vee isn't a brooding prince who will swoop in to take care of him, Vee's girfiend isn't evil or scheming, she's just weak, damaged, and needs the validation of a man desiring her, Nuea isn't a terrible person nor is he an alternate prince, he's just a smitten horny guy who crosses the line a little, and even Mark's father's true motivation is Mark's happiness despite his dickishness. His emoji in the last scene is hillarious.
The story contains one of the classic misunderstandings wherein one boy shows up somewhere just at the right time to see something he can misinterpret and, implausibly, no communication occurs to clear it up. But in this case the plot gives a sequence of events that leads to that moment that is logically constructed, and the timing is not at all coincidental, and while Mark misunderstands, Vee is not innocent - he let himself be put in a situation that he shouldn't have, and given their past, Mark's reaction and subsequent behavior is totally reasonable and relatable.
The dialog and writing are excellent, creative despite the unoriginal story, quirky, and provides us with suprises and unexpected resolutions, like the final family confrontation, where Vee's father is a true boss. The finale is lovely and romantic, and gives us a typical fairy-tale BL ending - and then there's the post-credit scene, for which you may need medication, possibly counseling. The typical uke-finding-a-public-sniff-kiss-to-the-cheek appalling routine starts, then heads in a direction so, so, SO far from where you'd expect that it manages to be hot, funny, and a little frightening all at once (War could [and should] play a truly terrifying villain).
The cinematography, all the editing, the music, is all thoughtful, beautifully excecuted, and all serve the story.
But what really seals the award for Best Execution of a Stale, Tired BL Plot is the acting. War (Mark) has always been good, but here he's SO good that he can make you feel eight different things with one look. Yin (Vee) was frankly a bit weak in the original series, at least compared to War, but here he's improved so much that he's able to hold his own. Vee's impulsive idiocy is funny, relatable, and believable.
If this had a better first episode, perhaps with a devastated Mark just callously grabbing Vee as the nearest male body to fill his... needs, this could have been a 10. But it's still one of the best BLs of all time and I don't hesitate to recommend it.
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I'll put a spoiler-masked-comment below to discuss my thoughts on the ending.
Since this one started I have been eagerly anticipating the next episode and they've been getting better (or worse, depending on your perspective...) at the cliffhangers throughout the show, the last few episodes have some serious "ARGH! NEXT! NEXT! NEXT!" endings, fortunately the show is complete and you can now hit next without the angst of waiting a week :)
I really enjoyed the portrayal of North Korea, and the interactions North and South. I appreciate some of these are going to be simplified, dramatised and possibly even flat wrong - but it did provide an effective contrast between the two nations I think and certainly sets you thinking. There was an interesting article posted on MDL which told more of a story about the real situation in North Korea and there was a lot to reflect on in the show, so it's worth reading that article if you haven't already. Education is the best cure for misunderstanding, after all.
There are some fantastic characters in this, from the village ladies in North Korea to the staff of Se-ri's Choice that hunt relentlessly to find Se-ri after she goes missing. I thought the substory with her step-mother was nice and while providing an insight into why Se-ri is the way she is at the start, provided a warmth later on that was also reflected in her character.
Hyun Bin was ... just.... outstanding, as always, as was Son Ye Jin. There are many really emotional scenes, happy, sad, crying you name it, and they pull them off beautifully.
Son Ji Hye plays the ML's North Korean fiancé, the last time I saw her in a drama was Black Knight - she played Sharon and it was a great performance there too.
Definitely recommended. Stop reading, and start watching, right this minute!
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If you want to watch it, do it !!!!
It was a masterpeice !!I really liked this drama and I will surely watch it again. From the music to the acting everything was a 10/10. All the characters were well played and were relevant to the story and the focus on the story of Jeong Jinman and his niece was well done and the end of each episode leaves you on your couch wanting more. The action scenes may be a little bit too violent for those who aren't at ease with this type of scene but they are very well done. This is the 1st time I watch a kdrama made by Disney + and Hulu and I think it was very well made . So, If you still haven't watched it, you should watch it and you will not regret it !
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This review may contain spoilers
Okay, I’ll be honest here. I loved Clean With Passion For Now and I was ready to give you many reasons why you should watch it. But that was until episode 13. After the 13th episode, I came to realize that this drama was nothing but a waste of time with some fluttering moments here and there. The best thing about CWPFN was the chemistry between the main leads. We had the best kiss scenes we could get. This is an unpopular opinion actually, but I like the main leads together. Yes, It was obvious that Yoo Jung was younger than Gyun Sang (and the fact that he is that huge does not help) but still, I think they suit each other.
But let me start with the negative things now. First, Yoo Jung’s character – Oh Sol. She was quite dumb in my opinion. I don’t know if she was poorly written or the writer wanted her to be like that for real. In any case, she wasn’t a likable female lead. She cried a lot and it was always her fault somehow. She always did something more or less wrong, and then feel bad about it. She was weak, but anyways, we are all like that sometimes.
Now, the plot… There’s not much about it though. The drama had a funny and sweet start, but couldn’t live up to its potential. There were too many useless things happening, too many pointless and boring characters appearing without leaving any impression on me. Clean With Passion For Now it’s that type of show in which you have to wait ages for the two mains (who obviously like each other) to confess their feelings and start a relationship. The second lead guy was sweet, but I didn't suffer from sls (gyun sang is the main lead, khm). But seriously, there were too many clichés and too much drama. Don't get me wrong, conflicts between the characters are what helps a drama develop, but in CWPFN they were kind of very poinltess and out of place. There were some ridiculous moments that made me laugh, but if you are really looking for a good comedy, then... this is not it.
The mysophobia is more like a subplot, I was intereted in it at the beginning... kind of. I don't know how realistic it was though, I'm not familiar enough with it so I can't say.
The acting was okay, I guess. I will always love Gyun Sang and the way he portrays his characters and I do love his chubby cheeks here. (I was really angry when I saw so many negative comments about his appearance). Kim Yoo Jung also did a good job.
The OST is what I loved the most! Give 'Cosmos' by Huh Gak a listen, you won't regret it!
So overall, I'm quite disappointed, I guess I expected too much. Clean With Passion For Now has a sweet romance, but nothing more. It's very drop-wrothy and you might want to skip a lot of scenes if you don't want to get bored. I don't really recommend it, but if you have nothing to watch, you can give it a try and see for yourself. At least it will make your heart flutter, at least once.
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1Screwed-up adults living in a screwed-up house
I'm probably going to get a lot of stick and downvotes on this review but I still want to share my dissatisfaction with this show.STORY (No spoilers)
This show is about 4 adults with various emotional and psychological problems living together and, as a result, messing each other up with their screwed-up-ness. And fair warning: there is sexual content in this show with issues of a sexual nature raised. If you're in the mood for a rather disturbing, ambiguous show with heavy sexual content but with no proper character progression or story development then this show is for you.
With 10 episodes at around 30 minutes each, this show has very limited time to address any of the deep, fractured emotional problems and psychology the characters have. Unfortunately, this ambitious undertaking falls far short of its mark because seriously, nothing really gets addressed. The show never really delved deep into the psychology of our screwed up characters, nor into their healing process. It's a glorified 'slice of life' show about dysfunctional people being dysfunctional with a sexual twist embedded, period.
I personally thought that this show could be really intriguing and even ground-breaking with the kind of issues it raised in the early episodes but was sorely disappointed with the lack of development, growth and progression of the characters as episode after episode went by. There was no effort made by the show to address any of the problems the characters were facing in a healthy and considerate way. These people need help - serious help - but the show doesn't tell you how to get it. This drama came across pointless and aimless and I have no idea what sort of message this show wanted to send but I was certainly getting nothing positive from it.
ACTING/ CAST
Serviceable. Nothing particularly outstanding because each character seemed to represent an extreme end of the spectrum of dysfunctionality.
I have to hand it to Masaki Nakao who plays the withdrawn and socially inept Hongyo though - the ability to deadpan some of what would be the most embarrassing lines under some of the craziest situations is noteworthy.
MUSIC
Nothing particularly outstanding or memorable.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I personally disliked the show. I have no problem with shows that introduce dysfunctional people who suffer from emotional, psychological and sexual problems but I do have an issue when a show does that without really addressing the problems it raised and simply lets its characters mess about with one another, stirring up pools of muddy water for the sake of entertainment.
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This review may contain spoilers
The sheer level of product placement in this drama is so high, you wonder if it is a drama about the products at times instead of a romance business drama which is a big turn off. It not only can take you out of the drama but there are so annoying about it in nearly every episode. If a gift is involved in any scene, you can bet there will be product placement. It was so abrasive that throughout this review you will be seeing [Insert Product Placement] to show you my frustration. This drama was interesting until it became a repeat game of "will they won't they", miscommunication and lack of trust. Pretty standard for romance dramas [Insert Product Placement] but it was done so much in an already freaking long drama that it became an issue of 'WHY the heck are you guys even together problem.' [Insert Product Placement]
The only reason the FL and ML are together is their PURE chemistry and light sensual tension. They are the sole reason I kept watching a drama that I would've normally [Insert Product Placement] dropped after a certain point. This drama could've saved time and money by just keeping [Insert Product Placement] the FL and ML the main focus while making the drama 12-14 episodes long. Everything else was either useless fillers or annoying. They were the best in the beginning half drama before annoying things got in their way. I suppose that is life, ain't it?
Other problems/peeves: FL is not competent enough at her job. She is "good but not good enough" lame excuse. Her fashion in the drama is an indicator that this chick plays it safe. I suppose she improves but whatever. She had so many problems coming at her it was ridiculous. ML is the classic [Insert Product Placement], "I ace everything but dealing with my teenage sister" type of gege/oppa. He has a setback, but again whatever. His losses aren't significant enough or last long enough for me to say much. Both Dilraba and Johnny act well in this. This was my first drama with Johnny Huang, so I was pleasantly happy because he was [Insert Product Placement] swoon worthy at times.
I enjoy the failures of the characters and the problems they have but I have no empathy for [Insert Product Placement] them since they repeat like crazy. Learn your lessons people! I mean the two females in this drama are legit spoiled brats who have been spoon fed way too many times for me to take them seriously. They never suffer severe losses even when it is claimed that they are/have which only proves their brat [Insert Product Placement] statuses.
The other couples were cute at the start but I became increasing frustrated with the Qin Qing when her boyfriend [Insert Product Placement] was legit the sweetest guy ever. You really get some annoying ass character later who you just wish would go away because they aren't interesting enough to stay in the story and it is just lame after a certain point.
I highly suggest everyone watch episodes 1-14ish and then just STOP. You legit don't need to go any further than that, nothing happens that doesn't reset it self to the status of those episodes. Save yourself time. [Insert Product Placement]
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I recommend this drama if you are trying to watch a high quality drama. Please thoroughly watch this and do not skim some parts cause ik y’all can be impatient sometimes. This drama will definitely make you laugh, cry, and learn *make sure you watch till the end of some episodes to know why you’ll “learn”* Also GIRL THE KISS SCENES YALLLL IF U WANTING SOME HIGH QUALITY CHINESE KISSING THEN WATCH THIS DRAMA THERE AINT NO “GUY KISSING A WALL” SCENES. Ok this my first review ever. Bye
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A masterpiece lost because of the haters
I don't know where to start lolFor me, it was a very wonderful drama, I enjoyed every moment while I watched it .. It was really a luxurious drama ..
I don't understand the reason for all the fuss about this drama as it was badly criticized! And the biggest reason for criticism was the large number of ads! Is this really a convincing reason! Is the story really badly complicated! For me, it is a distinct drama in that the story is written with a plot, and this is what distinguishes the writer, and also you must follow the episodes at every moment in order not to miss a new secret .. Really amazed me by the beauty of the story so that it was not just a fairy tale about love and revenge, but rather a well-written story ..
As for the ads, that did not bother me at all, because because of the large budget of the series, they had to compensate for that through advertisements, but the director tried to place ads in several ways, but they were very visible, but that's okay. This is not a convincing reason to hate the series ..
As for acting, the whole crew has excelled in acting. I really lived in the series hahaha
If you like special, luxurious and extraordinary series, follow this series. I promise you will not regret and Do not take the words of the critics into account .. Really, this series has been wronged by some of the haters ..
I fell in love with the series and the entire cast. It's a show for high-end minds only, not for the trivial ^^
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This review may contain spoilers
Kisses, Kisses and More Kisses
I liked everything about this drama. The ML (Li Ge Yang aka Shen Shi Yi) and the FL (Ke Ying aka Sheng Xia), what a great couple! You will thoroughly enjoy watching these two together.The story revolves around Sheng Xia who is a "kiss instructor" on dramas. She makes sure that when it comes to the kissing scenes that they are done right. It is the closest that she will get to her dream of becoming a star. As she is walking home a man stops her by just holding out a comic book to her. She takes it home and begins to leaf through it and is transferred into a "Mary Sue System" or virtual world of the comic book.
She does have an AI which is in the system called "Xiao Bai" that explains to her she entered the comic "She Runs, He Chases: The Fourth Prince's Beautiful, Young and Weak Wife" in which Sheng Xia was the female lead and Gu Yichen (First Prince) is her male lead. Being the female lead she is naturally immune to poison. She can cure all poisons in the world with a kiss. Xiao Bai tells her that her first kiss would have a binding effect. Her main task is to end up together with Gu Yichen, the male lead. After completing the task, she will then get a customized celebrity system which she will then enter the prime of her life. He then hands her a cell phone which has the "Mary Sue Store." This store she has to acquire her value coins which show up on her arm to be able to purchase items to do her task.
The system is based on dramatic and cliche plots, with love above all. To summon the system administrator, she has to snap her fingers and call Xiao Bai. To get out of the comic book she has to claim the male lead which in this case is the First Prince. But like the best laid plans there is always something that happens. As she was told by Xiao Bai her first kiss would have a binding effect, and she ends up kissing the villain, who is so fine, Shen Shi Yi. By her kissing him she changed the direction of the comic and inadvertently made the villain the male lead. Because these two were now bound together due to her kissing him and not the First Prince. Whenever Shen Shi Yi was poisoned, she would kiss him and take the poison out of him. In return, when Sheng Xia was in danger he would show up and save her.
Trust me, he had no problem kissing her all time. The first episode I swear he kissed her 4 times or more. But you could tell each time they were getting more intense with the kisses. You will be swooning for sure.
Xiao Bai does show up at various points to tell Sheng Xia that she has to keep the comic on track in order for her to return. She tries too but it is apparent that Shen Shi Yi is meant to be the male lead of the comic which does happen after the reboot. In order to do that, they both ended up dying but because it was a sacrifice of true love, they were allowed to do a reboot.
Prior to the reboot, Sheng Xia explained to Shen Shi Yi many things which made him understand that he was in a comic book world. But because of the reboot, Shen Shi Yi was now the male lead, and he was getting weaker from this reboot, she had to save him. As Xiao Bai told her in the beginning, she was to get together with the male lead and since Shen Shi Yi now was, she knew what she needed to do. She asks Shen Shi Yi to marry her, which he does. The next morning, she wakes up only to find Shen Shi Yi gone. She runs outside calling him and is sent back to the real world by the system. She completed her task.
Sheng Xia is totally devastated because she had found her one and true love and he was gone. She went back to the street where she encountered the man that had handed her the comic book and tried snapping her fingers to call Xiao Bai back, nothing. Crying endlessly on the street, you hear the footsteps of a man approaching and he says, "Respected user, the system has received the contents of your complaint. How can I be of service to you?" She turns around and yes, you know it is our man Shen Shi Yi. He says to her, "From now on you do not have to call Xiao Bai, anymore." They both are crying and yes, kissing like crazy! He told her he remembers what she said about him coming to her world and he said it took a lot of effort, but he was there for her.
In the very end, you see her waking up on a couch with a director and crew saying how good she was in her scene. Hence what Xiao Bai told her...she was now a female lead, celebrity in the prime of her life.
Again, good ending and it was just one of those rare gems that you just can sit back and binge watch in no time. Plus, the ML who I have seen in "Trick in Love" is definitely one man that is truly meant for historical dramas. With that flowing hair and looks you will thoroughly be caught up watching him. The FL, she is just cute as can be and she complimented the ML so well. I would like to see them in another drama together.
Truly one that you don't want to miss, get ready to swoon.
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This review may contain spoilers
That was disappointing...
First, there is a "dog" cafe without dogs... that's strange as hell.There is ONE dog in the whole show.
All Koreans understand Thai for some reason without translation devices or so it seems.
The story was soooo slow going in the beginning and then the ending was rushed. What did they wait for? Most of the inbetweens scenes did not much for the love story. The "traitor" was still in the final shot - I only thought WTF? There was a chance for an emotional outbreak for what he did, but nothing happend.
The production value was high, but for such a subpar story it was wasted.
The chemistry between the two leads was ok-ish, I guess a language barrier is not so easy to overcome. They still lacked passion and longing for each other.
All in all I could have skipped it and not miss a thing.
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A delight to watch!
I honestly didn't expect to enjoy this drama half as much as I did.I had no particular expectation for this drama, however, the more I watched, the more I grew to love the characters and simple yet intriguing plot. Each character is greatly fleshed-out, all having their own stories and secrets. With the ongoing question "what's going to happen next?" running through my mind, waiting a week for the following episode was surprisingly difficult.
The plot may seem cliché at first but it gets better as you continue watching. It's extremely well made with the beautiful cinematography and camera work, wonderful OST, great acting and interesting plot, everything is on point and just too good not to watch! Nothing feels rushed or jam packed, the story is unfolded well.
This is one of the many dramas in which I didn't skip a scene or part of an episode because they all seemed important or have a relevance to the story - I commonly find myself skipping unnecessary boring scenes a lot in other dramas so this was refreshing.
Needless to say, I really enjoyed watching Live On and totally recommend giving it a try!
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If you’re after an original and riveting crime plot, then Midnight Runners might not be your thing. In terms of the storyline, it’s pretty generic and you basically know exactly what’s going to happen from start to beginning. The strongpoint of this film was the chemistry between Park Seo Joon and Kang Ha Neul and how well this chemistry allowed for the perfect balance between great comedy and seriousness.
Whilst a light-hearted movie, it also delves slightly in the moral dilemmas that people who work in law enforcement face, there were definitely moments that made you feel helpless and sympathetic to the characters. However these conflicts were addressed well and once again, the humour within the movie does clean up and negative emotions you might feel whilst watching it.
This is definitely a pick-me-up movie, I can guarantee that after watching this most of you will walk away feeling happy inside.
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a unique masterpiece - brace for emotional damage
Overall: a vibrant glimpse into the ups and downs of teen love. 7 episodes about 55 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/kknyn3lik4?lang=en_us&sh_pltf=4Content Warnings: dub con kissing, non con video posting
What I Liked
- how a character's house looked like a typical house inside, and outside felt realistic
- being aware of a crush but not directly acting on it, the push and pull dynamic
- appreciated that instead of an exposition dump, the writer/s found a natural way to tell us what grade a main character was in
- the nail art was a clever way to show time passing (nail art growing out)
- the shifting viewpoints (some episodes were told from different characters' perspectives but they didn't re-hash plot that we've seen)
- good kissing
- happy that Bua decided to not change his looks for another person
- production value (cinematography, music)
Room For Improvement
- the very beginning made me think that it was filmed during lockdowns
- that bathroom shot in ep 1 was a choice
- though being on phones/social media a ton was realistic, I needed more face to face conversations in some of the episodes, it also dragged the plot at times
- did not feel as if 2 years had passed
- I wish it had been a bit more clear with two characters at the end
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T-This was just brilliant. I can't really explain it in any other way. D: The story was super touching, the music was super cute, the cast was adorable, the surprises kept on coming and I-I just loved it!
I can't really underline my favorite parts without spoiling, but the whole movie is just pure genius. It's really well thought through, and entertaining as well as it is just beautiful. It really touched me.
Recommended for EVERYONE at ALL AGES.
You have to be a robot not to love this movie.
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