Reviews

Problematic

This is the first (I think) and worst mental-illness/psychiatrists focused drama! It's common for the patient to crush over their psychiatrist and fall in love, because they are mentally unstable and vulnerable, but once the roles are flipped and the psychiatrist is the one imposing their feelings on the patient then there's a big problem at hand.

The first obvious problem is for a psychiatrist to fall in love with his patient. It would probably be less of a problem for a doctor in another field but not a psychiatrist, a professional dealing with mentally vulnerable people. With all that being said, I could easily turn a blind eye to the whole ordeal if the drama was comedic/light/romance and never took the serious and professional route, of which this drama tried so hard to go for. The second big problem, there was a blatant attempt to stir the narrative in that direction while disregarding any coherency at the same time. We can clearly see an example of that right from the beginning in episode 1 with everything happened with the cop incident.

This drama had nothing to offer other than a pretty cast. Anyway, they failed miserably in handling the concept and ended up producing a very poor product. A disgrace to real professional psychiatrists!

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If you watched Something In The Rain, they kinda have the same theme. Except that the protagonist here is a third party.
I really don't like Yumings character, his tactics make my blood boil. If you really want her then be fair. Adding Canyang and Minmin was a good choice to clearly show the double standards about age gap in relationships. FanXing's mother was a hypocrite. The reasonI stayed was the main couple and the sub couple's romantic scenes. They were compatible and mature looking?. It was nice but I won't rewatch the whole series. Maybe only the romantic scenes in YT I would replay.

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A drowning man will clutch at straws...

Director Ozu tackles The Depression head on in Tokyo Chorus with his lead character and the man's family. Though a silent film, this quiet slice of life speaks volumes for the economic devastation of the time. The story follows a happy-go-lucky worker in a light-hearted manner with an undercurrent of tragedy.

The film begins playfully at a college with the boys being led in a calisthenics drill with Okajima Shinji in the role of class clown much to the drill instructor's chagrin. Soon he is shown as being a dad of three children and working in an insurance office. It's the yearly bonus day and everyone is excited. His son has asked for a bike and Shinji has made a list of what he will buy for his family. As everyone is celebrating bonus day, an older colleague is fired just before retiring and garnering his pension. Shinji stands up for him and is fired, too.

His son throws a fit when his father doesn't come home with a bike and his wife scolds him for not keeping his word. She soon realizes what has happened and comes around and is supportive. This is a pleasant pattern throughout the movie. When the little family is faced with setbacks and challenges, they let themselves hurt for a minute and then do what needs to be done.

Shinji is thrown into the world of the unemployed, the Toyko Chorus, which is substantial, even for a college-educated man with good work experience. Jobs are either not available or he's deemed over-qualified. When the family suffers a mishap, their dire situation is made clear. Shinji takes a job handing out restaurant flyers for his old professor/drill instructor. His wife sees him and is devastated that others will know they have lost their social standing.

Aside from showing the effects of a tragically high unemployment rate, Ozu excels in bringing this family unit to life. The children bicker and throw tantrums like children do, even if the son could be a bit much at times. His wife, Tsuma, may suffer a brief moment of tears or despair but then faces reality and refuses to let her children or husband down by wallowing in them. Shinji's fun-loving smile is often present though watching him closely you see the cracks in his effervescent personality. He's a man willing to suffer a blow to his honor to protect and provide for his family. One poignant scene portrayed this perfectly. After Tsuma's kimonos had to be sold, the family is playing a game on the floor. The children are unaware of the financial and emotional situation assailing their parents and laughing and singing. The parents join in the game initially downcast but let the joyful moment overtake them and bond together.

This film is in dire need of someone lovingly restoring it. Much of it was faded or had salt and pepper pock marks. Though I have seen films in much worse shape from only the 1970's. The music was jaunty and carried the story along, even when not much was going on. Once fully immersed, spoken dialogue wasn't missed much. The actors perfectly portrayed their feelings without resorting to hamminess to show the meaning behind their actions.

In many ways, the film comes full circle at the end, with a wiser, sadder Shinji. This film is not perfect. The first half felt slow to me, barely making any progress. And then like a flower opening we see more sides to the characters as they work together believing things will get better. It was the love of this family that I enjoyed the most about this film. Tokyo Chorus was a sweet film of perseverance never letting itself be swallowed by melodrama. Ozu rarely disappoints, and for me, he didn't with this film either.

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A Wholesome Drama

I was looking for some wholesome shows to watch, and I'm glad I tried this drama. My heart was undoubtedly filled with peace after finishing it. But I sobbed a lot while watching it. When everything in the protagonist's life begins to go wrong, the story shows how she manages to survive. Each character was well-written, and it is abundantly evident that each one has unique challenges in life and finds a way to overcome them. It appears to be a light watch however, the plot includes something unexpected that makes it more engaging. Overall, it's a decent slice of life story that emphasizes family, friendship with a dash of romance. This excellently written and acted drama will clear your thoughts for a while that's for sure!

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a truly beautiful piece

winter begonia is a drama that will put a spell on you and take you to wonderful, heart-wrenching stories about family and friendships.

what i love about this drama is that it doesn't just pull you to look at certain characters. there are complexities to each character and even though one may be an antagonist, you can't help but feel the slightest pity for them.

shang xirui and cheng fengtai. i was absolutely stunned with how strong the bond of these two are.

cheng fengtai:
such love and care was evident and i can nOT for the life of me figure out how well composed cheng fengtai appeared to be at the most chaotic moments yet he still approached shang xirui in a calm manner. (i could never ooF) cheng fengtai did have moments where he snapped but he was still able to get back on track and i just freaking admire the heck out of this dude.

shang xirui:
wow oh wow this guy. yes, he may appear to be a nutcase and immature but oH damn he reALLY really really values his friends and people around him. he's willing to go to hell and bacK just to see cheng fengtai, people from shuiyin house and anyone he sees vulnerable and in need of help safe and sound.

the ending may be ambigious but i like to think that if they were to meet again, the bond they had will continue to strengthen. perhaps... they're busy together making opera movies in hong kong? *sobs*

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An Average drama with a focus on Friendship, Adventure and Growth (not romance).

Heard some good things about this Sword and Fairy 4, compared to the Xu Kai version. This drama has a strong focus on different types of relationships through the adventures of the leads. I think this is a pretty decent drama with average acting, average production value and average quality. Nothing stands out that I love big time, nor anything that annoys the heck out of me.


Friendships/Relationships
The friendship and strong bond between the 4 main characters, Yun Tian He (ML), Han Ling Sha (FL), Murong Zi Ying (2ML) and Liu Meng Li (2FL) is the focus and the strength of the drama. It’s lovely to watch a period drama where these friends genuinely care and like each other from beginning to the end. It’s a relief to see no backstabbing 2FL or psychotic 2ML. The characters are very likable and they support and trust each other. Aside from the main four, I really enjoy the friendship between Yuan Tian He and Xuan Xiao. It’s a complicated friendship/brotherhood, but is also very interesting. I always look forward to their scenes together. I also want more scenes between adult ML and his father, played by the handsome and sexy Baron Chen.

Adventure/Plot
A very simple plot for a xianxia drama and not too complicated to follow. The drama is well-paced, but also feels like there are certain storylines could have been explored more. You always have the supposedly good sect versus the supposedly bad sect. If you watch enough xianxias, you know the good people are always the bad ones.


Romance
If you are not a big fan of romance but a big fan of adventure and friendship, then this is the perfect drama for you. The romance storylines are kept to a minimum. In fact, I am quite dissatisfied. I enjoy the banter and fun relationship between ML and FL in the early episodes. I like how it’s not love-at-first sight, but a slow growing affection for each other and a realization of feelings. However, there aren’t that many romantic, emotional, and heartfelt moments between the leads. They do get hurt and try to save each other MANY times throughout the drama. But I miss some of the more quiet and deep moments. Instead, it seems like FL and 2ML actually have more one-to-one heartfelt conversations. The chemistry is OK and the leads look good together. I also wanted more flashbacks of the romance between ML’s parents and Xuan Xiao.

Acting
Overall the acting of the four main leads are OK. I thought I might get more annoyed by Ju Jing Yi but she ended up being fine. I haven’t seen Mao Zi Jun in a while and I miss him. However, his acting isn’t as good as I remember him in “Killer and Healer” or “Marvelous Women”. Chen Zhe Yuan with the main role meets my expectations. He reminded me a little of his character in “Handsome Siblings” but in this drama, he definitely did better with the more emotional scenes. Mao Xiao Hui did fine as well as the 2FL. My favorite character is Wang Duo’s double role as Xuan Xiao/Xuan Ying. I love gray characters and playing two characters allows him to flex his acting chops. I remember really liking him in “Bloody Romance” where he played another gray character. I love his styling in the later episodes. But honestly, the scene stealer is the veteran actress Wang Yuan Ke as the leader of the Sect.

Production Value
If I have to say one thing I really dislike about this drama, is the dubbing. All of the actors' voices are dubbed and they pick the most annoying voices for the two female leads. The guy who dubbed Xuan Xiao always seems to be whispering instead of speaking at a normal volume. The dubbing is very disappointing to me. The CGI of the fight scenes and the monsters are OK. They are not horrible and not bad. The fight choreography is not praise-worthy. In fact, I find the fight scenes quite flimsy as if the actors are not using much strength when fighting and just mindlessly swing their swords. Costumes, hair, makeup, sets and props are of inconsistent quality. Some beautiful and nice-looking ones and then a few episodes later, they look like cheap quality.


If you read my review all the way to this part, you will not be surprised to see that I am summing this up as… a very average and OK drama. I would not recommend this if you are looking for romance (cute, fluffy, or angst). But if you want a simple adventure with a group of great friends and likable characters, then this can be an easy watch. Even the ‘evil’ characters are not that bad. However, if you have limited time, then this is not a xianxia I would waste my time on.


Completed: 3/8/2024 - Review #414

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Out of the Doctor X series, this third season has to be my favorite! I know I rated everything the same, but I seriously enjoyed this drama the best.

First of all, I absolutely loved the integration of season 1 and season 2 characters. I especially loved how Kaji made it back to the main hospital (ttly shipped him and Daimon in season 1), and I love the continuing joke of Daimon not remembering Hara (also from season 1). I LOVED THE ADDITION OF THE NURSES! Thts one of the things the first 2 seasons were missing. I'm so glad Doctor X 3 emphasized on their importance and role in the hospital. I loved tht the main guy in charge this season, President Tendo, understood Daimon and actually appreciated her skill as a doctor. There was much less of people trying to block Daimon from performing surgeries. And the other doctors seemed to be learning to appreciate Daimon's skills, and instead of fighting against her, trying to learn from her. I love tht we learn what Akira is doing with all tht money he seems to be taking from Daimon. And this season's surgeries and patients are even more cool.

Although the storyline is almost the same, I think it's more enjoyable. The only thing I thought this drama could've done without was the last minute. It was weird and just ttly unnecessary. Anyways, I really hope tht there will be a fourth season.

As I've stated about the previous two seasons, this one is also ttly marathon-worthy. It's just a really good watch and an enjoyable drama.

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"Don't ever bite your own tail again!"

Hard Boiled was John Woo’s death filled cops and gun-runners ode to action films. A completely over the top, unrealistic, thrill a minute bloody carnival ride.

Officer Tequila Yuen is determined to bring down the Triads running guns that caused the death of his partner. A loose cannon who doesn’t play by the rules, he ignores his boss’ warning about staying off the case. It’s not long before he runs into Alan, an origami making Triad assassin. He deduces Alan’s secret and the two reluctantly work together to bring down the deranged Johnny Wong’s gang.

What I liked:
What’s not to like about a Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung Chiu Wai pairing? The screen could barely hold their bromantic charisma. I could watch these two in about anything. Phillip Kwok (Lizard Venom) as Mad Dog was right up my kung fu movie loving heart. Lo Meng (Toad Venom) made a brief appearance before he like hundreds of others-died. Kwok was also the action choreographer. Stuntmen flew through windows and fell off buildings, and with all of the bullets hitting and grenades exploding they rolled and were flung about the sets continuously. Chow Yun Fat’s signature move of diving through or over something with both barrels blazing was used several times. Bruce Law was the guy often called for car stunts and there were cars and motorcycles flying, flipping, and exploding everywhere. The stakes were high with hundreds of civilians and a nursery full of new born babies to worry about. Will someone please think of the children!

What I didn’t care for:
It was almost like John Woo wondered how many senseless deaths he could get away with. The gruesome deaths of innocents fleeing a hospital were disturbing in particular and also all the friendly fire deaths. One friendly death was caused because Tequila couldn’t stop taunting Alan instead of guarding the person relying on him for survival! I knew some film nerd would count the casualties for me-thank you Collider!: The body count for Hard Boiled was 305. Honestly, after the first 100 deaths it became monotonous watching the bad guys mow people down with automatic weapons or with RPG fire. Some of the fire fight casualties were funny. I understand a bullet can go through two as easy as one, but not when the people are standing side by side! It's apparent that the carnage had gotten out of hand when the bad guy named Mad Dog complained about the overkill.

While many people enjoyed the reckless slaughter of the masses, it didn’t work for me. I would have rated this film much higher if Woo had showed a modicum of restraint instead of characters gleefully gunning down anyone moving. Despite having some cute babies in the film to lighten things up, Hard Boiled was the kind of relentless gun porn that might have the average viewer wanting to take the dream trip to Antarctica that was talked about in the film. A place where there was always light after living with so much darkness. *

20 March 2024

*(Scientific quibble-Antarctica has light for six months out of the year, it’s dark the other six)

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Representation Matters

Call It What You Want was an inspiring BL that draws attention to the behind-the-scenes world of Boy's Love. While it wasn't very long and there were only a handful of episodes, we as the audience were still able to see and understand the severity of sexual abuse/assault in the entertainment industry and the dire circumstances that actors are placed under in order to be the "perfect".

Let's Dive In.

Now, once again, I forgot to actually focus on the music so I gave it its regular score of three stars cause I'm sure it was decent (and I'm too lazy to go back and listen). Production-wise it was alright. To me, it looked like they weren't given much of a budget, and at times it looked cheap. For example, the CGI in the car. Awful. Instead of paying attention to the conversations they were having, I was instead paying more close attention as to how bad it looked. Plot-wise, it was very hard to get into for the first three episodes, but after that, I started to really get into it. I had to push my way through the first half just because it was super slow and boring, but we actually get into the juicier parts in about episode 4.

Let move onto the characters. It took me a while to really enjoy James. The actor himself wasn't bad, but his character himself was very flat and not interesting. This is the first time (weirdly) that I've seen a Thai BL where the main character has long hair. At times I loved it, but at other times, it threw me off and he sometimes looked like a creep. Obviously, this part is just an opinion, but I wanted him to groom it better or to just cut it shorter. Ait to me came off super creepy in the beginning. The way he would stare at James was disturbing. Turns out they knew each other before then, but still his actions and words were way out of line. Closer to the end he got better, but I wished his character would've been more subtle about his feelings. Bas was by far the best character. At first, I wasn't sure what was going on with him. I thought that he was going to go through being closeted, but then I thought he was going to come out and say that he was suicidal, and then I thought that maybe he liked Ait and was jealous of James. A lot of things were leading up to these individual things, but when it came down to the real news, I was heartbroken. To hear him speaking to Ait about his situation killed me. I applaud the actor heavily on his portrayal of being a victim. We never really got to see Kaprao, played by the same actor from the 2 moons 2 franchise (Park). He was in it for like a few seconds on the last episode but that's it. It was mentioned plenty of times throughout the series, but I still would've liked to see him more.

I wasn't a huge fan of James and Ait. They felt really rushed, which is surprising seeing as they approached the question of why in BLs do they always fall in love so quickly, but it's hypocritical since they do the exact same thing (granted, more time probably passed by). They didn't really have many moments together, but for the later parts of the show, it got better. I'm more interested in the situation happening with Bas and Marco, and I'm excited to see what they do with that come season 2. I loved that Marco was there to listen to Bas and to also make him feel better. It was a nice touch on the creator's part to have most of episode 6 focus on Bas. I loved seeing his story.

This series called out on a lot of the bullshit that some BL series go through. From them forcing Bas to get botox done, to them making him eat just a little to no food, and even from them making both Ait and Bas not have access to their phones. It's sad to see that this is the reality for some actors. as well as being assaulted by the people in a higher power, and forced to do things that they weren't wanting to do. It was even sadder when you find out that this show was made after true events. I hear that it was particularly made after the 2 Moons 2 cast, but I'm not certain. If anything, this was made about something that actually happened, and I hope that whoever it was, they got justice.

Call It What You Want wasn't the best BL ever, but it did draw attention to some very important topics that I'm glad others are able to see and understand. Don't ship actors, let them have a love life outside of the show, and allow for them to be happy and do what they want. I recommend this watch to anyone willing to see the horrid stuff that goes on in BL.

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Super Man is worth to watch

Super man is comedy mini series, but in different perspectives. It's about what happened in our society right now. Not many want, help someone without any benefits. Maen teach us helped people as much as you can.

Also about people who believe whatever someone's post on social media without knowing the true story about it. People should changed their mindset.

It also talked about how journalist should acted when cover their stories. Don't added wrong information because want your story became popular only.

I also love how this mini series show about Maen's family, friend and his interest on love.

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Abrupt ending

I liked the ML and the FL a lot in this and was enjoying the story which seemed to be well put together and I looked forward to the episode updates, but after watching the final episode I am rather disappointed. UNLESS there is a S2? Because the end was so abrupt. if there is a S2 I will increase my current rating.

FL falls down a cliff and time travels to the past where she meets a handsome stranger. They end up getting caught by some bandits and FL proves her resourcefulness and they are let go. The second ML is the son of a rich merchant and sets up the FL with her own restaurant. The ML is caught up in political intrigue etc. The food looks good in it, but as I said if there is not a S2 coming then the ending made me annoyed.

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I've seen other Thai dramas with shorter 5-8 episode formats, but I guess this would be my first lakorn. I normally don't watch anything with episodes beyond over an hour, and this was one exception I won't ever regret.
The interweave of history, fantasy and realism is amazing. The chemistry between the main leads is superb... I enjoyed the cheesiness (I usually enjoy cheesiness, too). I love how it gets serious one minute and hilarious in the next, and how our time traveler navigates her new world in the best way possible- " what happens, will happen".
Watch it. I'm sure you will enjoy it as well.

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My heart fluttered... and it was nice

This is a story about the humans behind the idols and trainees. The secrets, the pain, the struggles... the evil media, evil ceo and of course the evil fans who seem to forget that idols are humans too... But most of all this is a story about friendship, falling in love and moving on... With lots and lots of pretty faces, music and shiny stuff... With more or less predictable twist and though there is a lot of shiny stuff things are not always so bright...

I admit it I am a huge sucker for this type of dramas, and have had the male lead in this on my crush list for quite a while... the female lead was pretty decent but nothing wowed me about her... though she did have her moments the over all impression was good enough... however her group mate Yu Ri Ah and the at times slightly evil second female lead La Ri Ma stole my heart... and well so did the boys groups such sweethearts the whole bunch...

It was a lot of fun to watch the main couples way to becoming a couple and try to figure things out.It was especially fun to watch the male leads shift from ice cold to completely obsessed to cold as ice in the same scene... As well as the way he looked at anything that had to do with the male lead with melting eyes... she on the other hand was not as easy to read as the guy... However once they did they became kind of meeh...

What never became a meeh was the interactions between the group members, as well as the other couples... they were all lovely.

There are very few annoying elements in this drama, but there is some cringe that should make me take away stars but my new found crush on half the cast kind of made up for those parts. So Is this drama actually worth 9,5 stars... probably not, but it is highly bingable, highly entertaining and just my cup of coffee...

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From the first episode , I was hook towards this drama . Both the mc pairing was so beautiful . They are truly adorable and chemistry was on on point .
The school and college episode was the best but after that the story started boring . The last few episodes was not what I was expected . I really wanted to see their wedding . I really like that mc are capable and independent . Specially fl is not clumsy and dumb like in other drama and that is a plus point of this drama.
The second couple story was very bad . I think writer should develop second leads story as well .

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