Reviews

Cha Seung Won!! Shall I end here?!

This is a total different performance of him; every performance is totally different though.

Talk of the type of teachers I hate the most transforming in my most respected type! Talk of honesty and pure intentions winning over people's hearts!! Talk of adorable kids and a teacher who shut himself off but those children broke his defenses!! Talk of my 2-year experience in teaching elementary students!! That's the film..

I cried buckets; I just couldn't. I don't know if it's because of Cha Seung Won, being a teacher or the greatness of the film but I was so touched.

The song the kids sing at the end of the film then the ending track are so emotive. A must watch film!!

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This show is a bit all over the place. Questionable editing, awful music and far to many of the ‘comedy’ sound effects and the plot? - well the it completely lost the plot. It kept cutting to black for a second - what was that all about? Worst of all is when they show the same shot from 3 or 4 different angles. It’s annoying and an obvious time filler. This show could easily have been 10 episodes and cut all the crap out.

Up until episode 9 the show was haphazard but enjoyable. Then Fighter and Tutor go to the beach, and yes the sex scene is very hot, but the rest... I thought they would never leave the beach! Zon and Saifah don’t make an appearance for nearly two episodes. Episode 10 was so boring I almost turned the whole thing off never to return.

There were just so many loose ends. I liked Hwahwa, but she lost her way half way through and got over Fighter in five seconds flat as soon as Day batted his eyes lashes at her making her seem completely shallow. I liked the idea of her and Pete’s friendship and would’ve liked more back story there.

I found all four of the main boys quite engaging. Saint is the only actor I’ve seen before and he was so much better in this that in Love By Chance, probably because his LBC character was a Mary-Sue. In this show his character had a lot more depth, though they needed to build on that more I think e.g. his family are broke but his mother still had enough cash to buy him a condo - you don’t just go around buying your kids condos if you’re bankrupt and having to work off your debts as a cleaner or whatever it was she was doing! Fighter won my heart in this one - and although it’s cheesy, all the shots of him taking off his shirt find no complain from me... very nice happy trail! The chemistry between Fighter and Tutor is sizzling.

The second couple, Zon and Saifah were cute and both very pretty - but I didn’t feel much chemistry and it all seemed a bit awkward. The whole idea that Zon had fallen into a BL novel didn’t work as they didn’t use it enough, which is a shame as it couldn’t been a more unique twist on the genre.

I can’t leave this review (or is it just a rant, idk) without mentioning my disappointment at the lack of development of some of the side characters. Japan and thingy were totally forgettable but let’s talk about little Blue... and Dew... and Champ. Totally being lined up for a three-way/love triangle? All we got was Blue inviting Dew into his house with a really naff ‘oh yeah’ sound effect. What the heck? Champ clearly had the hots for Blue as did Dew and the three of the together... Does a threeway relationship overstep the Thai BL boundaries? Maybe. Still. I’m annoyed the whole thing fizzled to nothing. Why bother with the side romances if they are just going to be unsatisfying filler?

My rewatch value for this show is almost nothing. Since I discovered this genre I’ve rewatched SOTUS many times, and I can’t stop watching 2Gether as it’s like comfort food, but there’s nothing about this show that would make me watch again other than Zee/Fighter taking off his shirt and I am sure I could find a compilation of that on YouTube. It’s definitely worth watching the one time though, you can always cook your dinner while episode 10 stutters along!

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This drama was around by the time I started watching dramas and many of my friends started with this one. I always had it in my "to watch" list and recently, I decided to give it a go. I don't know what took me so long.

I always thought, from afar, that GTO and this one were the classics in the whole "unlikely teacher taking care of a complicated group of students" trope in dramas, and I can appreciate, while watching it 13 years later (wow) that a lot of today's dramas owe to Gokusen.

The story is entretaining and can, at times, be as cheesy as you'd imagine, but it has heart and it's well portrayed. It was very good (and kind of adorable) to see baby Matsujun, Oguri Shun, Matsuyama Kenichi, Narimiya Hiroki and others of their generation and realize how much they've grown as actors. But the soul of the drama is definitely Nakama Yukie and her performance as Yankumi. I loved her character and the way she was portrayed, more than I liked many other teachers in other dramas with the same trope.

That being said, you need to know that there's going to be clichés, there's going to be cheesy scenes and there's going to be conflicts of one episode that get resolved in the same episode, as opposed to a cointinuing storyline; so if all that's not your cup of tea, this may not be the drama for you. But if you like school dramas with a problematic group of students and an unlikely teacher (in this case, a Yakuza heir with a very fun personality), then you need to watch this one.

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What a beautiful mess!

I started watching this show out of zero expectation for anything light-hearted, knowing that it's a melodramatic, most likely dark and controversial like "Secret love affair". It didn't disappoint! The acting was superb and the characters were complex and three-dimensional. It's not a story for the faint of heart. It requires maturity and appreciation for the inherently flawed beauty of the human condition. If you're looking for a light-hearted, superficial idealistic love story in this drama, move on and watch another one. This drama isn't so much for entertaining purposes as it is to stir up the depth of emotions in the inherently flawed nature of human experience. All the characters have strengths and weaknesses, internal conflicts which they struggle to resolve throughout the drama. The whole story is full of internal angst and strife, which makes one wonder how much self-torture they can persist to continue doing to themselves and others. Yet in some way they are all relatable as human beings.

The story moves very slowly yet very quickly at the same time. It is as if their emotions are capsulized yet have endured changes of time as well. The forbidden romance of a teenage boy turns into the self-torture and self-sacrifice of a man who continues his path of redemption when he doesn't need one.

Maybe because I'm a Westerner and too open-minded for kdrama but I didn't see anything wrong with Hwan's love for his school teacher and subsequently sister-in-law. The fact that he had so much self-restraint to sacrifice everything for her and his family is as pure and idealized as you can get from any character (in some ways, this is probably the most unrealistic part of the story). The flawed and selfish love of the other characters in the story stands in contrast to Hwan's sacrifice and purity, yet his love for her and his family seems most unpure because of society's superficial moral judgments. If anything is sacrificed in this love story, it is the purity of love in the name of moral values, when all those acting as if moral were all out for themselves. Ye Ji's mother is branded the same way when everything she did was in the name of love and self-sacrifice.

This drama is a mess. It's a beautiful mess that challenges the dominant narrative of society's superficial surface relationships and dwells into the complexity of being human: inherently selfish, flawed and capable of immense beauty and selflessness as the same time.

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Helpless God.

I had such high hopes for this drama. It started with much promise and interesting storyline but fizzled out before reaching half way. A woman with terminal diagnosis granted one wish and a supernatural being who doesn't care for the frail and selfish humanity.

Its supposed to have a touch of melodrama but it never got me pulled into the emotions. I didn't cry even once and I tend to be a water tap. Why? because the FL was lovely and adorable and did not convey the devastation well. The ML was like a blunted knife when he could be so much cooler and ruthless.

The story line was so flimsy on the premise of one wish and kept on going in circles with no plausibility of the anguish. The God was such a helpless creature that good luck to the rest of the poor world when she was unsure of what the fate of two people will turn out to be.

I got more invested in the second lead story line. They were gorgeous. I have always like the second ML so much and wondered why he didn't get better roles. This was good opportunity for him to shine. Alas the poor kissing at his part. I really hope he gets a better role and is able to widen his acting range.

This was the only recent drama that I watched as it was airing. I forgot when new episodes would come out near the end.

So underwhelming and loss of a great opportunity.

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You can avoid trouble, but you can't avoid fate

Another telling of a Monkey King tale, this time 500 years after the fall of the gods. Wu Kong has been reincarnated into a human form still carrying the revered Bodhi Buddha Relic he swallowed in his monkey incarnation. Be forewarned, Return of Wu Kong is a low budget, poorly told and poorly acted story.

Wu Kong, in the form of Shi Sheng, a wanderer who follows his overzealous demon hunting master has no idea of his former life. When the two run afoul of the god Du'er on their way to delivering the relic to the Great Leiyin Temple, Shi Sheng finds himself alone. Shi doesn't know what he is carrying but his diminutive master did. An old traveling companion, Sha Wujing comes to his aid aware he is Wu Kong. He picks up a female demon named Xiao He along the way. A blind Bodhi gives him half of the Monkey King's golden cudgel telling him he needs to find the other half for his memories to return.

Shi Sheng and Sha decide to help some villagers after the sand demons kidnapped a child for their even supper. That story gets set aside when they run into Pigsy, now called Zhu Wuchang. He runs the town where all the fallen gods live as well as the residence of the other half of the golden stick.

If the story to this point wasn't convoluted enough, the writer's said, "hold my beer". I won't spoil anything more, but the story was already messy and turned into a dumpster fire as it went along.

The lack of quality fight choreography showed. Most fight scenes were filmed close up, cut off, blurred and edited with a hacksaw. Or the fights were covered over completely by taking place behind curtains or other items or completely chopped off showing only the results.

This film was obviously low budget. The sets, costumes, and CGI were rudimentary at best. It was at its best when filmed out on the photogenic sand dunes.

Most of the actors were adequate. Louis Fan was the most accomplished actor out of the bunch. He Lan Dou, the actress playing Xiao He, mugged a lot for the camera and it didn't help that her character was written to be either cute or annoying. Most of the characters were vastly underwritten to the point of being akin to photos pinned to a bulletin board.

By the time the final showdown arrived to save the world, I was ready to be put out of my misery. The ending was just as underdeveloped, maybe more so, than the rest of the movie. If you are a Louis Fan fan or a Monkey King completionist, it is watchable-barely. If you've never watched any version of Journey Into the West or any Monkey King movies, this would not be a good one to start with as the makers assumed the viewers would be familiar with the story and glossed over important information. Thankfully, the movie is only 85 minutes long. As the blind sage said, you can avoid trouble but you can't avoid fate, however, you can avoid this movie.

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one of the worst kdramas i‘ve ever watched

I had no expectations, since I knew about the ending and all. Still watched it to form my own opinion. On TikTok I often heard people saying „it’s realistic, that’s why you don’t like it..“ etc. Maybe it is realistic, but I‘m not watching Dramas to see reality. The toxicity… just ew. Nabis and Jaeons encounter, just no. The scene where she started smoking- you could clearly see that nabi was under his spell. Wanted to drop it so much, i still finished it… wasted 10 hours I‘ll never get back. The supporting couples were more interesting to watch then the main couple. The second lead was the better option for na-bi, but yet she still chose jae-on. She chose toxicity, after getting out of a toxic relationship?? Story was repeating itself. No rewatching value. Well after all, wouldn’t recommend it.

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"War is hell"

Children of Hiroshima was made seven years after the bombing of Hiroshima, when the wounds were still fresh and the horror still a recent memory. The film showed a scarred city rebuilding, but rubble, blown-out buildings and stripped trees were a visible reminder of the terror that took place on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m. Into this setting four years after the blast, Takako, a kindergarten teacher, visits her family's grave and seeks out the three surviving students from her old class.

Takako escorts the audience on a tour of Hiroshima and her reunions give us a glimpse into the different ways people suffered after surviving the blast. She looks up the only three children still alive from her class four years ago. One child shines shoes to help his family, his mother works on a building while his father lies dying from radiation poisoning. A little girl saved by a priest during the bombing, lives in the church but has fallen ill with radiation poisoning. The last child is likely the luckiest. His parents were killed but he still has two older brothers and an older sister. After five years of waiting, the sister whose leg was badly damaged when she had been trapped under rubble is about to be married. Takako's teaching friend is sterile, yet opens her heart and helps other women have babies. And an old family friend, blinded and deeply scarred is reduced to begging on the street and resides in a shack outside of town. His grandson lives in an orphanage, one among many such children.

The story could feel manipulative at times, especially when Takako intruded into private family moments as if only through her eyes could the audience witness the other's misery. While I loved Ifukube Akira's Godzilla scores, his music here was heavy handed as if attempting to elicit an emotional response and felt out of place. I recognized his ponderous marches immediately.
The anti-war theme while important and still timely was bluntly reinforced with each succeeding encounter.

Director Shindo judiciously left out the debates over why the war was started, how many innocents suffered under the Japanese war hammer, and whether the bomb(s) should have even been dropped. I will follow his lead in those matters. But undeniably by showing the cost to people's lives, and the long road to healing, he did give ample examples of why "war is hell" and "the greatest evil". Perhaps not for the Japanese, but for people around the world, this film may have been the first time they'd seen the damage done in Hiroshima not only to the city but to the people. Both Shindo and actress Otowa Nobuko were from Hiroshima, making this film more personal for themselves. As he did with some of the people Takako came across, he also revealed hope for the future, a resilient and generous people, and life beginning anew out of the ruins.

In 1952, the occupation of Japan had just ended and the people were still reeling and learning how to cope and heal from a national tragedy along with post-war self-reflections. A variety of emotions played out in Children of Hiroshima-grief, resentment, hope, love, fear, and anger. When Takako heard a single plane flying above, the memory of the fateful day was triggered, a day with all the normal things people do under a clear blue sky, until a new horror was unleashed upon them. War is hell and the greatest cost is always for the innocents who pay the price.

7/27/23

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"Goryeo is more resilient than we thought"

I had been looking forward to watching the historical Korea-Khitan War as it wasn’t a fantasy or focused on the romantic involvements of the king or other characters. I ended up having mixed reactions to the varied approaches to history and the different levels of acting abilities.

Goryeo was dealing with its larger and more aggressive neighbor, the Liao Empire run by the Khitans. There had already been one invasion by the Khitans which had been repelled but led to concessions on both sides. After a coup, Gang Jo has the teenager Hyun Jong coronated king. The Khitans use the coup as justification for another invasion and for the people of Goryeo and their new king it won’t be the last.

When the drama focused on the historical events of the invasions, I found it quite compelling. This small country stood its ground and used every trick and resource it could to repel the invaders. I became deeply invested in characters like Kang Kam Chan, Yang Kyu, Kim Sook Heung, Ji Chae Mun, and even the Khitan general Xiao Pai Ya. Goryeo not only dealt with the enemy across the border but the enemy within, as traitors opened their gates to the invaders or planned to cooperate with the Khitans. After the Khitans were successfully repelled the second time, the drama lapsed into internal conflicts for around 14 episodes that apparently were not based in historical evidence which I found disappointing. When they once again faced the Khitans, more prepared for their familiar enemy, the drama picked back up for me.

The battle scenes required an understanding that with a limited budget, armies of over 100,000 troops were going to be represented by two dozen people. Battle fields that should have been hip deep in bodies and blood were suddenly washed clean with no one there. For the most part when they showed the fighting up close and the stakes involved it was easier to buy in. The battle at Heunghwajin was done quite well. I was hoping to see the damming of the river battle in the third invasion, but that was likely beyond their budget.

Some of the acting was quite good. Choi Soo Jong as the rigid and canny Kang Kam Chan gave a brilliant performance. Ji Seung Hyun as Yang Kyu was quite believable as the determined warrior who could adapt and improvise on the battlefield. The deep voiced Kim Tae Han as Xiao Pai Ya provided the perfect foil for Kang Kam Chan. There were some limited performances by many other characters that often pulled me out of the moment. The drama focused much of its attention on the saintly, emotional king, but I found him to be one of the least interesting characters and performances. The amateurish camera pans of obvious reaction shots of people being wide-eyed, open-mouthed shocked in the court were overused. The villains, Emperor Shengzong of Liao and Park Jin of Chungju, were overacted and did everything but twirl their mustaches to let you know how evil they were.

When Korea-Khitan War focused on the war, it was engrossing to see how the Goryeo army was going to outfox and outfight the larger armies of the Khitans. When it lapsed into endless political jockeying and arguments, focusing on less compelling characters and actors, it lost some steam and historical integrity.

20 May 2024

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Save 6 hours to watch this!

I will keep this short.
Netflix or not i don't care!That one was a great mini-series.6 hours well spent.I watched it in one sit.Just finished.

Decided to start it because it is based on a true story.That was the bait!
Ofc nothing new here.Story about drug Lords,bloody money,corruption power and undercover operations.A good classic recipe.
To be honest my curiosity drove me here and in the back of my head i had the idea to drop it after watching the 1st episode.
But i didnt drop it.I was glued to my seat.
Cast was excellent.Just get a glimpse.I dont need to say more.As for the acting.I don't have words!
Superb!Realistic.For seminars.New actors must watch take notes and learn.
The story covered everything in just 6 hours.It has a start a course and a clear end.

If i had to complain about something that would be the music-but i didnt pay too much attention tho i just felt i missed it-
Also few times the editing was weird,kinda rough.
And my final complain is about the story.I wanted to know what happened to all those believers.As the Pastor was running actually a cult within his drug business.

Although is not a typical series for a female audience i strongly recommend it!(and obviously iam not the typical female audience Lol!)

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Below average

This drama it's the typical childhood Noona romance type of drama. But man, the script was badly written. The ML who was supposed to be the lead acted like a childish puppy and his role was basically nonexistent. He was just there to cook and hug and tell the FL "I love yous".

The FL. she was good but the character development was bad. She was lost and I don't know how she ended up choosing the ML.

The second ML, who was actually the ML IMO, was the only character that had a decent development. He had his own plans, plots, relationships, etc and it kind of worked for him. The drama could have been solely his and not anyone else's.

Basically, a very absurd drama to pass your time. not recommended at all.

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Ehh

So, this was on my plan-to-watch list for some time now, and seeing as I have plenty of that, I decided to finally give it a watch. Final conclusion: ehh. The plot involving Yuma was more fun than the actual leads of the show, but Ritsu is very beautiful, so I'll forgive it. The end of The World With You that SPOILER!! doesn't actually end. And I think the part that I'm most upset about is that it doesn't end and we're given a happily ever-after ending when I honestly wish it could been the opposite.

Let's Dive In.

So Yuma's plot was fun, the leads weren't bad, it's just their relationship was very toxic, so for me, not so fun to watch. Of course, people can change in a decade, so maybe Ritsu will turn out to be a better person, and I can kind of see the growth at the end, but still, dealing with that type of trauma in Matsumi's perspective must've been hard. Good thing he's not stubborn like I am.

Hmm, no wonder this show got good hype, didn't realize I was going to be watching PORN. But on a more serious note, the NC scenes were good, albeit maybe a little much for this series in particular. I also liked that they didn't play music in the background during their intimate moments, and we actually got to hear the ecstasy and all that jazz.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Like I said, would've liked for the world to actually end, but that's a personal preference. I loved Yuma and I loved his story. I've read most of the theories on his character, and I believe all of them. Semi-god coming down to protect the earth, supernatural miracle boy -- all of it. And obviously, the NC scenes were good, again a little much, but good.

Acting: 9/10 - Great acting, especially from Toshiki (Matsumi) who did a fabulous job. Great growth between both leads and Sousyo (Yuma) was a freaking cutie.

Music: 7.5/10 - I liked the music that played at the end of each episode.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Didn't play out how I would've liked it to, so maybe not the first thing I'd recommend. Does have some pretty good NC scenes, so for someone looking to be horny, I'll recommend them this one.

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This is a revenge drama that goes awry. Lots of plot twist which makes it interesting.. The main lead, Hawick Lau's acting is on point but the lead actress not so much. I've seen her in many other dramas but for some reason her acting seems to always be the same. That's the only disappointment in this drama. The supporting actor that acts as the lead actress' brother was really good at portraying the character. Just like many Chinese dramas, the story can get a bit draggy and frustrating at times but if you bear with it then you'll get to understand the characters better. Overall, definitely worth watching but I won't rewatch it.

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A very enjoyable ride with this lakhorn,and i am more in love with James Ji than ever!He plays a spoiled brat in this one,that falls in love with his tutor and goes through many other dramas and nows what he finally wants in the end.James had a really good chemistry with Punch and i really liked their scenes together.We also follow another couples love-story as always the same in other lakhorns.The plot are really great with really charming cast,i really liked Chon´s littlebrother and Itt`s nemesis Teelak.Truly funny lakhorn with a cute love-story.

The rebellious badboy Ittrit (hero) has to get tutored by the smart and tough Chanamon (heroine) after cheating on exams. From being enemies they become close friends,and through crazy circimstances they finally fall in love. Together they also have go through danger because of their fathers past.

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