Reviews

Dark comedy (sprinkled with action) at its finest

Was this movie made for me or something?

It's a dark comedy, utterly cynical movie about 2 deadly jaded assassin girls—that look anything but—living a boring but strange life in-between jobs that culminates in an utterly awesome final fight the likes of which you rarely see due to a functional choice of choreography I very much approve of.
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Stunts - 80/100 | Everything contained in the paragraph above is why I loved this movie. The rest is gravy.

Narrative - 80/100 | If you think you wanna watch a movie where 2 bored assassins do literally nothing except an occasional murder (and waste time in-between), then you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, you'll probably dislike this. I enjoyed it because their lack of purpose in life was a sight to see and Mahiro was strangely captivating as a character. Also because of the recurring funny little gags with the objects falling out of place, I've always loved those kinds of small visual gags. I don't know, it came together nicely for me.

Fight Choreography - 90/100 | The final fight is choreographed to look real instead of looking choreographed, an odd contradiction that works when done properly. Action choreographer Kensuke Sonomura will be one to watch for sure.

Enjoyment - 90/100 | Needed more fights. Needed better sound mixing for the guns in the 3rd act. More of this please. Thank you.

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Not Bad, But Good Either

Okay so this drama does have a lot of high reviews, which one of the reason I watched it, Honestly it was not a bad drama, but for me it was not wow factor or a holy smoke this was astounding.

The story was interesting and touched on very good points and topics, I just feel that it could have been more explored, I did love the Sister gosh she was really funny and made show even more enjoyable, the two leads were an okay match, and they did suit each other.

I cant overall say that it was a great drama, but it was a nice watch and it was light and it did have some funny moments to it.

Overall: it was ok, would I rewatch it probably not.

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I didn't watch the kiss, and honestly i don't know how Pete and Kao got to know each other. I watched kiss me again, but only Pete and Kao's story. I was hooked. When i heard they be doing another series under the Kiss title, i was excited.

The story plot, for me, is good. Character wise, i think there is a continuity and consistency in both Pete and Kao's. Story development is also good. The villain boy (forgot his name) is so good you'll want to strangle him. Music is also ok.

The only problem i have with the series is Mork and P' Sun's story. Sub love team in all series help us connect and consoles us whenever there are bad the things that are happening to the main couple. Mork and Sun's story, although beautiful, felt like an intrusion, for me. There story overlaps and has no connection with Pete and Kao's until the very ending. It would have been better for me if Sun and Mork character is developed in this series that will eventually lead them to have their own series. I felt like, as a fan of NewTay, their story has become the sub of Mork and Sun's. Don't get me wrong, i love SunMork, and their story, but PeteKao's story suddenly seemed not the focus especially the last half of the series.

But it is still great. Acting is also good and consistent. Pete and Kao's kiss seems more realistic here than in Kiss Me Again. Even after i finished watching this, i still go back to the last episode to rewatch it. Kudos!

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The lead couple has great chemistry!

A solid Thai light and fluffy standard trope drama, however there a few serious moments and intense scenes. The lead couple has great chemistry and well worth watching even though the story could have been told in fewer episodes. The overall cast acting is a little inconsistent but as an ensemble cast they manage to pull it off., The production and direction is fairly low budget, which suggests this drama was made to fill a certain time slot. However, the finished product turns out well and is very underrated. The low ratings make me wonder if people really just hate ethnic Thai actors or prefer Thai nationals whose ethnicity is half European or more if so, that is very sad and self-hating.

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Somehow they managed to make this worse than the manga...

Why I say that? Because the source material is not great. It suffers from lack of direction, lack of character developement (too slow for the lenght of the manga) and plotholes. I never understood why it was popular at the time and it's one of the most boring and plain shoujo mangas I've ever read (and shoujo is pretty much what I've ever read).

One of the biggest problems with this show is that the source material is a romcom/slice of life manga, here though, they have decided to cross the line to drama and even some melodramatic moments becoming something of a terrible mix to me.
Why is this show called Good Morning Call is something I'm still asking myself after finishing it. They took the names and the very general idea but it doesn't follow the manga much and the characters are generally not like the manga either.
Both the protagonists are like the manga ones on steroids, especially Nao. In the manga she's your stereotypical teenager (also to point out they're younger in the manga when in starts than in this show), she likes shopping and looks... and something quite outdated it's precisely the whole girlie obsessions with the looks, weight and fashion. I'm sorry for Haruka Fukuhara, I don't know if she was forced to do it or it was all her, but she was way too over the top, exaggerated and very annoying most of the time. While Nao in the manga can be annoying at times as well, it's 100 times more in the show. Same happens with Uehara, sorry to the actor as well because I don't know if it's just his limitations in acting or the direction, but he had pretty much one single emotion the entire time. Manga Uehara can be cold, serious, sarcastic and rude sometimes but in most cases corrects himself later and he does show more emotions and he can laugh and be sassy. Show Uehara is just a rock, it was ok in the beginning but it got ridiculous pretty quickly.
There are many instances in the show where a situation happens that actually happened in the manga as well, but where in the manga was either slightly different or Uehara reacted in an ok way, in the show they cut before that or they changed the details what ended up making Uehara a lot worse of a person than he is in the manga. One example of this is that night when Nao goes to buy pudding and there was in the news something about some instances of attacks in the area. In the show she watches those news, has a fight with Uehara about the pudding, he shouts at her to buy replacement and later when she's scared he finds her in the bushes. You think, WOW Uehara is terrible! In the manga they fight for the pudding and Nao pissed saying he's like a child goes to buy a replacement pudding. Uehara sees on tv the news of the attacks and he runs down the stairs and catches here as she exits the elevator, uses the excuse of buying milk to accompany her all the way, and they banter and fight-play about who had to carry the bags back home. There are many times in the show that they made noticeable differences that make Uehara look so much worse than he's supposed to be.

I think had it followed the manga it would have been better, here they also decided that every single male had to fancy Nao and every single woman had to fancy Uehara, I would have preferred it to be less focused on the leads and they had explored the side characters more as well. Abe Jun is a very prominent character in the manga and they just put it in the background.
I also noticed there were contradictions in some of the things said in the show, for example, we see Kitaura mostly only talking and interacting with Uehara but at some point later she says to him she has to position herself (on some issue happening) with Nao because it's her friend....hmmmm excuse me? In the show you see them interacting like maybe once. It's not the only time this happens, and it felt like they wanted to link more to the manga but they couldn't remember what they had written before. In the manga Kitaura (and her cousin that doesn't appear here) were friends with Nao first and didn't have as much interaction with Uehara.

Daichi, who are you? Who knows, just created to be one of the interested parties and I learnt nothing about him other than he likes Nao, not even in the second season.
Itchan was cool in the manga, here it's just reduced once again to be another potential lover for Nao. Something that annoyed me the most about his character was that melodrama about wanting to quit the ramen shop, in the manga ramen is everything to him to the point he actually starts dating a girl he met in a queue to a famous ramen restaurant because she also loved ramen, what I thought it was funny. Also, his father is so much more stern here, in the source material he's kind and has health issues what it's also the reason his son works in the restaurant. Moreover, when the bowls were broken in the show the father is scolding Itchan, in the manga the father sends Itchan and Nao to apologise to the owner and the bowls turn out to be not that expensive per se but the old man says they were made by the woman he fancies so they're priceless to him. The woman he fancies turns out to be Nao and Uehara's landlady, and they start dating and even both accompany the young group on a trip, I thought it was hilarious, and had they sticked to a romcom with this show it could have been so much better. Also Uehara has such a cool relationship with the landlady, almost like a mother figure to him.

I could go on and on but it's no point. Generally the frustration is that if you're not going to follow the source material at least make it better, not worse... Here characters are bad and not explored, plot is thin, love triangles are boring and bring nothing to the plot, music is annoying and the over the top acting of the main character is the cherry on top to make this whole show difficult to watch an enjoy, so I can't recommend.

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I would not know how this sequel may pale in comparison with the first show for the simple reason that I haven’t watched the first one. Safe to say I found Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim 2 absolutely entertaining. Praise to the excellent acting cast, exciting storyline and good directing with appropriate music themes. Never lacking in romance, conflicts and medical jargons. Gratifying indeed to see how master surgeon Dr. Kim Sa-bu shapes and refines the raw characters of young surgeons Dr. Seo Woo-jin and Dr. Cha Eun-jae into outstanding professionals. Woo-jin, talented but having a traumatic childhood past and Eun-jae, dedicated and intelligent but then nervous and lacking in self-confidence. See how the two doctors are polished into gems with the passage of time. Also like the childlike and cute character of Dr. Yoon Ah-reum who weaves nicely into the story with her bright smiles and dimples.
Brickbats: viewers may notice at least two distractions. Repeated and overuse of artificial golden lights to depict sunset scenes inside Doldam Hospital. Once too many. And characters, whether protagonists or antagonists, often eavesdrop onto one another’s conversation with ease as the story unfolds.

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Everything dark...

Telling the difference between dreams and reality can be hard, but honestly it does not really matter as telling the difference between truth and lies in real life is even harder...

This drama is probably as dark as dark can get including everything from corruption, all kinds of trafficking, suicide, distorted everything, murder, deathe, more murder, cover ups, infidelity, pedophiles, rape, sexual everything... Yes it really has more or less everything in except for (my beloved) romance... and well love... the friendships are very interesting and decently worth a lot bet they too are kind of dark and lacking love... So no love just deep darkness as far as the eye can see...

Enjoy!

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I often criticize shows for lacking dramatic structure, but Fermentation Family is the rare work that I actually wish had a less tightly constructed plot. There are gangsters, revenge schemes, birth secrets and nefarious corporations galore but underneath all the thriller trappings is a lovely, bittersweet meditation on family, food and loss. Most of the show unfolds in a traditional restaurant, and when it stays grounded in the routines and rituals of making a meal or creating a community, it’s wonderful. I could hang out with its motley band of lost souls forever as they chop vegetables, drink makgeolli and watch the seasons change. All of the complicated story machinations feel clunky next to the power of their simple human moments.

Speaking of human moments, a great deal of the show’s charm comes from its strong ensemble cast. As much as I love Song Il-Guk in serious sageuk mode, it’s a delight to watch him in a more comic role. He’s a marvelous physical actor, and his shy, awkward romance with Park Jin-Hee is one of my favorites in K-drama. A few of the secondary characters are overplayed, but most strike a nice balance between humor and heartfeltness.

If you can survive the awkward first episode, the occasional jarring tonal shifts and the general overabundance of narrative threads, you’ll be rewarded with quiet, gorgeously filmed scenes of flawed people learning to connect, forgive, and let go. The show doesn’t offer any easy answers to the world’s problems, but it provides a welcome retreat to shelter from the storms.

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Powerful acting

I was blown away by Baifern's acting here. She really does carry the lead role with a lot of charisma. The surrounding characters were mostly shades of gray themselves except for the protagonist's friends. Most of them were fairly selfish and vindictive themselves and in a way it portrays that one's birth does determine one's outcomes a fair bit. However, it shows that human dignity is possible no matter what one's social class is. I think this is a show you watch and then think about for a long time. I didn't expect Thai TV shows to be so intense. Kudos for the writer to showcase the issue of traficking which affects 4 million people every year in the world. This isn't just drama, it's reality. The story was a bit moralizing and in a way I was slightly disappointed by the way it ended. There was redemption where the protagonist finds courage and remorse though. Still, one expects TV shows that portray dichotomies of choices to have clear outcomes. It's rated G in Thailand, maybe because of the moralizing but it's still pretty violent at times. This would have been an 13\18+ show in India or else for sure. Overall, definitely worth a watch.

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Love the ending!!!

I hate loose ends, so I'm really happy that this show has a real nice closure to the characters involved, including the "bad guy"

I fell in love in 1st episode. It's kinda like Marvel Action Hero + Asian Treasure Hunt vibes. It's fusion...lol

I love it since it's different than the typical Kdramas. The story is really nice, many times I was surprised by the unexpected plot twist. There are moments that it got me LOL tooo...

I'm glad I gave this show a shot, esp since I am not familiar with both ML and FL. Now, I am in love w the ML!

The only reason I am not rating 10/10, its because there's something missing that I can't quite pinpoint. It's not boring, it's actually really exciting. I didn't skip any parts, so that I dont miss the important parts. But, somehow I just feel I could be more enteratined/engaged? Like, it could be faster or more intense? Perhaps, I am too used to the fast action show Hollywood provides

Beside that, I really think this show is very welldone!!!

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I can't lie I started watching it for Dong Wook but stayed for the funny and thrilling story. It didn't catch me at the first episode but by the second the laughs kept me glued to the screen. This is definitely a good one to marathon if you are so inclined, I completed it in three days.

The story is not typical drama storyline...not too much on the evil controlling parents but more around the story about friendship, relationships, the ending and beginning and disillusioned love. The story while light really touches on some heavy themes although it doesn't dive deep into the heavy themes it does not sugar coat them either.

Some dramas leave you emotionally drained but this one will leave you feeling good...enjoy

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I watched this because of a recommendation to watch this if you enjoyed Eternal Love (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms). I enjoyed Eternal Love but can’t say the same for this series.

Like Eternal Love, FL (Gabrielle Guan/Yi Fu Ling) did start out liking second male lead (Liu Chang/Bai Ting Jun) before falling for the male lead, (Zhang Ruo Yun/Feng Tian Yi). Plot and character development falls short though that you don’t get invested in how the relationship developed and you’ll actually be left wondering how FL lead can quickly shift affections from BTJ to FTY.

It was a struggle to like the FL. Perhaps it’s the insipid acting or the weak, often stupid character being played that it was hard to understand why many characters would give up their lives (or their crown) for her.

The romance is a central focus against the backdrop of kingdom/clan conflict. There are plenty of good looking artists, costumes ok but not a fan of the set designs/special effects (flying ship, floating city on the tacky side).

I stayed on to watch Zhang Ruo Yun who is an eye candy but unlikely to be re-watching this show.

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"If you keep staring at me, I'm gonna kiss you so hard you'll drop"

There's no more iconic line when meting someone for the first time than "If you keep staring at me, I'm gonna kiss you so hard you'll drop"... Only if they could have kept that feeling all the way.

I've been watching LB for as long as I can remember and because we don't have that many live actions takes on it you kind of learn to appreciate everything its thrown to you, so I don't care much about the acting (not expecting an oscar's perfomance) nor the plot (I'm a sucker for LB cliches), and also have learn not to be SO put off by harmful stereotypes or toxic relationships. Saying all this, by episode 10 I was so done with this that I hated myself for watching it. The catch here's that is not so easy to just say that I hated it, because I absolutely loved the first 5 episodes, I can watch them everyday all day. So what, in the name of hell, went wrong? The story got drag so much it was painful to watch, the characters went from adorable dummy to insufferable stupid, there's no stop to the level of stupidity in some of this people!
The relationship went downhill just when it was beginning, it was perfect when they weren't dating but suddenly everyone was too afraid to show some feelings? some chemistry?? anything other than toxicity traits??? gosh, you realize those two were dating because they kept saying it, but girl it was not shown; my god! that pat in the head killed something inside of me!! The side stories were just rubbish, not worth a single minute of my life. ALSO, I get that in most of boy love stories the women either do not exist or are just used as plot device, but this is made for a larger audience of FEMALES they should, at least!, not used women as background figurines that can help your shitty couple to fight and made up one more time.
But the music was great, the actors were all really handsome and not half-bad at acting... and yes, that's all the good I can say. The first episodes were so good but I don't know if its worth the trouble.

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bromance galore!!!

created an account just to leave a review for this amazing show so here goes...
1. the cast - every single one of them is adorable and their acting is amazing!! every single microexpression and look in their eyes conveys so much. this movie had so much potential to be cheesy because there are so many fight scenes but somehow everyone manages to exude that effortlessly cool aura. especially shi yuan ting, those biceps, seriously... and edward chen has that lean, cat-like grace that makes the two of them great contrasts against each other. and that brings me on to my favourite part: the bromance!! this is seriously a story about how a close male friendship develops, from the initial antagonism to eventual relying on each other. there were moments where you would go "is this a friendship or........" just because of how sexually-charged their interactions were (lol). some of the comments on the youtube video where this movie is fully available (w english subs!!) also mentioned this so it's not just me ok.
other than their looks/relationship the characters are p solid on their own; although they're gangsters they still have a code of chivalry which they stick to. wang hu (the transfer student) just wants to mind his own business and gets mixed up in the gang rivalry by accident, but in the end he still helps them out when they need help which is just!! like, he's such a nice guy?? even though he looks and acts and dresses like a thug?? what
there's a female character who seems quite badass but a little bit dumb. oh well. wish she had more of a role. haven't watched the 2nd part though so maybe she'll talk more there??? lol
2. the plot - although it isn't particularly deep or anything - sometimes they talk about the characters' post-high-school aspirations and then you remember "oh, they're just students not actual gangsters, i forgot lmao" - but there aren't really any other overarching themes other than loyalty and friendship, i think. but can i just say, if you understand even just a little bit of chinese this movie is EXTRA HILARIOUS. the contrast of the taiwanese accent (sprinkled with some hokkien) and the northeastern chinese accent is *chef's kiss* LOVE IT. esp in the beginning when they couldn't really understand each other lmaooooooo but even if you don't understand chinese it doesn't matter bc this movie is still crazy funn! there were scenes which were just comedy gold. won't spoil it but suffice to say you'll laugh. a lot.
overall - a nice feel good movie dealing with the development of a strong male friendship which i'd happily rewatch!!

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