Reason for watching - I decided to watch this drama because I was looking for a drama that is short (each episode here is around 25 minutes).
My Favorite character - Suga, for I'm more like her. Narumi, for I can't resist him and his intriguing personality.
Story - I usually don't watch mysteries. But I loved that this was set in and around high school.
The story is one of the strongest points of this drama. With an unusually cool heroine who prefers to be aloof lest she get hurt, I could relate to her. The drama revolves around a handful of characters who we get to know incident by incident. It has the perfect mix of romance and mystery and has an contemplatory tone to it too.
Acting/Cast - It's the first time I watched a japanese drama where I knew none of the actors. But I came to like all of them, especially Yuma and Honda. Even though the acting isn't what you'd call stellar, you can see that they've got room to grow in terms of expressing and emoting.
Characters - I loved Narumi and Suga. They were so well thought out characters and surprised me with their complexities. Narumi is a fascinating character and no wonder Suga was drawn to him. I just wished the romance part got more focus in the second half, but it's not something that detracts one's enjoyment of the story.
Music - I just loved the OST for Piece. Be it the Matchbox Twenty songs(Parade and I Will) or Nakayama Yuma's songs - Missing Piece and Mizu no Kaeru Basho(The Place The Water Returns To). The songs used in the background suits and enhance the mood of the drama perfectly.
Rewatch Value - I would definitely rewatch this drama after sometime. Just for the main couple. :D
Also, the cinematography is simply great.
Overall - It's one of the best jdramas I've watched. It is very underrated IMO and I hope it gets more love from viewers. Get on the bus and see where it takes you! You won't regret it. ;)
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The story might not be the most original one ever, but it's told in a very refreshing way that makes it work. It's not a comedy, and it's not a tear jerker. It's both, you laugh (A LOT) but there are also many sad moments. I fell in love with this story. Also I really liked how the director mixed the characters lives when they were young with some historical moments.
The entire cast was AWESOME. The adults and the teens, both. The stand-outs are definitely Shim Eun Kyeong and Kang So Ra. But they all played the characters very well. I was really impressed.
The music was OUTSTANDING. This film was filled with music from the 80s, which was really cool. The song ''Sunny'' will be stuck in your head for weeks if you see this film.
I will for sure watch this film again soon. It's very entertaining, but it also has some awesome with whom you fell in love throughout the film. I really recommend it if you're looking for a entertaining film with a solid story that's both comedic and deep. Serioulsy, this is one of the best films I've seen in a long time.
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If you are worried about the length of the drama, that is not a problem. It goes by so fast, because each episode has so much plot going on and you just have to keep watching the next episode and the next to see what happens. After the first 20 minutes the plot was well underway. It didn't take the first 3 hours or so like many other dramas to get going. I was thoroughly hooked after 20 minutes.
Having said all that, Empress Ki is heartbreakingly flawed. I don't have a problem with tragedy if it all makes sense. But the plot went crazy during the last third of the drama. I felt cheated because we were led to care for these characters in the first 30 episodes and in the last part we are just tortured by having to watch bad things happen to them over and over and over again. Character and relationship development came to a halt. Nyang's feelings and motives become ambiguous because we don't get to see her with the King or the Emperor anymore. She is just dealing with all the plot twists for most of the last part of the drama. Alliances keep shifting and the plot turns become almost repetitive. How many times can we see a character being tortured before it loses emotional resonance? The drama is no longer character driven at this point - but the characters we have fallen love with are now at the mercy of plot twists and evil characters. The over-arching revenge storyline felt rushed and anti-climactic. That was supposed to be the main conflict of the entire drama and it is treated as just another plot turn.
The thing I hate most is that the main characters aren't given enough screen time together to keep up with the relationships that were developed so well in the first half. The scenes where they are actually together and interacting are really sparse in the last part of the story. The actions of even the most beloved characters were frustrating and hard to swallow.
But still I Ioved the characters so much by this time I had to see it through. After watching it to the end, I feel like I have been strapped down in the imperial palace's torture chamber for the last several episodes and feel pummeled and depressed.
Reading all the other reviews I see that not everyone feels the same way about the last part of this drama, so there is a good chance you will really love Empress Ki if you like melodramatic action historical drama. It definitely will grab you in one way or other. For me, knowing how let down I was by the second half, would I prefer to have never met these characters or started this drama to begin with? Well, I think I would probably go back and do it again. That's how much I loved Empress Ki despite it's major flaws. But I think I need a romantic comedy now to give my heart a break.
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This review may contain spoilers
disappointing
The amount of discomfort I felt watching this season.
Especially during the r*pe, abuse and inc*st scenes. That was, for some reason, normalized???
Should've just stuck with season 1 as it was pretty good, but i was looking forward to this. Knowing how awesome the actors are - I just knew that they were going to deliver.
But as i made progress watching this,
I don't even know what happened, but the storyline was not it at all. It was disheartening and frustrating.
In conclusion;;
Wouldn't recommend watching this as your first bl series.
And I personally would not watch this ever again.
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Let´s Appreciate Dong-Eun´s Glory
This has been a hell of a ride, but that did not disappoint me. I had desperately waited for the release of the second part, and I have found myself satisfied with how the story went on. An incredibly difficult story to portray and produce by the director and their crew, but also for the actors and actresses. Their performance was overwhelming and splendid. I loved how deep the glimpse into the rotten souls of the antagonists was. I wish that shows with topics like this could always go viral, so that the range of attention for this cruelty can be spread nationally and internationally - keeping bullies more under control and maybe even reaching their conscience. The smallest effect of a show about bullying on society is already something treasurable. That is exactly why I´m glad The Glory went viral. I couldn´t be happier with Dong-Eun´s Glory. What about you?Was this review helpful to you?
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Another RamKing Lover
I was immediately turned off by this series due to the simplicity that is the title. I was thinking, "not another engineering plot where he's going to bully the poor dude until he realizes he's in love with him", but I was pleasantly surprised to see that that wasn't 100 percent the plot. But back to the title, I can think of a few titles that would've been better; A Rose For My Love, One Rose at A Time, Journies of Our Love. Literally, there is so much wordplay here. But, looking past the ugly that is the title, this series was so entertaining and a twist on the usual engineering stories we see.Let's Dive in.
Let's talk about the main couple first. While I was a little bored at the beginning, they slowly started to grow on me. I liked that Duen was a hard-to-get type of person. he was a challenge for Bohn, and I enjoyed watching him work to get him. I also liked how Bohn wouldn't do anything that Duen didn't want. It was a change from the usual story that ignores consent. One thing that aggravating me with them was Bohn’s overreaction to literally anything that Duen did. Can your boyfriend not exist outside of you? Can you let him breathe and talk to others without over-reacting? Bohn needed to take a huge chill pill before he lost Duen. good thing he got his act together by the end. Another nice touch was their little siblings, they had a nice connection that kind of tied Bohn and Duen together. Overall, this couple was tolerable (kind of).
RamKing stole this entire season. It was the slow-burn, it was the requited love, it was the looks, and the music, and the KISS. Absolutely loved their concept. Ram never really talked, but the eccentric King wanted to be his friend, and get him out of his comfort zone. I think it was the way that Ram never talked, and kind of only talked to King that did it for me The first time he spoke to him formally was the best thing ever. The moment and everything were just perfect. I am so excited to see them in season 2, I literally miss them every single day.
The production messed up Boss and Mek's story. The voice-over on Mek was the worst thing I ever heard. I read somewhere that they voice-covered the actor who played Mek because he was either speaking Mandrin, or his Thai pronunciation wasn't good. I'm not entirely sure of which it was, but he will no longer be in season 2. If anything, they could've just kept his actual voice and do subtitles. The voice-over was distracting and annoying. Other than that, they were pretty cute. Even though I love friends to lovers, I didn't quite love them. It felt like a bromance, or best friends rather than a couple. The chemistry between the two actors was not really there. I don't know if they're replacing Mek's actor, or just scraping his character altogether. whatever they do, I hope it's fair to Boss' actor that did an incredible job.
Loved the chemistry between Dr. Thara and Frong. I remember getting so excited each time they popped up on the screen. Would've much rather seen their plot out a whole lot more than I did Mek and Boss.
This series was saved by RamKing, it's one of the reasons that it is so high on my top 25. Other than that, this show is okay, but could use a little bit of tweaking.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good Watch
Where Your Eyes Linger served as my first Korean BL Series ever, and I was not left disappointed. I loved the concept of this series, and I loved the actors that starred in it. While it was good, it's one of those watches in which you enjoyed yourself, but it's not going to be very memorable. Not because it wasn't entertaining, but it was just an okay series. I wish there were longer episodes and more screen time. Some of the stories felt rushed and not executed as well as they could've been. But, I loved Kang Gook and Han Tae Joo. I loved how they reacted off of one another, and how we could obviously see their relationship developing deeper.Overall, I recommend this, it was a fun and enjoyable watch and I hope we can see these actors again.
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Shows the power of storytelling
Judging it simply as a movie, Nagareboshi is a felicitous watch. I found myself watching this a few months after my initial watch because of how sweet and impactful the story line is. You're taken on a journey with Natsuko, witnessing her realise her husband's (Kensaku) eternal love. Watching Marie's story line was really heartening too, as you see her extending beyond being a witch, helping both Kensaku and Natsuko mature. There is another plot line running through the film which carries a twist, which only adds on to the rewatch value of Nagareboshi.The casting made for this movie was splendid, with wiser Natsuko played by Matsuzaka Keiko and her younger counterpart, Taira Yuna, who gave perfectly identical mannerisms and acting. NHK certainly capitalised on the uncanny resemblance between the older and younger Kensakus; Funakoshi Eiichiro and Kiriyama Akito.
We're mostly used to splendid movies having heavy impactful themes or high action sequence, occasionally a movie such as this reminds us that simple can be as stellar and shining.
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Failure is an option
For a slow drama to work you need a tight and controlled storytelling otherwise it will turn into a tasteless picture of which this drama fell into constantly. This notion was only amplified further by poor character writing, poor plot devices, and poor attention to details. The writer must have been utterly delusional thinking she was writing something "good". The final blow was delivered with cutting down the number of episodes. On the bright side, it ended early!Was this review helpful to you?
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If you're wondering if you should watch it, the answer is yes.
So I am late to the party. I watched to watch it as it was airing but didn't want to wait every week, then it turned into me waiting till now. I just recently got into Thai dramas, as a long time cdrama fan. This is my 3rd Thai drama. It has been a long time since I have given a drama a 10/10. From the very first episode, I was hooked. I have seen most of the 2018 Chinese adaptation. I didn't really enjoy it, the casting, acting, and plot was off and not really enjoyable for me. But this one hit all the right points perfectly.The actors were so good and the roles were made for each and every one of them, i wouldn't be the same if it was someone else. They embodied their characters with each detail. Brought them to life. They make you love them, hate them. They so clearly show the development of all the characters. This is also the acting debut of several of the main casts. You wouldn't think its their debut, they are so natural on screen.
The story was also really well written and executed. There were hilarious moments that make you laugh out loud. Deep heartbreaking moments. Beautiful friendships. Exploring family relationships, friendships, love. The characters developed and grew beautifully throughout the story.
MJ, i love mj. As a character in previous versions, he didn't have much screentime or storyline. I loved how this one gave him so much and gave the audience so much to love. i want more mj.
The only thing i dont like is that its only 16 episodes. I need more of F4 + Gorya
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Mindblowing performances by the three lead actors - Kazuya Kamenashi(Shuji),Tomohisa Yamashita(Akira) and Maki Horikita(Nobuko/Nobuta). The young actors have so much understanding of their characters.Can't think,at their age,I was so intelligent and understanding. Kudos to them.Out of the three my favorite is Kazuya Kamenashi. He looks so handsome. He shows his three dimensional side too well.
Kazuya Kamenashi plays the role of Shuji who is the most popular guy in the school. He wants to make everyone happy and keep up his popularity.
Tomohisa Yamashita plays a eccentric guy Akira who wants to be friends with Shuji. Though he is rich,he likes to live like dime on street.
One fine day he meets a shy and introvert girl Nubiko who gets contantly bullied in school.Though Shuji acts cool in front of his classmates,he and his friend Akira try to build Nobuko's confidence and make her a popular girl so that no one bullies her. After several persuasion and inspiration from these two guys,she starts putting effort in changing herself.
A deep friendship starts building between these three and they do lots of activities to promote her popularity.
This drama is about friendship between three people.There is no melodrama or over the top scenes. Everything seems natural. The girl Nobuko(named as Nobuta) doesn't undergo any dramatic change. The change seems gradual and realistic. There is no heavy-duty romance and love triangle as such. The school premises are set realistically and change that happens in the three people's life is gradual. You can understand and feel all the three characters.
Its a rare gem. Very few stories are written so well.Acting is top notch. Though the support cast is good,the lead three actors shine in their roles.
Also,it needs to be mentioned that the theme song "Seishun Amigo" is sung by the two male leads who are also pop idols. The song is great and it is picturised with two cute pigs(anime).
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Intensely good if you like sci-fi/fantasy that uses allegory to explore real life issues
First: this show is super hard to find english subbed - except on iQiyi. On iqiyi app its fully english subbed, and it's where I watched it easily. This show was literally the first thing I watched on the app, and became one of my favorite cdramas of all time, along with one of my favorite shows. If you love fantasy/sci fi genre shows that have found family and use their premise to explore very real world issues, and also prefer good characterizations and arcs tied in deeply to the overarching plot - then this show is near perfect. I happen to love all those things, so this show was like finding treasure when I went in not knowing what I'd find!This show was phenomenal, the writing was so great in how it tied up episode of the week stories into bigger story plots and longer characterization arcs, every seemingly more mundane plot ended up contributing to the bigger character arcs or main story plot even when I didn't expect it to be able to! The characterizations are phenomenal, especially the lead character's arcs and journeys through the story - focusing on learning how to be vulnerable and love and trust, working on how to be yourself when society has different expectations on you, how to deal with choices that will affect your whole life, how to work in a system where the law sometimes hurts people and how to react to that, and just general social commentary and a ton of allegory for real world issues.
It's very much the same niche as X-men/In The Flesh/Star Trek in how it uses it's sci fi premise to tackle real world issues and very grounded struggles people face in life. I absolutely loved how hopeful and meaningful it was - it handled a lot of heavy stuff, but also had so much optimism and comedy and action to balance out the darker moments so it never felt emotionally draining. It has a bi lead, and another lead that deals with trans experiences in their storyline, which I found really well done for the way they approached these parts - especially compared to some lighter-surface shows that might add a gender-bend sort of trope but not do anything to actually relate the story to real experiences/struggles, whereas this show very much felt like it was trying to connect its sci fi premises and arcs to the real experiences of people. So many real world issues got explored in this show - and sometimes it got dark because of it, but like Star Trek this show tended to have protagonists aiming to do their best to help make a world that's good for people, so the show tended to conclude hopefully.
I also love action/comedy, and although this show has some very heavy/real moments, it keeps its action/sci-fi premise and uses it to comedic affect a lot with cool funny fighting scenes and ridiculous setups. I really like this, as it disarms the audience and also gives breathing room before the heavier stuff comes back for the bigger plot moments. I'm rewatching it without english subs, and the comedy is so visual too that its super enjoyable just to watch in general even beyond the dialogues.
The only small weak points I might give it, is that the actors aren't particularly well known - they did amazing in my opinion though! Especially the lead 2 characters, they did phenomenal layered performances and packed a ton of character building into all their scenes. The other characters did well, though they had less time for their character arcs - still did equivalent or better if I'm comparing them to Buffy the Vampire Slayer/In the Flesh etc type shows. The main lead being someone I didn't know was a big reason I wasn't sure about this at first - he comes off really comedic and relaxed and not like a typical lead AT ALL at first, but his personal growth arc ended up being ridiculously relatable to me and probably many other people with abandonment fears/who tend to just put on a persona and reserve being genuinely themselves because its hard for them. The lead actress was INTENSELY good, I had no idea who she was before this but now I'd probably watch anything she's in - her character is incredibly unique, but the main struggles in the character arc are something I think most people with societal or family pressures will probably find big parts to relate to, and her acting was also so good with the nuance of emotions revealed versus fears/struggles being hidden. Both leads were fantastic at conveying the depth of what was going on throughout with their characters and their roles in the world of the story.
The other maybe tiny weak point I'd give - BECAUSE so many small seemingly mundane plot points end up contributing to the end-main plot, upon rewatch a lot of the twists are going to be much more obvious to catch. I think its fine for rewatchability, because its cool to see HOW they do connect in real time, now that I saw their payoff. But for some people the way the ending comes together will have a bit less impact on rewatch.
Anyway, this show was so freaking good. One of my favorite shows ever. If you've ever loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-men, Star Trek, In The Flesh, Guardian, then this show is probably going to hit a LOT of what you love in a story. For me in particular, the WAY it told the story so tightly in it's writing helped even more - its enjoyable, well written, uses sci fi for real world issues, and does it in a concise way so you can enjoy it without too much time commitment. I'd love if more people found it and had the chance to experience it too. ;w;
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Well worth the time
Everyone seems to have said it all; how great this series is. Mine will be short. The cast were phenomenal. LiQin, I’ve seen several of her dramas. I really like her character here. She really shone. Xiao Zhan, I’ve heard of and definitely he was very good here. There was a short kiss scene between them and I’m wondering if it’s something they agreed on. I don’t know bout Zhan, but in other Qin shows, she has barely intimate scenes. It must be her conditions. I think they chose a very good drama that highlights their flexibility and maturity.Story of growth, perseverance, as well as choices really highlights this wonderful production. We were young once too. This story depicts so much relatable circumstances of our youth into growing up. It’s a really good one.
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"This is personal" Well, of course it is...
Triple Threat had an embarrassment of martial artists riches and also embarrassingly bad dialogue, even for an action movie. The martial arts were also short shrifted in lieu of guns and things that go boom far too often.Payu and Long Fei have been hired to help with a “humanitarian” mission that turns out to be anything but. Local security for the site, Jaka, loses his wife in the deadly firefight that erupts when the mercenaries enter the village to release Collins, a notorious terrorist. Payu, Long Fei, and Jaka develop a tenuous partnership to bring down the mercs and end up protecting a Chinese heiress/local philanthropist along the way.
The firefights were often over the top as the bad guys mowed down people throughout the small country of Maha Jaya. Things were always more interesting when the guns were down and the fists and kicks were up. Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen all have experience with fighting on screen and choreography. The weakest of the three was Tiger as his fights often looked slow and uninspired. Tony and Iko were far more entertaining as they defied gravity with their flexibility, quickness, and strength. Bad guy, Scott Adkins, was able to keep up with the kicks as was Michael Jai White. Jeeja Yanin had what amounted to a glorified guest role and didn’t have many chances to show her skills.
The action came fast and furious with the fighters and heiress on the run. Unfortunately, some of the acting and much of the dialogue was painfully cringeworthy. Not much effort was made to create a cohesive story either. As a check your brain at the door, let’s watch Tony Jaa fly and flip, it was rudimentary martial arts action entertainment.
15 May 2024
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