Reviews

Every time I discover a drama that I love 10 of 10, I stupidly think that this is the best drama ever and there are barely better dramas exist now. Same for In time with you. I've got to know about this drama just few days ago. And it was my another great discover! My new best of the best. And my first taiwanese drama/movie ever, btw.

Why I love this work so much?

* The opposite sexes best friendship with strong chemistry, lucky to be fully themselves in front of each other.
* And the teasing of may be love between those two.. Awww this is breathtaking!!! I wanted to have this experience myself...
* Almost every dialog and monolog is created of deep thoughts. My first drama with so many of smart contents making viewers think and may be reflect on their own emotions, being and life. The main characters ( Li Da Ren and Cheng You Qing) are smart and have a rich emotional (mental) life.
* That's why it's so interesting and catchy to watch every episode. I alway wanted to listen what they say and read the subtitles if I don't understand some words in mandarin, so that I'd never skip the meaning.
* Very realistic.
* The main (Li Da Ren and Cheng You Qing) and some other characters look naturally and the actor's acting is amazing.
* Cheng You Qing is a smart woman. The main - heroine - is - a smart - strong - and - lovable at the same time - woman. It's rare, it's it? Though she is often arrogant.
* Li Da Ren. Though the actor's look actually is kinda brutal and cool,.. but this is just a look: lol Li Da Ren is so easy, natural, warm, smart, loving, sexy, caring and his facial and body expressions are so livable. He never treat Cheng You Qing and others bad or contemptuously. He is NOT a pokerface jerk kind. And I loved it soo much. And he is handsome as hell. Yes, I fell for Li Da Ren TT TT
* The problem of reaching your 30 years old and the way to accept it is shown here too, so realistic, sometimes encouraging, sometimes frustrating, but people can refer it to themselves easily.
* Characters are normal people with a realistic normal job. Not an elite, not high level society (i'm tired of this in korean drama). The characters really live in the Earth, not in the heaven.
* The OST is good. Though I didn't really like it from the beginning, but getting attached to this drama, I've got attracted by the OST, and listening to it now often.
* The last episode. Just watch it and you will understand :) I re-watched it already several times.

May be that not all the +++. But I want to mention flaws as well:

:( When an actor acts bad hes/her character becomes cutesy. Yes, there are still many of artificial and cutesy actings. And unfortunately beside of 3-4 actors who acted really good, the most of actors did it awkwardly.
:( A bit of SPOILER. Omg that Cheng You Qing's parents are so awkward, but the creators or this drama put some romance and -deep- thoughts even in their life. Really it looks silly when somebody so lazy, dull and ugly is viewed as a smart and lovable. Because if they were smart and lovable, they would never become so dull, lazy and ugly. This family is annoying but depicted so great: so naturally and cosy that I even might sometimes forget that i watch a fiction drama, not a documental one.
:( Annoyed with the story line of Cheng You Qing and her ex bf Ding Li Wei. It's boring, slow, just mess for this drama. Wang Sunny's acting is terrible. (But somehow he is so sexy).

Well, I keep re-watching this drama, picking a random episode. Whoever have created this piece I'm really respecting their work.

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Unless your a Book and Force fan, don't watch it

Whoever wrote the script needs to be fired. It's that bad.

Usually when people in the reviews say it's bad, most of the time the drama is still a decent watch. This drama, however, is really not worth your time. The best thing about this drama is the chemistry between the two leads, Book and Force, but even then their chemistry isn't worth watching this drama. There are tons of other dramas out there with better actors that give better acting, have better chemistry, and shittier storyline.

~~ SYNOPSIS ~~

Where to begin... Usually I wouldn't write a synopsis, but it will help understand why the plot is so bad. At a glance, the plot and trailer gives off a male harem vibe, but in reality there is no harem. Aside from Ak, the other four men are not really into Theo. Furthermore, Theo is a really bad character. A great character like Ak is wasted when paired with Theo.

So let's begin. Theo comes back to Thailand after his grandma passes away. He meets Ak, his childhood friend. Ak has always been in love with Theo, so he tries to take care of Theo, who can't really get used to Thailand. Theo is a rich boy, who seems to have little real world experiences. Theo gets lost after falling asleep on the bus. He calls Ak to help him, Ak skips work to help Theo, which causes him to get fired. Theo apologizes, but does nothing more to help Ak, who needs to work to survive.

At university, Theo's major is in danger of being cancelled due to lack of funding and interest in the major. Theo is advised to meet with four of the university's poster boys to help get funding. They decide to hold a literary fair to gain interest and funds.
Meanwhile, Theo gets bored at school, so he writes in a book at the library. Ak gets upset at Theo and tells him not to deface school property. When Theo goes back to replace the book he finds that another person, Enchante, has written in the book. Theo and Ak go on a hunt to find who Enchante is. The four poster boys step up, claiming to be Enchante. As they continue to find who is the real Enchante, Theo becomes obsessed. Each of the four boys begin to hit on Theo, which causes Ak to get uncomfortable.

As the story progresses, we learn that Theo is actually Enchante and he offered money to the four boys to act as Enchante to make Ak jealous.


~~ STORY ~~

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about it.

Honestly, the story could have been great, but the story really got lost in itself. If the plot was really about all four boys liking Theo and really wanting to have a relationship with him, then it would have been a fun story. Instead, none of them actually like Theo, but are actually being paid money to act like it. Also, three of the four poster boys, Natee, Phupa and Wayo were very manipulative and calculating. They are all really terrible people that are trying to manipulate Theo into giving them money for their personal gain. Even Saifah, who isn't manipulative, is still a strange character. Saifah has no impact on the story, which is really sad, since the other three made their mark, even if it was negative.

Moving on to the Theo/Ak storyline... While the chemistry between then was good, the story was weak. Theo comes off as too bratty for Ak, who is genuinely in love with Theo and is always doing his best to help Theo. You could even say that Theo was manipulating and playing with Ak, who he knew was in love with him. Why would Theo go through all the trouble of hiring four hot guys to pretend to be interested in him, who he knows is after his money, just because Ak was busy in class, one time, and couldn't pay attention to him. Really Theo? Do you need attention that much? It's sad because Theo and Ak have good chemistry and it's fun to watch them on screen... But the plot... If only Theo wasn't manipulating, despite the plot it would have been nice.


AK x THEO

Ak and Theo are childhood friends. Ak has been in love with Theo the whole time, even when Theo was in France. When Theo returns, Ak helps Theo get acclimated to Thailand. Theo is from a rich family, who tries not to flaunt his wealth. He is instantly attracted to Ak, but pretends not to notice Ak taking care of him.

Theo and Ak have really good chemistry. Every scene together looks realistic and they genuinely look like they are not acting. The only downfall to their chemistry is their romantic scenes. Any scene that has them hugging, kissing, or anything non-platonic looks very stiff. I heard that the actors who play Theo and Ak are good friends, so that explains why they have good chemistry, but things get awkward during the romantic scenes. It's hard to act romantic when you've friend-zoned someone in real life.


~~ OVERALL ~~

Decent acting, but really bad plot. The drama really wasted a nice cast on a crappy plot.

Even if you like any of the other actors in this drama, don't watch it unless you like Book and Force.

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The japanese version of Robin Hood.
Yamaneko, the sort of tonedeaf version of Lupin, a thief that looks high on drugs every time that he opens his mouth to say something.
I’ll be honest while writing this review and I’ll try to ignore my HUGE love for Kame.
What’s this drama core? Yamaneko and Katsumura’s characters.
Without these two leads this drama would have been sloppy and pretty boring.
The plot is simple. The handsome and weird thief who wants to take revenge and kill the bad man that has ruined his entire life making him a spy without his will.
Yuuki’s character wasn’t a real villain. He looked like a ghost, something that haunts Yamaneko.
The real villain, the one who really made you scream “THAT’S A NASTY ONE” was Katsumura.
Clever, insane, yet not Narimiya’s best villain. We all know how good is Narimiya at playing the bad guy role.
Suzu Hirose’s character was irrelevant. A genius young hacker with a cold yet good personality who just want to stuck with Yamaneko to finally have a proper family. That was a clique. She was boring, her personality was not well written.
This drama had some good points, a really funny comedy scenes but, also, it had a lot of black holes.
I’ll making a simple example. Let’s talk about Yamaneko’s past. Totally massed up. I think the audience had some hard times while trying to understand what the hell was his reasons to take revenge on that masked creepy ghost. Sure, he was betrayed by the one who rose him. Sure, he wanted to make Japan great again. But why? Why was his trying so hard to heal a country that didn’t asked to be healed?
He was so obsessed with Bushido, yet he didn’t actually follow the Bushido’s philosophy.
I wanted him to commit suicide in the end, just like betrayed samurais do.
Even if the plot was lacking some points, I still think that this drama proved once again that Kamenashi is actually a pretty good character.
Maybe Yameneko reminded me a bit to much of god Yato from Noragami manga but still it was a good watch.

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starts promising but ends as trash

Honestly, by the end, I was hoping for a bitter end to the relationship and the male lead character to find happiness with some blonde :P in the states.

They dragged the story too long, should have been a maximum of 20 episodes. Stupid people like the female lead character does not exist in the world. The ending was complete garbage. The writer really screwed the female lead character, unbelievable that they got back together without an intense apology or dubiqi from the female lead character. The fact that the female lead character says she was not at fault for neglecting her bf, pissed me off even more.

The scriptwriter probably doesn't have regular relationships or any relationships (sorry for the direct hit, but I'm pissed). I get that this is a drama but a little resemblance of real relationships are necessary, I really want to trash on the scriptwriter for making me hate the female character and ruining the whole series. $#%$#$!%$#^*&%%^@$%!@%$#%!#%

rating dropped from 8 to a 5... should give it a minus 5 but I liked the cast and especially the male lead's acting.

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TWs/Some disturbing things in the movie: abuse (specifically on women), drowning

(I watched this movie a few nights ago and this is my first review so it might be a bit rusty! I apologise if it isn't very helpful.......)

GOOD:
- Story: The sci fi/futuristic elements of this movie are great. Once the crime/mystery is revealed, it twists and can get quite confusing (that's why I liked it!). The ending wraps it quite well and although there are some things left open, I don't think they were necessary to answer.
- Characters: The 'good' guys are relatively likeable, but this movie goes in all sorts of directions so you will feel a lot of things. And as for character development, it was decent for the leads.
- Acting: Some of the best I've seen. Emotion is expressed really well particularly at the extremes.
- Music: Goes well with each scene, although not very memorable but it worked with the emotion.
- Visuals: I'm all for wonderful CG and special effects, and this movie did it very well.

NOT SO GOOD:
- Story: Uncomfortable and disturbing during some scenes (as mentioned in the TWs!). The pacing felt a bit off and rushed towards the end. Storyline might be a bit predictable... especially if you're a fan of the genre like me!
- Characters: As mentioned, watching the definite bad guys doing the things they do..... ....was uncomfortable.... but necessary for the story...

REWATCH: I don't tend to rewatch anything I've seen once unless I loved it, and because of the disturbing scenes it is very unlikely that I'll be watching this again.

OVERALL: 8/10. Enjoyable for most of it. But please don't watch this if you feel like you might get triggered!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I haven't seen the prequel to this movie! Yet it seemed to act fine on it's own, so I don't think you need to see it if you haven't

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To be honest it's a sweet slow pace drama enjoy every moment not just the main story.

First of all i am not a professional at this. So , I'm just gonna share my personal thoughts.
It is slow paced sweet drama . Every moment of this drama strengthen the main story or the bond between the main leads. It really creates moments which can be felt from depth. Happiness, sadness, comedy and romance are balanced in perfect harmony. It lets you feel every moment with different feelings. While watching this drama it lets you to get connected to all the characters which was really enjoyable.
OST in this drama is really soothing and very pleasant to ears. It's OST alone can make you feel at ease. If you have an average patience level with an interest in romance dramas i recommend this to you.

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Great show!

Once in awhile there’s a show really captivates the audience. Last time I had this feeling I was watching nirvana in fire. Although different end goals both have great actors, production etc.
I really enjoyed this drama. Prob one of the few I didn’t feel the need to skip scenes and episodes. The story might move slower than most ppl want but it captivates the viewer with smart comedic scenes etc. The story is also complicated in order to fully explain and accomplish Ling buyi goals there needed to be that many arcs. Each puzzle piece slowly getting put together resulting in a beautiful masterpiece

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Delightful, heartwarming family drama!

Rare find of a well produced, beautifully portrayed kdrama that spans three generations! The story evolves around the people in a tiny township and how they come together to make a profit by consolidating their land and their lives. The drama touches many aspects, situations and issues that each and everyone can relate to in terms of divorce, adoption, misunderstandings, generation gap, city & country living. The well cast young actors are brillant! Byung-do outshined the group and wise grandpa held the reins mediating work and family issues.
I am surprised with the low viewage. This is a really great drama for the whole family!

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Success then Failure.....what next?

First off, I'd start by saying this drama pulls at your heart-strings and really opens your eyes to certain things we as fans would want/like to turn a blind eye to. At the end of each episode, my heart breaks more and more for K-pop idols/soloists and every other artist. Yes! This drama has some funny laughable moments, but it also has its serious, heartbreaking, tear-jerking heavy topics moments where you can't help but either cry or get really upset.
There were moments when as a viewer, I'd be screaming at Je Na to just give up on L and Hyun Ji and just focus on the members who actually are show they care. Then I realize that everyone copes with failure and that sense of not being able to amount to something in a different way. Watching this drama, as a member of the K-pop fandom, it has given me a new perspective. I always thought I was empathetic enough toward idols; but this show has made me realize that I'm far from it.

First of it dives into what it's like to live as a failure after dedicating almost half of your life toward a dream that thousands of others are fighting for a chance to get. It then dives into how you try to fight to break out of the box you've been 'put' in after not becoming the success you and countless others dreamed of. While facing a company who's ready to give up on you, people always reminding you that you've failed and you can never make it back on top, your fans abandoning you and members on a verge of a breakdown because...let's face it the light at the end of the tunnel is basically non-existent. It really conveys the pain, struggle, pressure etc.. every idol has to face/go through. For those that end up becoming failed forgotten idols and those on the verge of or have already disbanded, the feeling that you have to live with always questioning whether or not wasting your prime on chasing a dream that seems futile was worth it. And to those that do make it in the harsh world of K-pop. the sense of loss when you question who the real you is and whether you're doing this because you love it, or that sense of passion has vanished and is now replaced with obligation because it feels as if your life isn't really yours to live anymore.

This drama has given me a new found appreciation for all idols out there, and help me as a fan to see them as humans and not some 'merchandise' that's solely created for my entertainment.

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I must say that i am proud that i finished the 1998 version of "Sawan Biang" without any translation at all,starring the real-life married couple Brook Danuporn as the notorious Anti-hero/villain Kawee Worawat and Kob Suvanant as the headstrong Narin.Having also wathed the 2008 version starring Ken & Anne,i also compared both versions a lot and it was easy to pick a favourite one. The 2008 version clearly seals the deal since its one of my top 10 most favourite lakhorn ever...but i still like the natural flowing performances from Brook and Kob and thewhole cast-they did a terrific job!

I absolutely LOVEEEE the story of "Sawan Biang" (wish i also could read the novel)and its main-characters.I remember the 2008 version starting my addiction of lakhorns years ago and i haven`t been cured since.This older version have a different kind of directing.It has this gloomy and gothic element to it with a much depressing but also hauntingly beautiful OST.It doesn`t shy away from showing how flawed all the characters are and how much of a broken victim Narin becomes-in a almost stronger way than in the 2008 version.Brook`s performance as Kawee started off really strong in the earlier episodes,he have this swaggy but cold introduction when he enters his step-mothers funeral.He is a hateful creature,but seems to be empty of loneliness at times.Ken`s characterization of Kawee had a added charm of sexual innuendo,whereas Brook`s version of Kawee simply ozzes with barbaric shallowness with no empathy at all.More so with the way he brutally rapes Narin-how that scene made me uncomfortable and how awful it was to see how it almost broke Narin`s soul.It made it even more horrible because Kawee had never kidnapped her in this version but had calculatedly planned to rape her-and in doing that he drugged all the servants so that no one would help her.THAT IS A MONSTER!Narin was the one person who always stood toe to toe against Kawee and considered him dirt beneath her feet-because she knew what a cold-hearted monster he was from her first sight of him.I hate what she had to go through..and i hate it even more that she got together with him in the end.I also don`t like how friendly Kawee got with Leela near the end since Kawee in the 2008 version would rather cut his hand off than ever sincerely smile at Leela-HE DESPISED HER THAT MUCH even when they had a truce!Well this seems to be the case of if Narin is happy-then we all are happy!

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A MEH Love Story

I was attracted to this drama because of the good rating (8.6 as I write this) and fairly good reviews. I completed the whole drama but I’m left totally underwhelmed.

The drama started out quite interesting and fun but after the first five to ten episodes, the drama watered down a lot and was quite slow with nothing much going on.

This drama is essentially a long-drawn love affair between the leads and it is long. This drama could have been done in 2/3 of its length. Nothing exciting really happens. It comes across as a fairly childish drama with close to zero plot.

For me, an 8/10 and up means that the drama is good and should be watched. For this drama, I only give it a 7/10 because the two leads are cute. They are good-looking and have somewhat good chemistry. Apart from this point, the other actors and actresses aren’t really good at their craft. The plot is dull. The songs are forgettable.

My verdict - spend your time on another (better) drama.

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A fun drama with romance, comedy and a heart.

This is an entertaining drama with romance, comedy and heart-touching moments. The story as well as the chemistry between Zhang Han and Zhao Li Ying get better and better as the story moves along, there is good character development, and it has enough romantic/swoon-worthy scenes to make you root for the main couple. There were some characters that caused conflicts for the main couple, but they're not over-the-top, and there were no drawn-out misunderstandings. It has a solid supporting cast, such as Shan Shan’s best friend and cousin, and Feng Teng’s family and close circle. One thing this drama has plenty of, is Shan Shan’s internal monologue. While these internal conversations were often humorous, sometimes it became too much that I wanted her to just say her thoughts out loud.

There were a few plot lines that didn't seem realistic or seemed exaggerated, but the overall flow and storyline were well-executed. The ending is nicely wrapped up for everyone, and my only complaint is the last scene, which seemed to have been filmed at the same time as an earlier scene in the drama (Shan Shan's clothes in the last scene were different from the previous scene, but both scenes were supposed to happen on the same night), thus taking some points away from the overall impact. The OST is good, and my favorite is the opening theme song, “Wind’s Promise”, sung by Zhang Han. As a whole, this drama is an enjoyable watch for me.

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Disappointed

I watched this show because of the good reviews but was sorely disappointed. First 10 episode was good, then slowly it went downhill. The ML is so selfish and uses people without qualms. He lies so many times and FL keeps forgiving him. Reminds me of some who can’t break away from toxic relationships. A man trying to marry a girl he fancies by lying and manipulating is just unacceptable. ML said, SYL must not die, anyone can die but not her. What about the father and sister, whose lives depended on Su Xuan recovering? And he lets his father die for ‘greater good’? After the scene where he convinces Emperor Ai (harmless guy) to commit suicide, I lost all interest but continued watching for the supporting characters. I liked Wen Si Yuan and Yin Chang Ge and looked forward to watching their scenes more than the main leads. Then Yin Chang Ge was killed off, which was totally unnecessary. The romance between Yin Chang Ge and Jiang Er was not even believable. Two teenagers who spent a little time together decided to get married? They looked so awkward together. And why did Jiang Er gave him the poison? Shouldn't she wish him to live well? I'll never understand the selfishness shown as love in this show. Overall, only the lighting and music was good, everything else was just average.

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A Messy Time Travel Story That's Pretty Fun

With a title that invokes invokes 90s fare like "Timecop" or "Sudden Death", Time Renegades is not quite the sci-fi/action B-movie of Jean Claude Van Damme's career peak (but its got that spirit, for sure).

Butterfly Effect time travel lay the crux of the film's narrative, which follows a music teacher from the 80s and a detective in the year 2015, attempting to prevent the deaths of 49 students and several women.

Like "Timecop", both characters are driven to save a woman they care about from (certain) death, but the story isn't so predictable that you'll be counting the story beats in chronological order as they come along, but they kinda come out of left field most of the time.

I think the most surprising thing about the story is that the detective actually admits to dreaming about the past like it's the most natural thing in the world, and none of his co-workers call him 'crazy' or 'psycho' (as you do in this genre). They just kinda say, "That's weird, but okay", and go about their day.

Like most K-dramas that introduce a serial killer element into their plot, the writing goes hard on the melodrama (to the detriment of the film), and the villain comes off as unintentionally comedic as the actor mugs, shrieks, and widens their eyes to communicate the character's madness.

The film's tone flip-flops between deadly serious and sustained bouts of comedy (mostly performed by Lee Jin-Wook), all of which is sandwiched between schmaltzy romance and conversations about reincarnation.

"Time Renegades" is a good time for the most part. It's time travel aspect isn't overly flashy, certainly makes a mess of its story (and to such a degree the time travel aspect is really treated like a get-out-of-jail-free card), but the performances are solid, and I think (sans the ending) the story is worth your time.

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