Reviews

Why did it feel like a comedy?

Something about pathetic people thinking they are "all that" makes me laugh. I don’t think I ever laughed so much watching a film focused on so much murder, blood, gore and all the other awful things you can think of.

While I was rather entertained watching, this was not enough content for an over 2 hours movie, especially since this had less depth than a puddle. And there was some good potential, don’t get me wrong. Better writing could make it into some solid psychological thriller.

The thing I enjoyed the most about the movie was how amazingly sloppy Bayu was in ALL aspects of his life. Nomura Shuhei was not much better, but some practice made him deal with issues just slightly better.

The performances were good. Kitamura Kazuki’s english delivery was so exaggerated, it added to how hilarious the whole movie was. Loved Oka Antara and his portrayal of Bayu.

I did like some directing choices, especially the opening kill and the plastic bag shots. The last scene gave me a low budget bollywood, and it was the cherry on top I needed.

Overall, I had fun, I would have liked it more if it was shorter by at least 20 minutes.

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If you're looking for a soft, fluffy movie to enjoy, this is it. The OTP is really cute and the way the relationship grows is lovely. Their acting was also good, especially the male lead. As for the female lead, I was a tiny bit disturbed at a certain scene, but other than that, her acting was cute.
I liked the satisfying cooking scenes, they really did entertain me. I also liked that there wasn't an active antagonist in this, it was just about character growth and that was all.
It's a light rom-com worth a watch if you're not looking for something that hardcore or dramatic.

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Action series

Great show lots of action and suspense, acting very good. A bit slow in the middle. Some good fighting scenes and some not so realistic car chases and bullet scenes.
If you are an action oriented person watch this series.
I usually watch a few episodes at a time, but this one popped in my Netflix preview and I clicked on it. After watching the first episode i was hooked as the story is intriguing. Did binge watch this series it's worth it.


Spoiler:
Where or when is second series, the cliffhanger at the end indicates a second season. With so many unanswered questions the second season is required.

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Hold on, this may be long! I'm sorry!

I can honestly say that this is one of the most intense, dramatic, surreal shows I have ever watched; Japanese, South Korean, or otherwise! When I heard about this show, I was immediately attracted because of the genre (forensics/police/crime/etc..) but I didn't want to watch it so soon because I wanted to watch this show based on its story and not be biased because of the popularity of its cast since the genre is one of my favorites. I am so glad I waited for the first wave of hype to die down because I was not disappointed at all!

The fact that this show is a police/forensic/medical/crime/etc... show is what drew me in but that was only halfway, of course, the other half was because I had faith in (this may sound hypocritical) the cast selected: Nishikido Ryo, Araki Yuko, Yamazaki Shigenori, Sasai Eisuke, Koyuki, Funakoshi Eiichiro, and the multitude of extremely talented guests. However, do not let the cast fool you! The real gem of this show is, in fact, the story alone!

Yes, everyone involved with this show did an outstanding, superb, exceptional job from work on the set, to directing, to portraying their characters, and so much more. Not one moment of this show is wasted in any way, shape or form. The amount of hard work, respect, talent, and genuine love for the show was so strong that it pulled me to continue watching and I binge-watched the entire show in one day.

To me, this show did seem to be lacking something, but to be honest I could never put my finger on it and once I finished watching I completely forgot what it could have possibly been. Each episode slowly but surely lays the trail of the finale, if you blink you may miss something important. There were episodes where I thought I could predict the outcome, but I was completely wrong; this goes for the final episode, too! I could never have thought of, nor have I ever seen, a drama/tv show/movie/play/book that had this shows genuinely honest and raw intensity.

If you pass on this show just because of a few comments/reviews or because you don't like a certain actor/actress then you are missing out on a once in a life time story.

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The 2nd ML (character) is a DISGUSTING WORM

Kang U-IL character is so disgusting. Someone sink this punchable worm like the Titanic. He should have had so many sexual harassment complaints filed against him. STOP TOUCHING YOUR EMPLOYEES INAPPROPRIATELY!

By ep. 7, the writers/director are trying to make the viewers pity this creep. I was previously on the fence as to whether he was truly bad or just came off that way, but he has since then put the nail in his coffin already.

He's sitting here with sad music playing, crying over 2 drawings. Drawing #1: A drawing given to him by a lady he ruined the life of (He said she came onto him, of all disgusting things, and on top of that, when she killed herself, he only cared about how it would affect his image. This episode was nail in coffin). Drawing #2: A drawing made by the dead lady's younger sister, who he is currently hitting on (she doesn't know he's involved so has a crush on him - gag). Eugh! Eugh!
The previews then show ML and Wormy actively competing for the FL. Save me.

By the end of the final episode, the writers/director, whoever, tried to do a 180 on him. ML basically begs him to come back to work and even tries to leave him the company. Like, seriously?! And then, they're like, "It's okay! Root for him and his relationship - that should no longer be b/c he's a slimy cheater who used his position of power to sexually intimidate employees!" I felt like I was being brainwashed. Stop trying to make us forget all the horrible things he's done!

It'd be one thing if the writers/directors portrayed the SA as a bad thing & him as a bad character, but they don't. And that's my issue. They just attempt to gloss over every bad thing he's done like it never happened, like he doesn't sexually harass his female employees. Like he's not partially responsible for that one girl's death. All because he's the ML's best friend & dates the ML's sister.

TLDR: They keep trying to make you like him. By the last episode, they act like nothing bad he did ever happened and want you to go "aww" and root for his rebuilt friendship and new relationship. Everybody is laughing and playing together but despite the writers/director's efforts, they could not brain wash me into forgetting what he had done in episodes prior.

Music was cute/decent. Main couple was decently cute.

Also, the ML is NOT shy. He has a social phobia & severe social anxiety. Enjoyed ML character.

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JUST GO WATCH IT DON'T HAVE ANY DOUBTS

Started this thinking that it will be another normal cdrama and told myself to just watch one episode but i watched the whole series in one go so i am a little bit ashamed of myself.

The first episode is bound to get you hooked it just pulls you in yk, and it also hooks you by wanting you to find out what exactly will happen

So it starts off with this girl waking up in a bus and then the bus explodes and then she wakes up again and pulls this guy along with her into the time loop and they both work together to find out how to stop the bus from exploding

It was just super duper amazing i usually get bored with timeloop dramas but this was wow i didnt even get bored every passenger had their own story and the director and scriptwriter made sure to show them all

I wasn't expecting a romance out of this but then when they hugged each other out of fear damn i had to expect it, their chemistry is insane

It's just a really really great watch and the acting was spectacular they showed the frustration the fear the anxiousness all so well

Best cdrama i've watched hands down

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Run for your life, run for the money

What an hidden gem!!!

If you're looking for a really quick and fun watch then I'd HIGHLY recommend this. It's one of the most thrilling and entertaining competition shows I've seen in a while. I already rewatched it and I almost never rewatch anything.

The main "plot" is a group of 30 celebrity contestants who must outrun the Hunters, which are "androids" sent to tag them. Each passing second adds more yen to the total. Once you're tagged, you lose your chance at earning any money. Eventually various challenges are set up.

I really really loved the challenges and the dynamics between the contestants. I wasn't familiar with most of them, but they all brought their own charm to it (even the not so nice ones). I adore Marin Honda now. The challenges were all intense and creative. These brought about a more psychological approach to such a physical game. Adding in aspects like betrayal, teamwork, strength, and endurance. There's certainly a level of strategy and tact to this game as well.

The show was very tense. On my rewatch, I watched with my sister. She barely watches Asian media, but she kept screaming at the TV for them to run away. I've actually never seen her so into a show like that. Being chased by someone is already terrifying in of itself. But being chased by the Hunters??? That's an entirely different story. I just know that I would never survive with a dressed up man barreling full speed towards me. TERRIFYING.

But yeah, would highly recommend anyone in need of an exciting, quick weekend watch. I'd suggest watching with someone else too because it's just so fun to scream with someone else. Also if you're wondering: Minho is fantastic in this. I'm sure many are interested in this because of him and you will NOT be disappointed.

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Love story started from an eraser?

Not even a single kissing scene, but it will surely make you fall in love. Aoki was the cueeetesst in the world(I'm 100% confident about that) I can't even find any actors this much cute. This series helped me a lot to reduce my stress and made me smile whenever i watch aoki. Infact all the actors were really cute to the point that, we can't take our eyes off from them. There friendship, love, relationship everything was ON. And the songs, both the songs were amazing.( Don't forget to watch the snowman ost from utub) Ida and aoki had a really good chemistry and that makes this more fun to watch.

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I found it very intriguing this movie, it most definitely captured my attention in the beginning with the concepts of gay being taboo and the 'gay camps' and how it secretly related to our main actors. I wish it spent more time drawing the emotional ties to the main character because as soon as Phop ran away from home the time-lapse jumped to him being a grown man with a woman whom he was dating and having a job at his old school. Now that I've finished the movie I understand what that section of the movie was alluding to but it felt like I was watching an entirely different movie, the grown Phop was an amazing actor but it just seemed like it completely abandoned the story in the beginning. I loved the idea of Dew being reincarnated into the actor Lui even though she is a minor in high school and the physical barrier that separates them is legally enforced, regardless of who Lui is psychologically and emotionally. Overall it was a good movie, one of those movies that have you waiting until the end to understand everything.

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I liked the story...
it's about the struggle of a pregnant woman to raise her child after being dumped by her "brilliant, well-educated boyfriend" for another rich woman....
her paths meet with those of a young single dad who is the illegitimate son of a rich man & he was dumped by his wife too for being poor...
their fight for their children was really impressive & the acting was great...
it's the only thing that had Choi Phillip as the lead and he did great job...
I didn't notice the music and it's really long to re-watch, it's also hard to find...still was worth watching ^^

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Come for the food porn, come for the Off-Gun magic, but not much else sparkles here

Cooking Crush was a steady series. Steady, but also safe. Starting with the casting, the story, and the characters, Cooking Crush evinces a startling shortfall in artistic ambition. You, the veteran viewer of innumerable prior BL series, have seen this sort of tale before. Continuing with the writing, directing, and editing, Cooking Crush likewise innovates no fresh way of conveying a BL storyline. You, the veteran viewer of innumerable prior BL series, have witnessed countless episodes that look, sound, and feel like these episodes look, sound, and feel. While the ingredients may lack freshness, the recipe cooks up a final product that surehandedly delivers solid, dependable BL comfort food. That is to say, if you crave plain, simple fare that still hits the spot, Cooking Crush suffices for that purpose. If you hoped for a BL meal thatmight deliver something special, memorable, or different, then Cooking Crush will not be to your taste.

The series marks the return to BL of the hallowed Off-Gun pairing, veritable Pillars of BL Shipping. Their previous project, Not Me (2021), featured dark themes and a level of social criticism atypical of BL fare. That series impressed viewers with its depth and complexity despite the bleak tone and socially conscious messaging. Reportedly by request of the actors, this new project aimed far lower, and the result is an utterly conventional BL. The series will most likely satisfy BL fans in search of a reliably sweet, romantic story, one told without any of the social criticism or genre blending that have become commonplace in recent years. Cooking Crush is very much a BL series in the mold of pre-2020 BL productions. Perhaps that is all it ever needed to be to be considered a success. By contrast, it will not much satisfy BL fans desperate to see the genre evolve.

Cooking Crush is not a bad series. Lukewarm praise? Surely yes; yet, that tepid analysis is more than can be said of several other recent series released by formula-factory GMMTV. If Cooking Crush delivers no significant highs, it also avoids any significant lows. It just plods along in predictable blandness until the requisite 12 episodes have been counted down. En route it delivered sweet moments and dramatic moments. It had a main couple and a side couple. It had pesky parents and supportive parents. Its supporting cast offered familiar favorites and a charming newcomer. It avoided the hyper-dramatic penultimate curse episode (hallelujah!) and likewise avoided any huge, gaping holes in story logic (glory hallelujah!). Given the dizzying illogic some of those more overtly ambitious recent series foisted on viewers in search of compelling plot twists, I choose to regard the absence of ambitious plotting as a virtue. A simple story needs no great leaps in logic! And sometimes, simple is all we need. Mind you, this story was so insubstantial I doubt the story framework offered sufficient space for plot holes to form. Ambition in plotting was traded for safety in plotting. Unsurprisingly, given the studio’s reliance on formulaic storytelling, but few scenes or episodes exuded natural progression of human relationships. Characters start to feel attracted to each other because the storyboard says it is time for that "twist." The plot just moves along in a way that always seemed calculated—sweetness, followed by tension, followed by a fresh dose of redemptive sweetness. Cooking Crush was manufactured as a star vehicle for the Pillars heading the cast, and the story felt manufactured to win audience approval. There’s nothing wrong with that. But there’s nothing exciting with that either. The series was conceived to be a safe project for all involved. It delivered exactly that—BL comfort food. And absolutely, positively nothing more than that.

Off and Gun continue to manifest tremendous chemistry. (Fans of this ship absolutely should enjoy the series.) But in some ways, I don’t think their prior history helped this production. They are almost too comfortable with one another. The series never cultivated any palpable sexual tension, in part because we viewers are so accustomed to seeing Off and Gun together. The pairing of Doc and Chef seemed inevitable, just as soon as sufficient numbers of sponsor products had been placed on screen. By design, Cooking Crush was never intended to challenge the actors' performative skills the way their prior pairing had; yet, the blandness of this script may have overcompensated. Off and Gun are always engaging, and their bonhomie draws the viewer into the cozy warmth of the narrative. Still, in Cooking Crush the actors seem to glide through their scenes by relying on muscle memory rather than inspiration. To be fair, the flatness of the script, which crafted familiar, monotonous character types patterned from an overused and worn-out template, offered the duo precious little opportunity to demonstrate any growth in their craft. Nevertheless, I depart Cooking Crush with a firm sense that perhaps the time has come when the Off-Gun pairing has reached a point of diminishing returns.

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This drama could look like a melo, but it isn't. It could have the most predictable plot, but it doesn't. This is everything but what it looks like! This is why it is worth watching.

This is more of a romantic comedy with melodrama aspects rather than a real melo. It has a lot of funny moments and characters, and a lot of plot twists. The story was nothing new but just when you think things got better or worse, something else happens, but it doesn't turn out like you imagined. The writer was very good at overturning situations and destroy old kdrama cliques we were fed up to roll our eyes at. It literally happened the unpredictable, and this is what makes a kdrama enjoyable. The main couple had a lot of adorable moments that made me like them a lot. If you like romcoms, this has a few RC moments and believe me, even if you don't like heart transplant dramas, this is nothing like usual. Everything about it is addressed and given an explanation.

The cast is excellent. I loved both leads and the secondary characters. Jung Kyung Ho was awesome as Kang Min Ho and he shifted from a heartess man to an eccentric and cute teddy bear in the span of a few episodes. His character will definitely be one of my favorites ever. Kim So Yeon played an 'iron lady' character, which is her best kind of role. She was very good at it and her chemistry with the male lead was spot on. The second male lead Yoon Hyun Min also had a surprising role of an evil man with greed. It really looked like he hated the male lead, when truthfully they are best friends in real life! Literally one of the few evil characters who did anything to get his way, somehow I applaud him because of his desperation.

I loved the music as well. The main theme Paradise by Davink caught me at the first listen and I still listen to the OST now.

I would definitely rewatch this several times, so you should watch it too! I assure you won't lose your time. :)

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