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Story
Oscar-winning story! It is about the tale of 1 Former-Exo Tao and 101 girls competing. You can watch Tao "amazing" hosting skills, which include half-assed praises, confusing monologues, and untimely comments.
As the story progresses, you start to see alliances: the foreign group, the 25 & older group, the girls that stayed on for no reasons, the popular girls who have slightly above-average capabilities...
Acting/Cast
I do not know you would call them actors, but they were entertaining! Each contestant is hand carved for their role. When you watch this show you have to keep in mind these people were chosen for their talents.
Music
The music inspired me! I now truly believe even me, who get 10% on the tone-deaf test, can become a singer. My bar for music has altered, I now praise any singer who knows when to start singing a song.
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Conclusion
For reference, I actually heavily enjoyed the show, watching it every week and voting almost every single day (as a female college student). The show had a handful of good singers and like 3 good songs.
In addition to the show itself, I highly recommend watching the ?? ??101 showcase, which truly displays the top 22 talents! In the end, my ultimate bias became the sound crew! Pick the sound crew!
This show lets you believe you can do anything if you set your mind to, as long as your face is above-average.
- Love, someone who was heavily addicted to the show for no reason!
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This review may contain spoilers
A MUST WATCH! Very wholesome drama that keeps me wanting for more!
This drama is that good that makes me decide to create an account to rate and give a review for it. A very wholesome drama that's filled with teamwork, friendship, romance and comedy! 🥰If you're into esports romance, this one is for you!
This is a light, hilarious and sweet drama, if you're into that, this is for you! Love all the cps chemistry though! The music for this drama is so good, I can't help but keep it on repeat.
One thing about this drama was at first, the updates are really slow. Was really really looking forward to more episodes but we got to wait for it. This was the first-ever drama that made me anticipate future episodes. Sadly, this season has come to an end :( Hoping that there will be a second season for it!
Let's just say the teammates teasing of Lu Sicheng and Tong Yao was really funny af, it was one of the things that I look forward to more in the future episodes and let's say I'm not disappointed! Lu Sicheng keep teasing and being mean to Tong Yao those scenes are too sweet and funny at the same time, he is just one hard on the inside but a softie on the inside for Tong Yao!
Love that they did show more gameplay in the future episodes, I find the gameplay portions pretty interesting.
I would say that the story is really good, all scenarios in the drama happen for a reason which is to give characters developments. Love how there's no break-up with the main cp, most of the dramas I watched there will be break up and that's kind of clichés for me.
I like how this drama covered different life aspects like relationships, friendships and teamwork. There were some team conflicts but I liked how they tried to sort out their differences especially how Tong Yao made Cheng ge realized that they're all a team and even though he may be the leader, they can go through difficulties together as one. Love the way they showed the different friendships in the drama. This drama portrayed characters of different personalities of characters, passions of youths and also on the cruelty of the reality regarding online and fans toxic kind of behaviour which many celebrities faced in today's society.
Comedy wise, there are too many funny scenes in the drama. Too many puns, Fatty's reactions, ZGDX teammates reactions, Tong Yao and Lu Yue's immature bickering and Lu Sicheng and Tong Yao's bickering as well- I LOVE IT!
I don't get what's with the controversy with this drama and the 2.9 rating on the Chinese website Douban. Despite that, i think this is a really good drama. Even though there's much hate on the drama in china but at the end of the day it's a drama, don't take things too seriously is just for entertainment purposes. Not everyone has the same preferences in dramas, I may love this drama but some may not. But it's still a great journey for me with this drama, with the endless waiting and the anticipations for the new episodes. Hope y'all will give this drama much love, it deserved it!
Definitely strongly recommended to watch it! This is one drama that shows different things in life aspects like relationships, friendships and teamwork. This has become my top no.1 drama as for now, rewatch value is 10 for me.
Well, looks like see you next year <3 (HOPEFULLY!)
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This review may contain spoilers
Some comparisons between the novel and the drama
I don't hardly ever write reviews, but I really love this drama. So much so I went and read the novel (I can understand about 90%), and then watched the drama again (okay maybe even twice more!) Just wanted to point out a few things...Beware lots and lots of spoilers so don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled.
- Lots of reviewers didn't like the second half of the drama because they like the ML's personality in the first half more. In fact I think his personality remains quite consistent, it's just how he actions his thoughts and feelings that had changed, and in fact the drama has stuck true to the novel. In the novel ML does become a lot more assertive and dominating in actions (in fact even more so in the novel than portrayed in the drama IMHO) Throughout the story ML is quit rigid and likes things a certain way (his autism traits), it's just that in the first half in the drama he was lacking in self confidence because of his challenged vision, preferring to withdraw and felt unable to assert himself. In the second half his business dealings (and in the drama his new ability to see) gave him the confidence to act on this thoughts and feelings. Even though his actions changed I felt he stayed true to character.
- I think Evan Lin actually did an amazing job as our ML. He conveyed the tortured emotions as well as the confused first love and then the dominating boyfriend all quite well without making it cliched. I could see the layers of emotions as the ML grew through the drama. I already feel the drama has toned down the ML"s character quite a bit to make it more palatable as a drama. In the novel he smoked and drank A LOT and was even more forceful. In fact at times the narrative called him a "Bo Guan" which is a term for "violent/forceful dictator" usually used for a king/emperor.
- The scene where ML steals a kiss from FL whilst she was asleep made quite a few viewers unhappy. In the novel he actually goes a bit further, tries to taker her top off but stops himself in time, which is why he stomps off and splashes cold water on his face whilst he admonishes himself for his bad actions in the bathroom.
-Ditto the scene where he comes out of the shower in a robe and they make jokes about it falling down. In the novel he was half naked only with a towel around his waist. Remember in the novel his is still visually impaired so he can't see his towel. They joke back and forth about the towel falling and the FL says "she has seen him in less" and embarasses his secretary.
- The resolution of FL's hallucinations of conversations with her friend was not very clear in the drama. In the novel the FL is quite heavily pregnant and is presumptively in premature labour , her waters burst and ML rushes her to hospital. (In the drama where she was getting tummy pains whilst ML's scandal broke) She becomes unconscious as she is wheeled into ? surgery. That's when she sees her friend who says good bye to her, that now FL has her husband and baby she won't be needed any more. FL asks if she will see her again and her friend answers "probably not" and FL wakes, which in the drama is where ML grabs her hand as she wakes up.
- The relationship with between the ML and his step mum is also only alluded to but not explicitly clarified in the drama. They were presumably in some sort of a relationship before she married his father. FL finds this out from her the senior braodcaster woman she works with at the station, who in the novel also likes the ML. This is one of the major factor that causes the ML and FL to break up. FL is really quite jealous of ML's step mum and is a big point that was stopping her from getting back with him, because she felt that she would always come second to her. The scene where she gets drunk and hugs the beer bottle like a baby, in the book she questions if ML likes "her" better, and the reason why she makes him say "you only love me". When the scandal broke about ML being the mysterious lyricist there were also rumours about him having an illicit affair with his step mum which is why they were swamped by journalists.
- On second watch of the drama you get to pick up little things that make you appreciate the production team even more. When he becomes the CEO, the ML always has one single white rose in a vase on his desk. This alludes to the one single white rose he gives the FL, even when she thinks he should be romantic and give her a large bouquet. The MP3 the ML listens to, with all the songs and memories of her reading to him, is an old style airpod, and in line with that it always has the wired headphones attached, whereas when he listens to her radio show on his phone he is shown to be wearing airpods. The lyrics to the songs ML writes are also perfect, especially the one he writes just after she leaves him.
Despite the differences I've pointed out the drama team did an amazing job sticking to the plot and feel of the drama. I found the secondary couple a bit boring and the FL's mum hard to watch sometimes, but this is the only drama I have ever given a 10 to on MDL. Thanks for reading!
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NO SPOILERS . Is it stockholm syndrom or can love bloom from overcoming hardship together?
The story : On his quest for revenge, Wei Zhao crosses paths with Jiang Ci, who spoils every plans he makes.However, getting to know each other they are drawn to one another.
First of all, when I saw how Male Lead treated Female Lead, I could not help but wondering if Female Lead suffered from stockholm syndrom ? How can she fall for someone who harmed her like that ?
Then, as the story progressed I understood that those two share a special / unspeakable bond.
They managed to find love and had a great chemistry in the middle of such dire situations. And this, in it-self is a challenge.
ML and FL still brought me with them as I witnessed their slowburn romance, full of attraction, riddles, subtile messages, amorous glares...
So as much as I was shocked by ML at first and also feared for FL's life, I was rooting for Wei Zhao and Jiang Ci's love in the end.
Pros :
- Smart countryside Female Lead .
- Smart high ranking court officer, Male Lead.
- Good action scenes.
- Mortal Enemies to lovers trope. Male Lead's killing spree goes far, as he is aiming at Female Lead and that's surprising.
- Great acting.
- Great revenge quest for the hero whose kingdom's population was slaughtered and enslaved.
- The plot is complex. That's a good thing because it is promising and can surprise the viewer. At times your blood might boil for witnessing injustices. But this is proof of a good story.
- Very emotional topics are dealt with : genocide, slavery, fight for survival, conspiracy, rebellion, human trafficking...
- Sprinkle of romance, which I think is great because the emotional and political story make the romance more endearing.
- Well written script filled with symbolism and duality (every plot point faces its opposite) : slavery/freedom, conceal /show, belitteling/praising... So you can have different level of understanding of the narrative because the writer thinks that you are smart enough to piece them together. I like that.
Cons :
- As the drama aired, I thought is was one of the last performances of Jeremy Tsui as a Second Male Lead before retirement. I was sad ?! And hope to see him again. Good news, he is coming back to acting. My wish was granted, I am very happy. He is such a great actor.
- Sadistic assassin Male Lead who supresses his emotions and live like a machine. That's a Red Flag.
- There are some glitches in the CGI. For example here : they stopped the CGI before finishing the scene (^_^) I laughed so much o_O
Are they saving money on CGI budget ? This is weird to see the raw images with subtitles.
https://postimg.cc/Z0WqXVqy
Overall this is a good show : I laughed, I was afraid, relieved... until the very last minutes. The ending was a climax.
It was the most satisfying ending to me, it did justice to the drama and it was also very realistic. I could always dream of a season 2 with an alternate ending that would have sparked even more conspiracies than this one. But the writers did justice to the story of a hero. And I liked it.
Highly rewatchable because there is hidden meaning everywhere, you will discover new clues and symbols at every rewatch.
If you like enemies to lovers stories with intelligent leads, this is for you.
The songs of the OST fit the story perfectly : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PngeJrUTSVo
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Characters here are never out of tricks
And finally a great female lead that stands out unique to other female characters strongly…The female protagonist here Mu Wan Qing (acted by Jingyi Zhang) suggests them ideas, shows bravery when needed & do not hesitates to help or take risks to get something. She's cool, gives answers to insults, not your typical crybaby. Male lead & second male lead are there to help her but she isn't a burden on anyone. She knows many languages, is hardworking & knowledgeable not only for problems in life but also in business. The way she deals with her evil step sister is so pleasing to see like originally female leads must be sobbing in some corner but this female lead makes that evil one cry instead. The way she supports Xuan Lin unconditionally is also amazing.
Male lead — Tan Xuan Lin (played by Chen Xing Xu) is also a good character. He is always cool, fun & cracking jokes. Even when situation is complicated, he has the time to joke around & bicker with other leads. But the deeper part is that he has an emotional side too. He has his own reasons & rules. He is quite intelligent too as he tackels his problems in the best way possible. His relationship with his sister is adorable.
Another Male lead — Xu Guang Yao (played by Evan Lin) my poor boy Evan, it's just his second work as an actor & he has been really acting so well but why you gave him a second lead role. Poor him T_T… then this character Xu Guang Yao is a righteous man who doesn't know much to play tricks but he's still intelligent. He is like the definition of Nice male lead. He's caring, kind & protective towards our female lead, Wan Qing… he has 2 best friends who try their best to support him. I liked their bond too.
The positive part of this drama is that though there's a lot of politics but it's not so boring, I was actually enjoying people tricking each other like that. Every character is important, has their own background story & are clever. No one accepts defeat easily & comes back with new ideas. Overall, the drama gets more interesting as we go ahead… well, everyone wants to save their position but who will save the people? That's a nice point presented here…
MUSIC / OSTs
♪Eyes like star♪ — by Si Nan (the lyrics is beautiful, so is the voice and music. Soothing & slow… it's the opening theme song)
♪Clearly know♪ — Cai Yisheng (I liked this song too)
♪Horse ride♪ — Zhang He Xuan (this is the ending theme song)
♪Your promise♪ — Dai Yutong
♪Swaying♪ — Liu
Rewatch value… No, I am not rewatching this again. Well, I am not a frequent rewatcher and It's kinda lengthy so… though I enjoyed it, its a one time watch drama only.
TO CONCLUDE… it's a 9.5 out of 10 overall. There's politics for getting power, good supporting roles who keep us entertained throughout. Interesting characters with their own story & stuffs to deal with & how the leads make their bond more stronger while sorting out the complications is what the story is about.
Reasonable characters knitting a wonderful story…!!
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?????
this film has many problems, perhaps some viewers (mainly men) did not notice. the fact that Rei during the film says that she lost her virginity only at the age of 29 and that she had a relationship with a woman, there was probably sex in him too, as if her virginity was intact just because she hadn't had sex with men, that it is a view mostly present in men. another thing that bothered me a lot was Rei having quoted and thinking that she could only "complete" Nanae sexually if she had a penis, extremely nonsense. the obsession that Rei felt for Nanae doesn’t make sense either, killing someone who didn’t keep in touch for 10 years and who NEVER showed an affective interest in her .... in fact, during the entire film Nanae only showed romantic interest in Rei last 15 minutes of film, the most beautiful scene in the film is just one of the final scenes where Rei is in the cabin with Nanae and they talk about the past. the sex scenes in the movie are very long, I had to stop the movie several times because I couldn't stand watching it without saying that Rei spends half the movie fucking men even though she always says it is LESBIC, the scene she has with the taxi driver seems that was introduced in the film just to perform sexual fetish of the men who watched it, it does not make sense and there is no plausible explanation of the reason for the sex, at first I thought it was for money, but when the man offered money to Rei, her face makes us think the opposite. Nanae clearly uses Rei's feelings for her own benefit, it gets disgusting, and it seems that Rei's only life goal was to have sex with Nanae ... Rei knew that Nanae used her and left it just to keep her close, that it is noticeable when Nanae said that she called the police for Rei to surrender and Rei did not question whether it was a joke or not, she simply knew that Nanae was capable of doing such a thing! hitting a woman who suffered domestic violence? ..... this film is problematic in so many ways .... it is two hours of film made only for men to satisfy their fetishes, a lot of boobs, a lot of nudity, although the movie " The Handmaiden "also having sex and nudity scenes is completely different from this: the handmaiden scenes are more artistic and visibly beautiful, while in" She "it looks like porn.If you want to watch a good LGBT-themed film see "The Handmaiden" this is a true masterpiece.
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I am not rating this an 8 to balance poor reviews. I really liked it.
There are a few qualities to this show that I think are special, and I'll put it in list form to respect your time.1. There are no toxic female characters. In fact the female character is very strong. She handles getting dumped like a boss.
2. The lead is openly and unselfconsciously gay from the start.
3. There are no manufactured crises thrown in for drama. The drama is all in the interaction between the characters. Although a real life crisis in the form of COVID torpedoes the ship and they needed to patch it up as best they could.
4. While there are screeching predatory trans characters, They're only in the first two episodes then disappear forever. I assume the producer sent back the script with a note to add more screeching predatory trans characters "because that's how it's done", and the writer hoped he wouldn't read the revised version past the opening eps.
5. No fem shaming. When there are screeching trans characters, the attractive boys are polite to them, and there doesn't appear to be any opprobrium attached to femininity.
6. People actually communicate when they have problems and conflicts, and they talk things through and find a way to forgive and remain friends. There's a character that likes another, then finds out the guy was in a secret relationship with someone else. The character's reaction was "If I had known, I wouldn't have burdened anyone with unwanted attention." I almost choked to death on a cookie when he said that. Nobody ever acts like an adult in these situations. Or, two guys are dating, a third boy that one of the couple knows walks by and there's a brief and awkward conversation. The other boy in the couple can tell there's something between them so he asks, and the first one tells him the full truth that he's a guy he used to have a crush on. I almost choked to death on another cookie. The usual formula would mandate a lie which is soon discovered followed by insane jealousy, sulking, and a montage of good times spent together with a sappy ballade blaring. The new bf is happy the explanation is so harmless and that's it. The exception to the authenticity of conversations is that people don't seem terribly curious about the god that lives in their house - I might have some questions about god life, and god friends & stuff.
7. Absolutely zero seme/uke dynamic - just two guys. It's so refreshing that they don't pigeonhole the characters.
8. No tropes. (a couple of them, but limited) No accidental kisses, no "I'm not gay, I only love one single guy (forever)", no agonizing over liking a man, no parents agonizing over their son liking a man, no falling so their faces end up too close together and they stare at each until they turn gay (it does happen once, but it's subversive), no evil girlfriend, no insane jealousy over their gay bf talking to a woman. Actually, there's almost no jealousy at all.
8. There are NO ENGINEERS.
9. Plenty of cuteness.
10. The main character has a certain something. Sort of an effortless manliness while still being boyish. He's a good actor - not a huge range, but he does what he does well, and he's never cringey. He also looks unusually good with his shirt off. He's a reserved character, but when he needs affection, he's adorable. And he has a moment of romantic aggression that's very wow.
11. It's not completely predictable. There is no possible way you could predict how it ends unless you read spoilers or have superpowers. Even the beginning parts - you think it's going to go a certain way, then you realize it's not, but it makes sense how it went.
12. When he's feeling heartbroken, Tae does something that a normal person might do, and has a normal-person reaction afterwards.
13. There's some funny use of classical music, especially Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King.
The bad qualities:
1. The production is average. Better than most low-budget series, but not to the standards of the mainline shows.
2. The acting is uneven. One of the main characters is good, a few of the other characters are good, but overall pretty meh. Cupid is such a naive doofus that he's charming and cute, but not a lot going on in the acting. He's not the same actor that was in the initial promos, so something went wrong somewhere.
3. The directing is not too good. It's fine for scenery, and it's clear the Chiang Mai chamber of commerce is a sponsor of the show, and maybe the tourism board, because there is a LOT of time spent walking around and going into random stores. But they also visit temples, which are interesting. You learn how to ff through things that bore you.
4. The subtitles are OK, but maybe take more effort to read than they should. It's not a dealbreaker, and it's 10 times better than So Much In Love, where I never did come to understand why the principal wanted to destroy a volleyball team.
5. Editing is not great. There are scenes that are too long.
6. The first episode is bad. They're lucky that many people stayed with the series. Confessing my shallowness, there's a good fifteen minutes of the main character showering and walking around in a towel, or I might have dropped it.
Not exactly a bad quality, but if you watch it, it's better to be prepared, You can skip this section if you want to just be surprised:
This was filmed some time ago, and was interrupted by COVID in a major way. It was originally supposed to be 10 eps, not 12, and sure enough, the main crisis happens in Ep 8, and then "poof!" They resumed production months later, and apparently a lot of actors were unavailable, so they had to make some big adjustments. They way they resolved the problem will not be to everyone's taste. As it was airing, some people were upset, but other people thought it was much better than before.
The acting and the production are better in the last four eps. The main character's hair is a lot different, but I liked it. He also wears more flattering clothes and it's a bit of a shirtless goldmine. A new character joins the cast who is super-cute and a good actor, with a lot of charm - he won most people over. The ending is not what you were expecting when you started watching, but it does actually fit perfectly into the story. This series is about the main character finding his soulmate, and there are suspects that aren't really viable and what the production chose to do gave it a lovely human quality.
Recommendation
So do I recommend it? Definitely, with some caveats. If you don't like it by the third or fourth ep, you probably won't enjoy it, but if that's the case, you can abandon it and move on to Ep 9, because the last 4 eps will make sense as a stand-alone romance that is sweet and special. But Ep 1 is pretty bad, so you have to look past that if you want to give it a chance. The people who liked this REALLY liked it - I've bonded with some fans over it. To me, Tae is gorgeous - not just his body, his face, those beauty marks, lips, personality, everything. In the last 4 eps you'll probably see it, due to the changes in his appearance. And I'll be 100% honest - I know that 1,000 Stars is roughly 100 times better than this show, but I looked forward to this more, because it just has a unique pleasant quality and 1,000 Stars stresses me out.
There are really wonderful and unique elements in this show, and if the next production by this company can fit them together in a more expert way, they could have a top-tier series.
Explanation of Ratings
Story: The plot doesn't deserve a 7, but the avoidance of tropes and the skillful post-COVID shift were impressive.
Acting: It's heavily focused on Tae, who is good & there's a good actor in the last 4 eps. Otherwise I would have rated it lower.
Music: Generally standard, a couple of good moments here and there that stood out.
Rewatch Value: I've rewatched a lot of scenes, so I gave it a high score.
Overall: The ratings suggest a 7.5, but I gave it an 8 because I liked it so much - that it drew me in and made me happy is a good thing.
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All of the acting was good. I will just point out a few things. Love him or hate him (I happen to love him), Lee Seung Gi can kiss. I had no idea that Go Ah Ra that plays Na Jung in Reply 1994 was the same person as Eu Soo Sun. She just shot up the ranks of actress that I like. I love Cha Seung Won's dorky characters. He is just too cute. Is Jeong Dong Hwan going to play freakishly scary characters in every drama from now on? He seriously gives me the creeps when he does that smile. BBBRRR!!!
The music is appropriate and sometimes funny.
I will rewatch this at some point. I'm tempted to rewatch it right now. Seriously.
I highly recommend this drama.
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Let's start with the main couple, handsome Hoon Nam and Jung Eum. I'm used to having mixed feelings about Hwang Jung Eum's performance, but I thought matching her in a romcom with Nam Goong Min would be awesome! I was a fan of Can You Hear My Heart , so it's nice to see these two reunited as co-leads. I will admit that Goong Min hasn't been the romantic lead in a drama that has impressed me yet, I prefer his darker side, so maybe this isn't all Jung Eum's fault. Either way, their chemistry started off great, building up to romance pretty quickly, but then their story became incredibly boring. She would get hurt and stare blankly into space. He would do his weird smile to charm her into taking him back. Then insert flashbacks, silly side characters, and obnoxious product placements, and that is literally the whole show.
There is one saving grace for this whole drama and that is Choi Tae Joon as Jun Soo. He deserved his own spin-off show, he was so good! He definitely justifies second lead syndrome. His character was the only character I really cared about at all.
The rest of the cast is mostly silly, annoying, cliché, and unnecessary. Besides Jung Eum's dad, and maybe her supervisor, I was completely uninterested in their stories. You know it's bad when seeing what the supervisor would wear with that ugly jacket started to become the highlight of the show. The couples looking for love had such superficial stories that insulted my intelligence more than it made me laugh. Maybe I don't get Korean humor sometimes, but some of the moments that were supposed to be funny felt too corny, and even sometimes mean. The coach/best friend and cousin, had way too much screen time (The Coach was also the worst friend). Susie and Jun Soo didn't have enough screentime together (I was hoping they would distract me from the boring lead couple, but their story went nowhere)
I would talk more about what went wrong with this plot, but it was so forgettable, I have a hard time remembering everything I hated.
The soundtrack is pretty cute, but every time I heard "Slowly, Slowly..." I was reminded of how much of my time was being wasted by stubbornly watching this drama until the end.
So was watching the end worth it? NO! They basically forced a bunch of the characters together for a random event, and tried to give some characters "closure", but it's hard to have a clean ending to a drama that is such a random mess. Would I watch this again? Bahahahahahaaa! No Thanks. I'll pass.
Obviously I would not recommend this one. Some of you will watch it anyway, but heed my warning. I went from not being able to wait for the next episode to not caring that it was finally over. If I skipped the last 8-10 episodes I would have missed nothing important. Yes, It's THAT boring.
But if you really like commercials, watch all the inventive product placement moments, which made me laugh the most... like that app, which I clearly need to download. Sigh... I gotta learn how to drop dramas more often!
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It’s a total disaster
As a longtime fan of Omniscient Reader, I had hopes for this movie, but it really let me down. This movie was honestly painful to sit through. It completely disrespects the source material — major plot changes, wrong character portrayals, and decisions that make absolutely no sense if you know the original story. The creators clearly cared more about using big-name actors for hype than staying true to what made the novel great.The pacing is chaotic, with too many plot holes and zero emotional buildup. It feels more like a cash-grab than a real adaptation. If you haven’t read the novel, you’ll be confused. If you have, you’ll just be angry. Nothing about this feels faithful, and calling it “creative liberty” is a joke.
Visually, it might look okay, but that’s about the only thing going for it. Everything else? A disaster.
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1
1"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, STAR-CROSSED LOVERS- ME & YOU"
2 INDIVIDUALS, 3 LIFE TIMES, 10000 YEAR.ITS THE STORY OF angst, love, pain, miscommunication, jealousy, sadness, sacrifice, helplessness, and betrayal.
IT THE STORY OF EMOTIONS, DESTINY and FATE!!!
We have heard of enemies to lover but have you heard of star crossed lovers?
Imagine the universe bringing them together but also throwing them apart!!!
"SHE WAS BORN SO HE COULD DIE"
HONESTLY, NO one should be reading a review to watch it.
People should watch it and decide if its worth it, cuz i know once you start watching episode 1 you will be hooked like an addict!!!
WHERE DO I START?? This drama is one of the best drama made in the history of C-drama, dare i say the best xianxia!
The CGI is TOP CLASS, it screams money and beauty. The plot is just crazy, it full of angst, literally never a dull moment. The music is not repetitive and a collection of many OST, the main OST grows on you as the episodes pass. The cinematography and camera angle are AMAZING.
It is fast paced but its not rushing. I love the pacing, less filler scene and cringe moment. For the first time watching a C-drama i never once cringed in second hand embarrassment. IT'S STRAIGHT PLOT.
The starting and ending credits on start of each episode are so beautiful that I don't skip them, those are one of the best intro i have ever seen.
The costumes, jewellery , hairstyles are amazinggg!!! I MEAN they look like a million bucks!! YOU CAN SEE THE MONEY.
The fight scenes SLAP YOU on your face, they are insane. You can see the work and dedication in them. But the craziest thing is that LYX did them all on his own without a body double.
ACTING/ACTORS-
When a character either make you want to KILL them or SAVE them from the world it means the ACTORS are outdoing themself!! Here each and every actor may it be the main leads or a simple maid has done such exceptional job in portraying their characters, you actually connect to the emotions of the story.
PSYCHOTIC, RUTHLESS, COLD-BLOODED, EMOTIONLESS, UNHINGED, PITIFUL AND SINFULLY INSANE, that's what our MALE LEAD is!!
TANTAI JIN is not your common ML that changes in blink of a eye as soon as the female character comes into the play.
HE IS EVIL. He was born evil. YOU KNOW IT, HE KNOWS IT but you can't stop loving him and defending him.
We see him go from an bullied and tortured individual to the DEMON GOD/GOD OF WAR/KING OF JING/SECTOR BROTHER everyone FEAR and ADMIRE, we see his journey.
You see and understand why he is like that. THEY [the world] made him like that, they sowed the seeds if their doom in form of Tantai jin. They made the DEMON GOD by their action. THEY digged their own grave and they were the one lying into it!!
I had hoped they don't whitewash his evilness!!! I know it was nearly impossible to show him as evil as in the novel but i wanted them to keep his origin as much as they could with censorship and all, AND THEY DID!!! THEY MADE HIM UNAPOLOGETIC, not unhinged but still the perfect amount of evil.
There's just something believably sinister, unhinge, creepy and scary about him.
Tantai jin is soooo creepy!!! I can't explain in but the way that man looks, moves his body, flickering his hands and speaks is soo strangely different, still you cant stop watching him. His face changes from innocently handsome to creepy af handsome in SECONDS according to his mood.
AND OMG HIS SMIRKS AND SMILES WHEN HE LOOKS AT THE 'Female lead' OR IS 'PLANNING MURDER' make me fall on my knees.
Some scenes when i watch them I get the feeling like I'm watching a gothic horror.
Even SUSU is not your common FL. She's not helpless, it's so refreshing to actually have a strong female lead in a xianxia!!! At some incidents you will find her too CRUEL for the things she does to the ML and you won't like it but at the end of the day you get her, she is doing that from the world and even for him to an extend. God, her actions pissed me off so much but you know how it has always been.
LYX I HAIL YOU SIR. YOU WERE INSANE FOR DOING THIS!!
LYX changes his personality in a blink. He literally played 4 characters [THE ANCIENT DEVIL GOD, MINGYE, TANTAIJIN, CANGJIU MIN]and you can differentiate those character by the way they speak and carry themselves. There is something about LYX voice, its so soft but goes soo well with his characters. And for once i thank the universe that they didn't dub his voice which makes it even better!! LYX was made for this role OR i should say this role was made for LYX. His fight sequences, his smirks, his eyebrow raise will make you week.
I am on my knees of that man.🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️
LEO LUO x BAI LU-
LYX and BL CHEMISTRY IS CHEMISTRYING. I swear you can't move your eyes off them. The eye contact they have, the touches they steal, the kissed they share, the intimate scenes they slay. the mocking glances they send each other, the way they see each other make you SCREAM!!! Their CHEMISTRY is CHEMISTRY-ING.
THE OTHER MAIN LEADS-
I am not actually very interested in the 2nd CP, the 2nd FL is just so bland and evil. Watchers on MDL called nicknamed her BITCH-ang [you will know why and get it when u watch it].
Honestly i literally wanted to skip their scenes. The 2nd FL is sooo frustrating that i wanna shout and scream and punch. The 2nd ML suffers from HERO COMPLEX and has a thing for evil damsel in distress.
But holy hell the 3rd CP has me on my toes!!! The demon fox is a freaking seductress. She screams seduction in every action she does, may it be talking or fighting or seducing!! Our poor 3rd ML didn't have any chance.
THE ONLY NEGATIVE THING-
Firstly it will be the makeup in some of the closeup scene in earlier episodes. Due to the high camera quality you find it cakey.
Secondly due to the new censorship they had to make a 56 episode drama into 40 episode so sometimes the editing seem choppy [though honestly it wont matter].
OVERALL, THIS DRAMA IS WORTH YOUR EVERY HOUR, EVERY MINUTE AND EVERY SECOND!!!
It may not be perfect but its definitely the best out there.
I laughed. I cried. I got angry. I got sad. I mourned.
LAST EPISODE HAD ME SOBBING. UGLY CRYING IS TOO SMALL A WORD TO SAY WHAT I FELT. This series is a masterpiece.
"It all started with tantaijin and it all ended with him"- BAILU, A BTS INTERVIEW.
NOW I UNDERSTOOD WHY THE TITLE WAS-
"Until the end of the moon".
[TANTAI JIN=🌕]
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This review may contain spoilers
the disappointment meter is broken
7 years.... of love?the title must be a joke because i did not see much of the development of the main couple's relationship.
when i thought season 1 was bad, this was just sad to watch. after seven years of being together, one picture of their gay partner and a woman somehow set alarming signals for type's side. instead of being mature and talk to tharn about it, he takes it upon himself to sAve tHe dAy. oh don't get me started with the misogynistic remarks type made and the tiresome bl line that was rearranged but still means the same thing.
where is the trust in this relationship?
definitely not in episode 10 when tharn gets hella pissed because type supposedly kiSsEd fiat when it's so evident type pushed the guy away? again, i ask: WHERE is the TRUST in this relationship?
after seven whole years, both of these grown ass men can't sit down and talk on how to fix the flaws in their relationship.
now... you may think: this can't get any worse, right?
you're in for a surprise because it can get worse! type, a whole grown ass person literally thought it's a good idea to kidnap fiat and threaten to break his leg. am i watching a romance drama or a thriller drama?
i couldn't find myself rooting for leo and fiat because of how unlikeable fiat's character was. the writer failed to give us any proper backstory of why we should root for fiat. yes, his father left him when he was a kid and so leo took him in but what else is there? your past trauma doesn't mean you can be an A+ asshole.
leo could've been a tolerable character but it frustrated me to see him continuously forgive fiat's actions even though he knew damn well it's not right. it was so annoying to see him take fiat back in when he should've left him be. episode 11 was just sO bad with us being clowned with the whole "i aCtUaLLy loVeD yoU tHe wHole tiMe" and leo actually agreeing to type's idiotic plan from episode 10.
what's more disappointing is that this could've been a story with focus on tharn and type figuring about each other's remaining insecurities, finding ways to understand each other and also an explanation on why type refused on marrying tharn. put aside the multiple couples, filler scenes of unnecessary characters like the creepy eavesdropping guy and the failed k-idol trainee. instead, show us glimpses of the past seven years (not just from s1) and how much this relationship developed, make us believe that these two were truly together for seven years and also show us actual maturity between these two.
i was willing to watch this second season with a clean slate and no recollection of first season... the final episode looked like the perfect beginning for the drama but sadly, this drama didn't make a redeeming comeback. some scenes of tharntype and other couples being cute were nice but that's about it.
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Fluff, fluff and fluff filled with so much fillers and sprinkled with a few unneeded NC17 scenes.
This is hard to write - there was a lot of hype and i must confess that i fell inlove with the series in its first few episodes that i kinda overlooked all its shortcomings. It has all the elements of a Domundi series - extra rich leading men paired with very young (immature) boys; the extra super cute boys; and the almost obligatory sex scenes. However, through all the sheen and all the beautiful faces, it is an overstretched storytelling aimed to check all the BL boxes and offers nothing really new.
First let me discuss the good things i loved:
1. The very good looking cast - Thomas, o Thomas, where have you been hiding all this time (he actually caught my attention in that ill-fated The Middleman's Love Story but since he was just almost just an extra there i immediately forgot about him) - this series has poised him to be a star. Kong is just adorable. Do i need to mention how cute Por and TeeTee are? And of course Save ang AuAu.
2. Marakot's Babe!
3. If you put your critical thinking hat off, this show can be really enjoyable - Its just light and easy series to watch. And oh, have i mentioned Thomas?
Now the things that i find a little eyerolling:
1. Teerak is just too bubbly of a character for me - almost like he is living in his own Glinda bubble. This very child-like behavior also makes me think that the guy is not ready for a mature relationship -he is like a 13 year old boy wanting to be an adult all of
a sudden. The kiss-me-on-the-hair antic is ok at the beginning but it turned too cringy and borderlined overacting - imagine having a college dude acting like that in real lfe - it can be really really annoying. Plus, that fake girlfriend angle, can you really imagine Teerak having a girlfriend - the dude is a walking flower dashed with a few drops of mist and with its own ray of sunshine. THe girlfriend angle IS SO UNNECESSARY.
2. Can somebody please tell these recent wave of writers that a teenage-looking boy isnt believable as ultra successful CEOs or high level executives? They just arent. Even if you are from a rich family, it takes a certain pedigree and maturity to actually run a company. Muenfah is still just a baby. Somebody in Domundi has a fetish for hot looking young CEOs, i get the appeal, but a line has to be drawn somewhere - and they didnt have to use the same character type in every show.
3. Mike is too good for this role and too out of place in this series - im sorry to say but he looks too old to portray a college student next to the other members of the cast.
4. The school project exhibition. After making Muenfah an impossibly young college student/business owner the series came up with a story line for Teerak that he and his friends are suposed to present (and exhibit) their big big project - only to come up with Teerak's strawberry eating fox figurines in that snow-filled forest (which by the way they didnt even bother to make a snowy background), Joy's crochet keychains, and Punlee's silkscreen printed shirts. Really? They are college stidents and thats all they can come up with? And they passed with flying colors? Muenfah is closing big business deals and thats the arc you come up with for Teerak?
5. With the materials and footage that they had (and lack thereof) they could have compressed it to an 8-episode series and it will still be an enjoyable compact series. If they really needed to make it a 12-episode series they could have elevated the 2 other pairs to secondary lead status because for heavens sake they already casted 3 (or 4) very good looking pairs but did not utilize them all properly. I would have loved to see more of Real-Hia, Babe-Dom, and my babies Punlee-Klaijai (i could have used more of that flirting scene at the coffee shop).
Overall, its an easy series to watch. I would love to see more from these actors in the future, but Domundi has to spend a little bit more money for good script and extensie acting workshops. Will i recommend? A big-fat YES! WIll i rewatch - just to ogle at those cute boys.
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Are you sure you want to watch this drama? Chongmalyo?
Kure.
Then you need a few things: a mind that understands, a heart that feels and loads upon loads of tissue paper.
As any Korean drama, Scent of a Woman starts of with the cliches: an indifferent chaebol (Kang Ji Wook) falls for a poor spinster (Lee Yeon Jae--who looks like she's in desperate need of a make-over) who turns out to have a terminal illness. The supporting male lead (Dr. Cha Eun Suk) has eyes for the heroine but could not confess his feelings, and there's the secondary female lead (Im Sae Kyung) who is a b*tchy daughter of a rich businessman and is arranged to marry the chaebol.
However what makes this drama special is how it successfully weaved its exceptional story to the growth of the characters episode by episode.
Yeon Jae develops a determined outlook in life to fulfill the things she had only dreamed of as a lowly desk employee of a touring agency and starts a bucket list of 20 things she wants to accomplish before she dies of gall bladder cancer. From her meek and docile character she learns how to appreciate herself and live life in search of her happiness. She develops a romantic relationship with Ji Wook and tries to stay away to prevent him from heartache in the future, but soon realizes that his love runs deep.
Kang Ji Wook, for his part, was painted as a mature and understanding person. From the meaningless and routinary life that he led, Ji Wook learns to appreciate life and to live life diligently. For all his worth, Ji Wook became Yeon Jae's pillar of strength and the most stable source of love she is able to draw from.
Secondary contradictions and side-stories also developed well in the drama--this makes for an air-tight storyline, with each side-story supporting the main one. Best parts are Hee Joo and her mom (this convinces Yeon Jae to confess to her mom), Ji Wook and his dad (he fights for his love and the right to be with Yeon Jae), Dr. Cha Eun Suk's character development (from a cold, detached doctor to a person who feels), Yeon Jae's mom and seongsangnim Kim Dong Min (she says sorry and lets her mom re-marry).
Prepare to cry your eyes out by the latter episodes from heartaches. However these heartaches are necessary to drive at resolutions at the end. I found the heaviest part when Yeon Jae finally confesses to her mom of her condition. Her mother's wail, tears and 'Eottoke' lines delivered like she was going crazy drove ME crazy. Interestingly, I felt this was the climax, not scenes with Ji Wook as their reconciliation was resolved earlier.
I could not have asked for a better ending. Like many others I was cringing at the end because I knew from the start that it was a tragedy and death was inevitable. And yet, Scent of a Woman chose not to end with a tragic note. It provided closure to unresolved relations, uplifts us and leaves us with a strong desire to do the same with life. Fighting and living it to the fullest.
Great writing, great cast, awesome soundtrack although I can't say I'd like to watch and go through this pain all over again.
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