Reviews

Plot set-piece driven rather than character-driven

Any story needs to be about characters, and the plot driven by the characters. What I mean by that is that a characters' nature or past trauma, etc. needs to drive how they behave and and react to things. For example, if a character was bitten by a dog as a child, he may have an irrational fear of dogs - and maybe falls in love with a vet. That's organic drama rather than artificial external crises or relying on very implausible misunderstandings, which is one of the laziest sins in writing.

The way characters behave in this series make no emotional sense, because the author wants to get from point A to point B, and so that determines how the characters behave. Points A & B were almost always just tired cliches that were not integrated into the plot and did nothing to advance it but were rather just there to be there. A couple of examples:

- The Past Connection. This appears to be irresistable to BL writers (actually a lot of Asian drama genres) - a past connection between Souta and Mahiro serves no plot purpose - it's just there to be there, and as a result it leads to Souta implausibly not remembering Mahiro, because if he did remember him, that would complicate the plot. And so he doesn't.

- The Restraining Hug Fom Behind. Mahiro thinks Souta is leaving, but it turns out that instead he's staying forever. Does that make him happy? No, he gets upset and tries to leave. Why? Why would that upset him? It wouldn't. But then Souta wouldn't need to grab him from behind to prevent him from leaving.

- The Implausible Misunderstanding. Souta drives four hours from Tokyo and arrives at just the precise moment - it couldn't be one second earlier or one second later or the misunderstanding wouldn't have happened - to see Souta hug his boss, who Souta assumes is Mahiro's boyfriend, despite the fact that he knows them both, the boss has actively encouraged Souta to be with Mahiro, there is zero evidence that they're dating, and it was clear Mahiro was upset, so it is clearly a comforting hug, not a romantic one. But the writer needed to insert the next cliche, and so Souta has to misunderstand, and for no apparent reason decides to become the boyfriend of...

- The Interfering Woman. Ugh. I don't even want to dwell on this, but it chews up an enormous amount of runtime.

The end result is two unrelatable and unpleasant characters who behave inconsistently and are annoying.

The acting is OK. The Souta actor is pretty good, Yutaro is one-note and has no presence or charisma. There is almost no chemistry whatsoever. Mahiro behaves like the wife of an alcoholic in an abusive relationship - he actually recoils from Souta every time they're near each other, and he just looks afraid all the time. Souta manages to express some repressed longing, but it's still not convincing. There is no romantic chemistry between them, and certainly no romance. They barely even touch each other, at least not on purpose.

A positive is it's well-filmed and the setting in the countryside is lovely. Well, Souta gets naked sometimes, and he has a nice body, so there's that, I guess.

Another positive is the Taiwanese store owner, who is an appealing character and causes a plausible (!) misunderstanding when he reads a note that contains kanji characters that mean "former coworker" in Japanese, but mean "ex-lover" in Mandarin, which leads to the series' best comic moment.

Overall this was a total waste of time, and a disappointing squandering of an interesting premise and a strong start. But it goes nowhere, is frustrating to watch, and is way too long for the amount of "plot" in it. I would skip it.

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A simple and ordinary story told with the most imaginative way

 Stories with many plot-twists, complicated storytelling are most of the times what we are looking for because they can easily catch our attention. However, a simple story can be good if it’s done right and in a creative way. That’s the case with “Yumi’s cells”.

“Yumi’s cells” is a romcom but not a common one. It’s a light drama that everyone who loves romcoms can see and enjoy. If you have a bad day, “Yumi’s cells” will bring a smile to your face and brighten up your day. To be fair though, “Yumi’s cells” is not everyone’s cup of tea. The things which make the story enjoyable and unique can also work the other way around. Let’s see what these things are.

The story

 “Yumi’s cells” tells the story of Yumi and her brain cells. Yumi is an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. We are basically seeing Yumi’s love life and her daily struggles. There’s nothing special about Yumi’s life, nothing extreme or mind blowing is going to happen, so why is this story special? Here is where Yumi’s cells come into the picture.

There are plenty of stories where biological functions of the human body were explained as actions of small creatures living inside the human body. These small creatures can be portraying cells, organs, emotions and so on. In Yumi’s cells they are portraying her cells. Through the cells we see Yumi’s thoughts, emotions, habits, how she is making her decisions and literally everything about her character.

The whole philosophy behind cells’ actions is very creative and well written. Cells' thoughts and actions are very natural and spontaneous and it’s quite amazing how the impact of these is working on Yumi. It feels accurate and at some point, very realistic. Thus, the watchers can easily relate with Yumi and feel all kinds of her emotions and understand completely the cause of her actions. Apart from this, there is also a very funny perspective about the cause of many behaviors and also allegories of some body functions that makes the story really funny and enjoyable.
 
The Webtoon

The story is based on a webtoon by the same name, written by Donggeon Lee. The webtoon contains 512 episodes and the original run was from April 1st 2015 to November 13th 2020. The drama’s first season consists of chapters 1 until 206 of the webtoon. As I have read the webtoon, I have to mention some differences that make the drama good or bad at some points.

The storyline hasn’t changed much, the milestones of Yumi’s life are all there. One main difference is that they have cut many scenes from the cells and added more to the humans. That way, the screen time between cells and humans is balanced which is a good thing cause the story focused more to Yumi and not to the cells like the webtoon. They also cut some episodes from webtoon that were fillers. Thus, the story is more fast paced than the webtoon.

However, cutting many scenes is also a problem as it destroys the natural flow of the story. The story is moving way too fast and it doesn’t leave any space for the relationships’ dynamics to develop. That’s why some situations seem a little bit rushed or/and forced.

A personal negative about the cutting scenes is that many of them are my favorite parts of the story. I was excited to watch these particular scenes on the drama but they never appeared so it’s only logical that I was sad and disappointed about it.
 
Another difference is that they reconstructed some scenes by combining two or three different chapters of the webtoon as the please, without chronological order. They also added some extra scenes that haven’t been on the webtoon. This was expected to happen, as it happens all the time with the webtoon adaptations. Some of the episodes that have many changes are 5,6 and 7.

I don’t mind changes, if they don’t affect the story and the characters as much. There is one thing that bothered me, a lot. They made Yumi a liar and that pushed her into very awkward situations, many times and, of course, created unnecessary drama. Yumi is a very honest person and that destroyed her image a lot.
 
 
The production

Making a live action for the Yumi’s cells wasn’t an easy task. That’s because they had to mix live action with animation which is very risky. Fortunately, I think they combined these two genres perfectly. 

As I said before, they cut many scenes from the cells and added more to the humans so there was a balance between the animation and the live action. That way, the watchers didn’t get tired of the animation scenes. The scene transitions between the animation and the live action were also very well executed and discreet which also helped the viewers to get used to the animation. The first two episodes will feel a little off but after them, you will enjoy watching this combination.  

The animation style that has been used is 3D animation. Before watching the drama I had my doubts if the animation would turn out bad or good. After watching the drama though, I can say that the animators have done a very good and detailed job and I was very satisfied with the result. The only reason to dislike the animation I think would be because some people generally don’t like animation or are experts and see all the errors a common eye like mine can’t see.




Overall, Yumi’s Cells is not the romcom we usually get to see in dramaland (especially in kdramas). It had some flaws and I wasn’t fully satisfied with the adaptation but I’m happy that now more people know about this unique story. I hope in the future we will see more romcoms that won’t follow the usual clichés and give us something fresh and beautiful, like Yumi’s Cells did.

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Tragic, epic, visually impressive.

"The Slave Hunters" is a cinematic-style KDrama, almost like a movie for the big screen. (It would definitely be an experience on the big screen.) In any case, "The Slave Hunters" has a lot to offer during ist 24 episodes.

There is strikingly selected staging of the landscape. Korea presents itself self-confident with its countless riverscapes and deltas, its mountains and coastal regions. The viewers visually accompany the protagonists on their long journeys across the country.

The accumulation of well-trained, well-structured torsos of the male actors is also characteristic for "The Slave Hunters". There's a lot of work involved, and it's appropriately staged here in numerous shots. Why not?

In connection with its sporty mimes, "The Slave Hunters" also comes up with a variety of brilliant, sometimes spectacularly choreographed fight scenes. Above all, Jang Hyuk once again sets quite a monument with his versatile martial arts skills.

The KDrama also presents - if you like - some Joseon-style parkour. 'Chase' thus gets a nicely invigorating touch. (Side note, in case you don´t know: Parkour is a special form of athletic movement art - a mostly urban steeplechase that has become fashionable in the last few decades. Individuals choose the most effective way to get to their destination, and that's hardly ever the predetermined path. Rather, the urban or natural landscape is re-perceived with regard to potential obstacles and evaluated as to how these can be creatively overcome on the individually chosen route, for example by jumping, somersaults or the like.)

The KDrama also stresses the subject of fatal love triangle in its complex emotionality. Eventually, there are also more love stories in the side plots. Yet, to be honest, the romance aspect should not be your reason to watch... The complicated dynamics might drive you crazy at times, so does the rigid play of the ex-and-again-general.

After all, the story mixes a good pinch of humor with profound wisdom. Surrounded by all the muscle-packed, fast-paced spectacle, the question of how a just society can be achieved is examined, i. e. whether it can ever be achieved at all. As soon as people gain power, won't they always tend to turn their fellow human beings into slaves, chattel or lackeys? And: will a changed political system change the people? Or do people have to change for the system to change? As a premise it is stressed that slaves are also human beings, e. g. that it actually starts with an attitude, that one should not deny any human being to being a human being - certainly not according to their genetic origin. "Slave Hunters" historically refers to the beginning of socio-critical Yangban movements against practiced slavery.

At the same time, the KDrama shows life under simple/poor living conditions - unembellished in all coarseness, e. g. ugly, blustering, brutal, unkempt and uneducated, but still warm-hearted. On the other hand, the fine silk clothings and the well-groomed, educated demeanor of the nobles and officials cannot hide their emotional coldness and corrupted souls.

All in all: It is not surprising that the KDrama in average thrilled more than 30 percent of the South Korean population and received numerous respectable awards and even international nomination. Above all, Jang Hyuk, for whom his role seems to be tailor-made. He fights, jumps, sprints, barks, laughs, cries, digs into the deepest depths of his soul and on top of that presents profound street smart and wise philosophies.

"The Slave Hunters" has a charm of its own. It´s tragic, epic, visually impressive.




---------------- Side Note: --- historical background ----
The historic frame refers to the time of King Injo in the 17th century as well as his son and Crown Prince Sohyeon. As a result of the submission after the second Manchu invasion in 1636, the Crown Prince (together with his wife and other officials) went to Shenyang practically as a hostage of the Qing. He spent his time there working diplomatically on peaceful relations between the Joseon and Qing dynasties.
His commitment also brought him to Beijing, where he became familiar with Western culture through his acquaintance with Jesuit missionaries. However, his father did not like Sohyeon's diplomatic commitment and open-mindedness at all. He feared that after his return and accession to the throne, he would want to reform Joseon with Catholicism and Western values. Prince Sohyeon's sudden death is interpreted by historians as deliberate poisoning. There is some evidence that his own father was behind this. Sohyeon's wife was executed for treason and only the youngest of his three sons survived their exile on Jejudo.
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Moral Bankruptcy, Bad Wigs, and Surprisingly Good Chemistry

Alright, gather round, chaos enthusiasts. This drama is not for the faint of heart or those who enjoy neatly wrapped moral lessons. The ethics in here are wobbly at best—like a toddler on roller skates—but that’s part of the fun. Each 10-minute episode feels like someone tried to condense three emotional breakdowns and one questionable life choice into a single espresso shot. And you know what? It works. I was hooked, blinking in disbelief but unable to look away.

Now, let’s talk production. The budget? Missing, presumed dead. The emperor’s acting was serving “community theatre villain with unpaid bills.” The OST has been reincarnated more times than the leads, and the wigs… spiritual experience of their own. Yet, somehow, none of this ruins the fun—it just adds flavor.

The leads are a special breed of unhinged. Their dynamic starts off as “toxic fumes and trauma bonding,” then slides into “kinda hot, actually.” The reincarnation twist adds spice: the FL remembers the first life, the ML does not, and together they prove that hate and love are basically just different toppings on the same emotional pizza. Both of them are morally carbonated, fizzing with chaos and guilt, but balanced enough to make you root for them anyway.

By the end, the FL does what most characters in revenge plots forget to do—she heals. She drops the hate, forgives the man who probably deserved to be set on fire at least once, and becomes his biggest cheerleader. Growth, baby. Toxic but touching.

And bro—if these two needed three lifetimes to get it right, how am I supposed to find my happiness in just one?!

In conclusion: it’s a short, chaotic, ethically grey pit stop between your prestige dramas. Expect messy emotions, shaky wigs, and a surprisingly wholesome aftertaste. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Would I question your sanity if you liked it too much? Also yes.

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Weak start, getting better with every episode...

While we are flooded with short KBL mini-series, this is a serious TV production. And it shows. The main actors are already established and even the best friend is a character we have seen in other series as supporting role.

I like scifi and time travel always but I would lie if I would say the script does not have it's flaws. Sadly it has. Especially the color-blindness was not explained at all. Especially WHEN does he have it, is it just an after-effect due to his time travelling or did he had it all the time or did it develop gradually. It has such a prominent role in the story that I don't know WHY it was there. So it irks me still, why it wasn't explained at all. Also the fight between Woojin and his best friend was overly fast resolved without the proper appology. Teajun had the vibe of jealousy which was not done right. It gave me first the impression he is also interested in Woojin in a romantic way but that was just a fleeting moment and imho not necessary.

The cinematography was top notch giving the past and the "now" a different vibe - which it should. Also they did an amazing OST. The only gripe is the overly blurness of their first kiss in the beginning, this was a bit over the top. I disagree with some reviews here saying the did not have chemistry, I think they did. The glances and micro expressions did it for me, without the face to face aural confessions we are so used to. They don't need words to convey their feelings. In the finale Woojin said his smile had a sadness to it and yes, that's what was intended. This was a much more mature storyline compared to most school/university BLs we get to see nowadays which I appreciated.

Regardless of the flaws of the script, I enjoyed the series. It took almost a year after "Ball Boy Tactics" to get a proper KBL on the screen and I appreciated it. So while not perfect, it's worth the watch.

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Anit-BL

What will happened if you realize that you are living in a novel? All of us have dream about it no matter if it’s a BL, Henti, Superhero, etc. But this new show brings a new light of many people, including myself, about the consequences of been in one, especially if you didn’t have any options or power to pick the novel. I honestly was wandering how they will start with this BL, well, antibl. The introduction is very clear with many funny scenes that we are all familiar with. It’s so hilarious that it feels like this show is making fun of how expected things can be in a manga or any bl novel. And we all have thought about it of; how cool would it be if somehow, we get transported to a novel.

We find ourselves following Inukai Atsuhiro (the Mob = extra character in a movie, or any show) in his everyday routine of anitbl and how he strategies in order to fight the world! Yes, it’s him against the BL world.

The most important question that I have about this BL or Anti-Bl is, how is he the only one that knows he is on a BL world?

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Well, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Unfortunately there are two: 1) the re-telling of Tin&Can story with mixed up timelines, and 2) the chemistry between Tin&Can. Well, the re-telling was an odd choice. I’m not bothered by it, but other people are. I have seen many loosing interest in this series because of that reason (and also because Saint isn’t part of the cast). Starting from zero with Tin&Can while showing us Ae crying through 3 whole episodes makes no sense. It’s not like they tried to reboot everything and make a stand-alone series. Also they wasted 6 episodes with the re-telling without providing something new and exciting. Some of the scenes they had to re-act were not as iconic as the original ones. I liked some of the new scenes, but they didn’t change the story at all. It just feels unnecessary. The characters changed a tiny little bit with Tin being more soft and vulnerable and less arrogant and dangerous looking (which also seem to disappoint many) and Can being a bit softer and more mature. But yeah, not a big difference. It's not like in DBK where they changed Kao's character so much he was unrecognizable (I'm still salty about that). So let’s move on to the second elephant: The chemistry between Tin&Can. I thought the chemistry was so great (much better than in s1) and that's why I looked up the actors (what I rarely do). I was surprised to see how close they are in real life. They seem to have personalities that resonate well together and that explains the great chemistry. But this chemistry vanishes completely when they have to kiss. You can feel through the screen how much Plan hates it, and that makes me sad. It’s not like I get some homophobic vibes from him. I highly doubt Plan would do any better in those scenes with a woman. I have seen him kissing a girl in another series (if you can call that a kiss) and it was even worse. He did well in the famous couch kiss at the end of s1, so I really don’t know what’s the issue suddenly. Maybe they shouldn’t cast two guys who are good friends? Watching them kiss makes me rather uncomfortable. Sometimes I prefer to look away, which shouldn’t be the case. It’s not their fault if their „couple“ becomes so popular, but perhaps they should just stop doing those roles when they don’t feel like it. I highly doubt they are so poor that they need the money. That said, I think the director’s decision plays a role too. Kisses were purposely not shown. They didn’t even kiss when they had sex. That’s a first, really. I’m pretty sure I have never seen a bed scene without a kiss. Enough negativity. Despite Plan being the mood killer I have to compliment him for his acting. He has to play the ugly, stupid monkey which isn’t easy and requires some courage. In fact I have never seen a similar character in any other BL series. He is not just there to look handsome, he has to be lively, crazy, cute, funny, sex-hungry (lol). It’s not an easy role and he does a good job. I’m really into the character when he appears on the screen. But yeah, at the end of the day the whole series feels so uninspired. I feel awkward watching it. I giggle like a little girl (like I never did before, I will admit it), I laugh, I shake my head, I feel embarrassed (really embarrassed like I never did before either watching any other BL), I have to look away, I hold my breath – it’s a whole EXPERIENCE. And then I’m sad, because it could be so much better and I know they messed it up. I wish they had done a better job (better writing, better intimate scenes) and I wish more people would love it. I didn't even mention the other couples, because I feel it's a waste of time. They don't have enough screen time, aren't very exciting or they are just toxic. Tin's background story and the issues with his brother aren't well told or well presented. I'm just not a fan of the writer. If not for Mean&Plan who are very charming, I highly doubt I would bother watching this.
EDIT: Since this series ended I have a strange feeling in my gut. For whatever reason I don't want to think about this series anymore (and I will not rewatch it). Hearing about questionable behavior of the cast towards the only gay character in the show (Earth) isn't helping either. This really was a train wreck.

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Wild goose chase.

Ancient conspiracy thrillers are right up my alley so I looked forward to Luoyang with bated breath. This is set in Shendu (now Luoyang), capital of Wu Zetian's Wu Zhou Dynasty (690-705). As the only female emperor in over 5000 years of Chinese history, Wu Zetian remains a controversial figure - an ambitious, usurper whose exceptional intelligence and leadership is only matched by her ruthlessness against anyone in her way, including or especially her own children. She cultivated informers and multiple secret police and spy rings that gathered evidence against her detractors. and maintained a careful balance of power between the important political structures of her administration. This is reflected in the drama in the clear delineation of responsibilities between the Judiciary, Inner Guard and Secret Police (Lianfang). During this time, the Wu clan and Li clan were embroiled in a power struggle which persisted until Wu Zetian intervened and clarified her succession plans. Nonetheless it ended in messy plotting, betrayals and twists that are drama worthy in and of themselves. This is rich fodder for conspiracy plots such as this one.

The drama starts thrillingly with a bold daylight assassination of an informer and his daughter and the ensuing dizzying high speed chase through the streets of Shendu. All three main protagonists mortician Gao Bingzhu, foodie Baili Hongyi and inner guard Wu Shiyue are at the scene and invisible threads from their past pull them together to uncover a much deeper conspiracy that could rock the very foundations of Wu Zetian's empire. Clues emerge that connect seemingly unrelated cases and force the three protagonists to work together, at first reluctantly and with selfish agendas and then with growing mutual respect and trust that blossoms into deep friendships. I most enjoyed the tripartite friendship in the drama and would have liked to see it better explored rather than unnecessary romantic arcs. Huang Xuan nailed it with his cynical yet paradoxically idealistic Gao Bingzhu; whose shrewdness and insight into dark hearts of man does not extend to those he cares for. I also did not see much chemistry between him and Song Qian who impresses with her fight scenes but falters somewhat in her line delivery. Wang Yibo's performance is strong in some aspects but uneven overall with too many scenes where he is clearly unsure what facial expression to wear. This role does not elevate him for me from an actor that I don't mind watching but wouldn't seek out. That said the trio has enough combined chemistry that I am happy to watch them together again. As for Song Yi, she has gotten enough flack and her character was so poorly written that all I will say is this is a role such a wonderful actress should have just passed on.

I did not enjoy the first two episodes of the drama - too much was happening at the same time and the cameraman swung the camera so wildly I thought he was possessed. The action scenes are exciting and well choreographed enough they did not need to artificially augmented by cheap camera tricks. After the psycho camera settles down, the plot unfolds at an intense and exciting pace against a gorgeous backdrop of dazzling sets and with a deluge of colorfully garbed denizens - they must have hijacked and costumed practically every Hengdian tourist as extras on set I have never seen so many people crammed into each scene. My personal favorite set is the Unwelcome Well which looks almost too inviting to be a ghetto. While the costumes and certain props are anachronistic, everything comes together is such a vibrant and captivating panorama that it scarcely matters. This is complemented by well designed side characters that are based on well known historical figures. Hints of their personalities, scandalous affairs and alliances are quite faithful to history and add a nice ambiance to the setting. It set up for intriguing Dumas like plot twists that didn't materialize.

This drama builds to a top-notch, shocking and heartbreaking climax prematurely at episode 20 where both actors delivered standing ovation worthy performances. It achieves that perfect sequence of shock followed immediately by stunned comprehension and acceptance as all the clues rushed to the fore to blindside the viewer to the next unfolding twist. In the second half, the plot visibly loses momentum and digresses into romantic arcs that don't belong in this genre and filler maudlin flashbacks. The writing of the mini-threads in the second half is insipid with excessive gratuitous character implants, many of whom delivered cringe worthy performances.

In hindsight it would have been difficult to top the fantastic mid-drama climax but it is still extremely disappointing for the final reveal to be so bland. The hollow villain that everyone was on to as a bad guy early on but dismissed as too obvious turns out indeed to be the final villain, one that is not worthy of being called a mastermind. Both their motive and end game plot is not well articulated or convincing. Multiple clues and more interesting suspicious characters that don't play out leave me feeling like I went on a wild goose chase. I don't know if they ran out of money or wasted it on too many bodies but there is no sense of peril or excitement in the final showdown. Forget explosions or collapsing buildings, we don't even get one good last fight scene. The final insult is how unfathomably a feather brain like Liu Feng manages to find himself in the right place at the right time to deliver an unnecessary and uncalled for outcome. This is just a misguided attempt to deliver an audience shocker to make up for the nothing burger of a final reveal.

Even though this remains a very entertaining and highly recommended watch, the ending is a big let down that knocks 0.5 off my final rating for the show. I feel that an 8.0 is the best I can give to this show, which is still one of the better c-dramas of the second half of 2021.

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Such a Sweet and Smooth Ride

This is just such a sweet ride... Cotton Candy fluff, with so much sweetness and dimples you just might hurt your cheekbones from smiling...

The drama itself is nothing revolutionary or so... There is no big message there is some drama and angst here and there but it is just enough to keep it from being a too smooth ride. The cinematography is good. And the intro song is as sweet as the drama itself...

The pacing is good, and kept me interested the whole time, the side characters may do some stupid things here and there but are over all lovable with the exception of a jerk but he is supposed to be a jerk so it works out fine. One of the side couples is composed of the male leads uncle and his lover these two are just so sweet understanding, fun and the ultimate bickering couple goals for old age. giving this drama that little extra spark to it... It also has some small trans representation done ok, not great but not badly either.

There are a few small side stories that where left a bit to unexplored but it does not affect the over all impression of this which is just smiles and fluff all around.. As we watch these two very kind men get to know not only each other but also find their place in the world...

or something like that

Some scores:
Bingeabilaty -10
Cuteness -10
Annoying -characters no
Second hand embarrassment- very little
Friendship-10
Family-10

So yes I loved it and hope you will too.

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I didn't expect coming into this drama getting as emotional as I did! From the teasers, I expected a light, comedic drama about forming a band, with a cute romance between Ji Sung and Hyeri. But instead I got an emotional roller-coaster of a drama that revealed the darker side of the Entertainment and Music industry. There were many heartfelt and heart-wrenching moments that actually brought me to tears. I took a break from the drama after the first two episodes because of how slowly they were paced, but I'm glad I decided to pick up the drama again :)

LIKES AND DISLIKES:
For me, the highlight of Entertainer was definitely the bromance between Seok Ho and the 4 boys of the Entertainer Band, especially with Ha Neul. I found it heartwarming to see all the obstacles they faced together in order to pursue their passion of music. The bond between Seok Ho and Ha Neul was very touching. By the end, it felt like the Entertainer Band was a family. I also enjoyed the different character arcs of the 4 members of the band, my favourite being Yeon Soo's (which was very heart-wrenching and emotional).
In general, I liked the realistic portrayal of the Entertainment industry that this drama showed, and the development of the characters throughout the drama- you could genuinely see the amount of growth all the characters went through.
What I disliked was the unnecessary love line between Seok Ho and Geu Rin. I felt little chemistry between their characters, but I blame the writing, not the actors or the age gap between them. Some of their scenes were quite cringey to watch, and I felt like their love line was forced and out of place. I don't really think that Geu Rin's character added anything to the storyline in general. The pacing of the drama was also a problem, but eventually it improved. I didn't mind the 2-episode extension much, and I think the storyline was wrapped up nicely.

ACTING:
The actors portrayed their roles very well, especially since there were a lot of emotional scenes in the drama (a looot of man tears). Ji Sung's acting never disappoints me, and I wasn't surprised when he completely embodied the character he played and brought it to life. I would like to see him in a more complex role in the future, though. I see a lot of acting potential in Kang Min Hyuk and he delivered the emotional scenes surprisingly well. Lee Tae Sun (Na Yeon Soo) is also an actor I will definitely be keeping an eye on. I can't believe this was his first drama role and he was one of my favourite characters.

MUSIC:
I enjoyed the OST's in this drama, and the track I liked the most was A Love Before by Eunji. I wish we got to hear more tracks from the Entertainer Band, but I did like I See You and It's Okay To Cry.

OVERALL:
I wouldn't say that I would watch this drama again, but I did enjoy watching Entertainer every week. It was a very emotional journey full of ups and downs. If you are looking for a drama that is full of heart and full of bromantic moments, this is the drama for you! You might want to bring tissues ;)

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Two-Face of a drama

This drama has two sides/halves. It started off as your regular Campus Romance drama. But after the 9th-10th episode it changed completely. If you watch this drama you will know what I am actually talking about. It's like the second half of the drama is not even written by the same person. The first half of the drama mostly focused on the Romance and Friendship part while the second part of the drama you see our Rookie Cops coming across a psychopath killer. Who is also crazy rich and has power and connections. But the funny thing is that they did justice to both of the parts. The second half of the drama didn't seemed forced and actually makes the story more interesting.

The chemistry between the ML(Kang Daniel) and the FL(Chae Soo Bin) is good not great. Chae Soo Bin was excellent as Go Eun Gang. You can see her years of experience through her acting. I wouldn't comment much on Kang Daniel as this was his debut work and he would only improve in the future. But he too was quite good as Wi Seung Hyun. The bond between our boy gang (Wi Seung Hyun, Kim Tak, Seo Beom Joo, Yoo Dae Il) was quite a sight to watch. Especially the bond between Wi Seung Hyun and Kim Tak. Seo Beom Joo the funny guy added another element to the story. And Shin Ha Ri was so damn cute but selfish. Her jealousy was a sight to behold. I am not worthy enough to comment on Kim Sang Ho (Cha Yoo Gon [Police university professor]). He is just too good.

I still can't believe that the drama that started off all bubbly became a psychopath killer drama. The writers did a great job at writing such an excellent drama. This drama leaves you hanging to the very last episode. You don't know what's going to happen till the very last episode.You need to see it to actually know what unfolds at the very end of the drama. The last episode specially was very touching. And rest assured I am sure you would love every second of this drama. So just go and binge watch it.

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It could have been better... A lot better.

Here limited time isn't the problem but rather than utilizing limited time adding unnecessary events and character becomes the biggest con of the show, which truly disappointed me because it had much potential of being good but in the last, it couldn't become more than just okay okay drama for me.

The historical BL is being unique topic to handle all alone... but adding a love triangle, flashbacks, many unnecessary situations instead of focusing on development between leads surely affected the show in many ways. Another thing I would like to point out that Ki Wan being in the attire of women most of the time. The story could have been better in many ways but it failed thoroughly for me. The ending was rushed and had much room for improvement. There were many unanswered questions that left us hanging.

Though I liked the music it was okay... but other than that everything was truly a failure for me.

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This show made you excited in the beginning, then you wonder halfway "How did they miss the mark?"

Head over Heels is one of those dramas that leaves you asking for so much more. It had a dynamic storyline with something new in every turn. The casting was great all around, and the plot gave such a dopamine hit when reading about it. I even digested and waited till I reviewed this one, simply because it was like a climax dream that you woke up from halfway in.

I’m not entirely sure if it’s because of the westernization of dramas through Netflix or what, but while the story offered a lot, it didn’t deliver enough emotional pull for all the characters, only for the main female lead. It missed the mark when it came to fleshing out the other side characters, and it also left you confused as to why major plot points were introduced at random peaks in the story. It wasn’t like these additions brought a new dynamic that changed the direction; it felt more like, “Well, we only have so many episodes, so let’s just slap this important information here now so viewers won’t be left questioning.”

The drama had so much potential with its story, actors, and viewership. It simply left me feeling like, Damn, this would be so much better as a novel or with a full, well-developed script that included emotional plot points to draw viewers more deeply into the entire story.

Don’t get me wrong—it was okay. But it had so much room to be something truly great. It kinda missed the fullfilment of fans for these drama types, honestly.

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