Reviews

Sisterhood prevails once again, this is a gem worth watching

I never expected to find a gem as good as A Dream of Splendour, but I found a better one. This drama will always have a special place in my heart. I guarantee you it is one of the most beautiful stories you'll come across. I laughed, I cried and I smiled till my face hurt.
I have noticed recently the production of feminist Chinese historical dramas, and I'm glad to see that the standard is being set beautifully. We have passed the age of palace dramas where women kill each other for men. It's time to face reality and call out history for what it really was. It is also time for us to portray women as we are, people who cherish each other and support one another. In the women in this drama, I saw myself, my sisters, my best friends, and my closest confidants. I also saw the strength of familial love and the value of forgiveness. There is much to learn from this drama, and truly I have learned.

This is the story of a group of women who encounter the Yin family of Xin state and how they face many obstacles, and tackle the pressures of society. How they grow, learn, and become better people in life. It is a story about the importance of family and friendship, of sisterhood and brotherhood. It is a story about the virtue of patience, kindness, honesty, and most especially, LOVE. It is a story about empowerment and the fight for a better tomorrow.

This drama brings to light many important feminist themes. The solidarity of women, empowerment, the importance of breaking down the patriarchy, fighting against domestic violence and abuse, as well as tackling the issue of postpartum depression and many other issues women face. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for women then. The drama acts as a parody that mocks the ridiculous rules of ancient times. It also brings in modern themes to show what life could have been like if men removed their heads from their behinds and treated women like human beings.

This drama is what I will call 100% romance, it is not just about the romance of two people, but it is about the love and the bond of family. The drama teaches many important lessons, and I truly appreciate being able to come across this story.
A bonus is that the production quality, setting, costumes, music, themes, and acting are also high quality and impeccable.

This drama is 10000/10, and I hope to rewatch it again in the near future.

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Final thoughts

Between Us is the offshoot story of Until We Meet Again that many have waited for. It's taken almost 3 years to get here, and I think that due to the build-up in people's minds, a lot are disappointed. I only watched UWMA about 9 months ago, so I didn't have as much of a wait as some. Despite that, I honestly liked UWMA more because of the action. Between Us was more introspective, didn't have the mystery elements, and was a much simpler story. And I liked it. Matter of fact, I loved it in many places. It made me laugh out loud. It made me cry. It broke my heart a time or two. Do I think it lived up to the hype? Eh...probably not, even for me. It still wasn't a bad story.

Since this story timeline occurred at the same time as UWMA, there were some scenes that overlapped. Within those scenes, there may or may not have been some minor changes. I didn't mind the changes within the scenes. What I did mind was the change in attitude. It would have been a little more exciting if Win had kept his bad-boy attitude. That didn't stop him from having some bad-boy moments, and I did appreciate his introspection at times. Still, there was somehow a difference in the way Win (or maybe Boun) projected his energy. Even then, I can chalk it up to this being a completely different drama. But I missed that energy.

There were things that people were annoyed with, such as Boun's hair. Due to shooting the scenes out of order, sometimes Boun's dark roots were showing through his blond hair more than other times. This didn't bother me. Santa's hair did bother me, as his then current blond was covered with colored hairspray or something similar, making his hair a distraction from his acting. Luckily it wasn't that way in every episode. And poor Benz needed less makeup and more treatment. Some of us are more naturally prone to acne, but trying to cover it with pancake makeup is not the solution. His skin just looked smothered.

Another thing that people complained about were the side characters. Sorry, but I loved the side characters. All of them. I was sorry to see Sammy's overacting though. She's a better actress than that. I know her character is OTT but I thought her directions should have been to tone it down rather than to ramp it up. But I loved that Pleum still loved her. I also loved the "ABC" gang so much! I'm in the minority in that, but I think they gave us a good break from Team's angst. And the Waan/Tul ending kinda left me with my mouth hanging open...

I love the fact that, although there was a 3-ish year wait, they still went through with the production. Boun and Prem were kept relevant with stages and interviews, v-lives, and even some adorable short (5-8min) Between Us Special episodes that you can catch on YouTube. Those special episodes were the best marketing ploys ever!

Boun and Prem, having been together for so long, have no problems acting together. I think they did a great job with the script. Actually, the only one I who's acting I was actually truly unhappy with was Win's father. I still wish they'd kept the same energy as in UWMA, but overall this wasn't a bad drama. I'm glad to have watched it.

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Summary:
It is not simply a boy loves girl story or even a boy loves boy story. It is a story that is positive about homosexual attraction and transgender identity and sensitive about gender dysphoria if we go beyond the surface.

Full Review:
It's easy for BL fans to be irritated by shows that lure fujoshis and fudanshis with false promises of BL only to disappoint them with what is ultimately just a "boy loves girl who is dressed as boy" story.

The good news: this show is different.

To be sure, there isn't a conventional gay couple in this series, and there is hardly a male/male kissing scene, let alone male/male sex scenes. If these are deal breakers, then the show isn't for you.

However, this isn't a show that toys with the idea of homosexual romance only to disappoint by normalizing heterosexual relationships.

In the story, Love is a girl who is granted a wish but unexpectedly transforms into a guy. She then enrolls in the same school for boys as her crush. If your prediction of the story is the same as mine, it will be: Love's crush then falls in love with her and becomes anxious about why he is turning "gay" but is eventually relieved to realize that he's straight after all because she becomes female again; then happily ever after.

No, that's not what happens. (Thankfully.)

In fact, Love's crush does not fall in love with her. Another male student does. And she falls in love with him too.

Now, you might be thinking: that may be a bit of a twist, but it substitutes the original crush with a different love interest, right?

Well, no. Tangmo, the male student who falls in love with Love (who has transformed into a guy) neither identifies himself as a gay person at first nor exhibits the run-of-the-mill "OMG! Am I becoming gay?" hysterics. Later in the story, he does not shy from *very* publicly admitting that he is in love with a guy and doesn't deny it when he is described as a gay person.

Unlike shows in which the main female character disguises herself as a boy, a twist of fate causes Love's transformation to be permanent unless she manages to get another wish. (The "male" Love is played by a male actor, and it's not a cross-dressing female actor playing the role, so it is not at all like a disguise which can easily be shed.) Which brings us to another dimension of the story: Love still identifies as female but she now has a male body. She does fall in love with Tangmo, but is worried that he would not be able to accept it if she ever gets another wish to transform back into a girl, which is what she wants.

Despite the overall lightheartedness of the story, it sensitively conveys the angst of those with gender dysphoria and how much difference acceptance from others makes. The "male" Love spends a lot of time hiding her gender identity and her agony is clear when she realizes that her transformation has become permanent. But after her male buddies discover her true self, they quite quickly accept her for who she is. She is worried about revealing to her mother that she has become a boy, but her mother is accepting of her child regardless of what the child has become. These situations remind us that it is agonizing enough to be trapped in a body that differs from the gender you identify with, but if people are accepting, you can cope much better.

At the end of the series, Love does not transform back into a girl because she uses the wish she has overcome all odds to get to save Tangmo's life. She confesses to Tangmo that she loves him too, but is worried that he would not love her any more if she becomes female. He assures her that he would love her even if she becomes female again. This is where BL fans may be dissatisfied because, well, Love may have a male body but she still wants to turn into a woman right. Yet, if this is how we think, aren't we being somewhat prejudiced?

There may be a lot of series with better BL storylines (Love Sick, SOTUS, Love by Chance, etc). But, ironically, many of them also portray effeminate and transgender characters negatively. There are not many that convey positive messages about queerness in the way that GMA does.

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I was eagerly waiting for this because I liked both the Lius in the last Dramas I saw of theirs, but this one was confused, badly written and all over the place.

The first problem was the pacing: Only six 40-minute episodes long, NOTHING happened in the first two episodes that advanced the core stories, meaning the last four were super-rushed, and felt like the writers were stuffing things in to tick off a checklist. This was ESPECIALLY noticeable with the OTP. In terms of character and relationship development, They went from zero to horizontal in less time than it takes to type this. By the end of episode, I was seriously thinking of dropping the Drama, and only stuck it out because it was so short.

The development and portrayal of Eugenie Liu's character was bizarre too. She alternated between giggly naive schoolgirl crushing on her idol and foul-mouthed fighting ace with head-spinning rapidity. Never mind that anyone who was so calm and composed when receiving or dispensing violence would not, could not, be as naively starry-eyed as her other half was portrayed. Unless she had a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on.

The bullying agent was a disappointment as well. She came across as one-dimensional, when her back story had potential. As did that of the other lead actress.

I read recently that Netflix's first TW Drama bombed there. If the quality of this second attempt is any guide, I can see why. In summary, the best thing that came out of watching this Drama was the urge to rewatch "The Smile Behind Your Eyes"

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after watching 2moons and 2moons 2, I wanted to watch more BL dramas and this was definitely a really good one I will probably always remember and probably rewatch. I usually don't cry and I honestly did watching this. The storyline was fantastic and the ending was great. I will say it does it a little weird towards the end but a lot of Thai dramas are like that. I would recommend to watch ! I binged watched the whole series in about 2 days and I do not regret it. It's cute, VERY funny, and also heart touching. ***SPOILER ***** I think my favorite scene was when he came out to his mom, I think a lot of people can relate to the scared feeling of coming out to their parents. It was pretty powerful. ****SPOILER ENDING*****. The show has alot of funny parts to it, it is very hard to get bored watching this.

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Very very slow burn revenge

I was drawn to the overall premise. A victim dedicates her whole life and personality to seeking revenge on her high school bullies. You can see the PTSD and long term injuries she faced as a result of the extreme violence, even over 15 years later. And that, is to show just how much of an impact bullying can have on a person, which Korea really should learn by now.

Every episode being less than an hour was a huge blessing, and I sped through the first couple eps. But then, the drama slowed down a lot, more than I am used to. They cut to a different scene often to focus on each of the many characters, but the scenes themselves are boring to watch. This drama is an example of nothing's going on, but actually everything's going on.

The casting bothered me a lot at first. The older version of the male students looked believable, and so did Park Yeon Jin. But Song Hye Ko was an older actress than them, and the age gap was very obvious. The other girls also looked nothing like their past selves. Not a big issue, but just a hindrance if we want more accuracy of the casting. I know Song Hye Ko is suppose to play a cold woman who lost all emotions since the bullying, but her face was literally a stone, outside from the one time she (forcibly) laughed. And there was a lot of forced laughter in this show. On the other hand, I really enjoyed watching Jung Sung Il's performance! He plays a stoic guy as well, but I see sooo much expression with every blink and facial movement he makes.

A lot of parts are still confusing to me, but it's great in getting me ready to watch part 2 of the drama. Also, these comments make it seem like this show is a romance drama with the ships. I wish we talked more about the actual things going on, because this drama is a mess.

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This BL drama just didn’t do it for me. I thought the story itself could have been great, but the way it was executed, it wasn’t. It seemed kind of choppy and all over the place. The acting was fair, and yes the 2 main leads are awesome looking, but that didn’t help the story. A good plot but poorly written. They fell in love when they were young, and were torn apart because of society and family. Met later in life, and the love was re-ignited. Ending was left hanging, now I’m on to part 2. Hopefully it will tie up loose ends left by part 1. I’ll review that after I watch it. Im hopeful...

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Everyone of us is once a Guan YuQing or Xu QingFeng

At first i am really curious about this drama, i saw the trailer and i said to myself, why not?
And boom! I didn't know I'll find a gem in this drama, although at times, ah, no, most of the time, i wanted to punch YuQing's brother and father whenever they "bully" her, but what cna i do? I can't stop watching it.
A drama with lots of romantic scenes that made me feel giddy.. 🥰. Although the leads are not so young anymore, they have this chemistry that can make you feel the love and understanding between two people who have problems in their families. See how the 2 of them fight for their love, solve problems and share the burdens each of them carries in their heart.
Ah, and by the way, this is a family drama, but with alot of romance from the leads. So enjoy!

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I loved the OTP right from the start! I think they portrayed the relationship from step siblings to lovers realistically and I did think they had chemistry! Thanks to a lot of skinship in the beginning ;) They started as very comfortable with each other and overprotective, but clueless of their feelings, to finally realizing they're not only siblings to each other. The show also has one of the best OTP kisses, in my honest opinion! Smoking hot.

Story:
The writer, imo, aimed to show all aspects of love: unrequited love, between family members and friends, best friends to lovers, in marriage, etc. - and was successful. Every character had its motivations and purpose in the show, as well as their own story, which is not always the case - gotta appreciate it. The second female lead was bitchy, but rationally, as in - I know what I want and I will get it, without some makjang, to borrow the word, plots, but frankly saying what she wanted to everyone.
But... certain side stories I found uninteresting, especially in the first part of the show. The story is not packed with a lot of action - yet still manages to convey the confusion and the change the leads experience. The last part of the show was a total soap, which I think could have been avoided, but didn't stop me from enjoying the series! I hate such soapy elements, but was too invested in the OTP story to care, honestly, heh.

Acting/Cast:
I loved the main actress, but the male lead was just competent and failed in some "emotional" scenes. Others were fine, except for the second female lead's father who overacted. A very big surprise was the male lead's boss whom I hated in the beginning, probably because of his story, but whom I loved in the end.

Music:
Excellent! Love the songs and especially appreciated the lyrics in English, very appropriate and picked with the scene in mind!

Rewatch value:
Yes, in a year ;) With fastforwarding through the uninteresting bits with side characters.

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Now this was an interesting one!! OCN you see! Of course not OCN's best drama but a totally enjoyable one. It's quick and strangely addicting.. Too bad it had only 8 episodes. It's an episodic drama where separate crimes are investigated by a 'special' team. The dramas are connected in a well-written way.

The drama present different types of crimes and the motives behind them, showing a humane and sympathetic sides when dealing with the criminals and not judging them blindly. Each episode would give away nuggets of wisdom and political advice. The most interesting part is that the crimes tackled are present day crimes handled in the Joseon era with the old ways and tools.
The topics presented in the mini drama varied. We see traumas, revenge, passion crimes, pedophiles, homosexuality, affairs, people's indifference, psychopaths, usury, theft, private loans, tax evasion, hostages, grudges, nobles tyranny, classes, gisaengs, compassion, obsession, divide and rule, poison, law vs. justice, bullying, parents covering up for their children's crimes, how evil can a person be, education purpose, violence, jealousy, drugs and many others.

It is hilarious to see them use English borrowed words as if they belonged to the era.

Acting is great by everyone. The cinematic effects and music fit perfectly. OCN after all.

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My first court room based kdrama. Like the others I've seen before it, this one dealt with a lot of serious issues. Is it right to go after someone who wronged you and to what extent? Do people become monsters resulting from personal tragedies? Or do they become strong, get over past traumas and become successful? Murder and murderous characters- this one had a serious villain. Even compared to Signal, which dealt with serial killers and other sordid crimes, ICHYV had a major villain whose story lasted all 18 episodes- so you have an episode or two dealing with individual court room cases aside from an overall arc. This worked for me because I like watching episodic series and my anticipation just kept increasing from watching the main conflict get built up.

Also, just like Healer which I've seen before this, ICHYV is refreshingly light hearted despite its serious themes. The interaction between the characters (and not just the main couple) is probably the most heartwarming I've seen. It was pure joy to watch the alternating rivalry and friendship between lawyers Jang Hye Sung (female lead) and Seo Do Yoon, which was based on opposing ideals related to matters of justice as well as a personal event that happened between them as school girls. It was fun to watch Park Soo Ha (male lead) and Cha Gwan Woo compete for Jang Hye Sung's affections, all the while developing a grudging respect for each other despite being rivals in love. Just was well- the side characters were great. The way respected lawyer Shin slowly learned to respect Jang Hye Sung in return despite coming of a bad start, the way Judge Kim behaved in the court room and in the elevator when caught between their bickering...it was a strange thing for me to cry during a tragic event in one episode, then later burst out laughing at some character's antic in the next. Strange, but not unpleasant :D

There was also a supernatural twist here which explains the series title. The male lead can read minds. I expected this sort of thing to detract from the plot but it thankfully didn't. Instead, it enhanced the story -particularly the way the court cases were handled, as well as the character relationships- the ability was never a secret on guy's part, so it was interesting to watch how the couple worked with and around it.

This is my first noona romance and so far, I really enjoyed it. Normally, I prefer pairings where the guy character is a bit older, or if they're the same age...but Park Soo Ha and Jang Hye Sung were adorable, and I love the connection they had with each other and how it helped them face the villain. Whether or not viewers will appreciate it, or see any chemistry between them- the one thing that can't be denied is that all the characters are so likeable that it doesn't matter if the romance works or not.

Another point in this drama's favor is that the female characters are quite strong. They are far from perfect but their flaws make them endearing. I really admired Jang Hye Sung- who is probably now one of my favorite drama heroines. She started off as this grossly irresponsible, messy creature who only cared for money but she later develops into this amazing lawyer who actually cares for her clients and can deliver a most moving speech. Another character I surprisingly liked was Seo Do Yoon. I normally hate her type of character- the selfish type who tries to justify her behavior based on parental issues (in this case, daddy issues) but the way she was written made her actions believable. I don't think the things she did were right...but I could understand why she did them. Did I think she deserved to go unpunished, plot wise? No...but I rooted for her to atone for what she did and get better. In ways, she could even be seen as more interesting than Hye Sung but I won't do the comparison thing here as both ladies were amazing...and they worked great together as well as opposed to one other.

If there's one thing I didn't like about ICHYV it's how I would have approached some of the court cases. I also didn't understand why the sentencing seemed relatively light for heavier crimes (only 10 years for murder??!) Although the lawyers managed to come up with interesting arguments and win when they needed to, I could think up of better ways to address the jury and argue certain things out. But I don't think we ought to expect the intricacies of a Hollywood court drama anyway- the cases here are relatively basic but I think it's because the focus (the focus here and in kdramas in general) has always been on the love story as well as character growth rather than the complexity of crime and the justice system.

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Yes, yes and YES! This drama just knocked it out of the park on every damn level. This ranks up there with shows like Healer and one of my faves. Firstly, the entire cast was just amazing, Park Shin Hye and Lee Jong Suk were perfect, their romance sweet without being too angsty, but mainly they hit all the right notes from start to finish. There were no draggy moments in the show, the pace kept me interested, even in the slower, more poignant moments, I didn't feel like screen time was being wasted. What I loved about what this show did was how the story broke my heart right at the start, and then, bit by bit, put it all back together. Some parts were hard to watch, especially at the start, but the payoff is so wonderful, that it was all worth it. I loved how fleshed out everyone was, not just the main characters. Even our so-called baddies were real people with motive and doubts and guilt (except for one, but sometimes people are just sociopaths). I adored the family dynamics with dad and granddad, and because of the convoluted ties between all of them, the relationship between the leads wasn't just going to be a given, and they realized and respected that without making it into an angst-fest - how refreshing! And then there were the other families, the teams of reporters, their camaraderie and bickering, the central 4 (who I dubbed the scoobie gang) and their seniors - I loved them all. So, while the show put a big grin on my face in the end, I'm so sad to leave these characters, and really, can we please have a sit com just dealing with the antics of newbie reporters to console us?

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I really love to watch a good urban legend based horror movie. Lights Out. Kuchisake-onna. Teke-Teke.

Or at least, I expected Teke-Teke to be somewhat good. The story of a woman's torso going around Japan cutting people in half, and two desperate girls trying to break a curse. It sounds like quite a lot of Asian / Japanese horror movies, but this one has potential. It was based off of one of the most famous Japanese urban legends of all time! This legend was so famous, people use to avoid train stations if they could go with other people after dark. It held districts in fear.

And that fear was exactly what I was looking for within this movie. Maybe it's my own fault for holding so many expectations, many of which were high – but this really didn't do it for me at all.

The acting was relatively well done in most moments when needed, but there were many times it just didn't come through. The characters do something insufferable that sometimes leads to death and you're just left staring at the screen like "Were you born naturally stupid or did you have sections of your brain removed?"
That's part of this that I'm pretty sure I lost IQ points watching. It's generic horror movie dumbness but it seemed even more rampant throughout this and I assume that's down to the characters not being believable as people.

The CGI was painfully to watch, especially as Teke-Teke starts jumping around. It's meant to be tense scenes that have you sat on the edge of your seat, but you just sit there laughing at how purely ridiculous it looks. Now props to the editors and everyone, this did come out in 2009 when CGI wasn't as great – but it was still a degree better than it was in the film and it seriously could have been better.

It's been months since I saw this movie and I can still write a coherent review on how bad it actually was, that's alarming.

Overall, if you're here to watch something scary, give Teke-Teke a skip. However if you're here to watch something comedy, give Teke-Teke a try. They were in the ballpark with this movie, but in the complete wrong state. Comedic in general, not as horrifying and scary as you would think and a bit of a let down to the original urban legend.

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I finished the first season of this just a little after this second season finished airing, but I never did end up watching it for some reason. So here we go, finally!

Story (10.0):
With more than twice the episodes of the first season, there is a lot more added on to this story.
Some of my favorite parts and characters in this story were greatly impacted by the first season which I have to give major props to that season for. Not only did it do a good job of setting up the world we now more fully dive into, but having watched it lends a weight to the current character traits of the different characters and how they react to situations. More than once throughout this season, we can see Chagum being influenced by his experience with Balsa, and it also helps show how much the new characters are being influenced as well. Balsa herself, now four years later, is not immune to change either.

As far as the new story goes, I can also see it going to be a great backstory (without the four year gap) for the next season which yes, I still have yet to watch.
Chagum is older and is sent on a diplomatic/supportative (suicide) mission by his father and meets a few new friends on the way. And yes, one of them is a similarly aged female :)
Balsa also meets new characters, and I was impressed by how defined and unique (think the Red Eye pirate) some of the side characters were.
Balsa has her quest to complete with the new child Alsa, but the full arc leads to her and Chagum potentially being reunited in the quest to save New Yogo from the encroaching Talsh army.
I can't quite say it's at Lord of the Rings levels, but this story is pretty impressive, and to a level that's never attempted in Kdramas (that I've seen), and rarely done well in Cdramas (in my opinion).

Acting/Cast (9.0):
When I reviewed the first season, I had only seen Ayase Haruka in one other show (a movie actually). However, I have since rectified that shortcoming, and have seen a fair bit more (though I still have a long way to go).
Honestly, I'm not sure if I enjoy her more as a spear-wielding (or martial arts queen) or as a romantic lead. There is no doubt she's my favorite Japanese actress I've discovered to date.
Chagum, I was a bit wary of at first, but this new actor did a great job of carrying on from the younger role, and in some scenes, I could almost believe they were the same person. So props also to whoever cast him.
There are several new characters in this show, as mentioned, that I fully enjoyed, including the new female friend for Chagum, who were all cast very well. Combine that with the fact that there was little with Torogai who was by far my least favorite character from the original season, and the cast here is a winner.

Music (10.0):
It doesn't add much above the original soundtrack, but that received a well deserved 10 out of 10, and I can't give this any less. Seriously, this OST has stuck with me.

Rewatch Value (9.0):
I don't rewatch shows very often. The first season received an 8 on this category from myself, and I'll admit part of that is how much fun it is in such a short amount of time, despite not being perfect. This show tops that one and even though it's 5 hours longer, I would much rather rewatch this season than that one.

Overall (9.5):
I'm actually very impressed with this series and I wish more people on MDL would add it. I've heard all good things about the third season, so hopefully I'll watch that too and get a review up at some point.
Signing off with the title track playing in my head...

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