From promising to waste, barely romantic
Zhou Yiran and Sabrina's acting was the only thing good on this show, but from what's promising to be on par with one of best dramas in 2023 along with Hidden Love, When I Fly Towards You, Road Home, Meet Yourself, and The Love that You Gave Me. This suddenly break it's momentum from doing great to being time waster.When I heard this show was giving Forever Love vibe, I had to watched it, and considering I was definitely impressed by Zhou Yiran, with Sabrina as female lead, I was excited that I had binge watch first 9 episodes, I get so excited waiting for new episode then second half of the show happens, and it all went down the drain. I have excuse the poor editing as I was enjoying the characters, but plot turn 180 and I was suddenly questioning why I even started this.
Don't even compare this to Forever Love because that was a gem, a treasure you can find in the midst of underrated show, this was being hype so much that I cannot believe the sparked from this couple had dim so fast, this couple was only good pre-confession, they are another couple that lost it's shine after, and was barely romantic to each other.
I kept hoping it would picked up till last minute, I kept hoping and it DID NOT DELIVER.
Such a waste of potential.
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it sucks
read the original novel or even the webtoon. don't watch this shit. make it flop let the director suffer for even trying to ruin it for the people who love orv.dokja is a victim of bullying and violence and yet they painted him as a bully and a fucking murderer? seriously? if you didnt have time to read the novel then you should've just not made the damn movie. why is gilyoung a fucking toddler? why is jihye a grown as woman? why do they have guns? removing the abuse dokja faced, the pain he has suffered through just to cater to incels. removing SA faced by heewon, domestic violence faced by dokja and his mother and the whole coin farming part really tells us about your misogynist mindset. take this la and shove it up your ass you misogynist motherfucker.
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This review may contain spoilers
One of those series whose true beauty unfolds only gradually
Happily, another jewel in the KDrama sky of 2025. Our Unwritten Seoul is one of those series whose true beauty unfolds only gradually—like the secret bloom of an evening primrose, opening quietly under the cover of dusk, revealing its radiance only to those who wait with patience.Many voices have called the series emotionally profound, poetic, introspective, healing… It spent weeks in the global Netflix charts and entered the Top 10 in more than 28 countries. At its heart, it is a drama about identity, self‑perception, and familial wounds. And within it, Park Bo‑young surpasses herself in a dual role as Mi‑ji and Mi‑rae.
What first appears to be a quiet drama reveals itself as a finely woven net of fate, self‑deception, transformation, and quiet hope. It does not show a world that is better, but one that is honest. A world where dreams fail, families grow weary, people live side by side without listening to each other. And yet: there are strawberries. There are warm embraces. There is the possibility of beginning again.
The story of twin sisters who exchange roles may sound familiar, but here it becomes a meditation on identity, self‑worth, and the longing to be someone else.
Park Bo‑young does not merely carry the series—she shapes it. As Mi‑ji and Mi‑rae—and, in truth, as four substantial versions of them: each as herself, and each as the other in disguise. She grows through the subtle distinctions of expression, the quiet shifts in tone and posture, the evolving body language. Rarely has a double role been so convincingly embodied.
Lee Ho‑su (Park Jin‑young) is not the typical love interest. He is a man marked by scars, visible and invisible. Half deaf, half estranged from his own body, he becomes a mirror of imperfection—the very quality that makes the series so valuable. His relationships with mentor, mother, past, and with Mi‑rae and Mi‑ji are told without pathos.
The cafeteria jobs, the small‑town life, the broken dreams—these make Our Unwritten Seoul a counterpoint to dramas suffocated by glamour. Even though its stars come from the KPop orbit, their performances reach a new level: restrained, reflective, human. Even the supporting characters carry their own stories, which gradually draw us in. This makes the world believable and layered. The supporting actresses Cha Mi‑kyung, Kim Sun‑young, and Jang Young‑nam add depth without overshadowing.
And then the deliberate contrasts: city and countryside, high‑rise and strawberry farm. The farm scenes are almost meditative—a place of healing. Han Se‑jin’s departure from the hedge‑fund world is more than symbolic: it is about rediscovering a way of life that does not need to be efficient.
The theme of self‑compassion also finds its place here: the series asks not only how we see others, but how we treat ourselves when no one is watching.
The OST serves as an emotional companion. The visual design is carefully attuned to the story. The series employs a chiastic structure, working with opposites and reflections so that the characters’ development and healing become visible. Even the colors shift gradually, reflecting the inner states of the protagonists.
In the end, the story closes a circle. The characters return to places where they began—changed, grown, carrying their old wounds, which now can begin to heal. Subtle, beautiful. And, indeed: valuable.
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Top-notch production that leaves you craving for more!
The scenery in this drama is simply breathtaking, especially the Jifeng Pavillion with its elegant woodwork and raining white petals that look almost like snow. The costumes, action scenes and CGI are also on point. I'm genuinely impressed with the high-quality production.It has a very similar feel to Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and The Journey of Flower, which were also directed by Lin Yu Fen, perhaps a little darker and less fantasy-like. And just in case you're wondering, Pearl Eclipse is pretty much stand-alone so no need to watch the others in the Novoland series beforehand.
The drama starts off with a master-disciple relationship between Fang Jianming and Fang Haishi that would soon blossom into a bittersweet and forbidden romance, where they're destined to meet but still restrained in many ways. It's not supposed to be a straightforward love, but rather the slow-burn and somewhat tormenting type. Yet, this is what makes those rare moments of sweetness even more precious. Personally, I find that the real charm of this show lies in its maturity and character development. But do get prepared, because you'll be taken on one crazy rollercoaster ride!
Yang Mi is literally in her element here playing a strong, cross-dressing FL. Despite the age difference, she still pulls off the role of the playful yet smart and daring young master Haishi very naturally. I think having Yang Mi doing her own dubbing really helps as well, so all credits to her. And those intense fighting scenes radiate some serious badass FL energy. I nearly forgot to breathe watching her shoot archery while spinning 360 on horseback! As she becomes Madam Pearl, we get to see Haishi swapping her boyish charms for a more mature and elegant persona, highlighting the different phases of her life. I particularly love her sibling bickering with Zhouying, they're such a hilarious comedy duo. But as much as they would tease each other, you can also feel their deep sibling bond and how they always have each other's back, especially Zhouying being the caring big brother that he is.
I'm going to be honest here, it took me a couple of eps to warm up to William Chan as Fang Jianming. I found his hairstyle a bit flat and awkward at first but I've grown fond of it gradually. He's graceful and calm normally but also fierce and intimidating when the occasion calls for it. I love how he's so protective of his disciples despite the cold front and prefers to selflessly suffer in silence, like all our favourite C-drama kuuderes (ahem... Ye Hua, Bai Zi Hua, Zhou Sheng Chen just to name a few). However, he's way too loyal and devoted to the Emperor that it's almost to a fault. It makes me often wonder whether they should just marry each other... Oh wait, they kind of did with the Baixi oath, where Fang Jianmiang has to act as a body double and shoulder all the injuries that befall Emperor Xu. This is surely not the 'love triangle' I had quite expected. Poor Haishi, it looks like she'll have a very fierce rival to beat, the bromance.
We're also greeted with another 2 couples along the way: Emperor Xu and Tilan, Zhuoying and Zheliu. While the fates of all 6 characters are very much intertwined, each couple still has its own pace and storyline.
The Emperor... sometimes I just want to reach across the screen and slap him hard. The guy can be so exasperating at times. His attitude towards Tilan at the beginning is uncalled for, regardless of his past suffering. As a ruler, Emperor Xu is not greedy or evil but he's not exactly empathetic or prudent either. Fortunately, his temperament does get much better and I quite like his 'passionate' bromance with Fang Jianming, as complicated as it may be. On the other hand, Tilan is portrayed as kind and supportive but I do find her character a bit weak sometimes. I guess her being a "caged bird", restricted by her royal upbringing and female status, serves as a contrast to Haishi who's "free" like a falcon having been raised as a boy in the imperial secret force.
Zhuoying and Zheliu is that one couple that you can never get enough of. I love how sweet and innocent their love is. It's adorkable seeing Zhouying gets all shy and love-struck in front of Zheliu, and then getting teased by Haishi for it. I kind of wish this couple has more screen time because the other 2 couples can get a bit too heavy at times.
I don't think there's much to say for the OSTs. I mean you open with Zhang Bichen and end with Zhou Shen, 2 of the best historical OST singers out there, so nothing can't go wrong. And the lyrics are so poetic and fit the story really well. Overall, it's a solid show with great cinematography and many unpredictable twists and turns. If you enjoy a good historical drama and not afraid to put your heart on the line, then this gem is for you.
FAVOURITE QUOTES:
"In our line of duty, people could die any minute. Every time we parted, it could be forever. So, I’m not afraid of death. I’m afraid that [Master] push me away or let me go.” Fang Haishi
"I don’t want [Haishi] to follow in my footsteps or take my path. She can’t be another Fang Jianming because I know better than anyone how painful that is. I don’t regret living like this but I hope the one I love can lead a normal and happy life.” Fang Jiangming
"[Emperor Xu] is my best friend. He is more important than my life. I took an oath to be faithful to him." Fang Jiangming
“All these years, others all think I’ve been tolerating Xu or even indulging him, but the truth is, I just want to protect him. The tougher he looks on the outside, the softer he is on the inside… as an emperor, he couldn’t share his pain with anyone.” Fang Jiangming
“Jianming, I’ve never expected you to be a loyal official. All I want is for you to live a carefree and happy life.” Emperor Xu
"Jianming, don’t underestimate Fang Haishi's feelings for you. Even if I don’t tell her, she knows you’re in a tough spot and she will do everything to protect you.” Emperor Xu
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1This review may contain spoilers
I had no idea what to expect going into it. And the little things I did expect were completely shut down. I don’t know if I’m just not yet used to the format/style of Taiwanese dramas, but it felt weird to me.But I liked it. I'm so torn about what to rate it, I keep going back and forth between 7.5 and 8. It's like a 7.8
There’s just something about it that kept me watching.
I started watching when there were already eleven episodes out. I kept telling myself, “This is a good place to stop. I’ll do something else, I’ll go to sleep, and I’ll finish tomorrow” and then I’d finish the episode and hit the next button and the process would continue until I was caught up with the lives.
Here’s the thing: you have to watch this drama with an open mind. I’m sorry, but I could not take the plot seriously. It was pretty predictable, and, I know this is a korean term, but it was a makjang drama. I don’t know how else to describe it. It was so weird and cheesy and over-dramatic, but I found it funny and enjoyable. If you go into the drama expecting some serious movie-like mob drama, you will be disappointed.
It was so freaking cheesy. Like every possible cliche happened within the first episode. The entire drama was like this, but it didn’t bother me because I thought it was hilarious. I know some people get annoyed with cliches though, so I’m letting everyone know now.
Also, part of the reason I couldn’t take it seriously from the beginning was because everything happened so fast. Like a whole episode’s worth (or two) of plot set-up happened within the first like ten minutes? It moved really fast and it was really extreme. But don’t stop watching because of this.
Also there were some little details with the plot that bugged me. For example: not putting someone into dry clothes when they have hypothermia, a person who just had surgery walking around without crutches. The birth. But whatever, I’m a nit-picky person.
One thing that made me really happy was that Megan actually looked like a guy. The stylists did a really good job. It was the first time I’ve seen a gender-bender drama where the girl convincingly looked like a guy. Also, she blew me away with her acting. She did a really good job at acting like she grew up living like a boy. Her posture and the way she walked were so convincing.
The romance was so enjoyable, they had fantastic chemistry together. And they had so many amazing kisses! Like a ton of them! Passionate ones! The main lead was nice from the start, and was a genuinely good and caring guy. I am now a fan of Baron Chen.
There are some issues I had with the drama, I won't go too deep into them because most of them contain spoilers. Basically I docked points from the rating because of some issues I had with the plot and some of the acting. I thought the cast had great chemistry together, but the things that should have been taken seriously, I couldn't take seriously. However, overall I enjoyed it, which is saying something coming from a person who doesn’t really like gender-benders.
What really made me happy about this drama was that there was never any homophobia. “As long as two people genuinely love each other, does it matter who the partner is?” Like damn, the messages in this drama were so good, I’m kind of wishing they were actually gay to make a stronger point. The message still came across strong, and not just through our leads, but through the other couples too.
This was a fun drama, and despite the issues I had, I’m glad I watched it.
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Over the top, exaggerated
Not sure if this story even touches the reality of the fashion world, but the whole thing was so clichéd and looked like parts were borrowed from many other fashion movies.Not sure if it was meant to be a romcom or a slice of life - it didn't fit either genre.
It could have been classified as a light hearted sweet drama - but no!
I'm sorry it is not sweet. The over acting of all the characters makes you grit your teeth and bang your head for watching it.
Except for three , EVERY other character acts atrociously over the top. It could very well be the director or writer's imagination of the behavior of people who work in the fashion industry, but those poor fashion folks should validate this overbearing nonsense.
The only one who did a great job is the supermodel. Not only was she stunning, but she flowed through her role as a supermodel and kept her emotions beautifully underplayed. She was really a superb actor.
The other two actors who stood out were the ex- boyfriend and the editor of the magazine - who had really small roles.
The ML was so lost, the FL was all over the place trying to be the eternal goddess of goodness.
And everyone else - seriously- behaved like they were in some exaggerated street mime show.
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This review may contain spoilers
Let's just say I was one of those people who actually wanted to root for this drama. I have never seen Ahn Jae Hyun in anything else but I liked him in the beginning. Playing a vampire does not require a huge acting range. You can act broody and intense without needing to have 10 years' worth of acting experience. The beginning too was good. Finally a take on vampirism where it is an actual medical condition instead of a myth. That was quite interesting, writer-nim. Brownie points to you for that. Ji Sang's youthful looks were because he stopped ageing at some point. And as for the villain, he wanted the whole world to benefit from a condition like vampirism instead of it being treated as some medical evil. I loved your use of rationale in certain cases. I even loved all the information on biochemistry that is relentlessly hurled at the viewer.But seriously what happened to you after the first 5 episodes? The moment Ji Sang stopped performing surgeries all I saw was him taking leisurely strolls all around the damned hospital and meeting either the Director or Yoo Ri Ta or Min Ga Yeon or Dr Joo, talking about all kinds of useless stuff and nothing else. Hello PD-nim, instead of overloading my brain with information, just show me through actual action. Too much exposition ruins any narrative.
And the romance? Uh why did they fall in love again? I'm sorry I just don't understand. Am I supposed to swoon at them mouthing lines swearing undying love for each other with not an ounce of emotion in them? It seemed like Ri Ta kept throwing herself at Ji Sang who was not even interested. And then all of a sudden, he is interested for lord knows what reason. (Oh wait it's because of their cosmic connection..he saved her from all those bad CG, Twilight-rip-off wolves....oooooh shooo romantic!)
I did not even think their scenes cute.
And somewhere around episodes 8-9 it all went downhill. The same things kept happening on infinite loop. Let me list them -
1)Ji Sang and Director having some kind of confrontational conversation in which sometimes they attack and snarl at each other and sometimes they don't. YAWN!
2)Token romantic scenes between Yoo Ri Ta and Ji Sang which were anything but romantic (who the hell calls their girlfriend/boyfriend 'Doctor Yoo' and 'Chief'?)
3)Walking around the hospital
4)Conversation between Ji Sang and VTH-16 researcher doctor
5)Ji Sang fighting off vampires and mostly getting beaten
6)Chairman and Associate Director having boring passive-aggressive conversations
7)More walking around the hospital
8)Min Ga Yeon and Ji Sang scenes which were too few
9)Patients in ward 21A going bonkers
10)More walking
The only portions I looked forward to where the parts featuring Sister Sylvia, Hyun Woo and Min Ga Yeon and Ji Sang's interactions which were actually genuine and made me feel something for them. They did not come off as forced and contrived unlike the Yoo Ri Ta and Ji Sang scenes. Even Ji Jin Hee couldn't save this trainwreck and he tried his best to make Jae Wook memorable!
And don't even get me started on the ending. What the hell happened? It was like the writer picked out every nonsensical, irrational cliche from the dramaverse and crammed all of them into an hour's worth of time.
Dear writer-nim, do us a favour and DO NOT EVER WRITE A DRAMA AGAIN. I feel like jumping off a bridge after watching that atrocious finale. I want those 20 hours of my life back! And this is coming from a busy person who no longer has sufficient time to watch all the K dramas she wants to watch.
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DON'T WATCH THIS TRASH.
I say this as a fan of the novel. The authors of this adaptation DID NOTHING. Everything in this film is terrible - from the unnecessary changes of the director, to the work of the editor and other specialists. A request to the creators of the film - do not disgrace yourself and delete this from the Internet. Nobody liked this garbage, seriously.Was this review helpful to you?
My complaints break down into three groups - OST, plot lines and character traits.
OST: This may be my first k-drama with an all English soundtrack (if there were Korean tracks I failed to notice) and my first thought was how distracting it was watching people interact in a foreign language with somebody crooning in English in your earhole. After many dramas where the OST becomes as ingrained on your memories as the most touching scenes do, I wondered if Koreans watching dramas with more typical soundtracks are just as distracted by the constantly repetitive lyrics. If I never hear any of these songs again in any version I will count myself blessed.
Plot Lines: Every single storyline in this series had an unsatisfactory ending. Whether it be the relationship of the main characters, the friendship between Jin Ah and Kyung Sun, the behavior of Gyu Min or the sexual harassment in the workplace. In each case we were presented with an issue of conflict, there was much angst and aggravation until the worst possible outcome was realised (or forgotten in the case of the ex-boyfriend) - and then after a jump to the future there is brief resolution. I'm actually quite angry that such an important issue as sexual harassment in the workplace was given the treatment it got. I doubt anybody suffering from this treatment would feel inspired or hopeful about coming forward from watching this.
Character Traits: I will concede that in order for there to be drama, there must be conflict. Tropes like bad boy turns good or family disapproves of relationship all require failings of character and as a previous reviewer wrote "If you don't know anything about Korean culture or the passive characteristics of Asian, this drama will seem silly & annoying, and will never understand the reasons behind choices & actions made", I also recognise that these stories are being told through a different set of cultural norms. However just because something is prevalent within a culture doesn't mean it's right or acceptable and although drama as an art form is often about reflecting truth in society, it is also a medium for setting examples for how we could live. Nobody in this drama became a better person. Joon Hee was possessive and controlling until the end and Jin Ah was a compulsive liar throughout.
What I perceived as being a story about an unconventional relationship where true love wins out against negative cultural norms, turned out to be about a group of self interested and morally deprived individuals failing to grow as human beings. Truth in society indeed.
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This review may contain spoilers
It went from excellent to bad to worse in no time.
Let me start off by saying I really dig Korean BLs because they usually have simple plots, which is pretty much the standard most of the time (don't take this as a negative; I'm complimenting). That's exactly why I was so excited to watch this series. For the first five episodes? Solid 9.0 or 9.5, no doubt. But man, did things take a turn for the worse in the last 2-3 episodes. By the time episode 7 rolled around, I was just trying to finish it off, not because I was excited, but more because I'd already invested so much time into it.Let's talk about Se Heon and Do Yoon for a sec. These guys seem to have a talent for picking the biggest red flags around (Yes, Tae Yi is a major red flag; argue with the wall). Do Yoon's whole "I'll still love you even if you bully me" with Joo Ha? What stupidity! Then there's Se Heon, who forgives Tae Yi way too quickly after he S/A him. I mean, even if you want to argue that it wasn't the case, Tae Yi's response was not how a normal, rational person would react.
I gave it an overall rating of 6.5 because I don't rate any series below 5, and for the most part, it was enjoyable. It started off strong but dropped the ball towards the end. Let's just say it left me scratching my head. Honestly, I was hoping for A LOT better.
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Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area - Part 1
79 people found this review helpful
Remake does the orignal justice
Although this was a remake of la casa de papel (money heist) it certainly does do the series justice in my opinion. I've watched and i am half spanish so when i heard there was gonna be a remake i thought ehhhhh i don't know if this is the right move by netflix because i thought the Spanish version was always gonna be the best however after watching the remake i think that the korean version of this show is as good as the original spanish version of the show. Certainly worth the watch even if u have already seen the original, there are some key differences in this remake to the original which makes the series a lot more exciting than you'd expect. I've noticed from the negative reviews that most people dropped the show within the first or second episode, all i can say to that is that if u give the show the chance and watch it fully it will grow on you and the unique storylines will certainly catch your attention here.Was this review helpful to you?
most anticipated but most disappointing
I was excited to see that Gemini and Fourth were getting another project together, and ultimately knew it was inevitable. With the popularity of the pair from their recent (and best so far..) project which was My School President I was excited to see another imaginative and original drama from the pair. Unfortunately for me the originality wasn't coming because this drama is a remake of Keita Hatsukoi, and it is again.. unfortunately not anywhere near as good. What comes in the end is an adaptation I can neither recommend as a stand-alone drama, or to any fans of the original. This drama is just worse in every single way possible.. let me explainI am not a hater of the fact it is a remake. I know remakes can be done well and have been before, I didn't expect for this to be better or worse, the least I expected was some effort.. and I didn't even get that. The acting is done well enough from the new faces I see, Gemini and Fourth I can't help but see that they are just acting out what was originally done.. and the depth behind their performances aren't there because of a simple reason. The direction and production shot them in the foot, and it isn't any of the acting at fault, it is the writing, the editing, directing, and everything but them. So the editing is extremely cheap and it tells me that whoever is in charge of this project simply didn't understand or care for the source. This drama was just a way to make a quick dollar, that is what it all tells me. They use shammy music and sound effects in ways that aren't effective and just a shame to be there in the first place.
With Fourth in particular. He is a fun person and is an amazing actor, and I know that from his leading role in My School President. The difference there is that he had room to act, instead here they shove sound effects to try and get an emotion of humor out of a scene. The original source material is a manga, and I can see this being done with animation, live action is completely different. The actor can stand alone by himself and I don't know.. act! Fourth is more than capable of holding a viewers attention in the humorous scenes, but instead they drag it out to its limit by stretching the camera and adding cheap sound effects which are what I said. They are cheap ways for the audience to go.. oh this is funny! It isn't, to me it is insulting. I know Thai dramas tend to do this, but they should've reeled it back. My School President was a fun show but also had its mellow moments, it was so well received and had heart because of the directing and care in every scene. In this drama there isn't any attention to detail other than call backs to any other source material. There is a whole lot of extra time in this drama, but it is wasted for cheap and phony reasons. This drama uses the leads and the source material as a way to market and doesn't do anything new by itself, it drowns the original concept to an abyss and I can't see it coming back from it.
Crucial parts that may seems small are taken out, with the Cinderella episode in particular being the worst and the point I realized this show just sucks. I really didn't want it to either. So Atom (who is played by Fourth) isn't even Cinderella, and that is fine by itself, but when you really think about it where is the logic? Originally he volunteered to do it, so the only reason I see that they didn't is because either Fourth didn't want to cross-dress (which is fine) or because this drama wanted to toss the coin in the pot of things they are progressing. That did the opposite, with Atom not being Cinderella it messes the whole identity of the stage itself as well as Atom's character. He does thing in spontaneous behavior, because it is just who he is. He is someone that thinks before he acts, and that is how it is in the original and not here. With Atom having time to think about it, get rejected, and then to do it again takes away a bit of that charm from him, and ultimately strips the dynamic between him and Kongthap (Ida). Ida is a guy who thinks carefully, and even too carefully. He doesn't even understand the concept of liking someone and it doesn't make much sense to him just based off a feeling alone, and Atom (Aoki) is the opposite. Aoki is the person who does things all of his feelings and without feeling, but just is a genuine person. So he subbed in for Cinderella not just because he liked her, but because it was just in his nature. His whole class had no problem and here? Well they refused until he had to and he did it by himself? He had no reinforcement and it made his behavior seem odd? Like Atom isn't the type of guy to do things off of a one moment decision, but they find it weird? So it was disingenuous even if they wanted to pull a homosexual relationship in the mix.
So the episode there became just the characters singing instead of developing their individual characters they sung songs for the play... If you want GemFouth to sing write another drama that has it make sense.. here it made no sense? It was another skip for me..
They screw up the main parts of the characters so badly and they seem a shell of themselves. Atom and Kongthap alike are stale and uninteresting. The ending of episode one wasn't nearly as impactful from the editing and because of the direction towards the portrayals. Kongthap is someone who in the end is also an extremely good person, and very thoughtful. Atom ended up actually liking him but not in any way that was serious or understandable, it was actually pretty confusing. I keep watching and hoping they just go to the source because that did nothing wrong, and if they change things then can they add? There is more than enough time to make this drama good or watchable, this drama just makes me think that I should just go back to watching the original. I really should, GMM shame on you. Shame on you for just shoving this out into the open for the money, where is the heart? Where is the passion? The comedic timing alone is enough to turn someone away from this, this isn't funny at all, not even in a so bad its good.
Taking away the little details.. especially the garbage scene.. oh boy.. that is just not needed. Taking those humor bits away show to me that whoever is in charge really doesn't understand the source material at all. It is just fan service and bad fanservie and is extremely dissapointing. Watch My School President again if you like Gem and Fourth, don't kid yourself into thinking this is good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Different does not mean good.This was one of the most discussed and controversial dramas this year. Many viewers felt cheated, angry because result totally differs from synopsis and marketing materials (hard to say it is even about romance). On other hand it had most intense discussions I ever saw. It was very fun to watch it live and later join in the comments. Though this drama has zero value to binge watch it. If you missed some episodes, I do not recommend to continue.
As writers tried to achieve ratings, create turmoil between viewers they forgot whole purpose of the drama, what message they want to convey. Seems all unprofessional work was covered up under "art", like you cannot criticize art though it has obvious flaws. Producers chose wrong methods to deliver wrong message. They had all the talent (actors, cinematography) to do right way.
Producers described drama as "poem about love during four different seasons". Usually artful dramas conveys strong emotional message and at the end leave you baffled, reminiscing what and why it happened. Here it is not the case. Chosen actors are really great and drama had many emotional turning points, Cinematography is artful too, there are many symbolic and hidden messages. But as story goes, felt like you were played around. Episode after episode you get really unexpected things but it became unimportant as story goes nowhere. In the end feels like everything returns to very first episodes. What was in the middle actually did not matter. There was no meaning behind those emotions. I felt less and less caring about character's ending. It feels tiring to watch it.
Story begins great. Feels very modern drama there main characters are very realistic and has obvious flaws. SKJ plays dorky geeky student with low EQ. What catches the eye, that SKJ does not try to be laughable or pitiful, but having friends, loving parents though very lost in social world. LS plays uneducated down to earth hairdresser. She is early matured, street smart, strong, willful but emotionally underdeveloped - she cannot express emotions freely, holds everything inside her because of dark past. These both socially awkward people unexpectedly blossom into love. Feels like one fits another, they both are outcasts, but combined together they are much better than other couples. This early love symbolizes spring - pure, naive etc. Personally such unique and realistic beginning rose huge expectations from this drama.
Sadly then came time jump into summer. They meet again and fall in love again. This time their love is free, head spinning but also burning and full of conflicts. Leads chemistry was amazing. Here are introduced 2ML and 2FL. These characters are very vague and only bring contrast to leads and source to their insecurities. They have no background or actual connection to the story or leads. They were so unimportant that I double checked whether they are on "main" or "support" cast. This was first very huge mistake from writers.
It was really hard to understand which secondary characters are important which are not, because many of them from first charm disappeared and many new were introduced. Who knows which ones will be left at third charm. Most importantly they had different purposes or if had any purpose at all.
Secondary stories were really boring and actually do not add anything to main story. Interactions with secondary characters brings more chaos than direction. Due to lack of direction many viewers started to search for hidden meanings between these dialogues, purpose of these characters. I call it "rise of conspiracy creators". This created huge contradiction - is this drama is artful or actually realistic? I lost what I am watching and what I should expect.
But what actually happened that producers created diffraction between two sides - one is ML, his friends, family and other is FL, accordingly. Between these sides there is no interaction. This automatically caused discussion, comments from viewers, which side they support, who was right and who was wrong during couple conflicts. Also viewers could not communicate among-selves because some saw drama as "art" and discussed hidden meanings of love, fate. Other saw it as realistic drama and what should actually happen in similar life situation.
Then came autumn (third charm) and everything fell apart. Drama did not had good ratings of viewership because of unimpressive first episode and sloppy work of writers. It attracted by its uniqueness, but plot was not engaging and consistent enough. Writers needed to save this drama somehow. The only strong point was that it caused discussions. Then producers created seesaw. One episode causes hate for FL and support for 2FL, then next episode causes pity and support for FL and uncovers hidden facts. Cycle repeats. Discussions and conspiracy theories ("child was his", "she was forced to marry", "he should chose comfortable realistic love") reached peak.
It was fun to discuss, read comments, but something important was lost - reason to continue to watch this drama (except "I will finish only because I like actor or actress"). Suddenly drama became very dark, sad and worthy of tag "tragedy". Drama became kinda a joke - "I will see how will writers clean this mess". I felt, that I was promised to see character development, growth, maturity from students to thirties. I thought third part should bring towards closure, not create additional mess. It had zero connection to first two charms. Most importantly I did not expect that writers will make FL character hateful and same time pitiful, just in order to create more discussions. It was very cheap move from writers. None of the promises were delivered.
Character development is not "crying while eating bread in Lisbon" or "losing everyone, and when none left asking for a help". Maturity is not talking less or looking at each other without words. There was none of character development or maturity displayed, only depression of growing old and coping with that.
And ending oh my... This is not even open ending. They did not define their happiness, it is even open for interpretation that makes them happy. What values left unchanged or changed during these third charms? After 16 episodes actually I do not know nothing about main characters for certain. Such ending made viewer further away from main characters rather than closer.
Second charm conflicts raised so many serious questions and none of them were answered till the end.
Second and Third charm discarded every possible meaning of romantic happiness:
-not a kiss (they both were together, no need to clear misunderstandings)
-not engagement (YJ was married)
-not married life with children, (YJ and HC had that)
-not mature comfortable love, (JY and SE had that)
-not passionate love, (JY and YJ had that)
-not supporting, extended love, (YJ do not meet JY parents, both friends)
-not healing love (who heals JY pain from being dumped, they never talk about it)
-not friends (still in love)
-not separation and moving on (neither is a bad person)
Writers shot themselves in the leg, not leaving any possible way to end the romance. The very worst way to end drama. Ending was not about romance at all. All four main characters ended in misery, not able to move on and not able to fight for.
It had huge potential. It had moments with very deep emotions. But it was totally wasted by direction. It has mix of styles (hidden messages+reality) (romance+majkang). It has no message, no core of the story that follows, connects these three charms. Feels like it was three different stories with very open interpretation. Zero consistency and definitely not a poem. Actually it is hard to describe as a drama, because story goes nowhere.
Each episode was great in quality, acting amazing, each episode was enjoying to watch even if it was very sad. But overall at the end I feel it was waste of the time, because producers cheated me.
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When a story lacks direction, it’s sure to suffer. What did this drama want to be? An idol drama with tons of romance? A monster-of-the-week romp, or an urban fantasy with cataclysmic consequences? The tone is erratic, especially in the beginning, whiplashing viewers between horror and comedy without prelude. In addition to the copious filler, the plot was pulled in so many directions that very little progress was actually made. Not even the romance between the leads received the attention it required to blossom satisfyingly—it just happens, for no rhyme or reason, and we’re expected to invest in it immediately. Overall, the story promises apocalyptic stakes yet delivers something haphazard and episodic, peppered with hollow romantic scenes (the exemplar of which is an early out-of-character, cat-themed aegyo from the female protagonist).
One of the main issues can be found in the massive cast, populated by multiple big names and actors of varying talent and skill. Despite a valiant effort by Lee Seung Gi as Son Oh Gong, the secondary cast steals the show. Lee Hong Ki (PK) and Lee Se Young (Bu Ja) are a delight in spite of frustrating plot developments, easily drawing focus away from the main storyline. The same goes for Lee El as the dog-demon assistant Ma Ji Yeong, Kim Sung Oh as hapless secretary Lee Han Joo, and Sang Hyuk as General Frost and his warm-hearted sister, with whom he shares a body. Cha Seung Won, however, is completely wasted in his role as Ma Wang, the demon king. The character gives him no room to stretch his dramatic legs, instead relying on the zany comedy he so excels at—but this gets old fast, and it’s frustrating to see him spin his wheels with such a flat character. This leads us to the weakest of the bunch—Oh Yeon Seo’s performance as Jin Sun Mi is uninspired, and I couldn’t tell you if her expression changed even once. Her scenes with Lee Seung Gi are sometimes almost uncomfortable to watch, given how dynamic he is in comparison.
That said, the OST is consistently good. Standouts include the absolute bop “Let Me Out” by NU’EST, the tender ballad “When I Saw You” by Bumkey, and the cheerful “I Will Be By Your Side” by MeloMance.
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This review may contain spoilers
A waste of time
Nevertheless is a K-Drama adopted from a webtoon with the same name. Before watching the kdrama, I have already read and finished the webtoon.*SPOILERS FROM THE WEBTOON*
In the webtoon, the story was straightforward because we know that PJE is just playing with Nabi. Nabi knew this NEVERTHELESS she still wants him. However, PJE continued being a player and Nabi ended up with Dohyuk, who had more depth in the webtoon.
Now that we have gotten the overall storyline from the webtoon, lets talk about the drama. I came into this knowing that the writers would definitely change up some parts because we know that kdramas doesn't like to be faithful to its webtoon counterpart (True Beauty). My expectations were not met at all. This drama is just 10 episodes of repetitiveness and back and forth from the main leads whereas the background stories were definitely more compelling. I will be analyzing the main leads only for this review since some of the characters weren't in the webtoon.
1. Park Jae Eon: In the webtoon, he is your charming playboy who can't commit to a single girl. He tried to but his efforts were diminished by Nabi when she told his gf a very off-putting comment which ruined his relationship with Nabi and his gf. This scene happened in the drama. HOWEVER, somehow, for some unknown reason, he forgives Nabi and is suddenly infatuated with her for no reason. What makes her different? Well we don't know. The writers completely took a different approach and painted Park Jae Eon as a victim with a sad background story and can't convey his emotions blah blah blah. The story was supposed to be realistic but it turned out cringey and predictable. A typical "bad-boy-turned-soft-when-he-falls-in-love". People who like PJE only sees him through Song Kang's face. Prove me wrong
2. Nabi: In the webtoon, Nabi was more outspoken. In the drama, she's more passive. There is nothing compelling about her. Nothing interesting. She is a very bland character who needs to find herself first before committing and jumping into relationships. One minute shes angry at PJE and the other shes not. Like, what make up your mind?!?!
3. Dohyuk: In the webtoon, he is cute but as we got to know him we found out that he did it with a girl who had a boyfriend. Hence thats why we see him saying that he always falls for girls who have boyfriends. In the webtoon, he ends up with Nabi. In the drama, Dohyuk is just too smitten with Nabi that he sees everything in rose-colored glasses. Basically he'd do anything for Nabi. This kind of character could definitely bore some viewers so that's why I think the writers should've added more dimension to his character. Well, they should've added dimension to all of the main characters.
All in all, I wouldn't rewatch because the episodes are too long and the leads gets on my nerves. The OST is really good tho. The acting... well.... it could've been better. I think this drama would've been better if it was just a short webdrama instead of a long 10 episodes with 1 hour each drama.
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