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A POIGNANT TREAT!!!!
Lol, so I don't even know why I started this but I feel so glad that I did. Everything about this show is just so on point. The acting is literally so good that I have added some shows of the male lead in my PTW. The background music is so commendable. It's not like other shows where the music comes only in certain episodes or sometimes not even that. But here it's like everything has bgm and different tunings going on depending upon the scene. And it is just so apt. Like you will be so into the scene that you will not realise that this bgm is what is actually making it even more watchable, exciting and full of anticipation. The CGI is really good especially the colour palatte that the have chosen for this drama. It is basically and quite obviously a sad romance story with I guess loads of angst and politics. It's like you will be watching it and will be feeling really heavy like everything is very beautiful yet it has a certain gloom to it. Like the colour palatte though beautiful is basically a dull one. Similarly the instruments too give a heavy feeling of pain and loss. Also, the chemistry between the leads is no joke!!! You can really feel the tension between them and feel so giddish like a child being happy whenever the two get closer. It is basically a slow burn and obviously it cannot be everybody's cup of tea. But if you are into it then it is worth the watch so far. I AM ABSOLUTELY HEAD OVER HEELS FOR LITERALLY EVERYTHING IN THIS SHOW.This drama i finished around two months back but yet here i am. You just can't get over it.
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Story : Are you fed up of desperate causes ? Of Love-me-I'm-Dying kind of Drama ? I understand you. I was like that too. After 1Litre of Tears, Koizora and so on I just couldn't do it anymore. No more suffering, goodbye hospitals : I just gave it all up.
But this short drama let me see that there is still hope for the genre. And anyway it's not like it's a 120 episodes melodrama, there are only 4 episodes and they are all aptivating, really well directed, and full of surprises. In fact, it's so well done that I consider it a 4hours long movie rather than a drama.
And you'd be surprised how much you'll laugh in that drama. Indeed Perhaps Love was done by smart people, who are very much aware of how hard it can be to watch a melodrama, so they gave us 3 incredibly funny characters who lighten the atmosphere.
Plus, they managed to rid this drama of many of all the Dramalandian clichés we would expect to see in this kind of story, which helps a lot !
Acting : I rate it 10 because it really is outstanding. You believe in the characters, you are in this story with them, and it works. Don't expect the fake and classic End-Of-Episode-Kiss-Scene because the only kiss you'll get is those these characters can give each other in their situation. Their anger is real, their saddnest is real and their love is real.
Music : It's not all OST, you also have real-life songs if I may say, like CCR "Have You Ever Seen the Rain", a song that is doomed to make me cry from now on. Very well chosen and balanced.
Rewatch Value : You'll see in the end of the drama. If you're like me, you'll want to rewatch it right away. And then in a few weeks. And then in a few months.
Overall : Underrated. Incredible. Melodramatic without needing any string quarted. It's short. It's great. Just watch it.
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An enjoyable low quality comedy to turn off your brain and watch.
In no way this is tropes free, but has an unexpected charm. It doesn't take itself seriously, doesn't pretend to be more than what it is either. Specially fun and enjoyable if you are into over the top comical nonsense. There's no much deep into it other than the acceptance of the families but it doesn't need more, it doesn't pretend to be an emotional wrenching drama, just what it is, fun, nonchalant, easy to digest.I die with the musical moments, two characters are talking about something and it becomes a musical scene all of the sudden, with two not so good singers signing a definitely not so good song. The alone ones are truly a sight as well, amusingly bad and hilarious. They know this and exploid it.
Now to the 3 bl couples.
The main, Ig & Ruk is probably my least favorite. Is a bit messy, you want to punch Ig on the face and make him understand the situations he is in during the first half. They are cute together and i like that both are masculine just in diferent sizes. I like when they get out of the stereotypes and don't pretend to make all the couples have masc/fem type of roles. At the end they are solid.
The 2 couple is my sweet spot. Kui is the handsome goalkeeper that goes on vacations with his friends and finds an unexpected love. I like how it wasn't dragged, he never liked a guy but meet the sweetest watermelon sunshine and just felt head over heels. He felt it, was honest from the get go and went for it directly. They are the sweetest couple and their love story is soft and lovey dovey, sad that they don't have a lot of screentime or any relevance in the final episodes.
The countryside couple, Ruk's older brother with the cute famous singer is beautiful. They put the little deepness that this series has. Their love is strong and consolidated already, an steady couple.
I would say go for this one if you liked the comedy in Fish upon the sky, imagine that (specially the brother of the protagonist kind of humor) on a lower budget and production quality, mixed with bl loves from the past like Make it right. Take it to the countryside and you get Siew Sum Noi. An enjoyable turn off your brain watch.
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The investigative part is managed in a sublime way, ranging between normal and fast-foward scenes that show you the progress of the investigation without stealing time from the action. The pace of the show is very fast, there is no time for character development or for an in-depth analysis of why the serial killer is acting like this, but the combination gangstern/policeman creates amusing and dramatic situations, specially towards the end. Needless to say that the acting is excellent, while the soundtrack is not memorable but it does it’s job being fast and incessant. The ending is epic and poetic.
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It wasn't until towards 20+ episodes that I noticed how everything was dragging on. I also started disliking Yun Ge as a character. Meng Jue, Ling Gege & Xu Jiejie were the only characters that was worth watching to be honest.
I must give credit for how beautiful and visually stunning the setting, props and costumes were. The OST can get repetitive throughout the drama, but it got really addictive to listen to after awhile. I really wish the story was better and the ending left me with a lot of questions and frustrations. Overall, it was an okay drama, but I don't think I would recommend anyone to watch this to save them the pain and frustrations they will have to endure from watching this.
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This review may contain spoilers
Amazing!
The idea of bird nests business is just amazing. I appreciate the production team for portraying this kind of profession. The scenery (forest, beach) is also beautiful.The story is well developed. I enjoyed the part when they stay in the island. The conflict is unique & already intense. When they move to the city, it's getting more intense & complicated with the involvement of ex-wife, troubled husband, & another woman (it's typical conflict in lakorn, but i still could deal with this, hahaha)
I also love the main leads' character. Weir is strong & tough, but he can also be jealous of unnecessary things, & be like a kid when he's sick. It's really cute actually :) While Thisa, she's smart & tough when facing her 'enemies', but she's just like any other woman who's easily touched when a man does good things to her. I also like her way of slapping. Instead of just using her palm, she uses all of the energy in her arm. That's why it looks powerful. LOL.
The chemistry? It's beyond expectation. Weir & Thisa are perfect match. They show their feeling by taking care of each other. It's not a one-sided love story where only the FL or ML is aggressive towards another. I can say that now Weir-Thisa is one of my favorite on screen couple.
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An adorable narcissist? HOW?!
I actually started this drama on a whim, after watching an FMV of the couple. I loved how the ML looked at the FL. That's all there was to it to make me hit the play button. And I guess it's a good thing that I went in without looking any further. Because in episode 1 I was greeted with a narcissistic male lead and time travel. Two things that normally make me run for the hills.What made me stay? The male lead is definitely narcissistic, but never crosses the line. In fact, the writers somehow managed to balance his narcissism with his genuine care for others. Simultaneously. I don't know if i've ever seen anything quite like it before. I kinda wanna go through the narcissism tag to see if I can find another... He also goes through tremendous character growth, that felt natural and unrushed - despite the shortness of the series. And, fortunately for me, the time travel comes into play with a support character, not the leads. So it actually didn't have too much focus, and contributed to the message of the story in very interesting ways.
It's told with the classic manga-esque dramatics that really only Japan can pull of. It really pulls the punches on commenting on Pretty Privilege/Kawaii Factor and biases, in a humorous way that sent me laughing. I thoroughly enjoyed all the support characters. Not a single one had me annoyed or sent me ranting, especially by the end. And I adored watching the romance (even if I would have liked more affection from the female lead).
It's kinda poetic actually, that a story that wound up being about biases, made me question some of my own drama-watching biases. I am still wondering how this writer managed to make a narcissist so adorable and root for-able.
*Disclaimer: I am referring to his possession of narcissistic/self-centered traits which are commonly found in everyone on a scale of intensity, not as someone who appears to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
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The drama’s title, “An Innocent Mistake” (or the Chinese title “A Beautiful Sin,” which also sounds like “Most Beautiful” when spoken; a nice little pun ^^) doesn’t make sense until the very last few episodes of the drama in its explosion of a climax. But everything leading up to there was, to me at least, wonderfully engrossing and intriguing. There are times I couldn’t believe how twisted the drama was presenting itself as, yet at the same time appreciating the places it went. It definitely didn’t hold back on the darkness lurking beneath the drama’s surface plot.
I think the main point of the story is how two people being in love will always somehow and in some way hurt another person, whether that love be paternal, maternal, romantic, obsessive, idealized, etc. It also addresses how easily it is for that love to transform into hate; and how, in order not to hate, you have to take the situation you saw before your eyes and see it in the other person’s shoe too. The plot was magnificently layered in that way. More that that, it also had a logical beginning, middle, and conclusion, as well as probably one of my favorite TW-drama endings yet. It wasn’t even draggy, though it was a bit slow moving. I felt the pace was just right to build up to the ending. (I should probably point out that the version I watched was 26-episodes at 40 minutes a pop, rather than the 16-episode, 90 min version listed here). It also has some melodramatic elements, but nothing too unbelievable.
The other part of the drama I’d like to gush about are the actors. Not every single person who appeared on the screen was brilliant, but the main cast and most of the supporting cast definitely were. Mo Zi Yi as Yu En had all my feels the moment he fell for Man Qing and you could see every conflicting emotion playing on his face. Lin Chen Xi as Man Qing was an excellent choice to play a stoic young adult who is, basically, a classic tsundere-type character. Mo Zi Yi and Lin Chen Xi as the leads also had incredible chemistry together, which made the drama an even more joy to watch.
The three actresses playing Man Qing’s mothers all filled their roles very well as seasoned actors. They acted so well it felt like they really were surrogate sisters who were healing their broken pasts by living with each other. About the only weak link in the drama both story-wise and acting-wise was Chen Yu An as Zhang Wei Wei, who was used mainly as a plot pusher and whose acting was noticeably weaker than her co-actors. But she only appears at the beginning of the drama then is pushed to the background, so you don’t have to endure her to too long, thankfully.
The music was also not something to exactly write home about either. I liked the opening song well enough, and the ending song had some nice lyrics, but it was just... ordinary. I did like that the drama didn’t overuse those songs like other dramas do sometimes, though. The directors knew when the use the lyric-version and when to use the instrumental-version.
There aren’t that many negatives in this drama, so I’m not sure why it’s so under-watched. It’s not exactly a light and fluffy watch, so I guess that’s kind of a detriment. I would suggest to only watch it with an open mind and being able to have persistence even when the drama feels like it’s going way off onto the weird track. It gets back on the right track with all the finesse a drama with depth should.
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Interesting characters & plot with a unique red flag male lead....but lacking romantic chemistry
Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25Red flag male leads were ‘hot’ in 2024 and this trend might continue into 2025 so far. I wonder if I would like this drama less if I were to watch it back in 2016. Yoo Jung (ML) is not a likable character and would be considered a super red flag that you need to run away if you meet him in real life. But since this is drama-land and grey characters are ‘in’ and more acceptable and favorable’, I had an enjoyable time watching this very controversial drama.
I quite enjoy the interesting individual characters in this drama. Aside from Baek In Ho (2ML) played by the ridiculously handsome Seo Kang Joon, and Kwon Eu Taek, played by the ridiculously adorable young Nam Joo Hyuk, I would say none of the other characters are truly likable. However, I still like male lead, Yoo Jung. I am always curious about what he’s scheming up in his cunning mind and how he’s going to make someone pay for mistreating him or his loved one.
Park Hae Jin is incredible in this drama. He could be manipulative and calculating with evil eyes one second, and then in another moment, becomes smitten and shyly in love with Hong Seol. The only bad thing about him is that Park Hae Jin looks way too old to play a college student. Kim Go Eun as our female lead Hong Seol did pretty well too. Her character isn’t super likable either and is somewhat awkward. There’s no way I don’t love Seo Kan Joon when he’s so handsome and plays such a lovable character as well. As viewers, we witness Baek In Ho’s growth and character development, and can’t help but cheer him on every step of the way. A young Lee Sung Kyung playing the crazy and loud Baek In Ha is quite a sight to behold. I have to admit she brings some fun into this drama. Unfortunately, she’s a little too annoying for me to love and I feel that Lee Sung Kyung overacted. If she toned it down a little, I would have loved her craziness.
Despite liking Park Hae Jin and Kim Go Eun’s acting individually, the chemistry is just not there. I like the writing of the characters, but not the romance. It’s hard for me to believe they would fall in love. Kim Go Eun has better chemistry with Seo Kang Joon, but I am still rooting for Yoo Jung as the male lead to be with Hong Seol. Hong Seol and Baek in Ho seem more like great buddies who are super comfortable with each other. So, no second lead syndrome for me.
“Cheese in the Trap” is not a romantic comedy and it touches on some darker mental health issues. I think it did an OK job in showing us some of the family background history, and how each character unintentionally and unknowingly hurt each other, or being manipulated by others. Seeing how every relationship and the development of events are interconnected, was interesting to me, and a big selling point of this drama. However, I can see how others are dissatisfied and might have expected something different.
Overall, I have a pretty good time watching “Cheese in the Trap” even after avoiding this for years due to its lower rating and mixed reviews. I’m glad I watched it because of the Clown Bingo challenge, otherwise, I would never have picked it up. I ended up liking this a lot more than anticipated. Despite a somewhat disappointing romance, if you are interested in a different kind of love story with a real red flag male lead, this could be a unique watch.
Completed: 2/12/2025 - Review #543
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Cute, fluffy but with being cringey...
It wasn't bad but wasn't good either, a okaish drama.. which is almost on the edge of becoming so bland having many unnecessary things almost stuffed in it. So if you are expecting something really good..Firstly if you are looking for a good fantasy and stumbled upon this, don't have high hopes you'll end up being disappointed. Fantasy its just a very little aspect of this that actually works only as catalyst to get leads together in the initial episodes and after that.. writer almost forgot that plot, and I guess they again remembered it near the ending so yeah you'll just get a bit of fantasy in the start only.
This was definitely weak writing, many things were unreasonable.. there are some incidents that I was expecting some explanation or understading but they just remained as unanswered questions. Well okay I can endure that much but its being so predictable, all twists being so unsurprising and adding some very annoying characters bothered me a lot. I guess the plus point I see is the cinematography was very decent, the leads chemistry was bearable and they actually looked good as pairing. Side character were okay and I'm also not complaining about their screen time as they were so cute together.
The main problem with it is though it have some twists but they aren't unique or shocking and that's why it felt so plain and bland... I won't recommend to watch it, might be good as light watch but not more than that for sure!
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The story is about how people react after a girl died by suicide and her friend is suspected as the ‘culprit’. The plot focuses on this friend and how she copes all those blames plus there's the mother of the girl who died who feels so guilty and miserable.
Special props to Jeon Yeo-bin (as Young-hee) and Seo Young-hwa (as the mother) for amazing performances. Jeon Yeo-bin didn't exaggerate the emotion and frustration yet these two actresses perfectly display all the hurts just through their expression, to the point it made me speechless.
This is the movie I've been looking for: bitter and realistic. After My Death addreses multiple social issues around us like, how adults tend to underestimate suicidal teenagers, school bullying, and so on. It feels raw and relatable and I felt a strange feeling after watching this.
What I like more is the movie doesn't try to explain why the characters are suicidal. Everyone has complicated problems and accumulated stress that we will never fully understand. There's no a single, all-in-one, conclusive reason behind it that people like to guess.
After My Death has broadened my perspective and I’m grateful I watched this gem.
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Bottomline: A wild ride supplemented by stunning performances. I had an adrenaline high after I finished watching.
Acting: With a cast boasting names like Hwang Jung Min and Oh Dal Su it feels like you're watching real life play out in front of you. Yoo Ah In was a standout for me whose role I imagine wasn't an easy task since he was acting opposite Yoo Hae Jin. His performance as Cho Tae-Oh was spine-chilling but nuanced. He was a monster, but he had shades that were achingly human. It was a villainous role that made you angry at him but also for him and that's really a stunning feat.
Writing: I love adore crave stories like Veteran. Is it new or original? No. But the best thing about Veteran is that the script takes roles that have already been set and makes them human, makes them more. Everything is driven by them, their motivations, their desires. Hwang Jung Min could've played a good lawful cop who always does the right thing, but instead, the script throws that archetype right out the window in the stunning opening scene. They make him compelling: idealistic but realistic, someone who fights for what he believes in but in underhanded ways, a knight in rusty armor. Yoo Ah In could've played the spoiled son of a chaebol, an archetype we've seen a million times and then some. But here he plays someone so truly and deeply frightening that you think, this is what evil is. I read an interview where Director Ryu Seung-wan stated he wanted to look at the humans involved in this sort of story rather than the story itself. And the way he did is a beautiful thing to watch.
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While a good portion of President does revolve around politics and the campaigning process, much more can be seen than that. After all, this is the tale of deep and involving characters, each with their own fleshed out philosophies, backgrounds, and behaviors. These deal with and engage in various conflicts and intrigues, some scandalous, some campaign-crushing, others life-ruining. So what does such an atmosphere produce? High stakes conflict, with constant twists and turns. The viewer never knows what might come out of various happenings, even until the end. There were times I held my breath, totally drawn in, or even cried, having become so involved in this bitter battle.
Another strength rests in dialogue, a major point for scriptwriters. Much like in another surprisingly fetching drama (Empire of Gold), conversations are strong and memorable, if not as literary. Several speeches served up goose bumps, especially those delivered by Jang Il Joon (Choi Soo Jong).
Despite the deep praise I have for much of President, problems do exist in the narrative. There were times, if only on occasion, I found certain events unbelievable or a little “too much.” More serious might actually be the inclusion of Yoo Min Ki (Kim Jay), and the overall pacing of that character’s subplot. Two romances exist on top of this, yet only one works well; the other feels shoe-horned in to hook unsuspecting romance fans.
Acting! Why not start with the best? Jang Il Joon might be one of the most fascinating characters ever written for a drama, and Choi Soo Jong brings him to life with overflowing charisma. Is this a good man, a bad one, or a bit of both? This unforgettable portrayal deepens as our knowledge of Jang Il Joon does – and what an electrifying effect! His voice especially gave me the impression of a true leader; I could listen to this man speak all day, yet always be moved.
Other fine performances belong to Ha Hee Ra (as the deliciously complicated, unscrupulous Jo So Hee) and Kim Heung Soo (brilliant advisor Ki Soo Chan). The majority of Jang Il Joon’s competitors and campaign workers were great too, though particularly Hong Yo Seop (playing noble Kim Kyung Mo). I honestly wanted to give this section a perfect score, but unfortunately several young cast members prevented me. These include Kim Jay and Wang Ji Hye as the biggest offenders, but their scenes are mercifully short in comparison to the rest.
Two great vocals are provided by Super Junior (“Biting My Lips”) and 4MEN (“To Go and Die Alone”) respectively. This second touched me the most; its lyrics suit Jang Il Joon and his upward struggle to a magnificent degree. Otherwise, most incidental music worked fine or was at least unobtrusive, though both the “love ballad” and campaigning tracks were not to my taste.
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