I am so normal with this show......
omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg Love for loves sake is a game-changer in the bl realm, taking you on a journey that's anything but ordinary.Tae Myung Ha's switcheroo from a regular 29-year-old to a 19-year-old character inside a virtual game is like stepping into uncharted territory. The quest to sprinkle some happiness into Cha Yeo Woon's pixelated life brings forth a mix of track and field glory, handsome looks, and emotional wrecking...
The ending is pure cinematic magic, not rushed but carefully crafted, making it stand out in the Kbl landscape. The chemistry between the characters feels real. The acting is good. Characters are lovable. Iconic lines. Well-written script. Nice visuals. Name it. This is Cinema!
A must watch! It is a delightful anomaly in the best way possible, offering a unique blend of romance, drama, and a dash of virtual reality that's anything but normal.
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A beautifully crafted romantic drama that recharged my spirit
Chinese rom-coms can be tropey and full of clichés. Those seemed to come from a well thumbed playbook that have been passed around the writer's guild. While its root is in that muddy pond, this show rose above it like a lotus flower.Let's be honest, the plot of this show is quite straightforward. There are no big stars nor dramatic breakups. The ending was never in doubt and it was set in a provincial city. What it lacked were more than made up by a superior script and the acting of the ensemble cast.
I believe the ML is a newcomer and while he still have some rough edges, his natural presence and energy was perfect for the role. I have, more than once, found myself smiling like an idiot at the screen when he just radiated happiness. The FL is not an A-lister but she have been in various shows. She did very well playing a conflicted soul who was trying to choose between happiness and conformity. The CP has oodles of chemistry and some of their little cute acts were truly swoon worthy (not to mention the real romantic scenes). There is a good amount of skinship and that's because the ML can't keep his paws off the FL. Woof!
The support cast is wonderful. Most are older actors and I have no doubt some were locals. The script did not relegate them to the background but they have prominent roles and fully fleshed out back stories. It was a joy to see their banters, their support and shared wisdom when the CP needed them the most. Their acting were so good that they made you understand why some motifs actually became clichés. The writer really knew how to hit you with the feels. Not dramatic dam buster type but scenes that you can relate to and share their emotions.
BTW, most rom-com will cast the 2FL as the antagonist who will stop at nothing to tear the CP apart. Our 2FL started off like this but by mid show, you began to empathise with her as you get to know her. You will cheer her on and wish her the best by the end of the show. That is an amazing way to write an oft one dimensional character. Bravo, writer, bravo!
I also loved the vignettes of the CP growing up together that start each episode. Some were hilarious but one in particular was heart breaking.
The pacing of the first 3/4 of the show was good. Not rushed but plots were developed and progressed steadily. My only criticism is that the last 10% of the show did coast along. All the sub-plots were wrapped up neatly. Rainbows and sunshine blessed the land. As someone who enjoyed the show I cannot complain but I can see some viewers might find it slow going and a bit of self indulgence.
The OST was great. Worked really well with the scenes. The title track was written specifically for the show and not some generic love song. The production value was generally high and it probably helped that it was not set in Beijing or Shanghai which would have ballooned the production costs.
Not everyone will love this show, but if you appreciate a good romance this is for you. Your perseverance will be rewarded.
This Show is not about flashy sets nor crazy plot twists. It is about relatable people doing their best to find love, happiness and meanings to their lives. It is a true diamond in the rough. Peace.
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I’ve included a review of the English subs available
Chinese romance dramas used to always be either melodramas full of angst and sorrow or they would be over the top silly comedies. But lately they’ve been putting out some really good romantic comedies that are just the right combination of romance, comedy, and intrigue. This drama falls into that category. It’s not perfect but it’s a pretty decent drama.Acting: It’s a rarity for me but I have no complaints about any of the actors in this drama. They all did a good job. But the main leads did a much better than average job. Let me explain.
The male lead:
When it starts out he reminds me a lot of a typical second male lead. He’s very sweet, kind, and charming. I like how, as the drama progresses, the male lead draws us in by slowly revealing everything his character has had to endure and why he’s so grateful for the little things in life. And as his character grows and matures into a much more confident and forceful person, you can’t help being touched.
The female lead:
The female leads portrayal of a cold and arrogant CEO is spot on. But when she gradually shows glimpses of the soft heart she hides beneath that tough cold exterior, that’s when you really start to understand and connect with her character. You can’t help but feel for her as she slowly reveals how tortured she is over her past. I liked how well she portrayed her characters immense growth and maturity too.
Cinematography and set design:
There was no weird camera angles or choppy editing. It flowed smoothly and seamlessly. I was never confused about what was happening. The set design was really nice and for once I have no complaints about the wardrobe (Chinese dramas tend to put really baggy or weird clothes on the female leads in modern romcoms). The music was perfect for each occasion never taking away from the scenes or getting too loud and drowning out the actors voices.
Storyline:
Taking the typical drama plot and reversing it by having a cold rich female CEO chase after the male lead was a refreshing take on an old cliche. The comedy was perfectly timed and the characters were entertaining. But after a while you get tired of seeing the female lead continually chasing after the male lead only to get coldly rejected every time. I started to feel embarrassed for her. And the silly goofy over the top antics her “frenemy” resorted to when pursuing the male lead was not only annoying but it didn’t sit well with me since he was married. These things go on for almost 16 straight episodes which was just too long. It was cute and funny in the beginning but after a while it became repetitive and predictable. I found myself hoping for something different or more interesting to happen. Fortunately the chasing ends and the annoying “frenemy” has lots of character growth and I even started liking her. Then they even put in some intriguing plot twists midway through the drama, breathing fresh life into it. But one of the plot twists didn’t make sense and hurt rather than helped the drama. It’s never a good idea when a drama makes the audience angry at one of the leads for doing something stupid and hurtful. There’s lots of ways of making a drama more interesting without making one of the main leads hurt the other one even if it’s with noble intentions. Nothing irritates me more than noble idiocy. It’s one drama trope that’s been way over used lately. If they hadn’t dragged things out for so long in the beginning and if they hadn’t made a main character do the noble idiocy thing, it would have been a perfect drama.
For those watching it with English subs:
There aren’t a lot of good English subs out there for this drama. The best I could find were on Daily Motion by Carmon Eng Sub, but be forewarned that they aren’t perfect. The subs would be pretty good for a while then there would be short periods where the conjugation and sentence structure would be way off. During these periods the basic thoughts are there but you have to reconstruct the sentences in your head for it to make sense, which got tiresome. The depth of emotion and deeper essence of what’s being conveyed is missing during these periods. I’m still not 100% sure what exactly happened with some of the business aspects of the drama because of this. These subs are much better than the google translate subs, they're the best out there for this drama, and they’re definitely worth watching. And I really do appreciate this nice subbers hard work. But just be prepared for brief periods where the subs aren’t conjugated properly requiring you to pause everything so you can figure it out.
Overall thoughts:
Does this drama have flaws? Yes. Was I irritated at times? Yes. But I have to say that the main leads chemistry and romance really stood out in this drama. They have great kissing scenes, lots of hugs, piggyback rides, cuddles, etc. And the secondary couple are pretty cute too. There are a lot of lovable characters in this drama that you will root for. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty darn sweet and memorable.
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This review may contain spoilers
I started this drama out of shear curiosity and really got hooked on the super drama it ended up turning into. I loved the plot and the character dynamics and could not wait for the romance between the Empress and the Chief body guard/Na Wang Shik. But......The ending completely fell apart. It was exceptionally disappointing. I hated the way the writers wrapped things up. Min Yoo Ra being raped was just too much for me. It didn't make sense - it was like they were trying to justify and redeem her being a horrible person (throughout more than 75% of the drama) by saying that she went through something horrible (rape *is* horrible, but there was no reason to add that to her story because her story already made justifiable sense). Her horrible actions and mentally was already explained through her thinking she was abandoned when pregnant. They didn't need to add such a cruel thing on top of it. It was unnecessary and honestly, for me personally, distasteful.
Another thing that was handled poorly and was a complete let down for me was how Na Wang Shik was not in the final episodes - it felt really REALLY wrong. He needed to be there some how. Flashbacks would have been a great addition to kind of bridge the gap of the actor's absence! It was like they were trying to get us to forget he ever existed in the drama....but he was present in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE so trying to brush off his character in the last 4 episodes was just stupid and not well compensated for.
A logical issue in the plot that I could not fathom was the culprit behind the death of the Grandmother/Grand Empress Dowager....or apparently a suicide. Even if her suicide was planned by the writers, it made NO LOGICAL SENSE. NONE. How would her suicide help ANYONE (her reasoning behind killing herself rather than being murdered by her own family members)? UGH that was soooo frustrating and stupid too.
In regards to the island the Empress Dowager wanted so badly..... I was thinking that the island was gonna have something extremely taboo, cruel and crazy - the poppies with the cocaine production just really didn't cut it for me. Yes, the human experimenting was awful, but I didn't understand the point to it. Why do experimenting on humans with poppy extract? What's the goal/purpose??? That was left unexplained, which made it feel like they never really knew what was on the island until it was time to reveal it and then they didn't come up with anything worthy of all the desire to KILL over.
The ending with the Empress Dowager killing her own son was goosebumps evoking. It just didn't make sense to me how they made it seem like in his dying breaths the Dowager didn't mean it.....she tried to blow him up like 2 days ago.....
It was also sad that the sister to the emperor was simply too dumb to get involved with all the crazy stuff and therefore never trusted to handle anything. It protected her in the end, but man she felt so betrayed and surprised/appalled at their actions. Poor thing.
I also didn't get why the Empress (Sunny) was made to look like she's going to miss the Emperor after his death/murder but not once does she seem to mourn or remember Na Wang Shik. How does that even make sense to them?! They were in frickin love! Everyone knew it, but thanks to the actor's inability to be present in the last 4 episodes they decided to pretend that they weren't leading to that the whole time?! Where was Sunny crying herself to sleep because she loved him and he died protecting her from the bomb explosion (which they didn't really explain well either, just kind of glazed over to get him out of the picture). That makes me so mad.
There was some dramatic irony of people walking around looking at "antique " stuff from in the palace. That had me cracking up.
What I can say about the ending that was good was at least Sunny always loved Ari and wanted to protect her, which she managed to do till the end. That's a plus.
You see and this is a prime reason why I never watched currently airing dramas in the first place! The ending to this drama was so awful that it ruined the whole drama for me, even though I absolutely loved mostly everything up until the way they started to wrap up the ending.
Sunny didn't get to be with Chun Woo Bin/Na Wang Shik (which I wasn't originally rooting for, but after all the implications, I found myself wanting them to end up happy together) and that kinda bugged me because they were definitely alluding to their romance. And then they took it away!
Also, what was UP with Sunny's hair cut in the end?! That style did NOT suit her. And I don't think a haircut automatically equals a progression/lapse in time so that was definitely unnecessary too (though, I'm totally nit-picking, so I'll stop there).
Overall, I want to say I enjoyed this drama more than I did, but the ending makes it something I do NOT want to rewatch. Even the epilogue scene was a let-down. It implied that the Emperor and Sunny were supposed to be together if they had met in another life in different circumstances, but the whole drama spent time showing us that they would never be together and Na Wang Shik was her *fit*.
While the drama was highly addictive and paced well, the way the writers chose to handle the drama extension and not having the actor for Na Wang Shik included in the final 4 episodes ruined everything. I think the writers really need to reflect on how they handled this drama (in plot), their characters (in development), and their actors.
I would only consider recommending this drama/rewatching this drama if there was an alternate ending including Na Wang Shik's character and their happily ever after (rather than the bittersweet ending we got).
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Cheesy And Typical Tropes To Be Expected, Yet Oddly Heartwarming In Parts...
Novice screenwriter Yoo Song Yi and director Lee Hyun Suk tackle the renowned theme of time travel within their storyline with a conglomeration of staid cliches and tropes, plot holes as well as a mixed bag of characterisation. Nevertheless perhaps one thing which should be said is that even in the world of cliche K-dramas, the premise of “Hello, Me! “is pretty out there .The drama centralises its upon the main protagonist 37 year-old Ha-Ni ( Choi Kang Hee). Once a stunning beauty and popular in her teens, Ha-Ni’s life has hit rock bottom after a tragic event in her life. By a whim of fate, Ha-Ni ends up encountering her 17-year old self ( Lee Re) who has somehow travelled twenty years into the future for reasons unbeknown to both Ha-Nis. As the current Ha-Ni struggles to juggle between keeping the appearance of her younger self from her older sister Ban Ha Young ( Jung Yi Rang) , mother Ji Ok Jung ( Yoon Bok In) and grandmother Lee Hong Nyeon ( Kim Yong Rin), Ha-Ni’s life may just hide a blessing in disguise with a new opportunity coming to rise. In addition to this, the mysterious involvement of younger conglomerate heir Yoo-hyun ( Kim Young Kwang) and actor Anthony ( Eum Moon Suk), reveal their mysterious links and feelings through their shared pasts with Ha-Ni .
The cast of the series were fairly versatile in talents. Whilst main actress Choi Kang Hee admittedly did feel slightly out of place within the series at first, she was able to deliver a brilliant performance which allowed viewers to become attached and feel moved by her character. Arguably, actress Lee Re did feel slightly questionable within her portrayal of Ha-Ni’s younger-self due to certain line deliverances, however, during more angst-ridden moments of the series, the younger actress did capture certainly more heartfelt moments behind her onscreen persona .
Admittedly , Kim Young Kwang and Eun Moon Suk weren’t entirely dire within their performances and did have some genuinely heartbreaking moments onscreen , however as their characters were played more for comedy and as the “ love interests” of the drama, their performances were restricted slightly towards their respected moulds as the “ male lead and second male lead” of “ Hello, Me!” . However, this is not entirely the fault of either actor, as whilst the scriptwriting should be commended for tackling convoluted and realistic subject areas such as bereavement, family , friendship, mental health and the prejudice and difficulties of ageing in South-Korean Society , certain characters felt respectfully moulded into prosaic roles over the course of the series which were hard to renounce.
In particular this can be seen through the younger Ha-Ni. Ha-Ni is supposed to highlight a stark contrast against her older counterpart by her fractiousness , optimism and self-confidence in given situations due to still being young . On the other hand, Ha-Ni respectfully felt overly immature and benign for a 17-year old by her impulsiveness and lacking rationality at times over the course of the series. Whilst admittedly the older Ha-Ni did confess that she was fairly sheltered by her mother and doted on by her father Ban Ki Tae ( Kim Byung Choon) during her younger years, it still felt oddly out of place for a character exposed to social interactions and academic expectations ( which were never really touched upon the series) in high school to not learn to mature slightly as a consequence.
However, over the course of the series and her interactions with her older self, the younger Ha-Ni does learn to become more altruistic by helping others, as well as encouraging the 37 year-old self through acceptance than her earlier snide comments towards older Ha-Ni’s appearance and circumstances. ( Taking “ self-depreciation ” to a whole new level in the beginning of the drama.)Yet this still seems to lead to two possible conclusions; Ha-Ni should have been written as a slightly younger character ( perhaps someone nearer her mid-teens than 17 years old ), or preferably she should have been given more time throughout the storyline to learn to mature slightly from the influences of her older-self.
Naturally, this leads us onto the older Ha-Ni. Whilst the younger Ha-Ni is by default the same individual as the older Ha-Ni, screenwriter Song Yi notably places an emphasis upon the 37 year-old version of the character being strikingly different than her younger counterpart. The current Ha-Ni is more taciturn, lacking in self-confidence and was hinted by her mother and sister to have struggled with depression and loneliness in the past. Annoyingly whilst the series did enjoy placing comic relief upon Ha-Ni’s “ unfortunate circumstances” in the beginning of the series and her naivety for the latter part with the feelings of Anthony and Yoo-Hyun towards her, the older Ha-Ni admittedly did have a lot of character growth from low self-esteem initially towards a more self-assured individual who learns to pursue her dreams in the process.
However, her pairings with the male leads often felt slightly disjointed in the grand scheme of the series. The pairing between Yoo Hyun and Ha Ni felt more fortified admittedly than the more complicated relationship between Anthony and herself ( both younger and older), however, this often resulted in the series struggling sometimes to portray Ha-Ni’s affections and feelings towards either male lead outside of expected plot line and setups.
Perhaps the one element that was tackled well within the drama occurred with Ha Ni’s interactions with her mother, sister and grandmother over the duration of the episodes , shown to grow and developed from slightly estranged ( due to her circumstances) towards more affectionate and trusting over the course of the series. It would have perhaps been slightly more intriguing to have touched upon Ha Ni’s interactions and complications around her grandmother. Although primarily this did serve a major part of the story ( without any spoilers) , this did feel a little underdeveloped towards exposing the more emotional difficulties and challenges ( especially with her mental health ) for the 37 year-old Ha Ni. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing and heartwarming dynamic by the presence of Ha Ni’s interactions with her family allowing her to grow to some extent as an individual, rather than merely an asset for “romantic” plot development.
On the other hand, the two male leads of the series are a little more complicated to address by their debased characterisation in parts. “Anthony” arguably had the most wasted potential as a second male lead and his respected involvement in Ha-Ni’s life due to his “ feelings” for Ha-Ni often being played for comical gags rather than exploring his more complicated reasons, personality and past. The drama did attempt to bring up Anthony’s past haunting him again nearer the ending of the series by this particular storyline (as well of course his earlier interactions with the younger Ha-Ni), however, Anthony never truly felt like a worthy contender of Ha-Ni’s affections due to being severely limited within personal growth and screen time with the main character.
Arguably, against his initial cliche archetype as the “ immature, younger rich male lead” Yoo- Hyun was more well-rounded by his reasoning behind falling for Ha-Ni as well as his primary growth as a character . Without revealing too much about the storyline , there are expected tropes which revolve around Yoo-Hyun over the course of the drama. However against some of his more annoying flaws being his childishness and immaturity at times ( as noted by his father ), he was an incredibly kind-hearted and altruistic individual, making his interactions with the older Ha-Ni fairly sweet. Similar to the older Ha-Ni, however, it was refreshing that the series did touch upon Yoo-Hyun’s heartfelt relationship development and complications from childhood with his father Han Ji Man ( Yoon Joo Sang). Although his relationship with Ha-Ni was undeniably sweet, it did feel underdeveloped for a major proportion of the series, often resulting in their relationship being more “ friendly” than having “ romantic undertones”. Nevertheless, their bond did serve to provide warmth and sincerity into the series.
The side characters of the series were honestly a bit of mixed-bag with genuine development besides our main protagonists. Perhaps the most interesting side character in the series who had notable growth from her initial introduction in episode 1 manifested in Oh Ji Eun. The estranged best friend and shadow of Ha-Ni from her younger years, Ji Eun’s position is reversed in the present by being a successful director as well , in a fairly happy relationship with fellow managing director Yang Do Yoon ( Ji Seung Hyun). However, there’s a lot more than Ji Eun struggles behind the scenes from her initial introduction by struggling with guilt over how she left things with Ha-Ni after they ended their friendship initially, and walking around eggs shells with her mother in law and one of the arguable “ minor antagonists ” of the series, Han Ji Sook ( Baek Hyun Joo).
Whilst it is prominent to see why Ji Eun was forced into the mistakes she made in order to hopefully win the approval of Ji Sook, it felt slightly poorly-tackled how the show left things with Ji Eun. Additionally, the other side characters of the series were mostly played off giggles or to lighten up the mood over the course of the series such as kitchen staff Kang Geum Ja ( Kim Mi Hwa) and Cha Mi Ja ( Kim Do Yeon) , the “ obvious secret couple”, Bang Ok Joo ( Go Na Eun) and Kim Yong Hwa ( Kim Ki Ri) as well as of course the duo Park Jung Man ( Choi Dae Chul) and Min Gyeong Shik ( Kang Tae Joo) consigned as Anthony’s managers also.
On the other hand, the ending for “ Hello, Me!” was fairly appropriate for the genre; predictable, yet nonetheless enjoyable.Ultimately, “ Hello, Me!” was a fairly heartfelt, uplifting fantasy, family story and romantic comedy about self-love and learning to lean on others. It was not a flawless show and some notable implausibilities of character development, a sense of overarching purpose and cliches did ultimately detract from more intriguing aspects of the series. Nevertheless, it was a fairly enjoyable and easygoing watch, perhaps something to easily binge-watch when bored or looking for something to fill-out during a lazy day, holiday or weekend.
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Way too rushed or this would've been better
I was casually checking up for Ding Yuxi's upcoming works on his MDL profile page and came across this movie… the synopsis sounded interesting so I thought of checking it out… but wait what a blunder!
Having read the synopsis I knew this was gonna be a bit of rollercoaster and sad stuff… and it literally went like that… the plot moves with the speed of light, almost 3×10^8 m/s … that's the biggest complain I have here… they don't give you any time to adjust with the changes or understand the characters… the twist are like this, one thing happened, next this happens, then that and that…
the movie is 1 hour 44 minutes long, I wish it was at least 2.5 or 3 hours long… I won't mind the length but the story will be delivered better in that way.
Then they didn't even care to explain us the medical terms and elaborate us about the twists… I see they're crying but give me a reason to cry along with them… Tbh, the story isn't very bad as it seems, the only issue is the execution only if they showed us some basic character build up or some scenes related before verbally saying all the twists…
despite that some small scenes in between with the main leads that are barely of 1-2 minutes each are cute… as a cute pair they look great together but what a waste that the execution sucked… the only thing I am satisfied with is acting… I really hope the same leads work together for a better script… they deserve better…
from the OST lineup… I liked —
♪Accompany you♪ (sang by Yu Jiayun)
♪Ten years of smoke♪ (sang by Tang Hanxiao).
All in all, I don't recommend this to anyone. If you haven't watched any works of the cast before, please refer to their other works before cause this isn't the choice for a first impression.
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This review may contain spoilers
Overpromises but under-delivers - a confusing tale of lost potential and underutilised characters
(Brace yourself, I was a Lit student so here's my walls of text. Sorry for typos etc.):Enjoyable fantasy drama with a lot of undelivered potential, saturated with fan service moments, over the top product placements #coffeebay, misuse of secondary characters, all in support of a no longer justifiable love story of star-crossed lovers aka the Mary Sue leads.
I'm being generous in rating this an 8/10 (7.5 as a review) as I feel that all things considered the drama waivered about 4 episodes in with the start of the lovey dovey fan service moments, which, at the time I didn't mind, until the drama's quality continued to decline about episodes 7 to 8 and by the time of my bitterness in writing this, having just watched the ending, I feel that this drama should be rated at around 7.0 to 7.5 and that's if you aren't forgiving of the fact that this drama has a lot of plot holes and fails to continue its strength in storytelling Korean myths/folklore.
The premise of an action filled drama with a compelling love story backdrop about star-crossed lovers with intertwined fates was enough to entice me as I'm a sucker for those types of "fated to love you"/"loving you against all odds and through time, here and now" stories as a romantic. BUT to sum up, "Tale of the Nine-Tailed" to me initially felt like hopping on a rollercoaster, excited and anxious, then you get taken for a ride and reach a few heights, mid-heights, before then you're told to exit even though you've only had two minutes of enjoyment.
In sum:
* Weak, and illogical storytelling
* Underutilised secondary characters
* Underutilised fantasy/thematic elements
* Mary Sue leads who get what they what in expense of dispensable secondary characters
* Arbitrary, inconsistent and underfleshed rules of TONT fantasy land that make zero sense when you consider things altogether
LOVE/CHEMISTRY:
Look, I was aware that there were some people criticising Bo Ah and Lee Dong Wook as having no chemistry from the first episode in. I beg to differ. I did actually think that they had chemistry and felt that some of the initial judgment were a bit harsh as this was a new pairing. My favourite scenes were of Bo Ah as Ah Eum and their flashbacks as those really cemented the "star-crossed lovers with intertwined fates" theme. I loved the lake scene and especially Yeon crying as he gives Bo Ah the fox bead. I especially loved the parallel in Bo Ah crying and in the fox bead coming out, proving to Yeon that she was his reincarnated lover. I thought that that was one of the best scenes of this drama. I was also aware that at that point, some watchers thought that the reveal occurred prematurely and I disagree as at that point there was still a lot to play with.
BUT after that episode everything started to slow down and focus only on the "instalove" and THAT is the biggest weakness of their romance. The reliance on the past as a foundation of their present love. Although Ah Eum was clearly Ji Ah, she was still a different person, but the "instalove" prevailed and after the finding of the fox bead that that suddenly meant that although Ji Ah was still a bit embarrassed that essentially she already at that point loved loved loved Yeon, which made bloody zero sense. There were very little moments of building tension that is required when creating romance. The greater the tension, the better the climax.
Here, what annoyed me was that the writing was pretty much telling whoever's watching to assume that their intertwined past was enough to support their present romance and that they didn't need to talk in depth about that past apart from road trips here and there, over the top and cheesy dates featuring sponsors (I see you Coffeebay!), and out of the blue confessions that for Ji Ah's initial characterisation seemed out of the blue for her to say.
Conclusion - the romance lacked the necessary foundation for me to care, at least, to really care about why they loved each other so much because it wasn't believable. Why did they fall in love with each other in the present? I still don't know. Sure, Ji Ah was saved by Yeon and for that she might have been grateful, but why was she so open to loving a fox/non-human when she lost her parents to supernatural creatures? Wouldn't she harbour hatred against them? Why was it so easy for her to come out of her initial "strong girl" characterisation and suddenly become a lovesick girl whose only concern apart from the rescuing of her parents is her one and only love who she loves partly because there's an internal consciousness in her that remembers him (at least that's kind of implied) and partly because he's Yeon, the lead.
JI AH & YEON:
This is getting too long already but Ji Ah started off as a promising character. She was strong, got her shit together, but also had vulnerability from losing her parents and navigating her life all alone. But when she fell in love, and fall in love she did, she lost her strength and became a lovesick girl. The individual traits that defined her disappeared, and her love life became the focus of the show, so much so that that became her identity and the Ji Ah before Yeon became non-existent. Her life at the broadcasting station was very little spent, and really, I can't remember what was even the point of establishing that she works at the broadcast station when we saw very very little of what she did. The thrill of episode 3 in seeing Ji Ah as someone who was proud of her work, because it was rooted in something personal for her (finding her parents theme) was so admirable because she was a PERSON, her OWN PERSON, and not a person in love whose only identity is being in love.
Yeon, on the other hand, I thought was just a guy who was doing his best with all the responsibility bestowed upon him, and with very few people who could really understand the depth of that responsibility. BUT, now I have to agree with those other bitter watchers who say that he was selfish. He only did care about his own wants regardless of his self-sacrificing nature. At least, episodes 14-16 really shows that all he cares about is his lover and it doesn't matter what gets in the way, as long as he is happy. Actually, look, that is probably unfair, BUT the writers also ruined this character because Yeon lost his cool guy demeanour and became 50% baby and 50% cheese, which, to be fair, was funny in very small doses, but quickly became irritating because it made him look like an idiot, and made Rang's frustrations against him much more justified.
Also, what annoyed me was how readily okay the leads were in dispensing their friends. Of course, in fantasy land, sacrifice for a good cause is an honourable way to go, and dying for a great benefit is looked favourably upon, but where is the benefit in dying for the leads whose love story never really developed into a mature romance apart from the cringy sweet fan service moments? What was so important in their love story apart from the third party Imoogi that made sense for these secondary characters to be so readily available to risk their life for the happiness of one? Because they're a main character? It just does NOT make sense. Had the romance been stronger and believeable, and had there been greater foundational work emotionally, I would be all support but there was literally nothing apart from the third party Imoogi ruining their love, whose a questionable mission was never ever fully explained, that tested their love.
STORYTELLING:
What absolutely annoys me about the storytelling in this drama is a lot is implied, and nothing is explained. No debrief, nothing. Nada. There are many examples of this that sometimes you're like "Huh, they didn't explain that but oh, it's a new episode so let's just accept that that's what happened."
One such example is the rift between Yeon and Rang which was explained in one episode that although Rang believes Yeon abandoned him, that he didn't and never has. YET, we never get a full on explanation of why Rang believed this and what exactly happened in between those times. There was no debrief and after a few lines here and there, we are just made to accept that Yeon NEVER abandoned Rang and that Rang was just being an emotional baby.
Going back to Yeon's characterisation, the writers made him and Ji Ah too perfect that they made little to no mistakes and received the best of luck in almost all aspects of their life that they lacked relatability and became Mary Sue. It would have been more compelling had Yeon had to abandon Rang for a good reason and that his mistake in doing that led to the brothers' breakdown. Yet all the mistakes in this drama are mistakes that everyone else makes but the leads. It would have been better if the leads weren't so "perfect" - if Yeon had used Ji Ah to capture the Imoogi as his duty to the Gods before falling in love with her, if Ji Ah wanted to use Yeon to defeat the Imoogi but ended up falling for him.
I also didn't get the purpose of the Imoogi. For all the foundational work in trying to prove that the Imoogi was an all evil being, the taking Yeon's body to cause chaos to the world plan felt 'meh'. Personally, his plight would have been more believable had there been a long enough flashback scene where he speaks to Bok Gil and we were given enough view of the past for us to understand why he so badly wanted Yeon's body and why he had initially taken over Bok Gil's body. What I feel the writers could have done was shown a lot more of the past to set the foundation for the present.
Another example of the implied but not explained storytelling is when Ji Ah loses the fox bead to the blind fortune teller. First of all, how did she even know that she had it. She just said yes to the exchange and got Yeon. And although there might have been a scene where they discussed this, it was very brief and probably did not explain why she thought that the fox bead was useless. Also, if she's a director on the supernatural, wouldn't she be aware of its value so what was the point?
Another thing that wasn't explained was that the Imoogi wasn't able to read her mind? Why was that? I was hoping that here at least, and pertaining to the Princess Bari myth that she would have untapped supernatural connection, but alas, nothing. Nada. This was not explained. She was just a useless human after all.
OTHER COMMENTS (Okay I'm sleepy and I just need to get this out of my chest now. Tomorrow is a new day haha)
* There was also so much potential to delve into the stories of each individual from TOTNT that would have supported the creation of the fantasy world and probably helped establish in the believability of the rules of TOTNT's fantasy land. For example, Snail Bride could have got a flashback of her own instead of just having stories told about her. Green Evil Spirit could have also had a flashback about her own story. And definitely about the Imoogi exiting the well, and meeting Bok Gil, and even Bok Gil's own flashbacks with his wife. Even Moon Guy only had one episode and only appeared in the ending. The drama could have all these elements and could have allowed them to have greater importance instead of just making Yeon the main character who is an all-powerful, all-everything lead that saves the day and gets the girl.
* Continuing on from the underutilised characters. Soo Hoo could have been developed greatly - they could have given him the ability to heal, or at least allowed the side characters to also have powers. Ji Ah's friends could have also been a lot more useful and not just used as character decorations with very little screen time that it was actually hard to believe that they were at all even friends. Also Ji Ah's parents appeared only once or twice after getting out, what was even the point when it was almost as if they weren't even there??? The writers could have given them greater importance or even connected them to a fantasy source, because, after all, Ji Ah's mother had nightmares about her own child. Why was that? Again, that wasn't really ever fully explained.
*The fox bead - as much as this was set up as a very important element, it came and went and only appeared in the final episode, and again with very little explanation. If you're going to set up an important element (the fox bead is a love motif), you can't just forget about it and then realise that you set it up and tack it on the ending. It does NOT make sense.
* What happened to the villagers in episode 3? Whilst it was implied that they became the sacrifice that turned the Imoogi, there was no debrief about Ji Ah's story project there and about that island? Nothing.
* Also how did Yuri even fix her mess with her adopted parents? Shin Joo said he'd fixed it but why wasn't that even show. Even as a subplot, that was important in Yuri's characterisation. Why did they just ignore that?
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Okay, that's all I can fit in. I feel better writing this review and getting those feelings out of the way. Don't get me wrong, there were some very good moments that I enjoyed, some cheesy moments that I enjoyed, but I couldn't forego logic for so long so here's this review.
Would I recommend this drama? Look, we all have different tastes and for the most part, I enjoyed watching this, but the ending really did leave a bad impression on me as I felt that my investment in the drama became exploited all for a "cool"/"unheard of" k-drama fantasy ending. If you choose to watch it and you start noticing what I've said, it's your choice to stick out; however, if you're part of the other camp that is able to turn off your logical reasoning and support fan service moments then by all means, watch this, be fan and go enjoy it. Otherwise, if you're on the fence, what's a few hours here and now?
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This review may contain spoilers
Finally, a story with real people and not caricatures!
Gong Suo Jin Zhi hit my IQIYI as Love and Strife out of nowhere. Relatively unknown actors but OMG! this is finally an adult production where there are no females who act like 5th graders, no villains who roll their eyes or grind their teeth. The script was solid, even if the story was not that innovative the characters were written with care and consistently put out the same vibe and logic. The director had done a really good job making it an even paced, low key, but interesting drama with good chemistry between the leads and interesting relationships between 2 other couples shown.From the get-go you wonder about the moral spine of the leads as they are not some caricatures/cliches of the cdrama stereotypes. Both leads are not flashing their attractiveness, but they are dressed well, with subtle make up and hairdos that fit. What this stands out for is the maturity of the interactions, relationships and characters. The daughter of a military family that was killed off is on the road to revenge -check. She is using herself as a bait and even a possible victim of abuse - check. The Crown Prince crippled and weak holding the grudge for the death of his mother - check. He is also shady about how he feels about his emperor father - check. Third prince villain-check - but he is not a bumbling baboon and actually an articulate, dignified, even if spoilt, dude with integrity. Have you seen that a lot? I did not. I actually liked him better than the grayish shade of the ML, but in the end, he gets what he deserves. And that Imperial consort, mom of the 3rd prince? Crazy jealous -check. Smarter than the emperor? You bet! And even 3rd princess does not come as an idiot, just as a woman stuck between her minister father and heir implied husband.
All the actors did an amazing job to be the characters they played. It was like a good theater performance: real, un-retouched at times raw and at times evoking the sense of them being just pitiful. You don't get grand gestures and doubled or tripled shots of the same scene for added grandiosity. People still spit blood and get splashed with it - you just don't see acting in it - you see people suffering and getting shocked. I give them all 10/10 for that and bow to the director for this!
Now on to relationship of the leads: You will get nice tension, lavish kissing and no shying away from showing what marriage of two people attracted to one another looks like behind the close doors. The shots of these embarrassing if you watch it on public transportation scenes is done very tactfully but long enough for all of us who like that stuff to smile. And what I personally enjoyed in the scenes of the couples interacting is what they don't say but show with faces, bodies and voice.
Even the ending was thoughtful- you don't get any stupid hang ups from misunderstandings, but there is an issue of trust, self-determination and power. Remember crazy emperor forcing the woman he desires to marry him? Well, for the crown prince who does not give his father an antidote as a revenge for allowing to kill his mother - what do you think he will do? And the woman who discovers that the husband she aligned with and started to love faked being poisoned by others without telling her - do you think she will stay with him?
The few songs during the show were really good. It reminded me of the quality in Princess Royal theme. BGM was discreet and not intrusive. and it was all superbly edited.
Fights scenes? OK Camera work? good Lighting? Amazing! I am very tired of night scenes where you can spot needles on the ground because the producer thought that the more light - the better.
Overall the underhanded way of this drama will probably make a lot of people forget it quickly. I, on the other hand, will look at it again because it is rare to see drama with characters that are not heroic, but human. That is why I am giving it 8.
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the movie describes a main problem that comes along with long relationships...losing contact...
when things goes wrong...go back to the beginning & rebuild things again...
the acting was great the directing was fabulous...
I'm a fan of French songs...so |I loved the music...
***watch it...you will not regret it ;)
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This review may contain spoilers
meaning in a meaningless existence
I love this show so much, my lord. I would recommend it 100%. I ended up giving this a 9 out of 10. I think that this show was fantastic, and I finished it so long ago, I am just so lazy and forget to write reviews. So y'all know the drill, what I liked, what I didn't like, a little overview, and then my final thoughts. So yeah, let's get into it (peep spoiler time lmao).I thought the plot of this show started off okay, and then it got really good. I enjoyed how they developed the show more and more as the episodes continued. The characters from the start were fantastic, especially all my vampires, immaculate casting, because god damn. The movements, the acting, the weird twilight vibe to it, I loved it. So this is the first thing that I have seen Joss in, and he and those sleepy eyes lured me all the way in. I think that his acting is good, and it was fantastic whenever he had to play the "vampire" part. Specifically, anytime that Tong's blood or sweat came into play, he got so into that, and it was truly great. On the other hand, I think that Gawain did an amazing job as well, but I also love him so much, no matter what he does. Tong's whole character had the most development, and my husband did a good job playing the "innocent character." What else? I liked their chemistry; it felt very mature and was very nice to watch. THOSE SEX SCENES. OH MY LORD. THAT WAS AMAZING. The lightning, the music, everything. Yeah, I might just be a big fan of vampire shit, but I had a lot of fun watching this, and I am rewatching right now. Also, I want to highlight the end of episode 8, that sex scene marked the change in their dynamic. It went from predator and prey to predator and "and what?" What that means is that it went from being hunted and scared to kind of like a playful dynamic, and I messed with this. The way Tong forced Mark to face the blood so they could continue having sex and also their relationship, was so HOTTTT and fantastic. Yeah, I also liked Mond's character, especially towards the end. Like he was never a good guy and they didn't even try to make him one lmao. I liked the end and how the cycle continued; that was fantastic and a great way to do it. There's probably more, but that is all for now.
What I did not like. Well, I did enjoy the ending of them living together for the rest of eternity, but I did not like THAT THEY FUCKING KILLED EVERYONE. Like tonkla gets clapped by Nakan, and then Tara died, the flower lady, and then Nakan, all in a 20-minute span. My lord, they did not need to do that. Miserable. I also did not like Tonkla's character. I think that he was such a fucking opposition the ENTIRE TIME. Like, there's a reason Tong did not tell you ANYTHING you are out to get him. I enjoyed the golden aspect a lot, but that got so cringe in some parts, and it made me want to die. Also, the plot for the first 4-ish episodes. I don't want to be that person, but it's my marker, everything before their kiss scene and their first sex scene was ass. ASS I TELL YOU. I understand they were trying to set everything up, but it was so unbelievably boring, I had to stop watching this shit. But it got better, but tough watch at first. THE SINGING FUCKK NOOOO. G, we know you can sing, but fuck off, it was in such random parts that it made it unbearable. Also, the fact that Mark has been protecting Tong since he was a baby was also kind of weird, but that's fine. Yeah, I think that's all.
OVERVIEW TIMEEEE. The fact that when he bleeds, he gets hunted is geniuely mortifying. Pretty good setup at first. The good vampire bad vampire shit was like Twilight lmao. Took me so long to finish/write this review. I started in high school, and now I am writing the review in college. Scary stuff. The casting was great. This show was also pretty fun in parts, and it was good. Tong is a dumb ass. "I would follow Joss to the ends of the earth, bro." Pride and Prejudice reference was PEAK. Tomato juice. "I [would] watch out for those neck kisses because he's a fucking vampire, you dumb shit, clearly, bro did not have his brain screwed on tight." JERK OFF SCENE WAS CRAZYYYYY. I was like Why does he keep cutting him when they kiss? IT'S BECAUSE HIS SALVIA MAKES HIS TEETH COME OUT, STUPIDDDD. G's eyelashes are so sexy. "[G] eyelashes are the most distracting thing in the whole show behind his sexy abs and Joss's abs." KLA GOT CLAPPED AND MOND HAS THE SEXIEST FACE EVER. A 10/10 twist from this show because I lowkey didn't expect it. "A couple of years versus an eternity, and those couple of years changed his eternity forever." Good ending.
Okay, and yeah. I think this was overall a good show with some flaws, but I am on my 3rd rewatch, so that should tell you everything that you need to know lmao. Okay bye!
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Leads chemistry is the only strong point of the show.
The drama is a mix of many cliche tropes summed together but the story and its pace has been quite good so far. The drama as every other romantic C-drama has SML and SFL who are gonna try to separate the leads but get rejected and like every other drama they aren't the type to hear NO so will continue with their shit till the end.There are moments where the story felt a little dud but the sizzling chemistry of leads make up for it. Lu Yang Yang has improved a lot when it comes to her acting over the years while Zhao Zhi Wei is one good actor who can pull of both positive and negative roles well. Both the leads have strong chemistry and don't really hold back in showing it off.
I still think the drama could have been done in 24 or less as the last few eps will be quite draggy with the confrontations, cliche breakup and stuff. The ending is done fairytale, even the antagonists who have commit crimes and done shitloads of bad shit are easily forgiven and let go without any legal issue so it was quite crappy to watch.
It is a one time watch, if you are fan of the actors otherwise it can be ignored.
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You may feel hurt in your heart a lot of the times.
This show has been one hell of an emotional roller coaster. It really hurt where it was supposed to hurt, it's that type of a story.The acting was good and really, the story itself and it's progression was definitely smooth, despite having many parallel story lines going on of different characters. The Director and the Writer did very well in this regard. Personally, I've seen many shows where they mess up the story line if a lot of things going on in one drama, but, Not this one. Although one of two details are missing that should have been addressed. But, you can't really expect more from a drama that's just 12 episode long.
The cinematography was great, although most Korean shows have them. It's the overall progression of the story that really did the job for me, It wasn't too fast, neither too slow, just my cup of tea.
Overall, a good show, with a very good cast, good story line, good acting and great music.
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Incoming: mild fever dream
Wow. What an…experience.Objectively, I had a few issues with the drama’s execution. Not-so-objectively, this is a perfect show to accompany a couple of spiked seltzers (ahem...only if you're of legal age, please): it’s cra-zy. Loco, I tell you.
The School Nurse Files is not your conventional television show, let alone your run-of-the-mill K-drama. It really does have a “Netflix original” vibe to it (as I would describe such a “genre”): creative and at times disturbing, but most importantly, outlandish. Each episode is a trip into peculiar jelly (warning: gross to look at) encounters, meeting eccentric characters, and the resulting chaos. Mixed together with moments of dry humor, the show can feel overwhelming at times, but is unexpectedly entertaining.
I can picture this drama as suiting those with more niche preferences, so I wouldn't recommend it on a whim. The computer graphics are done so well that the resulting creepiness can be physically off-putting. And though our main character may be a toy sword, BB gun-wielding fanatic, this show’s themes are quite serious and—on certain occasions—dark. Altogether, it’s a weird cocktail of comic tomfoolery and harsh reality that’s the first of its kind in the K-drama realm.
In terms of writing, the length of the drama turned out to be a handicap. The story was interesting enough, but the progression was slightly faster than what I prefer. With even one more episode, I think the pacing could have been smoother and the message of the show would have come across much stronger.
While I liked the characters, none of them were developed to their full potentials. In the fantasy genre, where plot tends to be overpowering by nature, it’s important to build characters as interesting human beings in order to complement such compelling stories. I don’t think that was entirely accomplished here, and that’s my main qualm with the show. The characters are supposed to be strange. Most of them are supposed to rub you the wrong way. But then what? They fall flat. Altogether, the freshness of the plot is what carries you through the show.
Admittedly, my initial interest was due to Nam Joo Hyuk. Jung Yoo Mi being on the cast list was an extra plus. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two of them performed excellently. Jung Yoo Mi excelled in her oddballish yet emotional lead role, and Nam Joo Hyuk’s portrayal of a mellow and genuine sidekick was equally fun to watch. Oh, Nam Joo Hyuk. Never could I have expected him, of all people, to lead me...here. But here I am. In jelly-world.
Because it’s such a unique drama, there’s really no way of predicting whether you’ll enjoy it unless you try it. This is one of those rare shows where watching the first half hour is likely enough for you to make an accurate judgment about how much you’ll like the rest. So, empty your mind and jump in…just…your head needs to be totally empty to accept the amount of insanity it’s about to encounter.
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Worthy k-horror with top notch acting by Kim Tae Ri
Horror is not usually my choice of genre but was drawn by Kim Tae Ri’s versatile acting and was hooked from the beginning. Also a long mystery, each episode was full of suspense and was drawn wanting to find out the backstories. No love story unfortunately but there was a hint of romance between all the blood and deaths with the detective. Some could say there was also something with the Folklore professor but if they dropped in romance I’d be team detective. Ending also has a good message. Would recommend.Was this review helpful to you?
The first few episodes are really adorable, love the characters of both the leads, I like them both as actors.
Then from the middle to the end (even though its still beautiful) the story drags a lot. The pace is really really slow and situations repeat themselves one way or the other to the point that you have to ff to get on with it.
But for anyone who likes a romantic melodrama, this is not to be missed. I have already watched it twice and probably will next time too when I need to watch a sad and romantic story with a nice ending.
Mind you all the cliches are there, the dreaded love triangle, terminal illness, birth secrets and many more. But still its a beautiful watch.
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