This review may contain spoilers
It was a fun ride, but...
Another airing drama that I followed ending! Honestly, I have mixed feelings with this one, so I feel like this gonna be a lengthy review lol so bear with me :)What I love:
–Pi, I love Pi's character as a whole. Honestly, I would say I love him as much as I love Tian from ATOTS if not less. Him, his insecurities, his weakness, his determination, I love how he is flawed and it made him such a complex character, and he feels real. His story was so sad if we actually think about it, and every action he made honestly really understandable considering how hard it has been for him all these while. (and honestly? the portrayal of him as someone ugly before he change is just BS lol, he is pretty from the beginning!)
–Nan!! Of course I'm gonna mention the character that made me start this from the beginning. I understand why Pi was so attracted to him, hes like all the good things in this world put in a person. I wish he wouldve had more screen time (which he couldve had if this series didnt give so much screentime for the loud annoying shippers lol) because most of his scene was wise and just calming to watch lol
–Duean & Meen! Honestly, I love them to the coreeee omg I never feel THIS much love for a 2nd couple but their scene never fails to made my day, and honestly i find their final confession scene more adorable than the main couple! I'm gonna miss Duean's lack of braincell and Meen's bubbly personality so badly
What I dislike:
–Lemme just drop the bomb and say, I dont like Mork :D Well hear me out, I dont HATE him, just a lil dislike towards some of his action on Pi, especially when he kinda force himself to Pi and almost not respecting Pi's space. Honestly, even in ep 11 when he said he respect Pi's decision to keep their relationship a secret, yet his action shows otherwise lol! He also didnt know how to keep his boundary when crushing on Pi and truth be told, I feel like Pi deserve someone better lol BUT he actually came thru for the last bit especially on the final confession scene so okay yeah he is acceptable or whatev lol
–For the nnth time, i freaking HATE the shippers, theyre straight up a creepy obsessive stalker who didnt know how to keep their nose away from others' business! Like do these folks dont have a life??? They didnt even respect Pi's privacy! Pi was literally scared shitless knowing they wanted to take photo of his house like thats just too much!
–That fake girlfriend character i forgot her name but all of her scenes cringe me to the core and honestly i wasnt even surprised when it turns out she was the one who revealed Pi's photos, she was sus from the start
–The pacing in this series is way too off! The first part feels like it can actually be sum up in less than 9 eps, then everything happened so fast after that which I feel couldve been lengthen into few more episodes instead. The pacing was slow at first and then BAM BAM so much thing happenend towards the end, you know what I mean? lol
LMAO i knew this gonna be lengthy at the dislike part 🤣 But nevertheless, it ends! I especially love the part after the two years past, its adorable seeing how Pi suddenly become clingy after Mork is no longer by his side all the time lol, I feel like I will remember how complex and unique Pi's character is for awhile, gonna miss him and Duean Meen now
7.2/10
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- This drama has so many things to offer to the viewers, and amongst all those things, one is the heartwarming friendship. This drama has one of the most wonderful portrayal of frienships that I've seen, and not just between the prisonmates. They might be at that place for different reasons, but they learn to lean on, rely and look out for each other.
- One of the most enticing things to look forward to in dramas (I guess this comes under the 'friendship' point mentioned above, but I have to mention this separately)- Bromance! This drama has plenty of it. Not just between the two 'main' characters, but between every single character in the drama.The bromance moments aren't just that'll make you laugh, although those are present. But also, there are bromance moments that'll make your heart feel like it's brimming over with feels.
- This drama has some serious #SQUAD-GOALS. The 2B6 wing is freaking awesome!!
- The comedy in the drama is top-notch. It's more subtle in it's approach, but that doesn't negate it's effect. Infact that fact alone makes those comic scene laugh-out-loud worthy. Those humour scenes mostly result from Je Hyeok's various interactions in prison. As he himself likes to put it, he's a bit 'stupid' when it comes to things other than baseball, which leads to some hilarious situations. Ofcourse, other character too, more than contribute the comedy in the drama.
- This drama is about each and every character, not just the main lead(s). It focuses on every single character, whether they are inmates, correction officers, or their families. And that's what makes the viewers fall in love with the characters here. It's hard to find a drama where you love (almost) all the charaters, whether they have minor or major role. I loved so many characters here, I think it's even hard to pick a favorite. But Lieutenant Paeng does come really close.
- Every character has a story. Of who they are. Of how they got here. Of what they dream of. Of what are their hopes for the future. Their story gives us insight into their personalities, and is one of the many things, that makes the viewer close to them.
- Aside from the individual acting of all the actors, which ofcourse is truly commendable, the chemistry between the characters here is crazy good! From Je Hyeok & Joon Ho, Joon Ho & his brother to Looney & Kaist, every character interaction will have you craving for more!
- For the romance lovers, there is romance. It's a bit subtle and can't be considered a main genre. But it is a sub-genre, and it's more than enough, believe me.
- Let's be honest for a second, and admit that there's a lot of prejudice attached with the word 'prison' alone. And there's a reaso for it. Whether they are rightly or wrongly convicted, for the law, and henceforth for the 'general public' they're still criminals, whatever their crimes may be. Hence the prejudice. But in this drama, the writer tries, and is successful, in breaking our preconceptions about those matters. The writer, through this beautiful drama, stresses on the fact that the convicts are, before anything else, human. And just like everyone else, they are also trying to live their life. Some are trying to make the best of their situations, trying to learn from their past mistakes, and are hoping for a better future. At the same time, there are also those who have despaired, and given up on their future. The writer beautifully captures both these types of inmates,
- Have to mention the OST, ofcourse. The songs were good and fitting with the series. I specially liked the songs the 'theme song' "OK', ", 'Bravo My Life' by Eric Nam, Would Be Better' by Heize & 'Like A Dream' by Park Boram
- If you're hesitating because of the run-time of the episode, or if by any chance, you find the first few episodes 'slow', my advice for you would be to keep watching. With this drama, you just need to find your rhythm and pretty soon you won't even notice how long the episodes are. Of course, you could always love the drama right from the start!
Well, that's about it for the review. I hope you give this one a chance, because otherwise you'll be missing out on a wonderful drama.
Happy Watching!!
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This review may contain spoilers
Just Say No.
This is not an easy drama to watch. It shines an unflinching spotlight on the unchecked, oppressive soft power of the uber rich and how society and by extension the legal system holds victims to an impossible standard of perfection. The narrative opens with a married, high powered CEO Cheng Gong caught in flagrante delicto with his assistant Zhao Xun, after an inebriated night of corporate entertainment. The media is at the scene and a full blown scandal ensues with dire consequences for both parties. Cheng Gong's team of fixers led by his relentless public relations executive Li Yi and a sharp lawyer Lin Kan swoop in immediately to understand and contain the situation.As the facts emerge, it becomes clear that Cheng Gong and Zhao Xun remember the night very differently and the situation devolves quickly into "he said she said". Zhao Xun is a mass of contradictions who struggles to understand her own version of the truth, which obviously does not square with Cheng Gong's. Both parties are victims that are damaged by the fallout and they each believe in their own version of the truth, which the drama explores in a very balanced way. The key question is does silence mean consent? This should be straightforward - she can just say no. She could have and should have done just that. Lin Yun delivers a heartbreakingly convincing articulation of just how difficult, near impossible it is for someone in Zhao Xun's position to do that in the face of the massively uneven power dynamics between herself and Cheng Gong. Her downfall was foreshadowed long before her failure to speak up at the point of no return. She was doomed from the moment he saw her, wanted her and tempted her with fast advancement, the material trappings of wealth and the heady mix of the power of the executive suite. She was complicit and she loathed herself for it. Yet I felt real sorry for her and I understood why she felt wronged. While most praise Zhou Xun's portrayal of Lin Kan, for me Lin Yun as Zhao Xun was the outstanding performance. She made me deeply empathise with this young, flawed, inconsistent, movingly vulnerable and imperfectly human character that struggles to find her voice.
Even though Liu Yijun always delivers, he takes it to the next level with his mesmerising portrayal of a sociopathic like Cheng Gong who believes that everyone has a price and how ruthlessly and manipulatively he wields his power to get his way. His sense of entitlement, utter lack of self awareness and inability to grasp how disconnected he is from common humanity and decency is scary and pathetic. As for Zhou Xun, her Lin Kan is a shark with a bottom line. Her skilled probing questions delivered with a sharp, liquid and searching gaze and her calm, dispassionate and and incisive legal analysis enunciated in her deep, rich and deliberate voice is superb. Her mature, confident beauty and elegant and nuanced empathic line delivery has taken viewers by storm. Only a phenomenal veteran cast like this can deliver such convincing, multi-faceted and realistic portrayals.
The drama's strongest arc is the opening - it made me very sad and very, very angry at pretty much every main character. This kind of story however is difficult to end in a good and realistic way. I think this would be a better if it were shorter as the drama's core message that women need to find their voice and that an imperfect victim is still a victim hits home early on. I didn't think Lin Kan's "Me Too" arc is necessary and it doesn't quite come off the right way how a stronger character succumbs to the same temptations yet manages to emerge largely unscathed albeit scarred nonetheless. I also don't like how Lin Kan is written overall notwithstanding Zhou Xun's charismatic acting. It would have been better if Lin Kan chose sides early in the game and was pitted against Li Yi or her mentor early on rather than making her all things to all people. This results in too many conflicts of interest that are just glossed over. Despite her alleged bottom line, Lin Kan appears unscrupulous in how close she gets to Zhao Xun. It is also not realistic that Zhao Xun never seeks her own legal advice. Finally, the way Lin Kan prevails using information she obtained while acting for the other side is just plain wrong and practically impossible.
The drama literally and figuratively goes off a cliff in a way that makes the last third of it a less convincing watch. It doesn't make sense that a smart and manipulative character like Cheng Gong continues to go persecute Zhao Xun after she becomes so wretched and pitiful. It is just a contrived way to force an ending message that in China, even imperfect victims can find their voice via the justice system. My biggest issue with the story however is that the worst, most vile character is a woman who enabled Cheng Gong and victimised Zhao Xun just as much if not more. She shows no remorse and there are no true consequences for her. This aspect of the ending deeply disappointed me; I needed to see her confronted and at least punched in the face! Despite her superb visual composition style, storytelling wise Yang Yang proves once again her inability to wrap up the narrative while she is ahead. Nonetheless, the first half or so of this drama tackles some heartbreaking and controversial issues masterfully and is worthy of an 8.5. Unfortunately the writing doesn't hold up and it nosedives into an 8.0 towards the end and that is my overall rating. It is still worth watching when you are in the mood for a thought provoking drama that closely resembles a recent real case with all around amazing acting.
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Self-righteous leads, mildly entertaining mysteries, better towards the end
To start, this female lead is too infallibly good at too many things. I’m not inherently opposed to an OP FL- it’s not realistic, but I’d still happily watch her kick butt as long as I like her.The problem is, I like more down-to-earth characters, and she is not. She does a lot of moralizing. I don’t disagree with everything she says, but her self-assured, self-righteous tone as she goes on about justice bothered me, especially at the beginning.
I wouldn’t have minded so much if the show acknowledged how naive it all was, e.g. by throwing her a morally complex case that challenges her simplistic ideals. And the show actually does focus a lot on horribly wronged people who seek their own justice. What justice truly means seems to be a theme- but it’s not explored that deeply. Our FL never strays far from her convictions that righteousness will prevail and the law will make it happen. We’re not here to watch her grow, only to watch her kick butt.
While I’m rolling my eyes at her preaching, the ML is oozing in admiration. She smiles demurely in response. I think the FL is pretentious; the show thinks she’s noble. This is a fundamental disconnect that permeated the show and made it hard for me to enjoy it.
As for the ML himself, he seems tailor-made to be her perfect boyfriend. Super supportive, caring, everything good, etc. He’s also her perfect work partner, with a complementary approach and perspective. Overall I did not find him very interesting. Too artificial.
Their relationship starts early- he’s pretty much a sap for her right from the beginning. While this is unusual for dramas, I think it’s fairly realistic in the present scenario. Their relationship is refreshingly free of misunderstandings, develops at a normal pace, and is ideal in all ways.
Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy their sticky sweet romance. Watching two people you don’t care about be happily in love is boring at best; here, I found it downright cringe. Their romance is full of contrived, overly dramatic scenes. He saves her from every over-the-top situation you can think of (fire, water, assassins, etc). I fast forwarded through a lot of it.
The side characters are alright; I didn’t feel too strongly about anyone. For better or worse, their friends all pair up neatly. This means there are multiple sweet relationships for you to feel good about, though I found some of them a bit cheesy at times.
Looking at the characters and their relationships, this show is actually quite a treasure for female empowerment. There are strong female characters and good relationships between them. Even the ML feels secondary to the FL. It’s just a shame that they overdid the FL’s sainthood to the point where I couldn’t stand it.
Plot-wise, the first half or so of the show covers ~4.5 independent cases, one right after the other. These cases are methodically developed, spanning several episodes each. I like this slower pacing because it gives me time to consider the evidence.
But for some reason, I found these cases incredibly easy to guess. I would inadvertently figure out the culprit based on things like classic drama patterns (eg it’s usually some nice-seeming character that shows up fairly early in), and who’s facial expressions they keep zooming in on. I would then have to wait patiently while the leads continued to put together evidence and act lovey dovey with each other. Overall, the mysteries were still interesting enough, but I wish they had been a little less obvious.
As the plot progresses, the FL’s path is surprisingly smooth. She doesn’t make any real enemies; in fact, she is loved and admired by many powerful people. I don’t necessarily object to her lack of obstacles, since there is plenty of other intrigue. However, I found myself rolling my eyes at everyone doting on her.
The main plot is pretty much just classic palace power struggles, but I thought it was fairly well done. As a result, my rather low opinion of the show improved towards the end. I like the way our leads slowly uncover the backstory, the growing ambiguity, and the way everything falls into place with the final reveal. This last point is particularly fun to watch, and works out so well thanks to the show’s careful setup. If not for the last few episodes, I would have given this show an even lower score.
Acting wise, since I don’t like the FL, I’m tempted to blame the actress, but that might not be fair. I’ll refrain from commenting on acting since I watched a lot of this on 1.25X speed. I did find Ao Rui Peng’s martial arts technique to be surprisingly good- crisp, clean, and solid.
Other production-level stuff (music, settings, costumes, etc) were all decent. Cinematographically, they do some artistic things with camera perspective and reflections. I liked most of it, except for the views upward from inside a cadaver. As if bodies are just empty sacks.
The segways into my final rant. If you are going to pretend to be an expert in a field, you better show me that you’re serious. This girl does not even wear an apron to conduct an autopsy; she ties up her sleeves, but you can still see them dragging across the corpses. Even worse, her idea of an exam is to reach into a small incision and pull out an entire human organ. Uh, ever done a dissection? It’s nowhere that clean and easy.
These may seem like unimportant details. And I get it- “she fearlessly conducted an autopsy while everyone else puked at the side” is all we’re meant to take away. Still, representing a profession without properly doing research is somewhat offensive. Get it right or else don’t try. Personally, I think they should have kept it all off-screen, like Imperial Coroner.
Overall, I appreciate some parts of this show, but mostly I couldn’t stand it. If I’m honest, most of my complaints probably cascade out of not liking the FL- thus cringing at her romance, rolling my eyes at her popularity, picking on her dissection technique, etc. Perhaps if they had been more subtle about her sainthood, I might have enjoyed this show.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I consider this a happy ending. All the major protagonists make it through and are launched into happy futures. Not much time is devoted to showing where everyone goes, but it’s enough to give you an idea.
Still, I found the ending surprisingly dark. Not that the show was that light to begin with, but a lot more people died than I expected. It’s as if they decided the cleanest way to tie up loose ends was to kill off all these morally ambiguous characters. And some ending scenes were overly contrived and dramatic… this show really does have a thing for drama.
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The main reason I got curious about it was all the fuss around MewArt (that I adore so much, as a couple and singles too) and also because of the work of Lazy Subber whose commentary made me laugh like nothing else xD
I will recommend this series if you're into something romantic and intriguing, but at the same time funny and easy (nothing too serious).
Also, this is way more explicit than half of the BL Thai dramas I've seen so far, at least in terms of physical interaction.
The age focus is also different: all the characters are already working and out of school/university.
However...
- the acting is so so. It aches me to say, but some scenes are not believable at all. I love all the cast, but they could have done way better
- the reasoning behind some characters choices is simply stupid and even though I loved the easygoing feeling of the main couple (Pop-Oat), i didn't get some part at all... and it wasn't because of the translation or a cultural barrier... it was just absurd.
- my full and total love goes to some sexy scenes (kisses and stuff), but I agree with some other opinions: it may seems fake. For me it wasn't the case, cause i was really involved and totally enjoying it xD (I sound like a pervert)
- I wish they spent more time on preeBo, analyzing Rambo's behaviour and Pree's one sided love for Pop better (they just threw facts at us, not giving any clear explanation or character analysis)
- I skipped many parts out of boredom (conversations between Pop and Mo)
- I hate Pent so much. I know he's a funny character, but I can't stand it... especially when he's with Rambo.
I must say I loved the bickering between Oat and Pop, and their story is very cute. It made me feel warm and cozy.
I'll not miss season 2, because I really hope the characters would grow and I'm so curious about the 2 couples.
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STORY- This story is just amazing, I don't really have words to describe my feelings for it. The drama was at it best when it was with the opera troupe. The main two characters are so well written and developed, you just fall in love with them. There friendship (bromance) is so beautifully written. I felt that the director and writer knew and understood the source material, they tried to respect the BL elements as best they could considering censorship. The only parts of the story I did not enjoy were the WWII elements, I found these parts to be pretty boring. This drama is just stunning and a must watch for story alone. Also the production was stunning from the costumes to the lighting it is a gorgeous drama. ACTING- Andrew Yin was AMAZING as Xirui. He really stood out to me, and I felt like he really captured the character of Xirui well. I was never the biggest fan of Xiao Ming but he did really well in this drama. The whole cast did a really great job.
MUSIC- I thought the soundtrack was really well done. The Peking Opera songs were so beautifully done.
REWATCH- I will most likely watch this show again. Even if this show is really heavy at times and can be a tearjerker, it just to stunning to not watch again.
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It wasn’t that bad actually it was pretty good and I recommend it.
This is to convince you that the drama is good but could’ve been perfect
First of all, all the cast fit the role they were given but i found Jin Se Yeon’s character kinda annoying as she kept hugging and embracing the main guy when she was engage with the second lead, kinda annoyed at how she couldn’t choose one and hold onto them both causing all three of them to get hurt and i kinda didnt like her beliefs, in one of the episodes somewhere when she was in the car with second lead she said it doesnt matter if a criminal gets let free and she believes he can change, that annoyed me as she seems to not care about people’s death which i know isn’t true bc in the earlier episode she apparently saved someone. Ugh i dont know her character just seemed flawed, her character here kinda reminds me of her character in doctor stranger, i dont like it.
The thing i liked the most from this drama was jang ki yong’s character, i liked how his character seemed psychopath but you somewhat will want to hug him as he seems to be getting blamed on, like his characters were hella precious. He’s the main guy but yet most of the times the second lead seemed more of a main guy than the actually main guy. It reminds me of this phrase ‘this is supposed to be my drama/ I dreamed this drama/dream’
I’m not sure if he died at the end or not but i think he did, at the last scene the female lead was crying while looking at the main guy (I think that was the main guy) but before that scene she was with the main guy at Old Future smiling.
Please give this drama a chance (; it could’ve been perfect there was only a few flaws and annoying things in this drama
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So if you want something light, fuzzy, hilarious, adorable and mildly steamy, then this is the drama for you. ;)
Also! I recommend you to watch the drama series first, then the movie, since the movie takes place after the drama.
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Excellent acting but slightly weak plot
I'm on holiday in Bangkok when I decided to catch the movie since I'm not sure if it will be shown in Singapore.First thing to note - It's not a BL movie but the chemistry between Mile and Apo is still there.
As someone who is not Thai, it feels weird realising that the dialogue was not in the Thai language that I'm used to with my Thai friends. I think it's in one of the many Thai dialects but got used to it within 15 mins of the movie.
The production is seriously gorgeous. The costumes, the make-up, the backdrop was all so beautiful. It is a visually appealing movie in every way.
Apo's acting improved a lot compared to back in KinnPorsche. Bas was a little bit underuse but the scene between Apo, Mile, Tong & him - Bas completely stole the scene from everyone. I hope people in the industry notice more of his skills. Personal opinion - I feel that Mile's acting was the weakest among the 4 of them. I felt that the other 3 step up their game while Mile's acting was still the same back in KinnPorsche but still love him.
The plot was okay. I felt that something is missing from the storyline but I'm not sure what it is.
Overall, totally worth it for me to catch it at the cinema while on holiday!
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What you get out of this story is a relatively light weight romance, I thought the two leads had great chemistry and I always enjoyed seeing them on screen together. There are scenes where they're playfully teasing each other which were delightful such as when he asks her if she's hungry, she replies that she is, thinking he's inviting her to dinner, and then he suggests that she should eat well with her family then as that's what he's going to do. It's a simple back and forth but in the context of where their relationship is (or isn't) at the time I thought it was a great example of the little teasing they're doing on a number of occasions as they try and figure out what they mean to each other.
There's some mild threat throughout but it's paper thin and generally resolved without too much going on, the threat(s) create the backbone for the start of the story and then serve to advance elements of the romance part of the story, rather than really being much in their own right.
One really interesting question that this drama poses that should cause some debate is about the age of a person who is frozen. If you are 20 when you are frozen, frozen for 20 years and thawed - how old are you? - In a country where age is so important it's no surprise such a question is posed. If you were sunbae when you went in, are you hoobae now?
You will still in your mind and body be a 20 year old, but your birth date says you're 40. Your knowledge of the world is in no way current, your mind set matches that of someone closer to 40 than 20. They don't answer the question (which is good, this is the wrong place to answer the question, but a perfectly good place to ask it) but they do explore some interesting situations such as potential romantic interest with her best friends son (because her friend matches her natural age, and the son matches her "frozen" age). There's other bits that come up, and it's interesting to consider the options.
I was really frustrated towards the start because of the over the top reactions from a couple of the characters, one of them could barely stay upright half the time and both looked like they were having some kind of coronary. I thought it was over the top and in the early stages of the show made me start to think this was trying to be a farce comedy - which it really isn't - and since I really don't like farce I was getting ready to drop it (I really don't drop dramas either, that's how much it was annoying me). I'm glad I didn't, it settles down and the total nuts characters balance out a bit letting the rest of the story develop, some times funny, sometimes upsetting, but I found it always interesting.
Ending was good, but it almost looks like it's going to trip and fall - however it doesn't. Though, seriously, the old-man-cardigan in one of the final scenes, that was a bit over the top :)
This was my first drama with Won Jin-Ah and I am absolutely going to be looking up more of her work, she has such a unique voice and presence and i'm really interested to see how she delivers different types of characters as she certainly seems to have the range.
Ji Chang Wook was good as always, nothing too taxing for his first drama outing since returning from the Army but one that lets him show a sensitive side where previously he's perhaps been doing more of the action-type roles.
It's about as deep as a puddle, but it's light, fun, no stupid breakups, cute scenes with a cute couple as they find their way to romance. Mild threat causes some bumps along the way, more so towards the conclusion, leading to a reasonable ending.
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Secret crush, Supportive romance, friendship, business issues
The review and sypnosis may be alittle misleading. It seems typical fluff C-romance drama BUT the plot isnt that.1. It appears as one sided unrequited love.. but pleasantly its a secret crush too
2. Its pretty romantic FL falls for ML twice.. she just couldnt help herself :p
3. FL is pretty brave from love letters to confessing the 2nd time.
4. ML isnt cold or tsundere as you would expect. First 1/3 was his grudge. He's actually pretty accomodating and sweet.
5. The love triangle is there but does not get irritating or too long to resolve.
6. The drama highlights you are the best looking in the eye of the beholder.. for both ML and FL
7. ML and FL are a vy pleasing CP imo. Good chemistry and vy natural together. They support each other thru the company's struggles.
8. Daddi tang shows his sweeter and kind of goofy appeal. Sun Qian is pretty adorable and girl can pull off coquettish lines too.
9. Plot concentrates (especially last third of the drama) on all members of Voya company. They are both friends and comrades in a small business trying to accomplish their dreams and make it big in the app world
10. I like FL's dad and his story arc too.
11. I really like FL's outfit. Shes beautiful with good built and bodyshape too. ML's styling esp hair really suits him too.
My qualms
1. Trailer markets it as romantic fluff. So i was intially awaiting fluffy scenes.. except there werent much. Ofcourse im glad the "cringey, tripping, fall on your lips" dont exist in this drama.. BUT i felt there were a little stingy on ML-FL romantic moments. Dont expect Put your head on my shoulder type.. that spends alot of episodes purely on ML and FL interaction. Would have benefited with MORE cause Daddi Tang and Sun Qian are good actors with good rapport on screen.
2. The focus on their business struggle may not be for everyone. I respect this part of the story as well as the team spirit but again they probably could have done it better by balancing with more ML-FL solo interactions
3. The ending was good but again i was left wanting.. for a more personal scene between our main couple.
So although i really enjoyed it, i find they MISSED out on making this drama - something special, something much more memorable than what we have.
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I started watching because I saw a clip of Vier helping Love out of the water. Most male actors have a hard time playing a fenale in a male body but this was the exception. Male Love never felt like a guy was the character but it also didn't feel cheesy.Pros: the acting was incredible. When Love is stuck as a boy in ep 4, her/his screams were so painful. Just like when Tangmo died infront of her/him. Tangmo was also a strong actor, you could see him start to fall for love and his heartbreak was subtle but perfect. Vier's guilt was well portayed as well.
The plot was another pro. Rather than take the general route where a guy falls in love with the guy only to find out he was a she and have a happy hetero ending, this had Tangmo like Love as a guy and embrace that and when he found out Love is a she but stuck as a he, he expressed that he didn't care what her body was just that they were them.
There was more than just romantic love expressed as Vier dealt with his fatherly love, Good and Love shared familial love, and friendship was strong.
Cons: The small con I found was that with only 8 episodes I thought it was a poor choice to have Nuclear have a love subplot. It did not add to the show and took time away. The first episode needed better pacing. The last episode was a bit rushed ad well.
Overall the show was a pleasant genderbend and a story that has everything.
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Starts boring, then interesting then boring again??
The first time I watched Episode One, I was bored. Not really bored but just bored, but since EP2 was coming out in two days I said "let's give this drama a chance." And it was amazing! For the first part...The story is suppose to be a life as a idol, or at least that's what I think. Does this drama portrayed that? I'm not an idol so how would I know? But I could say the drama handled it pretty okay? I was thinking the show would put limelight into the idol life and how hard and stressful it is. I mean it did that, but only for some scenes. Most of this turned into a rom-com.
But that's not my main problem. It's just some relationships I don't like and have a problem with.
MA-HA AND RYEOK (Main couple)
I could say they're pretty cute. The only problem I have with them (well really Ryeok) is how Ryeok breaks up with her (Ma-ha) EP9 because he's worried about Shax's. Then literally the NEXT. The NEXT episode, they get back together? I get they're 12 episodes but come on, what the hell was the point of the break up then? For tension? If so, their was barely any. I get the breakup's are suppose to be like a "Oh my gosh NOOO!" for the viewers moments but if they broke up, at least give them 2 episodes to get back together? The romance with them felt kind of force? I did admit they're pretty cute but the first few episodes I couldn't really say 'aww" to a lot of their moments up until EP4 or EP5.
RI AH AND LEE HYUN
I personally can't say much about them, they barely get any screen time soo... They would look cute together though. Don't really love them but don't hate them either.
HYUN JI AND YOO JUN
Oh my gosh does this couple suck. No offense to any of you guys who like this couple nor any disrespect to the actors but I see no chemistry at all. It's obvious Hyun Ji has feelings for Yoo Jun but him? No. It looks like he doesn't even like her romantically. They barely even had interactions together, unless it was just him asking about Ma-ha. I really didn't like these two, by EP9 I was hoping they would get more development as a couple but nope. nope nope nope, did they not.
LA LI MA
I love her so much! Her character AND her actor! At first, you probably think (if you didn't read the webtoon) that Li Ma will be the antagonist/jealous SFL (second female lead) of the show. But it's really not like that!
FLAWS
Only flaw I can find (other than some of the actors acting) is the relationship between Hyun Ji and Yoo Jun. And some more duration time into the episode would've been great for character/relationship development. I mean that's a lot of problems with 12 episode shows, character development.
SHAX'S FANS
Oh my gosh do I hate the main three fan girls. So annoying! But they also do show something, They show a lot of real fans out their of real idols. Some fans actually do stalk their favorite idol and get way to much into their personal lives. As much as I hated the Shax fans, I'm glad they got showed.
EUNJO AND ANNIE
Honestly, yes they have a sad story but their plot reminds me of At a distance, Spring is Green with Yeo Jun's family problems barely being apart of the plot even though there's a lot of flashbacks. The same thing with Eunjo and Annie, their plot is barely brought up and resolved easily by 2 episodes.
Honestly when it starts getting boring is around EP10. Even though their was some REALLY GOOD ost in that episode!
The acting was good! I willingly just watched this because it was an upcoming drama, knowing none of the actors! Some scenes had some average acting, some bad and some good.
The Music. OH. MY. IS IT GOOD! I love ALLL of the ST (sound tracks) played in this show! This is mostly why I'm giving it what I gave it. I’m mostly biased here since I'm a huge k-pop fan.
Am I rewatching? Yes but not all episodes. As I did state I didn't like a lot of the relationships here. I'll rewatch episodes like EP4, EP7 and more.
SUMMARY
In total, the show is about a rising girl group, a popular boy group, and an average boy group all trying to make it bigger and bigger into the industry while obviously having a bit of drama and relationships on the side. I recommend to stay for the music if you hate the relationships as some relationships suck/have no development or are just average and have cute moments.
Anyway. Consider yourself lucky if you didn't watch this while it was airing, the torture of waiting every Friday for 1 episode. ONE.
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed it but….
There were some things that really, really, really bothered me about the show one was that he knew she was possessed by spirit an evil spirit. This evil spirit wanted to kill people, she would have black outs and the spirit would take over and kill people, yet he still allowed her to wander around and not try to keep a better eye on her. The other thing is that he would tell her not to become involved or more involved and kept trying to like tell her to go away. If it were me, I’d have her sleeping at my house to keep an eye on her, and to try and keep the evil spirit from having its way, and going out in committing murder not telling her to go away and not become involved lol. Also he could see the impact he was having on the female his mental well-being, so you think that he would not want her to be alone either. So I just didn’t understand his thinking at all.Another thing that really bothered me, was about the ghost companion because he made a comment at some point about the male lead being the reason that he’s the way he was and I was like it’s not his fault that his grandma killed you and it’s not his fault that you were a greedy and coveted in what the ML had. So it was never explained really to me why that kid thought he was the reason that he wants the way he was.
Also, when the male he was explaining to the female lead about how ghosts are attracted to people who struggle with the more negative emotions, like guilt, anger insecurity, depression, jealousy etc. this didn’t make sense to me because I was like everybody feels this way to some degree or another. When his ghost companion sacrifice himself on the bridge, when the male lead devastated, having learned his family’s involvement in creating this evil spirit. I’m like anyone feel devastated and guilt ridden in those circumstances. Although I did find it hilariously funny when his ghost companion was thrown over the side of the bridge, I would’ve like it to have had it explain where they took him.
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