Reviews

Extremely Terrible Story Line

I normally don't write reviews. But this drama is so astoundingly, record-breakingly bad that I had to break my own record and write a review for once. I'm usually pretty generous with my ratings, I don't normally score anything under 7. So giving this a 3 means that I literally cannot stand this drama.

To be clear, I found this drama to be bad from the start. But I pushed through because people kept saying it gets better (also because I can never find myself dropping a drama no matter how bad it is). Unfortunately, it never really gets better. I did find the drama a bit more bearable around episode 26 / 27 and thought I was going to finally be okay with the drama. But then I continued watching and it just turned out to be even worse.

Acting - Okay to start off, I don't really have major problems with the acting. It's not spectacular, but it's decent, watchable. As a fan of Zhao Li Ying though, I have to say her acting in this one is not on par with her own standard. There were some parts when you could tell that she wasn't really mentally there because she was just staring off into space. Just by looking at her eyes, you can tell she has spaced out. And that she's tired. She looks really tired and slightly aged in this drama. Maybe she made her comeback too early, I don't know.

Characters - Oh my God. There were just way too many dumb characters. Apart from Zhou Fei and Xie Yun (and maybe head of Disha Shen Tian Shu) all the other characters are pretty dumb. Li Yan gets the award for stupidest character in this drama. She's just so annoying. She cannot fight, doesn't have any common sense, is extremely naive, always gets into trouble and yet she always insists on tagging along. I'm just done with her. All the other characters feel a bit bland too. I think Li Sheng is the only character who had some sort of character development. He changed, still cannot fight really well and does occasionally dumb stuff but he became a bit more logical and mature I guess. But the other characters? No good character development.

A lot of the side characters like Third Prince and that young master from I forgot what mini sect serve no purpose other than being dumb and creating trouble for Zhou Fei and Xie Yun again and again and again and again. Some characters like the generals are honestly pretty useless too. I feel like they supposedly played some important role in the war or something but I always just forget who they're supposed to be. Zhou Fei's parents are also MIA for most of the drama, so again they don't really contribute much.

Story - This is what I have the biggest problem with. Right from the very start, there were way too many supporting characters with their own stories. There were way too many sub-plots that you can't even make out what the main story line is supposed to be. As the story progresses, they (slowly) start to focus less on the sub-plots but by then, you're so confused you still don't know what the story is. And then you get to the middle and you realize that maybe the story line is about this highly coveted treasure / artifact / god-knows-what called Hai Tian Yi Se. So what exactly is Hai Tian Yi Se? You will only find out in the second last episode because guess what? None of the characters know what Hai Tian Yi Se is either!! Yay, so nice. Is this supposed to make viewers more curious and drawn to find out more? Because it only made me frustrated. Also, I don't know if I missed it or what but they never really explain in detail about the tokens of Hai Tian Yi Se is either. It's like just some casual comments here and there about the lock, about the sheath etc. So here I am, having finished the drama and I still don't quite know what the full 5 tokens are :/ I don't think I've ever been so lost while watching a drama. I'm usually the one thinking "have you guys not been paying attention?!" when I see people commenting asking when something happened or asking to confirm something that has already been confirmed in the drama. But with this drama, I'm the one going "wait what is going on? did they already explain this cause i'm lost and i don't know what is happening". They also casually miss out some stuff like whatever the hell happened to Chu Chu's brother? They just casually forgot about him.
Here are also some of the other stupid stuff that they did throughout the drama + about the drama:

- too many flashbacks that make no sense
- having really really long flashbacks in the middle of the battle???
- talking in the middle of the battle
- escaping but then stopping halfway to start chatting and joking around
- Zhou Fei constantly breaking her blades (this never happens in other wuxia dramas but she breaks her blades like nobody's business)
- Zhou Fei and Xie Yun acting cheeky and lovey dovey when there's dead bodies around them (no, the dead bodies aren't even of the villains. THOSE ARE DEAD BODIES OF PEOPLE ON THEIR SIDE)
- catching up to the villain but not killing them immediately, letting the villain escape so they can wreck more havoc in the future
- DOING ALL THE WORK FOR THE BAD GUYS AND LETTING THEM WALK AWAY WITHOUT A FIGHT WHAT THE HELL

As a viewer, struggling to even make out what the main storyline is, IS THE WORST THING EVER! That is a sign of extremely bad storytelling. Need I say more? (No.)

Music - Personally, I don't hate the OSTs. I might even have liked it if not for the fact that I am so repulsed by this drama that I can't even bring myself to like the OSTs.

Production quality - Yeah the editing is pretty bad. Some of it doesn't even make any sense, like they just cut off the scene without any elaboration or explanation or follow up scene. Also there were some parts when they blurred out the face of the body double?? WHAT EVEN

In conclusion, it's a terrible drama. If eye candy is enough to satisfy you, or if you're just here for the romance, sure go ahead then. But if you don't care for the above two, don't bother watching.

Read More

The good:

There are two things about this movie that I really loved. The first is the scenery and cinematography. The second is the exquisite acting.

A small country-side town showered in autumn light, roads sprinkled in blustering, fallen leaves and dreary, rain-soaked scenes under a cloudy sky... This movie showcased the seasons like a beautiful painting or poem. The way the film is shot transported me into the scenes with the characters. I could almost smell the cool, fresh autumnal air and feel the achy dampness of the rain.

Hyun Bin and Lee Yeon Hee portrayed their characters emotions convincingly and beautifully. Personally, I have seen Hyun Bin in three roles now. I’m not sure if he just so happens to be type-cast or if he chooses these roles, but it seems he consistently plays the same character-type: rich bad boy turns softie after falling in love with unlikely heroine. Well, with so much practice, he plays the part extremely well. Lee Yeon Hee on the other hand (who, coincidentally, I’ve also seen in three roles) has a more diverse portfolio, and I am quite impressed with her range as an actress.

The bad:

The plot of this film is unoriginal, sappy and at times very brusque. Emotions seem to unfold suddenly and without pretense, which left me feeling a little... WTF’ish. My train of thought during the early part of this movie went something like this:

“Gah, stop being so mean to her...Oh, you like her now?... Love her??... What!?... How did you get in the room????.... You want to take care of her?...No? Wait wait wait, now you *don’t* like her??....*utter confusion*”

By the time the plot smoothed itself out, I found I’d just accepted the way I was *supposed* to feel and just went with it--which isn’t necessarily a good thing. As a viewer, you know what the director wants you to feel. As such, I just threw my hands up and gave in, as if to say, “fine director, I’ll accept your sappy and rushed love story, sheesh.”

Not a bad movie overall. In a way, I suppose it breaks even--balancing a predictable and choppy plot line against great acting and gorgeous scenery.

Read More

A lot of people has been suggesting this drama so i thought id watched it and see wha the fuzz is about. There was so much shouting in the first 2 episodes that my housemates complained about the noise.

The title says it all - Its an entire series about the SOTUS tradition, if you are looking for romance/love story, i feel like there was too little of it here. Kudos, at least for trying to show something a little bit different.

The strength of this series is the cast. Krist and Singto, and even all the support did a good job.

However, 20 episodes for the whole series is just way too much and I think they could squeeze the entire show into 10 episodes and it will still convey the same message. It feels like there were so many over extended scenes to fill up the time.

Lastly, the actual love relationship between the 2 main cast didnt really develop until the last few episodes leaving them with little time to actually portray the love story - there was almost no intimate scenes. Its like the characters stayed in the closet for too long and didnt want to ever go out. Even when they were alone there was almost no intimacy, leaving me to question if its really love or just bromance.

Read More

Your blood will boil, Your heart will flutter

YOUTH OF MAY is a love story that happens to be taking place in the premise of Gwangju Uprising that had happened in May, 1980 but keep this in mind that the central story is not directly related to the democratic movement though it eventually leads to the major climax of Gwangju massacre. FYI, this uprising, that started from university student demonstration to save the democracy and it's essence, established the foundation of the rebellion against the dictatorship rule of the ones in power during the entire 80s in South Korea.

Making fiction in the premises of real historical events are a great deal If you see how sentimental South Koreans are about both the nation's history and the honor of democracy, which is reasonable and everyone should be like that. There is always a thin line between what the incident is and what one writes about it. And I think the writer of YoM has done a pretty job on every level.

The story is really nice; the male lead and female lead's developing relationship not being the only thing going on, it also throws light on the events of the uprising and additional side stories of the familes of the leads. The main leads happen to be working in the medical field but it's not a medical drama, rather the healthcare premise is a shade of their work life; though a major part of last 4 episodes takes place in the hospital.

It might feel like a slow-paced story because the chemistry development between the leads are slow but there are so many other things happening so you won't be bored at all. The plot development is good and twists have been placed at right times. The director has done a good job too.

Acting? Superb! Lee Do Hyun is undoubtedly one of the most potential emerging Korean actors right now and I can see him growing to be a future superstar. His unique style of acting uff; been a fan since 18 Again. Also, the annoying Lee Do Hyun is so adorable, I just love him. So happy that his character in YoM has an annoying side too. Literally one of the few poster boys of warm pure romance Kdramas. Go Min Si, this lady has waited long enough to get a lead role and I am happy she did amazing in it. In fact, among all the actresses who have played 80s characts till now, I think she did it accurately. I really hope this will be a breakthrough in her career. Lee Sang Yi, my love, did really well even though his screen-timing was lesser than I had expected but not complaining since the dramas got only 12 episodes and his character, even though a major role, had not much to do around. Keum Sae Rok, truly won hearts playing the role of a rebellious girl of a rich household, she acted very well, ngl.

One thing to note in Lee Do Hyun's character as Hwang Hee Tae that it's different from the usual male lead character where they're all macho fighting around, protecting the female lead, etc and showing typical toxic masculinity by wrist-grabbing, non- consensual kissing and blah blah. It's sort of unique I would say for his heart is a fragile one, afraid of not being able to save someone as a doctor or to protect as a dear one. He doesn't forces things on his partner and maintains a healthy relationship and let others grow under his own shade. So respectful down-to-earth and one with a progressive mind he continues to do everything smoothly.

The set-up and management is pretty commendable given it's a period drama. The work of cinematography is not that evident but that's fine because the editing compensated for it. The OSTs are indeed beautiful and heart-wrenching and glad to have been recommended some real good 80s English and Korean tracks from the drama. .

Another important thing is that this drama taught a lots of things. Though the lives were messy and like under the cart, they taught us about life and the way of becoming stronger and braver by the days. The Gwangju uprising and the state-staged progrom to suppress the dissent by the oppressed will boil your blood for sure so make sure to learn from that too.

I won't lie that I absolutely loved it. And it would be definitely be on my good drama collections. The central story focuses on the art of loving & living and the essence of holding your life back even when you're on the verge of death. I, like everyone else, wished more than 12 episodes but anyways, the story has been well written with a good direction.

If you're confused whether to go for it or not thinking it's a period drama and that too set up in the premise of a tragic incident like Gwangju uprising, I am not gonna spoil it but I guarantee you, it's worth it.

Read More

Definitely deserves the title of one of the best k-dramas of 2024!!

I had pretty high hopes for this one because of the cast and the unique storyline and I am happy to say it didn't disappoint me till the end!!

Pros:
1) Little to no lagging
2) No overused cliches regarding the backgrounds of the leads
3) real life issues depicted in a comical manner
4) perfect amount of episodes
5) great osts and songs throughout
6) great casting choices
7) morally grey characters finding their place in life
8) teens finding love in a cute way

Cons:
1) the biggest con I had was the superpower with time every little change you make should have huge domino effects but here they pretty much ignore those aspect ig? but we have to understand that a 12eps drama can't cover all the semantics

Overall a great show, its a breath of fresh air as compared to your everyday rom com and it was definitely a great watch, but I have to say that if you are a huge fan of romance and not the angst then you may struggle till around ep 8-9 after that I'm sure all types of viewers will be satisfied

Read More

Must watch 2023 drama..

This time tencent has done a great work with production of wonderland of love. WOL can fulfill any type of thirst of a viewer.... The pacing of show is fast and what I like most is how male leads have most screen time that s why there is not boring moments.

The acting and chemistry is on point between leads. Although this is a quite tragic story because of many deaths but it has a happy ending and little comedy to lighten up overall story...

In terms of story, acting, cinematography and from every aspect this drama exceeds my expectation.
I hope upcoming project of Xu kai are as great as this is...

Read More

Poor writing partially saved by a great cast

This was a real disappointment - the story had potential and some good ideas, but the execution was sloppy and the plot ran out of steam after a few episodes.

The acting is great with First as the standout, and Neo and Louis quite engaging whenever they had screentime. The music is also quite good, with well-chosen and moody background score that supported the story.

The problem was the writing. We started out with good ingredients - a story about tradition and authority vs modernity and individuality. At first it looked like we'd get an intelligent examination, with a quite excellent in-class argument in which the rebellious Ayan manipulates an authoritarian teacher into supporting his perspective while he takes hers - but it's like all the intelligence in the script went into that one exchange because it was never repeated.

Instead, the authors come down heavily on the side of freedom, equating rules with depression and suicide - which might have worked if he rules weren't so mild and commonplace - wear a school uniform like 90% of humanity as mandated by ministries of education, and don't use phones during class. Really? That's it? And the writing contradicts itself, as almost everything bad that happens is due to preoccupation with social media, so maybe phones were the problem after all.

The Curse of Suppalo was another interesting idea, which quickly petered out and became incidents so benign that people's OTT reactions to them were ridiculous.

There is a plot twist in Ep 11 that you won't see coming, largely because it isn't set up in the slightest and ends up requiring someone to behave totally out of character, and everyone else to behave out of character in their reaction to it - and since there are no consequences resulting at all, it's meaningless - just a random twist for no apparent reason.

The relationship between Akk and Ayan starts off interesting, but quickly degenerates into a string of tropes including the most stupid accidental kiss I've ever seen, by far - it's so bad I dropped the series and only picked it up again when everyone assured me it got better. It didn't. There is no real organic development between them - they're pushed together by stupid cliches and tropes, and it's never clear why they like each other, so you have to conclude it's a physical thing. I will say that I liked that they didn't do the seme-uke thing - in fact people in the forum argued over which was which.

This is basically a six-episode story stretched out to twelve. It really has nothing to say, and despite its promising introduction, was basically just a typical formulaic high school BL, albeit set in an all boys school, so we're at least spared the stock evil gf character, and it is refreshing that the characters are actually gay and identify as such.

The last episode is cloying and preachy. Nobody watching BL has a problem with homosexuality, so preaching to the choir is pretentious and irritating - plus the absolute ease with which coming out is accomplished and greeted sends no message - in fact it's a bit offensive in a story that has pretentions of social commentary and in its portrayal of depression and mental illness to just handwave away the most difficult and painful thing LGBTQ+ teens have to deal with.

I'm not sure I can recommend this. If you're a big fan of the cast, then I'd watch it - but otherwise it's a frustrating, shallow, formulaic melodrama. I doubt I'll have any recollection of it in three months.

Read More

I was drawn to this because the vibe seemed so different from most KDramas, and I really liked that, but Itaewon Class is the kind of drama that I think tries too hard to be cool and relevant. I like that it tackled a few topics like race, gender identity, ageism, and social status, but it also does it in a way that was too corny for me to take seriously. I still want to give it an E for effort because I liked the idea of the diversity and inclusive vibe of Itaewon. What initially drew me in about the story was the revenge plot, which sadly got overshadowed by an annoying love triangle... square... pentagon... which eventually ruined everything for me. The only consistent likable thing for me throughout was Park Seo Joon as Sae Ro Yi.

I think Sae Ro Yi is a great character. Watching him navigate epic hardships and relationships with an endearing stubbornness and loyalty was my favorite thing about the show. I've loved Park Seo Joon in so many dramas, he never disappoints, so this drama just solidifies what a great actor I think he is. Surprisingly the one area where he is weakest in this drama is the "romance" aspect, but that's not his fault. From "Witch's Romance" to "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim" it's obvious to me that he is a great romantic lead, but the problem here is that the romance plot is the weakest part of this drama. His relationship with Nara as Oh Soo Ah had an initial spark of chemistry but was soon too repetitive, and I thought his relationship with Kim Da Mi as Jo Yi Seo made absolutely no sense! They had no chemistry but seemed to appease some fans so it felt like it was forced into a story that didn't need it.

More than romance this drama focuses on friendship and loyalty. The cast is full of interesting characters who learn to accept and depend on each other with Sae Ro Yi as their guide. I liked the supporting cast in general, even if their acting skills weren't all equal. My favorite performance of the supporting cast was Lee Joo Young as Ma Hyun Yi, and sadly my least favorite was Chris Lyon as Toni (who's Korean was way more impressive than his acting... but I don't speak Korean so that's just a guess lol). I also thought Ahn Bo Hyun was great and consistently unlikeable as Geun Won, and Yoo Jae Myung was epically evil as Jang Dae Hee, and I love epic villains worthy of epic revenge! I can't really say that anyone was bad, but many in the cast were more decent actors than amazing.

The breakout star is clearly meant to be Kim Da Mi as Yi Seo, but she was not my favorite. She's a great actress, and was an interesting character in the beginning, with her sociopath social media savvy persona, but she soon became annoyingly obsessive and childishly whiny. I wanted to root for her being a young empowered and clever female lead character, but instead, she felt needy, self-involved, and just too hard to like at times... most times. The forced love story definitely didn't help me like her character. I guess some people found her devotion cute, but I thought it was creepy. I think people liked her IDGAF attitude, but I found her selfishness irritating, which overshadowed anything I liked about her initially.

That brings me to the plot, which was just messy! It starts out as the motivational story of a pied piper of misfits bringing random people together to create his dream to fulfill his epic plans of revenge, and suddenly focuses instead on a really bad love story. I can't blame the age gap, because the first drama I saw him in was a romance with a huge age gap. I just think the match didn't work and was so awkward to watch no matter how hard they tried to make it a thing. Then evil characters started to be less realistic and more cartoony, and things suddenly resolved and fell into place way too easily. Even though there are many moments I still liked, overall the script is more bad than good. I waited to watch the last 4 episodes because I stopped caring, and the last 2 episodes were so painfully drawn out and dragged so much that I was tempted to drop the drama with only 30 minutes left in the last episode. Even all of the confrontation and fight scenes that the show was building up to were boring to watch.
This has the same Director as " Big", one of the most ridiculously awful dramas I have ever watched, so maybe this turn isn't surprising after all.

Would I watch this again? Obviously not, and I almost wish I would have dropped this sooner, but I was still too invested in Sae Ro Yi and all he went through to give up on this completely. The ending was good about addressing everything that needed to be addressed and had a few moments that I liked but It still was not satisfying enough to make me like this drama as a whole.

Overall, I was excited by the beginning but the thrill didn't last till the end. Yes, there was an overall message that I am not mad at... about friends like family, what real power is, and what really matters in life, but the weak love story, rushed character development, predictable resolutions, and lack of emotional depth didn't execute those themes well enough in the end. It looked visually cool, but the substance felt too immature and unrealistic for me. I wouldn't personally recommend this drama, but I can understand how people can like it more than I did, especially if they liked Kim Da Mi's character a lot. For Park Seo Joon fans it may be worth it to watch even just the beginning, then decide on your own if it's worth your time. Personally, I wish I could edit out whole parts of the drama to make it better, but instead, I will move on to something better while looking forward to the next Park Seo Joon drama instead. It did make me curious about visiting Itaewon when I finally make it to Korea, because they did make it look cool, so I guess that's a good thing too.

Read More

Honestly, I read the other reviews for this drama and it's not even worth reading.

One, the story is amazing. I mean yeah the plot could have been better written, but overall the story is good. It revolves around these kids who find their true selves in this school that teaches martial arts. But the school also teaches how to find your true self but indirectly. It gives the students challenges that they never thought they would do in their whole life.

Two, the acting/cast is amazing. Lee Hyun Woo is pretty much the main reason as to why most people watch this drama, unless you're new to kdramas and only watch it because of you're a fan of VIXX so you watch it because Hongbin. Speaking of Hongbin, he's actually a pretty good actor. I honestly thought he wouldn't be THAT great of an actor to the other drama I watched him in, but he's actually pretty good. Like his character changes and he shows the character has a bratty rich chinese kid who doesn't really want to befriend anybody but ends up befriending them anyways because of the development of the story. Seo Yi Ji was also an amazing actress because of the way she showed her emotions due to the situations that were happening. As I was watching this, I literally cried every time either Lee Hyun Woo, Hongbin, or Seo Yi Ji cried.

Three, let's talk about the music for a minute. The music is so bomb. Like legit, every time a song was on, I was turning up as I watched the scene happen. It made everything so much better like wow. Plus who wouldn't enjoy osts that are by VIXX? Especially when it was amazing to listen to. Also the song Lee Hyun Woo done also was amazing like damn. That shit was lit.

I highly recommend this drama to those who love either action or love, or even both! I loved this drama because of the way it was developing and the action of it was just amazing. The love also was amazing and I was legit on a rollercoaster ride with my emotions omg. One moment I was feeling this way, the next I was feeling something totally different.

Read More

Till the end of this Mess....

This is more or less what you get if you google random storylines and just randomly mix em up, copy a bit here paste a bit there... cut it in to a bunch of pieces that fade in to each other like a musical medley... add some good cast, bad dubbing, pretty pictures but awful CGI and vwalla you have 40 episodes of what the *** did I watch and why am i still watching this?

However! I am pretty sure the cast had a lot of fun filming this as they got to portray a whole lot of personalities and showcase their range, I am pretty sure they too had no clue about the story so the risk of leaking spoilers was really kept to a minimum. Among these personalities we got cold as ice, hot as lava, toxic, mean, addicted, obsessed, loving, kind, more obsessed... Seriously probably one of the worse cases of obsessed I have ever seen... Healer, killer, lier, backstabber, frontstabber... We have lovers, bromances, the lies for your own good, the lies for the good of the universe, and probably some lies told for the good of some random cat somewhere... Or just for fun... For those of you who love watching actors spit blood you are truly in for a treat as there are very few scenes that do not include the occasional blood spat... It is hard to fit ppl in to a costume drama but I am sure this was sponsored by the cranberry juice and fake blood association of China.

It is probably easier to list what you won't find in here which is logic, consistency , modern stuff, and quality.

But if there is anything else you desire, it is sure to show up at some point or another.

P.s. it has an amazing flaming umbrella

Read More

Haters Be Damned.. Love.. Justice.. And a Touch of Chaos in The Judge From Hell..

Such a horrible drama.. Bad CGI.. Poor acting.. Bad Ending.. What was that all about?? 5 /10 for me..

If you have heard or read comments like this.. Don’t be too quick to believe them.. Trust me.. This show has so much more to offer.. From the unique storyline to the carefully crafted characters.. Every episode brought something memorable which i wouldnt want to miss..

The drama started off strong.. But ep 2 is where I got completely hooked.. The abuser getting to experience his sins and the pain he was in before his death brought total satisfaction.. This is the kind of intense and unapologetic justice you rarely see in Kdramas... And that ending?? When she stabbed the ML.. Just made it more interesting.. How on earth are they going to go from this to being in love?? Well.. They were in love and more than that by the end of the drama.. This isn’t just the usual Enemies to Lovers trope.. This is something even darker and more intriguing.. Killer to Lovers?? Forbidden Love trope??

Seeing her thrash those culprits was so satisfying.. Easily one of my favorite parts of the drama.. Its not often that a show gives us such visceral justice.. And I honestly couldn’t get enough..

I read people complain about the lack of romance in the first half.. But honestly the chemistry was there all along.. Romance isn’t just about kissing scenes and physical intimacy.. It’s also about those micro moments.. From her smirk in the courtroom when she saw him smiling to her disappointment when he didnt trust her.. She was clearly drawn to him even before she understood her feelings.. She was in love long before she realized it herself.. She literally needed a psychiatrist to point it out..
She is a demon who dont know what love is.. But she was quick to clash with anyone who stood against the ML.. If that’s not love then what is??

When the detective went missing.. What surprised me was how casually her abduction was handled.. Even Han Da On didn't seem interested in doing anything.. I understand his reasons but it felt off.. She had disappeared from a dangerous situation.. She was like a mother figure to him.. He should have been searching for her like crazy.. But he didnt and he didn’t even ask Bit Na for help..

I despised the A Rong/Gremory character from the start and just wanted her to die as each episode passed.. I don't know why.. But she really got on my nerves.. However I have to admit she made up for her mistakes later on.. Really loved Man Do.. He was fun to watch..

I read some complaints about the CGI.. While I wouldn’t call it top notch.. I would rate it a solid 8 out of 10.. Most scenes were well done.. Except for a few scenes involving water..

Justitia went from killing him in ep 2 to going on to say:

" I wanted to kill everyone who made you cry..
And I wanted to make you happy so u never have to cry anymore.. "

And she went from calling kissing scenes in dramas filth to asking him to kiss her more.. That transformation was so much fun to watch..

Now.. The whole drama was a masterpiece.. But the ending.. Ending felt lacking.. She has 3 years left in earth but she chose to stay as a Judge that too far from the person she loves.. With whom she wanted to make memories which she could remember for eons?? And he didn't consider transferring to her city or taking a break?? He can work all he wants after she disappears right?? The logic was quite lacking considering what they both went through to reach where they are and the fact that they don't have a future together.. It was such a vague ending.. If they confirm a second season then all good.. Otherwise the ending is really lacking for me..

PSH really outperformed everyone.. Well there was no one as good as her here.. But she was really good.. She is one of the most convincing reason for the drama's success.. Kim Jae Young did a good job as well.. I hope this drama gives him the recognition he deserves and gets more opportunities..

Overall.. The Judge From Hell has amazing actors.. Great chemistry.. But the interaction between Da on & bitna in the first 8 episodes was truly spectacular.. Just stood out for me.. They were the opposite ends of the same coin.. The plot of Da On chasing her was absolutely exhilarating to watch.. The first 9-10 episodes is the reason why this garnered so much attention..

P.S. I find the subtitles for most dramas frustrating.. They often fail to provide accurate translations.. Missing key moments and not capturing the intended emotions.. Thankfully I understand a bit of Korean.. So I can pick up on what they really mean.. But I cant help but think that most people are missing out on the essence because of the terrible translations.. Its a bit annoying honestly..

Read More

At first I never expect Mario and Kimmy will have great chemistry as a couple.
I mean, I know they both can act and I love seeing Mario-Davika pair, Kimmy with Mark or James Ma... But after I watch this, I can say that Mario-Kimmy chemistry are amazing..
NongBest who plays Chaba lil sis is so cute and funny.. I love her!

What I like about this drama :
1. It's not just a romance comedy, but we'll get to know about Thai herbs and medication (I learn along with Chaba ;p)
2. The storyline move fast, not like most of dramas, they don't drag the story until we're frustrated (too fast until I don't realize it almost ended).
3. Not Slap and Kiss kinda larkon
4. Great chemistry of the main couple
5. I laugh, I cry, and I smile throughout the drama..
6. Thong Ake character is funny but smart and kind hearted at the same time, Mario plays it very well.
7. Kimmy is out of her the regular brat and spoil character's type, she plays Chaba really well.
8. No crazy ex girlfriend/admirer..

What I don't like...
Well I can say I like most of the storyline.. I don't skip any of the episodes.
Although I think the insertion of Nichkun & Maggie on this drama is not necessary, but it doesn't annoy me (they were there together with Mario and Pat Napapa promoting Dr. J*ll skincare I think).

I just need more sweetness scene on Mario and Kimmy :p

I wish they both can be pair in modern drama (maybe a romantic action comedy will do)

Overall, for you who like romantic comedy you should try to watch this lakorn. Believe me it's worth your time!

Read More

Can definitely be watched multiple times, preferably on a big screen

This was so good. China should be very proud of this movie. The cast, direction, editing, music, cinematography was on point. The movie had great pace from the very beginning. I wish I had watched it on the big screen, what great visuals it had.
I could totally see how well they used their budget.

I love that Yibo is making great choices for his projects. He could have easily kept on doing the same kind of roles in dramas and earn a good living but he chose to take on challenges and work with good actors and directors to hone his craft. It's no secret that I watched this movie coz of him and he did not let me down.
If Yibo was a Hollywood actor, all our media would be telling us how a young actor is so talented and has done such a variety of work...There's no need to write how good Hu Jun is, he is a veteran. But, I've never seen Yu Shi before, he was good.

Lei Yu is scared of dogs. Those who know will know :P
Zhang making Lei eject but choosing to stay back is not fictional. There have been many pilots who made sure their plane wouldn't crash on a residential area, they sacrificed their life to protect innocent civilians. I knew he would not make it the moment they showed his family but damn it hurt. The first time Lei ejected was so funny but this one was heartbreaking.
Lei's mother told us how risky this career is by just 1 dialog, you can't fix the plane while it's in the clouds.

One can't pretend that there's no propaganda in the movie. In real world, China intrudes into the air spaces of another country while the movie tells us how they get worried when someone else does the same. Movies from other countries do propaganda as well. So let's not pretend a Chinese movie is doing something new. We ignore or pretend when movies of our countries do it so give leeway to another as well.
Everyone knows what China has done in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and other smaller countries. I'd like to see someone brave enough to make a movie or drama in China that shows the ugly truth. But we know it's not possible in a country that decides what its adult population should watch.

The movie is about test pilots, what they do, their lifestyle and the massive risks they take. The movie successfully shows it to the viewer. If such a story doesn't interest you then don't go complaining about it. The movie delivers what it promised.
Comedy was at the right time and in the right amount. The CGI was incredible. I didn't care about romance coz I was engrossed in the story of test pilots, thankfully the movie didn't make romance as the core.
There aren't many women test pilots in the real world so I was hoping the movie would have gone a different route. It would have been interesting to watch them make changes to the planes to suit women. Maybe another movie which shows the struggles women test pilots face.
I'll definitely watch the movie again. It was totally worth the wait.

Read More

At first I was planning to watch Emergency Couple only for the leads. In fact, I've had a soft spot for Choi Jin Hyuk since discovering him in I Need Romance and I wanted to see Song Jo Hyo play a happy/funny character. Plus no one can deny they do have some awesome chemistry together. And thankfully the drama didn't let me down. The two actors were great and the development/rediscovering of their love was perfectly handled when it could have been a total nonsensical mess.

Surprisingly, what I really cared about the most wasn't the main couple but EVERYONE. All the characters were important in my eyes *whispers* especially Kim Min Ki. That drama is more than "and they rekindled their romance". It's about accepting past mistakes (yours as well as others') confronting your fears and moving forwards (toward your very own happiness). It's about taking care of the people you love and understanding them.

You will laugh, you will shed a few tears (or buckets) and in the end, once the drama is finished, you will happily say goodbye to these 21 hours of well spent time. Because yes, maybe Emergency Couple is not a piece of art per say but it is the kind of drama that makes you feel good about life, that reminds you that whatever mistake you made in the past, it doesn't and shouldn't define you and if that you try hard, you can succeed in anything.

Read More