Completed
To My Shore
39 people found this review helpful
Dec 2, 2025
15 of 15 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

chinese bl

they're chemistry is so fuckiiing fantastic 😭😭😭✨️✨️✨️ I really support theme and Big family of them😩🌸when I watching I never boring I love love themmmmm so muchhhh It's one of best
chinese bl , I never forgive to start this😶‍🌫️
It's It's heartwarming and wonderful. I love the chemistry between them, which is truly and honestly missing in Chinese BLS. It's really lovable and beautiful to me, without any problems.🌸✨️🎀Well, I'm just hoping that China doesn't censor anything and that the Sasaeng fans don't follow them.

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Completed
Crash Landing on You
39 people found this review helpful
Feb 16, 2020
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
I am still in tears because of this drama. It's so amazing and very unique how the story is created. I just finished watching this drama RIGHT now... and the ending was... I don't want to spoil it but this drama deserves an award. I really like how the plots are created. It's so distinctive to see and very hard to create your own ending for this drama. We don't know how it will end especially when both North and South are not united in real life. This drama is full of emotions that will make you cry, laugh, smile, cringe, confused, and be shook. Their romance was so daebak! They will risk anything to save one another. I'm trying my best not to spoil it but Fate can be true sometimes... Ykow. I like how they are brought together, and how they show their love to one another. Especially the 4 comrades, OMGod, don't even get me started. They were amazing! Very funny and very Stupid in a good way xD
I don't know what else to say but the only problem that I was scared of was the ending because I couldn't even think of an ending for this drama. I thought they will not be together cuz of their country or they might die, or just fall apart. Who knows. We even created (not me...I just joined xD) like a poll of 'How do you think this drama will end' because I believe we all are curious and this is a new drama and the first drama where we can't think of an ending.
I love both the protagonist n antagonist character but Sometimes you just gotta hate the antagonist you know. xD
iN MY opinion, this is the best drama I've ever watch in a Korean drama. Before it was DOTS ... but now it's this. I'm thankful to the creator and writers for creating such an amazing drama. This is my first time waiting every week to watch this drama because it's just another level of KDrama. I waited every week and did not regret it at all. I am very honored to be a part of this drama (watcher haha) and to enjoy it from the beginning till the end.
Thank you so much.
I love this drama so much.
And I am cheering for the casts to earn awards because they deserve it.
They worked hard no matter how cold the weather is.
Saranghae and FIGHTING!!
2/16/20
3:13PM
<3 <3 <3
P.S. THEY DID WIN AN AWARDS. MULTIPLE AWARDS. IM PROUD!!!!!! AND HYUN BIN won a grand award as well. I forgot what it was called but it's from 'Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards Ceremony'

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Completed
Live
39 people found this review helpful
May 11, 2018
18 of 18 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
First time writing a review, so sorry if its not that amazing, but its truly my opinion and I loved this drama so much that I decided to do this.
So let's start....
The only bad thing about this drama?
Well it ends! :(
Best drama eveeeeeeeeer !!!
The actors were not "super pretty idols/cute" that we usually watch on kdramas, instead, they were just normal,
We didn't get pretty faces? We got better than that!
Amazing actors , amazing story, amazing soundtrack.
Who needs romance when you have this kind of drama???
LKS amazes me every time he is cast in a drama.
I loved every story this drama had to tell, they were more than just 'cops' , they were a huge amazing family.

I will rewatch this drama again for sure !
And I suggest this drama to everyone. You all need to watch the best drama 2018 could have.
TVN always brings amazing dramas but this one...HATS OFF!

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Ongoing 8/8
The Secret of Us
39 people found this review helpful
Jul 28, 2024
8 of 8 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

One of the most good series thailand had made.

So goooooooood. The acting is all natural, the actresses are perfect match for each other. I hope they work again in another series. The story is so gooooood, all the episodes are worth to watch, just sad it has 8 episodes i wish it had more. I hope the actresses can cast on another gl series they are so perfect, the acting, the chemistry, the cry is so natural. I'll watch it again.
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Completed
When the Stars Gossip
131 people found this review helpful
by jjkll
Feb 23, 2025
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 9
Overall 6.0
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 1.5
This review may contain spoilers

How did everyone think this was ok to put out lmao

I have very mixed reactions about this show partly because it has my favorite cast of all time but now i wonder what made me like them in the first place.

When i watched the first 2 eps i was already a bit shocked because there was fruit fly and mice p*rn and i was confused as to whether this even was a korean high budget show and not some deranged low budget web series.

PROS:
1. OSTs were amazing

2. Loved santi he was the only sanctuary from the mess

3. Did send a pretty hopeful message in the beginning atleast, to parents who want to have children but are suffering from infertility (though it later went wrong)

CONS:
1. Hated the characters: Gong ryung cheated on his fiancee go-eun no matter how much you try to sugar coat it and eve slept with him despite knowing he was engaged. All the space ship residents were annoying af and they did not deserve any screen time. The moms were the worst of it all, bad acting, bad storyline and bad execution.

2. No chemistry: None of the couples have any chemistry and I mean NONE. Gong ryung and eve just "fell" for each other because she was rude and he stitched her toe like wtf, the side couples also had no chemistry and they were unnecessary.

3. Zero logic: They literally explain themselves that it is IMPOSSIBLE for ppl to have s*x up there because of zero gravity, freezing temps etc. yet they magically manage to do it and also have a successfully implantation, despite the probability of both being extremely extremely low. Now i can get past the whole pregnancy stuff but like honestly how did her fetus withstand the force of 4G when she went up to space? like correct me if i'm wrong (i am not a doctor) but isn't the fetus more unstable in early stages of pregnancy? so logically shouldn't she have lost it when she went up to space and her environment suddenly changed?

4. Very bad pacing: slow paced in the beginning, fast in the end

5. No real ending: I'm confused as to whether this is birth propaganda or birth control propaganda lmfao. Like she gets pregnant and she decided to give birth but dies after labour which literally discourages women from giving birth. Like myb they might want to send out the msg that "look some women out here literally die to give birth in space then why can't you just give birth on earth with ob-gyns like gong ryung who will help you and let you have a perfectly safe birth and a happy family?" and the monologue in the end where they play a shit ton of baby videos felt morbid like idk why but it felt eerie af.

6. very bad way to deal with a lot of topics like fertility, adoption and birth: Imo this drama makes woman seem like nothing more than just birthing machines...Its so painfully obvious that they are pro-life and not pro-choice that i'm genuinely afraid for women in sk because its literally selling the idea that giving birth at the risk of your own life is motherly and "normal", like i am pro life on some instances but not when the mother would literally DIE if she gave birth like that is not okay, and nobody is even telling her that an abortion is ok because her giving birth is a death sentence for both the kid and her because a motherless child in space is not better of period! and why does the mother always die is the real question in these dramas.

7. No payback for the "evil": eve's mother doesn't get payback she is forgiven just because she adopted another kid and tried to donate her blood, the chairman of mz group does not get payback and he just continues to be successful professionally and he is forgiven solely because his love for his grandchild drove his actions.

8. Acting: My two favorite actors Lee Minho and Gong hyojin made me forget what i liked about their acting in the first place. this show was genuinely so bad that i forgot about their past projects. They had zero chemistry and the acting felt too casual like i felt like they weren't even trying..;

My theory: My personal conspiracy theory is that they killed eve in the end because she "killed" the morulas, maybe its a message that abortion is bad and that "murderers" get payback? like they want to send the message that those who choose abortion are just murderers who don't deserve to live happily. I also feel like they want to make babies the answer to everything like "a shitty relationship can be fixed with babies (Gonng ryung and eve ) and (goeun and other guy)"..." Your sad and traumatic past can be overcome with pregnancy!".....

Overall I think that the actors were compensated very very well to want to partake in this mess of a show, despite thinking it was a horrible show I will give it a 6 for santi, the filmography and the budget.

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Completed
The Uncanny Counter
50 people found this review helpful
Jan 24, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
People who fight ghosts or demons and get them into the afterlife are nothing new in kdramas and although I liked a lot about how this world was set up or presented, it was not necessarily super original or unique, and does not work that deep sometimes. Yet, the people working it the afterlife did feel like their own character so their connection to our world felt a lot stronger than in some of these dramas, and I did enjoy the superpower aspect of this all a whole lot.

There was a bit of a superhero-feeling to this all, which I always found really fun to watch. It was the right amount of cool and camp in my opinion and I like how the show never felt like it was trying to be super serious, while also never feeling tacky or just odd. And I always admire it when a show manages that, because I feel like that is the right type of tone for a story like this. It gripped me completely from the first minutes. The plot is nicely paces, there is nice suspense within in the story, although it drags a bit towards the end, but there are countless questions and cliffhanger moments that come up in each episode that always made me excited for the next one.

I did feel like the show did drag a bit or loose some steam when it focused to heavily on the crime and human corruption of the show, rather than the supernatural problems of the characters. For a drama about people capturing evil spirits I wanted them to capture more evil spirit and for that too have a more central role within the story than it did.

Although the drama did a good job with mixing the characters conflicts, their backstories of the characters, with the main story, I also felt like I had seen that type of story play out a bit too often and there could have been more balance between the crime plot and the quest for fighting evil spirits.

There was a lot more crime in there than I would have wished for, but I can not say that I was bored while watching it. The story has it’s momentum, I could never really guess where is was going. It has a good pace, and there was always a bit of humor and a lot of cool action to go along with it with some really loveable characters that you just can’t help but love. This drama has a lot of good things (action, humor and heart) and does those things really well.

Our main character are true underdogs, and you really do feel for them. They made me tear up several times. Especially So Mun and personal quest and his connection to his new superpowers. He really does grow with it. It may all be a bit typical for a story like this one, but it works really well.

All the main characters are deep, with their own flaws and strengths. They frustrate you, yet you love them and feel so much with them. And I found the evil spirit, their main rival apart from the evil politicians and corrupt police officers, really well crafted. I just really like that aspect of the show. That was why I tuned into it and why I continued on watching it.

The love and affection between all the characters is just wonderful. It’s overflowing with heart; whether it’s the love that So Mun has for his grandparents and vice versa, his friends from school and then the little family that the Counters have. This little found family really touched my whole heart, it’s one of my favorite tropes and I love it when it’s done right, and made me shed tears many times throughout the drama. There’s just a really good heart in this story.

The Uncanny Counter is just a lot of fun. I feel like it sort of threads this path of being familiar and yet unique enough that it feels fresh and exciting. There is suspense and humor and heart at the core of each and every episode, and the cast is super loveable and tug at your heartstrings a lot and which is the true strength of the drama. That found family aspect and the friendship and love between the main characters. It talks a lot about human greed and corruptions and how that feeds the evil spirits and vice versa, which does sometimes feel a bit heavy handed, but the plot is well paced and exciting, so I never got bored, and there is a really good underdog story there that makes it all worthwhile.

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Completed
Put Your Head on My Shoulder
50 people found this review helpful
by Heila
May 9, 2019
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers
Once the main couple gets together the drama just becomes very bubbly, cute, loveable and cliche. Also the cat and dog audio effects makes this drama a lot more fun to watch.
In the beginning I was upset with the main lead, Si Tu Mo because she wouldn't leave this man who is one out of two most irritating and annoying character in this drama. (The other one is a snitch and I wanted to punch him everytime he raises his hand or snitches on ehem someone.)
Anyways, eventually she began living together with male lead, Gu Wei Yi who taught her how to chase her dreams and come out of her shell. When that happens she's more outgoing and basically wears the pants in the relationship. I grew to love her because she knows what she wants. haha
Gu Wei Yi is an awkward nerd but handsome student. He's quite innocent when it comes to relationships so he's clueless 100% of the time when it comes to how Si Tu Mo is feeling. Needless to say, I enjoyed watching him from not caring about Tu Mo to growing feelings for her. The way he did it was ADORABLE! He respected her boundaries but he can get jealous. haha
There's not much of a plot going on in this drama. Its like a sitcom where you see a life of a couple living together except they start out as "strangers." We see the main leads interact with one another and how they grew close to each other. As well as hanging out with friends, misunderstandings/jealousies, asking advice from friends about love. There's also work related things as well. But overall, nothing tooooo exciting besides the love life of Si Tu Mo and Gu Weiyi. I guess in a way there's nothing that is too memorable for me to fully love this drama aside from the main leads. However, I enjoyed it a lot.
The acting from Fei Xing who plays Si Tu Mo was great! She acted quite well and I love it when she makes her puppy eyes face expression. Gu Wei Yi CANNOT deny that!
The actor who plays Gu WeiYi needs a bit of work. His acting was quite stiff, yeah he's suppose to be awkward but its his acting is just stiff and off to me. Its difficult to explain but it did bother me sometimes when I notice it.
The ending is a happy +1 ending. ;)

I love the transition effects in this drama as well as seeing how Gu Wei Yi does things without the audience knowing initially. It seems to be a trend in cdramas lately. ^^

If you want to watch a campus love story then this is a recommendation for you. If you do not want to watch something that doesn't have much of a plot then its not for you.

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Completed
Twenty Five Twenty One
50 people found this review helpful
Jun 30, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

What a disappointing last two episodes

I have such a mixed feeling of this drama. Up to Ep14, it was one of the perfect score 10 that made me cried so many times. However the ending of this drama was total disappointment. That’s why my review is rather low.

It is well written family drama, sportsman-women ship, school friendship, teenage first love and etc. However the drama created such an anticipation how it will end, then it crashed me. The final episode was total disappointment, especially for ML. It may have been a bitter sweet teenage first love experience for FL, but ML was already a young adult with hardship due to family issues. That is one of the reason why I hoped the ending would be a happy one. It was too much hardship for young adult to down fall financially at such a young age. It would have been much better drama if ML and FL to stay together by overcoming the difficulties. Such happy ending may be a clichĂŠ but I will give 10 if this was happy ending.

Oh boy, I just have such a bad taste in my mouth after watching such a disappointing ending. It is funny thought, I do not dislike bad ending like ‘Moon Lovers’. It was such a heartbreaking drama, But I keep watching the last episode over and over knowing I would cry so hard.

Too bad there is no way to make season 2 since characters are already in 40ish. Especially FL closed her chapter, her true love , at the very end. It would have been better if it was an open ending to bring them back together and makes happy ending at season 2. I would liked if ML meets FL at funeral and finding they are still single. Then daughter was their love child. And she was finding their parents love story in season 1. Hmmmmm I should have been the director of this drama. LOL









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Completed
You Are My Hero
50 people found this review helpful
by ran
Mar 15, 2021
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

No doubt, you have to watch it!

First, this is not a remake of a Korean drama. This drama was first adapted from a novel with the same title, and the novel has been published since 2012 (correct me if I'm wrong). Even though I don't watch Korean dramas, I think it's enough to attribute that drama to this drama (sorry if anyone feels uncomfortable with what I said)

Okay, You Are My Hero is one of the best Chinese dramas I've watched. Unlike most Chinese dramas I've watched, this drama really makes me always curious for the next episode. Honestly, I watched this drama by accident, and guess what, I was completely blown away by the first episode! It was really cool and different from other Chinese dramas.

It was very hard to be apart with Mi Ka, Xing Kelei and friends. Even an hour after this is over, I already feel so empty lol.

Some of the reasons that make this drama one of the best Chinese dramas (my version) :

1. The first episode opened so cool. Really amazed me!

2. Mi Ka and Xing Kelei's stories just flow, and I feel that there are many parts that are so natural. Their chemistry is very good. Indeed, before they dated, I felt that they were very awkward, but that didn't happen again after they became lovers. Xing Kelei when looking for attention to Mi Ka, that's so ridiculous 😂 They are so cute! I even forgot about the age difference between the main characters in real life. Good work!

3. The story about the second partner and the third partner is quite interesting. Although I was quite annoyed with the story of Shu Wenbo and Ruan Xia. But it doesn'tmatter, they are so cute after getting married

4. There weren't many kissing scenes and dramatic scenes (lol I don't know how to describe it) they kissed about 4 or 5 times? Although there are a lot of people who want them to do more skinship, I don't think that's okay. Because how they looked to each other, it really shows that they really love each other. That's much cuter in my opinion.

5. Strong female lead, without any stupid action.

Even though at first I was hesitant about quite a number of episodes (40), I didn't realize that I had watched them all! (I rarely watch this many episodes) but for this drama, I enjoyed it so much that I spent a lot of time watching it.

Ah, it's really hard to say goodbye (lol I'm too dramatic, but it really is!)

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Completed
In Blossom
50 people found this review helpful
Apr 12, 2024
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 23
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

Switched by the witch.

In Blossom or 花间令/Huā Jiān Lìng (The Flower Order) is a mystery romance with fantasy elements. I checked this out because of Liu Xueyi, an under appreciated actor who is just as good an antagonist as he is a protagonist. Despite some flaws and controversy, this sleeper hit won Liu Xueyi high praise for his good looks and compelling acting.

Yang Caiwei is a scarred, inauspicious undertaker shunned by citizens of the sinful city of Heyang. She finds herself embroiled in a murder case with the new magistrate Pan Yue, the most handsome gentleman in the capital. As it turns out, before misfortune befell her family, she was engaged to Pan Yue and he seems determined to honor their betrothal. On their wedding day, she is switched by the witch Shangguan Zhi using dark magic. She finds herself in Shangguan Zhi's body right before "Yang Caiwei" is murdered and suspects Pan Yue of doing the deed! Assuming Shangguan Zhi's identity, she investigates her own murder by working for Pan Yue at the yamen in the hope of finding evidence of his complicity. Body swapping is the only fantasy aspect and it is readily accepted without that much disbelief by the characters in this story.

This production drew early criticism because Zheng Hehuizi guest starred as Yang Caiwei for two episodes and impressed viewers with how she interpreted the role. Her Yang Caiwei is a solemn character; a child whose world was shattered overnight and endured nine years of hardship. She finds meaning in following her shifu's footsteps as a coroner, obtaining justice for victims of foul play. This characterization of Yang Caiwei makes sense to me but unfortunately, there was no meeting of the minds in how the role should be portrayed. Although Ju Jingyi delivers an adequate performance, her depiction lacks depth and gravitas. Her Yang Caiwei is literally only Shangguan Zhi; a happy, pampered young lady who never suffered a day in her life. She is so un-serious as a coroner I just scoffed at her autopsies. Still, she didn't quite ruin the show for me as she is so pretty and charismatic I always have a soft spot for her. I just sigh for the opportunity missed because Yang Caiwei is one of the better written female roles and Liu Xueyi is a fantastic actor to be paired up with. She could have impressed enough with a more layered performance to break her out of her usual typecasting but sadly she did not approach this role thoughtfully enough.

While I watched this for the suspense plot, both romances are nicely written. Liu Xueyi and Ju Jingyi look so gorgeous as a couple that their visuals alone deflect many flaws. To me, Pan Yue’s early obsession with Yang Caiwei was not healthy or well founded but I enjoyed how he fell for her against his better instincts thinking she was the detestable Shangguan Zhi. I never faulted Pan Yue for taking so long to figure out she was Yang Caiwei because both actresses failed to show me of they are the same girl. I like how Zhuo Lanjiang is written to be as capable and powerful in his own way as Pan Yue. He is a credible love rival that does not descend into delusional archetypes. But I wasn't that invested in his romance either.

After the big letdown of Youku's big budget Judge Dee's Mystery, this much more modest production satisfied my craving for a good mystery. The cases, beginning with Yang Caiwei's own murder hooked me from the get go. I enjoyed how each case pulls at threads to reveal links initially to the four major clans of Heyang and ultimately a far wider conspiracy that goes back many years. This familiar formula used in many other investigative series is quite well executed. Despite small plot holes, the focus on the human tragedy aspect of these side cases made me either empathize with the victims or at times even the perpetrators. This is something both Judge Dee's Mystery and Mysterious Lotus Casebook failed to do. The main villain is neither too obvious nor revealed too early, which was my biggest gripe with Mysterious Lotus Casebook. This one does well in keeping us guessing right up till the end. However, this is achieved by concealing information from the viewer instead of hiding all the clues in plain sight.

The narrative hiccups in the final arc back at the capital. It seems like a different writer took over. The villain is revealed shortly after they show up onscreen instead of building suspense for a bit. The final villain is not that smart and only gains an upper hand because two hitherto smart characters are thrown under the bus and exercised their free will in unintelligent ways. It always makes me angry to see good characters get undeserved outcomes so I am not happy with how this ends. Good characters were literally wasted just to squeeze some tears from the audience. Instead of ending on a big reveal, it just descends into melodrama. The chilling ending epilogue however is well done but to avoid spoilers I will elaborate on that below. All things considered, this is still an enjoyable watch. I would have rated it 8.0/10 were it not for the ending. My final rating is 7.5/10.0.









ENDING SPOILER COMMENTS

The ending epilogue is a nice chilling way to end regardless of whether Season 2 gets the go ahead. If there is no Season 2, it suggests that #1 is some kind of arch nemesis of Pan Yue, like Moriarty to Holmes who is still out there; that organizations like The Flower Order are not that easy to wipe out. Note there are actually 9 tokens in total in the end scene.

If there is a Season 2, the mastermind is either someone we already met or someone that has not yet appeared onscreen. Recall #2 only shows up in the final arc so this writer does not play fair with the audience. In that case, it is not useful to speculate further. If however, the mastermind is someone we already met, I think it is most likely Shangguan Lan. It is evident from the plain cyan sleeves that it is a man and while the cloth is rich, there is no elaborate embroidery on the sleeve like the nobles and high officials like Pan Yue and Minister Pan wear. The Shangguan family keeps a private army and they have the vast resources and network to be behind this kind of clandestine organization. They also have links to witch doctors and dark magic, which is how Shangguan Zhi swapped bodies with Yang Caiwei. So it would not be surprising that they worship pagan gods like the ram god. I initially ruled out Shangguan Lan due to his age, but he could have inherited the token from his father.

There is also a possibility the mastermind is a woman because the Chinese title is The Flower Order. In that case, it could either be The Empress or Qingdi, who now pretty much controls Heyang after Pan Yue effectively eliminated all her rivals for her.







X

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Completed
Family by Choice
50 people found this review helpful
Feb 27, 2025
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 7
Overall 5.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

A Plot that Betrays the Title

This review is not for you if you haven’t watched the show. It’s a rant—an emotional outpouring—but one I believe the community of fans needs to hear.

Finishing this show was exhausting! I’ve read several reviews, yet none seem to address the glaring issue I had with it.

At first, I was captivated by the premise. The show laid a strong foundation, introducing three main characters with compelling backgrounds. It beautifully conveyed the idea that family isn’t about blood or legal ties—it’s about love and connection. I wholeheartedly agreed.

But then came the 10-year time skip, and the show completely derailed. One particular moment sealed my disappointment—Hae-jun makes an offhand joke about marriage that, in hindsight, foreshadowed the troubling path the story was about to take.

Is family just a joke in this show? How do you go from being family to being lovers?

“As long as they’re not blood-related,” some might argue. But don’t you see? That logic only works if they were never truly family to begin with. If they genuinely saw each other as siblings, the idea of romance wouldn’t just be uncomfortable—it would be unthinkable.

The relationship between a brother and sister is fundamentally non-romantic. If Ju-won really saw the San Ha as a brother, she should have consistently shut down his feelings. Instead, within an episode or two, she agrees to date him. I kept asking myself, Do you realize you’re falling for the man you called your brother your entire childhood?

The show started with a powerful message: family is more than blood or legal ties. But in the end, it contradicts itself. Hae-jun struggles with the concept of a chosen family and only finds peace when his biological mother returns. Meanwhile, San-ha and Ju-won end up romantically involved. So what was the point of it all? In the end, blood and documents still define family in this story.

Perhaps this is a cultural difference, but as an African, I know family to be sacred. It isn’t something shallow. It is taboo to even introduce the idea of romance within family.

And that brings me to my final realization: they were never truly a family. They were just close neighbors who played house as children. The show never truly encapsulated what its title promised.

I was honestly too irritated to enjoy the rest. The only way I could finish was by mentally erasing their childhood memories—because otherwise, it was unbearable.

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Ongoing 14/14
KinnPorsche
197 people found this review helpful
Apr 23, 2022
14 of 14 episodes seen
Ongoing 27
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 7.0

IT'S A GOOD SERIES, NOT PERFECT BUT ACCEPTABLE

This is one review that I have absolutely looked forward to writing, I mean I have read the novel and they have been teasing us with this show for two years, so how could I not be looking forward to this. But my reviews have eight areas:
1. Introduction
2. General Review, Themes, Specific Issues
3. Story arc and Storylines
4. Characters and Casting
5. Acting
6. Misses
7. Production
8. Rewatch Value

Introduction
You do not know how long we have waited for more adult themed BLs something happening outside just a university something more intense and that's KinnPorsche. I mean this show makes a lot of promises and so far, it has delivered so well on most promises, they promised to be different, the series promised to be interesting, it promised to be great, and I mean it is giving me a lot of the things I want in a series. it is making me laugh, it is making me happy, it is making me feel towards the character, it is just giving me joy, it has also disappointed and failed in others, but it is all fine. Of course, the theme of this series is a mafia family, but more specifically the son of the mafia and a person that becomes his bodyguard right and the love that kind of develops there. it is easy going it is funny without necessarily losing its seriousness, it has great production, its budget is obviously present because everything is so top notch. so, I absolutely love this.
Now, I won't lie and say this BL is a 100% in all areas because there are certain places where you genuinely need to put your logic aside to appreciate it but on an overall, I give it a pass because of what the series does in so many other areas and what is successfully achieves.

General Review
OK on general this series is beautiful
1. I love how lighthearted this series can be, but at the same time it does not take away from the overall seriousness and danger that is each character faces. we see that it's definitely going to handle very serious issues for example Porsche and Che family story, the things that have messed up Khun and Kim, and so many other societal issues that are very important to address but at the same time they give me comedy they make me laugh, which I think is one of the best things that is series can do because while it's important to have those moments of serious discussions those moments of going into real issues, it's also important for the viewer to get moments of Comic Relief.

2. I also think another thing that is important is the idea that it shows that even though you are born into the mafia you are not born without a heart when you leave in a condition long enough you get desensitized to it. Were Kinn and Vegas the perfect men? HELL NO, if anything Vegas deserves therapy and jail, and Kinn deserves a year or two in prison as well for his actions because a bad environment doesn't excuse the shitty actions that have been done, it just makes me understand the perspective from which the character is coming from and I must say that Kinn and Vegas are fighters. I respect Kinn because of the pressures he must face to survive in the mafia but somehow Vegas' story really made me feel bad for him in episode 12 and 13, and this is coming from me, a person who disliked Vegas as a character.


3. Observable Themes and Issues that can be picked from the series.

ABUSE - This is such an ever-present topic in this series and I know our fandom loves to justify the existence with the fact that it's a mafia series but what most people don't tend to understand or appreciate is that, we can accept the presence of it in the series while acknowledging that it is a form of abuse which in regular society should not exist.
Meaning = In the series, it is all right, in real life, it is unbelievably bad
But presence of abuse we see, Kinn and Porsche first time together, no matter how much we want to use the fact that he resisted Vegas and accepted Kinn, it doesn't change the fact that morally it was wrong for Kinn to take advantage of Porsche and we saw the clear after effects on Porsche and Kinn accepting several times after it was wrong. Another form of abuse is obviously Kan and Vegas asides physical abuse, we have the emotional abuse, it was so deep and psychological and Vegas always saw it as regular and this speaks volumes about how so many victims of abuse don't see anything wrong with the abuse they suffer (Note: I won't lie I was happy every time Kan slapped Vegas, it was like Kan was manifesting all the slaps I wish I could give Vegas for what he did to Pete amongst others).
Obviously, there was Vegas torture of Pete which I just absolutely hated; I will not write any further on that.

a. Social Pressures and Mental Health: Mental Health is a theme that stood out to me in this series from Vegas and Kinn and the specific set of social pressures that they faced especially with regards to the families they were born into. On Vegas' side we see what it is like to have, not just a physically abusive parent but a parent who constantly and consistently degrades their child, we see the inferiority complex that Vegas' suffers from and it is so bad and crippling that it puts him in constant with the main family trying to prove himself and worth. On Kinn's side we see the cost of having to give up your dreams and having to live a life you would rather not, I mean overall Kinn is one depressed guy without realizing it. So, I love that about the novel and series, how they can acknowledge these aspects of their characters making them that much more complex.

b. Getting married to the wrong person: Now, not a lot of people would have picked up on this but from Kan's character and his hostility to his Kids and the way he always insults Vegas, this is why you always make sure you don't end up with the wrong person, for your sake and the sake of your kids, so your parents don't get stuck with a shitty life because their parents couldn't use their head to think and just avoid getting married. Now where Kan was in love with Nampueng, to the extent he could kill someone else for her, he had no business being married to someone else and it reflects in how badly he treats Macau and Vegas.

c. Manipulation and playing with people's feelings: I intentionally did not say led on, because I feel Chay was not led by Kim, but he was manipulated. I hated how much their entire relationship was premised on what Kim needed, like it was really when Kim needed something and, on his terms, and we see the impact it has on Chay after the fact, like it is reflective of what happens with so many persons in reality especially dealing with someone who is emotionally vulnerable. Kim as a character just rubbed me wrong.

d. Value of relationships: Now this was something that particularly stood out to me in one place, I love Porsche but he was not the best brother or friend in certain instances, I mean I wasn't expecting him to be a hundred percent in all angles but there are places where I felt kind of disappointed in his decisions. An example of this was his agreement to bring Pete within Vegas' axis, I mean if he says he knows Vegas did what he did, there is absolutely nothing that would make me bring you into proximity of my friend. This action is paralleled against Pete willing to sacrifice himself to prove Porsche's innocence, I mean it just showed me a difference in valuation of their relationship. This is sadly representative of the reality of life that often people do not appreciate or value things as well as they should.

Any ways, I should end this segment here, so I am not going on and on


Story Arcs
All right so one of the story arcs we have here obviously is the story up of Kinn and Porsche falling in love, which is the main storyline, I think we will also have all trials and tribulations that they would have to face but we have several that are explored:

1. Kinn learning to love and be loved again after being previously hurt
2. Porsche experiencing a relationship that was all consuming
3. Vegas learning how love himself and also how to love and appreciate others as well (the only thing that bothers me in this story arc was the fact I am worried that Vegas might still not have a true sense of self-worth that is tied to his own independent value i.e. his value is lowkey reliant on Pete, hence his desperation for Pete, it's almost a miserable existence, so I don't know if the self-love aspect of this was fully executed well especially if the end goal was for Vegas to discover a new sense of identity. But I must note that because this is not the end of the series, they have said there would)
4. Pete's story arc covered how we can be broken, have our smile and light taken away from us, when we go to the lowest of the low and how often we do not deal with that so well especially after Vegas abused him.
5. Kim had no arc
6. Chay's arc was more of the naive first love, first crush and first heartbreak and how devastating those often tend to be for us.

Now for the storyline and Pacing of the storyline, there were places that I feel like they could have done better. An example is VegasPete storyline, in as much as I did not like VegasPete as a couple or the story arc I knew that would come with them, I feel if they were introduced earlier in the series i.e. an episode 8 instead of an episode 10, their relationship development in this season may have been more substantive. Another thing I was not a fan of in the story was how easy Porsche's character was made and it was such a diversion from how he was earlier introduced. They tried to manage way too many stories and it became a problem for them
But on an overall, I would give them praise for their handling of most parts of the storyline


Characters and Casting

Kinn, the Playboy mafia who surprisingly is openly gay, he has always been serious, he knows he going to inherit the family, so he has never had the time for excessive play. what is the same time we see a level of softness to him, and this is best portrayed by some of his reactions to Porsche? this better portrayed with how he first told his father and brother he loves Porsche as well as the entirety of episode eight. Now Kinn as a character is not the greatest, he is flawed, flawed in fact but what makes it eventually better is that he recognizes this, accepts it, and strives to be better in most instances. So, while I am not saying all his actions can be excused but I think as a character he is acceptable. Also casting Mile as Kinn somehow feels perfect, he embodies the essence of Kinn which was vital to the overall cohesiveness of the character

Porsche is an absolute idiot with zero survival skills or zero survival instincts, like a lot of times I worry for him, I am just like boy shut up. he is such a comedic relief and such a wild character; I absolutely love his character I mean. I think behind all the wildness we see this side of Porsche, where he must put on this happy face so hide all this stress and trauma that he has been through, and we get the first candid of his character when he is drunk with Kinn. When he admits to the struggles both having to care for himself and his brother this gives this level of understanding to why he acts the way he does, he has had to be a parent from when he was young. So, I absolutely love Porsche, Porsche is simple and forgiving, he cares deeply for those he cares for, even though he does not always make the best choice. Apo's casting was also good because he is just as wild as Porsche

Tankhun, our resident fashion icon and psychopath. I mean even in the novel I loved Tankhun but in the series is a breath of fresh air, I love how much he adds to a scene, he is easily my favorite character. Tankhun is the smartest Theerapanyakul brother, he is always so spot on in his analysis, that I am convinced he pretends to be insane to avoid duties. Tongs casting as Tankhun was fine because her embodied the character well

Pete as a character was also another beautiful character I loved, because of how foolish he could be and his beautiful smile and his impressive heart. I mean how this man legit believed Porsche was blocking punches with his neck has me worried, but I chose to interpret that as Pete's pureness, also he just had a really beautiful smile and his willingness to go into minor territory family just to prove Porsche was innocent of being the mole is everything you need to know of Pete as a character. Honestly seeing him break down after the abuse suffered afterwards absolutely broke my heart. On the casting of Pete, Build was a wonderful choice irrespective of all the baggage he came with. I am your Pet turned me off

Vegas as a character was a lot, but I must say, his English always made me question my life and morals potentially, because I know I hated this man but somehow every time he spoke English, my brain went back to factory settings, nah Bible as Vegas was near perfect but honestly Vegas the character was a vile and flawed, he gave me the creeps, which speaks volumes to Bible's casting. Perfect ending with Pete and Macau

I was originally skeptical of Barcode as Chay, but I must say that he did a fantastic job in embodying what Chay was meant to be, young, naive and in love. I absolutely loved when he blocked Kim

Kim, we do not talk about Kim in this house.


Acting
Acting was great on an overall bases, Apo did well in carrying the complex emotions of Porsche and Bible did exceptionally well as Vegas, personally they were the best actors of the series, I might rank Bible slightly higher than Apo but its close. Barcode as Chay was really good as well, especially where he broke down after Kim left him, also Kinn was good as well, I wouldn't say as good as Apo and Bible but the entire bathroom scene (I am not talking about the sex), but the part when he came in angry and smacked Vegas and shouted, I had chills, also his apologies always felt sincere, so there was that.

Misses
While I won't go on listing a ton of misses, one that particularly got to me was what they did with Porsche's character in specific aspects of his development, it's almost like they forgot that they gave him some traits, on an overall it didn't reduce from the character's purpose but it sure gave me a frown in certain places, an example being how easy he gave into Kinn, I was like at least give him a spine. Anyways here are other misses

1. What was the point of Kim's entire investigation? Like they made the investigation to be this huge thing that we should all be intrigued about and yes, for sure they piqued my interest. I was interested in what was going to happen. What would he discover? How would he use that information in the series to affect the dynamics of character interactions, when would he unveil the information? So many expectations from that arena and it just fell flat. Like he found out his father covered up Nampueng and her husband's death and he did nothing with it, he just went back to regular programing. Like what was the purpose of the investigation then? Why the stress over it?

2. Kinn and Porsche relationship/Tawan's return - The idea that KinnPorsche was the healthiest relationship in the series bothers me because they have three key issues; a. their communication is absolute shit, b. the trust is absolute nonsense, c. the starts of everything and this reflects in the Tawan situation. One thing I never understood is why no one ever questioned why and how Tawan was still alive, like he said he has been hiding with the Italians, but like everyone just accepted that he was alive like it was just another business day. which eventually of things, it does not really affect the series, but it was just a miss for me

3. None of their relationships were particularly the healthiest especially how they began. I mean overall of things; I know we like to say this is the mafia and all the other excuses that allows us to shove down our morals and principles while trying to enjoy some media content. But one thing that I did not particularly fancy in this series is the fact that none of their relationships started properly on healthy basis, we had the borderline rape/sexual assault of Kinn (note: I said borderline because legally in Thailand, it is not rape or sexual assault apparently), we had the very abusive abduction of Pete by Vegas and we have Kim lying to and manipulating Chay for his own purposes. Like none of these are particularly healthy and the idea that the storyline always had them falling in love with their abuser, I mean I understand this is meant to be a Mafia fic but honestly there are still somethings that are not so easy to stomach, this was one of those situations.

4. I did not like the Big and Ken endings, because it made no sense, like they did not even try to give a proper motivation for why Ken would betray the main family, just expected the viewer to accept it as given.

5. The explosion budget, LMAO, I was like, did they run out of budget in episode ten?

Production
I do not think I need to say a lot on production, but I will, the budget of this and the dedication of crews to produce a good show was beautiful, watching the behind the scenes and all the effort put in was great. Another thing I loved was the cinematographic shots, like they had angles and views in this production, I am absolutely impressed (but there was episode ten and their explosions, hahaha)

Rewatch Value
Oh, I would rewatch this, it is a good drama and a breath of fresh air in the BL industry

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Completed
Hotel King
61 people found this review helpful
by elichu
Jul 29, 2014
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 5.0
Let's keep it simple. This is a drama that had a lot of potential due to its amazing cast, solid story, and incredible production. It had all the makings of a 10/10, but therein lies the issue. For some reason, Dramaland loves to stretch out any drama that has such potential; "why have 16 episodes when we can have 32?" they must say amongst themselves, "of course the fans will want more of the same!" This way of thinking has ruined or subtly damaged several dramas for me, Hotel King amongst them.

The two leads - favourites of mine since My Girl (2005) - were good, don't get me wrong. They are two very attractive people with acting ability?---but after watching Lee Dong Wook repeat the same crazed or sobbing face a million times over, ANY expression of strong emotion got boring. It no longer evoked any sense of compassion, just "this again?"

Which leads us to the plot. This is a good 'un: a delicate, emotional plot about the bonds and power of blood. The twists are foreseeable, ESPECIALLY for a seasoned drama-watcher, but the true strength of this drama is more how these twists are delivered. Alas, over time these twists are exhausted and there is so much surface back-and-forth that the drama doesn't really progress and spends a LOT of time just floundering and filling time. I feel like I've spent 32 episodes watching Lee Dong Wook and Lee Da Hae repeat the same conversations about the same issues, which unfortunately cheapens every breakup that happens and ruins every reunion because you doubt - either way - it will last.

Overall, the experience was undeniably a good one---if mediocre despite its outstanding potential. I'm glad I've watched it and I'm sure it will influence dramas to come, but I will not be watching it again.

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Completed
Ride or Die
61 people found this review helpful
by ara
Apr 17, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 3.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 3.5
Rewatch Value 1.0

not worth watching

as a bisexual woman, i was excited to finally get an asian wlw movie. it started promising for me until the end came... the amount of close ups annoyed me and the long scenes with no talking too... i played this movie on x1.5 cause i wanted it to be done. they made Rei look like she's not really a lesbian by having her have sex with men twice. it really felt like they were making this movie for straight men who get turned on by seeing girls fuck. oh wait that's cause it's directed by a straight man! maybe that's why it's so bad. i had really high expectations from this movie and it all disappointed me.

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Completed
Kissable Lips
61 people found this review helpful
by brumiq
Feb 25, 2022
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 7
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

It was okey I guess...

So let me say a few words about this series.
It´s pretty short but I don´t mind it but what I really don´t like about this series is how dumb all of the characters are. Aspecially the main characters. It was killing my brain cells lmao. I don´t want to write any spoilers here so if you already watched it or you don´t mind then the spoilers will be at the end of this review.

STORY: Meh...like nothing original. It was kinda boring and nothing much happend. In every episode you´ll see almost the same thing. The main characters falling for each other, the vampire regreting and crying over his past, another weird vampire and the one woman i don´t understand at all. Like who was she??
ACTING: Not the wors, but could have been much more better. It was kinda cringe especially in the last episode. It felt weird.
MUSIC: I wasn´t paying attention to the music so I can´t say much abt it, but it wasn ´t bothering me so i guess good.
REWATCH VALUE: 2...I will propably never watch it again but like just for chilling it´s alright and cute
OVERALL: 5 stars. It was right in the middle. It wasn´t good, but it wasn´t so bad either.

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( WHY WERE ALL SO DUMB?? )





Like what? I was dying lmao. Why didn´t he simply just drink his blood when he offered him? Like i get it, he was scared that he will hurt him, just like he did hurt the other guy, but he didn´t need to drink from his neck....? Like the human could have just cut his hand or somethnig, pour the blood to a glass and the vampire could have drink from a glass without hurting the human. And yes, you can say: "but if he tasted the blood, he could go crazy and kill the human even though he drank from a glass". I mean yeah...this could also happen but he could have lock himself somewere so he can´t go near to any human or something. Or they could at least try it.
I think they just wanted the series to have sad ending so they ended it like this.
Anyway i did enjoy it but the last two episodes were pretty cringe lol
have a good day :))))

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