Reviews

Soulmate Review - ZyKuu

"The story of two soulmates" - This movie takes you along the timeline from when the two main leads Ko Ha-eun and Ahn Mi-so first met till the very end. The story did get confusing at some points, and you will be questioning things afterwards, but I believe that the premise of the film was delivered clearly. Both Ha-eun and Mi-so were amazing as you could feel the emotion and pain these characters were experiencing through the screen. Ham Jin-woo was a key character in this film and he was superb at his role. Jin-woo's presence does cause a rift in the relationship between Ha-eun and Mi-so which leads to the story to become more interesting. I loved the relationship between Ha-eun and Mi-so as they displayed what true friendship means. The character development in this film is beautiful and I loved the concept of death and life shown through both characters. The OST was ineffective as I did not acknowledge it at all, and the colours in this film were more gloomy and dark which fit the sorrow theme. This movie is a must watch for an adult audience, as I think it will resonate with them on a deeper level.

Read More

Went into it expecting something different, but it had its moments

I think, overall, my main issue with this show was that what I thought it was going to be, based off the insanely cool edits on my fyp. This was not what it actually ended up being. Was it a bad show? No. Was is meaningful? Yes. Could it have been better? Absolutely, because it wasn't want I was expecting out of the show.

As a social criticism drama - this hits the mark with a full ten stars. However, everything else was a mess.

The premise is absolutely the best part and is part of the reason why I was so interested in this show. I am a twin myself, so I am always excited to see them be the main characters. However, this show did not deliver on that front. White goes undercover to find out who hurt his brother - yet he quickly stops doing that. He barely investigated Blacks gang, he was way too trusting and even when they told him how Black usually acts he didn't try to change his behavior to fit in better. Actually, it seems as if he actually has no interest in his brother at all - which is a real shame bc his brother immediately came to him when he felt him getting hurt but he never did that for Black. It was always Black who found White first.

Including White, most characters acted very juvenile in their action. You are committing pretty harsh crimes yet they don't take the necessary precautions. They should be wearing gloves considering they could easily be found through their DNA for how severe their crimes are. The only exceptions of those who always seem to think things through or actually have the skills to get through severe rough patches are Gumpa and Black. Gumpa makes the plans and they are well thought out plus he has many skills he teaches to the others and form what I understand Blacks plans always worked out and he manages to get himself out of situations the others can't.

However, the most disappointing thing I've seen in this is the lack of showtime between Black and White - the whole premise starts with them but they have no scenes together and when Black is awake we never know what he's doing. He's the one with enemies yet we never know what he is doing. I believe the most interesting character is Black which is why its a real shame we never got to understand or see him in action better. The most disappointing thing about Blacks character is his extreme change form those growing up a privledged life and turning into the absolute opposite. i mean, there has to be a reason why he is willing to live like he grew up a gutter rat and is apparently mean to everyone around him. They should have gone into his character more. He was ironically the character I liked the most and I liked Euch as well bc of how she was necessary to the plot in basically playing devils advocate for the law to show both sides.

Besides the incomprehensible behavior of nearly al the characters - there were so many plot holes that could have been solved if they cut down on unnecessary side interests. Show more of the villain's motives so it feels like a well-rounded story and stop jumping from one activity to another without a leading line to show how we got there like the ROL suddenly gaining traction when there should have been more focused on it since it was important in the conclusion.

Read More

A Cute and Funny Rom-Com That You Can Watch Under 2 Hrs!

STORY-8.0
Based on the Webtoon of the same name, which I have not watched, Uncle Cool tells the love story between a cheerful high school girl and a cold but caring doctor. Besides these tropes, we have some others: Height Difference, Older Man/Younger Woman, School Bullying, Neighbors. The rather big age gap (seems to be 10 years at most) may be a bit bothersome for some, but as someone who usually doesn't mind these kinds of age gaps, I was perfectly fine with this couple. They are cute, and awkward in a good way! There were also quite a few comedic moments where I was laughing quite fiercely, a nice cherry on the top!

As this drama was only about 80 minutes, there wasn't a very deep and long story, but it managed to pack in the details very nicely. There are two rather touchy topics- School bullying, and child abuse. They played a crucial part in the drama and we watched the female lead become more confident and stronger as she overcame these problems.

There were also some heartwarming places in this drama. I particularly loved Na Na’s ‘enemy-to-friends’ relationship with a girl in school. Shows how much friendship is important to us and can help us get through hard times.

ACTING-8.5
The actors are all at the novice level-they haven’t acted in many dramas, but I loved their characters and they were not awkward or strange as their characters at all. I felt that the main leads had reasonable chemistry; Of course, there wasn’t enough time for more cute interactions that would have left me fawning over them.

There weren’t many actors either, but they all did reasonably well, expressing their emotions very realistically and touchingly.

OVERALL-8.0
If you just want some relaxation with some fluff and a few laughs, I would immediately recommend Uncle Cool. There were no annoying details or characters with numerous heartwarming and cute scenes. Awesome character development as well!

Read More

Tokyo Tribe is an imperfectly perfect chaos. It’s one heck of a crazy bizarre Japanese Musical. And that’s exactly where its charm lies in. I completely loved it.

I have a confession to make; I always had a serious love-hate relationship with Sion Sono. It’s not because of his over the top style. Takashi Miike‘s more sadistic but he’s still one of my top favourite directors. However, all of my feelings toward Sion’s filmmaking changed to the positive side after this. He definitely amazed me.

The story was unusually chaotic. Tokyo Tribe is a Hip-Hop musical and I don’t even like Hip-Hop but man did it sound completely right! The plot centre on Tokyo’s different gangs that are continually at war with each other until a trigger sets them all off. 95% of the dialogues were rapped out. Sion made almost all of his characters rap their parts in a charming street symphony.

I would agree with you if you said this film was over the top, entirely sexist, brutally violent and edgy. However, those facts don’t deny that Tokyo Tribe is one of the best finely made films of 2014. The action sequences and characters’ interactions were eye-catching and marvellously made.

Sion’s explosive style was fast-paced –as always– which gave the film extra entertaining value. I didn’t like the CGI and some fallen parts here and there but I was certainly impressed to know that he actually cast real-life street tattooed members for his picture. They were undeniably fit and perfect for their roles.

Other actors, namely the veteran Yakuza star Takeuchi Riki, Sometani Shota, Suzuki Ryohei, Young Dais and Kubozuka Yosuke were strongly fit for their roles. I certainly didn’t think I would come to love their characters like that. The solid portrayal of bizarre and weird personas isn’t an easy job to do and this film’s cast brought it to perfection.

Tokyo Tribe was a throughout pleasurable mess of comedy –even parodies– action and some lessons. It’s not up to everyone’s taste but those who appreciate Japan’s weird filmmaking are in for an exciting treat.

Read More

I'm gonna start with the good, and then go to the bad and the ugly, especially because I don't want anyone to consider NOT watching Doctor John. It's great, you guys. Acting? Amazing, all of the important characters are GREAT, I'm so gonna look every one of them up and watch more things with them. Soundtrack? I'm addicted to every single one of the songs. And, most importantly, I always salute series that discuss serious topics in a coherent and respectful manner. Doctor John has (almost) it all; it made me cry my eyes out, it made me laugh, it made me squeal with joy. I fell in love with every single one of the likeable characters, I rolled my eyes very hard at the annoying ones, and I changed my opinion about some of them along the way - like I think every good drama has to do. I thought things would go one way, and then they went on another direction, which is always good, because it means the plot isn't that predictable. I was so excited.
But there's always a "but". And here are mine.
When watching K-dramas, I have some basic rules (that are, of course, adaptable to the circumstances the series lay on me). Sometimes they are all broken right off the bat, sometimes I'm surprised with a writer's ability to not resort to cliches. It's always an adventure, and I love it.
Why I'm saying this? Cause, as I said, Doctor John started out strong. I was really pleased. I hadn't been that happy about a Korean drama story-line for I don't even know how long - which seemed to make sense, since it is based off a book, and these generally tend to be less conflict-for-ratings-driven and more thought out all the way through.
So there we were. Plot was making sense. Characters were being humanly imperfect, but still, coherent. There was our comic reliefs, which is always appreciated especially when dramas want to talk about serious (and controversial) topics, case in point, euthanasia - and those comedic moments didn't seem out of place. We were seeing our characters grow, bond, solve conflicts... and then the second to last episode happened, and I felt like something was about to go bad.
I ended up watching rules of mine being broken, and, as I said, it's an adventure, an emotional one, at that. Suddenly the series made an U-turn and I was like, ok, some experiences and life choices can do that to people. Then our lovely Si-young patched things up (and HOW GOOD it is to have a female lead character actually DO things, not just be thrown around). And then there was another U-turn and I realized how angry I had gotten.
It was like I was seeing in slow motion the impending downfall of a great plot. It seems like the writer got lazy and resorted to some ridiculousness, AND NOT ONLY THAT, but also forgot about some plot points here and there, so 32 half-hour long episodes weren't enough - and Doctor John didn't have the greatest ratings so we would never be gifted a couple more installments to actually close everything up. I don't know if the script writer is to blame, or if the book makes these same questionable choices; all I know is that some things I hoped wouldn't happen... kinda did. And I can't help but to feel bothered about it.
What I'm trying to say is: I'm writing this review 10 minutes after finishing the series. I'm pissed. This drama was climbing FAST towards the top of my favourites list, and I love Ji Sung, so I was VERY excited for his new drama, and we were doing so well... But Doctor John ended up being just "very good". Not "outstanding", not "amazing", but a very good drama. I still love it to pieces, hell, it is WHOLE LOT better than most K-dramas. I mean, "very good" isn't a bad thing at all (>>>very good<<< ya know) - but I'm thinking of what it could've been.
Now that I'm not gonna be surprised with a punch in my face, I would totally binge-watch it again (after my anger subsides). But if you're like me and some plot lines turn you off considerably, then just be warned it can happen to you, too.
All things considered, though, disappointment can hurt, but it can only totally ruin something if the starting point wasn't that good to begin with. Doctor John sets the bar high, and because of that, it is still a must-watch. Now I'm going to scream at my pillow again, and soon I'll be able to love this drama with all my might again.

Read More

unique story, great acting, best thai show 2024 (so far)

First I was intrigued to get a different story every episode or so I assumed. But after two stories, the stories get expanded. And when you watch ep 6 you know there is something different going on. That's a novel concept to watch many BLs in one BL :)

Both MLs are very good at their jobs conveying different characters with different mindsets and with many emotions.
Both are standing out from most other thai BL actors playing the same character over and over again. So this show stands out in creativity and execution. While not perfect it's exceptional in the year 2024, where we got so much trash. Without a doubt, it's the best thai BL series in 2024 so far. Update: Spare me Your Mercy was a notch better in my book, but still this was great.

I don't want to spoil the fun for you, but you should watch this. Yes you will cry, but you will also feel happy.

Read More

This drama was an amazing piece! This was my first historical drama ever and I must say, a great choice.
There is a movie with the same title from 2010, but the story of this drama is taking place some hundread years earlier, so don't be confused.I haven't see the movie, so I won't compare them.

This drama is an amazing mixture of love, historical events and friendship. I was amazed by the actors how they could portray their characters so well especially Tabe Mikako, who did a great job. She is playing the strong and wild-tempered Iemitsuko with such great feelings. She is portraying the opposite of Arikoto really great. But I can't forget to mention Sakai Masato who is playing Arikoto with such a stone face that it sometimes made me shiver. But what was even more amazing was his other side which was seen only by Iemitsuko.
Tanaka Koki as Gyokuei was quite a strange choice, because he is playing an 18 years old, so I was at the beginning quite wavering, but later on he showed me, he can pull this role off.
My favourite character Masakatsu played by Hirayama Hiroyuki is also very otstanding. I think I will watch more of his works, he needs more spotlight!

I recommend this drama to everyone. You will cry, you will smile, you will want to watch it again like me!
I can't resist to give this drama 10 points for everything including Misia's Deepness as ending song!

Read More

Emotionally exhausting and gave me more stress than my final exams

This drama is complete dog water. To be frank, I didn't even fully watch every episode of the series, I would skip huge segments until I got to see He Ping and Qiao Man interact. If you're seeing this, I'm assuming you've watched the trailer before watching the series, and the trailer lives up to the annoying and messy plotline of the story.

The acting is quite bad, especially the first few eps that took place in Barcelona, where we had to see a horrendous amount of Mandarin and English being mixed. The dub is horrible (especially the English dubbing during Barcelona), and I don't see why they need to to use such unnatural dub for this drama, the actors voices are completely fine. I like SWL and Jelly Lin as actors, and I love them together, but this drama does not do either of their acting justice. During the few scenes where they need to cry, they both lack a lot of emotion (esp my boy Weilong). This is ironic because this is supposed to be a melodrama, emotions should be exaggerated, and He Ping almost has the same looks/ facial expressions on his face the entirety of the season.

The story line is very cliche. I could've sworn I've seen a similar teleserye (Filipino drama) similar to that of Beautiful Reborn Flower. The "losing your memory" and falling in love again plot, the "jealous mfs who want to prevent the main character's relationships", the "workplace environment interfering with love" its all the same to me. Everything went downhill when they left Barcelona to go back to China. This is supposed to be romance, yet where is Qiao Man and He Ping together? No real first kiss (I am not counting when He Ping "kisses" Qiao Man after eating spicy food, or when he kisses Qiao Man's hand in ep 24), not even pg 13 sex, this is the equivalent to a middle school relationship almost. It also doesn't make sense that all of a sudden Qiao Man regains her memories in the very last episode. Too many plot holes, and none of it ever adds up.

The music is quite nice, I only rlly like the op and thats it. No need for further discussion.

Rewatch value= never. Please do not waste your time. I don't even think this drama has enough promotion, which such a shame because they shot in Barcelona and also SWL and Jelly Lin are very marketable together. I try to look for interviewers of them together on this drama and its almost nonexistent. In short, save yourself from the stress and go watch some of SWL's and Jelly's dramas.

Read More

Worth a watch.

I've been a fan of Gu Man adaptations but what really pushed me to watch this was Yang Mi. Fresh off Eternal Love I've been looking for something to sate my appetite for both Yang Mi and Mark Chao and this didn't disappoint. HXM was also a bonus (as I did find him quite dreamy in Cruel Romance...which is quite strange for a self proclaimed feminist, he was quite overpowering in CR tbh but I couldn't resist) This review is purely for the film as I've not actually seen the drama

In terms of the story, this is quite fateful to the source (I'm reliably informed) so I have no complaints there. Kept me glued despite the frequent choppy editing (whoever they hired to edit this need to seriously up their skills as despite beautiful cinematography and framework, the way the scene's were cut and transitioned felt jarring) Despite that little gripe this second-chance -at-love story really resonated and made me ache for both the main characters. I really hope we get more Gu Man adaptations as I'm absolutely in love with her stories.

Acting was great...Yang Mi can really deliver, I love that she's beautiful AND can act, no wonder she's so in demand. I'm looking forward to seeing more from her. You can feel her character's emotions and her chemistry with HXM was spot on. HXM surprised me by his performance, man can emote well. Gone was the sometimes wooden acting from CR. I love him even more now.

Music was beautiful, I loved the main song (the one in the hospital and shower scene) anyone please put me out of my misery as I really want to know the name of this song. If I had to say anything negative, it was that the upload I watched had a weird carnival music playing in the background? It was disconcerting...

I would definitely want to watch this again, not for a while but yes worth a watch now and will be again I'm sure.

Read More

Not worth it

I have no idea who comes up with the titles for the series but this thing was anything but a brother trap. What we have in the series is essentially a clearly grown up woman who meets a person that she likes sadly she discovers that he is a younger sibling to somebody she dated while she was in high school. This is where the supposed Drama begins. I will not rate this series higher than a six simply because although it showed that the siblings had a sense of humility it also portrayed the characters in a way that seemed inconsistent. I fail to understand how you would supposedly surrender your love to someone else as if they were yours to give away. I see that cliché type of thing happening often in these dramas however that is a major no-no to me.

There was no mystery in the series. There was no real romance in this series. There really wasn’t even a love triangle. It wasn’t like two men were really fighting for this one female. It was simply a realization and oh well I’ll surrender you because my brother still likes you. That type of stupid stuff. The only positive spin on this series is that the female lead wouldn’t accept being pissed off. The negative side of this is she actually went back with the person that tried to hand her off like she was a commodity. Normal people would’ve walked away from both completely. Alas neither she nor this series were norma.

I was trapped watching this thinking that it was really a trap..

Read More

This show had so much potential, but the organization was terrible. The general story is amazing! However, the explanation was poorly done and everything was mixed up. That being said, this show still passes as one of my favourites. Please read this all before deciding if you should watch it :)

Plot:
Like I mentioned above, the story was amazing, unpredictable, and requires a lot of thinking. I loved the story and everything about it was so well thought out. For that reason, the writer did a great job. However, the directors mixed it up way too much and that made it very confusing and difficult to understand. There were many unnecessary details to the show that I feel would've been better off eliminated. They tried to squeeze so much into a short plot and didn't give the reader the chance to understand a topic before moving on to the next. This sounds really confusing, so I'll give you a real life example. Let's say a really old person is asking you how to call someone on their phone. You write a list for them with the steps 1. turn on the phone, 2. Click on the phone app, ect. After you hand them the notes, the first thing they ask you is, "how do I turn it on?". To you this is common sense, but they don't know since they weren't exposed to it beforehand. This is kinda how this plot was. We were given a sequence of events, but with many of them, they almost assumed that we already knew of figured out the basics of when we really didn't. That being said, the most important parts of the story were understood and explained by the end, so even with the confusing parts, you still are able to understand the plot and story on a more general level and love it.

Characters:
Honestly, in my opinion, this is the part that kept me watching. I fell in love with the characters and their personalities. They chose the perfect actors for each character and the acting was on point. Even the cast for the villains was absolutely amazing and did an outstanding job performing their roles. Each character had something special about them and ughhh I just love and miss them all.

Camera/editing/visuals:
This was also very well done. The camera angles, the colours, costumes, setting, props, aesthetics, and editing were stunning! Visuals in general were just wow. It's difficult to find a drama that has such amazing visuals and this gets a 10/10 for that. This was also a major reason for me to not drop this drama.

Music:
It was absolutely perfect for the plot and I fell in love with the music. Overall, the music was amazing and well chosen for each scene. Loved it!

Rewatch value:
This is probably the highest rewatch value I've ever given. I'm the type that doesn't like rewatching anything since it feels like a waste of time. However, the confusing parts and very cute scenes are the reason why I will be rewatching this drama. I want to focus on the details this time and really think about everything and understand. There were also way too many cute scenes that I want to watch again.

Overall:
This drama is one of those that you either love or hate (or both like me). It kinda reminds me of The Heirs and how some loved it and others hated it. You really have to try this for yourself to know and don't trust all the reviews. It's also a drama that is really really confusing and you have to watch a few episodes to start to understand. The first episode was the most confusing, but it does get better. The ending was also very cute and I couldn't think of a better one for this plot, however, I wish they explained a couple things with a bit more detail. I feel that apart from the confusion, this story was amazing and the characters, music, and visuals balanced it out. I'd totally recommend this drama. You might not like it, but it deserves a chance.

Thanks for reading :)

Read More

Amazing story with lots of valuable insights into humanity

STORY
The story is excellent. It explores some complex questions that once faces in life. How do you identify good vs evil? How do you balance between different principles and values? etc. This movie is rich in meanings which are easy to identify but invites the viewer to think deeper.

In terms of scripting, the story develops relatively quickly. The plot elements fit together very well. The characters' actions are well explained by the storytelling. There is also a proper balance between action, computer graphics and storytelling.

ACTING
The main actress definitely did a great job in her role, showing the grace of a princess and emotions of true love. The main actor however, feel a bit uncomfortable at times. I say this because even the supporting characters fit well into their roles and feel very normal, leaving the main actor as the weakest link in the whole cast.

MUSIC
Music was reasonable. They seamlessly fit in the theme songs into the plot, which is very nice. The theme songs however, are not the most memorable.

REWATCH VALUE
Re-watch value is high because some of the details are easily missed. And more importantly, the underlying message of the movie might require a re-watch to truly appreciate its depth and meanings.

OVERALL
This is a great movie for viewers who enjoy a good story.

Read More

With all the opinions jumping right and left about this film, I had a hard time setting my expectations. When I finally came around this, I decided to just jump into it without prior judgment. At the end of the day, I came to like this Monkey King version.

Adapted from the mega huge Chinese novel “Journey to the West”, this film actually followed the original novel very closely. The novel is in fact one of the fewest Chinese novels I read many years back when I was watching few other adaptations of it. This version is absolutely the closest and the most accurate one.

The film was full of several eye-catching characters, events and costumes. I know, I know; the CGI is what bothered many people about this film. Well, as long as you’re not here to watch “The Lord of the Ring” then it should be alright. It’s true that the special effects were overdone with many misses here and there but having watched several Wuxia films with immense use of CGI in my cinema watching, this doesn’t bother me at all. Actually, I considered it a cool experience with that enormous amount of CGI and wires inserted everywhere. For a normal viewer who’s not familiar with the Chinese/Hong Kong way of using CGI in their productions, it may cause a problem but as long as you’re willing to keep your mind open and accept unfamiliar styles then everything will be satisfactory after a while.

The plot wasn’t very smooth just like it wasn’t heavy either. This is a fantasy so there weren’t any traditional plot elements to follow; it was catching and involving at many phases just like other parts didn’t feel right, rushed or very slow. I am still thankful that they followed Wu Cheng En's classic very closely or I would’ve went very harsh on this Monkey King adaptation.

The acting department was full of huge names in HKC cinema. I have a little confession to make; I was actually reluctant about Donnie’s portrayal of the monkey king. When they first announced the film; I was confident that Jet Li will get to play the Monkey king again since he did a wonderful job with it before but he didn’t get the role. Donnie was casted instead and I was a bit worried. I love Donnie and I consider him one of the better HKC stars but I felt like Sun Wukong’s character doesn’t suit his acting style. Needless to say, I was proved wrong through this film. He did an amazing job with the character to make it feel very believable.
On his side were the marvelous Chow Yun Fat and the cool Aaaron Kwok in main roles. They were pretty much convincing and entertaining to watch. The remaining cast did a cool job including Peter Ho, Kelly Chen and few others. Some characters felt all over the place but it wasn’t unforgivable.

There’s isn’t much scenery to talk about since CGI were the film’s heart and soul. I don’t necessarily consider it a bad thing even though I am the type of person who heavily concentrates on cinematography while watching films. The musical note was pretty much forgettable, I don’t recall anything after finishing the film so yeah, and there you have it.

Watch if:
-You like HKC Wuxia productions.
-You like the classic novels of the Journey to the West because this is the closest adaptation.
-You like Donnie because he does a cool job with the Monkey King’s character here.

Do not watch if:
-You’re expecting a CGI level like in Hollywood film.
-You’re looking for something serious.
-You’re looking for something impressive.

The Monkey King took four long years of production to be finally brought to life this year. That alone deserves giving this film a go. Just try to open your horizons and think of this as an entertaining journey, because that’s the only way to appreciate this film.

Read More

I'll start by saying this movie is not for everyone. It has a lot of sexual content, some very violent scenes and can be quite disturbing. The story is very interesting.

What's so great about this movie is you feel like you are watching it through the eyes of Hyun Woo, the schizophrenic. Hyun Woo is searching for inner peace, but he has a beautiful heart. Because of this, your not sure if what you're seeing is really happening or not. There is definitely a message in this movie, but you may need to watch it a few times to fully understand what it's about. Also, there may be many different interpretations of the meaning, and I think they are all valid. I missed a lot the first time I watched this, and appreciated more when I re-watched it. The acting is outstanding. I applaud Jang Hyuk with a standing ovation.

I hesitate recommending this movie because it's so disturbing in parts, I really feel some people with very much dislike it. Because it's confusing and somewhat open ended, some people may not feel satisfied. It really depends on what kind of tolerance you have for oddities.

Read More