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No bullshit BL but wholesome...
While I did not expect much from this series, it was very refreshing. It's many stories about many bizarre people which will grow on you the further you watch this series. They all have their quirks but most of them are just good people regardless.The center pieces are a soon to be gay couple and a girl which is neglected by her parents for different reasons. The stories tell about the life of the people, all the struggles they face and how they grow together. The gay romance is not the focus of the stories, it just happens naturally without much fanfare and I would have wished for a bit more focus there and some intimacy.
But overall that was fun to watch, educational to watch and a series needed for Japans society. This is of course on my "must watch" list, even when the beginning seems to be very comedic, the stories have depth and meaning and will warm your heart. This is a series for the whole family.
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A cunning web of deception and twists…
I don’t write many reviews but I thought I’d give this one a go because it’s really refreshing. Cdramas dominate my watchlist so I can pretty much predict most storylines. So far, I haven’t been able to predict this one. I also love that the main characters are not the typical bad or good people. They are conniving and neither wholly good nor entirely evil. I’m generally inclined towards smart characters because dumb mains are just frustrating to watch. The camaraderie and twists and turns makes this worth the watch.UPDATE: So I’ve finished watching this drama and I still enjoyed it. The only thing was that towards the middle and end it was a bit predictable because the director/screenwriter kept using the same technique in revealing the plot, which actually makes you less invested because you expect there to be a twist. Still worth the watch though.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is so intense and fast pace like there's so much happening, yet I don't feel overwhelmed. Very big production, the money that went into this was huge. The attention to detail is mind-blowing.The acting is great, Huang xuan doing wonders, happy that he's able to showcase his acting here. His crying scenes are heartbreaking. Wang yi bo did a fine job, looks pretty good. In fact everyone's visuals are great. His and Huang xuan's characters only had one thing in mind..revenge, that changed as the story progressed.
Song qian nailed her role, her character is strong and smart. Her fighting scenes were fun to watch, her status doesn't hinder her from doing what she felt was right. She mostly uses that to her advantage. Song yi is adorable, Liu ran is the best wife that Er lang could have asked for. I would say that among the mains she has the highest EQ. She is able to help Er lang with that. She is just getting unnecessary hate, i agree that some of the things she does it questionable but the girl is in love and love makes people do stupid/immature things. Every time she is ignored by him, my heart hurts for her. Glad that Er lang started to treat her gently, like she is quite understanding. I would say that her character development was pretty good. I found their cp on the cute and innocent side while Si Yue and Gao Bing Zhu on the mature and intense side. Main problem between the cps is communication. The lack of it created unnecessary problems for them.
As for the supporting roles, my favourites were Bai lang, Shen fei, Yao niang and Yunzhi. Liked how whenever they showed up they just ligtened the mood, especially Bai lang, the man is so funny and he does it with ease. Shen fei and Yunzhi both priotise their masters (friends) happiness first. Shen fei always helping and protecting Er lang in every way he can. Regardless of how crazy it might be, he is always there for him. Yao niang was awesome to watch wished she had more scenes. The empress is feared by everyone, she holds so much power its frightening. I definitely did not like Liu feng, he was annoying, selfish and a waste of space.
I like how everyone was connected, each character protrayed well. The casting choices were good. The chemistry between the cast is great. The fighting scenes are pretty well done. The characters are complex, not necessarily easy to read. No one is set and stone, from the mains to the side characters. The plot is intriguing, captivating and clever. I like how everyone is trying to outsmart each other. No one is written dumb, like they have brain cells and the logic is there. It is quite fast paced but the flow of the plot is not affected. In fact that makes it even more appealing. It got me anticipating what is coming next. There is balance in the plot, no plot device is overshadowed by another. There are quite a few plot holes but doesnt really the storytelling.
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The only ordinary portion of this whole drama is the second lead couple. Both their relationship with each other to their struggles in work is something many people can relate to. It helps that both Ahn Jae-hong and Song Ha-yoon are very good at their jobs, enriching their performances with groundedness and understanding. I wished, episode after episode, that this drama was more about these two. They made this drama satisfying to me.
The main leading couple, on the other hand, is where many of this drama's weaknesses lie. Acting wise they weren't on their A game, Park Seo-joon especially. I'm just bored of him playing the same brash, shouty character over and over again. Their journey also don't feel genuine. Note that I said the journey, not the emotions, which I think the actors tried very hard at. There were too many external conflicts that became more and more ridiculous by the episode, further distancing these two characters from seemingly extras to actually secretly very much leads. In many ways, it felt like the drama was lying to me. Even their budding romantic relationship was off for me, as I found it to be childish with a big dose of unhealthy possessiveness.
This drama is weird to me because it showed one of the best examples of realistic dialogue and acting in the form of Seol-hee and Joo-man, but also made me aware what undeserved happy endings look like in the form of, well, the last two episodes. It wasn't a truly waste of my time but I wish it would've been better.
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No it's not Japanese Squid Game :, It's Awesome!!
"**Some of the participants are as strong as monsters**" 😂🤣😅... *I was like that's true my man run if you can*. 🏃🏽♂️🏃🏽♂️Wow : I loved it!!! loved the background stories, loved the fight sequences, loved the cinematography, loved the mystery 10/10🌟
If someone says this is just like Squid Game, don't believe them because this is more than games and killing each other. It's *espionage, mystery, intrigue*. I get Squid Game reference though but I also saw many parallels with Japanese death game genre movies like Battle Royale, As the Gods Wills, Harakiri, Kaiji etc.
If you’re familiar with jidaigeki or samurai films, you’ll recognize the historical backdrop — the fall of the samurai class and the dawn of a new world order. That old-world-vs-new. The political tension runs deep.
I loved the layered mystery: the characters’ backstories, the “who’s behind it,” the “what’s the purpose.” Even the side characters get a bit of depth, you connect with them, you feel for them.But the background characters are also explored in great depth and you're able to connect and sympathize with them.
Our Samurai has PTSD, but is forced by cholera and poverty to raise his sword again and he unwittingly assembles a team of misfits along the way.
Through his team of weaklings and misfits some of whom cannot fight but have a fighting spirit, you will find plenty of inspiration about the meaning of
*real strength, being strong, good vs evil, finding yourself, friendship, found family*
And that it's okay to "*waste*" some of your "*precious*" tags on someone weaker than you or who has no chance of winning... that's the beauty of life.
Waiting for S2 announcement.
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On a technical level, the screenwriters’ ability to juggle so many through lines is stunning. Set-ups in early episodes lead to powerful payoffs hours down the line, and little time is wasted, with each scene deepening characterizations, drawing parallels, establishing new conflicts and reinforcing themes. Fictional elements are well integrated with the actual history, and while liberties are certainly taken, this is a much less romanticized world than that of most fusion sageuks. Reality constantly intrudes in all its messy brutality, and show embraces this, refusing to whitewash the actions of its characters. For me, the only misstep was the writers’ attempt to create a grand, overarching mythology running from Queen Seondeok to King Sejong. It felt forced and unnecessary, an in-joke that distracted from the story at hand, and its corresponding secret society was the least convincing aspect of the show.
The directing is initially a bit awkward, but as things progress, the editing calms down and the fabulous ensemble cast takes center stage, riveting in all their flawed, passionate, terrible humanity. Dark but never cynical, violent but never gratuitous, grim but never hopeless, the show cares for all its characters, and it makes you care deeply too. They often lose their battles, but they fight with everything they have, refusing to stop seeking, striving, dreaming. They can’t go on, and yet they do. And because of them, Six Flying Dragons soars.
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Sweet romance met with dark background/past
Good thing this drama is 25 episodes, any longer and it would of gotten draggy. Overall this is a good watch but it wasnt my most favorite. The song intro portrayed a lot of cute and sweet scenes.( which there were), but it isnt your average cute love story. I would say the backstory is some what dark. I mean the female lead had a trauma past incident , when she gets scared she goes into sleepwalking phase where she basically is not conscious. Her only medicine is the main male lead.Male lead is a ceo of a film company. Female lead is an voice actress. Through an incident she believes that the person who can help cure her is the second male lead , aka male lead's brother. Second male lead is a famous idol, that's how she gets to know the male lead. The mom tricks the female lead to become the maid for male lead, but she though it was for the idol ( which he could help her if she gets scared.) the cure is for them to hug or kiss lol . Male lead ceo is step up rules in his house and if you break them, you have to pay a fine. Thus beginning their bickering and eventually developing into love :)
Romance- First of all the female and male are so cute together. They have really cute and sweet scenes. They have a good chemistry with each other. Their kisses are also believable and passionate. They also are shy to show that they are in love . The second male lead also ends up liking the female lead ( no big surprise)
To me the development of the relationship between the male and female lead was kinda slow, i think like 14 episodes in/after that they are actually together. Also the latter half focused on her getting her memory back about what happen to her and the kidnapping when she was young. The kidnapping part of the story is where i minus some points. Some parts didnt really make sense... like they were like young when it happened but the story portrays it like its couple years ago that happen. Maybe for the flashbacks they didnt do it obvious enough... im like what? In the process of her finding our what happen during the kidnapping is when it turns a little more dramatic. its no longer the cute love story... so just be aware.
One annoying character I could not stand, was how that character knew that when the female lead sees something scary it triggers her sleepwalking and annoying evil side character did that like many times... to mess with her and mess her voice acting screen ....
I would say romance is half of the story and the other half is finding out what happened in the past.
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Mint Drama!!
Dear Diary (我的巴比伦恋人 - My Babylonian Lover), is a 24 eps rom-com drama that narrates the story of how a diary that was once written by a 12-year-old girl come to life. The 12-year-old girl (Chen Meiru) once fantasizes and wrote a diary about herself as the woman whom the Babylonian prince single-heartedly love and would die for. However, her "diary" became known by everyone in her hometown. Thus, the 12-year-old girl was traumatized and she grew up to become a very closed and serious woman.This drama is not like any other rom-com drama, it is original and unique. Dear Diary has so many plot devices and themes used harmoniously together. The drama is well-paced and there is not a single dull moment. Dear Diary has many exciting, interesting, and heart-warming plots along the way. Moreover, the drama also transitions seamlessly between comedy, romance, action, and suspense. All in all, the element of fiction and reality are seamlessly interwoven and executed.
The quality of storytelling is very well done, this drama grips you every single episode, it makes you want to watch more and binge the whole drama. Some people might find this drama bizarre and weird (because yes, it is), but when you're watching this, just turn off your brain and enjoy the drama. The drama isn't all about romance and comedy, there is a deep message hidden in it. The drama has some really meaningful dialogues, and the drama also displays tremendous character growth in all characters. In addition, even though there are 3 characters who were technically "fictional characters", but they didn't feel fake or generic, they felt like real people. All the characters are well-dimensioned, it is very well-written. Though there might be some plot holes, the plot holes are forgive-able.
All of the main cast did a very exceptional job. The actors are really commendable for acting delivering their lines without laughing, as there are a lot of scenes that are really hilarious; e.g. drinking from a fishbowl. Moreover, the interactions and chemistry between everyone are also realistically and convincingly portrayed.
The production of Dear Diary is also executed immaculately, the writing, direction, and production team pays close attention to the whole drama that making it a perfect drama!! The production team went to Iraq, Morocco, and Paris to shoot some of the scenes and to accumulate Babylonian artifacts and resources. In addition, the drama also spent 2 years on post-production, with its dubbing and editing. Therefore, believe me, it won't disappoint you. The technical execution of this drama might not be top-notch, but it is interesting and beautiful. It has immersive camerawork for certain scenes and appropriate levels of color grading. Moreover, the high production value is also reflected in the set design, costume, everything is fantastic.
All in all, Dear Diary is a wonderfully produced drama, it has an engrossing plot, impressive cinematography, beautiful writing. Dear Diary will keep you on the edge of your chair, with its comedy, thrills, and suspense playing out at a compelling pace. With it, it deserves more attention and it is definitely one of this year's dark horse.
Plus, I love how each episode ending ends with this statement, "MeiRu, I’m marrying you. We’ll be in a monogamous relationship and I’ll never leave you."
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1This review may contain spoilers
It's fun, but it's not much better than the typical mediocre cdrama romcom.
The Good⌲ The bickering in the early episodes
⌲ The fluff
⌲ The mom
⌲ Shen Yue's still awesome.
⌲ The basic fantasy story is just nice, especially before Mao Xiaojun's plot is explained in detail.
⌲ No lasting love triangles (second FL dates some rando for a couple of early episodes)
⌲ The "real" ending felt rather satisfying.
⌲ Dazzling smiles everywhere. (and of course, everyone is stunningly beautiful, more so than normal)
The Average
⌲ The comedy (there is very little of it in the last 8 episodes)
⌲ The main romance (questionable chemistry with a very shallow portrayal of romance)
⌲ The second lead couple (I liked their matching misfits vibe, but their plot could not have been any draggier)
⌲ The magic/daoist powers were somewhat underutilized. (Let's look at how nice the summoning thing was in Goblin)
⌲ The workplace felt a bit immersion breaking due to a multitude of reasons. (For example FL's immediate colleges were not really believable human beings, not even for a fantasy romcom and I'm not saying this lightly)
The Bad
⌲ The usual censored "it's just a novel" crap happening after the "real" ending. (it's the last 7 minutes)
⌲ Mao Xiaojun (I feel his story is just a needless complication that's been immersion breaking for me)
⌲ The last 7~ episodes are straight up boring. (I can totally appreciate endless fluff & sugar, but this was too lifeless for me)
⌲ Second ML's dad. (god, that conversation mini flashback during ep23 was just horrible)
---
I don't regret watching this, but this is the kind of drama that I'll probably never think about again.
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Then it happened. There was a storm hit or an earthquake or some radiation leak or some kind of cosmic unconscious thing happened that some how messed with the brains of the writers that made them **** up (insert various curse words here) the drama at exactly episode 35. That is where the BS began.This drama went left. So left it fell of a cliff..ugh i'm so mad the writers messed the whole thing up.
The romance between the main characters Monghee and her love life totally was just turned upside down, punt in a blender, pureed, frozen and thrown out to sea. That's how bizarre her story was. Don't even get me started on the 180 half the characters made. The only saving grace for this drama is the story of the youngest brother. I can't put my finger on what exactly happened but if you are going to embark n this journey good luck.
I for one am not happy with the way it turned out. I don't think i have cursed so much at the ending of a drama and i saw When a Man Loves (that says a lot). That ending made me puke ugh I need the 50+ hrs i invested in this drama back.
In other words DON'T DO IT.
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The plot follows a special team of detectives that work together to solve cases that only have a "10%" chance of being cracked. The cases are dark and twisted and wonderfully portrayed.
Each member of the team has an interesting backstory and is played to perfection. Joo Sang Wook was amazing as the "less than noble" team leader with the soulful eyes. My favorite character overall, was Kim Sang Ho's lazy bum-detective character who is actually quite clever.
TEN has amazing cinematography and visual effects ... it seems a lot more artistic than the usual cop drama. The music is also lovely. BREATHE by Mad Soul Child is a hauntingly amazing song.
Overall, a slick and exciting mystery series that features great acting. Can't wait for the movie that will conclude the cliffhanger at the end of episode 10.
;)
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“A wise man once said that getting lost in life is an opportunity to find new way. But that’s only a saying I might end up remembering today as the day when I realized that such a saying doesn’t make me feel better at all”. Park Tae Suk.
“The heart I tried so hard to ignore gives a command to my brain “Please Persevere As Long As You Can, Persevere As Long As Your Heart Is Still Beating”. Park Tae Suk.
You take a look at the synopsis and read “Alzheimer” and immediately think to yourself “What? Alzheimer again? And what is even worse there is no romance, no fairytale, no young faces… nah I won’t bother this is clearly a tearjerker and I know how it’s going to end anyway so what’s the point?” Well, you have the right to walk away if you think “Alzheimer” is depressing topic I won’t blame you BUT please bare with me here and let me try to sell this drama for you, would you?
Yes, this topic has been used countless and countless of times in dramas, in movies….etc, so what makes Memory special? There is nothing special with the story itself or the elements it has presented. Family, regret, changing the way you lived your life, sorrowful past that you want to run away from, locking away your painful memories and the pain of losing someone…etc these aren’t new topics but let’s face it how many topics can be brand new? Searching for totally brand new topics is almost like a mission impossible honestly. The trick isn’t in the topic but rather in the way it is used and presented. Memory has brought in over-used topics and turned them into a wonderful emotional ride with diverse emotions that will leave you breathless and heavyhearted. The ride was raw, real and very consuming both mentally and emotionally!
I loved how the drama made me feel for each character without leaving the show feeling depressed myself. It is clearly isn’t happy go lucky drama, it has a lot of unfortunate events but it avoids feeling over the top and it also avoids feeling like stuff happens to force viewers tears. It takes you along and you just feel all of it naturally. Doesn’t that scream “different”? I feel bad if someone would call it a tearjerker (not that I have a problem with tearjerker dramas) it is just not what Memory really is.
The best and most important two aspects that made Memory strong felt drama is the award winning acting and the wonderful cinematography/scenery and direction. Usually it is hard enough to find a drama that is excelling in one of these aspects let alone all 3 of them. Even for those of you who never notice scenery or direction you will be forced to notice them here because it is just too good, simply beautiful. The feels that this drama possesses it is all driven from the acting performance. Acting has played the most essential part in this drama along with the heart-wrenching dialogues. I loved each and every sentence spoken here especially the scenes between Park Tae Suk and his wife and Park Tae Suk and his son. Those scenes are one of the most memorable scenes in the entire drama and I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I tell you to watch it for the sake of those scenes only because they are indeed EXQUISITE.
I would love to mention each and every member of this stellar cast because they really deserve the appreciation but that would just make my review endless and words won’t do them justice. I will just mention my favourite ones. First my most favorite misters of all times and our hero here,Lee Sung Min (Park Tae Suk). Kudos to this man, let me just say to the those of you who already know how precious this actor is “congratulations he NAILED THE HELL OUT OF HIS FIRST MAIN LEAD!!” And to those who still haven’t met this man in drama land “PLEASE don’t let my review stop you and go ahead STALK DOWN his profile”. It is sad if you decide to pass on Memory but at least pick one thing for this man and make the time to watch it please. He belongs to those class actors whom you as a drama fan have to watch something for because trust me “acting” doesn’t get any better than this. This man has no limits; every minute spent on watching him he makes it all worthwhile. I also want to mention the rest of my favorites two wonderful surprises Lee Ki Woo and Lee Jun Ho. Their performance both took me by surprise, I have seen Lee Ki Woo before but not as a despicable sorry excuse of human being (which he did WONDERFULLY) and I have seen Lee Jun Ho in a movie and he was likeable then but I had no idea what kind of hidden talent this boy had until I watched him in Memory (his first drama) and boy am I still surprised that he is actually an idol, very impressive! Looking forward to their future projects.
This is one of the few dramas that are blessed with storytelling OSTs and great ones if I may say. There are many great OSTs out there but I appreciate it even more when the OSTs speak the story too this way it gets me even more emotionally invested in the story than I already am.
I generally do not rewatch dramas but I do have very few ones that I'd rewatch. However even for those who do rewatch dramas I don't think Memory is rewatchable material considering how heavy and intense the content is I think once is enough to appreciate it throughly but I also could be wrong so that's for you to decide.
Overall
Clearly this will be one of the underrated dramas here on MDL, nonetheless I have faith that there will be fans out there who are meant for this drama and hopefully will appreciate it the way it should be appreciated. If you are willing to go in an emotional ride and if you don’t mind the predetermined ending, if you are looking for well crafted story, award winning performance and beautiful heartfelt dialogues then this drama should definitely be on your plan to watch list ^^
Don’t let “Alzheimer” keep you away from a great drama such as Memory. Realising what are our priorities in life this is something which never gets old nor boring no matter how old we get we still learn and there will always be a chance to set those priorities right even with little time. "The end is soon HOPE. With the strength you have now be happy" Memory.
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This review may contain spoilers
I expected more...
After I saw the casting and the trailer I was really excited to watch this show and thought it would be another thriller masterpiece. However, it turned out for me to be a bit disappointed. It's definitely not a bad show and I still enjoyed it overall but I just couldn't help feeling sad that I didn't like watching it as much as I thought I would.The acting and casting is on another level with Choi Woo-sik and Son Sukku as the main characters. Nevertheless, I wished for more screentime of Lee Tang (played by Choi Woo-shik) because I personally thought the thriller was going to be a bit more through the eyes of the killer than the police officer. Because of the lack of screentime I found it difficult to relate to the character or at least understand his traits a bit more.
The first episodes were all great and I couldn't wait to watch the show further but later on at approximately episode 5 and following I got a bit bored and it felt really slow. I personally didn't like the adding of Song Chon as a character but I do understand that he had to be there to make the story clearer. I simply wished for more thriller aspects. However, the ending really got me and I'm hoping for season 2!!!
(I did this review only based on the series I did not read the webnovel it's based on)
All in all, the drama disappointed me even though it may have been because of my high expectations.
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