Reviews

Good, BUT ONLY IF YOU BINGE WATCH

For me, this is a confusing one. I managed to binge the first 12 or so episodes and then had to wait for the next episodes to be released. From episodes 1 to 12 I loved Private Lives pretty much. I thought it was great, although in some parts a little confusing. But when I had to wait a weekish to watch the next episodes, I just found myself lost and alot less interested in the story and characters. Although the acting and chemistry was superb in this, I thought how characters were introduced were not the best.

Anyways, follow my advice and I'm sure you will love it to the end. Private Lives is definitely a great watch as long as you are consistent with it and don't wait too long to watch the next episode.

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I had no idea what to expect when I first watched this movie, it had popped up on my recommendations on Netflix so I thought why not?

I was sadly mistaken, once I had looked up the full story of the manga (about half way through the movie) I noticed that there was a fair amount missing plot wise - although not vital to the plot, but it would have explained some things a bit better, and that the plot itself was kinda dodgy anyways.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have watched quite a few dramas and movies where you sit there and think what on earth have I just watched & how did they get away with it, but this movie seems to gloss over certain aspects of people's characteristics to make them 'loving'.

I however, cannot fault the cinematography of the movie, I thought that this was beautiful. If you want to watch a movie purely for research on cinematography I would definitely recommend, I just wouldn't recommend the movie for the plot.

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The biggest plot twist ever in history...continue reading to find out!!!!!!

Story: (SPOILER)
It starts out with the physician and his assistant visiting the King's chamber. The next day, news broke out that the King is gravely ill, upon hearing the news CP Lee Chang decides to visit to see his father. Upon getting there, the Queen forbids him from seeing him and tells him that if he catches the flu who would be the nation's next King. He later sneaks into the chamber and discovered something gruesome; a shadow-like a beast follows by a foul stench and the smell of blood that could not be described. The thin paper bamboo door suddenly slides open with the guards outside questioning him why he is there. He follows with that there is a beast in the chamber and proceeds to persuade everyone. The head guard tells him there is no such thing and that it must be the tiredness. CP heads on to see his father, but again failed to meet as he was stopped by an official. CP tells about the sighting of the beast and to his amused the official replied back with saying he's seen it too, a son who pretends to be concern about his father but really he wants to see his father dead so he can guarantee his safety to the throne was the monster he has seen (referring to the prince). CP is escorted back and finds out that the last physician to see his father lives in Dongnae and so the journey to see the physician embarks. The next morning, all the official gets together to plot a scheme to kill the CP, and so he was going to be arrested for treason. Meanwhile at Jiyulheon, as the physician returns with the dead body of his assistant, those who was close to the boy was confused and lost about how he had died. Seo Bi, a woman who's also a physician returns from her daily findings of herbs to see all the sick patients happily eating. Confused as there is shortage on food and nothing to eat she rushes to the kitchen and sees this guy (honestly I can't remember his name or did he even have a name, can someone confirm with me cause I really can't remember/ gonna call him GUY1) Seo Bi asked him where he got the food from and he tells her that he hunted a deer. Pleased that everyone gets to eat meat, she was asked to refill another bowl of delicious meat soup and so she proceeds to do so to find out it wasn't a deer. The soup was made from a dead body. Shooketh, not shocked but shooketh, because I was shooketh too, she confronts GUY1 about it, meanwhile, the start of the epidemic starts to happen. CP and his trusted body guard arrives to see the place locked up from the inside and looking like a mess. They get inside and discover the bodies of the dead and sends them to the magistrate. When all hope was lost guys, GUY1 & Seo Bi did not die, yes they did not die and is friggen alive. CP and body guard finds Seo Bi in the mountain looking for a herb that can cure the dead, she finds out that the body has been moved to the magistrate and tells them that the bodies are not dead. They were literally like girl what you on about, but she keeps insisting them that the body will start to rise at night. CP slowing believing her asked her if the creature has a foul stench and blood smells and she said yes, and with this, it proves the theory CP has. CP sends his bodyguard and seo bi to the magistrate to check out what's happening. Seo Bi and GUY1 starts explaining about what the bodies do but no one believed them and they both end up in the jail. As night fall, the bodies starts to become alive and the village becomes the walking dead. The epidemic starts to spread and at this point in time, everyone finds out about the CP. This is basically the story, the CP ends up helping the people and everyone ends up at this city call Sangju, there with the help of his former teacher and his people, they start to build forts and trenches and traps to kill the zombies. As this was unfolding Seo Bi discovers the herb that can cure the epidemic. Back to the traps, they waited all night and nothing showed up, relieved they killed off the fire and everyone was ready to go and rest...and then...as the CP looked into the distance, a disturbance in the wood had set off the bird and the ground was trembling and trees was literally shaking!!!!! Seo Bi hears something and turns around to see that there are the zombies standing behind them,- you can see it in the reflection of the water...BIGGEST FRIGGEN PLOT TWIST she realises that they do not rise during the night but to the temperature, yes temperature. THE END. Another plot twist, the Queen is not pregnant, repeat she is not pregnant. & now the wait for season 2. I literally watched this when I found out it was on netflix via IG and I literally stopped watching my current drama because I was that excited to see it. I can't even explain it lmao, but like each episodes had it's own feels like my siblings and I we were so into it that like we commentate the whole series cause we didn't want bad things to happen t the good people and we were rooting for the bads to get eaten by the zombies. haha. But check it out.

Acting/Cast:
It was soooooo good, like props to everyone who has to run like that like yalls MVP of the year already.

Rewatch:
I would definitely rewatch this and rewatch it when season 2 comes out.

Overall:
Everyone has to watch it like its sooo good, like I could not find any fault with it. Like its amazing. Shoutout to NETFLIX for being MVP and subbing this.

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ML: the punching bag

So quickly I’ll say this supposedly high budget drama looked cheap, used a lot of AI(ew) and the music was…woooo, horrific. Moving on, I have never sided with a republican era ML and never thought I would, until now. I won’t say much about the FL, I found her mostly unlikable and selfish but she had valid reasons sometimes. ML was a good guy despite his circumstances. He had good intentions, loved his brothers, he loved FL, he continued to obey both parents despite how they abused him. Now what does he get in return? Everyone around him(including FL) controlling, manipulating, hiding things from him and just being outright mean to his face. Some claimed to be doing these things for his sake out of “love”, but it was just completely ignoring his feelings and what he wanted. Now after spending 98.7% of the series being treated poorly, ML who sacrificed so much should get a happy ending right? LOL, guess not. ML has the *tiniest* glimpse of happiness before it all ends for him. And not only did the ML spend the entire drama miserable, all the other characters did too. Which made it miserable to watch and a waste of time.

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Shiny But Dull…

I’m probably in a small minority here with ‘ Our Beloved Summer’ but the series really, really, really didn’t do anything for me.

Don’t get me wrong. I have always had a lot of respect for Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi as they are both brilliant actors and their roles over the last few years have been really varied. Even here I’d say that their parts as the main leads remained a really strong factor throughout the show.

But the chemistry? It’s hard to describe really. I guess it was a bit lacklustre. It shouldn’t have been because Woo Shik and Da Mi were really brilliant together in ‘ The Witch’ but it was hard to really feel any dynamic charm between their characters. It was existent but it felt a bit fabricated imao.

As for storyline it’s nothing really new or exciting per say. I really like how the series did take on a lot of old-fashioned tropes though and gave them a bit more depth than just the second female lead/ male lead being purely “ potential love interests” and having their own feelings and reasons also.

I felt as though the pacing was a bit off personally. As much it was kinda sweet to see characters grow, the plot did feel as though it had run its course by about episode 12. After that whilst there was still some element of plot, it was a bit overstretched. I felt as though the series could’ve done with either stopping at 12 episodes, or at least bringing in a more exciting plot-drive rather than feeling a bit repetitive after the 3/4 mark. The ending was to be expected in all honesty.

The scenes and cuts were arguably one of the strongest factors of the series. The colors were really bright and bubbly and helped to reflect a lot about the characters and the actual tones were glossy and slick. I felt as though maybe the series could’ve been a bit more creative with certain shots than just including standards sequences, but apart from that, I can’t deny a that the filming was pretty much eye candy. The OST was also good personally also.

I felt as though maybe like a lot of romance dramas with big names, ‘ Our Beloved Summer’ was a little overrated for what it was worth as the storyline and pacing were a bit tedious and dragged in parts and there wasn’t really anything new offered to the table. Yet I can’t deny that it was quite pretty with scenes, the acting was very good and the OST did particularly stand out. A strong 7.5/10 for me; not perfect but a decent romantic melodrama.

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beautiful start into a melancholic love story but then...

after finishing this drama today I'm sad to say it jut get's a shaky 6 in the end - when it was almost a 9 for the first few episodes.

Why is that?


-this drama started sooo promising, good story with some kind of a fresh twist I like -
a male lead character who is handsome, rather rich but still very unhappy and lonely in his life. As a counterpart, a female lead character who is stubborn, painfully straight forward, but rather strong willed.
This is a mix I have rarely seenin K-dramas yet, and I feel it's refreshing and realistic to show that men, also handsome, rather successful men, can be unhappy and lonely and hurt.

The story was progressing rather slowly from the beginning and I did like that pace as the main characters neeed the time to find ways to reach each other, it only makes sense in all the story context.
I found the pace and development perfect until episode 7. From episode 8 on and I was a little worried that due to the fact this has 16 episodes, it suddenly started to drag.

The lead characters both around at least 30 or even 40, first needed some very understandable time to become aware of their feelings for each other, given they are both shy people when it comes to personal emotions, and given the difficult circumstances.
But from episodes 8 on we got more and more if these dragging scenes, the characters just standing around in slo-mo forever looking sad, or walking along a street in slo-mo. looking sad etc. It felt like time fillers to me from a certain point

We had the lead characters confessing their feelings for / to each other from episodes 8 to 10, they go camping together sleeping in the same small tent and spending the night there (the writers just completely leaving out what happened there? What did they talk about? how did they say good night? how did they interact? how was the next morning waking up togther etc. etc?)
We even have them spending a real night together as lovers, the fl openly confessing her love to the ml and then? Nothing, the next day these two people, who are not teenagers but between 30 and 40 years old and very good looking both of them, act like 13- year old teeagers, awkward, cold, distanced, even like they don't know each other personally? I didn't find that convincing.

(In reality: These two lead characters have been drawn to each other for what feels like forever. They finally spend the night together. Yeah, you know what would happen after that? If you ever had that situation yourself with such a prolonged...'forepaly', you know exactly that hormones are in crazy mode after spending such first night finally, and there is no way these two people would act like strangers and all cold the next day. Normally, after all that and confessing to each other, you search the next possible time window to spend more time together and you definitely interact differently, even when it's small things, and you look at each other differently.)

After epsiode 12 the dragging gets worse. There are so many silent scenes in slow motion repeating themselves, where you see either the ml or the fl walking down any street suuuperslowly (especially the fl), looking dazed and sad, or the ml sitting somewhere (either his appartment, a noodle shop or his office) looking blank and sad.
It was just too much of that slow motion walking and looking sad for me. You can use that to accentuate important moments, or moments of real daze and sadness, but when it is used like here the effect wears off and it feels artficial and annoying.

So, the story unfolds, the ml finally hears that the fl is the daughter of his dead stepdad and one of the siblings who got thrown out of their house because of his bitchy, nasty mother. He tries everything to clear the situation, even gets them the house back.
His mother, remaining the nastiest person, gets forgiveness from everyone (which I find HIGHLY unbelievable, especially because she did not change one bit and was just a bit softer for a short moment because she felt pity for herself for having been caught.) What happens to her in the end? We don't really get to know.

I found the last two episodes even worse to be honest. Apart from lots more dragging slow-mo scenes, we suddenly see the pharmacy guy getting together with the fl's older sister - which felt forced to me. I didn't feel like that could have really happened like it did, simply because the pharmacy guy had strong feelings for the fl for years. Suddenly switching to her sister felt strange to me.

So, back to the leads; after all is cleared, surprisingly everyone forgave the ml's awful mother, the siblings get back the house etc - and our leads? - still do a supertragic ' we have to seperate, goodbye forever' - ending of their relationship at a point when it's not necessary anymore? Oo (All of it by the way with both of them having almost robotic blank and sad facial expressions all the time, even when they are alone with each other in the woods.) Ok, even if so, and although I don't get why at that point, they don't do it the way most probably would, by particularly _not_ meeting again to not make it even more hurtful, but istead send a message or talk on the phone to say goodbye, - our leads? They go the extra painful length of driving out of Seoul two hours to go to the favourite wooden trail of the ml, walking together in the sunshine at the most romantic place to then really, expresionlessly, saying goodbye in front of the fl's house? No way!

Then, a time jump all of a sudden, one year later. So for some unknown reason the leads really haven't seen each other for a full year. Then, for further unknown reasons, the older sister suddenly tells the flthat their mother kind of forgave the ml already a year ago (which makes me wonder why the mother wouldn't have told the fl herself a long time ago knowing perfectly well how much her daughter is in love with the guy), the brother sets up a meeting of the leads at a rooftop concert, they both get there, the ml has a bunch of flowers, (endless slow motion again Oo) - they smile at each other and?.....THE END?

I was just annoyed at the end, thinking like what? Why? Why didn't the mother tell her way before she forgave the ml? Why didn't they get together after it was all cleared up a year earlier and instead do this reall weird break up scene with the wooden trail? Why all of a sudden can they now meet exactly a year later, why the flowers, why now? What then?

And I just couldn't get past this unchanged behaviour of the leads after they had spent that night together, I felt like I just saw they were actors acting, and that these two people have not spent a night together. You know, when you are in love like that, when there is such longing, and after you have finally spent a night together, knowing the other person intimately, their body, their scent, etc, you just look at each other differently, you act differently etc. It was just obvious it was an artificial script with two actors who played their roles like it was written down, but these two characters didn't really exist and they were not in love or had spend a night a after a long time of longing for each other.

All in all, almost the whole second half of the episodes was rather disappointing and it got worse with every episode. If the writers would have kept the good tension and realistic vibe they had from episode 1-7, It could have been one of the best and most touching stories in a long time then.

I personally think Kim Young-Kwang is actually a very good and versatile actor, and he plays his characters very convincing and different every time. In fact I meanwhile think he is the best male Korean actor concerning versatility and playing his characters absolutely convincing, easily switching from genre to genre. Sadly, the directors can't get it right and give him a drama that has a good and convincing storyline from start to end.

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Imagine having a good story and butchering it in the adaption?

Listen, I won't bother going on a rant or comparative review between the novel and show. This aint the review. It is safe to say they murdered the novel. So I will just dive into the mediocre drama ON it's own.

The drama started off pretty well, but slowly but surely went downhill. Our heroine needs to be saved too many times when we are told she is the guy's equal. Our hero HAD to be the sole center focus of the drama instead of it being about the two of them. They are called Bai-Hei-Feng-Xi. But we got is the Hei Feng Xi show featuring the desirable side-chick Bai Feng Xi. Bai Feng Xi was tailing and running around for Hei Feng Xi like she didn't have her own life or journey to do.

Meanwhile, Hei Feng Xi was the boring Good Boy with Daddy Issues and Brotherly Feuds. Placing the focus on him was a mistake. They set him up as smart with a spy network and he couldn't even resolve his own problems. He also got tricked way too many times to be considered smart.

There was also a lame side plot mysterious and a piss-poor make a shift villain. Oh the villain, don't get me started. He was so boring and played "Looks Nice But is Evil" card.

The reason this drama gets 6.5 was that it was still watchable for the FIRST HALF, the actors were pretty to look at (yeah I went there) and had good heroic moments but that is just about it. The costumes were nice and cinematography wasn't bad. Very disappointing overall considering this was my MOST anticipated drama of the year. Oh well, boo hoo for me. I guess I will go find something else.

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Highly overrated

I have to preface this by saying one thing - I like both Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan and I’ve watched several of their shows. This is the show I couldn’t like either of them in.

I didn’t intend to watch this show at all- the premise and trailer didn’t interest me, but I thought I would give it a shot anyway. Even though there was an uncomfortable age difference between the characters (not generally, but just because she’s a minor at the beginning), I thought the first 9 episodes were handled pretty well. There were some sweet moments and the episodic nature of the show made it look a bit like a story about growing up.

Till about ep 14, the show was still kind of sweet and funny. It’s after ep 15 that I found this absolutely juvenile and boring. I know most of the comments here will praise the “love story” and so on and how great these characters are, but I actually couldn’t root for the couple at all. From ep 15 to the end I was hoping it would get better but it never did. It was like the writer put some effort into assuaging fears of the story seeming creepy in the beginning when Sang Zhi was young, but once she was “older” all of those efforts went out the window.

My main issues:

When did Jiaxu fall in love? For someone who had been through a bunch of trauma and had a difficult family situation, he has no hesitation or thought about getting into a relationship with Sang Zhi. I didn’t like how CZY played Jiaxu as a cocky, overconfident guy (I’m guessing that’s what the script required him to do). It seemed like such a bizarre decision. We are told that he somehow blames himself for what his family got into (the accident and all that)- at least that’s what we hear Sang Zhi saying- but we never see it from Jiaxu. He has no trauma that we can grasp - his father gets shown only twice in the drama. Once when he’s about to pass away. This is where we learn that Jiaxu doesn’t drink because of the accident his dad caused. None of these traumatic events are even touched upon until the story demands them to be there. Without them it would make no difference. Instead this trauma should have been a big reason for Jiaxu to hesitate or to believe that he’s worthy of being loved.

The other issue- Zhao Lusi playing a 19 year old like she’s 13. Initially when ZLS was playing a 17 year old like a kid, I accepted it. I thought it was cute and endearing in a way. But when she’s a supposed adult, she continues talking in a baby voice. I don’t see the difference between this version and the younger one. It became rather annoying after a while.

I also don’t understand why they cast a 10 year old kid to play 14 year old SZ. With all the comments about grooming and all that going on, you think the makers of this drama would’ve been extra careful. Instead, this didn’t help the case.

The love story did absolutely nothing for me. We are somehow supposed to believe that these two have an amazing love shared between them. They never have deep conversations about things like a real couple would. Instead there are just lots of kissing scenes inserted randomly. Where are the long and deep conversations? Where is the friendship and banter in a relationship? For two supposedly smart people, they surely don’t have any smart, intelligent conversations.

I think all of these are easy fixes. Firstly, SZ and DJX could’ve met once again probably 8 years after she gives up her crush on him. At this time having both of them as working adults, having meaningful lives outside each other would have been interesting. From a slow friendship it could’ve eventually grown into love. This would’ve been much better as currently there’s no friendship stage on this show. They go from “you’re my brother/sister” to “I want to woo you” within one episode.

The supporting characters could’ve been interesting and could’ve had their own stories but their lives mostly revolve around the leads. I liked SZ’s brother the most but even he doesn’t get as much to do outside the leads.

This show is just so disappointing. It’s not a horrible show by any means- the beginning was rather nice- but it is so superficial and lacks any depth. I’m rather shocked at the immensely high ratings for a show that has nothing to say or contribute.

I’m really stumped that the rating on MDL is this high, beating out masterpieces such as Nirvana in Fire, the Untamed, etc. Actually even ZLS’s other dramas like Love Like the Galaxy and Who Rules the World are so much better. To put it into perspective, a show with a simple story - such as Reply 1988 - is so brilliant that it could do so much with the time it had. It built multiple storylines with multiple characters and everyone had their own story to tell. HL missed so many of the important elements that makes for good storytelling, so yeah, I am indeed shocked by the ratings.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention how unrealistic it is that by 24, Jiaxu has paid his father's debts and medical bills, etc, owns a really fancy car, gets a house soon after, quits his job to move to SZ's city, all in just 2 years of working. Is he a millionaire or what? Another example of the writer not having had any experience of adult life.

I also completely dislike how this drama pushes the idea of a perfect romance to very young people. SZ is only 19 when she gets into a relationship and I guess she gets married 3 years later? That’s a really terrible idea when an individual’s brain doesn’t fully develop until they’re 25. I wouldn’t have had any problems if these two were actually above 27 (ideally late 20s), but this feels like it’s telling youngsters to find “the one”’ immediately after they become legal adults.

All that said, I’m happy that Chinese dramas are getting some popularity through this show, even though in my opinion this is an average Chinese show and far from the best. However, I guess it has made some people happy and I can appreciate that.

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Almost Dropped It at First Episodes, but...

yes, i almost dropped IS after watching episode 1-2, but thanks God i choosed to skip a bunch of episodes and went directly to watch ep 15, the river of forgetfulness scenes, and i got hooked ever since, and now it turns out to be THE BEST XianXia Drama i'have ever seen.

*ofcourse then i back to early episodes that i skipped at first, to get some foundation of the stories, haha.

well, we should admit it didnt start right.
first episodes were not appealing, especially episode-1 which was bad and slapped our high expectation for this drama. the plot was nothing new, flat, I didnt like to see Yan Dan because she seemed to me just the same as JinMi from Ashes of love, and the worst is the CGI, weird and cheap.

I was not a fan of Yangzi or Chengyi, so i couldnt stand it and almost dropped it. because i am in waiting of LLTG new episodes and nothing to watch in between, then i tried to skipped and went right away to ep 15, and unexpectedly got surprised by the beautiful scenes, interesting plot and especially the main lead's feeling portrayed by the actors was so real that i can only say WOW.

and then the rest is the history, because the plot become more interesting, and i am fascinating with ChengYi's skill of acting (eventhough i watched Love and Redemption before, and it was good), but i never thought that i would felt so moved by an actor's acting like now.

He indeed not just has a great acting skill, but an acting that ensoul the character to become truly alive, and we watchers could realy feel the pain etc.

And for the plot, what i could say is if we analyze it honestly, its better than classic popular xianxia TMOPB and AOL. If people watch IS first, they will agree with this. Lots of people may say IS has the common xianxia plot, yes because it launched after all the classic popular ones.

But actually after watching more episodes, most of the plot is different from previous xianxia's drama.

Here in IS, the character development happens slowly and clear, that in some way may make some people complaint about it as slow paced. i dont think so, since its better to know the process of falling in love and how the deep love rooted than just a short meeting and little foundation of love just like in most other dramas.

The ML falling in love with the FL not because of her appearance nor just lust, there were no scenes where the ML amazed with her look. They fall in love each other because spending time and knowing more each other's character, which make the cause of deep feeling they are having and the sacrifice acts more valid, comparing to sudden fall in love, out of nowhere.

Acted by ChengYi, this deep feeling of love, expressed ten fold. The way he kissed Yan Dan in ep 10 was so beautiful, i have never seen deep longing emotion kiss like that before in any dramas.

Kudos to the hairstyler, this is the first time i watch ML in white/grey hair become much more handsome than in black hair version, haha. You have raised the standard and i dont think it would be easy for future dramas to surpass this look of Ying Yuan and Xuan Ye. YY and XY is the most handsome and charismatic look ever in xianxia dramas.

About ChengYi, after watching IS, i browsed and watched all his live interviews, variety shows etc on youtube, i truly appreciate such sincere, humble, and very polite actor like him. He is a hardworker. Its a rare for introvert person like him to standout in film industry, everyone let him down and scloded him before, and it took 9 years for him to be widely recognized as he is now. His personal character and struggle, has inspired a lot of people including me, and he indeed deserve to be supported by all of us more than any other high profile actors.

He knows what he loves to do (acting) and go all out for it as we can watch his dedication on his marvellous acting. In IS he plays 3 different characters, YY, TZ, and Xuan Ye. Cheng Yi’s acting as Xuan Ye really surprised all of us, because usually he plays suffering protagonist roles. Xuan Ye is a scumbag and devilish asura king, and Cheng Yi make this character literaly become the hottest devil king ever alive in any dramas, hahaha..

I sincerely would like to give thanks to the scriptwriter, director and the whole casts and crews, you all have brought a little joy in our chaotic life.

So, if you love to watch a xianxia genre, if you only have to pick one xianxia drama in your life time, this is the one. period.

*if you feel the plot on first episodes are flat, boring, the cgi is bad, etc... just hang on, or just skip them to ep 9, it started to get more and more interesting from this episode and so on.

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Life is tiring and this drama empathizes with it

My Liberation Notes (MLN) is the story of three siblings with a strict hard-working father who seldom speaks, and a mother who does most of the talking in order to avoid arguments at the dining table, and then a stranger living as a neighbour.

The drama is relatable on various levels, especially the mood at the workplace of the three siblings, the camaraderie between the co-workers, the after-work gossip, and the random ranting sessions.


Regardless of which side of the human spectrum you find yourself on and which character’s journey you relate to the most, My Liberation Notes hits many correct points, if not all, and makes the viewers feel relatable about the reality of life. MLN was a good drama, a slow burn with good character development, although gets very slow with pacing at times.

My Rating : 7/10

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Trauma Girls

First and foremost, this is an extremely graphic, violent show which includes depicting rape and implied self-harm as well as nudity, stalking, domestic violence against women, etc. So please choose wisely if any of these make you uncomfortable.

When I started this show, I had barely any information about it. I did not anticipate how dark it was and I may have even passed on Mask Girl. It is not an easy watch by any means. Every episode makes you feel uncomfortable especially as a woman and if that was the point, then the director and actors certainly achieved their goals. As though the society doesn't already make us feel uncomfortable about ourselves in more ways than one. lol.

Mask Girl starts out to be about a woman who works in an office but has a persistent dream to be loved and applauded for her performance. But because her mother persistently made her feel ugly, her insecurities led her to hiding behind a mask and performing online to a bunch of incels who were praising her consistently. Due to a drunken mistake, she gets suspended. However, things start to get serious when her "fans" want to meet offline. From then on, it is just one bad thing happening after another.

This show doesn't just depict one woman's suffering but several women suffering repeatedly unable to escape the violence and abuse in their lives. Not only are the women forced to deal with the abusive men but also the abusive and unjust society. Other women also continuously attack and harm those women. Never letting them breathe. We also see women pitted against each other to settle scores.

The plot is engrossing, albeit slightly slow but you never feel satisfied. The depections smack the reality of victims who chose to fight back instead of laying down to die in your face. Meanwhile their abusers are barely questioned. It's unconscionable to ever blame the men who created the tragic circumstances in the first place. /sarcasm

The actresses in the series are all brilliant and the only positive in all this is how women centric this series is. Unfortunately, I can't really enjoy such kinds of graphic shows. The problem is that the presentation of the series never really lets you feel much empathy for the characters. Many would watch this and blame the women for whatever happened to them. If you caught yourself saying, "what did she expect when she was...", remember that it is so ingrained in us to blame women even when there is no excuse for rape. Sadly, there is always a "but" in people's minds. In that case, what is the point of such a show other than to create content for shock value? Every episode is shocking and it works for that reason but that is why it doesn't appeal to me.

Don't bother looking for a happy ending with this one. It just more trauma. All the points I'm giving is for the superb acting. All the points I'm deducting is for the handling of the story.

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Let Me be Your Knight meets Idol-the Coup with a twist and an Age Gap...

It started a 9, went up to a solid 10 but took a dive to a 7,5 and well ended up an 8,5...

While I am not one to encourage people to fall for their teacher, I did fall for the main couple in this drama, it helps that he is a pretty cold mature type and an adult when the whole falling in love part actually takes place.. but I would be lying if I did not say it bothered me a little.. That said this is the story of the burnt out teacher who finds her self as the house mom of a failed boyband who just happens to include a student at her former school who she once encouraged to pursue a career in music... the start of a very complicated journey of friendship, encouragement, jealousy, and yes tiny (very tiny )amount of romance...

I loved the boys during the first 6-7 episodes or so, the music, the fluff... whole Idol-The Coup meets let me be your knight with a Japanese twist and an age gap definitely has all the ingredients to make me completely fall in love with this show , which I did... However as the episodes passed by, the I found that they added on some of my less loved cliches and shifted focus from the stuff I loved to stuff I did not care for as much ... taking away my oh so beloved fluff, it was still ok but I felt a bit cheated by the os so Perfect for me start... But that does not have to mean that you will not enjoy the last third of the show. As it was not bad or anything... I guess I felt that several of my beloved characters disappointed me and had some negativ character development....

Being a former teacher myself I love how the female lead guides the boys and tries to dig out their full potential... I alos love the representation of different types of people in this, as it just fits in perfectly in the dialog and plot and does not feel forced. There are also a bunch of adorable animals, a unique umbrella scenen and just a whole lot of good... and it will have you smiling from ear to ear thinking ooooh so cute...

So if you like watching dramas about idols, music, people who have been completely ruined by the world try to come agin... then tis is definitely a good place to watch it. If you do not like dramas about idols, ands etc... then I wonder how come you got this far in this review as this is obviously not a drama for you.

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Chemistry that truly carries the whole show.

Honestly speaking, this is not a special drama in terms of the plot - the light enemies to frenemies to friends to lovers has been done many times, but it’s undeniable the execution here was amazing. Gemini and Fourth are truly the best new BL actors out there.

I have to say, both Tinn and Gun are perfectly written. Tinn has this amazingly goofy side of him that you cannot ignore, you just adore it. Gun is just a walking charm. It’s not all sweet though, and both the characters struggle with some internal issues, but are able to support each other in the best ways possible.

The relationship is simply wholesome. I loved how Tinn was focusing on Gun’s happiness and not just about his goal of dating him. I loved that they actually had a lot of nice conversations and tried to understand each other. I loved the mutual support. With the oversaturation in the BL industry with questionable and toxic stories, this level of understanding and mutual respect was simply refreshing to watch.

That’s for the main couple, what about the side ones? Sadly a bit of a failure. Either the chemistry was just not quite there, or the setup and progression was barely existing. Did I care about any of the side characters? Honestly - no.

Can we also just shortly talk about the mothers in this show? I could not be more happy with what we’ve got. Both Tinn’s and Gun’s mom are amazing in their own way. The drama perfectly showcases how good communication with your child is what builds trust and makes them want to confide in you for support, share their happiness and be honest about their struggles. Sometimes it’s important to take the initiative, but sometimes you have to give your child space and time and let them speak when they are ready, and not when you want to hear the answers.

Tinn's dad too, great person, I wish we got to see more of him.

The plot was great, but I also got a bit bored at some point. I still enjoyed all the adorable moments as I was watching, but I also had to motivate myself to start the episodes in the first place. This show was 90% fluff and 10% content (yes, this is an exaggeration, don’t sue me for it). And with that ratio it should be maybe 8 and not 12 episodes.

That said, there was one thing I will never complain about, no matter how many times it will happen even just as a filler fluff - good hugs. Hugs are underappreciated. Hugs are amazing. Proper hug on screen is at times better than kissing scenes. Melt into these arms and give us all butterflies! My School President definitely delivered in that area.

Fourth’s acting, his cheeky smile and warm gaze… Can we even ask for more? Yes we can, and we got it all - from the light and funny scenes, to more emotional and raw expressions, this boy delivered it all. Gemini also does great with acting. Surprised how well he does subtle comedy. For the rest of the cast - some did better, some did worse. We got the glorious “no tears just squeezing eyes hard” scene.

Production side of it was great. I am so happy to see the improvement in that aspect in the BL industry and the effort in making the show deliver a good storytelling both in writing and in the visual aspects.

Overall, the purest of the fluff. On screen chemistry that will make you jealous of not experiencing it yourself. Great main characters with fun personalities and relatable stories. But sadly also forgettable side characters and subplots there just to feel the screen time and overall repetitiveness of the story.

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I really had to struggle through this one.

It is not a totally bad drama and it does have a lot of romance in it.
But it is simply not my kind of drama, it just lacked an intelligent plot.

What I personally disliked:

1) The timid character of the female main role. It changes in the end, and you know it will,
but it is so cliché and expected that I just got unnerved by it.
2) The whole misunderstanding thing. I just really hate misunderstandings in plotlines, when you as a viewer/reader know more than the characters and you just watch them struggle along and just wait and wait for it to be cleared, knowing all the way that it will happen.
3) Thus the whole plot was totally predictable. Even the side-plot with the sister was after introduction nothing new. The was a big, huge hole when it comes to suspense or thrilling aspects. It was rather boring.

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